2010年12月大学英语六级考试模拟题四

2010年12月英语六级考试预测试题及答案四
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic: Salary or Interest. Y ou should write at least 150 words following the outline given below:
1. 如今的大学毕业生面临的职业选择：兴趣重要还是工资重要
2. 你的观点
3. 结论
Salary or Interest
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 1-4, mark
Y (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.
April Fools' Special: History's Hoaxes
Happy April Fools' Day. To mark the occasion, National Geographic News has compiled a list of some of the more memorable hoaxes in recent history. They are the lies, darned(可恨的) lies, and whoppers(弥天大谎)that have been perpetrated on the gullible(易受骗的)and unsuspecting to fulfill that age-old desire held by some to put the joke on others.
Internet Hoaxes
The Internet has given birth to a proliferation(增殖)of hoaxes. E-mail inboxes are bombarded on an almost daily basis with messages warning of terrible computer viruses that cause users to delete benign(良性)chunks of data from their hard drives, or of credit card scams that entice the naive to give all their personal information, including passwords and bank account details, to identity thieves. Other e-mails give rise to wry(歪曲的)chuckles, which is where this list begins.
Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide(一氧化二氢)
City officials in Aliso Viejo, California, were so concerned about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide that they scheduled a vote last month on whether to ban foam(泡沫)cups from city-sponsored events after they learned the chemical was used in foam-cup production.
Officials called off the vote after learning that dihydrogen monoxide is the scientific term for water.
"It's embarrassing," city manager David J. Norman told the Associated Press. "We had a paralegal(律师助手)who did bad research."
Indeed, the paralegal had fallen victim to an official-looking Web site touting the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide. An e-mail originally authored in 1990 by Eric Lechner, then a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, claimed that dihydrogen monoxide "is used as an industrial solvent and coolant, and is used in the production of Styrofoam(聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料)."
Other dangers pranksters(爱开玩笑的人)associated with the chemical included accelerated corrosion and rusting, severe burns, and death from inhalation.
V ersions of the e-mail continue to circulate today, and several Web sites, including that of the
Coalition to Ban DHMO, warn, tongue-in-cheek, of water's dangers.
Alabama Changes V alue of Pi
The April 1998 newsletter put out by New Mexicans for science and Reason contains an article titled "Alabama Legislature Lays Siege to Pi". It was penned by April Holiday of the Associmated Press (sic) and told the story of how the Alabama state legislature voted to change the value of the mathematical constant Pi from 3.14159 to the round number of 3.
The ersatz(假的)news story was written by Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist Mark Boslough to parody(滑稽地模仿)legislative and school board attacks on the teaching of evolution in New Mexico.
At Boslough's suggestion, Dave Thomas, the president of New Mexicans for science and Reason, posted the article in its entirety to the Internet newsgroup Talk. Origins on April 1. (The newsgroup hosts a lively debate on creation vs. evolution.) Later that evening Thomas posted a full confession to the hoax. He thought he had put all rumors to bed.
But to Thomas's surprise, however, several newsgroup readers forwarded the article to friends and posted it on other newsgroups.
When Thomas checked in on the story a few weeks later, he was surprised to learn that it had spread like wildfire. The telltale signs of the article's satirical intent, such as the April 1 date and misspelled "Associmated Press" dateline, had been replaced or deleted.
Alabama legislators were bombarded with calls protesting the law. The legislators explained that the news was a hoax. There was not and never had been such a law.
TV and Newspaper Hoaxes
Before the advent of the Internet, and even today, traditional media outlets such as newspapers, radio, and television, have sometimes hoaxed their audiences. The deceptions run the gamut from purported natural disasters to wishful news.
Swiss Spaghetti (意大利式细面条) Harvest
Alex Boese, curator of the Museum of Hoaxes, a regularly updated Web site that also appeared in book form in November 2002, said one of his favorite hoaxes remains one perpetrated by the British Broadcasting Company.
On April 1, 1957, the BBC aired a report on the television news show Panorama about the bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland.
Viewers watched Swiss farmers pull pasta off spaghetti trees as the show's anchor, Richard Dimbleby, attributed the bountiful harvest to the mild winter and the disappearance of the spaghetti weevil.
The broadcaster detailed the ins and outs of the life of the spaghetti farmer and anticipated questions about how spaghetti grows on trees. Thousands of people believed the report and called the BBC to inquire about growing their own spaghetti trees, to which the BBC replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
"It was a great satirical effect about British society," Boese said. "British society really was like that at that time. The British have a tendency to be a bit insulated(绝缘的) and do not know that much about the rest of Europe."
Taco Liberty Bell
On April 1, 1996, readers in five major U.S. cities opened their newspapers to learn from a full page announcement that the Taco Bell Corporation had purchased the Liberty Bell from the U.S. government. The announcement reported that the company was relocating the historic bell
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Irvine, California. The move, the corporation said in the advertisement, was part of an "effort to help the national debt".
Hundreds of other newspapers and television shows ran stories related to the press release on the matter put out by Taco Bell's public relations firm, PainePR. Outraged citizens called the Liberty Bell National Historic Park in Philadelphia to express their disgust. A few hours later the public relations firm released another press announcement stating that the stunt was a hoax.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry got into the act when he remarked that the government would also be "selling the Lincoln Memorial to Ford Motor Company and renaming it the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial".
Crop Circles
Strange, circular formations began to appear in the fields of southern England in the mid-1970s, bringing busloads of curious onlookers, media representatives, and believers in the paranormal out to the countryside for a look.
A sometimes vitriolic(讽刺的)debate on their origins has since ensued(跟着发生), and the curious formations have spread around the world, becoming more and more elaborate as the years go by.
Some people consider the crop formations to be the greatest works of modern art to emerge from the 20th century, while others are convinced they are signs of extraterrestrial communications or landing sites of UFOs.
The debate rages even today, although in 1991 Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, two elderly men from Wiltshire County, came forward and claimed responsibility for the crop circles that appeared there over the preceding 20 years. The pair made the circles by pushing down nearly ripe crops with a wooden plank suspended from a rope.
Moon Landing—a Hoax?
Ever since NASA sent astronauts to the moon between 1969 and 1972, skeptics have questioned whether the Apollo missions were real or simply a ploy to one-up(领先)the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The debate resurfaced and reached crescendo levels in February 2001, when For television aired a program called Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?
Guests on the show argued that NASA did not have the technology to land on the moon. Anxious to win the space race, NASA acted out the Apollo program in movie studios, they said. The conspiracy theorists pointed out that the pictures transmitted from the moon do not include stars and that the flag the Americans planted on the moon is waving, even though there is though to be no breeze on the moon.
NASA quickly refuted these claims in a series of press releases, stating that any photographer would know it is difficult to capture something very bright and very dim on the same piece of film. Since the photographers wanted to capture the astronauts striding across the lunar surface in their sunlit space suits, the background stars were too faint to see.
As for the flag, NASA said that the astronauts were turning it back and forth to get in firmly planted in the lunar soil, which made it wave.
1. Some people have the age-old desire to put the joke on others.
2. According to the passage, the only form of Internet hoaxes is e-mail hoax.
3. Dihydrogen monoxide is a very dangerous chemical, which is often used as an industrial solvent.
4. Dihydrogen monoxide can accelerate corrosion and rusting, and cause sever burns and
even death from inhalation.
5. The reason why the ersatz news that Alabama changed the value of Pi spread wildly was that ________ forwarded the article to friends and posted it on other newsgroups.
6. Traditional media outlets such as ________ may still hoax their audiences nowadays.
7. According to Boese, many people believed the report of Swiss spaghetti harvest because the British did not know ________.
8. According to a hoax announcement, the Taco Bell Corporation bough the Liberty Bell and moved it to Irvine to help ________.
9. The crop circles were thought to be the greatest works of modern art, the signs of ________ or landing sites of UFOs.
10. Some people thought that NASA acted out the Apollo program in movie studios partially because the pictures transmitted from the moon do not include ________.
Part III Listening 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 center.
11. [A] She's enjoying the music.
[B] The music will keep her awake.
[C] The music doesn't bother her.
[D] She would prefer a different style of music.
12. [A] She will take the subway.
[B] She will hurry to the conference.
[C] She will skip the conference and go sightseeing
[D] She will take a bus.
13. [A] She thinks big parties are too impersonal.
[B] She would like to invite friends to a big party.
[C] She feels she has to spend a lot of money in holding big parties.
[D] She would like to be invited to small parties.
14. [A] It is quite unexpected.
[B] She has already got the news.
[C] She has confidence in the man.
[D] It is not exciting to learn about it.
15. [A] He is not satisfied with the pay.
[B] He is not able to enjoy paid holidays.
[C] The job is not very challenging for him.
[D] There is no hope of promotion.
16. [A] He has to change the topic for his composition.
[B] He has fallen behind others in English class.
[C] He hasn't made up his mind as to what to write about.
[D] The book he borrowed will be due tomorrow.
17. [A] She is against the man's plan.
[B] She thinks it needs a lot of money.
[C] They need some time to think about it.
[D] It's good for his career development.
18. [A] She should present him a book on music.
[B] The teacher has some interests other than reading.
[C] It's a good idea because the teacher loves reading.
[D] The teacher would like to have a book on language teaching.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. [A] He is a professional electrician.
[B] He possesses a basic knowledge of electricity.
[C] He knows nothing about electricity.
[D] Electricity is his major.
20. [A] To wire her office. [B] To fix the transformer.
[C] To wire her building. [D] To fix the wires.
21. [A] The transformer. [B] The battery.
[C] The fuses. [D] The wires.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
22. [A] At a public forum. [B] In an auditorium.
[C] On TV. [D] In a classroom.
23. [A] Exposing oneself to the target culture.
[B] Attending regularly a good language program.
[C] Coming up with a study plan.
[D] Developing good note-taking skills.
24. [A] A realistic goal for learners is to reach a certain level of language proficiency, not native fluency.
[B] Students can achieve native-like pronunciation through focused study.
[C] Learners should interact with native speakers to gain greater fluency.
[D] Teachers need to help students foster a good self-esteem and confidence.
25. [A] Remembering as many words as possible.
[B] Learning only useful words.
[C] Remembering a lot of words a day.
[D] Learning to use a few words a day.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some question. 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 center.
Passage One
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. [A] Food is no longer a basic need for us, while it was for primitive people.
[B] We eat a wide variety of food.
[C] We no longer eat fruit that primitive people ever ate.
[D] We eat more food than primitive people did.
27. [A] It is needed to adjust the temperature of our bodies.
[B] It is our second need.
[C] We need clothing to cover our bodies.
[D] Weather is changing all the time.
28. [A] The climate. [B] One's social position.
[C] The materials available. [D] Family size.
29. [A] Human Basic Needs. [B] Material Comfort.
[C] Food: Human Basic Need. [D] Basic Necessities of Life.
Passage Two
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
30. [A] The meaning of facial expressions depends on situations.
[B] Facial expressions can cause misunderstanding across culture.
[C] People from one culture may lack facial expressions because they experience less emotion.
[D] Facial expressions may disguise true feelings.
31. [A] They smile to cover embarrassment
[B] It is an unusual and even suspicious behavior.
[C] They smile to show politeness.
[D] It is an expression of pleasure.
32. [A] We shouldn't judge people by reading their faces.
[B] We shouldn't smile in the wrong place.
[C] We shouldn't cover our true feelings.
[D] We shouldn't express our emotions too openly.
Passage Three
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. [A] In 1938. [B] In 1946. [C] In 1955. [D] During World War II.
34. [A] It reflects commercial interests.
[B] It is a fashionable professional event.
[C] It is an essential affair for international cinema.
[D] It is more concerned with the art of film than with financial interests.
35. [A] It is awarded to the best film of the festival.
[B] It was introduced in 1959.
[C] It was introduced by a commercial organization.
[D] Only American directors have received this award.
Section C
Directions: 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.
Taking your dog on vacation may have been (36) ________ a decade ago, but today it's free.
(37) ________ the pet-friendly hotel, where dogs are just part of the family, the Loews
Miami Beach has had more than 1,200 (38) ________ guests so far this year. Dogs, like kids, stay free there.
A lot of people just want to travel with their animals, so the hotel (39) ________ guests to come with their pets. The hotel has a special (40) ________ for them from the time they enter the door till the time they leave.
There are fresh grapes by the pool for the discerning dog and a cup of ice cubes for the hot dog. And don't forget the special doggie dinner menu. The hotel kitchen (41) ________ to canines as well as their masters. The most popular dog dish is a (42) ________ of beef, vegetables and rice. It's really great. (43) ________, the people food is even better.
(44) ________________________. Some of them don't have children, and the dogs may fill that gap for them. (45) ________________________. But what pet wouldn't want to be welcomed back to a welcome meal that includes an all-beef hamburger bone?
(46) ________________________.
Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
Section A
Directions: 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 on Answer Sheet 2.
Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.
Wild ducks and other migratory(迁移的) birds could be important carriers of deadly bird flu, researchers say. Even so, the infectious-disease experts say there is no solid basis for killing wild birds to protect poultry and minimize the risk of human infection.
The European team investigating the global spread of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza(禽流感)says certain duck species may be infecting wild bird populations. Geese and wading birds are also possible vectors(带菌者)of the virus, the team says.
The team's study was led by Björn Olsen of Umea University in Sweden. Olsen runs Europe's largest wild-bird flu monitoring program.
Studies have shown that influenza viruses in lake water, generally passed via bird feces(粪), can stay infectious for up to 30 days. The migration or feeding behavior of dabbling ducks could at least partially explain the spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the researchers add.
This group of duck species includes mallards, teal, pintails, and others that feed at or near the surface, where viruses in water are most likely to be picked up. Perhaps as a result, dabblers have the highest known rates of avian influenza infection, the study says. For instance, nearly 13 percent of mallards tested positive for bird flu. Other species tested include the American black duck (18.1 percent), blue-winged teal (11.5 percent), and northern pintail (11.2 percent).
However, bird flu viruses appear to exist in ducks in a low-pathogenic form, meaning infection doesn't usually lead to severe illness and death.
"Dabbling ducks are for sure the prime hosts for low pathogenic viruses," said study co-author Ron Fouchier, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. "But the big question is, how much of our knowledge about these viruses can we translate to high-pathogenic viruses such as the H5N1 strain of bird flu?"
In poultry avian viruses can mutate(变异)into more virulent influenza strains, including H5N1. If this mutated virus then finds its way back into wild populations, the birds could then spread the disease through migration.
Some scientists have argued that wild birds infected with HN51 would be too ill to migrate. Swans, for instance, appear to be particularly vulnerable to the strain. "Swans apparently drop dead quite easily, but they are unlikely to be the vector because they are not going to fly very far if they are dead," Fouchier said.
But the study team says that some birds that have been purposely infected for the sake of research show that wild birds can survive H5N1. "For some reason H5N1 has adapted so it no longer kills dabbling ducks," Fouchier said. This means the ducks may be able to spread the virus over a wide area.
The study team says migratory geese may also be vectors, because they often graze in huge flocks, a practice that could encourage transmission.
Migrating ducks, the researchers add, "could provide an intercontinental bridge" for bird flu to North America, which has not yet had any known cases of H5N1.
47. According to the author, what may be the possible carriers of bird flu?
48. The main sources of influenza viruses in lake water are ________, which may stay infectious for up to 30 days.
49. By saying "bird flu viruses appear to exist in ducks in a low-pathogenic form" (Para. 6), the author suggests that infection ________.
50. On what condition can the birds spread the influenza through migration?
51. According to the study team, ________ is a practice that can encourage transmission of the bird flu.
Section B
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]. Y ou should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center.
Passage One
Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.
For about three centuries we have been doing science, trying science out, using science for the construction of what we call modern civilization. Every dispensable item of contemporary technology, from canal locks to dial telephones to penicillin, was pieced together from the analysis of data provided by one or another series of scientific experiments. Three hundred years seems a long time for testing a new approach to human inter-living, long enough to set back for critical appraisal of the scientific method, maybe even long enough to vote on whether to go on with it or not. There is an argument.
V oices have been raised in protest since the beginning, rising in pitch and violence in the nineteenth century during the early stages of the industrial revolution, summoning urgent crowds into the streets on the issue of nuclear energy. "Give it back," say some of the voices, "It doesn't really work, we've tried it and it doesn't work. Go back three hundred years and start again on something else less chancy for the race of man."
The principle discoveries in this century, taking all in all, are the glimpses of the depth of our ignorance of nature. Things that used to seem clear and rational, and matters of absolute certainty-Newtonian mechanics, for example-have slipped through our fingers; and we are left with a new set of gigantic puzzles, cosmic uncertainties, and ambiguities. Some of the laws of physics are amended every few years; some are canceled outright; some undergo revised versions
of legislative intent as if they were acts of Congress.
Just thirty years ago we call it a biological revolution when the fantastic geometry of the DNA molecule was exposed to public view and the linear language of genetics was decoded. For a while, things seemed simple and clear: the cell was a neat little machine, a mechanical device ready for taking to pieces and reassembling, like a tiny watch. But just in the last few years it has become almost unbelievably complex, filled with strange parts whose functions are beyond today's imagining.
It is not just that there is more to do, there is everything to do. What lies ahead, or what can lie ahead if the efforts in basic research are continued, is much more than the conquest of human disease or the improvement of agricultural technology or the cultivation of nutrients in the sea. As we learn more about fundamental processes of living things in general we will learn more about ourselves.
52. What CANNOT be inferred from the first paragraph?
[A] Scientific experiments in the past three hundred years have produced many valuable items.
[B] For three hundred years there have been people holding a hostile attitude toward science.
[C] Modern civilization depends on science so man supports scientific progress unanimously.
[D] Some people think three hundred years is not long enough to set back for critical appraisal of scientific method.
53. The principle discovery in this century shows ________.
[A] man has overthrown Newton's laws of physics
[B] man has solved a new set of gigantic puzzles
[C] man has lost many scientific discoveries
[D] man has given up some of the once accepted theories
54. Now scientists have found in the past few years ________.
[A] the exposure of DNA to the public is unnecessary
[B] the tiny cell in DNA is a neat little machine
[C] man knows nothing about DNA
[D] man has much to learn about DNA
55. The writer's main purpose in writing the passage is to say that ________.
[A] science is just at its beginning
[B] science has greatly improved man's life
[C] science has made profound progress
[D] science has done too little to human beings
56. The writer's attitude towards science is ________.
[A] critical [B] approving [C] neutral [D] regretful
Passage Two
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
Here amid the steel and concrete canyons, green grass grows. A hawthorn tree(山楂树) stands in new soil, and freshly dug plants bend in the wind.
But Chicago City Hall here seems an unlikely spot for a garden of any variety—especially 20,000 square feet of gardens—on its roof.
As one of a handful of similar projects around the country, the garden is part of a $1.5 million demonstration projected by the city to reduce its "urban heat islands", said William Abolt, the
commissioner of the Department of Environment.
Heat islands-dark surfaces in the city, like rooftops-soak up heat. The retention can bake a building, making it stubborn to cooling.
The roof of City Hall, a 90-year-old gray stone landmark on LaSalle Street in the heart of downtown, has been known to reach temperature substantially hotter than the actual temperature on the street below.
The garden will provide greenery and shade. "And that," said the city officials, "will save the city dollars on those blistering summer days." The project savings from cooling is about $4,000 a year on a new roof whose life span is about 50 percent longer than that of a traditional roof.
The sprawling open-air rooftop garden is being carefully built on a multi-tiered bed of special soil, polystyrene, egg-carton-shaped cones and "waterproof membrane" mall to keep the roof from leaking, or caving under the normal combined weight of soil, rain and plant life.
The design calls for soil depths of 4 inches to 18 inches. When the last plants and seedlings are buried and the last bit of compost is laid, the garden will have circular brick stepping-stones winding up to hills.
"The primary focus of what we want to do was to establish this laboratory on the top of City Hall to get people involved and understanding their impact on the environment and how the little things can make an impact on the quality of life", Mr. Abolt said, adding that the plants also help to clear the air.
Rooftop gardens, in places where concrete jungles have erased plants and trees, are not new, not even in Chicago. Arms of greenery dangling over terraces or sprouting from rooftops, common in Europe, are becoming more so in the United States as people become increasingly conscious about the environment.
Richard M. Daley, who urged the environmental department to look into the project after noticing rooftop gardens in Hamburg, Germany a few years ago, has praised the garden as the first of its kind on a public building in the country.
It will hold thousands of plants in more than 150 species-wild onion and butterfly weed, sky-blue aster and buffalo grass-to provide data on what species adapt best. Small plants requiring shallow soil depths were chiefly selected.
57. The rooftop garden project ________.
[A] is common and popular in the country
[B] is a demonstration project and costs the city government 1.5 million dollars
[C] will make the ordinary cooling down of the city in summer unnecessary
[D] aims at getting people involved and understanding their impact on the environment
58. What can we learn about the City Hall?
[A] It was built ninety years ago and is the most outstanding feature in the center of the city.
[B] It is originally proper to build a garden on the top of the City Hall.
[C] The temperature on its top is a little bit lower than that on the street below.
[D] It is the first building in America to have a garden on it.
59. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
[A] Every year, Chicago spends about $ 4,000 on cooling the city.
[B] The design of the garden on the City Hall specially takes into consideration the weight the roof can stand.
[C] The Mayor urged the environmental department to look into rooftop gardens in Hamburg。