2009年12月大学英语六级全国统一模拟冲刺卷及答案(新东方)

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大学英语六级考试历年真题及答案(截止到200912)

大学英语六级考试历年真题及答案(截止到200912)

2009年12月大学英语六级考试真题及答案Part ⅠWriting (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Should Parents Send Their Kids to Art Classes? You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below.1. 现在有不少家长送孩子参加各种艺术班2. 对这种做法有人表示支持,也有人并不赞成3. 我认为……Should Parents Send Their Kids to Art Classes?Part ⅡReading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Bosses Say “Yes” to Home WorkRising costs of office space, time lost to stressful commuting, and a slow recognition that workers have lives beyond the office—all are strong arguments for letting staff work from home.For the small business, there are additional benefits too—staff are more productive, and happier, enabling firms to keep their headcounts (员工数) and their recruitment costs to a minimum. It can also provide competitive advantage, especially when small businesses want to attract new staff but don‘t have the budget to offer huge salaries.While company managers have known about the benefits for a long time, many have done little about it, sceptical of whether they could trust their employees to work to full capacity without supervision, or concerned about the additional expenses teleworking policies might incur as staff start charging their home phone bills to the business.Yet this is now changing. When communications provider Inter-Tel researched the use of remote working solutions among small-and-medium-sized UK businesses in April this year, it found that 28% more companies claimed to have introduced flexible working practices than a year ago.The UK network of Business Links confirms that it too has seen a growing interest in remote working solutions from small businesses seeking its advice, and claims that as many as 60-70% of the businesses that come through its doors now offer some form of remote working support to their workforces.Technology advances, including the widespread availability of broadband, are making the introduction of remote working a piece of cake.“If systems are set up properly, staff can have access to all the resources they have in the office wherever they have an internet connection,‖ says Andy Poulton, e-business advisor at Business Link for Berkshire and Wiltshi re. ―There are some very exciting developments which have enabled this.‖One is the availability of broadband everywhere, which now covers almost all of the country (BT claims that, by July, 99.8% of its exchanges will be broadband enabled, with alternativ e plans in place for even the most remote exchanges). ―This is the enabler,‖ Poulton says.Yet while broadband has come down in price too, those service providers targeting the business market warn against consumer services masquerading (伪装) as business-friendly broadband.“Broadband is available for as little as £15 a month, but many businesses fail to appreciate the hidden costs of such a service,”says Neil Stephenson, sales and marketing director at Onyx Internet, an internet service provider based in the north-east of England. “Providers offering broadband for rock-bottom prices are notorious for poor service, with regular breakdowns and heavily congested (拥堵的) networks. It is always advisable for businesses to look beyond the price tag and look for a business-only provider that can offer more reliability, with good support.”Such services don’t cost too much—quality services can be found for upwards of £30 a month.The benefits of broadband to the occasional home worker are that they can access email in real time, and take full advantage of services such as internet-based backup or even internet-based phone services.Internet-based telecoms, or VoIP (V oice over IP) to give it its technical title, is an interesting tool to any business supporting remote working. Not necessarily because of the promise of free or reduced price phone calls (which experts point out is misleading for the average business), but because of the sophisticated voice services that can be exploited by the remote worker—facilities such as voicemail and call forwarding, which provide a continuity of the company image for customers and business partners.By law, companies must ―consider seriously‖ requests to work flexibly made by a parent with a child under the age of six, or a disabled child under 18. It was the need to accommodate employees with young children that motivated accountancy firm WrightVigar to begin promoting teleworking recently. The company, which needed to upgrade its IT infrastructure (基础设施) to provide connectivity with a new, second office, decided to introduce support for remote working at the same time.Marketing director Jack O‘Hern explains that the company has a relatively young workforce, many of whom are parents: ―One of the trig gers was when one of our tax managers returned from maternity leave. She was intending to work part time, but could only manage one day a week in the office due to childcare. By offering her the ability to work from home, we have doubled her capacity—now she works a day a week from home, and a day in the office. This is great for her, and for us as we retain someone highly qualified.‖For Wright Vigar, which has now equipped all of its fee-earners to be able to work at maximum productivity when away from th e offices (whether that‘s from home, or while on the road), this strategy is not just about saving on commute time or cutting them loose from the office, but enabling them to work more flexible hours that fit around their home life.O‘Hern says: ―Although most of our work is client-based and must fit around this, we can‘t see any reason why a parent can‘t be on hand to deal with something important at home, if they have the ability to complete a project later in the day.‖Supporting this new way of working came with a price, though. Although the firm was updating its systems anyway, the company spent 10-15% more per user to equip them with a laptop rather than a PC, and about the same to upgrade to a server that would enable remote staff to connect to the company networks and access all their usual resources.Although Wright Vigar hasn‘t yet quantified the business benefits, it claims that, in addition to being able to retain key staff with young families, it is able to save fee-earners a substantial amount o f ―dead‖ time in their working days.That staff can do this without needing a fixed telephone line provides even more efficiency savings. ―With Wi-Fi (fast, wireless internet connections) popping up all over the place, even on trains, our fee-earners can be productive as they travel, and between meetings, instead of having to kill time at the shops,‖ he adds.The company will also be able to avoid the expense of having to relocate staff to temporary offices for several weeks when it begins disruptive office renovations soon. Financial recruitment specialist Lynne Hargreaves knows exactly how much her firm has saved by adopting a teleworking strategy, which has involved handing her company‘s data management over to a remote hosting company, Datanet, so it can be accessible by all the company‘s consultants over broadband internet connections.It has enabled the company to dispense with its business premises altogether, following the realisation that it just didn‘t need them any more. ―The main motivation behind adopting home working was to increase my own productivity, as a single mum to an 11-year-old,”says Hargreaves. “But I soon realised that, as most of our business is done on the phone, email and at off-site meetings, we didn’t need our offices at all. We’re now saving £16,000 a year on rent, plus the cost of utilities, not to mention what would have been spent on commuting.‖1. What is the main topic of this passage?A) How business managers view hi-tech.B) Relations between employers and employees.C) How to cut down the costs of small businesses.D) Benefits of the practice of teleworking.2. From the research conducted by the communications provider Inter-Tel, we learn that .A) more employees work to full capacity at homeB) employees show a growing interest in small businessesC) more businesses have adopted remote working solutionsD) attitudes toward IT technology have changed3. What development has made flexible working practices possible according to Andy Poulton?A) Reduced cost of telecommunications.B) Improved reliability of internet service.C) Availability of the VoIP service.D) Access to broadband everywhere.4. What is Neil Stephenson‘s advice to firms contracting internet services?A) They look for reliable business-only providers.B) They contact providers located nearest to them.C) They carefully examine the contract.D) They contract the cheapest provider.5. Internet-based telecoms facilitates remote working by __________.A) offering sophisticated voice servicesB) giving access to emailing in real timeC) helping clients discuss business at homeD) providing calls completely free of charge6. The accountancy firm Wright Vigar promoted teleworking initially in order to __________.A) present a positive image to prospective customersB) support its employees with children to take care ofC) attract young people with IT expertise to work for itD) reduce operational expenses of a second office7. According to marketing director Jack O‘Hern, teleworking enabled the company to __________.A) enhance its market imageB) reduce recruitment costsC) keep highly qualified staffD) minimise its office space8. Wright Vigar‘s practice of allowing for more flexible working hours not only benefits the company but helps improve employees‘ .9. With fast, wireless internet connections, employees can still be __________ while traveling.10. Single mother Lynne Hargreaves decided to work at home mainly to __________.Part ⅢListening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.11. A) They would rather travel around than stay at home.B) They prefer to carry cash when traveling abroad.C) They usually carry many things around with them.D) They don‘t like to spend much money on traveling.12. A) The selection process was a little unfair.B) He had long dreamed of the dean‘s position.C) Rod was eliminated in the selection process.D) Rod was in charge of the admissions office.13. A) Applause encourages the singer.B) She regrets paying for the concert.C) Almost everyone loves pop music.D) The concert is very impressive.14. A) They have known each other since their schooldays.B) They were both chairpersons of the Students‘ Union.C) They have been in close touch by email.D) They are going to hold a reunion party.15. A) Cook their dinner.B) Rest for a while.C) Get their car fixed.D) Stop for the night.16. A) Newly-launched products.B) Consumer preferences.C) Survey results.D) Survey methods.17. A) He would rather the woman didn‘t buy the blouse.B) The woman needs blouses in the colors of a rainbow.C) The information in the catalog is not always reliable.D) He thinks the blue blouse is better than the red one.18. A) The course is open to all next semester.B) The notice may not be reliable.C) The woman has not told the truth.D) He will drop his course in marketing.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19. A) A director of a sales department.B) A manager at a computer store.C) A sales clerk at a shopping center.D) An accountant of a computer firm.20. A) Handling customer complaints.B) Recruiting and training new staff.C) Dispatching ordered goods on time.D) Developing computer programs.21. A) She likes something more challenging.B) She likes to be nearer to her parents.C) She wants to have a better-paid job.D) She wants to be with her husband.22. A) Right away.B) In two months.C) Early next month.D) In a couple of days.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23. A) It will face challenges unprecedented in its history.B) It is a resolute advocate of the anti-global movement.C) It is bound to regain its full glory of a hundred years ago.D) It will be a major economic power by the mid-21st century.24. A) The lack of overall urban planning.B) The huge gap between the haves and have-nots.C) The inadequate supply of water and electricity.D) The shortage of hi-tech personnel.25. A) They attach great importance to education.B) They are able to grasp growth opportunities.C) They are good at learning from other nations.D) They have made use of advanced technologies.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.26. A) She taught chemistry and microbiology courses in a college.B) She gave lectures on how to become a public speaker.C) She helped families move away from industrial polluters.D) She engaged in field research on environmental pollution. 27. A) The job restricted her from revealing her findings.B) The job posed a potential threat to her health.C) She found the working conditions frustrating.D) She was offered a better job in a minority community.28. A) Some giant industrial polluters have gone out of business.B) More environmental organizations have appeared.C) Many toxic sites in America have been cleaned up.D) More branches of her company have been set up.29. A) Her widespread influence among members of Congress.B) Her ability to communicate through public speaking.C) Her rigorous training in delivering eloquent speeches.D) Her lifelong commitment to domestic and global issues. Passage TwoQuestions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.30. A) The fierce competition in the market.B) The growing necessity of staff training.C) The accelerated pace of globalisation.D) The urgent need of a diverse workforce.31. A) Gain a deep understanding of their own culture.B) Take courses of foreign languages and cultures.C) Share the experiences of people from other cultures.D) Participate in international exchange programmes.32. A) Reflective thinking is becoming critical.B) Labor market is getting globalised.C) Knowing a foreign language is essential.D) Globalisation will eliminate many jobs.Passage ThreeQuestions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.33. A) Red-haired women were regarded as more reliable.B) Brown-haired women were rated as more capable.C) Golden-haired women were considered attractive.D) Black-haired women were judged to be intelligent.34. A) They are smart and eloquent.B) They are ambitious and arrogant.C) They are shrewd and dishonest.D) They are wealthy and industrious.35. A) They force people to follow the cultural mainstream.B) They exaggerate the roles of certain groups of people.C) They emphasize diversity at the expense of uniformity.D) They hinder our perception of individual differences.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.The ancient Greeks developed basic memory systems called mnemonics. The name is 36 from their Goddess of memory “Mnemosyne”. In the ancient world, a trained memory was an 37 asset, particularly in public life. There were no 38 devices for taking notes, and early Greek orators(演说家) delivered long speeches with great 39 because they learned the speeches using mnemonic systems.The Greeks discovered that human memory is 40 an associative process—that it works by linking things together. For example, think of an apple. The 41 your brain registers the word “apple”, it 42 the shape, color, taste, smell and 43 of that fruit. All these things are associated in your memory with the word ―apple‖.44 . An example could be when you think about a lecture you have had. This could trigger a memory about what you’re talking about through that lecture, which can then trigger another memory.45 . An example given on a website I was looking at follows: Do you remember the shape of Austria, Canada, Belgium, or Germany? Probably not. What about Italy, though? 46 . You made an association with something already known, the shape of a boot, and It aly‘s shape could not be forgotten once you had made the association.PartⅣReading Comprehension(Reading in Depth)(25 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2. Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.Many countries have made it illegal to chat into a hand-held mobile phone while driving. But the latest research further confirms that the danger lies less in what a motorist‘s hands do when he takes a call than in what the conversation does to his brain. Even using a ―hands-free‖ device can divert a driver‘s attention to an alarming extent.Melina Kunar of the University of Warwick, and Todd Horowitz of the Harvard Medical School ran a series of experiments in which two groups of volunteers had to pay attention and respond to a series of moving tasks on a computer screen that were reckoned equivalent in difficulty to driving. One group was left undistracted while the other had to engage in a conversation using a speakerphone. As Kunar and Horowitz report, those who were making the equivalent of a hands-free call had an average reaction time 212 milliseconds slower than those who were not. That, they calculate, would add 5.7 metres to the braking distance of a car travelling at 100kph. They also found that the group using the hands-free kit made 83% more errors in their tasks than those who were not talking. To try to understand more about why this was, they tried two further tests. In one, members of a group were asked simply to repeat words spoken by the caller. In the other, they had to think of a word that began with the last letter of the word they had just heard. Those only repeating words performed the same as those with no distraction, but those with the more complicated task showed even worse reaction times—an average of 480 milliseconds extra delay. This shows that when people have to consider the information they hear carefully, it can impair their driving ability significantly.Punishing people for using hand-held gadgets while driving is difficult enough, even though they can be seen from outside the car. Persuading people to switch their phones off altogether when they get behind the wheel might be the only answer. Who knows, they might even come to enjoy not having to take calls.47. Carrying on a mobile phone conversation while one is driving is considered dangerous because it seriously distracts .48. In the experiments, the two groups of volunteers were asked to handle a series of moving tasks which were considered .49. Results of the experiments show that those who were making the equivalent of a hands-free call took to react than those who were not.50. Further experiments reveal that participants tend to respond with extra delay if theyare required to do .51. The author believes persuasion, rather than , might be the only way to stop people from using mobile phones while driving.Section BDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.There is nothing like the suggestion of a cancer risk to scare a parent, especially one of the over-educated, eco-conscious type. So you can imagine the reaction when a recent USA Today investigation of air quality aro und the nation‘s schools singled out t hose in the smugly(自鸣得意的)green village of Berkeley, Calif., as being among the worst in the country. The city’s public high school, as well as a number of daycare centers, preschools, elementary and middle schools, fell in the lowest 10%. Industrial pollution in our town had supposedly turned students into living science experiments breathing in a laboratory‘s worth of heavy metals like manganese, chromium and nickel each day. This in a city that requires school cafeterias to serve organic meals. Great, I thought, organic lunch, toxic campus.Since December, when the report came out, the mayor, neighborhood activists(活跃分子)and various parent-teacher associations have engaged in a fierce battle over its validity: over the guilt of the steel-casting factory on the western edge of town, over union jobs versus children‘s health and over what, if anything, ought to be done. With all sides presenting their own experts armed with conflicting scientific studies, whom should parents believe? Is there truly a threat here, we asked one another as we dropped off our kids, and if so, how great is it? And how does it compare with the other, seemingly perpetual health scares we confront, like panic over lead in synthetic athletic fields? Rather than just another weird episode in the town that brought you protesting environmentalists, this latest drama is a trial for how today‘s parents perceive risk, how we try to keep our kids safe—whether it‘s possible to keep them safe—in what feels like an increasingly threatening world. It raises the question of what, in our time, ―safe‖ could even mean.“There‘s no way around the uncertainty,‖ say s Kimberly Thompson, president of Kid Risk, a nonprofit group that studies children‘s health. ―That means your choices can matter, but it also means you aren‘t going to know if they do.‖ A 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics explained that nervous parents have more to fear from fire, car accidents and drowning than from toxic chemical exposure. To which I say: Well, obviously. But such concrete hazards are beside the point. It‘s the dangers parents can‘t—and may never—quantify that occur all of sudden. That’s why I’ve rid my cupboard of microwave food packed in bags coated with a potential cancer-causing substance, but although I’ve lived blocks from a major fault line(地质断层) for more than 12 years, I still haven’t bolted our bookcases to the living room wall.52. What does a recent investigation by USA Today reveal?A) Heavy metals in lab tests threaten children‘s health in Berkeley.B) Berkeley residents are quite contented with their surroundings.C) The air quality around Berkeley‘s school campuses is poor.D) Parents in Berkeley are over-sensitive to cancer risks their kids face.53. What response did USA Today‘s report draw?A) A heated debate.B) Popular support.C) Widespread panic.D) Strong criticism.54. How did parents feel in the face of the experts‘ studies?A) They felt very much relieved.B) They were frightened by the evidence.C) They didn‘t know who to believe.D) They weren‘t convinced of the results.55. What is the view of the 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics?A) It is important to quantify various concrete hazards.B) Daily accidents pose a more serious threat to children.C) Parents should be aware of children‘s health hazards.D) Attention should be paid to toxic chemical exposure.56. Of the dangers in everyday life, the author thinks that people have most to fear from __________.A) the uncertainB) the quantifiableC) an earthquakeD) unhealthy foodPassage TwoQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Crippling health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries(老年医保受惠人). The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors—two primary care physicians and five specialists—in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don‘t guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he’s reimbursed (返还费用). Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discus s a patient‘s disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care. Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.How do we fix this problem?It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally (最佳地) managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.We‘re at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.Who will be there to treat them?57. The author‘s chief concern about the current U.S. health care system is __________.A) the inadequate training of physiciansB) the declining number of doctorsC) the shrinking primary care resourcesD) the ever-rising health care costs58. We learn from the passage that people tend to believe that __________.A) the more costly the medicine, the more effective the cureB) seeing more doctors may result in more diagnostic errorsC) visiting doctors on a regular basis ensures good healthD) the more doctors taking care of a patient, the better59. Faced with the government threats to cut reimbursements indiscriminately, primary care physicians have to __________ .A) increase their income by working overtimeB) improve their expertise and serviceC) make various deals with specialistsD) see more patients at the expense of quality60. Why do many new medical graduates refuse to choose primary care as their career?A) They find the need for primary care declining.B) The current system works against primary care.C) Primary care physicians command less respect.D) They think working in emergency rooms tedious.61. What suggestion does the author give in order to provide better health care?A) Bridge the salary gap between specialists and primary care physicians.B) Extend primary care to patients with chronic diseases.C) Recruit more medical students by offering them loans.D) Reduce the tuition of students who choose primary care as their major.Part V Cloze (5 minutes)。

2009年12月英语四级考试模拟训练附答案

2009年12月英语四级考试模拟训练附答案

2009年12月英语四级考试模拟训练附答案Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled “How to Conduct Patriotic Education Among the Youth of Today”. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese:1. 我国爱国主义教育的现状;2. 爱国主义教育的重要意义;3. 如何在青少年中开展爱国主义教育?Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Work-life balance: Ways to restore harmony and reduce stressFinding work-life balance in tod ay‟s frenetically (疯狂) paced world is no simple task.Spend more time at work than at home, and you miss out on a rewarding personal life. Then again, when you face challenges in your personal life, such as caring for an aging parent or coping with marital problems, concentrating on your job can be difficult.Whether the problem is too much focus on work or too little, when your work life and your personal life feel out of balance, stress —along with its harmful effects — is the result.The good news is that you can take control of your work-life balance — and give yourself the time to do the things that are most important to you. The first step is to recognize how the world of work has changed. Then you can evaluate your relationship to work and apply some specific strategies for striking a healthier balance.How work invades your personal lifeThere was a time when employees showed up for work Monday through Friday and worked eight- to nine-hour days. The boundaries between work and home were fairly clear then. But the world has changed and, unfortunately, the boundaries have blurred for many workers. Here‟s why:●Global economy. As more skilled workers enter the global labor market and companies outsource or move more jobs to reduce labor costs, people feel pressured to work longer and produce more just to protect their jobs.●International business. Work continues around the world 24 hours a day for some people. If you work in an international organization, you might be on call around the clock for troubleshooting or consulting.●Advanced communicati on technology. Many people now have the ability to work anywhere — from their home, from their car and even on vacation. Andsome managers expect this.●Longer hours. Employers commonly ask employees to work longer hours than they‟re scheduled. Often, ov ertime is mandatory (强制性的). If you hope to move up the career ladder, you may find yourself regularly working more than40 hours a week to achieve and exceed expectations.●Changes in family roles. Today‟s married worker is typically part of a dual-career couple, which makes it difficult to find time to meet commitments to family, friends and community.Married to your workIt can be tempting to rack up the hours at work —especially if you‟re trying to earn a promotion or some extra money for a child‟s education or a dream vacation. For others, working more hours feels necessary in order to manage the workload.But if you‟re spending most of your time at work, your home life will likely pay the price. Consider the pros and cons of working extra hours on your work-life balance:●Fatigue. Your ability to think and your eye-hand coordination decrease when you‟re tired. This means you‟re less productive and may make more mistakes. These mistakes can lead to injury or rework and negatively impact your professional reputation.●Family. You may miss out on important events, such as your child‟s first bike ride, your father‟s 60th birthday or your high-school reunion. Missing out on important milestones may harm relationships with your loved ones.●Friends. Trusted friends are a key part of your support system. But if you‟re spending time at the office instead of with them, you‟ll find it difficult to nurture those friendships.●Expectations. If you regularly work extra hours, you may be given more responsibility. This could create a never-ending and increasing cycle, causing more concerns and challenges.Sometimes working overtime is important. If you work for a company that requires mandatory overtime, you won‟t be able to avoid it, but you can lear n to manage it. Most importantly, say no when you‟re too tired, when it‟s affecting your health or when you have crucial family obligations.Striking the best work-life balanceFor most people, juggling (巧妙处理) the demands of career and personal life is an ongoing challenge. With so many demands on your time — from overtime to family obligations — it can feel difficult to strike this balance. The goal is to make time for the activities that are the most important to you.Here are some ideas to help you find the balance that‟s best for you:●Learn to say no. Whether it‟s a co-worker asking you to spearhead (充当先锋) an extra project or your child‟s teacher asking you to manage the class play, remember that it‟s OK to respectfully say no. When you quit doi ng the things you only do out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you‟ll make more room in your life for the activities that are meaningful to you and bring you joy.●Leave work at work. Make a conscious decision to separate work time from personal time. When with your family, for instance, turn off your cell phone and put away your laptop computer.●Manage your time. Organize household tasks efficiently. Do one or two loads of laundry every day, rather than saving it all for your day off. A weekly family calendar of important dates and a daily list of to-dos will help you avoid deadline panic. If your employer offers a course in time management, sign up for it.●Get enough sleep. There‟s nothing as stressful and potentially dangerous as working w hen you‟re sleep-deprived. Not only is your productivity affected, but also you can make costly mistakes. You may then have to work even more hours to make up for these mistakes.●Communicate clearly. Limit time-consuming misunderstandings by communicating clearly and listening carefully. Take notes if necessary.●Nurture yourself. Set aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as walking, working out or listening to music.●Set aside one night each week for recreation. T ake the phone of f the hook, power down the computer and turn off the TV. Discover activities you can do with your partner, family or friends, such as playing golf, fishing or canoeing. Making time for activities you enjoy will rejuvenate (使年轻) you.Remember, striking a work-life balance isn‟t a one-shot deal. Creating balance in your life is a continuous process. Balance doesn‟t mean doing everything. Examine your priorities and set boundaries. Be firm in what you can and cannot do. Only you can restore harmony to your lifestyle.1. What will happen if your work life and personal life feel out of balance?A) You will have little time to finish your work.B) You may feel stress, which will affect you negatively.C) You will have a lot of time to share with your family.D) You will never balance the combination of life and work.2. The boundaries between work and home have blurred for the following reasons, EXCEPT _______.A) global economy B) changes in family rolesC) advanced communication technology D) high divorce rate3. What will happen if you‟re spending most of your time at work?A) You will lose both health and wealth. B) You will be hated by your loved ones.C) You will lose all your friends. D) You may be given more responsibility.4. According to th e passage, you‟d better say no to mandatory overtime when _______________.A) you get bored with the work B) you are not interested in the workC) you can‟t get additional allowance D) you have crucial family obligations5. What does the underlined sentence mean?A) You should do the things people ask you to do without feeling guilty.B) You shouldn‟t do the things people ask you to do if you don‟t want to.C) To do things people ask you to do can bring you a lot of joy.D) To do things for yourself is more meaningful than to do things for others.6. What will NOT happen if you don‟t get enough sleep?A) You will feel stressed while working. B) You will have no sense of exhaustion.C) You can make costly mistakes. D) You will have low productivity.7. What does the real balance mean according to the author?A) Examining priorities and deciding what is the most important to you.B) Doing everything you want to do whether you can do it or not.C) Saying yes to everybody in order to maintain good relationships.D) Being firm that working overtime will strike a work-life balance.8. Spend more time at work than at home, and you won‟t have enough time to enjoy your _______________.9. You have slow responses and your eye-hand coordination decreases when you‟re ________.10. You can save a lot of time and avoid misunderstandings if you communicate clearly and ____________.Part III Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)■ Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 11 to 20 are based on the following passage.Major retailers and car manufacturers have slashed (削减) their marketing budgets in the six months to October, 2008, as the financial crisis has taken its toll, while supermarkets have 11 advertising spending in a battle to prove that they offer the most 12 prices.According to new research undertaken for The Daily Telegraph by Nielsen Media Research, in the six months to September 30, 2008, Marks & Spencer‟s advertising spend fell 20.3pc to £25.3m, 13 with the same period in 2007.While the retailer has spent heavily on a campaign 14 celebrities in the past two years, it is understood to be cutting back on celebrity spending in 2009. The retailer is, however, still the UK‟s 25th largest spender o n advertising,15 being at 17th place in the six months to September 30, 2007.Car manufacturers have also significantly 16 back on marketing spending, believed to be a result of the financial crisis. According to Nielsen, Ford spent £26.6m in the six months to September 30, 2008, down 21pc from the same period last year. Vauxhall also 17 spending by 15.6pc in the period to £26.5m.For supermarkets, however, a significant increase in advertising spending, it appears, is a 18 as they seek to woo (追求) increasingly price- 19 customers. The leading supermarkets have 20 an aggressive price war in the past six months as consumers have been faced with news of higher food prices.A) conscientious I) necessityB) conscious J) contributionC) against K) reducedD) despite L) moreoverE) comparing M) scaledF) compared N) competitiveG) launched O) featuringH) boosted■ Section BDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished sentences. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice.Passage OneQuestions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.There are more than 2,000 different kinds of mosquitoes. Female mosquitoes bite people to drink their blood. Male mosquitoes do not drink blood. They drink fluids from plants. The female mosquito uses its thin sucking tube to break the skin, find blood and inject the victim with a substance that keeps blood flowing.The female mosquito drinks the blood and uses it to produce as many as 250 eggs. The insect leaves the eggs in any standing water.The eggs produce worm-like creatures called larvae (幼虫) in two days to a few months. However, some eggs can stay in water for years until conditions are right for development. The larvae feed on organisms in the water. After four to ten days, they change again, into creatures called pupas (蛹). The pupas rise to the surface of the water. Adult mosquitoes pull themselves out of the pupas and fly away.The World Health Organization (WHO) says mosquitoes carry organisms that cause disease and death for millions of people throughout the world. The most important disease spread by mosquitoes is malaria (疟疾). The WHO says 247 million people became infected with malaria in 2006. Malaria caused almost one million deaths, mostly among children in Africa. The disease is found in more than one hundred countries in Africa, Asia, the western Pacific Ocean, the Middle East and Central and South America.Malaria parasites (寄生虫) enter a person‟s blood through a mosquito bite. These organisms travel to the liver. They grow and divide there. After a week or two, the parasites invade red blood cells and reproduce thousands of times. They cause the person‟s b ody temperature to rise. They also may destroy major organs. People with malaria may suffer kidney failure or loss of red blood cells.Some medicines are generally effective in preventing and treating malaria. They are designed to prevent the parasites from developing in the body. People die from malaria because they are not treated for the disease or the treatment is delayed.21. According to the passage, we can infer that _________.A) female mosquitoes don‟t bite animalsB) female mosquitoes bite people for a substance that keeps blood flowingC) malaria is found everywhere in the worldD) countries in Europe and North America have low malaria death rate22. What is the right order in which mosquitoes grow?a. Adult mosquitoes pull themselves out of the pupas and fly away.b. The larvae change into creatures called pupas.c. The insect leaves the eggs in any standing water.d. The eggs produce worm-like creatures called larvae.A) c, a, b, d B) d, c, b, a C) c, d, b, a D) d, b, c, a23. According to the WHO, the organisms carried by mosquitoes __________.A) are the food for larvaeB) have led to the death of millions of people in the worldC) invade red blood cells first and then destroy major organsD) can enter a person‟s brain through the mosquito‟s bite24. According to the passage, malaria medicines are generally designed to _______.A) keep people‟s body temperature at a normal levelB) prevent parasites from entering people‟s skinsC) stop parasites from growing inside the bodyD) stop parasites from invading red blood cells25. What is the passage mainly talking about?A) The growing process of mosquitoes and the diseases spread by them.B) The medicines used in preventing and treating malaria.C) The kinds of mosquitoes in the world today.D) The larvae of mosquitoes feed on organisms in the water.Passage TwoQuestions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.Conservationists call them hot spots — habitats that cover just 1.4 percent of the earth‟s land surface but are so rich in biological diversity that preserving them could keep an astonishing number of plant and animal species off the endangered list.Since 1988, when Dr. Norman Myers and his colleagues began describing these hot spots in a series of scientific papers and arguing for their protection, they have become a focus of worldwide conservation efforts. Private organizations and government agencies, including the World Bank, have made preserving 25 such ecological arks a top priority for financing and protective legislation. But a growing chorus of scientists is warning that directing conservation funds to hot spots may be a recipe for major losses in the future. Of species that live on land, nearly half of all plants and more than a third of all animals are found only in the hot spots. But they do not include many rare species and major animal groups that live in less biologically rich regions (“cold spots”). And the hot-spot concept does not factor in the importance of someecosystems to human beings, the scientists argue.This debate has been simmering quietly among biologists for years; however, it is coming to a boil now with the publication of an article in the current issue of American Scientist arguing that “calls to direct conservation funding to the world‟s biodiversity hot spots may be bad investment advice.” “The hot-spot concept has grown so popular in recent years within the larger conservation community that it now risks eclipsing all other approaches,” write the authors of the pa per. “The officers and directors of all too many foundations, non-governmental organizations and international agencies have been seduced by the simplicity of the hot spot idea,” they go on. “We worry that the initially appealing idea of getting the most species per unit area is, in fact, a thoroughly misleading strategy.”But hot spots have their ardent defenders, notably Dr. Norman Myers and Dr. Russell Mittermeier. Dr. Myers says hot spots have been successful at attracting attention and financing for conservation in tropical countries. “And that has been good,” he said. “No one is suggesting that one invest solely in hot spots, but if you want to avoid extinctions, you have to invest in them.”26. The best title for this passage would be ________.A) A Debate on Preserving Hot Spots B) An Introduction to Hot SpotsC) Hot Spots vs. Cold Spots D) How to Finance Hot Spots27. Hot spots occupy a small percentage of the earth‟s land surface with _____________.A) a third of all plants B) many major animal groups living in cold spotsC) rich biological diversity D) many rare species living in cold spots28. Critics of hot spots hold the opinion that ________.A) hot spots are always as important as cold spotsB) it is unwise to invest largely in hot spotsC) governments should choose the best time to invest in hot spotsD) the hot-spot approach is a misleading strategy from the very beginning29. According to Dr. Norman Myers, _________.A) protecting and investing in hot spots can save species from extinctionB) conservation efforts should not center on hot spotsC) governments should invest most in cold spotsD) the hot-spot approach now is not as good as it was in the past30. What is the writer‟s attitude towards the hot-spot approach?A) Critical. B) Neutral. C) Supportive. D) Doubtful.Part IV Cloze (15 minutes)Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage.Two million years ago, just as the Earth‟s primitive apemen were evolving into big-brained humans, a pair of supernovae explosions occurred near Earth. Our planet was buffeted (冲击) with blasts of radiation —with 31 effects. “These s upernovae would 32 away our protective ozone layer,” said Dr Narciso Benitezof Johns Hopkins University. Earth lost its protection 33 ultraviolet light. All sorts of mutational (突变) damage to animals‟ DNA would have occurred. New species could have emerged 34 . It is possible that Homo sapiens (智人) may have been one of these.The likely 35 of a supernova‟s radiation led scientists in the past 36 that one may have affected 37 on Earth. Benitez now believes that 38 two supernovae occurred near Earth two million years ago: The first would have blasted space free 39 interstellar particles; and the second would have struck Earth at full force, 40 its ozone layer.Observations of space around our Sun have revealed that, 41 the rest of the galaxy, space near u s has little interstellar gas in it. “ 42 it is missing much of its dust and gas —just as if a supernova 43 it out,” added Maíz-Apellániz. 44 , our tiny corner of the galaxy appears to have been swept clean by a supernova brush about two million years ago; and intriguingly, at just this time, a set of extinctions — known as the Pliocene (上新世) / Pleistocene (更新世) extinctions — is also known 45 .It was also around this time that mankind‟s direct ancestor, Homo erectus, the species 46 to be the first true human being, appeared in Africa and Asia after 47 more primitive ape-like creatures. These beings may have been some of the lucky few who were able to 48 advantage of conditions in these hazardous, radioactive 49 . This triumph only occurred thanks to this celestial (上天的) 50 , however.31. A) devastate B) devastating C) devastated D) devastation32. A) blow B) have blown C) blew D) be blowing33. A) in B) on C) against D) to34. A) as a result of B) as a result C) the end result D) from the result of35. A) compact B) contact C) intact D) impact36. A) speculate B) speculating C) to speculate D) speculated37. A) evolution B) revolution C) resolution D) solution38. A) at least B) at most C) at first D) at last39. A) with B) without C) at D) of40. A) destroyed B) to destroy C) destroying D) destroy41. A) unlikely B) likely C) unlike D) dislike42. A) Definitely B) Obviously C) Eventually D) Essentially43. A) would clean B) cleaned C) have cleaned D) had cleaned44. A) In word B) In words C) In other words D) In a word45. A) to occur B) to have occurred C) occurring D) have occurred46. A) considered B) was considered C) considering D) being considered47. A) placing B) replacing C) being placed D) being replaced48. A) get B) gain C) win D) take49. A) reasons B) results C) spaces D) times50. A) invention B) intervention C) convention D) creationPart V Translation (5 minutes)Directions: Complete the sentences by translating into English the Chinese given in brackets.51. Don‟t get involved in love games too early. _______ (要是……该怎么办) you suffer from failure in love?52. That car ___________________(尽给我添麻烦) ever since I bought it.53. _______________________ (努力不吸入) the vapor, Thomas turned his head.54. But for his wife‟s encouragement, he _____________ (就不能发明那个机器).55. It _________________________ (直到得到有关当局的批准) that we can start the job.Part I WritingOne possible version:How to Conduct Patriotic Education Among the Youth of TodayThese years have seen a widespread neglect of patriotic education in our society. According to some official reports, many patriotic education centers have been closed down or kept open to the public for other more profitable purposes, while many of our national hero es have given way to today‟s pop stars in youth‟s minds. If this current is allowed to run its course, I am afraid, things are bound to turn for the worse, with less and less sense of patriotism left in the youth.The significance of patriotic education to our society can be seen from the following perspectives: Patriotic education can make youth more aware of the glorious history and culture of our nation, thus building up their sense of pride as Chinese. Furthermore, patriotic education helps youth valu e today‟s hard-earned life so as to hold dearer their golden chances of enriching themselves with knowledge in peace.So the most pressing issue for us now is how to effectively instill patriotism in the youth of today. In my opinion, the first step should be focused upon giving fuller play to the potential of patriotic education centers instead of running them for the purpose of making money. Then, greater efforts must be made to integrate patriotic education into the curriculums throughout a student‟s education. In short, where there is effective patriotic education of youth, there is a greater enhancement of national cohesion.Part II Reading Comprehension(Skimming and Scanning)1. B)。

2009年12月英语六级考试快速阅读模拟题(2)

2009年12月英语六级考试快速阅读模拟题(2)

(15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet1.For questions 14, markY (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.For questions 5-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Make your reservations now. The space tourism industry is officially open for business, and tickets are going for a mere $20 million for a one-week stay in space. Despite reluctance from National Air and Space Administration (NASA)・Russia made American businessman Dennis Tito the world¨s first space tourist. Tito flew into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on April 30, 2001. The second space tourist, South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth, took off aboard the Russian Soyuz on April 25, 2002, also bound for the ISS.Lance Bass of `N Sync was supposed to be the third to make the $20 million trip, but he did not join the three-man crew as they blasted off on October 30, 2002, due to lack of payment. Probably the most incredible aspect of this proposed space tour was that NASA approved of it.These trips are the beginning of what could be a profitable 21st century industry. There are already several space tourism companies planning to build suborbital vehicles and orbital cities within the next two decades. These companies have invested millions, believing that the space tourism industry is on the verge of taking off.In 1997, NASA published a report concluding that selling trips into space to private citizens could be worth billions of dollars. A Japanese report supports these findings, and projects that space tourism could be a $10 billion per year industry within the next two decades. The only obstacles to opening up space to tourists are the space agencies, who are concerned with safety and the development of a reliable, reusable launch vehicle.Russia¨s Mir space station was supposed to be the first destination for space tourists. But in March 2001・the Russian Aerospace Agency brought Mir down into the Pacific Ocean. As it turned out, bringing down Mir only temporarily delayed the first tourist trip into space.The Mir crash did cancel plans for a new reality-based game show from NBC, which was going to be called Destination Mir. The Survivor-like TV show was scheduled to air in fall 2001, Participants on the show were to go through training at Russia¨s cosmonaut (嚴砂埀) training center, Star City. Each week, one of the participants would be eliminated from the show, with the winner receiving a trip to the Mir space station. The Mir crash has ruled out NBC¨s space plans for now. NASA is against beginning space tourism until the International Space Station is completed in 2006.。

2009年12月英语四级考试模拟训练及答案一

2009年12月英语四级考试模拟训练及答案一

Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled A Good Teacher-student Relationship.. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below.1. 良好的师生关系很重要2. 怎样建立良好的师生关系3. 你是如何做的A Good Teacher-student RelationshipPart Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.The Great Australian FenceA war has been going on for almost a hundred years between the sheep farmers of Australia and the dingo, Australia’s wild dog.To protect their livelihood,the farmers build a wire fence, 3,307 miles of continuous wire network, reaching from the coast of South Australia all the way to the cotton fields of eastern Queensland, just shore of the Pacific Ocean.The Fence is Austrelia’s version of the Great Wall of China, but even longer, erected to keep out hostitle invaders, in the case hordes of yellow dogs.The empire it preserves is that of the woolgrowers, sove reigns of the world’s second largest sheep flock, after C hina’s―some 123 million head ―and keepers of a wool export business worth four billion dollars.Never mind that more and more people ―conservationists, politicians, taxpayers and animal lovers―say th at such a barrier would never be allowed today on ecological grounds.With sections of it almost a hundred years old, the dog fence has become, as conservationist Lindsay Fairweather ruefully admits, an icon of Australian frontier ingenuity.To appreciate this unusual outback monument and to meet the people whose livelihoods depend on it.,I spendt part of an Australian autumn traveling the wire.It’s known by different names in different states: the Dog Fence is South Australia, the Broder Fence in New South Wales and the Barrier Fence in Queensland. I would call it simly the Fence.For most of its prodigious length, this epic fence winds like a river across a landscape that, unless a big rain has fallen, scarely has rivers. The eccentric route, prescribed mostly by property lines, provides a sampler of outback topography: the Fence goes over sand dunes, past salt lakes,up and down rock-strewn hills, through dense scrub and across barren plains.The Fence stays away from towns. Where it passes near a town, it has actually become a tourist attraction visited on bus tours. It marks the traditional dividing line between cattle and sheep. Inside, where the dingoes are legally classified as vermin, they are shot, poisoned and trapped. Sheep and dingoes do not mix and the Fence sends that message mile after mile.What is this creature that by itself threatens an entire industry, infliciting several millions of dollars of damage a year despite the presence of the world’s most obsessive fence ? Cousin to the coyote and the jackal, descended from the Asian wolf, Canis lupus dingo is introduced to Australia more than 3,500 years ago probably with Asian seafarers who landed on the north coast. The adaptable dingo spread rapidly and in a short time became the top predator, killing off all its marsupial competitors. The dingo looks like a small wolf with a long nose, short pointed ears and a bushy tail. Dingoes rarely bark ; they yelp and howl. Standing about 22 inches at the shoulder―slightly taller than a coyote ―the dingo is Australia’s largest land fresh-eating animal. The woolgrowers’ war against dingoes, which is similar to the sheep ranchers’ rage against coyotes in the US, started not long after the first European settlers landed in 1788, bringing with them a cargo of sheep. Dingoes officially became outlaws in 1830 when governments placed a bounty on their heads. Today bounties for problem dogs killing sheep inside the Fence can reach $500. As pioneers penetrated the interior with their flocks of sheep, fences replaced shepherds until, by the end of the 19 th century, thousands of miles of barrier fencing crisscrossed the vast grazing lands.The dingo started out as a quiet observer, writes Roland Breckwoldt, in A Very Elegant Animal; The Dingo, but soon came to represent everything that was dark and dangerous on the continent.It is estimated that since sheep arrived in Australia, dingo numbers have increased a hundredfold. Though dingoes have been eradicated from parts of Australia, an educated guess puts the population at than a million.Eventually government officials and graziers agreed that one well-maintained fence, placed on the outer rim of sheep country and paid for by taxes levied on woolgrowers, should supplant the maze of private netting. By 1960, three states joined their barriers to form a single dog fence.The intense private battles between woolgrowers and dingoes have usually served to define the Fence only in economic terms. It marks the difference between profit and loss.Yet the Fence casts a much broader ecological shadow for it has become a kind of terrestrial dam, deflecting the flow of animals inside and out. The ecological side effects appear most vividly at Sturt National Park. In 1845, explorer Charles Sturt led an expedition through these parts on a futile search for an inland sea. For Sourt led an expedition through these parts on a futile search for an inland sea. For Sturt and other early explorers, it was a rare event to see a kangaroo. Now they are ubiquitous forwithout a native predator the kangaroo population has exploded inside the Fence.Kangaroos are now cursed more than dingoes. They have become the rivals of sheep, competing for water and grass. In response state governments cull (to kill animals to reduce their populatio ns ) more than three million kangaroos a year to keep Australia’s national symbol from overrunning the pastoral lands. Park officials, who recognize that the fence is to blame, respond to the excess of kangaroos by saying “The fence is there, we have to live with it.”1. Why was the fence built ?A)To separate the sheep from the cattle.B)To protect the Australian wool industry.C)To act as a boundary between properties.D)To stop the dingoes from being slaughtered by farmers.2.On what point do the conservationists and politicians agree ?A)Wool exports are vial to the economy.B)The number of dogs needs to be reduced.C)The fence poses a threat to the environment.D)The fence acts a useful frontier between states.3.The author visitor Australia_______________.A)to study Australian farming methodsB)to investigate how the fence was constructedC)because he was interested in life around the fenceD)because he wanted to learn more about the wool industry4.How does the author feel about the fence ?A)Impressed B)Delighted C)Shocked D)Annoyed5.From the sixth paragraph we know that_______________.A)dingoes are known to attack humansB)the fence serves a different purpose in each stateC)the dingo is indigenous to AustraliaD)the fence is only partially successful6.The authorities first acknowledge the dingo problem in the year of _______________.A)1778 B)1830 C)1845 D)19607.How do the park officials feel about the fence ?A)Angry B)Proud C)Pleased D)Philosophical8.Dingoes have flourished as a result of ______________.9.Woolgrowers and dingoes have usually defined the Fence only in ______________.10.Kangaroos have increased in number because of ______________.Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A),B),C) and D),and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

09年12月大学英语六级考试模拟练习题(2)

09年12月大学英语六级考试模拟练习题(2)

Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes)Directions: There is an old saying that “Clothes make the man.” How do you understand the saying ? You are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on this topic. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below.1.你对该谚语的理解2.你(不)赞同这种这种说法以及理由(注:题目自拟)Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.How to Create a Home Library“I cannot live without books,” declared U.S. Presiden t Thomas Jefferson to his friend John Adams. Indeed, Jefferson was an obsessive book collector from a young age, amassing (收集) three separate home libraries in his lifetime. Jefferson’s library was considered the finest in the country, and his collection doubled the holdings of the Library of Congress. Still, Jefferson didn't let the shelves at Monticello sit empty. By the time he died 11 years later, he had more than 2 000 volumes in his library.Jefferson’s library might fit your conception of an old-fashioned home library with leather-bound books, wood paneling and uncomfortable furniture. But home libraries can be a dynamic expression of the owner’s personality. Creating a home library is a fun way to display your interests while establishing a special space for reading.Home Library OrganizationWhen you started using the public library, you probably learned about Melvil Dewey and his system for ordering libraries. The Dewey Decimal Classification System has ten broad categories for organizing books,including philosophy, religion and the arts. Each category is assigned a number, so for example, when you want a book on modern art, you head to the 700 block. Larger libraries, such as those at universities, tend to use the Library of Congress Classification System because it offers a more specific array of subjects for categorization, adding subjects such as medicine and law for a total of 21 categories.Your home library may or may not be as large as your local public library, but a good system of organization will still help you find the book you want quickly, You could take a page from Dewey and the Library of Congress and sort books by subject matter. Sections for subjects such as history, technology or fiction might make their retrieval easier. This system also would allow you to highlight a particular passion, such as an extensive collection of World War Ⅱ history. Here are some other ways to organize a collection.Alphabetizing by author works well for fiction but not necessarily for nonfiction books of various subjects.Judging a book by its cover is usually frowned upon, but sorting by color can be aesthetically pleasing to some . Those generally forgetful about the colors of their books might disagree.After a painful breakup, the main character in Nick Hornby’s book High Fidelity organizes his record collection autobiographically in the order he acquired them. A chronological organization might include shelves that track the progress of your life, from beloved childhood reading and college textbooks to parenting books.To some readers, there are two ways to look at books: read and unread . Prioritizing (区间优化次序) when you might need the book will allow you to keep unread books at the forefront of your collection ,as well as books you reach for frequently, such as reference books or favorite novels.Library FurnitureWhile it might be difficult for a book lover to spend money on something other than books, at some point, you will need some bookshelves. Built-in, bookshelves can provide floor-to-ceiling storage and space savings. They can be tucked under staircases or other out-of-the-way spaces; however, they’re not a good choice for rente rs, and they can respresent a big investment in terms of price and installation. Freestanding bookcases are widely available in a variety of sizes, colors and price points. You can also mount hanging bookshelves onto the wall or buy glass cases, which might be preferable if your collection includes antique books that you want to preserve.Sagging poses the main threat to bookshelves. A bookshelf that is 36 inches long should have shelves at least one inch thick. If it’s longer, then it should be thicker so that it won’tdroop under the weight. One tip for maximizing space on the shelves is to use adjustable bookshelves, so that very small books don't take up space that can be better used for taller coffee table books. You can also decorate bookshelves with personal items, such as photographs and souvenirs. Not only will this break up the rows of books visually, it will also give you room to expand as your collection grows.As your bookshelves creep up the wall, you may need a library ladder to reach them. While any step stool or ladder will do, rolling library ladders add an elegant, whimsical (异想天开的) touch. The ladders attach to the shelf on a tracking rod, and the bottom of the ladder has wheels, so that you can move effortlessly from one end of the library to the other.When considering other library furniture, think about how you’ll be using the room . If you’ll be writing and taking notes on your reading, you may wan t a desk or a lap desk. Desks and bookstands are also helpful for reading those big volumes that are too heavy to hold up comfortably. Overstuffed couches and chairs will beckon guests to spend a few hours reading, but if you fall asleep as soon as you hit the couch, you may need to consider other options, particularly if you’ll be doing scholarly or professional reading.Wherever you’re sitting, it will be hard to enjoy a library if you’re suffering from eyestrain, fatigue and headaches, which can all be brought on by poor lighting. When selecting lighting, look for a lamp that will help you see the smallest text you read. The lamp should be positioned over your shoulder, so that the light is not directly in your eyes. Positioning it this way will also help to minimize glare. Your lamp should be brighter than the rest of the room but not that much brighter. However, all light will eventually damage books, so use it at a minimum.Book CareDo you devour books quickly ? You’re not the only one. Some insects love books, but not for a good story. Book-worms are not just those readers that have their nose in a book all the time. The more dangerous kind will tunnel through the book, eat the pages and lay eggs in it.Once you identify an infestation, isolate the affected books. In some cases, you can seal the books in plastic bags and freeze them to kill the insects. Keeping your library free of excess moisture and dust will help to prevent an attack by these insects and vermin (害虫).Controlling moisture and dust doesn't just keep away the book bugs though . Moisture in the air will also promote the growth of fungus and mold. Mold develops at temperatures greater than 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and with 65 percent relative humidity. Dehumidifiers will suck excess moisture out of the air, moisture that could otherwise lead to loose bindings, stains and mildew. Oppositely, too little humidity can dry out books, so use a humidifier in the drier winter months. Dust is also a magnet for moisture and mildew, so periodically dusting the tops of books will keep them clean.In addition to a humidifier, you also might need a fan to keep the library well ventilated. Books should be stored away from radiators and kept in a room between 60 oF and 70 oF. Air conditioners and fans are fine to use to keep the temperature down. Extreme heat will damage books; if heat occurs in a room with low humidity, the fibers in the books will dehydrate, turning the pages brittle. In combination with high humidity, heat creates ideal growing conditions for mold.As we mentioned in the last section, lighting can damage books because it leads to bleaching (漂白), fading and eventual deterioration. Natural lighting is the most dangerous. If your library has windows, draw the blinds or curtains to minimize injury. Limiting the intensity light and duration of exposure will help to preserve the books.1.During the whole life, Jefferson ____________.A)built three libraries for Congress B)built three libraries at his homeC)donated books for three libraries D)collected books from three libraries2.Why do universities usually use the Library of Congress Classification System ?A)Because it is more popular than other systems.B)Because it is more modern than other systemsC)Because it is more specific in arranging subjects.D)Because it is less difficult than other systems.3.Who might dislike the idea of arranging books by their colors ?A)Those who like painting on the bookshelves.B)Those who tend to arrange anything scientifically.C)Those who are color-blind.D)Those who usually cannot remember the colors of books.4.If you rank the books according to the frequency they might be touched, you’d better put _____.A)reference books at the most important positionB)brand-new books at the most important positionC)dog-eared books at the most important positionD)all the novels at the most important position5.The treasured books should be put in ________.A)built-in bookshelves B)freestanding bookcasesC)hanging bookshelves D)glass cases6.If you are doing academic read ing in your library, you’re advised _________.A)to hit overstuffed couches and chairs to produce ideasB)to beckon guests to sit in the coaches or chairsC)not to use overstuffed couches and chairsD)not to stuff comfortable coaches or chairs7.How do you choose proper lighting for your reading in the library ?A)The light should cover most areas in the room.B)The light should come over your shoulder.C)The light should not be brighter than other lights in the room.D)The light should only focus on the smallest text.8.In order to prevent your books from being damaged by insects, you should make your library avoid ______________.9.The proper temperature for storing books is ________________.10.To reduce the damage of books in a room with windows, you have to ________________.Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A),B),C) and D),and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

2009年12月大学英语六级考试真题+听力原文+答案详解

2009年12月大学英语六级考试真题+听力原文+答案详解

2009年12月大学英语六级考试真题及答案Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Should Parents Send Their Kids to Art Classes? You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below.1. 现在有不少家长送孩子参加各种艺术班现在有不少家长送孩子参加各种艺术班2. 对这种做法有人表示支持,也有人并不赞成3. 我认为……我认为……Should Parents Send Their Kids to Art Classes? Part ⅡReading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer thequestions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices markedA), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in thepassage.Bosses Say “Yes Yes”” to Home Work Rising costs of office space, time lost to stressful commuting, and a slow recognition that workers have lives beyond the office —all are strong arguments for letting staff work from home. For the small business, there are additional benefits too —staff are more productive, and happier, enabling firms to keep their headcounts (员工数) and their recruitment costs to a minimum. It can also provide provide competitive competitive competitive advantage, advantage, advantage, especially especially especially when when when small small small businesses businesses businesses want want want to to to attract attract attract new new new staff staff staff but but but don don don’’t have the budget to offer huge salaries. While company managers have known about the benefits for a long time, many have done little about about it, it, it, sceptical sceptical sceptical of of of whether whether whether they they they could could could trust trust trust their their their employees employees employees to to to work work work to to to full full full capacity capacity capacity without without supervision, or concerned about the additional expenses teleworking policies might incur as staff start charging their home phone bills to the business. Yet this is now changing. When communications provider Inter-Tel researched the use of remote working solutions among small-and-medium-sized UK businesses in April this year, it found that 28% more companies claimed to have introduced flexible working practices than a year ago. The The UK UK UK network network network of of of Business Business Business Links Links Links confirms confirms confirms that that that it it it too too too has has has seen seen seen a a a growing growing growing interest interest interest in in in remote remote working solutions from small businesses seeking its advice, and claims that as many as 60-70% of the businesses businesses that that that come come come through through through its its its doors doors doors now now now offer offer offer some some some form form form of of of remote remote remote working working working support support support to to to their their workforces. Technology advances, including the widespread availability of broadband, are making the introduction of remote working a piece of cake. “If systems are set up properly, staff can have access to all the resources they have in the office wherever they have an internet connection,” says Andy Poulton, e-business advisor at Business Link for Berkshire and Wiltshire. “There are some very exciting developments which have enabled this.”One is the availability of broadband everywhere, which now covers almost all of the country (BT claims that, by July, 99.8% of its exchanges will be broadband enabled, with alternative plans in place for even the most remote exchanges). “This is the enabler,” Poulton says. Yet while broadband has come down in price too, those service providers targeting the business market warn against consumer services masquerading (伪装) as business-friendly broadband. “Broadband is available for as little as £15 a month, but many businesses fail to appreciate the hidden costs of such a service,” says Neil Stephenson, sales and marketing director at Onyx Internet, an internet internet service service service provider provider provider based based based in in in the the the north-east north-east north-east of of of England. England. England. ““Providers Providers offering offering offering broadband broadband broadband for for rock-bottom prices are notorious for poor service, with regular breakdowns and heavily congested (拥堵的) ) networks. networks. networks. It It It is is is always always always advisable advisable advisable for for for businesses businesses businesses to to to look look look beyond beyond beyond the the the price price price tag tag tag and and and look look look for for for a a business-only provider that can offer more reliability, with good support.” Such services don ’t cost too much —quality services can be found for upwards of £30 a month. The benefits of broadband to the occasional home worker are that they can access email in real time, and take full advantage of services such as internet-based backup or even internet-based phone services. Internet-based telecoms, or V oIP (V oice over IP) to give it its technical title, is an interesting tool to any business supporting remote working. Not necessarily because of the promise of free or reduced price phone calls (which experts point out is misleading for the average business), but because of the sophisticated voice services that can be exploited by the remote worker —facilities such as voicemail and and call call call forwarding, forwarding, forwarding, which which which provide provide provide a a a continuity continuity continuity of of of the the the company company company image image image for for for customers customers customers and and and business business partners. By law, companies must “consider seriously ” requests to work flexibly made by a parent with a child under the age of six, or a disabled child under 18. It was the need to accommodate employees with with young young young children children children that that that motivated motivated motivated accountancy accountancy accountancy firm firm firm Wright Wright Wright Vigar Vigar Vigar to to to begin begin begin promoting promoting promoting teleworking teleworking recently. The company, which needed to to upgrade upgrade its IT infrastructure (基础设施) ) to to to provide provide connectivity with a new, second office, decided to introduce support for remote working at the same time. Marketing Marketing director director director Jack Jack Jack O O ’Hern Hern explains explains explains that that that the the the company company company has has has a a a relatively relatively relatively young young young workforce, workforce, many many of of of whom whom whom are are are parents: parents: parents: ““One One of of of the the the triggers triggers triggers was was was when when when one one one of of of our our our tax tax tax managers managers managers returned returned returned from from maternity leave. She was intending to work part time, but could only manage one day a week in the office office due due due to to to childcare. childcare. childcare. By By By offering offering offering her her her the the the ability ability ability to to to work work work from from from home, home, home, we we we have have have doubled doubled doubled her her capacity capacity——now she works a day a week from home, and a day in the office. This is great for her, and fo us as we retain someone highly qualified.”For Wright Vigar, which has now equipped all of its fee-earners to be able to work at maximum productivity when away from the offices (whether that ’s from home, or while on the road), this strategy is not just about saving on commute time or cutting them loose from the office, but enabling them to work more flexible hours that fit around their home life. O ’Hern says: “Although most of our work is client-based and must fit around this, we can ’t see any reason why a parent can ’t be on hand to deal with something important at home, if they have the ability to complete a project later in the day.”Supporting this new way of working came with a price, though. Although the firm was updating its systems anyway, the company spent 10-15% more per user to equip them with a laptop rather than a PC, and about the same to upgrade to a server that would enable remote staff to connect to the company networks and access all their usual resources. Although Although Wright Wright Wright Vigar Vigar Vigar hasn hasn hasn’’t t yet yet yet quantified quantified quantified the the the business business business benefits, benefits, benefits, it it it claims claims claims that, that, that, in in in addition addition addition to to being able to retain key staff with young families, it is able to save fee-earners a substantial amount of “dead dead”” time in their working days. That That staff staff staff can can can do do do this this this without without without needing needing needing a a a fixed fixed fixed telephone telephone telephone line line line provides provides provides even even even more more more efficiency efficiency savings. “With Wi-Fi (fast, wireless internet connections) popping up all over the place, even on trains, our fee-earners can be productive as they travel, and between meetings, instead of having to kill time at the shops,” he adds. The company will also be able to avoid the expense of having to relocate staff to temporary offices for several weeks when it begins disruptive office renovations soon. Financial recruitment specialist Lynne Hargreaves knows exactly how much her firm has saved by adopting a teleworking strategy, which has involved handing her company ’s data management over to a remote remote hosting hosting hosting company, company, company, Datanet, Datanet, Datanet, so so so it it it can can can be be be accessible accessible accessible by by by all all all the the the company company company’’s s consultants consultants consultants over over broadband internet connections. It It has has has enabled enabled enabled the the the company company company to to to dispense dispense dispense with with with its its its business business business premises premises premises altogether, altogether, altogether, following following following the the realisation that it just didn ’t need them any more. “The main motivation behind adopting home working was to increase my own productivity, as a single mum to an 11-year-old,” says Hargreaves. “But I soon realised that, as most of our business is done on the phone, email and at off-site meetings, we didn ’t need need our our our offices offices offices at at at all. all. all. W W e ’re re now now now saving saving £16,000 16,000 a a a year year year on on on rent, rent, rent, plus plus plus the the the cost cost cost of of of utilities, utilities, utilities, not not not to to mention what would have been spent on commuting.”1. What is the main topic of this passage? A) How business managers view hi-tech. B) Relations between employers and employees. C) How to cut down the costs of small businesses. D) Benefits of the practice of teleworking. 2. From the research conducted by the communications provider Inter-Tel, we learn that . A) more employees work to full capacity at home B) employees show a growing interest in small businesses C) more businesses have adopted remote working solutions D) attitudes toward IT technology have changed 3. What development has made flexible working practices possible according to Andy Poulton? A) Reduced cost of telecommunications. B) Improved reliability of internet service. C) Availability of the V oIP service. D) Access to broadband everywhere. 4. What is Neil Stephenson ’s advice to firms contracting internet services? A) They look for reliable business-only providers. B) They contact providers located nearest to them. C) They carefully examine the contract. D) They contract the cheapest provider. 5. Internet-based telecoms facilitates remote working by __________. A) offering sophisticated voice services B) giving access to emailing in real time C) helping clients discuss business at home D) providing calls completely free of charge 6. The accountancy firm Wright Vigar promoted teleworking initially in order to __________. A) present a positive image to prospective customers B) support its employees with children to take care of C) attract young people with IT expertise to work for it D) reduce operational expenses of a second office 7. According to marketing director Jack O ’Hern, teleworking enabled the company to __________. A) enhance its market image B) reduce recruitment costs C) keep highly qualified staff D) minimise its office space 8. Wright Vigar ’s s practice practice practice of of of allowing allowing allowing for for for more more more flexible flexible flexible working working working hours hours hours not not not only only only benefits benefits benefits the the company but helps improve employees ’ . 9. With fast, wireless internet connections, employees can still be __________ while traveling. 10. Single mother Lynne Hargreaves decided to work at home mainly to __________. Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.11. A) They would rather travel around than stay at home. B) They prefer to carry cash when traveling abroad. C) They usually carry many things around with them. D) They don’t like to spend much money on traveling. 12. A) The selection process was a little unfair. B) He had long dreamed of the dean’s position. C) Rod was eliminated in the selection process. D) Rod was in charge of the admissions office. 13. A) Applause encourages the singer. B) She regrets paying for the concert. C) Almost everyone loves pop music. D) The concert is very impressive. 14. A) They have known each other since their schooldays. ’ Union. B) They were both chairpersons of the StudentsC) They have been in close touch by email. D) They are going to hold a reunion party. 15. A) Cook their dinner. B) Rest for a while. C) Get their car fixed. D) Stop for the night. 16. A) Newly-launched products. B) Consumer preferences. C) Survey results. D) Survey methods. ’t buy the blouse. 17. A) He would rather the woman didnB) The woman needs blouses in the colors of a rainbow. C) The information in the catalog is not always reliable. D) He thinks the blue blouse is better than the red one. 18. A) The course is open to all next semester. B) The notice may not be reliable. C) The woman has not told the truth. D) He will drop his course in marketing. Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19. A) A director of a sales department. B) A manager at a computer store. C) A sales clerk at a shopping center. D) An accountant of a computer firm. 20. A) Handling customer complaints. B) Recruiting and training new staff. C) Dispatching ordered goods on time. D) Developing computer programs. 21. A) She likes something more challenging. B) She likes to be nearer to her parents. C) She wants to have a better-paid job. D) She wants to be with her husband. 22. A) Right away. B) In two months. C) Early next month. D) In a couple of days. Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23. A) It will face challenges unprecedented in its history. B) It is a resolute advocate of the anti-global movement. C) It is bound to regain its full glory of a hundred years ago. D) It will be a major economic power by the mid-21st century. 24. A) The lack of overall urban planning. B) The huge gap between the haves and have-nots. C) The inadequate supply of water and electricity. D) The shortage of hi-tech personnel. 25. A) They attach great importance to education. B) They are able to grasp growth opportunities. C) They are good at learning from other nations. D) They have made use of advanced technologies. Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.26. A) She taught chemistry and microbiology courses in a college. B) She gave lectures on how to become a public speaker. C) She helped families move away from industrial polluters. D) She engaged in field research on environmental pollution. 27. A) The job restricted her from revealing her findings. B) The job posed a potential threat to her health. C) She found the working conditions frustrating. D) She was offered a better job in a minority community. 28. A) Some giant industrial polluters have gone out of business. B) More environmental organizations have appeared. C) Many toxic sites in America have been cleaned up. D) More branches of her company have been set up. 29. A) Her widespread influence among members of Congress. B) Her ability to communicate through public speaking. C) Her rigorous training in delivering eloquent speeches. D) Her lifelong commitment to domestic and global issues. Passage TwoQuestions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.30. A) The fierce competition in the market. B) The growing necessity of staff training. C) The accelerated pace of globalisation. D) The urgent need of a diverse workforce. 31. A) Gain a deep understanding of their own culture. B) Take courses of foreign languages and cultures. C) Share the experiences of people from other cultures. The ancient Greeks developed basic memory systems called mnemonics. The name is 大36家The Greeks discovered that human memory is 大40家大家Austria, Canada, Belgium, or Germany? Probably not. What about Italy, though? 大46家can be seen from outside the car. Persuading people to switch their phones off altogether when they get behind the wheel might be the only answer. Who knows, they might even come to enjoy not having to take calls. 47. Carrying on a mobile phone conversation while one is driving is considered dangerous because it seriously distracts . 48. In the experiments, the two groups of volunteers were asked to handle a series of moving tasks which were considered . 49. Results of the experiments show that those who were making the equivalent of a hands-free call took to react than those who were not. 50. Further experiments reveal that participants tend to respond with extra delay if they are required to do . 51. The The author author author believes believes believes persuasion, persuasion, persuasion, rather rather rather than than than , , , might might might be be be the the the only only only way way way to to to stop stop stop people people people from from from using using mobile phones while driving. Section BDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions orunfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single linethrough the centre.Passage OneQuestions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.There There is is is nothing nothing nothing like like like the the the suggestion suggestion suggestion of of of a a a cancer cancer cancer risk risk risk to to to scare scare scare a a a parent, parent, parent, especially especially especially one one one of of of the the over-educated, over-educated, eco-conscious eco-conscious eco-conscious type. type. type. So So So you you you can can can imagine imagine imagine the the the reaction reaction reaction when when when a a a recent recent recent USA USA USA Today Today investigation of air quality around the nation ’s schools singled out those in the smugly (自鸣得意的)green village of Berkeley, Calif., as being among the worst in the country. The city ’s public high school, as well as a number of daycare centers, preschools, elementary and middle schools, fell in the lowest 10%. Industrial pollution in our town had supposedly turned students into living science experiments breathing in a laboratory ’s worth of heavy metals like manganese, chromium and nickel each day. This in a city that requires school cafeterias to serve organic meals. Great, Great, I thought, organic lunch, toxic I thought, organic lunch, toxic campus. Since December, when the report came out, the mayor, neighborhood activists (活跃分子)and various parent-teacher associations have engaged in a fierce battle over its validity: over the guilt of the steel-casting factory on the western edge of town, over union jobs jobs versus versus versus children children children’’s health and over what, if anything, ought to be done. With all sides presenting their own experts armed with conflicting scientific studies, whom should parents believe? Is there truly a threat here, we asked one another as we dropped off our kids, and if so, how great is it? And how does it compare with the other, seemingly perpetual health scares we confront, like panic over lead in synthetic athletic fields? Rather than just another weird episode in the town that brought you protesting environmentalists, this latest drama is a trial for how today ’s parents perceive risk, how we try to keep our kids safe —whether it’s possible to keep them safe —in what feels like an increasingly threatening world. It raises the question of what, in our time, “safe safe”” could even mean. “There There’’s s no no no way way way around around around the the the uncertainty,uncertainty,uncertainty,”” says says Kimberly Kimberly Kimberly Thompson, Thompson, Thompson, president president president of of of Kid Kid Kid Risk, Risk, Risk, a a nonprofit group that studies children ’s health. “That means your choices can matter, but it also means you aren ’t t going to know if they do.going to know if they do.” A 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics explained that nervous parents have more to fear from fire, car accidents and drowning than from toxic chemical exposure. To which I say: Well, obviously. But such concrete hazards are beside the point. It ’s the dangers parents can can’’t —and and may may may never never —quantify quantify that that that occur occur occur all all all of of of sudden. sudden. sudden. That That That’’s s why why why I I ’ve ve rid rid rid my my my cupboard cupboard cupboard of of microwave microwave food food food packed packed packed in in in bags bags bags coated coated coated with with with a a a potential potential potential cancer-causing cancer-causing cancer-causing substance, substance, substance, but but but although although although I I ’ve lived lived blocks blocks blocks from from from a a a major major major fault fault fault line(line(地质断层) ) for for for more more more than than than 12 12 12 years, years, years, I I I still still still haven haven haven’’t t bolted bolted bolted our our bookcases to the living room wall. 52. What does a recent investigation by USA Today reveal? A) Heavy metals in lab tests threaten children ’s health in Berkeley. B) Berkeley residents are quite contented with their surroundings. C) The air quality around Berkeley ’s school campuses is poor. D) Parents in Berkeley are over-sensitive to cancer risks their kids face. 53. What response did USA Today ’s report draw? A) A heated debate. B) Popular support. C) Widespread panic. D) Strong criticism. 54. How did parents feel in the face of the experts ’ studies? A) They felt very much relieved. B) They were frightened by the evidence. C) They didn ’t know who to believe. D) They weren ’t convinced of the results. 55. What is the view of the 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics? A) It is important to quantify various concrete hazards. B) Daily accidents pose a more serious threat to children. C) Parents should be aware of children ’s health hazards. D) Attention should be paid to toxic chemical exposure. 56. Of the dangers in everyday life, the author thinks that people have most to fear from __________. A) the uncertain B) the quantifiable C) an earthquake D) unhealthy food Passage TwoQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Crippling Crippling health health health care care care bills, bills, bills, long long long emergency-room emergency-room emergency-room waits waits waits and and and the the the inability inability inability to to to find find find a a a primary primary primary care care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily. Primary Primary care care care should should should be be be the the the backbone backbone backbone of of of any any any health health health care care care system. system. system. Countries Countries Countries with with with appropriate appropriate primary primary care care care resources resources resources score score score highly highly highly when when when it it it comes comes comes to to to health health health outcomes outcomes outcomes and and and cost. cost. cost. The The The U.S. U.S. U.S. takes takes takes the the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician. A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries (老年医保受惠人). The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors —two primary care physicians and five specialists —in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care care of of of you you you don don don’’t t guarantee guarantee guarantee better better better care. care. care. Actually, Actually, increasing increasing fragmentation fragmentation fragmentation of of of care care care results results results in in in a a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors. How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid paid whenever whenever whenever they they they perform perform perform a a a medical medical medical service. service. service. The The The more more more a a a physician physician physician does, does, does, regardless regardless regardless of of of quality quality quality or or outcome, outcome, the the the better better better he he he’’s s reimbursed reimbursed reimbursed ((返还费用). ). Moreover, Moreover, Moreover, the the the amount amount amount a a a physician physician physician receives receives receives leans leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient patient’’s disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income. Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care. Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors. How do we fix this problem? It It starts starts starts with with with reforming reforming reforming the the the physician physician physician reimbursement reimbursement reimbursement system. system. system. Remove Remove Remove the the the pressure pressure pressure for for for primary primary care care physicians physicians physicians to to to squeeze squeeze squeeze in in in more more more patients patients patients per per per hour, hour, hour, and and and reward reward reward them them them for for for optimally optimally optimally ((最佳地) managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical medical students students students by by by forgiving forgiving forgiving student student student loans loans loans for for for those those those who who who choose choose choose primary primary primary care care care as as as a a a career career career and and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries. e W e’’re at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade. Who will be there to treat them? 57. The author ’s chief concern about the current U.S. health care system is __________. 。

2009年12月英语四级全国考试新东方大学英语四级考试全国统一模拟冲刺试卷--

2009年12月英语四级全国考试新东方大学英语四级考试全国统一模拟冲刺试卷--

2009年12月英语四级选修课统一模拟冲刺试卷3(考前10天) 试 题 册 注 意 事 项 一、 将自己的校名、姓名、准考证号写在答题卡1 和答题卡2 上。

将本试卷代号划在答题卡2 上。

二、 试卷册、答题卡1 和答题卡2 均不得带出考场。

考试结束,监考员收卷后考生才可离开。

三、 仔细读懂题目的说明。

四、 在30 分钟内做完答题卡1 上的作文题。

30 分钟后,考生按指令启封试题册,在接着的15分钟内完成快速阅读理解部分的试题。

然后监考员收取答题卡1,考生在答题卡2 上完成其余部分的试题。

全部答题时间为125 分钟,不得拖延时间。

五、 考生必须在答题卡上作答,凡是写在试题册上的答案一律无效。

六、 多项选择题每题只能选一个答案;如多选,则该题无分。

选定答案后,用HB-2B 浓度的铅笔在相应字母的中部划一条横线。

正确方法是:[A] [B] [C] [D]。

使用其他符号答题者不给分。

划线要有一定的粗度,浓度要盖过字母底色。

七、如果要改动答案,必须先用橡皮擦净原来选定的答案,然后再按规定重新答题。

八、在考试过程中要注意对自己的答案保密。

若被他人抄袭,一经发现,后果自负学号 学院专业座位号(密封 线 内 不 答 题 )……………………密………………………………………………封………………………………………线……………………………………Part I Writing (30 minutes)注意:此部分试题在答题卡1 上。

Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questionson Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C), and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Beauty and Body Image in the MediaImages of female bodies are everywhere. Women?and their body parts?sell everything from food to cars. Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller and thinner. Some have even been known to faint on the set from lack of food. Women’s magazines are full of articles urging that if they can just lose those last twenty pounds, they’ll have it all?the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career.Why are standards of beauty being imposed on women, the majority of whom are naturally larger and more mature than any of the models? The roots, some analysts say, are economic. By presenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits.And it’s no accident that youth is increasingly promoted, along with thinness, as an essential criterion of beauty. If not all women need to lose weight, for sure they’re all aging, says the Quebec Action Network for Women’s Health in its 2001 report. And, according to the industry, age is a disaster that needs to be dealt with.The stakes are huge. On the one hand, women who are insecure about their bodies are more likely to buy beauty products, new clothes, and diet aids. It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth anywhere between 40 to 100 billion (U.S.) a year selling temporary weight loss (90 to 95% of dieters regain the lost weight).On the other hand, research indicates that exposure to images of thin, young, air-brushed female bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls.The American research group Anorexia Nervosa & Related Eating Disorders, Inc. says that one out of every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control?including fasting, skipping meals, excessive exercise, laxative (泻药) abuse, and self-induced vomiting. The pressure to be thin is also affecting young girls: the Canadian Women’s HealthNetwork warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girls as young as 5 and 6. American statistics are similar.Several studies, such as one conducted by Marika Tiggemann and Levina Clark in 2006 titled “Appearance Culture in Nine- to 12-Year-Old Girls: Media and Peer Influences on Body Dissatisfaction,” indicate that nearly half of all preadolescent girls wish to be thinner, and as a result have engaged in a diet or are aware of the concept of dieting. In 2003, Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent of girls 6 to 12 years old have been on at least one diet, and that 50 to 70 per cent of normal weight girls believe they are overweight. Overall research indicates that 90% of women are dissatisfied with their appearance in some way.Media activist Jean Kilbourne concludes that, “Women are sold to the diet industry by the magazines we read and the television programs we watch, almost all of which make us feel anxious about our weight.”Unattainable BeautyPerhaps most disturbing is the fact that media images of female beauty are unattainable for all but a very small number of women. Researchers generating a computer model of a woman with Barbie-doll proportions, for example, found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her upper body, and her body would be too narrow to contain more than half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel. A real woman built that way would suffer from chronic diarrhea ( 慢性腹泻) and eventually die from malnutrition. Jill Barad, President of Mattel (which manufactures Barbie), estimated that 99% of girls aged 3 to 10 years old own at least one Barbie doll.Still, the number of real life women and girls who seek a similarly underweight body is epidemic, and they can suffer equally devastating health consequences. In 2006 it was estimated that up to 450, 000 Canadian women were affected by an eating disorder.The Culture of ThinnessResearchers report that women’s magazines have ten and one-half times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines do, and over three-quarters of the covers of women’s magazines include at least one message about how to change a woman’s bodily appearance?by diet, exercise or cosmetic surgery.Television and movies reinforce the importance of a thin body as a measure of a woman’s worth. Canadian researcher Gregory Fouts reports that over three-quarters of the female characters in TV situation comedies are underweight, and only one in twenty are above average in size. Heavier actresses tend to receive negative comments from male characters about their bodies (“How about wearing a sack?”), and 80 per cent of these negative comments are followed by canned audience laughter.There have been efforts in the magazine industry to buck ( 抵制,反抗) the trend. For several years the Quebec magazine Coup de Pouce hasconsistently included full-sized women in their fashion pages andChâtelaine has pledged not to touch up photos and not to include models less than 25 years of age. In Madrid, one of the world’s biggest fashion capitals, ultra-thin models were banned from the runway in 2006. Furthermore Spain has recently undergone a project with the aim to standardize clothing sizes through using a unique process in which a laser beam is used to measure real life women’s bodies in order to find the most true to life measurement.EthicsAnother issue is the representation of ethnically diverse women in the media. A 2008 study conducted by Juanita Covert and Travis Dixon titled “A Changing View: Representation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women of Color in Mainstream Women’s Magazines” found that although there was an increase in the representation of women of colour, overall white women were overrepresented in mainstream women’s magazines from 1999 to 2004. Self-Improvement or Self-Destruction?The barrage of messages about thinness, dieting and beauty tells “ordinary” women that they are always in need of adjustment?and that the female body is an object to be perfected.Jean Kilbourne argues that the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin women means that real women’s bodies have become invisible in the mass media. The real tragedy, Kilbourne concludes, is that many women internalize these stereotypes, and judge themselves by the beauty industry’s standards. Women learn to compare themselves to other women, and to compete with them for male attention. This focus on beauty and desirability “effectively destroys any awareness and action that might help to change that climate.”注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1 上作答。

09年12月大学英语六级考试模拟试题

09年12月大学英语六级考试模拟试题

09年12月大学英语六级考试模拟试题Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes) 注意:此部分试题在答题卡 1上,请在答题卡1上作答。

Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.For questions 1-7,choose the best answer from the four choices marked A),B),C)and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage。

The Internet Internet was born 40 years ago, in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles. Today it wraps the entire planet and features in the daily routine of more than 1.5 billion people. But do you know hte following facts and information about the computer?Could the Net Become Self-aware?In engineering terms, it is easy to see qualitative similarities between the human brain and the Internet's complex network of nodes (节点), as they both hold, process, recall and transmit information. "The Internet behaves a fair bit like a mind, "says Ben Goertzel, chair of the Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute. " It might ready have a degree of consciousness"。

2009年12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案

2009年12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案

2009年12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes)注意:此部分试题在答题卡1上。

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the topic of Creating a Green Campus. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below: 1. 建设绿色校园很重要2. 绿色校园不仅指绿色的环境……3. 为了建设绿色校园,我们应该……Creating a Green CampusPart Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For question 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Colleges taking another look at value of merit-based aid Good grades and high tests scores still matter—a lot—to many colleges as they award financial aid.But with low-income students projected to make up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years, some schools are re-examining whether that aid, typically known as “merit aid”, is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for example, said last week that it would cut the value of its average merit scholarships by about one-third and reduce the number of recipients(接受者), pouring the savings, about $2.5 million, into need-based aid. Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., made a similar decision three years ago.Now, Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., says it will phase out merit scholarships altogether. No current merit-aid recipients will lose their scholarships, but need-based aid alone will be awarded beginning with students entering in fall 2008.Not all colleges offer merit aid; generally, the more selective a school, the less likely it is to do so. Harvard and Princeton, for example, offer generous need-based packages, but many families who don’t meet need eligibility(资格)have been willing to pay whatever they must for a big-name school.For small regional colleges that struggle just to fill seats, merit aid can be an important revenue-builder because many recipients still pay enough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship amount to keep the institution running.But for rankings-conscious schools in between, merit aid has served primarily as a tool to recruit top students and to improve their academic profits. “They’re trying to buy students,” says Skidmore College economist Sandy Baum.Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately students who could afford to enroll without it.“As we look to the future, we see a more pressing need toinvest in need-based aid,” says Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, which has offered merit scholarships for 10 years. During that time, it rose in US News & World Repor t’s ranking of the best liberal arts colleges, from 25 to 17.Merit aid, which benefited about 75 students a year, or about 4% of its student body, at a cost of about $ 1 million a year, “served us well,” Inzer says, but “to be discounting the price for families that don’t need financial aid doesn’t feel right any more.”Need-based aid remains by far the largest share of all student aid, which includes state, federal and institutional grants. But merit aid, offered primarily by schools and states, is growing faster, both overall and at the institutional level.Between 1995-96 and 2003-04, institutional merit aid alone increased 212%, compared with 47% for need-based grants. At least 15 states also offer merit aid, typically in a bid to enroll top students in the state’s public institutions.But in recent years, a growing chorus(异口同声)of critics has begun pressuring schools to drop the practice. Recent decisions by Hamilton and others may be “a sign that people are starting to realize that there’s this destructive competition going on,” says Baum, co-author of a recent College Report that raises concerns about the role of institutional aid not based on need.David Laird, president of the Minnesota Private College Council, says many of his schools would like to reduce their merit aid but fear that in doing so, they would lose top students to their competitors.“No one can take one-sided action,” says Laird, who is exploring whether to seek an exemption(豁免)from federal anti-trust laws so member colleges can discuss how they could jointly reduce merit aid, “This is a merry-go-round that’s going very fast, and none of the institutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying to break away by themselves.”A complicating factor is that merit aid has become so popular with middle-income families, who don’t qualify for need-based aid, that many have come to depend on it. And, as tuitions continue to increase, the line between merit and need blurs.That’s one reason Allegheny College doesn’t plan to drop merit aid entirely.“We still believe in rewarding superior achievements and know that these top students truly value the scholarship,” says Scott Friedhoff, Allegheny’s vice president for enrollment.Emory University in Atlanta, which boasts a $4.7 billion endowment(捐赠), meanwhile, is taking another approach. This year, it announced it would eliminate loans for needy students and cap them for middle-income families. At the same time, it would expand its 28-year-old merit program.“Yeah, we’re playing the merit game,” acknowledges Tom Lancaster, associate dean for undergraduate education. But it has its strong point, too, he says. “The fact of the matter is, it’s notjust about the lowest-income people. It’s the average American middle-class family who’s being priced out of the market.”*A few words about merit-based aid:Merit-based aid is aid offered to students who achieve excellence in a given area, and is generally known as academic, athletic and artistic merit scholarships.Academic merit scholarships are based on students’ grades, GPA and overall academic performance during high school. They are typically meant for students going straight to college right after high school. However, there are scholarships for current college students with exceptional grades as well. These merit scholarships usually help students pay tuition bills, and they can be renewed each year as long as the recipients continue to qualify. In some cases, students may need to be recommended by their school or a teacher as part of the qualification process.Athletic merit scholarships are meant for students thatexcel(突出)in sports of any kind, from football to track and field events. Recommendation for these scholarships is required, since exceptional athletic performance has to be recognized by a coach or a referee(裁判). Applicants need to send in a tape containing their best performance.Artistic merit scholarships require that applicants excel in a given artistic area. This generally includes any creative field such as art, design, fashion, music, dance or writing. Applying for artistic merit scholarships usually requires that students submit a portfolio(选辑)of some sort, whether that includes a collection of artwork, a recording of a musical performance or a video of them dancing.1. With more and more low-income students pursuing higher education, a number of colleges are ________.A) offering students more merit-based aidB) revising their financial aid policiesC) increasing the amount of financial aidD) changing their admission processes2. What did Allegheny College in Meadville do three years ago?A) It tried to implement a novel financial aid program.B) It added $ 2.5 million to its need-based aid program.C) It phased out its merit-based scholarships altogether.D) It cuts its merit-based aid to help the needy students.3. The chief purpose of rankings-conscious colleges in offering merit aid is to ______.A) improve teaching quality B) boost their enrollmentsC) attract good students D) increase their revenues4. Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, believes ______.A) it doesn’t pay to spend $ 1 million a year to raise its rankingB) it gives students motivation to award academic achievementsC) it’s illogical to use so much money on only 4% of its studentsD) it’s not right to give aid to those who can afford the tuition5. In recent years, merit-based aid has increased much faster than need-based aid due to ______.A) more government funding to collegesB) fierce competition among institutionsC) the increasing number of top studentsD) schools’ improved financial situations6. What is the attitude of many private colleges toward merit aid, according to David Laird?A) They would like to see it reduced.B) They regard it as a necessary evil.C) They think it does more harm than good.D) They consider it unfair to middle-class families.7. Why doesn’t Allegheny College plan to drop merit aid entirely?A) Raising tuitions have made college unaffordable for middle-class families.B) With rising incomes, fewer students are applying for need-based aid.C) Many students from middle-income families have come to rely on it.D) Rising incomes have disqualified many students for need-based aid.8. Annual renewal of academic merit scholarships depends on whether the recipients remain ______.9. Applicants for athletic merit scholarships need a recommendation from a coach or a referee who ______ their exceptional athletic performance.10. Applicants for artistic merit scholarships must produce evidence to show their ______ in a particular artistic fieldPart Ⅲ Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which the best answer is. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Questions 11 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.11.A) Get some small change. B) Find a shopping center.C) Cash a check at a bank. D) Find a parking meter.12.A) Shopping with his son. B) Buying a gift for a child.C) Promoting a new product. D) Bargaining with a salesgirl.13.A) Taking photographs. B) Enhancing images.C) Mending cameras. D) Painting pictures.14.A) He moved to Baltimore when he was young.B) He can provide little useful information.C) He will show the woman around Baltimore.D) He will ask someone else to help the woman.15.A) He is rather disappointed B) He is highly ambitious.C) He can’t face up to the situation D) He knows his own limitation.16.A) She must have paid a lotB) She is known to have a terrific figure.C) Her gym exercise has yielded good results.D) Her effort to keep fit is really praiseworthy.17.A) Female students are unfit for studying physics.B) He can serve as the woman’s tutor.C) Physics is an important course at school.D) The professor’s suggestion is constructive.18.A) Indifferent. B) Doubtful. C) Pleased. D) Surprised. Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19.A) He prefers the smaller evening classes.B) He has signed up for a day course.C) He has to work during the day.D) He finds the evening course cheaper.20.A) Learn a computer language.B) Learn data processing.C) Buy some computer software.D) Buy a few coursebooks.21.A) Thursday evening, from 7:00 to 9:45.B) From September 1 to New Year’s eve.C) Every Monday, lasting for 12 weeks.D) Three hours a week, 45 hours in total.22.A) What to bring for registration.B) Where to attend the class.C) How he can get to Frost Hall.D) Whether he can use a check.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23.A) A training coach. B) A trading adviser.C) A professional manager. D) A financial trader.24.A) He can save on living expenses. B) He considers cooking creative.C) He can enjoy healthier food. D) He thinks take-away is tasteless.25.A) It is something inevitable. B) It is frustrating sometimes.C) It takes patience to manage. D) It can be a good thing.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.26.A) There were no planets without moons.B) There was no air or water on Jupiter.C) Life was not possible in outer space.D) The mystery of life could not be resolved.27.A) It has a number of active volcanoes.B) It has an atmosphere like the earth’s.C) It has a large ocean under its surface.D) It has deep caves several miles long.28.A) Light is not an essential element to it.B) Life can form in very hot temperatures.C) Every form of life undergoes evolution.D) Oxygen is not needed for some life forms.Passage TwoQuestions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.29.A) Whether they should take the child home.B) What Dr. Mayer’s instructions exactly were.C) Who should take care of the child at home.D) When the child would completely recover.30.A) She encourages them to ask questions when in doubt.B) She makes them write down all her instructions.C) She has them act out what they are to do at home.D) She asks them to repeat what they are supposed to do.31.A) It lacks the stability of the printed word.B) It contains many grammatical errors.C) It is heavily dependent on the context.D) It facilitates interpePassage ThreeQuestions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.32.A) Job security.B) Good labour relations.C) Challenging work.D) Attractive wages and benefits.33.A) Many tedious jobs continue to be done manually.B) More and more unskilled workers will lose jobs.C) Computers will change the nature of many jobs.D) Boring jobs will gradually be made enjoyable.34.A) Offer them chances of promotion.B) Improve their working conditions.C) Encourage them to compete with each other.D) Give them responsibilities as part of a team.35.A) They will not bring real benefits to the staff.B) They concern a small number of people only.C) They are arbitrarily set by the administrators.D) They are beyond the control of ordinary workers.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.注意:此部分试题在答题卡2上。

2009年12月大学英语六级全国统一模拟冲刺卷及答案(新东方)

2009年12月大学英语六级全国统一模拟冲刺卷及答案(新东方)

2009年12月大学英语六级全国统一模拟冲刺卷Part I Writing (30 minutes)注意:此部分试题在答题卡1 上。

Part II Reading Comprehension(Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C), and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.How Marketers Target KidsKids represent an important demographic to marketers because they have their own purchasing power, they influence their parents’ buying decisions and they are the adult consumers of the future.Industry spending on advertising to children has exploded in the past decade, increasing from a mere $100 million in 1990 to more than $2 billion in 2000.Parents today are willing to buy more for their kids because trends such as smaller family size, dual incomes and postponing children until later in life mean that families have more disposable income.As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids.Here are some of the strategies marketers employ to target kids:Pester(纠缠)PowerToday’s kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. “Pester power” refers to children’s ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.According to the 2001 marketing industry book Kidfluence, pestering or nagging can be divided into two categories—“persistence” and “importance.” Persistence nagging (a plea,that is repeated over and over again) is not as effective as the more sophisticated “importance nagging.” This latter method appeals to parents’ desire to provide the best for their children, and plays on any guilt they may have about not having enough time for their kids.The Marriage of Psychology and MarketingTo effectively market to children, advertisers need to know what makes kids tick. With the help of well-paid researchers and psychologists, advertisers now have access to in-depth knowledge about children’s developmental, emotional and social needs at different ages. Using research that analyzes children’s behaviour, fantasy lives, art work, even their dreams, companies are able to craft sophisticated marketing strategies to reach young people.The issue of using child psychologists to help marketers target kids gained widespread public attention in 1999, when a group of U.S. mental health professionals issued a public letter to the American Psychological Association (APA) urging them to declare the practice unethical. The APA is currently studying the issue.Building Brand Name LoyaltyCanadian author Naomi Klein tracks the birth of “brand” marketing in her 2000 book No Logo.According to Klein, the mid-1980s saw the birth of a new kind of corporation—Nike, Calvin Klein,Tommy Hilfiger, to name a few—which changed their primary corporate focus from producing products to creating an image for their brand name. By moving their manufacturing operations to countries with cheap labour, they freed up money to create their powerful marketing messages. It has been a tremendously profitable formula, and has led to the creation of some of the most wealthy and powerful multi-national corporations the world has seen.Marketers plant the seeds of brand recognition in very young children, in the hopes that the seeds will grow into lifetime relationships. According to the Center for a New American Dream, babies as young as six months of age can form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. Brand loyalties can be established as early as age two, and by the time children head off to school most can recognize hundreds of brand logos. While fast food, toy and clothing companies have been cultivating brand recognition in children for years, adult-oriented businesses such as banks and automakers are now getting in on the act.Buzz or Street MarketingThe challenge for marketers is to cut through the intense advertising clutter ( 杂乱) in yo ung people’s lives. Many companies are using “buzz marketing” —a new twist on the tried-and-true “word of mouth” method. The idea is to find the coolest kids in a community and have them use or wear your product in order to create a buzz around it. Buzz, o r “street marketing,” as it’s also called, can help a company to successfully connect with the elusive ( 难找的) teen market by using trendsetters to give them products “cool” status.Buzz marketing is particularly well-suited to the Internet, where young “Net promoters” use chat rooms and blogs to spread the word about music, clothes and other products among unsuspecting users.Commercialization in EducationSchool used to be a place where children were protected from the advertising and consumer messages that permeated their world—but not anymore. Budget shortfalls ( 亏空,差额) are forcing school boards to allow corporations access to students in exchange for badly needed cash, computers and educational materials.Corporations realize the power of the school environment for promoting their name and products.A school setting delivers a captive youth audience and implies the endorsement of teachers and the educational system. Marketers are eagerly exploiting this medium in a number of ways, including:● Sponsored educational materials.● Supplying schools with technology in exchange for high company visibility.● Advertising posted in classrooms, school buses, on computers in exchange for funds.● Contests and incentive programs: for example, the Pizza Hut reading incentives program in which children receive certificates for free pizza if they achieve a monthly reading goal.● Sponsoring school events.The InternetThe Internet is an extremely desirable medium for marketers wanting to target children. It’s part of youth culture. This generation of young people is growing up with the Internet as a daily and routine part of their lives. Kids are often online alone, without parental supervision.Unlike broadcasting media, which have codes regarding advertising to kids, the Internet is unregulated. Sophisticated technologies make it easy to collect information from young people for marketing research, and to target individual children with personalized advertising.Marketing Adult Entertainment to KidsChildren are often aware of and want to see entertainment meant for older audiences because it is actively marketed to them. In a report released in 2000, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed how the movie, music and video games industries routinely market violent entertainment to young children.The FTC studied 44 films rated “Restricted,” and discovered that 80 per cent were targeted to children under 17. Marketing plans included TV commercials run during hours when young viewers were most likely to be watching. The FTC report also highlighted the fact that toys based on characters from mature entertainment are often marketed to young children. Mature rated video games are advertised in youth magazines; and toys based on “Restricted” movies and M-rated video games are marketed to children as young as four.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1 上作答。

2009年12月英语六级真题及答案解析(标准完整版)

2009年12月英语六级真题及答案解析(标准完整版)

2009年12月英语六级考试真题Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Should Parents Send Their Kids to Art Classes? You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below.1. 现在有不少家长送孩子参加各种艺术班2. 对这种做法有人表示支持,也有人并不赞成3. 我认为……Should Parents Send Their Kids to Art Classes?Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions:In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked [A], [B], [C] and [D]. For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Bosses Say “Yes” to Home WorkRising costs of office space, time lost to stressful commuting, and a slow recognition that workers have lives beyond the office—all are strong arguments for letting staff work from home.For the small business, there are additional benefits too—staff are more productive, and happier, enabling firms to keep their headcounts (员工数) and their recruitment costs to a minimum. It can also provide competitive advantage, especially when small businesses want to attract new staff but don’t have the bu dget to offer huge salaries.While company managers have known about the benefits for a long time, many have done little about it, skeptical of whether they could trust their employees to work to full capacity without supervision, or concerned about the additional expenses teleworking policies might incur as staff start charging their home phone bills to the business.Yet this is now changing. When communications provider Inter-Tel researched the use of remote working solutions among small and medium sized UK businesses in April this year, it found that 28% more companies claimed to have introduced flexible working practices than a year ago.The UK network of Business Links confirms that it too has seen a growing interest in remote working solutions from small businesses seeking its advice, and claims that as many as 60-70% of the businesses that come through its doors now offer some form of remote working support to their workforces.Technology advances, including the widespread availability of broadband, are making the introduction of remote working a piece of cake.“If systems are set up properly, staff can have access to all the resources they have in the office wherever they have an internet connection,” says Andy Poulton, e-business advisor at Business Link for Berkshire and Wiltshire. “There are some very exciting developments which have enabled this.”One is the availability of broadband everywhere, which now covers almost all of the country (BT claims that, by July, 99.8% of its exchanges will be broadband enabled, with alternative plans in place for even the most remote exchanges). “This is the enabler,” Poulton says.Yet while broadband has come down in price too, those service providers targeting the business market warn against consumer services masquerading (伪装) as business friendly broadband.“Broadband is available for as little as £15 a month, but many businesses fail to appreciate the hiddencosts of such a service,” says Neil Stephenson, sales and marketing director at Onyx Int ernet, an internet service provider based in the northeast of England. “Providers offering broadband for rock bottom prices are notorious for poor service, with regular breakdowns and heavily congested (拥堵的) networks. It is always advisable for businesses to look beyond the price tag and look for a business only provider that can offer more reliability, with good support.” Such services don’t cost too much—quality services can be found for upwards of £30 a month.The benefits of broadband to the occasional home worker are that they can access email in real time, and take full advantage of services such as internet based backup or even internet based phone services.Internet based telecoms, or V oIP (V oice over IP) to give it its technical title, is an interesting tool to any business supporting remote working. Not necessarily because of the promise of free or reduced price phone calls (which experts point out is misleading for the average business), but because of the sophisticated voice services that can be exploited by the remote worker—facilities such as voicemail and call forwarding, which provide a continuity of the company image for customers and business partners.By law, companies must “consider seriously” requests to work flexibly made by a paren t with a child under the age of six, or a disabled child under 18. It was the need to accommodate employees with young children that motivated accountancy firm Wright Vigar to begin promoting teleworking recently. The company, which needed to upgrade its IT infrastructure (基础设施) to provide connectivity with a new, second office, decided to introduce support for remote working at the same time.Marketing director Jack O Hern explains that the company has a relatively young workforce, many of whom are paren ts: “One of the triggers was when one of our tax managers returned from maternity leave. She was intending to work part time, but could only manage one day a week in the office due to childcare. By offering her the ability to work from home, we have doubled her capacity—now she works a day a week from home, and a day in the office. This is great for her, and for us as we retain someone highly qualified.”For Wright Vigar, which has now equipped all of its fee earners to be able to work at maximum producti vity when away from the offices (whether that’s from home, or while on the road), this strategy is not just about saving on commute time or cutting them loose from the office, but enabling them to work more flexible hours that fit around their home life.O’Hern says: “Although most of our work is client-based and must fit around this, we can’t see any reason why a parent can’t be on hand to deal with something important at home, if they have the ability to complete a project later in the day.”Supporting this new way of working came with a price, though. Although the firm was updating its systems anyway, the company spent 10-15% more per user to equip them with a laptop rather than a PC, and about the same to upgrade to a server that would enable remote staff to connect to the company networks and access all their usual resources.Although Wright Vigar hasn’t yet quantified the business benefits, it claims that, in addition to being able to retain key staff with young families, it is able to save fee-ea rners a substantial amount of “dead” time in their working days.That staff can do this without needing a fixed telephone line provides even more efficiency savings. “With Wi-Fi (fast, wireless internet connections) popping up all over the place, even on trains, our fee-earners can be productive as they travel, and between meetings, instead of having to kill time at the shops,” he adds.The company will also be able to avoid the expense of having to relocate staff to temporary offices for several weeks when it begins disruptive office renovations soon.Financial recruitment specialist Lynne Hargreaves knows exactly how much her firm has saved by adopting a teleworking strategy, which has involved handing her company’s data management over to a remoteh osting company, Dataset, so it can be accessible by all the company’s consultants over broadband internet connections.It has enabled the company to dispense with its business premises altogether, following the realization that it just didn’t need them any more. “The main motivation behind adopting home working was to increase my own productivity, as a single mum to an 11year old,” says Hargreaves. “But I soon realised that, as most of our business is done on the phone, email and at offsite meetings, we didn’t need our offices at all. We’re now saving £16,000 a year on rent, plus the cost of utilities, not to mention what would have been spent on commuting.”1. What is the main topic of this passage?A) How business managers view hi-tech.B) Relations between employers and employees.C) How to cut down the costs of small businesses.D) Benefits of the practice of teleworking.2. From the research conducted by the communications provider Inter-Tel, we learn that .A) more employees work to full capacity at homeB) employees show a growing interest in small businessesC) more businesses have adopted remote working solutionsD) attitudes toward IT technology have changed3. What development has made flexible working practices possible according to Andy Poulton?A) Reduced cost of telecommunications.B) Improved reliability of internet service.C) Availability of the V oIP service.D) Access to broadband everywhere.4. What is Neil Stephenson’s advice to firms contracting internet services?A) They look for reliable business-only providers.B) They contact providers located nearest to them.C) They carefully examine the contract.D) They contract the cheapest provider.5. Internet-based telecoms facilitates remote working by .A) offering sophisticated voice servicesB) giving access to emailing in real timeC) helping clients discuss business at homeD) providing calls completely free of charge6. The accountancy firm Wright Vigar promoted teleworking initially in order to .A) present a positive image to prospective customersB) support its employees with children to take care ofC) attract young people with IT expertise to work for itD) reduce operational expenses of a second office7. According to marketing director Jack O’Hern, teleworking enabled the company to .A) enhance its market imageB) reduce recruitment costsC) keep highly qualified staffD) minimize its office space8. Wright Vigar’s practice of allowing for more flexible working hours not only benefits the company but helpsimprove employe es’ _________.9. With fast, wireless internet connections, employees can still be_______ while traveling.10. Single mother Lynne Hargreaves decided to work at home mainly to______..Part III Listening Comprehension (35 minutes) Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.11. A) They would rather travel around than stay at home.B) They prefer to carry cash when traveling abroad.C) They usually carry many things around with them.D) They don’t like to spend much money on traveling.12. A) The selection process was a little unfair.B) He had long dreamed of the dean’s position.C) Rod was eliminated in the selection process.D) Rod was in charge of the admissions office.13. A) Applause encourages the singer.B) She regrets paying for the concert.C) Almost everyone loves pop music.D) The concert is very impressive.14. A) They have known each other since their schooldays.B) They were both chairpersons of the Students’ Union.C) They have been in close touch by email.D) They are going to hold a reunion party.15. A) Cook their dinner.B) Rest for a while.C) Get their car fixed.D) Stop for the night.16. A) Newly-launched products. B) Consumer preferences.C) Survey results. D) Survey methods.17. A) He would rather the woman didn’t buy the blouse.B) The woman needs blouses in the colors of a rainbow.C) The information in the catalog is not always reliable.D) He thinks the blue blouse is better than the red one.18. A) The course is open to all next semester.B) The notice may not be reliable.C) The woman has not told the truth.D) He will drop his course in marketing.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19. A) A director of a sales department. B) A manager at a computer store.C) A sales clerk at a shopping center. D) An accountant of a computer firm.20. A) Handling customer complaints. B) Recruiting and training new staff.C) Dispatching ordered goods on time. D) Developing computer programs.21. A) She likes something more challenging. B) She likes to be nearer to her parents.C) She wants to have a better-paid job. D) She wants to be with her husband.22. A) Right away. B) In two months.C) Early next month. D) In a couple of days.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23. A) It will face challenges unprecedented in its history.B) It is a resolute advocate of the anti-global movement.C) It is bound to regain its full glory of a hundred years ago.D) It will be a major economic power by the mid-21st century.24. A) The lack of overall urban planning.B) The huge gap between the haves and have-nots.C) The inadequate supply of water and electricity.D) The shortage of hi-tech personnel.25. A) They attach great importance to education.B) They are able to grasp growth opportunities.C) They are good at learning from other nations.D) They have made use of advanced technologies.Section BDirections:In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.26. A) She taught chemistry and microbiology courses in a college.B) She gave lectures on how to become a public speaker.C) She helped families move away from industrial polluters.D) She engaged in field research on environmental pollution.27. A) The job restricted her from revealing her findings.B) The job posed a potential threat to her health.C) She found the working conditions frustrating.D) She was offered a better job in a minority community.28. A) Some giant industrial polluters have gone out of business.B) More environmental organizations have appeared.C) Many toxic sites in America have been cleaned up.D) More branches of her company have been set up.29. A) Her widespread influence among members of Congress.B) Her ability to communicate through public speaking.C) Her rigorous training in delivering eloquent speeches.D) Her lifelong commitment to domestic and global issues.Passage TwoQuestions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.30. A) The fierce competition in the market. B) The growing necessity of staff training.C) The accelerated pace of globalization. D) The urgent need of a diverse workforce.31. A) Gain a deep understanding of their own culture.B) Take courses of foreign languages and cultures.C) Share the experiences of people from other cultures.D) Participate in international exchange programmes.32. A) Reflective thinking is becoming critical. B) Labor market is getting globalised.C) Knowing a foreign language is essential. D) Globalization will eliminate many jobs. Passage ThreeQuestions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.33. A) Red-haired women were regarded as more reliable.B) Brown-haired women were rated as more capable.C) Golden-haired women were considered attractive.D) Black-haired women were judged to be intelligent.34. A) They are smart and eloquent.B) They are ambitious and arrogant.C) They are shrewd and dishonest.D) They are wealthy and industrious.35. A) They force people to follow the cultural mainstream.B) They exaggerate the roles of certain groups of people.C) They emphasize diversity at the expense of uniformity.D) They hinder our perception of individual differences.Section CDirections:In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.The ancient Greeks developed basic memory systems called mnemonics. The name is (36) from their Goddess of memory “Mnemosyne”. In the ancient world, a trained memory was an (37) asset, particularly in public life. There were no (38) devices for taking notes, and early Greek orators(演说家) delivered long speeches with great (39) because they learned the speeches using mnemonic systems.The Greeks discovered that human memory is (40) an associative process—that it works by linking things together. For example, think of an apple. The (41) your brain registers the word “apple”, it (42) the shape, color, taste, smell and (43) of that fruit. All these things are associated in your memory with the word “apple”.(44) . An example could be when you think about a lecture you have had. This could trigger a memory about what you’re talking about through that lecture, which can then trigger another memory.(45) . An example given on a website I was looking at follows: Do you remember the shape of Austria, Canada, Belgium, or Germany? Probably not. What about Italy, though? (46) . You made an association with something already known, the shape of a boot, and Italy’s shape could not be forgotten once you had made the association.Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2.Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.Many countries have made it illegal to chat into a hand-held mobile phone while driving. But the latest research furth er confirms that the danger lies less in what a motorist’s hands do when he takes a call than in what the conversation does to his brain. Even using a “hands-free” device can divert a driver’s attention to an alarming extent.Melina Kunar of the University of Warwick and Todd Horowitz of the Harvard Medical School ran a series of experiments in which two groups of volunteers had to pay attention and respond to a series of moving tasks on a computer screen that were reckoned equivalent in difficulty to driving. One group was left undistracted while the other had to engage in a conversation using a speakerphone. As Kumar and Horowitz report, those who were making the equivalent of a hands-free call had an average reaction time 212 milliseconds slower than those who were not. That, they calculate, would add 5.7 metres to the braking distance of a car travelling at 100kph. They also found that the group using the hands-free kit made 83% more errors in their tasks than those who were not talking.To try to understand more about why this was, they tried two further tests. In one, members of a group were asked simply to repeat words spoken by the caller. In the other, they had to think of a word that began with the last letter of the word they had just heard. Those only repeating words performed the same as those with no distraction, but those with the more complicated task showed even worse reaction times—an average of 480 milliseconds extra delay. This shows that when people have to consider the information they hear carefully, it can impair their driving ability significantly.Punishing people for using handheld gadgets while driving is difficult enough, even though they can be seen from outside the car. Persuading people to switch their phones off altogether when they get behind the wheel might be the only answer. Who knows, they might even come to enjoy not having to take calls.47. Carrying on a mobile phone conversation while one is driving is considered dangerous because it seriouslydistracts _______________________.48. In the experiments, the two groups of volunteers were asked to handle a series of moving tasks which wereconsidered _______________________.49. Results of the experiments show that those who were making the equivalent of a hands-free call took_______________________ to react than those who were not.50. Further experiments reveal that participants tend to respond with extra delay if they are required to do_______________________.51. The author believes persuasion, rather than _______________________, might be the only way to stoppeople from using mobile phones while driving.Section BDirections:There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the bestchoice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.There is nothing like the suggestion of a cancer risk to scare a parent, especially one of the over-educated, eco-conscious type. So you can imagine the reaction when a recent USA Today investigation of air quality around the nation’s schools singled out those in the smugl y(自鸣得意的)green village of Berkeley, Calif., as being among the worst in the country. The city’s public high school, as well as a number of daycare centers, preschools, elementary and middle schools, fell in the lowest 10%. Industrial pollution in our town had supposedly turned students into living science experiments breathing in a laboratory’s worth of heavy metals like manganese, chromium and nickel each day. This in a city that requires school cafeterias to serve organic meals. Great, I thought, organic lunch, toxic campus.Since December, when the report came out, the mayor, neighborhood activists(活跃分子)and various parent-teacher associations have engaged in a fierce battle over its validity: over the guilt of the steel-casting factory on the western edg e of town, over union jobs versus children’s health and over what, if anything, ought to be done. With all sides presenting their own experts armed with conflicting scientific studies, whom should parents believe? Is there truly a threat here, we asked one another as we dropped off our kids, and if so, how great is it? And how does it compare with the other, seemingly perpetual health scares we confront, like panic over lead in synthetic athletic fields? Rather than just another weird episode in the town that brought you protesting environmentalists, this latest drama is a trial for how today’s parents perceive risk, how we try to keep our kids safe—whether it’s possible to keep them safe—in what feels like an increasingly threatening world. It raises the qu estion of what, in our time, “safe” could even mean.“There’s no way around the uncertainty,” says Kimberly Thompson, president of Kid Risk, a nonprofit group that studies children’s health. “That means your choices can matter, but it also means you aren’t going to know if they do.” A 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics explained that nervous parents have more to fear from fire, car accidents and drowning than from toxic chemical exposure. To which I say: Well, obviously. But such concrete hazards are b eside the point. It’s the dangers parents can’t—and may never—quantify that occur all of sudden. That’s why I’ve rid my cupboard of microwave food packed in bags coated with a potential cancer-causing substance, but although I’ve lived blocks from a major fault line(地质断层) for more than 12 years, I still haven’t bolted our bookcases to the living room wall.52. What does a recent investigation by USA Today reveal?A) Heavy metals in lab tests threaten children’s health in Berkeley.B) Berkeley residents are quite contented with their surroundings.C) The air quality around Berkeley’s school campuses is poor.D) Parents in Berkeley are over-sensitive to cancer risks their kids face.53. What response did USA Today’s report draw?A) A heated debate. B) Popular support.C) Widespread panic. D) Strong criticism.54. How did parents feel in the face of the experts’ studies?A) They felt very much relieved. B) They were frightened by the evidence.C) They didn’t know who to believe. D) They weren’t convinced of the results.55. What is the view of the 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics?A) It is important to quantify various concrete hazards.B) Daily accidents pose a more serious threat to children.C) Parents should be aware of children’s health hazards.D) Attention should be paid to toxic chemical exposure.56. Of the dangers in everyday life, the author thinks that people have most to fear from .A) the uncertain B) the quantifiableC) an earthquake D) unhealthy foodPassage TwoQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Crippling health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries(老年医保受惠人). The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors—two primary care physicians and five specialists—in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don’t guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he’s reimbursed (返还费用). Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient’s disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements; physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.How do we fix this problem?It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally (最佳地) managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.We’re at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.Who will be there to treat them?57. The author’s chief concern about the current U.S. health care system is .A) the inadequate training of physicians B) the declining number of doctorsC) the shrinking primary care resources D) the ever-rising health care costs58. We learn from the passage that people tend to believe that .A) the more costly the medicine, the more effective the cure。

2009年12月英语四级考试真题及参考答案

2009年12月英语四级考试真题及参考答案

2009年12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案Part ⅠWriting (30 minutes)注意:此部分试题在答题卡1上。

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the topic of Creating a Green Campus. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below:1. 建设绿色校园很重要2. 绿色校园不仅指绿色的环境……3. 为了建设绿色校园,我们应该……Creating a Green CampusPart ⅡReading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For question 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Colleges taking another look at value of merit-based aid Good grades and high tests scores still matter—a lot—to many colleges as they award financial aid.But with low-income students projected to make up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years, some schools are re-examining whether that aid, typically known as “merit aid”, is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for example, said last week that it would cut the value of its average merit scholarships by about one-third and reduce the number of recipients(接受者), pouring the savings, about $2.5 million, into need-based aid. Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., made a similar decision three years ago.Now, Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., says it will phase out merit scholarships altogether. No current merit-aid recipients will lose their scholarships, but need-based aid alone will be awarded beginning with students entering in fall 2008.Not all colleges offer merit aid; generally, the more selective a school, the less likely it is to do so. Harvard and Princeton, for example, offer generous need-based packages, but many families who don’t meet need eligibility(资格)have been willingto pay whatever they must for a big-name school.For small regional colleges that struggle just to fill seats, merit aid can be an important revenue-builder because many recipients still pay enough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship amount to keep the institution running.But for rankings-conscious schools in between, merit aid has served primarily as a tool to recruit top students and to improve their academic profits. “They’re trying to buy students,” says Skidmore College economist Sandy Baum.Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately students who could afford to enroll without it.“As we look to the future, we see a more pressing need to invest in need-based aid,”says Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, which has offered merit scholarships for 10 years. During that time, it rose in US News & World Report’s ranking of the best liberal arts colleges, from 25 to 17.Merit aid, which benefited about 75 students a year, or about 4% of its student body, at a cost of about $ 1 million a year, “served us well,”Inzer says, but “to be discounting the price for families that don’t need financial aid doesn’t feel right any more.”Need-based aid remains by far the largest share of all student aid, which includes state, federal and institutional grants. But merit aid, offered primarily by schools and states, is growing faster, both overall and at the institutional level.Between 1995-96 and 2003-04, institutional merit aid alone increased 212%, compared with 47% for need-based grants. At least 15 states also offer merit aid, typically in a bid to enroll top students in the state’s public institutions.But in recent years, a growing chorus(异口同声)of critics has begun pressuring schools to drop the practice. Recent decisions by Hamilton and others may be “a sign that people are starting to realize that there’s this destructive competition going on,”says Baum, co-author of a recent College Report that raises concerns about the role of institutional aid not based on need.David Laird, president of the Minnesota Private College Council, says many of his schools would like to reduce their merit aid but fear that in doing so, they would lose top students to their competitors.“No one can take one-sided action,”says Laird, who is exploring whether to seek an exemption(豁免)from federal anti-trust laws so member colleges can discuss how they could jointly reduce merit aid, “This is a merry-go-round that’s going very fast, and none of the institutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying to breakaway by themselves.”A complicating factor is that merit aid has become so popular with middle-income families, who don’t qualify for need-based aid, that many have come to depend on it. And, as tuitions continue to increase, the line between merit and need blurs.That’s one reason Allegheny College doesn’t plan to drop merit aid entirely.“We still believe in rewarding superior achievements and know that these top students truly value the scholarship,”says Scott Friedhoff, Allegheny’s vice president for enrollment.Emory University in Atlanta, which boasts a $4.7 billion endowment(捐赠), meanwhile, is taking another approach. This year, it announced it would eliminate loans for needy students and cap them for middle-income families. At the same time, it would expand its 28-year-old merit program.“Yeah, we’re playing the merit game,”acknowledges Tom Lancaster, associate dean for undergraduate education. But it has its strong point, too, he says. “The fact of the matter is, it’s not just about the lowest-income people. It’s the average American middle-class family who’s being priced out of the market.”*A few words about merit-based aid:Merit-based aid is aid offered to students who achieve excellence in a given area, and is generally known as academic, athletic and artistic merit scholarships.Academic merit scholarships are based on students’grades, GPA and overall academic performance during high school. They are typically meant for students going straight to college right after high school. However, there are scholarships for current college students with exceptional grades as well. These merit scholarships usually help students pay tuition bills, and they can be renewed each year as long as the recipients continue to qualify. In some cases, students may need to be recommended by their school or a teacher as part of the qualification process.Athletic merit scholarships are meant for students that excel(突出)in sports of any kind, from football to track and field events. Recommendation for these scholarships is required, since exceptional athletic performance has to be recognized by a coach or a referee(裁判). Applicants need to send in a tape containing their best performance.Artistic merit scholarships require that applicants excel in a given artistic area. This generally includes any creative field such as art, design, fashion, music, dance or writing. Applying for artistic merit scholarships usually requires that students submit aportfolio(选辑)of some sort, whether that includes a collection of artwork, a recording of a musical performance or a video of them dancing.1. With more and more low-income students pursuing higher education, a number of colleges are ________.A) offering students more merit-based aidB) revising their financial aid policiesC) increasing the amount of financial aidD) changing their admission processes2. What did Allegheny College in Meadville do three years ago?A) It tried to implement a novel financial aid program.B) It added $ 2.5 million to its need-based aid program.C) It phased out its merit-based scholarships altogether.D) It cuts its merit-based aid to help the needy students.3. The chief purpose of rankings-conscious colleges in offering merit aid is to ______.A) improve teaching quality B) boost their enrollmentsC) attract good students D) increase their revenues4. Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, believes ______.A) it doesn’t pay to spend $ 1 million a year to raise its rankingB) it gives students motivation to award academic achievementsC) it’s illogical to use so much money on only 4% of its studentsD) it’s not right to give aid to those who can afford the tuition5. In recent years, merit-based aid has increased much faster than need-based aid due to ______.A) more government funding to collegesB) fierce competition among institutionsC) the increasing number of top studentsD) schools’ improved financial situations6. What is the attitude of many private colleges toward merit aid, according to David Laird?A) They would like to see it reduced.B) They regard it as a necessary evil.C) They think it does more harm than good.D) They consider it unfair to middle-class families.7. Why doesn’t Allegheny College plan to drop merit aid entirely?A) Raising tuitions have made college unaffordable for middle-class families.B) With rising incomes, fewer students are applying for need-based aid.C) Many students from middle-income families have come to rely on it.D) Rising incomes have disqualified many students for need-based aid.8. Annual renewal of academic merit scholarships depends on whether the recipients remain ______.9. Applicants for athletic merit scholarships need a recommendation from a coach or a referee who ______ their exceptional athletic performance.10. Applicants for artistic merit scholarships must produce evidence to show their ______ in a particular artistic fieldPart ⅢListening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which the best answer is. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer sheet 2with a single line through the centre.Questions 11 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.11.A) Get some small change. B) Find a shopping center.C) Cash a check at a bank. D) Find a parking meter.12.A) Shopping with his son. B) Buying a gift for a child.C) Promoting a new product. D) Bargaining with a salesgirl.13.A) Taking photographs. B) Enhancing images.C) Mending cameras. D) Painting pictures.14.A) He moved to Baltimore when he was young.B) He can provide little useful information.C) He will show the woman around Baltimore.D) He will ask someone else to help the woman.15.A) He is rather disappointed B) He is highly ambitious.C) He can’t face up to the situation D) He knows his own limitation.16.A) She must have paid a lotB) She is known to have a terrific figure.C) Her gym exercise has yielded good results.D) Her effort to keep fit is really praiseworthy.17.A) Female students are unfit for studying physics.B) He can serve as the woman’s tutor.C) Physics is an important course at school.D) The professor’s suggestion is constructive.18.A) Indifferent. B) Doubtful. C) Pleased. D) Surprised. Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19.A) He prefers the smaller evening classes.B) He has signed up for a day course.C) He has to work during the day.D) He finds the evening course cheaper.20.A) Learn a computer language.B) Learn data processing.C) Buy some computer software.D) Buy a few coursebooks.21.A) Thursday evening, from 7:00 to 9:45.B) From September 1 to New Year’s eve.C) Every Monday, lasting for 12 weeks.D) Three hours a week, 45 hours in total.22.A) What to bring for registration.B) Where to attend the class.C) How he can get to Frost Hall.D) Whether he can use a check.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23.A) A training coach. B) A trading adviser.C) A professional manager. D) A financial trader.24.A) He can save on living expenses. B) He considers cooking creative.C) He can enjoy healthier food. D) He thinks take-away is tasteless.25.A) It is something inevitable.B) It is frustrating sometimes.C) It takes patience to manage. D) It can be a good thing.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.26.A) There were no planets without moons.B) There was no air or water on Jupiter.C) Life was not possible in outer space.D) The mystery of life could not be resolved.27.A) It has a number of active volcanoes.B) It has an atmosphere like the earth’s.C) It has a large ocean under its surface.D) It has deep caves several miles long.28.A) Light is not an essential element to it.B) Life can form in very hot temperatures.C) Every form of life undergoes evolution.D) Oxygen is not needed for some life forms.Passage TwoQuestions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.29.A) Whether they should take the child home.B) What Dr. Mayer’s instructions exactly were.C) Who should take care of the child at home.D) When the child would completely recover.30.A) She encourages them to ask questions when in doubt.B) She makes them write down all her instructions.C) She has them act out what they are to do at home.D) She asks them to repeat what they are supposed to do.31.A) It lacks the stability of the printed word.B) It contains many grammatical errors.C) It is heavily dependent on the context.D) It facilitates interpePassage ThreeQuestions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.32.A) Job security.B) Good labour relations.C) Challenging work.D) Attractive wages and benefits.33.A) Many tedious jobs continue to be done manually.B) More and more unskilled workers will lose jobs.C) Computers will change the nature of many jobs.D) Boring jobs will gradually be made enjoyable.34.A) Offer them chances of promotion.B) Improve their working conditions.C) Encourage them to compete with each other.D) Give them responsibilities as part of a team.35.A) They will not bring real benefits to the staff.B) They concern a small number of people only.C) They are arbitrarily set by the administrators.D) They are beyond the control of ordinary workers.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.注意:此部分试题在答题卡2上。

最新 2009年12月英语六级考试冲刺大作战模拟题-精品

最新 2009年12月英语六级考试冲刺大作战模拟题-精品

2009年12月英语六级考试冲刺大作战模拟题Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer thequestions on Answer Sheet 1.For questions 1-4, markY (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;N (for NO) if statement contradicts the information given in the passage;NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.For questions 5-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Our galaxy is a gigantic agglomeration of stars and planets whose numbers will probably never been known. Currently we estimate this number to be about thirty billion. Scientists have estimated that the diameter of our galaxy, if it were to be traveled, would take usabout fifty thousand light years and the thickness to be aboutfifteen to twenty light years.We live in small part of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is referredto as a solar system. Our solar system is made up of nine planets and 31 moons, which orbit the center of galaxy. At the center of ourgalaxy is our Sun, which is approximately twenty-five thousand light years from our solar system.These nine major planets in order from the center are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.Mercury is the planet nearest to the Sun. As it orbits the Sun,it does not rotate, keeping the same face of the planet toward theSun at all times. This means that one side of the planet has acontinual burning day of 900 °F, and the other side a continualnight and a deadly cold of 450° F below zero. Mercury is the fastest。

最新 2009年12月大学英语四级考试模拟试题(八)-精品

最新 2009年12月大学英语四级考试模拟试题(八)-精品

2009年12月大学英语四级考试模拟试题(八)Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the title Global Warming. You should write at least120 words following the outline given below in Chinese:1. 全球性变暖的原因2. 提出解决的建议Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the question on Answer Sheet 1For questions 1-7,markY (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.SpidersSpiders can be distinguished from other Arachnids because the prosoma (combined head and thorax) is only separated from the opisthosoma (abdomen) by a narrow waist, in other Arachnids the whole body appears to be much more of a single unit. All spiders produce silk, but only some construct webs to catch their homes and toprotect their eggs.All spiders possess poison glands but very few of them are dangerous to humans, of the 600+species in Britain only 12 (at least one of these is a recent human assisted colonist) are strong enough。

2009年12月大学英语四级真题及答案

2009年12月大学英语四级真题及答案

2009年12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案Part ⅠWriting (30 minutes)注意:此部分试题在答题卡1上。

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the topic of Creating a Green Campus. Y ou should write at least 120 words following the outline given below:1. 建设绿色校园很重要2. 绿色校园不仅指绿色的环境……3. 为了建设绿色校园,我们应该……Creating a Green CampusPart ⅡReading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For question 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Colleges taking another look at value of merit-based aid Good grades and high tests scores still matter—a lot—to many colleges as they award financial aid.But with low-income students projected to make up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years, some schools are re-examining whether that aid, typically known as “merit aid”, is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for example, said last week that it would cut the value of its average merit scholarships by abo ut one-third and reduce the number of recipients(接受者), pouring the savings, about $2.5 million, into need-based aid. Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., made a similar decision three years ago.Now, Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., says it will phase out merit scholarships altogether. No current merit-aid recipients will lose their scholarships, but need-based aid alone will be awarded beginning with students entering in fall 2008.Not all colleges offer merit aid; generally, the more selective a school, the less likely it is to do so. Harvard and Princeton, for example, offer generous need-based packages, but many families who don’t meet need eligibility(资格)have been willing to pay whatever they must for a big-name school.For small regional colleges that struggle just to fill seats, merit aid can be an important revenue-builder because many recipients still pay enough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship amount to keep the institution running.But for rankings-conscious schools in between, merit aid has served primarily as a tool to recruit top students and to improve their academic profits. “They’re trying to buy students,”says Skidmore College economist Sandy Baum.Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately students who could afford to enroll without it.“As we look to the future, we see a more pressing need to invest in need-basedaid,”says Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, which has offered merit scholarships for 10 years. During that time, it rose in US News & World Repor t’s ranking of the best liberal arts colleges, from 25 to 17.Merit aid, which benefited about 75 students a year, or about 4% of its student body, at a cost of about $ 1 million a year, “served us well,”Inzer says, but “to be discounting the price for families that don’t need financial aid doesn’t feel right any more.”Need-based aid remains by far the largest share of all student aid, which includes state, federal and institutional grants. But merit aid, offered primarily by schools and states, is growing faster, both overall and at the institutional level.Between 1995-96 and 2003-04, institutional merit aid alone increased 212%, compared with 47% for need-based grants. At least 15 states also offer merit aid, typically in a bid to enroll top students in the state’s public institutions.But in recent years, a growing chorus(异口同声)of critics has begun pressuring schools to drop the practice. Recent decisions by Hamilton and others may be “a sign that people are starting to realize that there’s this destructive competition going on,”says Baum, co-author of a recent College Report that raises concerns about the role of institutional aid not based on need.David Laird, president of the Minnesota Private College Council, says many of his schools would like to reduce their merit aid but fear that in doing so, they would lose top students to their competitors.“No one can take one-sided action,”says Laird, who is exploring whether to seek an exemption(豁免)from federal anti-trust laws so member colleges can discuss how they could jointly reduce merit aid, “This is a merry-go-round that’s going very fast, and none of the institutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying to break away by themselves.”A complicating factor is that merit aid has become so popular with middle-income families, who don’t qualify for need-based aid, that many have come to depend on it. And, as tuitions continue to increase, the line between merit and need blurs.That’s one reason Allegheny College doesn’t plan to drop merit aid entirely.“We still believe in rewarding superior achievements and know that these top students truly value the scholarship,”says Scott Friedhoff, Allegheny’s vice president for enrollment.Emory University in Atlanta, which boasts a $4.7 billion endowment(捐赠), meanwhile, is taking another approach. This year, it announced it would eliminate loans for needy students and cap them for middle-income families. At the same time, it would expand its 28-year-old merit program.“Y eah, we’re playing the merit game,”acknowledges Tom Lancaster, associate dean for undergraduate education. But it has its strong point, too, he says. “The fact of the matter is, it’s not just about the lowest-income people. It’s the average American middle-class family who’s being priced out of the market.”*A few words about merit-based aid:Merit-based aid is aid offered to students who achieve excellence in a given area,and is generally known as academic, athletic and artistic merit scholarships.Academic merit scholarships are based on students’grades, GPA and overall academic performance during high school. They are typically meant for students going straight to college right after high school. However, there are scho larships for current college students with exceptional grades as well. These merit scholarships usually help students pay tuition bills, and they can be renewed each year as long as the recipients continue to qualify. In some cases, students may need to be recommended by their school or a teacher as part of the qualification process.Athletic merit scholarships are meant for students that excel(突出)in sports of any kind, from football to track and field events. Recommendation for these scholarships is required, since exceptional athletic performance has to be recognized by a coach or a referee(裁判). Applicants need to send in a tape containing their best performance.Artistic merit scholarships require that applicants excel in a given artistic area. This generally includes any creative field such as art, design, fashion, music, dance or writing. Applying for artistic merit scholarships usually requires that students submit a portfolio(选辑)of some sort, whether that includes a collection of artwork, a recording of a musical performance or a video of them dancing.1. With more and more low-income students pursuing higher education, a number of colleges are ________.A) offering students more merit-based aid B) revising their financial aid policiesC) increasing the amount of financial aid D) changing their admission processes2. What did Allegheny College in Meadville do three years ago?A) It tried to implement a novel financial aid program.B) It added $ 2.5 million to its need-based aid program.C) It phased out its merit-based scholarships altogether.D) It cuts its merit-based aid to help the needy students.3. The chief purpose of rankings-conscious colleges in offering merit aid is to ______.A) improve teaching quality B) boost their enrollmentsC) attract good students D) increase their revenues4. Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, believes ______.A) it doesn’t pay to spend $ 1 million a year to raise its rankingB) it gives students motivation to award academic achievementsC) it’s illogical to use so much money on only 4% of its studentsD) it’s not right to give aid to those who can afford the tuition5. In recent years, merit-based aid has increased much faster than need-based aid due to ______.A) more government funding to colleges B) fierce competition among institutionsC) the increasing number of top students D) schools’improved financial situations6. What is the attitude of many private colleges toward merit aid, according toDavid Laird?A) They would like to see it reduced.B) They regard it as a necessary evil.C) They think it does more harm than good.D) They consider it unfair to middle-class families.7. Why doesn’t Allegheny College plan to drop merit aid entirely?A) Raising tuitions have made college unaffordable for middle-class families.B) With rising incomes, fewer students are applying for need-based aid.C) Many students from middle-income families have come to rely on it.D) Rising incomes have disqualified many students for need-based aid.8. Annual renewal of academic merit scholarships depends on whether the recipients remain ______.9. Applicants for athletic merit scholarships need a recommendation from a coach or a referee who ______ their exceptional athletic performance.10. Applicants for artistic merit scholarships must produce evidence to show their ______ in a particular artistic fieldPart ⅢListening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which the best answer is. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Questions 11 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.11. A) Get some small change. B) Find a shopping center.C) Cash a check at a bank. D) Find a parking meter.12. A) Shopping with his son. B) Buying a gift for a child.C) Promoting a new product. D) Bargaining with a salesgirl.13. A) Taking photographs. B) Enhancing images.C) Mending cameras. D) Painting pictures.14. A) He moved to Baltimore when he was young.B) He can provide little useful information.C) He will show the woman around Baltimore.D) He will ask someone else to help the woman.15. A) He is rather disappointed. B) He is highly ambitious.C) He can’t face up to the situation D) He knows his own limitation.16. A) She must have paid a lot B) She is known to have a terrific figure.C) Her gym exercise has yielded good results.D) Her effort to keep fit is really praiseworthy.17. A) Female students are unfit for studying physics.B) He can serve as the woman’s tutor.C) Physics is an important course at school.D) The professor’s suggestion is constructive.18. A) Indifferent. B) Doubtful. C) Pleased. D) Surprised.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19. A) He prefers the smaller evening classes. B) He has signed up for a day course.C) He has to work during the day. D) He finds the evening course cheaper.20. A) Learn a computer language. B) Learn data processing.C) Buy some computer software. D) Buy a few coursebooks.21. A) Thursday evening, from 7:00 to 9:45. B) From September 1 to New Y ear’s eve.C) Every Monday, lasting for 12 weeks. D) Three hours a week, 45 hours in total.22. A) What to bring for registration. B) Where to attend the class.C) How he can get to Frost Hall. D) Whether he can use a check.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23. A) A training coach. B) A trading adviser.C) A professional manager. D) A financial trader.24. A) He can save on living expenses. B) He considers cooking creative.C) He can enjoy healthier food. D) He thinks take-away is tasteless.25. A) It is something inevitable.B) It is frustrating sometimes.C) It takes patience to manage. D) It can be a good thing.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.26. A) There were no planets without moons. B) There was no air or water on Jupiter.C) Life was not possible in outer space. D) The mystery of life could not be resolved.27. A) It has a number of active volcanoes. B) It has an atmosphere like the earth’s.C) It has a large ocean under its surface. D) It has deep caves several miles long.28. A) Light is not an essential element to it. B) Life can form in very hot temperatures.C) Every form of life undergoes evolution. D) Oxygen is not needed for some life forms.Passage TwoQuestions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.29. A) Whether they should take the child home.B) What Dr. Mayer’s instructions exactly were.C) Who should take care of the child at home.D) When the child would completely recover.30. A) She encourages them to ask questions when in doubt.B) She makes them write down all her instructions.C) She has them act out what they are to do at home.D) She asks them to repeat what they are supposed to do.31. A) It lacks the stability of the printed word. B) It contains many grammatical errors.C) It is heavily dependent on the context. D) It facilitates interpePassage ThreeQuestions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.32. A) Job security. B) Good labour relations.C) Challenging work. D) Attractive wages and benefits.33. A) Many tedious jobs continue to be done manually.B) More and more unskilled workers will lose jobs.C) Computers will change the nature of many jobs.D) Boring jobs will gradually be made enjoyable.34. A) Offer them chances of promotion.B) Improve their working conditions.C) Encourage them to compete with each other.D) Give them responsibilities as part of a team.35. A) They will not bring real benefits to the staff.B) They concern a small number of people only.C) They are arbitrarily set by the administrators.D) They are beyond the control of ordinary workers.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.注意:此部分试题在答题卡2上。

2009年12份大学英语四级试题及答案

2009年12份大学英语四级试题及答案

Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes)注意:此部分试题在答题卡1上。

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the topic of Creating a Green Campus. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below:1. 建设绿色校园很重要2. 绿色校园不仅指绿色的环境……3. 为了建设绿色校园,我们应该……Creating a Green CampusPart Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For question 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Colleges taking another look at value of merit-based aidGood grades and high tests scores still matter—a lot—to many colleges as they award financial aid.But with low-income students projected to make up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years, some schools are re-examining whether that aid, typically known as “merit aid”, is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for example, said last week that it would cut the value of its average merit scholarships by about one-third and reduce the number of recipients(接受者), pouring the savings, about $2.5 million, into need-based aid. Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., made a similar decision three years ago.Now, Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., says it will phase out merit scholarships altogether. No current merit-aid recipients will lose their scholarships, but need-based aid alone will be awarded beginning with students entering in fall 2008.Not all colleges offer merit aid; generally, the more selective a school, the less likely it is to do so. Harvard and Princeton, for example, offer generous need-based packages, but many families who don’t meet need eligibility(资格)have been willing to pay whatever they must for abig-name school.For small regional colleges that struggle just to fill seats, merit aid can be an important revenue-builder because many recipients still pay enough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship amount to keep the institution running.But for rankings-conscious schools in between, merit aid has served primarily as a tool to recruit top students and to improve their academic profits. “They’re trying to buy students,” says Skidmore College economist Sandy Baum.Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately students who could afford to enroll without it.“As we look to the future, we see a more pressing need to invest in need-based aid,” says Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, which has offered merit scholarships for 10 years. During that time, it rose in US News & World Report’s ranking of the best liberal arts colleges, from 25 to 17.Merit aid, which benefited about 75 students a year, or about 4% of its student body, at a cost of about $ 1 million a year, “served us well,” Inzer says, but “to be discounting the price for families that don’t need financial aid doesn’t feel right any more.”Need-based aid remains by far the largest share of all student aid, which includes state, federal and institutional grants. But merit aid, offered primarily by schools and states, is growing faster, both overall and at the institutional level.Between 1995-96 and 2003-04, institutional merit aid alone increased 212%, compared with 47% for need-based grants. At least 15 states also offer merit aid, typically in a bid to enroll top students in the state’s public institutions.But in recent years, a growing chorus(异口同声)of critics has begun pressuring schools to drop the practice. Recent decisions by Hamilton and others may be “a sign that people are starting to realize that there’s this destructive competition going on,” says Baum, co-author of a recent College Report that raises concerns about the role of institutional aid not based on need.David Laird, president of the Minnesota Private College Council, says many of his schools would like to reduce their merit aid but fear that in doing so, they would lose top students to their competitors.“No one can take one-sided action,” says Laird, who is exploring whether to seek an exemption(豁免)from federal anti-trust laws so member colleges can discuss how they could jointly reduce merit aid, “This is a merry-go-round that’s going very fast, and none of the institutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying to br eak away by themselves.”A complicating factor is that merit aid has become so popular with middle-income families, who don’t qualify for need-based aid, that many have come to depend on it. And, as tuitions continue to increase, the line between merit and need blurs.That’s one reason Allegheny College doesn’t plan to drop merit aid entirely.“We still believe in rewarding superior achievements and know that these top students truly value the scholarship,” says Scott Friedhoff, Allegheny’s vice president for enrollment.Emory University in Atlanta, which boasts a $4.7 billion endowment(捐赠), meanwhile, is taking another approach. This year, itannounced it would eliminate loans for needy students and cap them for middle-income families. At the same time, it would expand its 28-year-old merit program.“Yeah, we’re playing the merit game,” acknowledges Tom Lancaster, associate dean for undergraduate education. But it has its strong point, too, he says. “The fact of the matter is, it’s not ju st about the lowest-income people. It’s the average American middle-class family who’s being priced out of the market.”*A few words about merit-based aid:Merit-based aid is aid offered to students who achieve excellence in a given area, and is generally known as academic, athletic and artistic merit scholarships.Academic merit scholarships are based on students’ grades, GPA and overall academic performance during high school. They are typically meant for students going straight to college right after high school. However, there are scholarships for current college students with exceptional grades as well. These merit scholarships usually help students pay tuition bills, and they can be renewed each year as long as the recipients continue to qualify. In some cases, students may need to be recommended by their school or a teacher as part of the qualification process.Athletic merit scholarships are meant for students that excel(突出)in sports of any kind, from football to track and field events. Recommendation for these scholarships is required, since exceptional athletic performance has to be recognized by a coach or a referee(裁判). Applicants need to send in a tape containing their best performance.Artistic merit scholarships require that applicants excel in a given artistic area. This generally includes any creative field such as art, design, fashion, music, dance or writing. Applying for artistic merit scholarships usually requires that students submit a portfolio(选辑)of some sort, whether that includes a collection of artwork, a recording ofa musical performance or a video of them dancing.1. With more and more low-income students pursuing higher education,a number of colleges are ________.A) offering students more merit-based aidB) revising their financial aid policiesC) increasing the amount of financial aidD) changing their admission processes2. What did Allegheny College in Meadville do three years ago?A) It tried to implement a novel financial aid program.B) It added $ 2.5 million to its need-based aid program.C) It phased out its merit-based scholarships altogether.D) It cuts its merit-based aid to help the needy students.3. The chief purpose of rankings-conscious colleges in offering merit aid is to ______.A) improve teaching quality B) boost their enrollmentsC) attract good students D) increase their revenues4. Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, believes ______.A) it doesn’t pay to spend $ 1 million a year to raise its rankingB) it gives students motivation to award academic achievementsC) it’s i llogical to use so much money on only 4% of its studentsD) it’s not right to give aid to those who can afford the tuition5. In recent years, merit-based aid has increased much faster than need-based aid due to ______.A) more government funding to collegesB) fierce competition among institutionsC) the increasing number of top studentsD) schools’ improved financial situations6. What is the attitude of many private colleges toward merit aid, according to David Laird?A) They would like to see it reduced.B) They regard it as a necessary evil.C) They think it does more harm than good.D) They consider it unfair to middle-class families.7. Why doesn’t Allegheny College plan to drop merit aid entirely?A) Raising tuitions have made college unaffordable for middle-class families.B) With rising incomes, fewer students are applying for need-based aid.C) Many students from middle-income families have come to rely on it.D) Rising incomes have disqualified many students for need-based aid.8. Annual renewal of academic merit scholarships depends on whether the recipients remain ______.9. Applicants for athletic merit scholarships need a recommendation from a coach or a referee who ______ their exceptional athletic performance.10. Applicants for artistic merit scholarships must produce evidence to show their ______ in a particular artistic fieldPart Ⅲ Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which the best answer is. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer sheet 2 with a single line through thecentre.Questions 11 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.11.A) Get some small change. B) Find a shopping center.C) Cash a check at a bank. D) Find a parking meter.12.A) Shopping with his son. B) Buying a gift for a child.C) Promoting a new product. D) Bargaining with a salesgirl.13.A) Taking photographs. B) Enhancing images.C) Mending cameras. D) Painting pictures.14.A) He moved to Baltimore when he was young.B) He can provide little useful information.C) He will show the woman around Baltimore.D) He will ask someone else to help the woman.15.A) He is rather disappointed B) He is highly ambitious.C) He can’t face up to the situation D) He knows his own limitat ion.16.A) She must have paid a lotB) She is known to have a terrific figure.C) Her gym exercise has yielded good results.D) Her effort to keep fit is really praiseworthy.17.A) Female students are unfit for studying physics.B) He can serve as the woman’s tutor.C) Physics is an important course at school.D) The professor’s suggestion is constructive.18.A) Indifferent. B) Doubtful. C) Pleased. D) Surprised.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19.A) He prefers the smaller evening classes.B) He has signed up for a day course.C) He has to work during the day.D) He finds the evening course cheaper.20.A) Learn a computer language.B) Learn data processing.C) Buy some computer software.D) Buy a few coursebooks.21.A) Thursday evening, from 7:00 to 9:45.B) From September 1 to New Year’s eve.C) Every Monday, lasting for 12 weeks.D) Three hours a week, 45 hours in total.22.A) What to bring for registration.B) Where to attend the class.C) How he can get to Frost Hall.D) Whether he can use a check.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23.A) A training coach. B) A trading adviser.C) A professional manager. D) A financial trader.24.A) He can save on living expenses. B) He considers cooking creative.C) He can enjoy healthier food. D) He thinks take-away is tasteless.25.A) It is something inevitable. B) It is frustrating sometimes.C) It takes patience to manage. D) It can be a good thing.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.26.A) There were no planets without moons.B) There was no air or water on Jupiter.C) Life was not possible in outer space.D) The mystery of life could not be resolved.27.A) It has a number of active volcanoes.B) It has an atmosphere like the earth’s.C) It has a large ocean under its surface.D) It has deep caves several miles long.28.A) Light is not an essential element to it.B) Life can form in very hot temperatures.C) Every form of life undergoes evolution.D) Oxygen is not needed for some life forms.Passage TwoQuestions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.29.A) Whether they should take the child home.B) What Dr. Mayer’s instructions exactly were.C) Who should take care of the child at home.D) When the child would completely recover.30.A) She encourages them to ask questions when in doubt.B) She makes them write down all her instructions.C) She has them act out what they are to do at home.D) She asks them to repeat what they are supposed to do.31.A) It lacks the stability of the printed word.B) It contains many grammatical errors.C) It is heavily dependent on the context.D) It facilitates interpePassage ThreeQuestions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.32.A) Job security.B) Good labour relations.C) Challenging work.D) Attractive wages and benefits.33.A) Many tedious jobs continue to be done manually.B) More and more unskilled workers will lose jobs.C) Computers will change the nature of many jobs.D) Boring jobs will gradually be made enjoyable.34.A) Offer them chances of promotion.B) Improve their working conditions.C) Encourage them to compete with each other.D) Give them responsibilities as part of a team.35.A) They will not bring real benefits to the staff.B) They concern a small number of people only.C) They are arbitrarily set by the administrators.D) They are beyond the control of ordinary workers.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you caneither use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.注意:此部分试题在答题卡2上。

最新 2009年12月英语六级考试冲刺模拟题及答案-精品

最新 2009年12月英语六级考试冲刺模拟题及答案-精品

2009年12月英语六级考试冲刺模拟题及答案PartⅡ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes)Main Energies for the BodyA balanced diet is one that provides an adequate intake of energy and nutrients for maintenance of the body and therefore good health.A diet can easily be adequate for normal bodily functioning, yet may not be a balanced diet.CarbohydratesCarbohydrates are a rapid source of energy, they are the body's fuel. The bulk of a balanced diet should be made from carbohydrates. If eaten in an excess of the dietary requirements carbohydrates are easily stored as fats in the cells, although carbohydrate is thefirst source of energy in the body. An average adult requires about 12,000kJ of energy a day, most of this is supplied by the respiration of carbohydrates in the cells.Carbohydrates are used principally as a respiratory substrates, i.e. to be oxidized to release energy for active transport, macromolecule synthesis, cell division and muscle contraction. Carbohydrates are digested in the duodenum and ileum and absorbed as glucose into cells. Sources of carbohydrates such as starch are rice, potatoes, wheat and other cereals. Sugars are also carbohydrates, sources of sugars are refined sugar - sucrose, which is a food sweetener and preservative and fruit sugars - fructose. If the diet lacks carbohydrate stores of fat are mobilized and used as an energy source.ProteinsProtein is not a direct source of energy in the body, it is used primarily for growth and repair of body tissues while remaining an energy source as a last resort. Proteins fulfill a wide variety of roles in the body. They are broken down in the stomach and intestines to amino acids which are then absorbed. The body can only form 8 amino acids to build proteins from, the diet must provide Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) which are synthesized into proteins which can be structural, i.e. collagen in bone, keratin in hair, myosin and actin。

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2009年12月大学英语六级全国统一模拟冲刺卷Part I Writing (30 minutes)注意:此部分试题在答题卡1 上。

Part II Reading Comprehension(Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C), and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.How Marketers Target KidsKids represent an important demographic to marketers because they have their own purchasing power, they influence their parents’ buying decisions and they are the adult consumers of the future.Industry spending on advertising to children has exploded in the past decade, increasing from a mere $100 million in 1990 to more than $2 billion in 2000.Parents today are willing to buy more for their kids because trends such as smaller family size, dual incomes and postponing children until later in life mean that families have more disposable income.As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids.Here are some of the strategies marketers employ to target kids:Pester(纠缠)PowerToday’s kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. “Pester power” refers to children’s ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.According to the 2001 marketing industry book Kidfluence, pestering or nagging can be divided into two categories—“persistence” and “importance.” Persistence nagging (a plea,that is repeated over and over again) is not as effective as the more sophisticated “importance nagging.” This latter method appeals to parents’ desire to provide the best for their children, and plays on any guilt they may have about not having enough time for their kids.The Marriage of Psychology and MarketingTo effectively market to children, advertisers need to know what makes kids tick. With the help of well-paid researchers and psychologists, advertisers now have access to in-depth knowledge about children’s developmental, emotional and social needs at different ages. Using research that analyzes children’s behaviour, fantasy lives, art work, even their dreams, companies are able to craft sophisticated marketing strategies to reach young people.The issue of using child psychologists to help marketers target kids gained widespread public attention in 1999, when a group of U.S. mental health professionals issued a public letter to the American Psychological Association (APA) urging them to declare the practice unethical. The APA is currently studying the issue.Building Brand Name LoyaltyCanadian author Naomi Klein tracks the birth of “brand” marketing in her 2000 book No Logo.According to Klein, the mid-1980s saw the birth of a new kind of corporation—Nike, Calvin Klein,Tommy Hilfiger, to name a few—which changed their primary corporate focus from producing products to creating an image for their brand name. By moving their manufacturing operations to countries with cheap labour, they freed up money to create their powerful marketing messages. It has been a tremendously profitable formula, and has led to the creation of some of the most wealthy and powerful multi-national corporations the world has seen.Marketers plant the seeds of brand recognition in very young children, in the hopes that the seeds will grow into lifetime relationships. According to the Center for a New American Dream, babies as young as six months of age can form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. Brand loyalties can be established as early as age two, and by the time children head off to school most can recognize hundreds of brand logos. While fast food, toy and clothing companies have been cultivating brand recognition in children for years, adult-oriented businesses such as banks and automakers are now getting in on the act.Buzz or Street MarketingThe challenge for marketers is to cut through the intense advertising clutter ( 杂乱) in yo ung people’s lives. Many companies are using “buzz marketing” —a new twist on the tried-and-true “word of mouth” method. The idea is to find the coolest kids in a community and have them use or wear your product in order to create a buzz around it. Buzz, o r “street marketing,” as it’s also called, can help a company to successfully connect with the elusive ( 难找的) teen market by using trendsetters to give them products “cool” status.Buzz marketing is particularly well-suited to the Internet, where young “Net promoters” use chat rooms and blogs to spread the word about music, clothes and other products among unsuspecting users.Commercialization in EducationSchool used to be a place where children were protected from the advertising and consumer messages that permeated their world—but not anymore. Budget shortfalls ( 亏空,差额) are forcing school boards to allow corporations access to students in exchange for badly needed cash, computers and educational materials.Corporations realize the power of the school environment for promoting their name and products.A school setting delivers a captive youth audience and implies the endorsement of teachers and the educational system. Marketers are eagerly exploiting this medium in a number of ways, including:● Sponsored educational materials.● Supplying schools with technology in exchange for high company visibility.● Advertising posted in classrooms, school buses, on computers in exchange for funds.● Contests and incentive programs: for example, the Pizza Hut reading incentives program in which children receive certificates for free pizza if they achieve a monthly reading goal.● Sponsoring school events.The InternetThe Internet is an extremely desirable medium for marketers wanting to target children. It’s part of youth culture. This generation of young people is growing up with the Internet as a daily and routine part of their lives. Kids are often online alone, without parental supervision.Unlike broadcasting media, which have codes regarding advertising to kids, the Internet is unregulated. Sophisticated technologies make it easy to collect information from young people for marketing research, and to target individual children with personalized advertising.Marketing Adult Entertainment to KidsChildren are often aware of and want to see entertainment meant for older audiences because it is actively marketed to them. In a report released in 2000, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed how the movie, music and video games industries routinely market violent entertainment to young children.The FTC studied 44 films rated “Restricted,” and discovered that 80 per cent were targeted to children under 17. Marketing plans included TV commercials run during hours when young viewers were most likely to be watching. The FTC report also highlighted the fact that toys based on characters from mature entertainment are often marketed to young children. Mature rated video games are advertised in youth magazines; and toys based on “Restricted” movies and M-rated video games are marketed to children as young as four.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1 上作答。

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