2009年12月六级考试快速阅读题解
2009年12月英语四级阅读理解真题与答案详解
Passage OneQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Throughout this long, tense election, everyone has focused on the presidential candidates and how they’ll change America. Rightly so, but selfishly, I’m more fascinated by Michelle Obama and what she might be able to do, not just for this country, but for me as an African-American woman. As the potential First Lady, she would have the world’s attention. And that means that for the first time people will have a chance to get up close and personal with the type of African-American woman they so rarely see.Usually, the lives of black women go largely unexamined. The prevailing theory seems to be that we’re all hot-tempered single mothers who can’t keep a man. Even in the world of make-believe, black women still can’t escape the stereotype of being eye-rolling, oversexed females raised by our never-married, alcoholic (酗酒的) mothers.These images have helped define the way all women are viewed, including Michelle Obama. Before she ever gets the chance to commit to a cause, charity or foundation as First Lady, her most urgent and perhaps most complicated duty may be simple to be herself.It won’t be easy. Because few mainstream publications have done in-depth features on regular African-American women, little is known about who we are, what we think and what we face on a regular basis. For better or worse, Michelle will represent us all.Just as she will have her critics, she will also have millions of fans who usually have little interest in the First Lady. Many African-American blogs have written about wh at they’d like to see Michelle bring to the White House—mainly showing the world that a black woman can support her man and raise a strong black family. Michelle will have to work to please everyone—an impossible task. But for many African-American women like me, just a little of her poise (沉着), confidence and intelligence will go a long way in changing an image that’s been around for far too long.57. Why does Michelle Obama hold a strong fascination for the author?A) She serves as a role model for African women.B) She possesses many admirable qualities becoming a First Lady.C) She will present to the world a new image of African-American women.D) She will pay closer attention to the interests of African-American women.58. What is the common stereotype of African-American women according to the author?A) They are victims of violence. B) They are of an inferior violence.C) They use quite a lot of body language. D) They live on charity and social welfare.59. What do many African-Americans write about in their blogs?A) Whether Michelle can live up to the high expectations of her fans.B) How Michelle should behave as a public figure.C) How proud they are to have a black woman in the White House.D) What Michelle should do as wife and mother in the White House.60. What does the author say about Michelle Obama as a First Lady?A) However many fans she has, she should remain modest,B) She shouldn’t disappoint the African-American community.C) However hard she tries, she can’t expect to please everybody.D) She will give priority to African-American women’s concerns.61. What do many African-American women hope Michelle Obama will do?A) Help change the prevailing view about black women.B) Help her husband in the task of changing America.C) Outshine previous First Lady.D) Fully display her fine qualities.Passage TwoQuestions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.When next year’s crop of high-school graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall of 2009, they’ll be joined by a new face; Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-old provost (教务长) of Yale, who’ll become Oxford’s vice-chancellor—a position equivalent to university president in America.Hamilton isn’t the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc, have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Higher education has become a big and competitive business nowadays, and like so many businesses, it’s gone global. Yet the talent flow isn’t universal. High-level personnel tend to head in only one direction: outward from America.The chief reason is that American schools don’t tend to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of th e university’s budget. “We didn’t do any global consideration,” says Patricia Hayes, the board’s chair. The board ultimately picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist (活动家) who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a distinctively American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity.Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student number. The decline in government support has made funding-raising an increasing necessary ability among administrators and has hiring committees hungry for Americans.In the past few years, prominent schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2003, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job s he had overseen “a major strengthening of Yale’s financial position.”Of course, fund-raising isn’t the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be seeking heads with international experience of some kind of promote international programs and attract a global student body.Foreigners can offer a fresh perspective on established practices.62. What is the current trend in higher education discussed in the passage?A) Institutions worldwide are hiring administrators from the U.S.B) A lot of political activists are being recruited as administrators.C) American universities are enrolling more international students.D) University presidents are paying more attention to funding-raising.63. What is the chief consideration of American universities when hiring top-level administrators?A) The political correctness. B) Their ability to raise funds.C) Their fame in academic circles. D) Their administrative experience.64. What do we learn about European universities from the passage?A) The tuitions they charge have been rising considerably.B) Their operation is under strict government supervision.C) They are strengthening their position by globalization.D) Most of their revenues come from the government.65. Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard as its vice-chancellor chiefly because _____.A) she was known to be good at raising moneyB) she could help strengthen its ties with YaleC) she knew how to attract students overseasD) she had boosted Yale’s academic status66. In what way do top-level administrators from abroad contribute to university development?A) They can enhance the university’s image.B) They will bring with them more international faculty.C) They will view a lot of things from a new perspective.D) They can set up new academic disciplines.参考答案：Passage One文章大意：本文是一篇议论文，选自《新闻周刊》2008年11月刊，题目为MICHELLE OBAMA IS A BLACK SKINNED BEAUTY!。
英语学习_2009年12月英语六级真题及答案_必备
弃我去者，昨日之日不可留乱我心者，今日之日多烦忧2009年12月大学英语六级考试真题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? Y ou 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 inthe passage.B osses Say “Y es” 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 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.Y et 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 agrowing 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.Y et 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, aninternet 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 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 mis leading 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 youngchildren 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 parents: “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 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 abilityto 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 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 remote hosting company, Datanet, so it can be accessible by all the company sconsultants 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 wh at 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 possibleaccording 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 enabledthe company to .A) enhance its market image B) 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 A Directions: 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 bereliable.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 gettingglobalised.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 wordsyou 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) . Y ou made an association withsomething already known, the shape of a boot, and Italy 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 handlea 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 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). Y ou 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 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 turnedstudents 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 o ur 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 youaren t going to know if they do.”A2004 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 ofthe 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 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 Medicarepatient 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 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 trendresults 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 .。
2009年12月六级考试真题
2009年12月六级考试真题Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled ShouldParents Send Their Kids to Art Classes?You should write at least 150words following theoutline given below.现在有不少家长送孩子参加各种艺术班1. 对这种做法有人表示支持2. 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 section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identifythe paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose aparagraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer thequestions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.Bosses Say ‘Yes’ to Home WorkA) Rising costs of office space, time lost to stressful commuting, and a slow recognition thatworkers have lives beyond the office — all are strong arguments for letting staff work fromhome. 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 a competitive advantage, especially when small businesseswant to attract new staff but don‟t have t he budget to offer huge salaries.B) While company managers have known about the benefits for a long time, many have donelittle about it, sceptical of whether they could trust their employees to work to full capacitywithout supervision, or concerned about the additional expenses teleworking policies might incur as staff start charging their home phone bills to the business.C) 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.D) 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 adviso r 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.E) 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,” say 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.F) 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 (Voice 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.G) 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 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 pa rents: “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. Byoffering 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.”H) For Wright Vigar, which has now equipped all of its fee-earners to be able to work at maximum pro ductivity 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 late in the day.”I) 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 of “dead” time in their working days.J) 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 (翻新) soon.K) 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 t hem 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 meeting s, 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. The accountancy firm Wright Vigar promoted teleworking initially in order to support itsemployees with children to take care of.2. The access to broadband everywhere has made flexible working practices possibleaccording to Andy Poulton.3. Internet-based telecoms facilitate remote working by offering sophisticated voice services.4. From the research conducted by the communications provider Inter-Tel, we learn that morebusinesses have adopted remote working solutions.5. According to marketing director Jack O‟Hern, teleworking enabled the company to keephighly qualified staff.6. For companies, the cost of letting employees work at home was at least 10% higher thanthat of traditional working approach.7. Wright Vigar‟s practice of allowing for more flexible working hours not only benefits thecompany but helps improve employees‟ home life.8. Employees can still be productive while traveling with fast and wireless Internetconnections.9. Neil Stephenson suggested the firms contracting Internet services that they look for reliablebusiness-only providers.10. One of the reasons why many company managers are reluctant to let their workers work athome is that they think their workers will work harder under their eyes.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 witha single line through the centre.11. [A] They prefer to carry cash when traveling abroad.[B] They usually carry many things around with them.[C] They would rather travel around than stay at home.[D] They don‟t like to spend much money on traveling.12. [A] The selection process was a little unfair. [B] Rod was in charge of the admissions office.[C] Rod was eliminated in the selection process.[D] He had long dreamed of the dean‟sposition.13. [A] The concert is very impressive. [B] Almost everyone loves pop music.[C] She regrets paying for the concert. [D] Applause encourages thesinger.14. [A] They were both chairpersons of the students‟ union.[B] They have known each other since their schooldays.[C] They are going to hold a reunion party.[D] They have been in close touch by email.15. [A] Cook their dinner. [B] Get their car fixed. [C] Rest for a while. [D] Stop for the night. 16. [A] Survey results. [B]Newly-launched products.[C] Survey methods. [D] Consumerpreferences.17. [A] The woman needs blouses in the colors of a rainbow.[B] The information in the catalog is not always reliable.[C] He thinks the blue blouse is better than the red one.[D] He would rather the woman didn‟t buy the blouse.18. [A] He will drop his course in marketing. [B] The woman has not told the truth.[C] The notice may not be reliable. [D] The course is open to allnext semester.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have justheard.19. [A] An accountant of a computer firm. [B] A director of a salesdepartment. [C] A sales clerk at a shopping center.[D] A manager at a computer store.20. [A] Handling customer complaints. [B] Recruiting and training newstaff.[C] Developing computer programs. [D] Dispatching ordered goodson time.21. [A] She likes something more challenging. [B] She likes to be nearer to her parents.[C] She wants to be with her husband. [D] She wants to have abetter-paid job.22. [A] In a couple of days.[B] Right away. [C] In two months. [D] Early next month.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23. [A] It is bound to regain its full glory of a hundred years ago.[B] It will be a major economic power by the mid-21st century.[C] It is a resolute advocate of the anti-global movement.[D] It will face challenges unprecedented in its history.24. [A] The inadequate supply of water and electricity.[B] The lack of overall urban planning.[C] The shortage of hi-tech personnel.[D] The huge gap between the haves and have-nots.25. [A] They are good at learning from other nations.[B] They are able to grasp growthopportunities.[C] They attach great importance to education. [D] They have made use of advancedtechnologies.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 2with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.26. [A] She engaged in field research on environmental pollution.[B] She helped families move away from industrial polluters.[C] She taught chemistry and microbiology courses in a college.[D] She gave lectures on how to become a public speaker.27. [A] The job restricted her from revealing her findings.[B] She was offered a better job in a minority community.[C] The job posed a potential threat to her health.[D] She found the working conditions frustrating.28. [A] More branches of her company have been set up.[B] Many toxic sites in America have been cleaned up.[C] More environmental organizations have appeared.[D] Some giant industrial polluters have gone out of business.29. [A] Her rigorous training in delivering eloquent speeches.[B] Her lifelong commitment to domestic and global issues.[C] Her widespread influence among members of Congress.[D] Her ability to communicate through public speaking.Passage TwoQuestions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.30. [A] The urgent need of a diverse workforce. [B] The growing necessity of stafftraining.[C] The fierce competition in the market. [D] The accelerated pace ofglobalisation.31. [A] Take courses of foreign languages and cultures.[B] Gain a deep understanding of their own culture.[C] Participate in international exchange programmes.[D] Share the experiences of people from other cultures.32. [A] Globalisation will eliminate many jobs. [B] Reflective thinking is becomingcritical.[C] The labour market is getting globalised. [D] Knowing a foreign language isessential.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 shrewd and dishonest. [B] They are wealthy andindustrious.[C] They are smart and eloquent. [D] They are ambitious andarrogant.35. [A] They exaggerate the roles of certain groups of people.[B] They force people to follow the cultural mainstream.[C] They hinder our perception of individual differences.[D] They emphasize diversity at the expense of uniformity.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, Mnemosene. In the ancient world, a trained memory was an (37) ____, particularly in public life. There were no (38) ____ 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, colour, tas te, smell and (43) ____ of that fruit. All these things are associated in your memory with the word …apple‟.This means that any thought about a certain subject will often bring up more memories that are related to it. An example could be when you think about a lecture you have had. This could (44) ____ about what you were talking about through that lecture, which can then trigger another memory.This means that any thought about a certain subject will often bring up more memories that are related to it. An example given on the (45) ____ I was looking at follows: Do you remember the shape of Austria, Canada, Belgium, or Germany? Probably not. What about Italy, though? If you remember the shape of Italy, it is because you have been told at some time that Italy is (46) ____ like a boot. 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 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 Harvard MedicalSchool 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 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 dangerousbecause it seriously distracts ____________.48. In the experiments, the two groups of volunteers were asked to handle a series of movingtasks which were considered ____________.49. Results of the experiments show that those who were making the equivalent of ahands-free call took ____________ to react than those who were not.50. Further experiments reveal that participants tend to respond with extra delay if they arerequired 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 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.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 doesn‟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 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 aren‟t 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 chooses 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 disease 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?52. 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 doctors[C] the ever-rising health care costs [D] the shrinking primary careresources53. We learn from the passage that people tend to believe that ______.[A] seeing more doctors may result in more diagnostic errors[B] visiting doctors on a regular basis ensures good health[C] the more doctors taking care of a patient, the better[D] the more costly the medicine, the more effective the cure54. Faced with the government threats to cut reimbursements indiscriminately, primary carephysicians have to ______.[A] see more patients at the expense of quality [B] improve their expertise and service[C] make various deals with specialists [D] increase their income byworking overtime55. Why do many new medical graduates refuse to choose primary care as their career?[A] They think working in emergency rooms tedious.[B] The current system works against primary care.[C] They find the need for primary care declining.[D] Primary care physicians command less respect.56. What suggestion does the author give in order to provide better health care?[A] Extend primary care to patients with chronic diseases.[B] Recruit more medical students by offering them loans.[C] Reduce the tuition of students who choose primary care as their major.[D] Bridge the salary gap between specialists and primary care physicians.Passage TwoQuestions 57 to 61 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 smugly (自鸣得意地) green village of Berkeley, C alif., 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 ch ildren‟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 environmen talists, 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,” 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 beside the point. It‟s the dangers parents can‟t — and may never — quantify that occur all of a 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.57. What does a recent investigation by USA Today reveal?[A] Parents in Berkeley are over-sensitive to cancer risks their kids face.。
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 busine sses 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, 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 c onnection,” says Andy Poulton, e-business advisor at Business Link forBerkshire 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 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 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 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 parents: “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 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 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 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 hand ing her company’s data management over to a remote hosting 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 11 year old,” says Hargreaves. “But I soon realised that, as most of our business is d one 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 mark eting 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 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.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 traine d 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 a ssociated 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 memoryabout 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 sha pe 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 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 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 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 aroun d 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, 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,” 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 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 su bstance, 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 chil dren’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 30 minute 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。
2009年12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案详解
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.
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.
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 Campus
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage uickly and answer the uestions on Answer Sheet 1. For uestions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For uestion 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
2009年12月英语四级阅读理解真题与答案详解
Passage OneQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Throughout this long, tense election, everyone has focused on the presidential candidates and how they 'lcl hange America. Rightly so, but selfishly, I 'mm ore fascinated by Michelle Obama and what she might be able to do, not just for this country, but for me as an African-American woman. As the potential First Lady, she would have the world ' s attention. And that means that for the first time people will have a chance to get up close and personal with the type of African-American woman they so rarely see.Usually, the lives of black women go largely unexamined. The prevailing theory seems to be that we ' re- taellm hpoet red single mothers who can 't keep a man. Even in the world of make-believe, black women still can'et scape the stereotype of being eye-rolling, oversexed females raised by our never-married, alcoholic ( 酗酒的) mothers.These images have helped define the way all women are viewed, including Michelle Obama. Before she ever gets the chance to commit to a cause, charity or foundation as First Lady, her most urgent and perhaps most complicated duty may be simple to be herself.It won't be easy. Because few mainstream publications have done in -depth features on regular African-American women, little is known about who we are, what we think and what we face on a regular basis. For better or worse, Michelle will represent us all.Just as she will have her critics, she will also have millions of fans who usually have little interest in the First Lady. Many African-American blogs have written about what they 'ldik e to see Michelle bring to the White House—mainly showing the world that a black woman can support her man and raise a strong black family. Michelle will have to work to please everyone—an impossible task. But for many African-American women like me, just a little of her poise (沉着), confidence and intelligence will go a long way in changing an image that ' s been around for far too long.57.Why does Michelle Obama hold a strong fascination for the author?A)She serves as a role model for African women.B)She possesses many admirable qualities becoming a First Lady.C)She will present to the world a new image of African-American women.D)She will pay closer attention to the interests of African-American women.58.What is the common stereotype of African-American women according to the author?A)They are victims of violence. B) They are of an inferior violence.C) They use quite a lot of body language. D) They live on charity and social welfare.59.What do many African-Americans write about in their blogs?A)Whether Michelle can live up to the high expectations of her fans.B)How Michelle should behave as a public figure.C)How proud they are to have a black woman in the White House.D)What Michelle should do as wife and mother in the White House.60.What does the author say about Michelle Obama as a First Lady?A)However many fans she has, she should remain modest,B)She shouldn 't disappoint the Afri-cAamn erican community.C)However hard she tries, she can 't expect to please everybody.D) She will give priority to African- American women's concerns.61.What do many African-American women hope Michelle Obama will do?A)Help change the prevailing view about black women.B)Help her husband in the task of changing America.C)Outshine previous First Lady.D)Fully display her fine qualities.Passage TwoQuestions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.When next year 's crop of hig-hschool graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall of 2009, they 'll be joinende wby f a c e; Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-oldprovost (教务长) of Yale, who' ll become Oxford 'svi ce-chancellor—a position equivalent to university president in America.Hamilton isn 't the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc, have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Higher education has become a big and competitive business nowadays, and like so many businesses, it 's gone global. Yet the talent flow isn '-lte uvneilv peersrsaol. nHnieglh tend to headin only one direction: outward from America.The chief reason is that American schools don'tt end to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of the university b'uds get. “Wed idn 'dto any global consideration, sa”ys Patricia Hayes, the board 'csh air. The board ultimately picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist (活动家) who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a distinctively American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity.Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student number. The decline in government support has made funding-raising an increasing necessary ability among administrators and has hiring committees hungry for Americans.In the past few years, prominent schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2003, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen “a major strengthening of Yale 's financial position.Of course, fund- raising isn 't the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be seeking heads with international experience of some kind of promote international programs and attract a global student body.Foreigners can offer a fresh perspective on established practices.62.What is the current trend in higher education discussed in the passage?A)Institutions worldwide are hiring administrators from the U.S.B) A lot of political activists are being recruited as administrators.C)American universities are enrolling more international students.D)University presidents are paying more attention to funding-raising.63.What is the chief consideration of American universities when hiring top-level administrators?A)The political correctness. B) Their ability to raise funds.C) Their fame in academic circles. D) Their administrative experience.64.What do we learn about European universities from the passage?A)The tuitions they charge have been rising considerably.B)Their operation is under strict government supervision.C)They are strengthening their position by globalization.D)Most of their revenues come from the government.65.Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard as its vice-chancellor chiefly because .A) she was known to be good at raising moneyB)she could help strengthen its ties with YaleC)she knew how to attract students overseasD)she had boosted Yale 's academic status66.In what way do top-level administrators from abroad contribute to university development?A) They can enhance the university 's image.B)They will bring with them more international faculty.C)They will view a lot of things from a new perspective.D)They can set up new academic disciplines.参考答案：Passage One 文章大意：本文是一篇议论文，选自《新闻周刊》2008年11月刊，题目为MICHELLE OBAMA IS A BLACK SKINNED BEAUTY! 。
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月英语四级真题精讲：快速阅读
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 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 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 meritscholarships 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 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 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 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 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 field.篇章结构核心词汇1. aid n. ①帮助，援助②助手v. 帮助，援助【用】financial aid经济援助；merit aid/ Merit-based奖学金；need-based aid助学金或经济资助；foreign aid外援，对外援助；hearing aid助听器；aids and appliances用具，设备【搭】in aid to用来帮助，起......作用；lead one's aid (to)援助，给予帮助；in aid of 作为援助......之用【拓】aidance n. 协助，帮助；aidant a. 帮助的；aided a. 辅助的2. project v. ①设计②发射n. 事业，计划，工程【用】Project Hope希望工程；project manager项目经理；project plan项目规划；project budget项目预算，工程预算【拓】projection n. 突出，发射；projecting a. 突出的3. selective a. 选择性的【用】selective analysis重点分析；selective breeding选择育种，选择性繁殖【拓】select v. 挑选，选拔a. 精选的；selection n. 选择，挑选，选集4. package n. 包裹；套装软件，程序包a. 一揽子的【用】package design包装设计；package agreement一揽子安排，一揽子方案；package holiday （旅行社安排一切的）一揽子旅游；package tour包办旅行（路线、地点、时间和费用等均作统一规定和安排的旅游）；package program组装程序【拓】pack n.包装，背包v. 包装，压紧；packaged a. 袋装的；packager n. 打包机5. ranking a. 头等的；n. 等级，地位【用】ranking list排名；ranking method等级法，排序法【拓】rank n. 等级；队列；v. 排列，列队6. grant v. ①授予②承认；n. ①授予物②拨款【用】grant of a patent授予专利权【搭】take...for granted认为......是理所当然； Granted/Granting that即使......（也）【拓】grants n. 补助金，津贴（grant的复数）7. enrol v. 登记，入学，参军，注册【搭】enrol in选课，参加【拓】enrollment n. 登记，入伍；enrollee n. 入学者，入伍者8. eliminate v. 消除，排除【用】eliminate illiteracy扫盲；eliminate poverty消除贫困；eliminate noise 消除噪声【拓】eliminate 是指把已进入者从中排除；exclude v. 指把想进入者拒之门外9. qualify v. 使具有资格，证明......合格【用】qualifying examination资格考试，初试；qualifying competition预选赛，资格赛【搭】qualify as 取得......资格，作为......合适；qualify for有......的资格，合格【拓】qualified a. 有资格的，合格的10. excel v. 胜过，优于，擅长n. [计算机] 软件名称【搭】to excel in/at (在某方面)胜过(或超过)别人；to excel in music 擅长音乐【拓】 excellent a. 极好的，卓越的；excellence n. 优秀，长处11. submit v. 使服从，提交【用】submit oneself to discipline遵守纪律；submit registration提交登记表，提交注册【搭】submit to 服从；submit...to 将......呈交给【拓】 submission n. 服从，投降试题详解1. 【原题译文】随着越来越多的低收入学生追求高等教育，一些学院＿＿。
2009年12月英语六级真题参考答案
[A/B卷答案只是选项不一样，内容是一样的，大家对应一下]1. B (benefits …)2. C (more businesses)3. B (improved …)4. B (they look for)5. A (offering …)6. D (support …)7. B (keep …)8. home life9. productive10. improve productivitySection A11.W: Did you use credit cards on your vacation last month in Europe?M: Sure I did. They certainly beat going around with a wallet full of big bills. But carrying lots of cash is still very common among some older people traveling abroad.Q: What does the man say about some elderly people?12.W: Rod must be in a bad mood today. What’s wrong with him?M: He was passed over in the selection process for the dean of the admissions office. He’d been hoping for the position for a long time.Q: What does the man mean?13.M: What a great singer Justin is! His concert is just awesome. And you’ll never regret the money you paid for the ticket.W: Yeah. Judging by the amount of the applause, everyone was enjoying it.Q: What does the woman mean?14.W: I received an email yesterday from Henry. Do you remember? He was one of the chairpersons of our students union.M: Yes, but I haven’t heard from him for ages. Actually I’ve been out of touch with him since our first reunion after graduation.Q: What do we learn about the speakers?15.M: Driving at night always makes me tired. Let’s stop for dinner.W: Fine. And let’s find a motel, so that we can get an early start tomorrow.Q: What will the speakers probably do?16.W: Let’s look at the surv ey on consumer confidence we conducted last week. How reliable are these figures?M: They have a 5% margin of errorQ: What are the speakers talking about?17.W: Look at this catalogue, John. I think I want to get this red blouse.M: Err, I thin k you’ve already one like this in blue. Do you need every color in the rainbow?Q: What does the man mean?18.W: This notice says that all the introductory marketing classes are closed.M: That can’t be true. There’s supposed to be 13 of them this semester.Q: What does the man mean?Conversation OneM: I see on your resume that you worked as a manager of a store called “Computer Country”. Could you tell me a little more about your responsibilities there?W: Sure. I was responsible for overseeing about 30 employees. I did all of the ordering for the store, and I kept track of the inventory.M: What was the most difficult part of your job?W: Probably handling angry customers. We didn’t have them very often, but when we did, I needed to make sure they were well taken care of. After all, the customer is always right.M: That’s how we feel here too. How long did you work there?W: I was there for three and a half years. I left the company last month.M: And why did you leave?W: My husb and has been transferred to Boston. And I understand your company has an opening there too.M: Yes, that’s right. We do. But the position won’t start until early next month. Would that be a problem for you?W: No, not at all. My husb and’s new job doesn’t begin for a few weeks. So we thought we would spend some time driving to Boston and stop to see my parents.M: That sounds nice. So tell me, why are you interested in this particular position?W: I know that your company has a great reputation, and a wonderful product. I’ve thought many times that I would like to be a part of it. When I heard about the opening in Boston, I jumped to the opportunity.M: Well I’m glad you did.19. What was the woman’s previous job?20. What does the woman say was the most difficult part of her job?21. Why is the woman looking for a job in Boston?22. When can the woman start to work if she gets the job?Conversation TwoW: Today in the studio we have Alberto Cortez, the well-known Brazilian advocate of the anti-global movement. He’s here to talk about the recent report, stating that by 2050 Brazil will be the one ot the word’s wealthiest and most successful countries. Alberto, what do you say to the report?M: You know this isn’t the first time that people are saying Brazil will be a great economic power. The same thing was said over a hundred year ago. But it didn’t happen.W: Yes, but you must admit the world’s a very different place now.M: Of course. In fact I believe there’s maybe some truth in the prediction this time around. First of all, though, we must remember the problems facing Brazil at the moment.W: Such as…?M: There’s an enormous gap between the rich and the poor in this country. In Sal Paulo, you can see shopping malls full of designer goods right next door to the slam areas without proper water and electricity supplies. A lot of work needs to be done to help people in those areas improve their lives.W: What needs to be done?M: Education, for example. For Brazil to be successful, we need to offer education to all Brazilians. Successful countries like South Korea and Singapore have excellent education systems. Brazil needs to learn from these countries.W: So you are hopeful for the future.M: As I said earlier, I’m hopeful. This isn’t an easy job. We need to make sure that these important opportunities for Brazil aren’t wasted, as they were in the past.23. What does the recent report say about Brazil?24. What problem does Alberto say Brazil faces now?25. What does Alberto say about economically successful countries?11. B They prefer to carry cash when traveling abroad.12. C Rod was eliminated in the selection process.13. D The concert is very impressive.14. A They have known each other since their schooldays.15. D Stop for the night.16. C Survey results.17. A He would rather the woman didn't buy the blouse.18. B The notice may not be reliable.19. B A manager at a computer store.20. A handling customer complaints.21. D She wants to be with her husband.22. C Early next month.23. D It will be a major economic power by the mid-21st century.24. B The huge gap between the haves and have-nots.25. A They attach great importance to education.Section BPassage OneWilma Subra had no intention of becoming a public speaker. After graduating from college with degrees in chemistry and microbiology, she went to work at Gulf South Research Institute in Louisiana. As part of her job, sheconducted field research on toxic substances in the environment, often in minority communities located near large industrial polluters. She found many families were being exposed high, sometimes deadly, levels of chemicals and other toxic substances, but she was not allowed to make her information public.Frustrated by these restrictions, Subra left her job in 1981, created her own company, and has devoted the past two decades to helping people fight back against giant industrial polluters. She works with families and community groups to conduct environmental tests, interpret test results, and organize for change. Because of her efforts, dozens of toxic sites across the country have been cleaned up, and one chemical industry spokesperson calls her “a top gun for the environmental movement.”How has Wilma Subra achieved all this? Partly through her scientific training, partly through her commitment to environmental justice. But just as important is her ability to communicate with people through public speaking. “Public speaking,” she says, “is the primary vehicle I use for reaching people.”If you had asked Subra before 1981, “Do you see yourself as a major public speaker?” She would have laughed at the idea. Yet today she gives more than 100 presentations a year. Along the way she has lectured at Harvard, testified before Congress, and addressed audiences in 40 states, as well as in Mexico, Canada, and Japan.26. What did Wilma Subra do as part of her job while working at Gulf South Research Institute?27. What did Wilma Subra leave her job in 1981?28. What results have Wilma Subra’s efforts had in the part two decades?29. What does the speaker say has contributed to Wilma Subra’s success?Passage 2One of the biggest challenges facing employers and educators today is the rapid advance of globalization. The market place is no longer national or regional, but extends to all corners of the world. And this requires a global ready workforce. Universities have a large part to play in preparing students for the 21st century labor market by promoting international educational experiences. The most obvious way universities can help develop global workforce is by encouraging students to study abroad as part of their course. Students who have experienced another culture first hand are more likely to be global ready when they graduate.Gl obal workforce development doesn’t always have to involve travel abroad however. If students learn another language and study other cultures, they will be more global ready when they graduate. It is important to point out that students also need to have a deep underst anding of their own culture before they can begin to observe, analyze and evaluate other cultures. Inmulti-cultural societies, people can study each other’s cultures, to develop intercultural competencies, such as critical and reflective thinking, andintellectual flexibility. This can be done both through the curriculum and through activities on campus, outside of the classroom, such as art exhibitions, and lectures from international experts. Many universities are already embracing this challenge, and providing opportunities for students to become global citizens. Students themselves, however, may not realize that when they graduate, they will be competing in a global labor market, and universities need to raise awareness of these issues amongst undergraduates.Questions 30-32Q30: What is one of the biggest challenges facing employers and educators today?Q31: What should students do first before they can really underst and other cultures?Q32: What should college students realize according to the speaker?Passage 3To see if hair color affects a person’s chances of getting a job, researchers at California State University asked 136 college students to review the resume and photograph of a female applicant for a job as an accountant. Each student was given the same resume. But the applicant’s picture was altered, so that in some photos her hair was golden, in some red and in some brown. The result? With brown hair, the woman was rated more capable, and she was offered a higher salary than when she had golden or red hair. Other studies have found similar results. Many respondents rate women with golden hair with less intelligent than other people, and red heads as more temperamental. Women with red or golden hair are victims of the common practice of stereotyping.A stereotype is a simplistic or exaggerated image that humans carrying in their minds about groups of people. For example, lawyers are shrewd and dishonest is a popular stereotype. Stereotyping can occur in public speaking classes. When trying to choose a speech topic, some males think that women are uninterested in how to repair cars, while some females think that men are uninterested in creative hobbies, such as knitting and needle point. We should reject stereotypes, because they force all people in a group into the same simple pattern. They fail to account for individual differences, and the wide range of characteristics among members of any group. Some lawyers are dishonest, yes! But many are not. Some women are uninterested in repairing cars, yes! But some are enthusiastic mechanics.Questions 33-35Q33: What did researchers at California State University find?Q34: What is the popular stereotype of lawyers?Q35: Why does the speaker say we should reject stereotypes?26. A She engaged in field research on environmental pollution.27. A The job restricted her from revealing her findings.28. B Many toxic sites in America have been cleaned up.29. D Her ability to communicate through public speaking.31.B32.C33.B34.A35.CSection CThe ancient Greeks developed basic memory systems called mnemonics. The name is derived from their Goddess of memory "Mnemosyne". In the ancient world, a trained memory was an immense asset, particularly in public life. There were no convenient devices for taking notes, and early Greek orators delivered long speeches with great accuracy because they learned the speeches using mnemonic systems.The Greeks discovered that human memory is largely an associative process that it works by linking things together. For example, think of an apple. The instant your brain registers the word "apple", it recalls the shape, color, taste, smell and texture of that fruit. All these things are associated in your memory with the word "apple". This means that any thought about a certain subject will often bring up more memories that are related to it. 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. Associations do not have to be logical. They just have to make a good link. 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? If you remember the shape of Italy, it is because you have been told at some time that Italy is shaped like a boot. You made an association with something already known, the shape of a boot. And Italy shape could not be forgotten once you had made the association."36. derived37. immense38. convenient39. accuracy40. largely41. instant42. recalls43. texture44. This means that any thought about a certain subject will bring up some memory that is related to it45. Associations do not have to be logical they just have to make a link46. If you remember the shape of Italy it is because you have been told sometime that Italy isshaped like a boot47. a driver’s attention48. equivalent in difficulty to driving49. more time50. more complicated task51. punishment52. D) the shrinking primary care resources53. C) the more doctors taking care of a patient, the better54. A) see more patients at the expense of quality55. B) The current system works against primary care.56. D) Bridge the salary gap between specialists and primary care physicians.57. B) The air quality around Berkeley’s school campuses is poor.58. B) Widespread panic59. A) They didn’t know who to believe.60. B) Attention should be paid to toxic chemical exposure61. A) the uncertain62 B) launching63 D) brands64 B) condemn65 A) in66 C) industry67 B) exclude68 D) including69 C) unnecessary70 C) to71 B) incentives72 C) strategic73 A) spokesman74 D) underway75 B) responsibility76 B) on77 C) minimize78 C) so79 C) individual80 A) despite81 D) tackle82. It depends on how often you wear it83. a challenge to many traditional concepts84. could have attended the meeting in person (by himself)85. a balance diet is essential to health86. regretted as I felt。
2009年12月CET-4快速阅读理解真题评析与详解
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2009.6至2012.12六级阅读题及答案
2009年6月英语六级阅读真题Passage OneQuestions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.For hundreds of millions of years, turtles (海龟) have struggled out of the sea to lay their eggs on sandy beaches, long before there were nature documentaries to celebrate them, or GPS satellites and marine biologists to track them, or volunteers to hand-carry the hatchlings (幼龟) down to the water’s edge lest they become disoriented by headlights and crawl towards a motel parking lot instead. A formidable wall of bureaucracy has been erected to protect their prime nesting on the Atlantic coastlines. With all that attention paid to them, you’d think these creatures would at least have the gratitude not to go extinct.But Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness, and a report by the Fish and Wildlife Service showed a worrisome drop in the populations of several species of North Atlantic turtles, notably loggerheads, which can grow to as much as 400 pounds. The South Florida nesting population, the largest, has declined by 50% in the last decade, according to Elizabeth Griffin, a marine biologist with the environmental group Oceana. The figures prompted Oceana to petition the government to upgrade the le vel of protection for the North Atlantic loggerheads from ―threatened‖ to―endangered‖—meaning they are in danger of disappearing without additional help.Which raises the obvious question: what else do these turtles want from us, anyway? It turns out, according to Griffin, that while we have done a good job of protecting the turtles for the weeks they spend on land (as egg-laying females, as eggs and as hatchlings), we have neglected the years spend in the ocean. ―The threat is from commercial fishing,‖ says Griffin. Trawlers (which drag large nets through the water and along the ocean floor) and longline fishers (which can deploy thousands of hooks on lines that can stretch for miles) take a heavy toll on turtles.Of course, like every other environmental issue today, this is playing out against the background of global warming and human interference with natural ecosystems. The narrow strips of beach on which the turtles lay their eggs are being squeezed on one side by development and on the other by the threat of rising sea levels as the oceans warm. Ultimately we must get a handle on those issues as well, or a creature that outlived the dinosaurs (恐龙) will meet its end at the hands of humans, leaving our descendants to wonder how creature so ugly could have won so much affection.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2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。
最新 2009年12月19日大学英语六级试题答案终极版-精品
21. C She wants to be with her husband.
22. D Early next month.
23. B It will be a major economic power by the mid-21st century.
24. D The huge gap betபைடு நூலகம்een the haves and have-nots.
25. C They attach great importance to education.
短文
26. A She engaged in field research on environmental pollution.
32.D
31.B
32.C
33.B
34.A
35.C
27. A The job restricted her from revealing her findings.
28. B Many toxic sites in America have been cleaned up.
29. D Her ability to communicate through public speaking.
1.目前盗版的现象比较严重;
2.造成这种现象的原因及其危害;
3.我们应该怎么做。
作文范文(略)
快速阅读
1.B
2.C
3.C
4.B
5.A
6.D
7.B
8.home life
9.productive
10.improve productivity
听力答案：
短对话
英语六级阅读真题2009.12
Passage One Questions 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 theover-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 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 experimentsbreathing in a laboratory’s wo rth of heavy metals like manganese, chromium and nickel each day. Thisin 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 thesteel-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 conflictingscientific studies, whom should parents believe? Is there truly a threat here, we asked one another as wedropped off our kids, and if so, how great is it? And how does it compare with the other, seeminglyperpetual 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 atrial for how today’s pare nts perceive risk, how we try to keep our kids safe—whether it’s possible tokeep them safe—in what feels like an increasingly threatening world. It raises the question of what, inour 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 meansyou 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. Towhich 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 sud den. 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 campu ses 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 Two Questions 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 carephysicians and five specialists—in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians takingcare 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 outc ome, 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-minutevisit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss apatient’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. medicalstudents 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 tomedical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career andreconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.We’re at a point where prim ary 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 needchronic care most, will rise by 50% this decadeWho will be there to treat them?57. Th e 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.。
新东方2009年12月大学英语六级B卷真题及答案
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 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 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 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 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 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 parents: “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 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 somethingimportant 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 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 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 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) 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 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 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 大36家from their Goddess of memory “Mnemosyne”. In the ancient world, a trained memory was an 大37家asset, particularly in public life. There were no 大38家devices for taking notes,and early Greek orators(演说家)delivered long speeches with great 大39家because they learned the speeches using mnemonic systems.The Greeks discovered that human memory is 大40家an associative process—that it works by linking things together.For example,think of an apple. The 大41家your brain registers the word “apple”, it 大42家the shape, color, taste, smell and 大43家of that fruit. All these things are associated in your memory with the word “apple”.大44家. 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.大45家. 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? 大46家. 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 thePartⅣ 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 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 they are required to do .51.The author believes persuasion,rather than ,might be the only way to stop people from using mobile phones while driving.Directions: 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 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, 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,” 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 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 discuss a patient’s bine this fact with annual government threats toindiscriminately 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?。
2009年12月六级考试解析
2009年12月六级考试解析
程骊妮;何洁
【期刊名称】《新东方英语》
【年(卷),期】2010(000)003
【摘要】2009年12月六级考试与以往的试题在难度上基本持平。
从各个题型的测试重点以及考查能力等方面来看，都保持了六级考试特有的风格。
下面笔者就对此次考试的各部分题型进行具体的解析，希望能对大家日后的备考有所启示。
【总页数】4页(P4-7)
【作者】程骊妮;何洁
【作者单位】
【正文语种】中文
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5.2009年12月六级考试完形填空与翻译题解
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2009年12月英语六级
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 providerInter-Tel researched the use of remote working solutions amongsmall-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 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 do n’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 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 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 parents: “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 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 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 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 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 businesspremises 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 an11-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 providerInter-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 possibleaccording 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 internetservices?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 initiallyin 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. A ccording to marketing director Jack O’Hern, teleworkingenabled 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 workinghours not only benefits the company but helps improveemployees’ .9. With fast, wireless internet connections, employees can still be__________ while traveling.10. Single mother Lynne Hargreaves decided to work at home mainlyto __________.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 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) ______. Y ou 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.PartⅣ 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 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 Horowitzof 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 isdifficult 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 isconsidered dangerous because it seriously distracts ______.48. In the experiments, the two groups of volunteers were asked tohandle a series of moving tasks which were considered ______.49. Results of the experiments show that those who were making theequivalent of a hands-free call took to react than those who were not ______.50. Further experiments reveal that participants tend to respond withextra delay if they are required to do ______.51. The author believes persuasion, rather than , might be the onlyway 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 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, 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,” 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 beside the point. It’s the dangers parents can’t—and may never—quantify that occur all of sudden. Th at’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 inBerkeley.B) Berkeley residents are quite contented with theirsurroundings.C) The air quality around Berkeley’s school campuses is poor.D) Parents in Berkeley are over-sensitive to cancer risks theirkids 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 havemost 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 car e 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 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. Therecent 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 caresystem 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 reimbursementsindiscriminately, 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 primarycare 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 betterhealth care?A) Bridge the salary gap between specialists and primary carephysicians.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 astheir major.Part V Cloze (5 minutes)Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D) on the right side of the paper. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.McDonald’s, Greggs, KFC and Subway are today named as the most littered brands in England as Keep Britain Tidy called onfast-food companies to do more to tackle customers who drop their wrappers and drinks cartons (盒子) in the streets.Phil Barton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, __62__ its new Dirty Pig campaign, said it was the first time it had investigated which __63__ made up “littered England” and the same names appeared again and again.“We __64__ letter ers for dropping this fast food litter __65__ the first place but also believe the results have pertinent (相关的) messages for the fast food __66__. Mc-Donald’s, Greggs, KFC and Subway need to do more to __67__ littering by their customers.”He recognis ed efforts made by McDonald’s, __68__ placing litter bins and increasing litter patrols, but its litter remained “all too prevalent”. All fast food chains should reduce __69__ packaging, he added. Companies could also reduce prices __70__ those who stayed to eat food on their premises, offer money-off vouchers (代金券) or other __71__ for those who returned packaging and put more bins at __72__ points in local streets, not just outside their premises. A __73__ for McDonald’s said: “We do our best. Obviously we ask all our customers to dispose of litter responsibly.” Trials of more extensive, all-day litter patrols were__74__in Manchester and Birmingham.KFC said it took its __75__ on litter management “very seriously”, and would introduce a programmer to reduce packaging __76__ many products. Subway said that it worked hard to __77__ the impact of litter on communities，__78__ it was “still down to the __79__ customer to dispose of their litter responsibly”. Greggs said it recognised the “continuing challenge for us all”, __80__ having already taken measures to help __81__ the issue.62. A) elevating B)conveningC) launching D) projecting63. A) signals B) signsC) commercials D) brands64. A) condemn B) refuteC) uncover D) disregard65. A) around B) towardC) in D) off66. A) industry B) careerC) profession D) vocation67. A) exclude B) discourage C) suppress D) retreat68. A) incorporating B) includingC) comprising D) containing69. A) unreliable B) unrelatedC) unimportant D) unnecessary70. A) for B) aboutC) with D) to71. A) accessories B) meritsC) incentives D) dividends72. A) curious B) mysteriousC) strange D) strategic73. A) narrator B) spokesmanC) mediator D) broker74. A) in season B) at riskC) off hand D) under way75. A) responsibility B) liabilityC) commission D) administration76. A) around B) byC) on D) above77. A) divert B) minimizeC) degrade D) suspend78. A) if B) whetherC) so D) but79. A) individual B) concreteC) unique D) respective80. A) except B) withoutC) despite D) via81. A) deal B) tackleC) cope D) disposePartⅥ Translation (5 minutes)。
2009年12月六级考试仔细阅读题解
2009年12月六级考试仔细阅读题解.1.考试专栏十PartIVReadingComprehension(ReadinginDepth)(25minutes)SectionADirections:Inthissection,thereisashortpassagewith5questionsorincompletestatements. Readthepassagecarefully.Thenanswerthequestionsorcompletethestatementinthefewest possiblewords.HeasewriteyouranswersonAnswerSheet2.Questions47to51arebasedonthefollowingpassage.,Manycountrieshavemadeitillegaltochatintoahand—heldmobilephonewhiledriv—ing.Butthelatestresearchfurtherconfirmsthatthedangerlieslessinwhatamotorist'S handsdowhenhetakesacallthaninwhattheconversationdoestohisbrain.Evenusinga "hands—free"devicecandivertadriver'Sattentiontoanalarmingextent.2MelinaKunaroftheUniversityofWarwick,andToddHorowitzofHarvardMedical Schoolranaseriesofexperimentsinwhichtwogroupsofvolunteershadtopayattention andrespondtoaseriesofmovingtasksonacomputerscreenthatwerereckonedequivalent indifficultytodriving.Onegroupwasleftundistractedwhiletheotherhadtoengageina conversationusingaspeakerphone.AsKunarandHorowitzreport,thosewhoweremaking theequivalentofahands—freecallhadanaveragereactontime212millisecondsslower thanthosewhowerenot.That,theycalculate,wouldadd5.7metrestothebrakingdistance ofacartravellingat100kph.Theyalsofoundthegroupusingthehands-freekitmade83% moreerrorsintheirtasksthanthosewhowerenottalking.3Totrytounderstandmoreaboutwhythiswas,theytriedtwofurthertests.Inone, membersofagroupwereaskedsimplytorepeatwordsspokenbythecaller.Intheother, theyhadtothinkofawordthatbeganwiththelastletterofthewordtheyhadjustheard. Thoseonlyrepeatingwordsperformedthesameasthosewithnodistraction, butthosewith themorecomplicatedtaskshowedevenworsereactiontimes——anaverageof480millisec—ondsextradelay.Thisshowsthatwhenpeoplehavetoconsidertheinformationtheyhear carefully,itcanimpairtheirdrivingabilitysignificantly.4Punishingpeopleforusinghand—heldgadgetswhiledrivingisdifficultenougheven thoughtheycanbeseenfromoutsidethecar.Persuadingpeopletoswitchtheirphonesoff altogetherwhentheygetbehindthewheelmightbetheonlyanswer.Whoknows,they@⑥00@⑨@匡D=D⑨06响47.1.考试专栏.1.mightevencometoenjoynothavingtotakecalls.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答.47.Carryingonamobilephoneconversationwhileoneisdrivingisconsidereddangerousbe. causeitseriouslydistracts..............................——.48.Intheexperiments,thetwogroupsofvolunteerswereaskedtohandleaseriesofmoving taskswhichwereconsidered.49.Resultsoftheexperimentsshowthatthosewhoweremakingtheequivalentofahands——freecalltook——toreactthanthosewhowerenot.50.Furtherexperimentsrevealthatparticipantstendtorespondwithextradelayiftheyarere —quiredtodo51.Theauthorbelievespersuasion,ratherthan piefromusingmobilephoneswhiledriving.,mightbetheonlywaytostoppeo—SectionBDirections:Thereare2passagesinthissection.Eachpassageisfollowedbys0questionsor unfinishedstatements.ForeachofthemtherearefourchoicesmarkedA,B,CandD.Y ou shoulddecideonthebestchoiceandmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswerSheet2witha singlelinethroughthecentre.PassageOneQuestions52to56arebasedontheJCripplinghealthcarebills,2followingpassage.1ongemergency--roomwaitsandtheinabilitytofindapri?- marycarephysicianjustscratchthesurfaceoftheproblemsthatpatientsfacedaily. Primarycareshouldbethebackboneofanyhealthcaresystem.Countrieswithappro? priateprimarycareresourcesscorehighlywhenitcomestohealthoutcomesandcost.The U.S.takestheoppositeapproachbyemphasizingthespecialistratherthantheprimarycare physician. ArecentstudyanalyzedtheproviderswhotreatMedicarebeneficiariesf老年医保受惠人1.ThestartlingfindingwasthattheaverageMedicarepatientsawatotalofsevendoctors ——twoprimarycarephysiciansandfivespecialists——inagivenyear.Contrarytopopular belieLthemorephysicianstakingcareofyoudoesn'tguaranteebettercare.Actually, increasingfragmentationofcareresultsinacorrespondingriseincostandmedicalerrors. 4HowdidweletprimarycareslipSOfar?Thekeyishowdoctorsarepaid.Mostphysi—ciansarepaidwhenevertheyperformamedicalservice.Themoreaphysiciandoes,re—gardlessofqualityoroutcome,thebetterhe'sreimbursed(返还费用).Moreover,the amountaphysicianreceivesleansheavilytowardmedicalorsurgicalprocedures.Aspe一48@⑥00@@喹响⑨06s嗡5678910.i.考试专栏.|.cialistwhoperf0rⅡ惜aprocedureina30一minutevisitcanbepaidthreetimesmorethana primarycarephysicianusingthatsame30minutestodiscussapatient'sdisease?Combine thisfactwithannua1governmentthreatstoindiscriminatelycutreimbursements,physicians arefacedwithnochoicebuttoincreasequantity"toboostincome. Primarvcarephysictanswhorefusetocompromisequalityareeitherdrivenoutof busines$0rt0cash-onlypractices,furthercontributingtothedeclineofprimarycare. Medicalstudentsaren'tblindtothisscenario.Theyseehowheavilythereimburse—mentdeckisstackedagainstprimarycare.Therecentnumbersshowthatsince1997,newly娜duatedU.S.medicalstudentswhochooseprimarycareasacareerhavedeclinedby 50%.Thistrendresultsinemergencyroomsbeingoverwhelmedwithpatientswithoutregu. lardoctors.Howdowefixthisproblem? Itstartswithreformingthephysicianreimbursementsystem.Removethepressurefor primarycarephysicianstosqueezeinmorepatientsperhour,andrewardthemforoptimally (最佳地)managingtheirdiseasesandpracticingevidence'basedmedicine?Makeprimary caremoreattractivetomedicalstudentsbyforgivingstudentloansforthosewhochoose Drin1arycareasacareerandreconcilingthemarkeddifferencebetweenspecialistandpri marycarephysiciansalaries.We,IataDointwhereprimarycareisneededmorethanever.Withinafewyears,the firstwaveofthe76millionBabyBoomerswillbecomeeligibleforMedicate.Patientsolder than85.wh0needchroniccaremost,willriseby50%thisdecade.Wh0wil】betheretotreatthem?注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答.52.Theauthor'SchiefconcernaboutthecurrentU.S.healthcaresysteA.theinadequatetrainingofphysiciansC.theever—risinghealthcarecostsB.thedecliningnumberofdoctorsD.theshrinkingprimarycareresources53.WelearnfromthepassagethatpeopletendtobelievethatA.seeingmoredoctorsmayresultinmorediagnosticerrorsB.visitingdoctorsonaregularbasisensuresgoodhealthC.themoredoctorstakingcareofapatient,thebetterD.themorecostlythemedicine,themoreeffectivethecure54.Facedwiththegovernmentthreatstocutreimbursementsindiscriminately,primarycare physicianshavetoA.seemorepatientsattheexpenseofqualityB.improvetheirexpertiseandserviceC.makevariousdealswithspecialists@⑥00@⑨@匡⑨06响49.i.考试专栏.1.D.increasetheirincomebyworkingovertime55.Whydomanynewmedicalgraduatesrefusetochooseprimarycareastheircareer?A.Theythinkworkinginemergencyroomstedious.B.TheycurrentsystemworksagainstprimarycareC.TheyfindtheneedforprimarycaredecliningD.Primarycarephysicianscommandlessrespect56.Whatsuggestiondoestheauthorgiveinordertoprovidebetterhealthcare?A.Extendprimarycaretopatientswithchronicdiseases.B.Recruitmoremedicalstudentsbyofferingthemloans.C.Reducethetuitionofstudentswhochooseprimarycareastheirmajor.D.Bridgethesalarygapbetweenspecialistsandprimarycarephysicians.Questions57to61arebasedonthefollowingpassage?2 Thereisnothinglikethesuggestionofacancerrisktoscareaparent,especiallyoneof cated,eco.conscioustype.SoyoucanimaginethereactionwhenarecentUSA Todayinvestigationofairqualityaroundthenation'sschoolssingledoutthoseinthesmugly (自鸣得意地)greenvillageofBerkeley,Calif.,asbeingamongtheworstinthecountry.The city'spublichighschoolaswellasanumberofdayearecenters,preschools,elementaryand middleschools.fellinthelowest10%.Industrialpollutioninourtownhadsupposedly turnedstudentsintolivingscienceexperimentsbreathinginalaboratory'sworthofheavymeta1slikemanganese,chromiumandnickeleachday.Thisinacitythatrequiresschool cafeteriastoserveorganicmeals.Great,Ithought,organiclunch,toxiccampus. SinceDecember,whenthereportcameout,themayor,neighborhoodactivists(活跃分子1andvariousparent-teacherassociationshaveengagedinafiercehattieoveritsvalidity: overtheguiltofthesteel—castingfactoryonthewesternedgeoftown,overunionjobsver- SUSchildren'shealthandoverwhat,ifanything,oughttobedone.Withallsidespresent' ingtheirownexpertsarmedwithconflictingscientificstudies,whomshouldparentsbe' lieve?Istheretrulyathreathere,weaskedoneanotheraswedroppedoffourkids,andif SO,howgreatisit?Andhowdoesitcomparewiththeother,seeminglyperpetualhealth scaresweconfront.likepanicoverleadinsyntheticathleticfields?Ratherthanjustanoth- erweirdepisodeinthe,townthatbroughtyouprotestingenvironmentalists,thislatestdrama isatria1forhowtoday'sparentsperceiverisk,howwetrytokeepourkidssafe—whetherit'sDossibletokeepthemsafe——inwhatfeelslikeanincreasinglythreateningworld.It raisesthequestionofwhat,inourtime,"safe"couldevenmean."There'snowayaroundtheuncertainty,"saysKimberlyThompson,presidentofKid5O@⑥00@⑨@匡嗡06s考试专栏.i◆Risk,anonprofitgroupthatstudieschildren'Shealth."Thatmeansyourchoicescanmat—ter,butitalsomeansyouarcH'tgoingtoknowiftheydo."A2004reportinthejournal Pediatricsexplainedthatnervousparentshavemoretofearfromfire,caraccidentsand drowningthanfromtoxicchemicalexposure.TowhichIsay:Well,obviously.Butsuch concretehazardsarebesidethepoint.It'Sthedangersparentscan't～andmaynever—quantifythatOccurallofasudden.That'SwhyI'veridmycupboardofmicrowavefood packedinbagscoatedwithapotentialcancer—causingsubstance,butalthoughI'velived blocksfromamajorfauhline(地质断层)formorethan12years,Istillhaven'tboltedour bookcasestothelivingroomwal1.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答.57.WhatdoesarecentinvestigationbyUSATodayreveal?A.ParentsinBerkeleyareover—sensitivetocancerriskstheirkidsface.B.TheairqualityaroundBerkeley'Sschoolcampusesispoor.C.Berkeleyresidentsarequitecontentedwiththeirsurroundings.D.Heavymetalsinlabteststhreatenchildren'ShealthinBerkeley.58.WhatresponsedidUSAToday'Sreportdraw?A.Popularsuppo~..B.Widespreadpanic.C.Aheateddebate.D.Strongcriticism.59.Howdidparentsfeelinthefaceoftheexperts'studies?A.Thevdidn'tknowwhotobelieve.B.Theyfeltverymuchrelieved.C.Theyweren'tconvincedoftheresults.D.Theywerefrightenedbytheevidence.60.Whatistheviewofthe2004repo~inthejournalPediatrics?A.Parentsshouldbeawareofchildren'Shealthhazards.B.Attentionshouldbepaidtotoxicchemicalexposure.C.Itisimportanttoquantifyvariousconcretehazards.D.Dailyaccidentsposeamoreseriousthreattochildren.61.Ofthedangersineverydaylife.theauthorthinksthatpeoplehavemosttofearfromA.theuncertainC.thequantifiableB.anearthquakeD.unhealthyfood答案与解析:SectionA短文大意:开车时使用手机很危险,这并非因为手机占用驾驶员的手,而是因为谈话内容会使驾驶者分散注意力,致使其反应滞后.47.adriver'Sattention@⑥叩@@匡响⑨06响51考试专栏.1.题文问:开车时接打手机被认为很危险,因为它严重分散——.根据题文中mobilephone,conversation等关键词,可将答案定位在第1段.该段大意为:许多国家规定驾驶时手持手机打电话为违法.但最新研究进一步确认驾驶员手中拿东西的危险不如谈话内容对大脑的影响大.即使用"免提"手机也会分散驾驶员注意力,出现危险情况.本题题文其实是将第1段的内容浓缩为一句话,题文中用同义词distract(分散)取代了原文中的divert(转移).48.equivalentindifficultytodriving题文问:要求两组自愿者在实验中处理一系列移动任务,这些任务被认为——.根据题文中experiments,groupsofvolunteers,movingtasks等关键词.可定位答案在第2段第1句.该句意为:MehnaKunar和ToddHorowitz进行了一系列实验,要求两组自愿者集中注意力,对计算机屏幕上一串移动任务做出反应,这些任务的难度被认为等同于驾驶.本题题文中handle(处理)其实是原文中respondto(对……做出反应)的同义词,consider(认为)是reckon(估计)的同义词.故答案应为equivalentindifficultyto driving.49.moretime题文问:实验结果表明那些打免提电话的人比不打电话的人用——做出反应.根据题文中关键词makingtheequivalentofahands—freecall可定位答案在第2段第3句.该句意为:Kunar和Horowitz报告说,那些相当于打免提电话的人比不打电话的人反应平均慢212毫秒.显然原文中找不到恰当的词充当took的宾语,因此只能概括全句的意思,使用moretime作为答案.50.morecomplicatedtask题文问:更多实验显示,如果参加者被要求做——,他们反应往往会再延宕.根据题文中的关键词further,extradelay可定位答案在第3段.题文中furtherex. periments就是原文中furthertests的同义词.该段前3句意为:为更好理解其原因,他们进一步进行了两项实验.一组人被要求简单重复打电话人说的话,另一组人必须想出一个词.这个词的第一个字母是刚听到的词的最后一个字母.简单重复的人的表现与不受干扰的人相同,但任务更复杂的人反应时间就很糟——平均延后480毫秒.可见第3句中的morecomplicatedtask为正确答案.51.punishment题文问:作者认为说服.而非法..是唯一可能使人们在驾驶时不使用手机的方根据题文中关键词persuasion(说服)可在第4段第2句中找到其同根词Persuad—ing,从而可判断答案就在第4段.该段大意为:很难因驾驶时使用手机而处罚人,即使能从车外看见他们(在接打手机).说服人们坐在方向盘后面时完全关闭手机可能是唯一的答案.谁知道呢,他们甚至可能会喜欢上不接听电话.可见本题答案应为punishing的同根名词punishment.52@⑥00@@匿06响.i◆考试专栏.i.SectionBPassageOne短文大意:基本医疗应该是一个国家医疗体系的支柱,但美国的医疗体系却倚重专科医生,轻视全科医生.作者认为,美国应该在薪水报酬方面照顾从事基本医疗的全科医生,加大对基本医疗人员培养的投入,否则老年人口将会面临医疗资源匮乏的困境.52.D.题文问:作者对当前美国医疗体制的主要担心是文章一开始,作者就在第l,2两段谈到对当前基本医疗状况的不满,这两段大意为:极能伤害人(昂贵)的医疗账单,急诊室排长队,找不到基本医疗大夫,这些仅仅触及了病人每天面临问题的表皮.对任何医疗体系而言,基本医疗应该是支柱. 谈到医疗效果和成本,基本医疗资源恰当的国家都会得高分.而美国却反其道而行之,强调专科医生,而非全科医生.由此可见选项D(基本医疗资源不断萎缩)为本题答案.选项A(内科大夫训练不充分),B(医生数量不断下降)和C(不断上升的医疗费用)均为干扰项.53.C.题文问:从短文中我们可知,人们往往相信按照正常的出题顺序,接下来答案应该在第3段.该段第2,3,4句大意为:令人惊讶的发现是每个医保病人平均每年看了7个大夫.同流行的看法相反,你看的大夫越多并不能保证治疗就更好.实际上治疗的分散会引起费用和医疗错误相应增加.题文中tendtobelieve其实就是第3句中popularbelief(流行的看法,普遍相信的东西)的同义语.因此可推断选项C(病人看的大夫越多越好)为本题答案.选项A(看的大夫越多错误诊断可能越多)是作者的看法.选项B(经常看大夫能保证健康)和D(医疗费越高治疗效果越好)也不正确.54.A.题文问:面对政府不加区别削减(医疗费)返还费用的威胁,全科医生只好根据题文中的关键词cutreimbursementsindiscriminately可定位答案在第4段最后一句.该旬意为:这种情况再加上政府每年威胁不加区别地削减返还费用,大夫别无他法.只好增加数量以提高收入.可见选项A(以质量为代价多看些病人)为本题答案.选项B(改进专业技术和服务),C(同专科医生进行各种交易)和D(超时工作以增加收入)均为干扰项.55.B.题文问:为什么许多刚毕业的医科学生不选基本医疗为职业?根据题文中的关键词medicalgraduates可定位答案在第6段,因为段首的Med—icalstudents是medicalgraduates的同义语.该段第l,2句大意为:医科学生不会看不到这种情况.他们明白不利于基本医疗返费的结构已经形成.deckisstacked(牌被洗好)这个表达方法对考生来说有一定的难度,其后的介词against实际上暗示了它同选项B中的against有关联,而且从整篇文章来看,基本医疗出现问题肯定同体制/f有关,所以即使不懂该表达法也能推测出选项B(现体制对基本医疗不利)为正确答II案.至于选项A(他们认为在急诊室工作乏味),c(他们发现基本医疗的需求在下降)Illil@⑥00@@匡响06s53L考试专栏十和D(全科医生不够受尊敬),把握了全文的主旨就很容易排除.56.D.题文问:为提供较好的医疗服务,作者给了什么建议?很容易看出:第7段后面是作者对当前问题的建议.第8段第1句说,首先要改革医生返还费用的体制.第2句说,减少全科医生被迫每小时多看病人的压力. 第3句说,用免还贷款的方法使全科对医科学生更具吸引力.最关键的是该段的最后部分:reconcilingthemarkeddifferencebetweenspecialistandprima~carephysi—ciansalaries(缓和专科医生和全科医生薪水之间的显着差异),意即缩小差别.故选项D(缩小专科医生和全科医生之间的薪水差别)为正确答案.选项A(延长对慢性病人的基本医疗服务),B(通过提供贷款招收更多医科学生)和C(对选择基本医疗为专业的学生减少学费)都是根据文章中只言片语设计的干扰项,意思都不正确. PassageTwo短文大意:媒体报道加州伯克利附近的校园空气质量非常恶劣,这引起了人们热烈争论.但争论各方都有自己信任的专家所进行的研究结果为根据,令人无所适从.人们往往最容易担心一些意外事故,可对意外事故人们很难有所作为.57.B.题文问:《今日美国》最近的调查揭示了什么?根据题文中的关键词investigation,USAToday可判断答案在第1段.该段第l,2句说:没有任何东西比癌症风险更使父母亲恐慌了,特别是受过良好教育,生态意识强的那类父母亲.《今日美国》最近登载了美国学校空气质量调查报告,加州以绿色着称的伯克利的校园空气质量却属全国最差之列,不难想像人们会是怎样的反应.文中singleout意为"(从……中)挑选出来";asbeing这个短语修饰前面的air quality.由此可见选项B(伯克利校园附近的空气质量太差)是正确答案.选项A(伯克利的父母亲对孩子面临的癌症风险过度敏感),C(伯克利居民对环境相当满意) 和D(伯克利实验室的重金属威胁孩子的健康)都是干扰项.58.C.题文问:《今日美国》的报告引起什么反应?答案见第2段第1句:自从12月份报告刊登以来,就其正确性,城镇西部钢厂的过失,工会争取的.T-作岗位与孩子健康的关系,应该采取什么行动等,市长,社区活跃分子,形形色色的教师一家长组织展开了热烈的争~e'(fiercebattle).可见选项C(热烈的争论)为正确答案.选项A(民众的支持),B(普遍的恐慌)和D(强烈的批评)均不恰当.59.A.题文问:面对专家的研究,父母亲感觉怎样?根据题文中关键词parents,experts.可判断答案在第2段第2句:由于各方都推出自己的专家,这些专家都有(armedwith)相互冲突的科学研究,父母亲应该相信谁呢?可见选项A(他们不知道相信谁)应为正确答案.选项B(他们感到非常轻松),C(他们没有被这些结果说服)和D(他们被证据所吓倒)均为干扰项.60.B.题文问:《儿科》杂志2004年的报告持何观点?54@⑥00@@匿0:D06s嗡考试专栏.1.根据题文中关键词2004reportinthe'iournalPediatrics可判断答案在第3段第3句:《儿科》杂志2004年的一份报告解释道,紧张的父母亲更害怕火灾,车祸和溺水,而非有毒化学品对环境的污染.注意,这里讲的是"紧张的父母亲"的看法,并非报告本身的观点.由此可判断选项B(应该重视有毒化学品污染)为正确答案.选项A(父母亲应该意识到孩子的健康危险),C(对各种具体危险进行量化很重要)和D (日常意外事故对孩子形成更严重的威胁)均为干扰项.61.C.题文问:作者认为,日常生活危险中人们最怕的是答案见第3段第6句:正是父母亲不能——可能永远不能——量化的危险会突然发生.可见选项C(可量化的事)应为正确答案.注意本题问的是"人们"的看法,并非作者的看法,故不能选A(不确定的事).选项B(地震)和D(不健康的食物) 更不用考虑.园《大学英语》(学术版?增刊)征稿通知《大学英语》(学术版?增刊)正式人编清华大学主办的中国学术期刊(光盘版),可登录中国知网(),用作者姓名,文章题目,关键词,期刊名,学科等多种方式检索.另外还加入台湾地区最大学术期刊全文数据库——思博网(WwW.ceps.oom.tw.).我刊拟于2010年9月底出版《大学英语》(学术版?增刊)2010年第2期,现将相关事项通知如下:一,征稿范围1.语言学研究和语言对比研究4.大学英语语言应用能力培养途径2.翻译研究和英美文学研究5.大学英语课程。
09年12月英语六级答案
2009年12月六级完整答案及写作范文PART ONE WRITINGShould parents send their kids to art classes?A child’s world is supposed to be fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. Unfortunately, this is not the case for some kids, especially for those born and bred in cities --- their joys are dimmed and even lost because a majority of them are forced to attend various art classes.Some claim that it is beneficial for children’s development. They might have their reasons because most parents are convinced that their kids are gifted gifts from the god. They presume that the earlier their children are exposed to arts, the more likely it is to find out the artistic potential hidden in them. Even if their children fail to become another child prodigy like Lang Lang or Li Yundi, the interests in arts, say, in music, cultivated in childhood will be of great value in their whole life.In spite of the possible benefits mentioned, I, like others, am strongly against it. The major harm is that it might deprive children of their pleasure to play after school. Faced with competition and contest for better universities, most children are buried in piles of homework. Forcing them to art classes will leave them less time to enjoy the beauty of the nature or to find their talent in things they are really interested in.To sum up, childhood is a time for children to play as they wish. Rather than cramming knowledge, it is more important to pave the way for their desire to know than to put them on a diet of facts they are not ready to assimilate.PART TWO Reading Comjprehension (Skimming and Scanning)1. B) benefits of the practice of teleworking2. C) more employees work to full capacity at home3. C) more businesses have adopted remote working solution4. B) They look for reliable business-only provider5. A) offering sophisticated voice services6. D) support its employees with children to take care of7. B) keep highly qualified staff8. home life9. productive10. increase her own productivityPART THREE Listening ComprehensionNo.11 A They prefer to carry cash when traveling abroad. No.12 D He had long dream of the dean’s position.No.13 A The concert is very impressive.No.14 B They have known each other since their schooldays. No.15 D Stop for the night.No.16 A Survey result.No.17 D He would rather the woman didn’t buy the blouse. No.18 C The notice may not be reliable.No.19 D A manager at a computer store.No.20 A Handling customer complains.No.21 C She wants to be with her husband.No.22 D Early next month.No.23 B It will be a major economic power by the mid-21st century. No.24 D The huge gap between the haves and have-nots.No.25 C They attach great importance to education.No.26 A She engaged in field research on environmental pollution. No.27 A The job restricted her from revealing her findings.No.28 B Many toxic sites in America have been cleaned up.No.29 D Her ability to communicate through public speaking.No.30 D The accelerated pace of globalization.No.31 B Gain a deep understanding of their own culture.No.32 C The labor market is getting globalized.No.33 B Brown haired women are rated as more capable.No.34 A They are shrewd and dishonest.No.35 C They hinder our perception of individual differences. No.36 derivedNo.37 immenseNo.38 convenientNo.39 accuracyNo.40 largelyNo.41 instinctNo.42 recallsNo.43 textureNo.44 This means that any thought about a certain subject will often bring up more memories that are related to it.No.45 The associations do not have to be logical. They just have to make a good link.No.46 If you remember the shape of Italy, it is because you have been told at sometime that Italy is shaped like a boot.PART FOUR Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)47. a driver’s attention48. equivalent in difficulty to driving49. more time50. more complicated task51. punishment52. D) the shrinking primary care resources53. C) the more doctors taking care of a patient, the better54. A) see more patients at the expense of quality55. B) The current system works against primary care.56. D) Bridge the salary gap between specialists and primary care physicians.57. B) The air quality around Berkeley’s school campuses is poor.58. B) Widespread panic59. A) They didn’t know who to believe.60. B) Attention should be paid to toxic chemical exposure61. A) the uncertainPART FIVE Cloze62. B launching62. D brands64. B condemn65. A in66. C industry67. A discourage68. D including69. C. unnecessary70. D for71. B incentives72. C strategic73. A spokesman74. D. under way75. B responsiblility76. B on77. C minimise78. C so79. C individual80. A despite81. D tacklePART SIX Translation82. How long does a jacket like this last me? ————————（这要看你多长时间穿一次。
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.。