"Our life is ______ away by detail. Simplify, simplify. " That dictum of Henry David Thoreau’s, echoing from the days of steamboats and ox-drawn plows, had long haunted me.

单项选择题If you（）your influence, they may change their decision.

A. compel
B. exert
C. expose
D. vary

单项选择题Because the（）still refused to cooperate, the lawyer washed his hands of the entire case.

A. advocate
B. agenda
C. client
D. adolescent