Passage1 InhisbookTheTippingPoint,MalcolmGladwellarguesthat"socialepidemics"aredrivenin?largepartbytheactionsofatinyminorityofspecialindividuals,oftencalledinfluentials,whoare?unusuallyinformed,persuasive,orwell-connected．Theideaisintuitivelycompelling,butitdoesn′t?explainhowideasactuallyspread． Thesupposedimportanceofinfluentialsderivesfromaplausible-soundingbutlargelyuntested?theorycalledthe"two-stepflowofcommunication":Informationflowsfromthemediatothe?influentialsandfromthemtoeveryoneelse．Marketershaveembracedthetwo-stepflowbecauseit?suggeststhatiftheycanjustfindandinfluencetheinfluentials,thoseselectedpeoplewilldomostof?theworkforthem．Thetheoryalsoseemstoexplainthesuddenandunexpectedpopularityofcertain?looks,brands,orneighborhoods．Inmanysuchcases,acursorysearchforcausesfindsthatsome?smallgroupofpeoplewaswearing,promoting,ordevelopingwhateveritisbeforeanyoneelsepaid?attention．Anecdotalevidenceofthiskindfitsnicelywiththeideathatonlycertainspecialpeople?candrivetrends． Intheirrecentwork,however,someresearchershavecomeupwiththefindingthatinfluentials?havefarlessimpactonsocialepidemicsthanisgenerallysupposed．Infact,theydon′tseemtobe?requiredofall． Theresearchers′argumentstemsfromasimpleobservationaboutsocialinfluence:Withthe?exceptionofafewcelebritieslikeOprahWinfrey--whoseoutsizepresenceisprimarilyafunctionof?media,notinterpersonal,influence--eventhemostinfluentialmembersofapopulationsimplydon′t?interactwiththatmanyothers．Yetitispreciselythesenon-celebrityinfluentialswho,accordingto?thetwo-step-flowtheory,aresupposedtodrivesocialepidemics,byinfluencingtheirfriendsand?colleaguesdirectly．Forasocialepidemictooccur,however,eachpersonsoaffectedmustthen?influencehisorherownacquaintances,whomustinturninfluencetheirs,andsoon;andjusthow?manyotherspayattentiontoeachofthesepeoplehaslittletodowiththeinitialinfluential．Ifpeople?inthenetworkjusttwodegreesremovedfromtheinitialinfluentialproveresistant,forexample,the?cascadeofchangewon′tpropagateveryfaroraffectmanypeople． Buildingonthebasictruthaboutinterpersonalinfluence,theresearchersstudiedthedynamics?ofsocialinfluencebyconductingthousandsofcomputersimulationsofpopulations,manipulatinga?numberofvariablesrelatingtopeople′sabilitytoinfluenceothersandtheirtendencytobe?influenced．Theyfoundthattheprincipalrequirementforwhatiscalled"globalcascades"—the?widespreadpropagationofinfluencethroughnetworks--isthepresencenotofafewinfluentialsbut,rather,ofacriticalmassofeasilyinfluencedpeople． BycitingthebookTheTippingPoint,theauthorintendsto__________．查看材料
A.analyze the consequences of social epidemics B.discuss influentials'function in spreading ideas C.exemplify people's intuitive response to social epidemics D.describe the essential characteristics ofinfluentials正确答案B
