2013年6月英语六级真题试卷(第1套)
2013.12 英语六级考试真题试卷及部分答案(第一套)
2013.12 英语六级考试真题试卷及部分答案(第一套)【作文1】Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay about the impact of information explosion by referring to the saying "a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention". You can cite examples to illustrate your point and then explain what you can do to avoid being distracted by irrelevant information? You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.【范文1】2013年12月英语六级考试作文范文标准版点评,由沪江提供。
Ways to Get Over Information ExplosionAs a famous saying goes, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”. Nowadays we are in the Information Age. Some people keep complaining about distraction by the information explosion.Admittedly, the new information age has brought us so much convenience that we are allowed to get enough information just with a simple click sitting in front of the computers. Nevertheless, we are also confused, annoyed, distracted and upset by an incredibly large quantity of information. For example, when searching for something online, people are easily carried away by irrelevant information and forget their original plan. Besides, some information often turns out to be useless and actually advertisement. Therefore, it can be time-consuming and troublesome to search information online.Then what we can do to avoid being distracted by irrelevant information? Here I have some useful tips: Firstly, make a list of what you really want before your searching. This will help you to refuse some appealing, yet irrelevant information. Secondly, find some trustful and professional sources or websites and then save and categorize them. In this case, you can easily leave some ads and useless information behind.【点评】本次作文主题围绕“信息爆炸给大众带来的困扰”,难度较小。
201312CET-6(共三套)真题+参考答案
2013年12月大学英语六级考试真题(第1套)Part IDWriting(30 minutes)(请干正式开考后半小时内完成该部分,之后将迸行听力考试)Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on happiness by referring to the saying “Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them.,,You can cite examples to illustrate your point and then explain how you can develop your ability to deal with problems and be happy. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section ADirections:/n this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At theend 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 Ans^wer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
2023年6月英语六级考试真题试卷附答案和解析第1套
2023年6月英语六级考试真题试卷附答案和解析(第1套) Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the use of robots. Try to imagine what will happen when more and more robots take the place of human beings in industry as well as people's daily lives. You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 1 with a single line through the centre.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.1. A) Project organizer.B) Public relations officer.C) Marketing manager.D) Market research consultant.2. A) Quantitative advertising research.B) Questionnaire design.C) Research methodology.D) Interviewer training.3. A) They are intensive studies of people's spending habits.B) They examine relations between producers and customers.C) They look for new and effective ways to promote products.D) They study trends or customer satisfaction over a long period.4. A) The lack of promotion opportunity.B) Checking charts and tables.C) Designing questionnaires.D) The persistent intensity. Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) His view on Canadian universities.B) His understanding of higher education.C) His suggestions for improvements in higher education.D) His complaint about bureaucracy in American universities.6. A) It is well designed.B) It is rather inflexible.C) It varies among universities.D) It has undergone great changes.7. A) The United States and Canada can learn from each other.B) Public universities are often superior to private universities.C) Everyone should be given equal access to higher education.D) Private schools work more efficiently than public institutions.8. A) University systems vary from country to country.B) Efficiency is essential to university management.C) It is hard to say which is better, a public university or a private one.D) Many private university in the U.S. are actually large bureaucracies. Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four questions. Both the passage and thequestions 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 1 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.9. A) Government's role in resolving an economic crisis.B) The worsening real wage situation around the world.C) Indications of economic recovery in the United States.D) The impact of the current economic crisis on peopled life.10. A) They will feel less pressure to raise employees' wages.B) They will feel free to choose the most suitable employees.C) They will feel inclined to expand their business operations.D) They will feel more confident in competing with their rivals.11. A) Employees and companies cooperate to pull through the economic crisis.B) Government and companies join hands to create jobs for the unemployed.C) Employees work shorter hours to avoid layoffs.D) Team work will be encouraged in companies.Passage TwoQuestions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) Whether memory supplements work.B) Whether herbal medicine works wonders.C) Whether exercise enhances one's memory.D) Whether a magic memory promises success.13. A) They help the elderly more than the young.B) They are beneficial in one way or another.C) They generally do not have side effects.D)They are not based on real science.14. A) They are available at most country fairs.B) They are taken in relatively high dosage.C) They are collected or grown by farmers.D) They are prescribed by trained practitioners.15. A) They have often proved to be as helpful as doing mental exercise.B) Taking them with other medications might entail unnecessary risks.C) Their effect lasts only a short time.D) Many have benefited from them.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 1 with a single line through the centre.Recording OneQuestions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.16. A) How catastrophic natural disasters turn out to be to developing nations.B) How the World Meteorological Organization studies natural disasters.C) How powerless humans appear to be in face of natural disasters.D) How the negative impacts of natural disasters can be reduced.17. A) By training rescue teams for emergencies.B) By taking steps to prepare people for them.C) By changing people's views of nature.D) By relocating people to safer places.18. A) How preventive action can reduce the loss of life.B) How courageous Cubans are in face of disasters.C) How Cubans suffer from tropical storms.D) How destructive tropical storms can be.Recording TwoQuestions 19 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) Pay back their loans to the American government.B) Provide loans to those in severe financial difficulty.C) Contribute more to the goal of a wider recovery.D) Speed up their recovery from the housing bubble.20. A) Some banks may have to merge with others.B) Many smaller regional banks are going to fail.C) It will be hard for banks to provide more loans.D) Many banks will have to lay off some employees.21. A) It will work closely with the government.B) It will endeavor to write off bad loans.C) It will try to lower the interest rate.D) It will try to provide more loans.22. A) It won't help the American economy to turn around.B) It won't do any good to the major commercial banks.C) It will win the approval of the Obama administration.D) It will be necessary if the economy starts to shrink again.Recording ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.23. A) Being unable to learn new things.B) Being rather slow to make changes.C) Losing temper more and more often.D) Losing the ability to get on with others.24. A) Cognitive stimulation.B) Community activity.C) Balanced diet.D) Fresh air.25. A) Ignoring the signs and symptoms of aging.B) Adopting an optimistic attitude towards life.C) Endeavoring to give up unhealthy lifestyles.D) Seeking advice from doctors from time to time.Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are requir ed to select oneword for each blank from a list of choices given in a word ban k following the passage. Read thepassage through carefully before making yo ur choices. Each choice in the bank is identified bya letter. Please mark the c orresponding letter for each item on ,Answer Street 2 with a singleline throug h the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.Let's say you love roller-skating. Just the thought of __26__ on your roller-skates brings asmile to your face. You also know that roller-skating is excellent exercise. You have a __27__attitude toward it.This description of roller-skating __28__ the three components of an attitude: affect,cognition, and be havior. You love the activity; it's great fun. These feelings __29__ the affectiv eor emotional component; they are an important ingredient in attitudes. The knowledge wehave about the object constitutes the cognitive compone nt of an attitude. You understand the health __30__ that the activity can bri ng. Finally, attitudes have a behavioral component.Our attitudes __31__ us to go outside to enjoy roller-skating.Now, we don't want to leave you with the __32__ that these three component s always worktogether __33__ . They don't; sometimes they clash. For exam ple, let's say you love pizza(affective component); however, you have high c holesterol and understand (knowledge component) that eating pizza may b e bad for your health. Which behavior will your attituderesult in, eating pizza or __34__ it? The answer depends on which component happens to bestron ger. If you are walking past a pizza restaurant at lunchtime, your emotions and feelingsprobably will be stronger than your knowledge that pizza may not be the best food for yourhealth. In that instance, you have pizza for lunch. If y ou are at home trying to decide where togo for dinner, however, the knowledge component may __35__ , and you decide to go whereyou can eat a healt hier meal.A.avoidingB.benefitsC.highlightD.illustratesE.impressionF.improvesG.inquiringH.perfectlyI.positiveJ.prevailK.primarilyL.promptM.specificationsN.strappingO.typicalSection B Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in oneof the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The Changing Generation [A] It turns out today's teenagers aren't so scary after all. Results of USA WEEKEND'S Teens & Parents survey reveal a generation of young people who get along well with their parents and approve of the way they're being raised. They think of their parents with affection and respect. They speak with Mom or Dad when they have a problem. Most feel that their parents understand them, and they believe their family is the No. 1 priority in their parents, lives. Many even think their parents are cool! Although more than a third have an object in their rooms they would like to keep secret from their parents, rarely is it anything more alarming than a diary or off-color (低俗旳) book or CD.[B] Such results may seem surprising against the background of shocking incidents that color the way the mass media portray the young. In October 2023, , the same month the survey was taken, the Washington-based Center for Media and Public Affairs wrote in its publication Media Monitor that, in a recent month of TV news coverage of American youth, just 2% of teens wereshown at home, and just 1% were portrayed in a work setting. In contrast, the criminal justice system accounted for nearly one out of every five visual backgrounds. No wonder parents worry their own kids might spin out of control once they hit the turbulent waters of adolescence.[C] The overall facts ought to reassure us. The survey shows us that today's teens are affectionate, sensible and far happier than the angry and tortured souls that have been painted for us by stereotypes. From other sources, we also know teenage crime, drug abuse and premarital sex are in general decline. We, of course, need to pay attention to youngsters who are filled with discontent and hostility, but we should not allow these extreme cases to distort our view of most young people.[D] My own research at the Stanford Center on Adolescence uses in-depth interviews with small samples of youngsters rather than large-scale surveys. Still, in my studies and others I have read, I find the same patterns as in USA WEEKEND'S survey. Today's teenagers admire their parents and welcome parental guidance about important matters such as career choice—though certainly not Mom and Dad's advice on matters of personal taste, such as music or fashion. When we ask teens to choose a hero,they usually select an older family member rather than a remote public figure. Most teens say they enjoy the company of both parents and friends.[E] Contrary to some stereotypes, most adolescents believe they must be tolerant of differences among individuals (though they do not always find this easy in the cliquish (拉帮结派旳) environment of high school). Many of them volunteer for community service with disadvantaged people. One prevalent quality we have found in teens, statements about themselves, their friends and their families is a strikingly positive emotional tone. By and large, these are very nice kids, and as the band The Who used to sing, "The kids are alright."[F] How much is today's spirit of harmony a change from our more turbulent past? A mere generation ago, parent-child relations were described as "the generation gap". Yet even then reports of widespread youth rebellion were overdone: Most kids in the '60s and 70s shared their parents, basic values. Still, it is true that American families are growing closer at the dawn of this new millennium (千年). Perhaps there is less to fight about, with the country in a period of tranquility and the dangers of drug abuse and other unwholesome behavior well known. Perhaps in the face of impersonal and intimidating globalization, a young person's family feels more like a friendly haven than an oppressive trap. And perhaps parents are acting more like parents than in the recent past. Within just the past five years, I have noticed parents returning to a belief that teenagers need the guidance of eldersrather than the liberal, "anything goes" mode of child-rearing that became popular in the second half of the 20th century.[G] But missing from all these data is the sense that today's young care very much about their country, about the broader civic and political environment, or about the future of their society. They seem to be turning inward—generally in a pro-social manner, certainly with positive benefits for intimate relationships, but too often at the expense of a connection with the present and future world beyond, including the society they will one day inherit.[H] Recently, we examined more than 400 essays on the "laws of life" that teens from two communities had written as part of an educational program initiated by the John Templeton Foundation in Radnor, Pa. In those essays, and in follow-up interviews with a few of the teenagers, we found lots of insight, positive feeling and inspirational thinking. But we also found little interest in civic life beyond the tight circles of their family and immediate friends.[I] For example, only one boy said he would like to be president when he grows up. When I was in high school, dozens in my class alone would have answered differently. In fact, other recent studies have found there has never been a time in American history when so small a proportion of young people have sought or accepted leadership roles in local civic organizations. It is alsotroubling that voting rates among our youngest eligible voters—18- to 24-year-olds—are way down: Little more than one in four now go to the polls, even in national elections, compared with almost twice that many when 18-year-olds were first given the vote. [J] In our interviews, many students viewed politics with suspicion and distaste. " Most politicians are kind of crooked (不诚实旳)" one student declared. Anothe r, discussing national politics, said, “I feel like one person can't do that much, and I get the impression most people don't think a group of people can do that much." Asked what they would like to change in the world, the students mentioned only personal concerns such as slowing down the pace of life, gaining good friends, becoming more spiritual, becoming either more materially successful or less materially oriented (depending on the student's values), and being more respectful of the Earth, animals and other people. One boy said, "I'd rather be concentrating on artistic efforts than saving the world or something." [K] It is fine and healthy for teens to cultivate their personal interests, and it is good news when young people enjoy harmonious relations with their family and friends. But there is also a place in a young life for noble purposes that include a dedication to the broader society, a love of country and an aspiration to make their own leadership contributions.[L] In the past, the young have eagerly participated in national service and civic affairs, often with lots of energy and idealism. If this is not happening today, we should ask why. Our society needs the full participation of its younger citizens if it is to continue to thrive. We know the promise is there—this is a well-grounded, talented, warm-hearted group of youngsters. We have everything to gain by encouraging them to explore the world beyond their immediate experience and to prepare themselves for their turn at shaping that world.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
2013年6月大学英语六级真题
2013年6月大学英语六级真题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 conversations and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
11. A) She has completely recovered.B) She went into shock after an operation.C) She is still in a critical condition.D) She is getting much better.12. A) Ordering a breakfast. C) Buying a train ticket.B) Booking a hotel room. D) Fixing a compartment.13. A) Most borrowers never returned the books to her.B) The man is the only one who brought her book back.C) She never expected anyone to return the books to her.D) Most of the books she lent out came back without jackets.14. A) She left her work early to get some bargains last Saturday.B) She attended the supermarket’s grand opening ceremony.C) She drove a full hour before finding a parking space.D) She failed to get into the supermarket last Saturday.15. A) He is bothered by the pain in his neck.B) He cannot do his report without a computer.C) He cannot afford to have a coffee break.D) He feels sorry to have missed the report.16. A) Only top art students can show their works in the gallery.B) The gallery space is big enough for the man’s paintings.C) The woman would like to help with the exibition layout.D) The man is uncertain how his art works will be received.17. A) The woman needs a temporary replacement for her assistant.B) The man works in the same department as the woman does.C) The woman will have to stay in hospital for a few days.D) The man is capable of dealing with difficult people.18. A) It was better than the previous one.B) It distorted the mayor’s speech.C) It exaggerated the city’s economy problems.D) It reflected the opinions of most economists.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19. A) To inform him of a problem they face.B) To request him to purchase control desks.C) To discuss the content of a project report.D) To ask him to fix the dictating machine.20. A) They quote the best price in the market.B) They manufacture and sell office furniture.C) They cannot deliver the steel sheets on time.D) They cannot produce the steel sheets needed21. A) By marking down the unit price.B) By accepting the penalty clauses.C) By allowing more time for delivery.D) By promising better after-sales service.22. A) Give the customer a ten percent discount.B) Claim compensation from the stool suppliers.C) Ask the Buying Department to change suppliers.D) Cancel the contract with the customer.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23. A) Stockbroker. C) Mathematician.B) Physicist. D) Economist.24. A) Improve computer programming.B) Predict global population growth.C) Explain certain natural phenomena.D) Promote national financial health.25. A) Their different educational backgrounds.B) Changing attitudes toward nature.C) Chaos theory and its applications.D) The current global economic crisis.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.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
2023年6月英语六级听力真题(第一套)题目,原文与答案
2023年6月英语六级听力真题(第一套)【四六级试卷采用花卷形式,核对答案时请找准具体选项内容,忽略套数和选项符号】Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.1. A) It was spacious and tranquil.B) It was warm and comfortable.C) It was shabby and solitary.D) It was tiny and noisy.2. A) She no longer hates people talking loudly in the dorm.B) She misses her roommates she used to complain about.C) She begins to enjoy the movies she once found irritating.D) She finds the crowded dorm as cozy as her new apartment.3. A) He found the apartment perfectly furnished.B) He had a feeling of despair and frustration.C) He had a similar feeling to the woman’s.D) He felt the new place was like paradise.4. A) Go to see the woman’s apartment.B) Make a phone call to his parents.C) Buy some furniture for the woman.D) Decorate the woman’s apartment.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) He works as a literary critic.B) He hosts an educational program.C) He has initiated a university reform.D) He has published a book recently.6. A) It fails to keep up with the radical changes of society.B) It fails to ensure universities get sufficient resources.C) It has not prepared young people for the job market.D) It has not fostered the growth of the arts disciplines.7. A) More of the budget should go to science and technology.B) The underfunded music discipline should be prioritized.C) Subdisciplines like sculpture should get more funding.D) Literature should get as much funding as engineering.8. A) Build a prosperous nation.B) Make skilled professionals.C) Create ingenious artists.D) Cultivate better citizens.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.9. A) It is quite common.B) It is rarely noticed.C) It seldom annoys people.D) It occurs when one is alone.10. A) Seeing things in black and white.B) Engaging in regular contemplation.C) Having a special understanding of creativity.D) Knowing how to make their mental batteries work.11. A) Engaging in intense activity.B) Fantasizing in one’s down time.C) Working on a particular project.D) Reflecting during one’s relaxation.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) Farmers helped Native Americans grow crops.B) There were expansive university campuses.C) There existed post offices.D) Migrants found gold there.13. A) It helped to boost the economy in the American West.B) It provided job opportunities for many gold seekers.C) It extended the influence of the federal government.D) It kept people in the deserts and plains connected.14. A) It employed Native Americans to work as postmen.B) It commissioned private wagons to carry the mail.C) It subsidized the locals who acted as postmasters.D) It centralized postal services in its remote areas.15. A) He analyzed interactive maps of mail routes.B) He read a large collection of books on the topic.C) He examined its historical trends with data science.D) He collected data about its impact on local business.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.16. A) Higher levels of anxiety may improve people’s memory.B) Some experiences are easier to remember than others.C) Most people tend to remember things selectively.D) Simple things may leave a deep impression on one’s memory.17. A) They classified the participants’ mindset.B) They showed some photos to the participants.C) They measured the participants’ anxiety levels.D) They tested the size of the participants’ vocabulary.18. A) Anxiety has become a serious problem for an increasing number of people.B) Extreme levels of anxiety can adversely affect cognitive performance.C) People diagnosed with anxiety disorder may forget things selectively.D) There is no direct correlation between memory and levels of anxiety. Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) They compare products from different companies before making a choice.B) They get information from other consumers’ postings and comments.C) They lose patience when their phone call is not promptly answered.D) They expect to get instantaneous responses to their inquiry.20. A) Giving them rewards on the spot.B) Broadening their scope of interest.C) Speaking directly to their emotions.D) Focusing on the details of the product.21. A) Change the rules of the game in the market every year.B) Keep up with the latest technological developments.C) Learn from technological innovators to do business.D) Make greater efforts to build up consumers’ confidence. Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) People have only one social engagement per week.B) Working together enhances friendship.C) Few people have devoted friends.D) Friendships benefit work.23. A) The impact of friends on people’s self-esteem.B) How supportive friends can be in the workplace.C) How to boost one’s sense of value and worthiness.D) The role of family ties in people’s mental well-being.24. A) They show little interest in their friends’ work.B) They tend to be much more difficult to make.C) They are more trustworthy and reliable.D) They increase people’s job satisfaction.25. A) Allow employees to have a flexible work schedule.B) Encourage employees to be friends with colleagues.C) Help employees balance work and family responsibilities.D) Organize activities to nourish friendships outside of work.答案速查Conversation One1. B) It was warm and comfortable.2. B) She misses her roommates she used to complain about.3. C) He had a similar feeling to the woman’s.4. A) Go to see the woman’s apartment.Conversation Two5. D) He has published a book recently.6. C) It has not prepared young people for the job market.7. A) More of the budget should go to science and technology.8. D) Cultivate better citizens.Passage One9. A) It is quite common.10. B) Engaging in regular contemplation.11. D) Reflecting during one’s relaxation.Passage Two12. C) There existed post offices.13. D) It kept people in the deserts and plains connected.14. B) It commissioned private wagons to carry the mail.15. C) He examined its historical trends with data science. Recording One16. A) Higher levels of anxiety may improve people’s memory.17. C) They measured the participants’ anxiety levels.18. B) Extreme levels of anxiety can adversely affect cognitive performance.Recording Two19. D) They expect to get instantaneous responses to their inquiry.20. C) Speaking directly to their emotions.21. B) Keep up with the latest technological developments.Recording Three22. D) Friendships benefit work.23. A) The impact of friends on people’s self-esteem.24. D) They increase people’s job satisfaction.25. A) Allow employees to have a flexible work schedule.听力原文与答案Conversation OneM: Hi Lily, how’s the new apartment?W: It’s okay.M: What? How can it be just okay when last week you were thrilled about the place and kept posting photos of it online?W: (1) Well, last week when I moved in, the apartment seemed cozy, just the right size for one person. But now it just seems tiny, shabby and solitary.M: Ah, that’s the problem. You miss your roommates from university, don’t you?W:(2) I’m going to sound like an idiot, because I used to complain to you all the time about how crowded our dormitory room was, and about all the things they did to irritate me, like watching movies late at night without headphones, or talking loudly early in the morning. But now I miss them terribly. M: Of course, you do. That’s perfectly normal. (3) When I got my first place, I remember thinking I couldn’t wait to live by myself and get away from my juvenile roommates and all their annoying habits. But then I began missing them and feeling lonely and thinking that our dormitory was like paradise. Even though there were six of us guys in one small room.W: I thought it was just me who felt like that.M:Look, you lived at home with us, and then you had three roommates, and this is your first time living alone, so it’s hard. But your first apartment is a milestone in your life. And you should celebrate it. Tell me about the apartment.W: Actually, it’s not bad. In fact, it’s pretty adorable now that I have decorated it and it has everything I need. I have a kitchen to cook in and a bathroom all to myself, and then another room with my bed at one end and a sofa, a small table and chairs at the other end.M: That does sound adorable, and (4) I can’t wait to see it. And neither can mom and dad.Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.Q1. What was the woman’s first impression of the apartment? 答案: B)Q2. Why does the woman say she’s going to sound like an idiot? 答案: B)Q3. What do we learn about the man when he left the dormitory to live on his own? 答案: C)Q4. What does the man say he can’t wait to do? 答案: A)Conversation TwoW: Welcome to our program book talk. (5) Our guest today is Frank Jones, a critic of our education system and the author of a new book, How to Reform Our Universities.M: Hello, Susan.W: Frank, you support radically changing universities in America.M:Yes. (6) I believe that the purpose of higher education is to prepare young people to enter the workforce and that our current system fails to do this. We’re allocating too many resources to disciplines that don’t match the needs of employers.W:I think your attitude to education is a bit cynical, Frank. Surely the purpose of university is to prepare young people to participate fully in civic life rather than just to find well paid jobs.M: Susan, many young graduates struggle to find any job, let alone a good one. The job market is grim, particularly for students who study the arts.W:I agree that it isn’t easy for young people to find work, but you propose closing down all departments that aren’t directly related to science and technology. Is that really the solution?M: You’re overstating my point. (7) My argument is that we need to use more of our budget on areas like science and engineering. To do that, we need to take money from subjects like literature and music.W: (8) But the arts have value. They’re an important part of our culture. Studying literature or music or sculpture might not result in a job in that area, but it helps young people to think about the world in a deeper way, which makes them better citizens and makes for a better society.M: l agree that the arts are valuable to society, but it’s naive to think that not only the most talented, but all students should study them at university level. The odds are very competitive, and most graduates will end up with a great deal of debt obtaining a degree that has little value on the job market. Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.Q5. What do we learn from the conversation about the man? 答案: D)Q6. What does the man believe is the problem with the current American system of higher education? 答案: C)Q7. How should the education budget be allocated according to the man? 答案: A)Q8. What does the woman say the arts can do? 答案: D)Passage One(9) Do you ever have the annoying feeling that you don’t have time to really think anymore? You’re not alone. A variety of factors have conspired to rob us of time for reflection about ourselves and our lives. Today our preoccupied minds are rarely silent. The average person receives hundreds of texts and voice messages a day. And holidays for many of us are action packed weeks more likely full of family activities than opportunities for tranquility and contemplation.(10) Regular reflection, however, underlies all great professionals. It’s a prerequisite for you to recharge your mental batteries, see things in a new light and tap into your creativity. Almost all of the great advisors that I have studied have found ways to get away from it all and contemplate their life and work. Some researchers in the field of creativity, in fact, believe that insight occurs during the reflection and relaxation that follows a period of intense activity. Schedule your time for reflection about your work, or a particular project you’re engaged in.I usually block out half an hour. Don’t answer the phone. Push your papers to the side. Sketch, make lists, draw mind maps of ideas that come to you. At the end, write down any emerging ideas.When you’re alone, stop worrying and think. A lot of our downtime is spent worrying about troublesome things in our lives or fantasizing about how we’d like our lives to be. (11) Revisit things during moments of relaxation after a period of intense work. This is when we are the most creative. Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.Q9. What do we learn about the feeling that one doesn’t have time to think anymore? 答案: A)Q10. What trait do all great professionals share? 答案: B)Q11. What do some researchers believe is conducive to creative ideas? 答案: D)Passage Two(12) Even before Colorado was a state, it had post offices. The first opened in 1859 in a settlement founded by migrants searching for gold. Life could be unpredictable out west. Gold failed to appear,drought ruined farmers, and settlers clashed with Native Americans.On the settlement’s location, now stands a sprawling university campus. Amid all the changes, one feature remained constant: the postal service. The maps tracing America’s westward expansion are telling. In 1864 there were few postal branches on land controlled by Native Americans, which still accounted for most of the West. Over the next 25 years, post offices grew quickly. Colonization of the West could be regarded as a result of big government rather than pioneers. (13) As federal subsidies and land grants tempted people into the deserts and plains, the post kept them connected.In the mid-19th century, the Post Office Department was far from a centralized bureaucracy. To keep up with migration patterns, postal services were added to existing businesses. (14) The federal government commissioned private wagons to carry the mail. Short-term contracts were granted to local businessmen to act as postmasters. These partnerships enabled the mail to quickly follow migrants, helping knit together remote parts of the country.Mr. Blevins, a digital historian, wrote a book on the history of the US postal service. (15) He used data science to analyze historical trends. Most strikingly, he built an accompanying website complete with interactive maps. They show readers how, within a generation, the postal service helped colonize a continent. These online interactive maps illustrate the formative power of snail mail.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.Q12. What does the passage say about Colorado before it became a state? 答案: C)Q13. How did the postal service contribute to America’s westward expansion? 答案: D)Q14. What did the federal government do to meet the increasing demand for the postal service in the West? 答案: B)Q15. What did Mr. Blevins do to study the history of the US postal service? 答案: C)Recording OneIn last week’s lecture, we discussed reasons why people forget things. This week, we will discuss a surprising reason why we might remember some things: anxiety. Think about something as simple as buying a coffee. That may not seem like an experience that would make a deep impression on your memory. But anxiety could change that. (16) In fact, a new study suggests that people with higher anxiety levels might remember certain information better than people with lower anxiety levels. That’s because higher levels of anxiety may make people more susceptible to negative feelings. Putting them in a more negative state of mind, that in turn, may make them able to better remember some events. Let’s take a closer look at that new study now. (17) In the study, the researchers started by giving 80 undergraduate students an anxiety test. The test measured the participants’anxiety levels over the proceeding two weeks.Then, to test memory, the participants were shown a series of neutral words one at a time. Some of the words were printed onto photos of negative scenes, meaning images that could affect their emotions negatively, such as a photo of a car accident, or a cemetery. The rest of the words were printed onto photos of neutral scenes, such as a photo of a lake or trees. Neutral words included words like table or desk that don’t elicit emotion.Later, the participants were asked to think back to the words they were shown earlier, which caused them to reenter either a negative or neutral mindset. The participants were then presented with another set of neutral words, and their memory of these new words was tested.The researchers found that the new words presented to people in a negative mindset were better remembered by people with higher levels of anxiety than those with lower levels of anxiety.In other words, when highly anxious individuals took in otherwise emotionally neutral information that was presented to them, it became colored by their negative mindset, making them remember the information better. But these same effects were not seen in people with low levels of anxiety.(18) Previous studies have found that extreme levels of anxiety such as those experienced by people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder can be quite detrimental to memory and cognitive performance. But the highly anxious people in this study represent individuals who are managing their anxiety and for whom anxiety is not a serious problem.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.Q16. What does the speaker say the new study suggests? 答案: A)Q17. What did researchers do first in the new study? 答案: C)Q18. What do we learn from previous studies about anxiety? 答案: B)Recording TwoOver the past 20 years, the internet has gradually become a dominant feature of our lives. It has changed how we communicate with each other. And it has definitely transformed the way we do business with each other. Marketing has also changed in a number of ways.For instance, in the past, consumers had to call a phone number and patiently wait on hold in order to get the information they wanted. (19) Today, they want the information immediately. They’ll go to the company’s social media page and post comments and questions, expecting to receive an immediate response. If they don’t get their questions answered soon, they’ll move on to another company that will answer them quickly.Marketing departments today need to follow technological development. For example, this year’s smartphone is smarter than last year’s; self-driving cars are now on the road. Marketers have to do research on which technologies are coming into being. Otherwise, they risk being left behind in the virtual dust.Marketing has also changed due to the importance of video. People don’t just want to read text; they want to watch things happening. Companies now have to explore how they can use video on a consistent basis to share information about their businesses. Fortunately, it’s extremely easy to shoot something these days. All you need is a smartphone.But what’s the result of all this? Shorter attention spans. We are n’t the same people that we were 20 years ago. Not only have we grown accustomed to getting the information we want instantaneously, our attention spans are much shorter. If something doesn’t capture our attention within a few seconds, we’re on to the next piece of content. (20) Marketers need to figure out ways to speak directly to the customer’s emotions, and they need to figure out how to do that as quickly as possible. Once people are emotionally engaged, they’ll stick with you.If marketing has changed this much in the past 20 years, imagine what the next 20 years will bring. In a recent survey, only nine percent of marketers could say with confidence that their marketing efforts were actually working. Their confidence is being shaken because the rules of the game change every year. That’s why (21) it’s important for marketers to pay attention to the latest technologicaldevelopments and consider collaborating with technological innovators. That way, they’ll be moving at the same pace as the tech industry.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.Q19. What does the speaker say about today’s consumers? 答案: D)Q20. How do marketers capture consumers’ attention as quickly as possible? 答案: C)Q21. What does the speaker suggest marketers do to meet future challenges? 答案: B)Recording ThreeYou might be surprised to learn that (22) the benefits of friendships extend beyond people’s social life and into their work, which is interesting when considering the extent to which people sacrifice friendships, or at least the time they spend with friends because of the extended hours they’re devoting to work. Just last week, I was remarking to a colleague that I’m content with only one social engagement per week. But according to recent research, that’s evidently not enough.(23) In an initial study of more than 700 respondents, scholars from an American university analyzed the impact that friends, as opposed to family, have on self-esteem and well-being. Friends came out substantially on top. That’s because to be someone’s mate is a voluntary act, unlike family who people rarely get to choose. The researchers found that when people choose to cultivate and maintain supportive friendships with an individual, it means that the person is valued and worthy of their limited time. Such sentiments of value and worthiness boost our self-esteem.The second study comprised more than 300 participants. It proved that the better we feel about ourselves, the more likely we will perform our job confidently and competently. (24) This follow-up study found that non-work friends even improved people’s job satisfaction. They have as much of an impact on how much they love their jobs, as do the friends they have at work, despite not actually being at our place of work. These types of friends tend to be our preferred outlet for venting about work-related matters. This is an avenue that may not be available at the office.So even though friendships can be easy to neglect when confronted by pressures at work, or even pressures at home, neglecting our friends can turn out to be harmful and counterproductive. That’s why when determining how to create a better work life balance, we need to consider not only how to balance work and family demands, but also how to cultivate and sustain supportive friendships. It’s for this reason that (25) managers should never discriminate when it comes to requests from employees for flexible work arrangements. It’s irrelevant whether their need for a desired schedule is due to, say, parenting responsibilities, or a craving to hang out with their best mate. What matters is the opportunity to engage in a nourishing activity outside of work. That will definitely have a follow-on effect at work. Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.Q22. What does the speaker say is interesting? 答案: D)Q23. What did researchers from an American university analyze in their initial study? 答案: A)Q24. What did the second study find about non-work friends? 答案: D)Q25. What does the speaker suggest managers do? 答案: A)。
2013年6月六级考试第一套真题答案解析(卷一)
2013年6月大学英语六级考试答案与详解(卷一)Part ⅠWriting1、审题:本篇是评论性的话题作文。
“微笑”是常谈不衰的话题,它本应是人们最自然、最常见的表情,而现代都市人大都为生活、工作、学业、子女等种种事务日复一日地劳碌奔波,背负着越来越大的压力,那种最真诚、最自然、最质朴的微笑正渐渐从人们的脸上消失。
在科技发达的现代社会,人与人之间在空间上的距离更近了,但在心灵上却越走越远。
本篇要求评论“微笑可以拉近两个人的距离”这句话并为文,而在更深层次上,出题人似乎是想借这个题目引发人们的思考,让人们通过“微笑”消除彼此之间的冷漠、仇恨、冲突,搭建良好的交流沟通和亲近的桥梁,因此这一题目开放性强,考生可发挥的空间很大。
此外,题目Drections中指出考生可以援引事例来证明观点,这为考生行文提供了一个思路,即:先陈述微笑的作用,然后援引事例予以证明,并对事例简单评述以点题,最后提出个人看法。
此外,考生也可先指出微笑可以缩短人与人之间距离的几个方面,然后指出微笑所代表的深层含义(人与人之间的信任支持、关怀友爱、宽容悲悯等真挚情感),最后再作出总结。
2、写作思路:第一段:引用特蕾莎修女的名言,指出微笑能缩短人与人之间的距离,并从三个方面体现:消融冷漠或敌意;赋予力量;拉近友情。
第二段:从不同角度举例证明微笑能缩短人与人之间的距离:绝望中抚慰心灵;陌生环境中与人亲近,获得帮助;困境中,获得力量。
第三段:总结前面所述,给出个人看法:微笑让我们受益匪浅,笑口常开促进人与人的交流,促进社会的和谐。
A Smile Can Shorten the Distance Between PeopleMother Teresa once said, “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”Human beings are said to be one of the few species in this planet who can express sincere sentiments through a smile. And it is a smile that melts the indifference or hostility between people, that gives power to those who are at the edge of despair, and that brings friends close to each other. In a word, it is a smile that continuously shortens the distance between people.A smile, with its strong power, brings out its miraculous glamour in different ways. When you are in the situation of despair, a smile from others will console your hurting heart. When you get into an unfamiliar circumstance, a smile will make the people around you feel comfortable and help you willingly. When you get into trouble, a smile from friends will give you power to stand up. Where there is no smile, there is no happiness of life.Seen from the discussion above, a smile benefits us very much. Le t’s keep smiling so that better communication between people can be achieved and a more harmonious society can be built.PartⅡListening Comprehension1.听力原文:W: I was shocked to hear of your wife’s illness. Is she going to be all right?M: At first, the doctors won’t assure, but she’s really improved. She’ll be home next week.Q: What do we learn about the man’s wife from the conversation?【预测】选项中的主语she以及recovered, operation, critical condition (危急状况)和getting much better表明,对话与she的病情有关。
2013年6月六级考试真题(第一套)
2013年6月六级考试真题(第一套)Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark “A smile is the shortest distance between two people.” You can cite examples to illustrate your point. You should writeat least 150 words but no more than 200 words.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) andD). For questions 8–10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Welcome, Freshmen. Have an iPod.Taking a step that many professors may view as a bit counterproductive, some colleges and universities are doling out Apple iPhones and Internet-capable iPods to their students.The always-on Internet devices raise some novel possibilities, like tracking where students gather together. With far less controversy, colleges could send messages about canceled classes, delayed buses, campus crises or just the cafeteria menu.While schools emphasize its usefulness —online research in class and instant polling of students, for example — a big part of the attraction is, undoubtedly, that the iPhone is cool and a hit with students. Being equipped withone of the most recent cutting-edge IT products could just help a college or university foster a cutting-edge reputation.Apple stands to win as well, hooking more young consumers with decades of technology purchases ahead of them. The lone losers, some fear, could be professors.Students already have laptops and cell phones, of course, but the newest devices can take class distractions to a new level. They practically beg a user to ignore the long-suffering professor struggling to pass on accumulated wisdom from the front of the room —a prospect that teachers find most irritating and students view as, well, inevitable.“When it gets a little boring, I might pull it out,” acknowledged Naomi Pugh, a first-year student at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., referring to her new iPod Touch, which can connect to the Internet over a campus wireless network. She speculated that professors might try even harder to make classes interesting if they were to compete with the devices.Experts see a movement toward the use of mobile technology in education, though they say it is in its infancy as professors try to come up with useful applications. Providing powerful handheld devices is sure to fuel debates over the role of technology in higher education.“We think this is the way the future is going to work,” said Kyle Dickson, co-director of research and the mobile learning initiative at Abilene Christian University in Texas, which has bought more than 600 iPhones and 300 iPods for students entering this fall.Although plenty of students take their laptops to class, they don’t take them everywhere and would prefer something lighter. Abilene Christian settled on the devices after surveying students and finding that they did not like hauling around their laptops, but that most of them always carried a cell phone, Dr. Dickson said.It is not clear how many colleges and universities plan to give out iPhones and iPods this fall; officials at Apple were unwilling to talk about the subject and said that they would not leak any institution’s plans.“We can’t announce other people’s news,” said Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPod and iPhone marketing at Apple. He also said that he could not discuss discounts to universities for bulk purchases.At least four institutions — the University of Maryland, Oklahoma Christian University, Abilene Christian and Freed-Hardeman — have announced that they will give the devices to some or all of their students this fall.Other universities are exploring their options. Stanford University has hired a student-run company to design applications like a campus map and directory for the iPhone. It is considering whether to issue iPhones but not sure it’s necessary, noting that more than 700 iPhones were registered on the university’s network last year.At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, iPhones might already have been everywhere, if AT&T, the wireless carrier offering the iPhone in the United States, had a more reliable network, said Andrew Y u, mobile devices platform project manager at M.I.T.“We would have probably gone ahead with this, maybe just getting a thousand iPhones and giving them out,” Mr. Yu said.The University of Maryland at College Park is proceeding cautiously, giving the iPhone or iPod Touch to 150 students, said Jeffrey Huskamp, vice president and chief information officer at the university. “We don’t think that we have all the answers,” Mr. Huskamp said. By observing how students use the gadgets, he said, “We’re trying to get answers from the students.”At each college, the students who choose to get an iPhone must pay for mobile phone service. Those servicecontracts include unlimited data use. Both the iPhones and the iPod Touch devices can connect to the Internet through campus wireless networks. With the iPhone, those networks may provide faster connections and longer battery life than AT&T’s data network. Many cell phones allow users to surf the Web, but only some newer ones are capable of wireless connection to the local area computer network.University officials say that they have no plans to track their students (and Apple said it would not be possible unless students give their permission). They say that they are drawn to the prospect of learning applications outside the classroom, though such lesson plans have yet to surface.“My colleagues and I are studying something called augmented reality (a field of c omputer research dealing with the combination of real-world and virtual reality),” said Christopher Dede, professor in learning technologies at Harvard University. “Alien Contact,” for example, is an exer cise developed for middle-school students who use hand-held devices that can determine their location. As they walk around a playground or other area, text, video or audio pops up at various points to help them try to figure out why aliens were in the schoolyard.“You can imagine similar kinds of interactive activities along historical lines,” like following the Freedom Trail in Boston, Professor Dede said. “It’s important that we do research so that we know how well something like this works.”The rush to distribute the devices worries some professors, who say that students are less likely to participate in class if they are multi-tasking. “I’m not someone who’s anti-technology, but I’m always worried that technology becomes an end in and of itself, and it replaces teaching or it replaces analysis,”said Ellen Millender, associate professor of classics at Reed College in Portland, Ore. (She added that she hoped to buy an iPhone for herself once prices fall.)Robert Summers, who has taught at Cornell Law School for about 40 years, announced this week —in a detailed, footnoted memorandum —that he would ban laptop computers from his class on contract law.“I would ban that too if I knew the students were using it in class,” Professor Summers said of the iPhone, after the device and its capabilities were explain ed to him. “What we want to encour age in these students is an active intellectual experience, in which they develop the wide range of complex reasoning abilities required of good lawyers.”The experience at Duke University may ease some concerns. A few years ago, Duke began giving iPods to students with the idea that they might use them to record lectures (these older models could not access the Internet).“We had assumed that the biggest focus of these devices would be consuming the content,” said Tracy F uthey, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Duke.But that is not all that the students did. They began using the iPods to create their own “content,” making audio recordings of themselves and presenting them. The students turned what could have been a passive interaction into an active one, Ms. Futhey said.1. Many professors think that giving out Apple iPhones or Internet-capable iPods to students _________.A) updates teaching facilities in universitiesB) has started a revolution in higher educationC) can facilitate teacher-student interactionD) may not benefit education as intended2. In the author’s view, being equipped with IT products may help colleges and universities _________.A) build an innovative imageB) raise their teaching efficiencyC) track students’ activitiesD) excite student interest in hi-tech3. The distribution of iPhones among students has raised concerns that they will_________.A) induce students to buy more similar productsB) increase tension between professors and studentsC) further distract students from class participationD) prevent students from accumulating knowledge4. Naomi Pugh at Freed-Hardeman University speculated that professors would_________.A) find new applications for iPod Touch devicesB) have to work harder to enliven their classesC) have difficulty learning to handle the devicesD) find iPhones and iPods in class very helpful5. Experts like Dr. Kyle Dickson at Abilene Christian University think that________.A) mobile technology will be more widely used in educationB) the role of technology in education cannot be overestimatedC) mobile technology can upgrade professors’ teaching tool-kitD) iPhones and iPods will replace laptops sooner or later6. What do we learn about the University of Maryland at College Park concerning the use of iPhones and iPods?A) It has sought professors’ opinions.B) It has benefited from their use.C) It is trying to follow the trend.D) It is proceeding with caution.7. University officials claim that they dole out iPhones and iPods so as to_________.A) encourage professors to design newer lesson plansB) help improve professor-student relationshipsC) facilitate students’ learning outside of classD) stimulate students’ interest in u pdating technology8. Ellen Millender at Reed College in Portland is concerned that technology will take the place of _____.9. Professor Robert Summers at Cornell Law School banned laptop computers from his class because he thinks qualified lawyers need to possess a broad array of_____.10. The experience at Duke University may ease some concerns because the students have used iPods foractive_____.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 andthe 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. Thenmark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.11. A) She has completely recovered. C) She is still in a critical condition.B) She went into shock after an operation. D) She is getting much better.12. A) Ordering a breakfast. C) Buying a train ticket.B) Booking a hotel room. D) Fixing a compartment.13. A) Most borrowers never returned the books to her.B) The man is the only one who brought her book back.C) She never expected anyone to return the books to her.D) Most of the books she lent out came back without jackets.14. A) She left her work early to get some bargains last Saturday.B) She attended the supermarket’s grand opening ceremony.C) She drove a full hour before finding a parking space.D) She failed to get into the supermarket last Saturday.15. A) He is bothered by the pain in his neck.B) He cannot do his report without a computer.C) He cannot afford to have a coffee break.D) He feels sorry to have missed the report.16. A) Only top art students can show their works in the gallery.B) The gallery space is big enough for the man’s paintings.C) The woman would like to help with the exhibition layout.D) The man is uncertain how his art works will be received.17. A) The woman needs a temporary replacement for her assistant.B) The man works in the same department as the woman does.C) The woman will have to stay in hospital for a few days.D) The man is capable of dealing with difficult people.18. A) It was better than the previous one.B) It distorted the mayor’s speech.C) It exaggerated the city’s econom ic problems.D) It reflected the opinions of most economists.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19. A) To inform him of a problem they face. C) To discuss the content of a project report.B) To request him to purchase control desks. D) To ask him to fix the dictating machine.20. A) They quote the best price in the market.B) They manufacture and sell office furniture.C) They cannot deliver the steel sheets on time.D) They cannot produce the steel sheets needed.21. A) By marking down the unit price. C) By allowing more time for delivery.B) By accepting the penalty clauses. D) By promising better after-sales service.22. A) Give the customer a ten percent discount.B) Claim compensation from the steel suppliers.C) Ask the Buying Department to change suppliers.D) Cancel the contract with the customer.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.23. A) Stockbroker. C) Mathematician.B) Physicist. D) Economist.24. A) Improve computer programming. C) Predict global population growth.B) Explain certain natural phenomena. D) Promote national financial health.25. A) Their different educational backgrounds. C) Chaos theory and its applications.B) Changing attitudes toward nature. D) The current global economic crisis.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 heara question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. Passage OneQuestions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.26. A) They lay great emphasis on hard work. C) They require high academic degrees.B) They name 150 star engineers each year. D) They have people with a very high IQ.27. A) Long years of job training. C) Distinctive academic qualifications.B) High emotional intelligence. D) Devotion to the advance of science.28. A) Good interpersonal relationships. C) Sophisticated equipment.B) Rich working experience. D) High motivation.Passage TwoQuestions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.29. A) A diary. C) A history textbook.B) A fairy tale. D) A biography.30. A) He was a sports fan. C) He disliked school.B) He loved adventures. D) He liked hair-raising stories.31. A) Encourage people to undertake adventures.B) Publicize his colorful and unique life stories.C) Raise people’s environmental awareness.D) Attract people to America’s national parks.Passage ThreeQuestions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.32. A) The first infected victim. C) The doctor who first identified it.B) A coastal village in Africa. D) A river running through the Congo.33. A) They exhibit similar symptoms. C) They have almost the same mortality rate.B) They can be treated with the same drug. D) They have both disappeared for good.34. A) By inhaling air polluted with the virus.B) By contacting contaminated body fluids.C) By drinking water from the Congo River.D) By eating food grown in Sudan and Zaire.35. A) More strains will evolve from the Ebola virus.B) Scientists will eventually find cures for Ebola.C) Another Ebola epidemic may erupt sooner or later.D) Once infected, one will become immune to Ebola.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 arerequired to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. Forblanks 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 ownwords. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.The ideal companion machine would not only look, feel, and sound friendly but would also be programmed to behave in an agreeable manner. Those (36) _______ that make interaction with other people enjoyable would be simulated as closely as possible, and the machine would appear to be (37) _______, stimulating and easygoing. Its informal conversational style would make interaction comfortable, and yet the machine would remain slightly (38) _______ and therefore interesting. In its first (39) _______ it might be somewhat hesitant and unassuming, but as it came to know the user it would progress to a more (40) _______ and intimate style. The machine would not be a passive (41) _______ but would add its own suggestions, information, and opinions; it would sometimes take the (42) _______ in developing or changing the topic and would have a (43) _______ of its own.The machine would convey presence. W e have all seen how a computer’s use of personal names (44) ________________________________________________________________________. Such features are easily written into the software (45) ___________________________________________________________.Friendships are not made in a day, and the computer would be more acceptable as a friend (46) ________________________________________________________________________. At an appropriate time it might also express the kind of affection that stimulates attachment and intimacy.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. Pleasewrite your answers on Answer Sheet 2.Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.Highly proficient musicianship is hard won. Although it’s often assumed musical ability i s inherited, there’s abundant evidence that this isn’t the case. While it seems that at birth virtually everyone has perfect pitch, the reasons that one child is better than another are motivation and practice.Highly musical children were sung to more as infants and more encouraged to join in song games as kids than less musical ones, long before any musical ability could have been evident. Studies of classical musicians prove that the best ones practised considerably more from childhood onwards than ordinary orchestral players, and this is because their parents were at them to put in the hours from a very young age.The same was true of children selected for entry to specialist music schools, compared with those who were rejected. The chosen children had parents who had very actively supervised music lessons and daily practice from young ages, giving up substantial periods of leisure time to take the children to lessons and concerts.The singer Michael Jackson’s story, although unusually brutal and extreme, is illuminati ng when considering musical prodigy (天才). Accounts suggest that he was subjected to cruel beatings and emotional torture, and that he was humiliated (羞辱) constantly by his father, What sets Jackson’s family apart is that his father used his reign of terror to train his children as musicians and dancers.On top of his extra ability, Michael also had more drive. This may have been the result of being the closest of his brothers and sisters to his mother. “He seemed different to me from the other children —special,”Michael’s mother said of him. She may not have realised that treating her son as special may have been part of the reason he became like that.All in all, if you want to bring up a Mozart or Bach, the key factor is how hard you are prepared to crack the whip. Thankfully, most of us will probably settle for a bit of fun on the recorder and some ill-executed pieces of music on the piano from our children.47. According to the author, a child’s musical ability has much to do with their _______________________.48. In order to develop the musical ability of their children, many parents will accompany them during their practice,sacrificing a lot of their own _______________________.49. Because of their father’s pressure and strict training, Michael Jackson and some of his brothers and sisterseventually became ___________________________.50. Michael’s extra drive for music was partly due to the fact that he was _______________________ by his mother.51. To bring up a great musician like Mozart or Bach, willingness to be strict with your child is_______________________.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 thebest 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.In 2011, many shoppers chose to avoid the frantic crowds and do their holiday shopping from the comfort of their computer. Sales at online retailers gained by more than 15%, making it the biggest season ever. But people are also returning those purchases at record rates, up 8% from last year.What went wrong? Is the lingering shadow of the global financial crisis making it harder to accept extravagant indulgences? Or that people shop more impulsively —and therefore make bad decisions—when online? Botharguments are plausible. However, there is a third factor: a question of touch. We can love the look but, in an online environment, we cannot feel the quality of a texture, the shape of the fit, the fall of a fold or, for that matter, the weight of an earring. And physically interacting with an object makes you more committed to your purchase.When my most recent book Brandwashed was released, I teamed up with a local bookstore to conduct an experiment about the differences between the online and offline shopping experience. I carefully instructed a group of volunteers to promote my book in two different ways. The first was a fairly hands-off approach. Whenever a customer would inquire about my book, the volunteer would take them over to the shelf and point to it. Out of 20 such requests, six customers proceeded with the purchase.The second option also involved going over to the shelf but, this time, removing the book and then subtly holding onto it for just an extra moment before placing it in the customer’s hands. Of the 20 people who were handed the book, 13 ended up buying it. Just physically passing the book showed a big difference in sales. Why? We feel something similar to a sense of ownership when we hold things in our hand. That’s why we establish or reestablish connection by greeting strangers and friends with a handshake. In this case, having to then let go of the book after holding it might generate a subtle sense of loss, and motivate us to make the purchase even more.A recent study also revealed the power of touch, in this case when it came to conventional mail. A deeper and longer-lasting impression of a message was formed when delivered in a letter, as opposed to receiving the same message online. Brain imaging showed that, on touching the paper, the emotional center of the brain was activated, thus forming a stronger bond. The study also indicated that once touch becomes part of the process, it could translate into a sense of possession. This sense of ownership is simply not part of the equation in the online shopping experience.52. Why do people prefer shopping online according to the author?A) It is more comfortable and convenient.B) It saves them a lot of money and time.C) It offers them a lot more options and bargains.D) It gives them more time to think about their purchase.53. Why do more customers return their purchases bought online?A) They regretted indulging in costly items in the recession.B) They changed their mind by the time the goods were delivered.C) They had no chance to touch them when shopping online.D) They later found the quality of goods below their expectations.54. What is the purpose of the author’s experiment?A) To test his hypothesis about online shopping.B) To find out people’s reaction to his recent book.C) To find ways to increase the sale of his new book.D) To try different approaches to sales promotion.55. How might people feel after letting go of something they held?A) A sense of disappointment.C) A subtle loss of interest.B) More motivated to own it. D) Less sensitive to its texture.56. What does brain imaging in a recent study reveal?A) Conventional letters contain subtle messages.B) A lack of touch is the chief obstacle to e-commerce.C) Email lacks the potential to activate the brain.D) Physical touch helps form a sense of possession.Passage TwoQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Apparently everyone knows that global warming only makes climate more extreme. A hot, dry summer has triggered another flood of such claims. And, while many interests are at work, one of the players that benefits the most from this story are the media: the notion of “extreme” climate simply makes for more compelling news.Consider Paul Krugman, writing breathlessly in the New York Times about the “rising incidence of extr eme events.” He claims that global warming caused the current drought in America’s Midwest, and that supposedly record-high corn prices could cause a global food crisis.But the United Nations climate panel’s latest assessment tells us precisely the opposi te:For “North America, there is medium confidence that there has been an overall slight tendency toward less dryness”. Moreover, there is no way that Krugman could have identified this drought as being caused by global warming without a time machine: Climate models estimate that such detection will be possible by 2048, at the earliest.And, fortunately, this year’s drought appears unlikely to cause a food crisis, as global rice and wheat supplies remain plentiful. Moreover, Krugman overlooks inflation: Prices have increased six-fold since 1969,so, while corn futures (期货) did set a record of about $8 per bushel (蒲式耳)in late July, the inflation-adjusted price of corn was higher throughout most of the 1970s, reaching $16 in1974.Finally, Krugman conveniently forgets that concerns about global warming are the main reason that corn prices have skyrocketed since 2005. Nowadays 40 percent of corn grown in the United States is used to produce ethanol (乙醇), which does absolutely nothing for the climate, but certainly distorts the price of corn — at the expense of many of the wo rld’s poorest people.Bill McKibben similarly worries in The Guardian about the Midwest drought and corn prices. He confidently tells us that raging wildfires from New Mexico and Colorado to Siberia are “exactly” what the early stages of global warming look like.In fact, the latest overview of global wildfire incidence suggests that fire intensity has declined over the past 70 years and is now close to its preindustrial level.When well-meaning campaigners want us to pay attention to global warming, they often end up pitching beyond the facts. And, while this may seem justified by a noble goal, such “policy by panic” tactics rarely work, and often backfire.Remember how, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Al Gore claimed that we were in store for ever more destructive hurricanes? Since then, hurricane incidence has dropped off the charts. Exaggerated claims merely fuel public distrust and disengagement.That is unfortunate, because global warming is a real problem, and we do need to address it.57. In what way do the media benefit from extreme weather?A) They can attract people’s attention to their reports.B) They can choose from a greater variety of topics.C) They can make themselves better known.D) They can give voice to different views.。
2024年06月大学英语六级考试真题(第1套)
2024年06月大学英语六级考试真题(第1套)Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “There is a growing awareness of the importance of digital literacy and skills in today’s world.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.PartⅡListening Comprehension (30 minutes) Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 1 witha single line through the centre.Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.1. A) Reply to the man’s last proposal within a short time.B) Sign the agreement if one small change is made to it.C) Make a sponsorship deal for her client at the meeting.D) Give the man some good news regarding the contract.2. A) They are becoming impatient. C) They are used to making alterations.B) They are afraid time is running out. D) They are concerned about the details.3. A) To prevent geographical discrimination. C) To avoid any conflict of interest.B) To tap the food and beverage market. D) To reduce unfair competition.4. A) It is a potential market for food and beverage. C) It is a negligible market for his company.B) It is very attractive for real estate developers. D) It is very different from other markets.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) They are thrilled by a rare astronomic phenomenon.B) They are celebrating a big event on mountain tops.C) They are enthusiastic about big science-related stories.D) They are joined by astronomers all across North America.6. A) It will be the most formidable of its kind in over a century.B) It will come closest to Earth in more than one hundred years.C) It will eclipse many other such events in human history.D) It will be seen most clearly from Denver’s mountain tops.7. A) A blur. C) The edge of our galaxy.B) Stars. D) An ordinary flying object.8. A) Use professional equipment. C) Fix their eyes due north.B) Climb to the nearby heights. D) Make use of phone apps.Section BDirections:In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.9. A) Whether consumers should be warned against ultra-processed foods.B) Whether there is sufficient scientific consensus on dietary guidelines.C) Whether guidelines can form the basis for nutrition advice to consumers.D) Whether food scientists will agree on the concept of ultra-processed foods.10. A) By the labor cost for the final products. C) By the extent of chemical alteration.B) By the degree of industrial processing. D) By the convention of classification.11. A) Increased consumers’ expen ses. C) People’s misunderstanding of nutrition.B) Greater risk of chronic diseases. D) Children’s dislike for unprocessed foods.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) They begin to think of the benefits of constraints.B) They try to seek solutions from creative people.C) They try hard to maximize their mental energy.D) They begin to see the world in a different way.13. A) It is characteristic of all creative people.B) It is essential to pushing society forward.C) It is a creative p erson’s response to limitation.D) It is an impetus to socio-economic development.14. A) Scarcity or abundance of resources has little impact on people’s creativity.B) Innovative people are not constrained in connecting unrelated concepts.C) People have no incentive to use available resources in new ways.D) Creative people tend to consume more available resources.15. A) It is key to a company’s survival.B) It shapes and focuses problems.C) It is essential to meeting challenges.D) It thrives best when constrained.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.16. A) Because they are learned. C) Because they have to be properly personalized.B) Because they come naturally. D) Because there can be more effective strategies.17. A) The extent of difference and of similarity between the two sides.B) The knowledge of the specific expectation the other side holds.C) The importance of one’s goals and of the relationship.D) The approaches one adopts to conflict management.18. A) The fox. C) The shark.B) The owl. D) The turtle.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) Help save species from extinction and boost human health.B) Understand how plants and animals perished over the past.C) Help gather information publicly available to researchers.D) Find out the cause of extinction of Britain’s 66,000 species.20. A) It was once dominated by dinosaurs. C) Its prospects depend on future human behaviour.B) It has entered the sixth mass extinction. D) Its climate change is aggravated by humans.21. A) It dwarfs all other efforts to conserve, protect and restore biodiversity on earth.B) It is costly to get started and requires the joint efforts of thousands of scientists.C) It can help to bring back the large numbers of plants and animals that have gone extinct.D) It is the most exciting, most relevant, most timely and most internationally inspirational.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) Cultural identity. C) The Copernican revolution.B) Social evolution. D) Human individuality.23. A) It is a delusion to be disposed of. C) It is a myth spread by John Donne’s poem.B) It is prevalent even among academics. D) It is rooted in the mindset of the 17th century.24. A) He believes in Copernican philosophical doctrines about the universe.B) He has gained ample scientific evidence at the University of Reading.C) He has found that our inner self and material self are interconnected.D) He contends most of our body cells can only live a few days or weeks.25. A) By coming to see how disruptive such problems have got to be.B) By realising that we all can do our own bit in such endeavours.C) By becoming aware that we are part of a bigger world.D) By making joint efforts resolutely and persistently.Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes) Section ADirections:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Readthe passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identifiedby a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a singleline through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.It’s quite remarkable how different genres of music can spark unique feelings, emotions,and memories. Studies have shown that music can reduce stress and anxiety before surgeriesand we are all attracted toward our own unique life soundtrack.If you’re lo oking to 26 stress, you might want to give classical music a try.The sounds of classical music produce a calming effect letting 27 pleasure-inducing dopamine (多巴胺) in the brain that helps control attention, learning and emotional responses. It can also turn down the body’s stress response, resulting in an overall happier mood. It turns out a pleasant mood can lead to 28 in a person’s thinking.Although there are many great 29 of classical music like Bach, Beethoven and Handel, none of these artists’ music seems to have the same health effects as Mozart’s does. According to researchers, listening to Mozart can increase brain wave activity and improve 30 function. Another study found that the distinctive features of Mozart’s music trigger parts of the brain that are responsible for high-level mental functions. Even maternity 31 use Mozart to help newborn babies adapt to life outside of the mother’s belly.It has been found that listening to classical music 32 reduces a pers on’s blood pressure. Researchers believe that the calming sounds of classical music may help your heart 33 from stress. Classical music can also be a great tool to help people who have trouble sleeping. One study found that students who had trouble sleeping slept better while they were listening to classical music.Whether classical music is something that you listen to on a regular basis or not, it wouldn’t34 to take time out of your day to listen to music that you find 35 . You will be surprised at how good it makes you feel and the potentially positive change in your health.Section BDirections: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. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The Curious Case of the Tree That Owns ItselfA)In the city of Athens, Georgia, there exists a rather curious local landmark—a large whiteoak that is almost universally stated to own itself. Because of this, it is considered one of the most famous trees in the world. So how did this tree come to own itself and the land around it?B)Sometime in the 19th century a Georgian called Colonel William Jackson reportedly tooka liking to the said tree and endeavored to protect it from any danger. As to why he loved itso, the earliest documented account of this story is an anonymously written front page article in the Athens Weekly Banner published on August 12, 1890. It states, “Col. Jackson had watched the tree grow from his childhood, and grew to love it almost as he would a human. Its luxuriant leaves and sturdy limbs had often protected him from the heavy rains, and out of its highest branches he had many a time gotten the eggs of the feathered singers.He watched its growth, and when reaching a ripe old age he saw the tree standing in its magnificent proportions, he was pained to think that after his death it would fall into the hands of those who might destroy it.”C)Towards this end, Jackson transferred by means of a deed ownership of the tree and a littleland around it to the tree itself. The deed read, “W. H. Jackson for and in consideration of the great affection which he bears the said tree, and his great desire to see it protected has conveyed unto the said oak tree entire possession of itself and of all land within eight feet of it on all sides.”D)In time, the tree came to be something of a tourist attraction, known as The Tree That OwnsItself. However, in the early 20th century, the tree started showing signs of its slow death, with little that could be done about it. Father time comes for us all eventually, even our often long lived, tall and leafy fellow custodians (看管者) of Earth. Finally, on October 9, 1942, the over 30 meter tall and 200-400 year old tree fell, rumor has it, as a result of a severe windstorm and/or via having previously died and its roots rotted.E)About four years later, members of the Junior Ladies Garden Club (who’d tended to thetree before its unfortunate death) tracked down a small tree grown from a nut taken from the original tree. And so it was that on October 9, 1946, under the direction of Professor Roy Bowden of the College of Agriculture at the University of Georgia, this little tree was transplanted to the location of its ancestor. A couple of months later, an official ceremony was held featuring none other than the Mayor of Athens, Robert L McWhorter, to commemorate the occasion.F)This new tree became known as The Son of the Tree That Owns Itself and it was assumedthat, as the original tree’s heir, it naturally inherited the land it stood on. Of course, there are many dozens of other trees known to exist descending from the original, as people taking a nut from it to grow elsewhere was a certainty. That said, to date, none of the original tree’s other children have petitioned the courts for their share of the land, so it seems all good. In any event, The Son of the Tree That Owns Itself still stands today, though often referred to simply as The Tree That Owns Itself.G)This all brings us around to whether Jackson ever actually gave legal ownership of the treeto itself in the first place and whether such a deed is legally binding.H)Well, to begin with, it turns out Jackson only spent about three years of his life in Athens,starting at the age of 43 from 1829 to 1832, sort of dismissing the idea that he loved the tree from spending time under it as a child and watching it grow, and then worrying about what would happen to it after he died. Further, an extensive search of land ownership records in Athens does not seem to indicate Jackson ever owned the land the tree sits on.I)He did live on a lot of land directly next to it for those three years, but whether he ownedthat land or not isn’t clear. Whatever the case, in 1832 a four acre parcel, which included the land the tree was on and the neighboring land Jackson lived on, among others, was sold to University professor Malthus A Ward. In the transaction, Ward was required to payJackson a sum of $1,200 (about $31,000 today), either for the property itself or simply in compensation for improvements Jackson had made on the lot. In the end, whether he ever owned the neighboring lot or was simply allowed to use it while he allegedly worked at the University, he definitely never owned the lot the tree grew on, which is the most important bit for the topic at hand.J)After Professor Ward purchased the land, Jackson and his family purchased a 655 acre parcel a few miles away and moved there. Ten years later, in 1844, Jackson seemed to have come into financial difficulties and had his little plantation seized by the Clarke County Sheriff’s office and auctioned off to settle the mortgage. Thus, had he owned some land in Athens itself, including the land the tree sat on, presumably he would have sold it to raise funds or otherwise had it taken as well.K)And whatever the case there, Jackson would have known property taxes needed to be paid on the deeded land for the tree to be truly secure in its future. Yet no account or record indicates any trust or the like was set up to facilitate this.L)On top of all this, there is no hard evidence such a deed ever existed, despite the fact that deed records in Athens go back many decades before Jackson’s death in 1876 and that it was supposed to have existed in 1890 in the archives according to the original anonymous news reporter who claims to have seen it.M)As you might imagine from all of this, few give credit to this side of the story. So how did all of this come about then?N)It is speculated to have been invented by the imagination of the said anonymous author at the Athens Weekly Banner in the aforementioned 1890 front page article titled “Deeded to Itself”, which by the way contained several elements that are much more easily proved to be false. As to why the author would do this, it’s speculated perhaps it was a 19th century version of a click-bait thought exercise on whether it would be legal for someone to deed such a non-conscious living thing to itself or not.O)Whatever the case, the next known instance of the Tree That Owns Itself being mentioned wasn’t until 1901 in the Centennial Edition of that same paper, the Athens Weekly Banner.This featured another account very clearly just copying the original article published abouta decade before, only slightly reworded. The next account was in 1906, again in the AthensWeekly Banner, again very clearly copying the original account, only slightly reworded, the 19th century equivalent of re-posts when the audience has forgotten about the original.36. Jackson was said to have transferred his ownership of the oak tree to itself in order to protect it from being destroyed.37. No proof has been found from an extensive search that Jackson had ever owned the land where the oak tree grew.38. When it was raining heavily, Jackson often took shelter under a big tree that is said to own itself.39. There is no evidence that Jackson had made arrangements to pay property taxes for the land on which the oak tree sat.40. Professor Ward paid Jackson over one thousand dollars when purchasing a piece of land from him.41. It is said the tree that owned itself fell in a heavy windstorm.42. The story of the oak tree is suspected to have been invented as a thought exercise.43. Jackson’s little plantation was auctioned off to settle his debt in the mid-19th century.44. An official ceremony was held to celebrate the transplanting of a small tree to where its ancestor had stood.45. The story of the Tree That Owns Itself appeared in the local paper several times, with slight alterations in wording.Section CDirections: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 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.It is irrefutable that employees know the difference between right and wron g. So why don’t more employees intervene when they see someone exhibiting at-risk behavior in the workplace?There are a number of factors that influence whether people intervene. First, they need to be able to see a risky situation beginning to unfold. Second, the company’s culture needs to make them feel safe to speak up. And third, they need to have the communication skills to say something effectively.This is not strictly a workplace problem; it’s a growing problem off the job too. Every day people witness things on the street and choose to stand idly by. This is known as the bystander effect—the more people who witness an event, the less likely anyone in that group is to help the victim. The psychology behind this is called diffusion of responsibility. Basically, the larger the crowd, the more people assume that someone else will take care of it—meaning no one effectively intervenes or acts in a moment of need.This crowd mentality is strong enough for people to evade their known responsibilities. But it’s not only frontline workers who don’t make safety i nterventions in the workplace. There are also instances where supervisors do not intervene either.When a group of employees sees unsafe behavior not being addressed at a leadership level it creates the precedent that this is how these situations should be addressed, thus defining the safety culture for everyone.Despite the fact that workers are encouraged to intervene when they observe unsafe operations, this happens less than half of the time. Fear is the ultimate factor in not intervening. There is a fear of penalty, a fear that they’ll have to do more work if they intervene. Unsuccessful attempts in the past are another strong contributing factor to why people don’t intervene—they tend to prefer to defer that action to someone else for all future situations.On many worksites, competent workers must be appointed. Part of their job is to intervene when workers perform a task without the proper equipment or if the conditions are unsafe. Competent workers are also required to stop work from continuing when there’s a danger.Supervisors also play a critical role. Even if a competent person isn’t required, supervisors need a broad set of skills to not only identify and alleviate workplace hazards but also build a safety climate within their team that supports intervening and open communication among them.Beyond competent workers and supervisors, it’s important to educate everyon e within the organization that they are obliged to intervene if they witness a possible unsafe act, whether you’re a designated competent person, a supervisor or a frontline worker.46. What is one of the factors contributing to failure of intervention in face of risky behavior in the workplace?A) Slack supervision style. C) Unforeseeable risk.B) Unfavorable workplace culture. D) Blocked communication.47. What does the author mean by “diffusion of responsibility” (Line 4, Para. 3)?A) The more people are around, the more they need to worry about their personal safety.B) The more people who witness an event, the less likely anyone will venture to participate.C) The more people idling around on the street, the more likely they need taking care of.D) The more people are around, the less chance someone will step forward to intervene.48. What happens when unsafe behavior at the workplace is not addressed by the leaders?A) No one will intervene when they see similar behaviors.B) Everyone will see it as the easiest way to deal with crisis.C) Workers have to take extra caution executing their duties.D) Workers are left to take care of the emergency themselves.49. What is the ultimate reason workers won’t act when they see unsafe operations?A) Preference of deferring the action to others. C) Fear of being isolated by coworkers.B) Anticipation of leadership intervention. D) Fear of having to do more work.50. What is critical to ensuring workplace safety?A) Workers be trained to operate their equipment properly.B) Workers exhibiting at-risk behavior be strictly disciplined.C) Supervisors create a safety environment for timely intervention.D) Supervisors conduct effective communication with frontline workers.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.The term “environmentalist” can mean different things. It used to refer to people trying to protect wildlife and natural ecosystems. In the 21st century, the term has evolved to capture the need to combat human-made climate change.The distinction between these two strands of environmentalism is the cause of a split within the scientific community about nuclear energy.On one side are purists who believe nuclear power isn’t worth the risk and the exclusive solution to the climate crisis is renewable energy. The opposing side agrees that renewables are crucial, but says society needs an amount of power available to meet consumers’ basic demands when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Nuclear energy, being far cleaner than oil, gas and coal, is a natural option, especially where hydroelectric capacity is limited.Leon Clarke, who helped author reports for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, isn’t an uncritical supporter of nuclear energy, but says it’s a valuable option to have i f we’re serious about reaching carbon neutrality.“Core to all of this is the degree to which you think we can actually meet climate goals with 100% renewables,” he said. “If you don’t believe we can do it, and you care about the climate, you are forced to think about something like nuclear.”The achievability of universal 100% renewability is similarly contentious. Cities such as Burlington, Vermont, have been “100% renewable” for years. But these cities often have s mall populations, occasionally still rely on fossil fuel energy and have significant renewable resources at their immediate disposal. Meanwhile, countries that manage to run off renewables typically do so thanks to extraordinary hydroelectric capabilities.Germany stands as the best case study for a large, industrialized country pushing into green energy. Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011 announced Energiewende, an energy transition that would phase out nuclear and coal while phasing in renewables. Wind and solar power generation has increased over 400% since 2010, and renewables provided 46% of the country’s electricity in 2019.But progress has halted in recent years. The instability of renewables doe sn’t just mean energy is often not produced at night, but also that solar and wind can overwhelm the grid during the day, forcing utilities to pay customers to use their electricity. Lagging grid infrastructure struggles to transport this overabundance of green energy from Germany’s north to its industrial south, meaning many factories still run on coal and gas. The political limit has also been reached in some places, with citizens meeting the construction of new wind turbines with loud protests.The result is that Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by around 11.5% since 2010—slower than the EU average of 13.5%.51. What accounts for the divide within the scientific community about nuclear energy?A) Attention to combating human-made climate change.B) Emphasis on protecting wildlife and natural ecosystems.C) Evolution of the term ‘green energy’ over the last century.D) Adherence to different interpretations of environmentalism.52. What is the solution to energy shortage proposed by purists’ opponents?A) Relying on renewables firmly and exclusively.B) Using fossil fuel and green energy alternately.C) Opting for nuclear energy when necessary.D) Limiting people’s non-basic consumption.53. What point does the author want to make with cities like Burlington as an example?A) It is controversial whether the goal of the whole world’s exclusive dependence on renewables is attainable.B) It is contentious whether cities with large populations have renewable resources at their immediate disposal.C) It is arguable whether cities that manage to run off renewables have sustainable hydroelectric capabilities.D) It is debatable whether traditional fossil fuel energy can be done away with entirely throughout the world.54. What do we learn about Germany regarding renewable energy?A) It has increased its wind and solar power generation four times over the last two decades.B) It represents a good example of a major industrialized country promoting green energy.C) It relies on renewable energy to generate more than half of its electricity.D) It has succeeded in reaching the goal of energy transition set by Merkel.55. What may be one of the reasons for Germany’s progress having halted in recent years?A) Its grid infrastructure’s capacity has fallen behind its development of green energy.B) Its overabundance of green energy has forced power plants to suspend operation during daytime.C) Its industrial south is used to running factories on conventional energy supplies.D) Its renewable energy supplies are unstable both at night and during the day.Part IV Translation (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.中国的传统婚礼习俗历史悠久,从周朝开始就逐渐形成了一套完整的婚礼仪式,有些一直沿用至今。
2024年6月全国大学英语CET六级真题和答案解析(第一套)
2024年06月大学英语六级考试真题(第1套)Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “There is a growing awareness of the importance of digital literacy and skills in today’s world.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.PartⅡListening Comprehension (30 minutes) Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 1 witha single line through the centre.Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.1. A) Reply to the man’s last proposal within a short time.B) Sign the agreement if one small change is made to it.C) Make a sponsorship deal for her client at the meeting.D) Give the man some good news regarding the contract.2. A) They are becoming impatient. C) They are used to making alterations.B) They are afraid time is running out. D) They are concerned about the details.3. A) To prevent geographical discrimination. C) To avoid any conflict of interest.B) To tap the food and beverage market. D) To reduce unfair competition.4. A) It is a potential market for food and beverage. C) It is a negligible market for his company.B) It is very attractive for real estate developers. D) It is very different from other markets.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) They are thrilled by a rare astronomic phenomenon.B) They are celebrating a big event on mountain tops.C) They are enthusiastic about big science-related stories.D) They are joined by astronomers all across North America.6. A) It will be the most formidable of its kind in over a century.B) It will come closest to Earth in more than one hundred years.C) It will eclipse many other such events in human history.D) It will be seen most clearly from Denver’s mountain tops.7. A) A blur. C) The edge of our galaxy.B) Stars. D) An ordinary flying object.8. A) Use professional equipment. C) Fix their eyes due north.B) Climb to the nearby heights. D) Make use of phone apps.Section BDirections:In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.9. A) Whether consumers should be warned against ultra-processed foods.B) Whether there is sufficient scientific consensus on dietary guidelines.C) Whether guidelines can form the basis for nutrition advice to consumers.D) Whether food scientists will agree on the concept of ultra-processed foods.10. A) By the labor cost for the final products. C) By the extent of chemical alteration.B) By the degree of industrial processing. D) By the convention of classification.11. A) Increased consumers’ expen ses. C) People’s misunderstanding of nutrition.B) Greater risk of chronic diseases. D) Children’s dislike for unprocessed foods.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) They begin to think of the benefits of constraints.B) They try to seek solutions from creative people.C) They try hard to maximize their mental energy.D) They begin to see the world in a different way.13. A) It is characteristic of all creative people.B) It is essential to pushing society forward.C) It is a creative p erson’s response to limitation.D) It is an impetus to socio-economic development.14. A) Scarcity or abundance of resources has little impact on people’s creativity.B) Innovative people are not constrained in connecting unrelated concepts.C) People have no incentive to use available resources in new ways.D) Creative people tend to consume more available resources.15. A) It is key to a company’s survival.B) It shapes and focuses problems.C) It is essential to meeting challenges.D) It thrives best when constrained.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.16. A) Because they are learned. C) Because they have to be properly personalized.B) Because they come naturally. D) Because there can be more effective strategies.17. A) The extent of difference and of similarity between the two sides.B) The knowledge of the specific expectation the other side holds.C) The importance of one’s goals and of the relationship.D) The approaches one adopts to conflict management.18. A) The fox. C) The shark.B) The owl. D) The turtle.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) Help save species from extinction and boost human health.B) Understand how plants and animals perished over the past.C) Help gather information publicly available to researchers.D) Find out the cause of extinction of Britain’s 66,000 species.20. A) It was once dominated by dinosaurs. C) Its prospects depend on future human behaviour.B) It has entered the sixth mass extinction. D) Its climate change is aggravated by humans.21. A) It dwarfs all other efforts to conserve, protect and restore biodiversity on earth.B) It is costly to get started and requires the joint efforts of thousands of scientists.C) It can help to bring back the large numbers of plants and animals that have gone extinct.D) It is the most exciting, most relevant, most timely and most internationally inspirational.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) Cultural identity. C) The Copernican revolution.B) Social evolution. D) Human individuality.23. A) It is a delusion to be disposed of. C) It is a myth spread by John Donne’s poem.B) It is prevalent even among academics. D) It is rooted in the mindset of the 17th century.24. A) He believes in Copernican philosophical doctrines about the universe.B) He has gained ample scientific evidence at the University of Reading.C) He has found that our inner self and material self are interconnected.D) He contends most of our body cells can only live a few days or weeks.25. A) By coming to see how disruptive such problems have got to be.B) By realising that we all can do our own bit in such endeavours.C) By becoming aware that we are part of a bigger world.D) By making joint efforts resolutely and persistently.Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes) Section ADirections:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Readthe passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identifiedby a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a singleline through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.It’s quite remarkable how different genres of music can spark unique feelings, emotions,and memories. Studies have shown that music can reduce stress and anxiety before surgeriesand we are all attracted toward our own unique life soundtrack.If you’re lo oking to 26 stress, you might want to give classical music a try.The sounds of classical music produce a calming effect letting 27 pleasure-inducing dopamine (多巴胺) in the brain that helps control attention, learning and emotional responses. It can also turn down the body’s stress response, resulting in an overall happier mood. It turns out a pleasant mood can lead to 28 in a person’s thinking.Although there are many great 29 of classical music like Bach, Beethoven and Handel, none of these artists’ music seems to have the same health effects as Mozart’s does. According to researchers, listening to Mozart can increase brain wave activity and improve 30 function. Another study found that the distinctive features of Mozart’s music trigger parts of the brain that are responsible for high-level mental functions. Even maternity 31 use Mozart to help newborn babies adapt to life outside of the mother’s belly.It has been found that listening to classical music 32 reduces a pers on’s blood pressure. Researchers believe that the calming sounds of classical music may help your heart 33 from stress. Classical music can also be a great tool to help people who have trouble sleeping. One study found that students who had trouble sleeping slept better while they were listening to classical music.Whether classical music is something that you listen to on a regular basis or not, it wouldn’t34 to take time out of your day to listen to music that you find 35 . You will be surprised at how good it makes you feel and the potentially positive change in your health.Section BDirections: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. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The Curious Case of the Tree That Owns ItselfA)In the city of Athens, Georgia, there exists a rather curious local landmark—a large whiteoak that is almost universally stated to own itself. Because of this, it is considered one of the most famous trees in the world. So how did this tree come to own itself and the land around it?B)Sometime in the 19th century a Georgian called Colonel William Jackson reportedly tooka liking to the said tree and endeavored to protect it from any danger. As to why he loved itso, the earliest documented account of this story is an anonymously written front page article in the Athens Weekly Banner published on August 12, 1890. It states, “Col. Jackson had watched the tree grow from his childhood, and grew to love it almost as he would a human. Its luxuriant leaves and sturdy limbs had often protected him from the heavy rains, and out of its highest branches he had many a time gotten the eggs of the feathered singers.He watched its growth, and when reaching a ripe old age he saw the tree standing in its magnificent proportions, he was pained to think that after his death it would fall into the hands of those who might destroy it.”C)Towards this end, Jackson transferred by means of a deed ownership of the tree and a littleland around it to the tree itself. The deed read, “W. H. Jackson for and in consideration of the great affection which he bears the said tree, and his great desire to see it protected has conveyed unto the said oak tree entire possession of itself and of all land within eight feet of it on all sides.”D)In time, the tree came to be something of a tourist attraction, known as The Tree That OwnsItself. However, in the early 20th century, the tree started showing signs of its slow death, with little that could be done about it. Father time comes for us all eventually, even our often long lived, tall and leafy fellow custodians (看管者) of Earth. Finally, on October 9, 1942, the over 30 meter tall and 200-400 year old tree fell, rumor has it, as a result of a severe windstorm and/or via having previously died and its roots rotted.E)About four years later, members of the Junior Ladies Garden Club (who’d tended to thetree before its unfortunate death) tracked down a small tree grown from a nut taken from the original tree. And so it was that on October 9, 1946, under the direction of Professor Roy Bowden of the College of Agriculture at the University of Georgia, this little tree was transplanted to the location of its ancestor. A couple of months later, an official ceremony was held featuring none other than the Mayor of Athens, Robert L McWhorter, to commemorate the occasion.F)This new tree became known as The Son of the Tree That Owns Itself and it was assumedthat, as the original tree’s heir, it naturally inherited the land it stood on. Of course, there are many dozens of other trees known to exist descending from the original, as people taking a nut from it to grow elsewhere was a certainty. That said, to date, none of the original tree’s other children have petitioned the courts for their share of the land, so it seems all good. In any event, The Son of the Tree That Owns Itself still stands today, though often referred to simply as The Tree That Owns Itself.G)This all brings us around to whether Jackson ever actually gave legal ownership of the treeto itself in the first place and whether such a deed is legally binding.H)Well, to begin with, it turns out Jackson only spent about three years of his life in Athens,starting at the age of 43 from 1829 to 1832, sort of dismissing the idea that he loved the tree from spending time under it as a child and watching it grow, and then worrying about what would happen to it after he died. Further, an extensive search of land ownership records in Athens does not seem to indicate Jackson ever owned the land the tree sits on.I)He did live on a lot of land directly next to it for those three years, but whether he ownedthat land or not isn’t clear. Whatever the case, in 1832 a four acre parcel, which included the land the tree was on and the neighboring land Jackson lived on, among others, was sold to University professor Malthus A Ward. In the transaction, Ward was required to payJackson a sum of $1,200 (about $31,000 today), either for the property itself or simply in compensation for improvements Jackson had made on the lot. In the end, whether he ever owned the neighboring lot or was simply allowed to use it while he allegedly worked at the University, he definitely never owned the lot the tree grew on, which is the most important bit for the topic at hand.J)After Professor Ward purchased the land, Jackson and his family purchased a 655 acre parcel a few miles away and moved there. Ten years later, in 1844, Jackson seemed to have come into financial difficulties and had his little plantation seized by the Clarke County Sheriff’s office and auctioned off to settle the mortgage. Thus, had he owned some land in Athens itself, including the land the tree sat on, presumably he would have sold it to raise funds or otherwise had it taken as well.K)And whatever the case there, Jackson would have known property taxes needed to be paid on the deeded land for the tree to be truly secure in its future. Yet no account or record indicates any trust or the like was set up to facilitate this.L)On top of all this, there is no hard evidence such a deed ever existed, despite the fact that deed records in Athens go back many decades before Jackson’s death in 1876 and that it was supposed to have existed in 1890 in the archives according to the original anonymous news reporter who claims to have seen it.M)As you might imagine from all of this, few give credit to this side of the story. So how did all of this come about then?N)It is speculated to have been invented by the imagination of the said anonymous author at the Athens Weekly Banner in the aforementioned 1890 front page article titled “Deeded to Itself”, which by the way contained several elements that are much more easily proved to be false. As to why the author would do this, it’s speculated perhaps it was a 19th century version of a click-bait thought exercise on whether it would be legal for someone to deed such a non-conscious living thing to itself or not.O)Whatever the case, the next known instance of the Tree That Owns Itself being mentioned wasn’t until 1901 in the Centennial Edition of that same paper, the Athens Weekly Banner.This featured another account very clearly just copying the original article published abouta decade before, only slightly reworded. The next account was in 1906, again in the AthensWeekly Banner, again very clearly copying the original account, only slightly reworded, the 19th century equivalent of re-posts when the audience has forgotten about the original.36. Jackson was said to have transferred his ownership of the oak tree to itself in order to protect it from being destroyed.37. No proof has been found from an extensive search that Jackson had ever owned the land where the oak tree grew.38. When it was raining heavily, Jackson often took shelter under a big tree that is said to own itself.39. There is no evidence that Jackson had made arrangements to pay property taxes for the land on which the oak tree sat.40. Professor Ward paid Jackson over one thousand dollars when purchasing a piece of land from him.41. It is said the tree that owned itself fell in a heavy windstorm.42. The story of the oak tree is suspected to have been invented as a thought exercise.43. Jackson’s little plantation was auctioned off to settle his debt in the mid-19th century.44. An official ceremony was held to celebrate the transplanting of a small tree to where its ancestor had stood.45. The story of the Tree That Owns Itself appeared in the local paper several times, with slight alterations in wording.Section CDirections: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 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.It is irrefutable that employees know the difference between right and wron g. So why don’t more employees intervene when they see someone exhibiting at-risk behavior in the workplace?There are a number of factors that influence whether people intervene. First, they need to be able to see a risky situation beginning to unfold. Second, the company’s culture needs to make them feel safe to speak up. And third, they need to have the communication skills to say something effectively.This is not strictly a workplace problem; it’s a growing problem off the job too. Every day people witness things on the street and choose to stand idly by. This is known as the bystander effect—the more people who witness an event, the less likely anyone in that group is to help the victim. The psychology behind this is called diffusion of responsibility. Basically, the larger the crowd, the more people assume that someone else will take care of it—meaning no one effectively intervenes or acts in a moment of need.This crowd mentality is strong enough for people to evade their known responsibilities. But it’s not only frontline workers who don’t make safety i nterventions in the workplace. There are also instances where supervisors do not intervene either.When a group of employees sees unsafe behavior not being addressed at a leadership level it creates the precedent that this is how these situations should be addressed, thus defining the safety culture for everyone.Despite the fact that workers are encouraged to intervene when they observe unsafe operations, this happens less than half of the time. Fear is the ultimate factor in not intervening. There is a fear of penalty, a fear that they’ll have to do more work if they intervene. Unsuccessful attempts in the past are another strong contributing factor to why people don’t intervene—they tend to prefer to defer that action to someone else for all future situations.On many worksites, competent workers must be appointed. Part of their job is to intervene when workers perform a task without the proper equipment or if the conditions are unsafe. Competent workers are also required to stop work from continuing when there’s a danger.Supervisors also play a critical role. Even if a competent person isn’t required, supervisors need a broad set of skills to not only identify and alleviate workplace hazards but also build a safety climate within their team that supports intervening and open communication among them.Beyond competent workers and supervisors, it’s important to educate everyon e within the organization that they are obliged to intervene if they witness a possible unsafe act, whether you’re a designated competent person, a supervisor or a frontline worker.46. What is one of the factors contributing to failure of intervention in face of risky behavior in the workplace?A) Slack supervision style. C) Unforeseeable risk.B) Unfavorable workplace culture. D) Blocked communication.47. What does the author mean by “diffusion of responsibility” (Line 4, Para. 3)?A) The more people are around, the more they need to worry about their personal safety.B) The more people who witness an event, the less likely anyone will venture to participate.C) The more people idling around on the street, the more likely they need taking care of.D) The more people are around, the less chance someone will step forward to intervene.48. What happens when unsafe behavior at the workplace is not addressed by the leaders?A) No one will intervene when they see similar behaviors.B) Everyone will see it as the easiest way to deal with crisis.C) Workers have to take extra caution executing their duties.D) Workers are left to take care of the emergency themselves.49. What is the ultimate reason workers won’t act when they see unsafe operations?A) Preference of deferring the action to others. C) Fear of being isolated by coworkers.B) Anticipation of leadership intervention. D) Fear of having to do more work.50. What is critical to ensuring workplace safety?A) Workers be trained to operate their equipment properly.B) Workers exhibiting at-risk behavior be strictly disciplined.C) Supervisors create a safety environment for timely intervention.D) Supervisors conduct effective communication with frontline workers.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.The term “environmentalist” can mean different things. It used to refer to people trying to protect wildlife and natural ecosystems. In the 21st century, the term has evolved to capture the need to combat human-made climate change.The distinction between these two strands of environmentalism is the cause of a split within the scientific community about nuclear energy.On one side are purists who believe nuclear power isn’t worth the risk and the exclusive solution to the climate crisis is renewable energy. The opposing side agrees that renewables are crucial, but says society needs an amount of power available to meet consumers’ basic demands when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Nuclear energy, being far cleaner than oil, gas and coal, is a natural option, especially where hydroelectric capacity is limited.Leon Clarke, who helped author reports for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, isn’t an uncritical supporter of nuclear energy, but says it’s a valuable option to have i f we’re serious about reaching carbon neutrality.“Core to all of this is the degree to which you think we can actually meet climate goals with 100% renewables,” he said. “If you don’t believe we can do it, and you care about the climate, you are forced to think about something like nuclear.”The achievability of universal 100% renewability is similarly contentious. Cities such as Burlington, Vermont, have been “100% renewable” for years. But these cities often have s mall populations, occasionally still rely on fossil fuel energy and have significant renewable resources at their immediate disposal. Meanwhile, countries that manage to run off renewables typically do so thanks to extraordinary hydroelectric capabilities.Germany stands as the best case study for a large, industrialized country pushing into green energy. Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011 announced Energiewende, an energy transition that would phase out nuclear and coal while phasing in renewables. Wind and solar power generation has increased over 400% since 2010, and renewables provided 46% of the country’s electricity in 2019.But progress has halted in recent years. The instability of renewables doe sn’t just mean energy is often not produced at night, but also that solar and wind can overwhelm the grid during the day, forcing utilities to pay customers to use their electricity. Lagging grid infrastructure struggles to transport this overabundance of green energy from Germany’s north to its industrial south, meaning many factories still run on coal and gas. The political limit has also been reached in some places, with citizens meeting the construction of new wind turbines with loud protests.The result is that Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by around 11.5% since 2010—slower than the EU average of 13.5%.51. What accounts for the divide within the scientific community about nuclear energy?A) Attention to combating human-made climate change.B) Emphasis on protecting wildlife and natural ecosystems.C) Evolution of the term ‘green energy’ over the last century.D) Adherence to different interpretations of environmentalism.52. What is the solution to energy shortage proposed by purists’ opponents?A) Relying on renewables firmly and exclusively.B) Using fossil fuel and green energy alternately.C) Opting for nuclear energy when necessary.D) Limiting people’s non-basic consumption.53. What point does the author want to make with cities like Burlington as an example?A) It is controversial whether the goal of the whole world’s exclusive dependence on renewables is attainable.B) It is contentious whether cities with large populations have renewable resources at their immediate disposal.C) It is arguable whether cities that manage to run off renewables have sustainable hydroelectric capabilities.D) It is debatable whether traditional fossil fuel energy can be done away with entirely throughout the world.54. What do we learn about Germany regarding renewable energy?A) It has increased its wind and solar power generation four times over the last two decades.B) It represents a good example of a major industrialized country promoting green energy.C) It relies on renewable energy to generate more than half of its electricity.D) It has succeeded in reaching the goal of energy transition set by Merkel.55. What may be one of the reasons for Germany’s progress having halted in recent years?A) Its grid infrastructure’s capacity has fallen behind its development of green energy.B) Its overabundance of green energy has forced power plants to suspend operation during daytime.C) Its industrial south is used to running factories on conventional energy supplies.D) Its renewable energy supplies are unstable both at night and during the day.Part IV Translation (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.中国的传统婚礼习俗历史悠久,从周朝开始就逐渐形成了一套完整的婚礼仪式,有些一直沿用至今。
2013年6月英语六级答案第一套
2013年6月英语六级答案第一套作文范文高分版:Keep Our Hearts StrongAs the proverb goes, constant drops wear out the stone. Good habits help pave our way to success. However, during the cultivation of good habits we are frequently bewildered and baffled by temptations from the world around us. Only when we are alert and determined enough to resist these temptations can we take a right and unswerving road to success.In our daily life, it is essential for us to be self-disciplined. A healthy lifestyle, which may consist of regular exercise and balanced diet, is what most people are pursuing in contemporary society. Yet many people cannot resist the coziness of staying in and temptation of tasty but fatty food, thus giving up half way cultivating healthy habits and getting decreasingly robust. In addition, our progress in academic performance depends on good habits. We must restrain ourselves from endless entertainment. Otherwise, distracted and indulged, we can never maintain a good learning habit, let alone achieve academic excellence.In summary, good habits rely on strong hearts that are not disturbed by temptations. With persistence and perseverance, we are heading to success.快速阅读答案:1. may not benefit education as intended2. build an innovative image3. further distract students from class participation4. have to work harder to enliven their classes5. mobile technology will be more widely used in education6. It is proceeding with caution.7. facilitate students’ learning outside of class8. teaching or analysis9. complex reasoning abilities required of good lawyers10. interaction听力答案:11. Why she could not get through to him12. He has difficulty finding affordable housing13. A code number is necessary to run the copy machine14. He will stop work to take care of the baby15. The shopping center is flooded with people16. It will take longer to reconnect the computers to the Net17. She did see Prof. Smith on TV18. The man has to go to see his doctor again19. It is planning to tour East Asia20. A lot of good publicity21. Pay for the printing of the performance programme22. He might give up concert tours23. It can do harm to singer’s voice chords24. Many lack professional training25. V oice problems among pop singers26. It has not been very successful27. It increases parking capacity28. Collect money and help new users29. They will be discountable to regular customers30. Meat consumption has an adverse effect on the environment31. It lacks the vitamins and minerals essential for health32. Quit eating meats33. They do not admit being alcohol addicts34. To stop them from fighting back35. With support they can be brought back to a normal life36. Included37. categories38. similar39. acquaintance40. recently41. volunteer42. citizen43. indicative44. You believe you have leadership abilities and your boss put you in charge of a new work team45. He thought he was a good public official, but the voters obviously thought otherwise46. A student writes what he thinks is an excellent composition, but the teacher writes no encouraging remarks仔细阅读答案之选词填空(十五选十)部分:47. exercise extraordinary power48. is used in the nation49. panic in the West50. foreign oil51. establish a stockpile of oil52. They don't know what is going to happen in the future.53. Its initial blow to confidence far exceeded that of 1929.54. The government intervened effectively.55. To curb the fear of a lasting free fall.56. It has not gone from bad to worse.57. the sound of a forest signifies its health condition.58. the collapse of rain forests is caused by direct human interference.59. turn them into a major source of greenhouse gases60. Lack of rainfall resulting from global warming.61. Its practice of burning forests for settlement and development完形填空答案:62. 答案:terrifies 考查动词辨析。
最新2013年6月英语六级真题及答案-第一套(最新整理吐血整理)
第一部分Greed or Greet?The earth has nurtured generations of human beings, offering us with every resource to survive and prosper. Nowadays, with the explosion of population and boom of economy, human’s rel entless exploitation of natural resources has caused crisis of exhaustion of energy and resources.The remark “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” gives out a warning for us all. The ecosystem has remained balanced until man becomes obsessed with their ambition to conquer Nature and they are blinded by greed. On one hand, they are so economy-oriented that they ignore the protection of environment. Increasing pollution not only causes serious problems such as global warming but also could threaten to end human life on our planet. On the other hand, man exploits and abuses non-renewable energy and resources for the sake of developing economy. If man insists on extracting natural resources recklessly, it will be too dreadful to face the consequence.Let us remember that only when we shake off greed and heal the earth can we build a better home for ourselves and our future generations.快速阅读美国工业制造1-7 DADAAAB8 higher9 the immigrants10 doing more themselves听力11. Why she could not get through to him.12. He has difficulty finding affordable housing.13. A code number is necessary to run the copy machine.14. He will stop work to take care of the baby.15. The shopping center is flooded with people.16. It will take longer to reconnect the computers to the Net.17. She did see Prof. Smith on TV.18. The man has to go to see his doctor again.19. It is planning to tour East Asia.20. A lot of good publicity.21. Pay for the printing of the performance programme.22. He might give up concert tours.23. It can do harm to singer’s voice chords.24. Many lack professional training.25. Voice problems among pop singers.Q26 It has not been very successful.Q27 It increases parking capacity.Q28 Collect money and help new users.Q29 They will be discountable to regular customers.Q30 D. Meat consumption has an adverse effect on the environment. Q31 B. It lacks the vitamins and minerals essential for health.Q32 C. Quit eating meats.Q33 D. They do not admit being alcohol addicts.Q34 A. To stop them from fighting back.Q35 B. With support they can be brought back to a normal life.36. Included37. categories38. similar39. acquaintance40. recently41. volunteer42. citizen43. indicative44. You believe you have leadership abilities and your boss put you in c harge of a new work team45. He thought he was a good public official, but the voters obviously th ought otherwise46. A student writes what he thinks is an excellent composition, but the teacher writes no encouraging remarks【阅读】孩子47 attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors48 gender roles49 observing and imitating50 adulthood or later life51 explain第一篇美国经济52.第一题是美国经济越变越差有一个词是worse53. 是不能够反映真实情况有两个词是fully reflected54.第三题是没有把雇佣人数算进去55. 是没有提供真实的信息56.是两个机构一起合作第二篇城乡57.城乡迁移现象58.是趋势不会被减慢59.本书有一个向导,新颖。
2023年6月六级真题第一套
2023年6月大学英语六级考试真题(第1套)Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “Today there is a growing awareness that mental well-being needs to be given as muchattention as physical health.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personalexperiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200words._____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 1with a single linethrough the centre.Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.1. A. It was spacious and tranquil. B. It was warm and comfortable.C. It was shabby and solitary.D. It was tiny and noisy.2. A. She no longer hates people talking loudly in the dorm.B. She misses her roommates she used to complain about.C. She begins to enjoy the movies she once found irritating.D. She finds the crowded dorm as cozy as her new apartment.3. A. He found the apartment perfectly furnished.B. He had a feeling of despair and frustration.C. He had a similar feeling to the woman’s.D. He felt the new place was like paradise.4. A. Go to see the woman’s apartment. B. Make a phone call to his parents.C. Buy some furniture for the woman.D. De corate the woman’s apartment.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A. He works as a literary critic. B. He hosts an educational program.C. He has initiated a university reform.D. He has published a book recently.6. A. It fails to keep up with the radical changes of society.B. It fails to ensure universities get sufficient resources.C. It has not prepared young people for the job market.D. It has not fostered the growth of the arts disciplines.7. A. More of the budget should go to science and technology.B. The underfunded music discipline should be prioritized.C. Subdisciplines like sculpture should get more funding.D. Literature should get as much funding as engineering.8. A. Build a prosperous nation. B. Make skilled professionals.C. Create ingenious artists.D. Cultivate better citizens.Section BDirections:In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear aquestion, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre. Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.9. A. It is quite common. B. It is rarely noticed.C. It seldom annoys people.D. It occurs when one is alone.10. A. Seeing things in black and white.B. Engaging in regular contemplation.C. Having a special understanding of creativity.D. Knowing how to make their mental batteries work.11. A. Engaging in intense activity. B. Fantasizing in one’s down time.C. Working on a particular project.D. Reflecting during one’s relaxation.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A. Farmers helped Native Americans grow crops.B. There were expansive university campuses.C. There existed post offices.D. Migrants found gold there.13. A. It helped to boost the economy in the American West.B. It provided job opportunities for many gold seekers.C. It extended the influence of the federal government.D. It kept people in the deserts and plains connected.14. A. It employed Native Americans to work as postmen.B. It commissioned private wagons to carry the mail.C. It subsidized the locals who acted as postmasters.D. It centralized postal services in its remote areas.15. A. He analyzed interactive maps of mail routes.B. He read a large collection of books on the topic.C. He examined its historical trends with data science.D. He collected data about its impact on local business.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played only once. After you hear a question, you mustchoose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark thecorresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.16. A. Higher levels of anxiety may improve people’s memory.B. Some experiences are easier to remember than others.C. Most people tend to remember things selectively.D. Simple things may leave a deep impression on one’s memory.17. A. They classified the participants’ mindset.B. They showed some photos to the participants.C. They measured the participants’ anxiety levels.D. They tested the size of the participants’ vocabulary.18. A. Anxiety has become a serious problem for an increasing number of people.B. Extreme levels of anxiety can adversely affect cognitive performance.C. People diagnosed with anxiety disorder may forget things selectively.D. There is no direct correlation between memory and levels of anxiety.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A. They compare products from different companies before making a choice.B. They get information from other consumers’ postings and comments.C. They lose patience when their phone call is no promptly answered.D. They expect to get instantaneous responses to their inquiry.20. A. Giving them rewards on the spot. B. Broadening their scope of interest.C. Speaking directly to their emotions.D. Focusing on the details of the product.21. A. Change the rules of the game in the market every year.B. Keep up with the latest technological developments.C. Learn from technological innovators to do business.D. Make greater efforts to build up consumers’ confidence.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A. People have only one social engagement per week.B. Working together enhances friendship.C. Few people have devoted friends.D. Friendships benefit work.23. A. The impact of friends on people’s self-esteem.B. How supportive friends can be in the workplace.C. How to boost one’s sense of value and worthin ess.D. The role of family ties in people’s mental well-being.24. A. They show little interest in their friends’ work.B. They tend to be much more difficult to make.C. They are more trustworthy and reliable.D. They increase people’s job satisfaction.25. A. Allow employees to have a flexible work schedule.B. Encourage employees to be friends with colleagues.C. Help employees balance work and family responsibilities.D. Organize activities to nourish friendships outside of work.Part III R eading Comprehension (40 minutes) Section ADirections:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read thepassage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identifiedby a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2with asingle line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.Scientists recently examined studies on dog intelligence and compared them with research into the minds of other intelligent animals. The researchers found that dogs are among the more intelligent carnivores (食肉动物), social hunters and domestic animals, but that their intelligence does not 26 other intelligent animals in any of those categories. Though a significant body of research has examined dog cognition 27 , the authors of this new study found little to warrant the 28 of work that has been devoted to the topic.Stephen Lea, lead author of the new study, argues that many researchers seem to have designed their studies to 29 how clever dogs are, rather than simply to study dogs’ brains. Lea and a colleague examined more than 300 stud ies of dog cognition, comparing the studies’ results with those from research into other animals. The researchers made specific comparisons between the different species in different categories of intelligence. These comparisons 30 that dogs are intelligent, but their intelligence is not as 31 as some researchers might have believed.In many areas, though, comparisons were not possible. For example, the researchers noted that both dogs and cats are known to be able to recognize and 32 human voices. But the investigators could not find any data to indicate which species can remember a greater number of 33 human voices, so it was impossible to compare the two on that front. However, not all researchers agree 34 with the findings of this study. Zachary Silver, an American researcher, believes the authors of the new study 35 the idea that an excessive amount of research has been devoted to dogs, as the field of dog cognition is young, and there is much to be learned about how dogs think.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. Identify the paragraph fromwhich the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Eachparagraph is marked with a letter. Answer the question by marking the corresponding letteron Answer Sheet 2.The lifesaving power of gratitudeA) Gratitude may be more beneficial than we commonly suppose. One recent study asked participants towrite a note of thanks to someone and then estimate how surprised and happy the recipient would feel—an impact that they consistently underestimated. Another study assessed the health benefits of writing thank-you notes. The researchers found that writing as few as three weekly thank-you notes over the course of three weeks improved life satisfaction, increased happy feelings and reduced symptoms of depression.B) While this research into gratitude is relatively new, the principles involved are anything but. Studentsof mine in a political philosophy course at Indiana University are reading Daniel Defoe’s 300-year-old Robinson Crusoe, often regarded as the first novel published in English. Left alone on an unknown island with no apparent prospect of rescue or escape, Crusoe has much to lament (悲叹).But instead of giving in to despair, he makes a list of things for which he is grateful, including the fact that he is the sole survivor from the shipwreck (海难) and has been able to salvage many useful items from the wreckage.C) Defoe’s masterpiece, which is often ranked as one of the world’s greatest novels, provides a portraitof gratitude in action that is as timely and relevant today as it has ever been. It is also one with which contemporary psychology and medicine are just beginning to catch up. Simply put, for most of us, it is far more helpful to focus on the things in life for which we can express gratitude than those that incline us toward resentment and lamentation.D) When we focus on the things we regret, such as failed relationships, family disputes, and setbacks incareer and finance, we tend to become more regretful. Conversely, when we focus on the things we are grateful for, a greater sense of happiness tends to spread through our lives. And while no one would argue for cultivating a false sense of blessedness, there is mounting evidence that counting our blessings is one of the best habits we can develop to promote mental and physical health.E) Gratitude has long enjoyed a privileged position in many of the world’s cultural traditions. Forexample, some ancient Western philosophers counsel gratitude that is both enduring and complete, and some Eastern thinkers portray it as not merely an attitude but a virtue to be put into practice.F) Recent scientific studies support these ancient teachings. Individuals who regularly engage ingratitude exercises, such as counting their blessings or expressing gratitude to others, exhibit increased satisfaction with relationships and fewer symptoms of physical illness. And the benefits are not only psychological and physical. They may also be moral—those who practice gratitude also view their lives less materialistically and suffer from less envy.G) There are multiple explanations for such benefits of gratefulness. One is the fact that expressinggratitude encourages others to continue being generous, thus promoting a virtuous cycle of goodness in relationships. Similarly, grateful people may be more likely to reciprocate(回报) with acts of kindness of their own. Broadly speaking, a community in which people feel grateful to one another is likely to be a more pleasant place to live than one characterized by mutual suspicion and resentment.The beneficial effects of gratitude may extend even further. For example, when many people feel good about what someone else has done for them, they experience a sense of being lifted up, with a corresponding enhancement of their regard for humanity. Some are inspired to attempt to become better people themselves, doing more to help bring out the best in others and bringing more goodness into the world around them.H) Gratitude also tends to strengthen a sense of connection with others. When people want to do goodthings that inspire gratitude, the level of dedication in relationships tends to grow and relationships seem to last longer. And when people feel more connected, they are more likely to choose to spend their time with one another and demonstrate their feelings of affection in daily acts.I) Of course, acts of kindness can also foster discomfort. For example, if people feel they are notworthy of kindness or suspect that some ulterior (别有用心的) motive lies behind it, the benefits of gratitude will not be realized. Likewise, receiving a kindness can give rise to a sense of indebtedness, leaving beneficiaries feeling that they must now pay back whatever good they have received.Gratitude can flourish only if people are secure enough in themselves and sufficiently trusting toallow it to do so. Another obstacle to gratitude is often called a sense of entitlement. Instead of experiencing a benefaction (善行) as a good turn, people sometimes regard it as a mere payment of what they are owed, for which no one deserves any moral credit.J) There are a number of practical steps anyone can take to promote a sense of gratitude. One is simply spending time on a regular basis thinking about someone who has made a difference, or perhaps writing a thank-you note or expressing such gratitude in person. Others are found in ancient religious disciplines, such as reflecting on benefactions received from another person or actually praying for the health and happiness of a benefactor. In addition to benefactions received, it is also possible to focus on opportunities to do good oneself, whether those acted on in the past or hoped for in the future. Some people are most grateful not for what others have done for them but for chances they enjoyed to help others. In regularly reflecting on the things in his life he is grateful for, Defoe’s Crusoe believes that he becomes a far better person than he would have been had he remained in the society from which he originally set out on his voyage.K) Reflecting on generosity and gratitude, the great basketball coach John Wooden once offered two counsels to his players and students. First, he said, “It is impossible to have a perfect day unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”In saying this, Wooden sought to promote purely generous acts, as opposed to those performed with an expectation of reward.Second, he said, “Give thanks for your blessings every day.”L) Some faith traditions incorporate such practices into the rhythm of daily life. For example, adherents of some religions offer prayers of thanksgiving every morning before rising and every night before lying down to sleep. Others offer thanks throughout the day, such as before meals. Other less frequent special events, such as births, deaths and marriages, may also be heralded by such prayers.M) When Defoe depicted Robinson Crusoe making thanksgiving a daily part of his island life, he was anticipating findings in social science and medicine that would not appear for hundreds of years. Yet he was also reflecting the wisdom of religious and philosophical traditions that extend back thousands of years. Gratitude is one of the healthiest and most nourishing of all states of mind, and those who adopt it as a habit are enriching not only their own lives but also the lives of those around them.36. I t does us far more good to focus on things we can be grateful for than what makes us sad andresentful.37. T he beneficial impacts of gratitude can extend from individuals to their community and to the widersociety.38. T he participants in a recent study repeatedly underestimated the positive effect on those who receivedthank-you notes.39. G ood deeds can sometimes make people feel uncomfortable.40. P eople who regularly express gratitude can benefit in moral terms.41. A basketball coach advocated performing generous acts without expecting anything in return.42. M ore and more evidence shows it makes us mentally and physically healthier to routinely count ourblessings.43. O f all states of mind, feeling grateful is considered one of the most healthy and beneficial.44. T he principles underlying the research into gratitude are nothing new at all.45. G ratitude is likely to enhance one’s sense of being connected with other people.Section CDirections: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). Youshould decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with asingle line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Technology is never a neutral tool for achieving human ends. Technological innovations reshape people as they use these innovations to control their environment. Artificial intelligence, for example, is altering humanity.While the term AI conjures up anxieties about killer robots or catastrophic levels of unemployment, there are other, deeper implications. As AI increasingly shapes the human experience, how does this change what it means to be human? Central to the problem is a person’s capacity to make choices, particularly judgments that have moral implications.Aristotle argued that the capacity for making practical judgments depends on regularly making them—on habit and practice. We see the emergence of machines as substitute judges in a variety of everyday contexts as a potential threat to people learning how to effectively exercise judgment themselves.In the workplace, managers routinely make decisions about who to hire or fire and which loan to approve, to name a few. These are areas where algorithmic(算法的) prescription is replacing human judgment, and so people who might have had the chance to develop practical judgment in these areas no longer will.Recommendation engines, which are increasingly prevalent intermediaries in people’s consumption of culture, may serve to constrain choice and minimize luck. By presenting consumers with algorithmically selected choices of what to watch, read, stream and visit next, companies are replacing human taste with machine taste. In one sense, this is helpful. After all, machines can survey a wider range of choices than any individual is likely to have the time or energy to do on their own.At the same time, though, this selection is optimizing for what people are likely to prefer based on what they’ve preferred in the past. We think there is some risk that people’s options will be constrained by their past in a new and unanticipated way.As machine learning algorithms improve and as they train on more extensive data sets, larger parts of everyday life are likely to become utterly predictable. The predictions are going to get better and better, and they will ultimately make common experiences more efficient and pleasant.Algorithms could soon—if they don’t already—have a better idea about which show you’d like to watch next and which job candidate you should hire than you do. One day, humans may even find a way for machines to make these decisions without some of the biases that humans typically display.But to the extent that unpredictability is part of how people understand themselves and part of what people like about themselves, humanity is in the process of losing something significant. As they become more and more predictable, the creatures inhabiting the increasingly AI-mediated world will become less and less like us.46. What do we learn about the deeper implications of AI?A. It is causing catastrophic levels of unemployment.B. It is doing physical harm to human operators.C. It is altering moral judgments.D. It is reshaping humanity.47. What is the consequence of algorithmic prescription replacing human judgment?A. People lose the chance to cultivate the ability to make practical judgments.B. People are prevented from participating in making major decisions in the workplace.C. Managers no longer have the chance to decide which loan to approve.D. Managers do not need to take the trouble to determine who to hire or fire.48. What may result from increasing application of recommendation engines in our consumption ofculture?A. Consumers will have much limited choice.C. It will be easier to decide on what to enjoy.B. Consumers will actually enjoy better luck.D. Humans will develop tastes simi lar to machines’.49. What is likely to happen to larger parts of our daily life as machine learning algorithms improve?A. They will turn out to be more pleasant.B. They will repeat our past experience.C. They can be completely anticipated.D. They may become better and better.50. Why does the author say the creatures living in the more and more AI-mediated world will becomeincreasingly unlike us?A. They will have lost the most significant human element of being intelligent.B. They will no longer possess the human characteristic of being unpredictable.C. They will not be able to understand themselves as we can do today.D. They wil l be deprived of what their predecessors were proud of about themselves.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Phonics, which involves sounding out words syllable(音节) by syllable, is the best way to teach children to read. But in many classrooms, this can be a dirty word. So much so that some teachers have had to sneak phonics teaching materials into the classroom. Most American children are taught to read in a way that study after study has found to be wrong.The consequences of this are striking. Less than half of all American adults were proficient readers in 2017. American fourth graders rank 15th on the Progress in International Literacy Study, an international exam.America is stuck in a debate about teaching children to read that has been going on for decades. Some advocate teaching symbol-sound relationships (the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck, or ch), known as phonics. Others support an immersive approach (using pictures of a cat to learn the word cat), known as “whole language”. Most teachers today, almost three out of four according to a survey by the EdWeek Research Centre in 2019, use a mix called “balanced literacy”. This combination of methods is ineffective. “You can’t sprinkle in a little phonics,” says Tenette Smith, executive director of elementary education and reading at Miss issippi’s education department.“It has to be systematic and explicitly taught.”Mississippi, often behind in social policy, has set an example here. In a state once notorious for its low reading scores, the Mississippi state legislature passed new literacy standards in 2013. Since then Mississippi has seen remarkable gains. Its fourth graders have moved from 49th (out of 50 states) to 29th on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a nationwide exam. In 2019 it was the only state to improve its scores. For the first time since measurement began, Mississippi’s pupils are now average readers, a remarkable achievement in such a poor state.Mis sissippi’s success is attribu ted to implementing reading methods supported by a body of research known as the science of reading. In 1997 Congress requested the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Department of Education to convene a National Reading Panel to end the “reading wars” and synthesize the evidence. The panel found that phonics, along with explicit instruction in phonemic (音位的) awareness, fluency and comprehension, worked best.Yet over two decades on, “balanced literacy”is still being taught in classrooms. But advances in statistics and brain imaging have disproved the whole-language method. To the teacher who is a proficient reader, literacy seems like a natural process that requires educated guessing, rather than the deliberate process emphasized by phonics. Teachers can imagine that they learned to read through osmosis (潜移默化) when they were children. Without proper training, they bring this to classrooms.51. What do we learn about phonics in many American classrooms?A. It is ill reputed.B. It is mostly misapplied.C. It is arbitrarily excluded.D. It is misrepresented.52. What has America been witnessing for decades?A. An obsession with innovating teaching methodologies of reading.B. An enduring debate over the approach to teaching children to read.C. An increasing concern with many children’s inadequacy in literacy.D. An ever-forceful advocacy of a combined method for teaching reading.53. Why does Tenette Smith think a combination of teaching methods is ineffective?A. Elementary school children will be frustrated when taught with several methods combined.B. Phonics has to be systematically applied and clearly taught to achieve the desired effect.C. Sprinkling in a little phonics deters the progress of even adequately motivated children.D. Balanced literacy fails to sustain children’s interest in developing a good reading habit.54. What does the author say Mississippi s success is attributed to?A. Convening a National Reading Panel to synthesize research evidence.B. Placing sufficient emphasis upon both fluency and comprehension.C. Adopting scientifically grounded approaches to teaching reading.D. Obtaining support from Congress to upgrade teaching methods.55. What have advances in statistics and brain imaging proved ineffective?A. The teaching of symbol- sound relationships.B. Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness.C. Efforts to end the reading wars.D. The immersive approach.Part IV T ranslation (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English.You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.近年来,越来越多的中国文化产品走向全球市场,日益受到海外消费者的青睐。
2013年6月英语四级考试真题以及答案(第1套)
2013年6月四级真题(第1套)Part Ⅰ Writing(30 minutes)Directions:For this part.you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay.You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then express your views on the importance of reading literature.You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension(30 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section,you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.At the end ofeach 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 apause.During the pause,you must read the four choices marked A,B,C and D,anddecide which is the best answer.Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet lwith a single line through the centre.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
[全网首发]2013英语六级真题试卷一及答案
2013年6月大学英语六级考试真题作文:1) Good habits result from resisting temptation. 来自于谚语 2) A smile is the shortest distance between two people. 来自于Victor Borge 3) Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed。
听力原文短对话Part III Listening ComprehensionSection 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.W: What's wrong with your phone, Gary? I tried to call you all night yesterday。
2013年6月英语六级考试真题真正完整版
2013年6⽉英语六级考试真题真正完整版Consider Paul Krugman writing breathlessly in the New York Times about the “rising incidence of extreme events,” He claims that global warming caused the current drought in America’s Midwest, and that supposedly record-high corn prices could cause a global food crisis.But the United Nations climate panel’s latest assessment tells us precisely the opposite. For “North America there is medium confidence that there has an overall slight tendency toward less dryness” Moreover, there is no way that Krugman could have identified this drought as being caused by global warming without a time machine; Climate models estimate that such detection will be possible by 2048, at the earliest.And, fortunately, this year’s drought appears unlikely to cause a food cri sis, as global rice and wheat supplies retain plentiful. Moreover, Krugman overlooks inflation: Prices have increased six-fold since 1969. so, while com futures(期货) did set a record of about S8 per bushel(葡式⽿)in late July, the inflation-adjusted price of corn was higher throughout most of the 1970s, reaching 516 in1974.Finally, Krugman conveniently forgets that concerns about global warming are the main reason that corn prices have skyrocketed since 2005. Nowadays 40 percent of corn grown in the United States is used to produce ethanol(⼄醇),which does absolutely nothing for the climate, but certainly distorts the price of corn—at the expense of many of the world’s poorest people.Bill Mickbben similarly worries in The Guardian about the Midwest drought and corn prices. He confidently tells us that raging wildfires from New Mexico and Colorado to Siberia are “exactly” what the early stages of global warming look like.In fact, the latest overview of global wildfire suggests that fire intensity has declined over the past 70 years and is now close to its preindustrial level.When well-meaning campaigners want us to pay attention to global warming, they often end up pitching beyond the facts. And, while this may seem justified by a noble goal, such “policy by people” tactics rarely work, and often backfire.Remember how, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Al Gore claimed that we were in store for ever more destructive hurricanes? Since then, hurricane incidence has dropped off the charts. Exaggerated claims merely fuel public distrust and disengagement.That is unfortunate, because global warming is a real problem, and we do need to address it.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
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2013年6月英语六级考试真题试卷(第1套)Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this party you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark "Good habits result from resisting temptation." You can cite examples to . You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 wordsPart 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.A Nation That's Losing Its ToolboxThe scene inside the Home Depot on Weyman Avenue here would give the old-time American craftsman pause.In Aisle 34 is precut plastic flooring, the glue already in place. In Aisle 26 are prefabricated windows. Stacked near the checkout counters, and as colorful as a Fisher-Price toy, is a not-so-serious-looking power tool: a battery-operated saw-and-drill combination. And if you don't want to do it yourself, head to Aisle 23 or Aisle 35, where a help desk will arrange for an installer.It's all very handy stuff, I guess, a convenient way to be a do-it-yourselfer without being all that good with tools. But at a time when the American factory seems to be a shrinking presence, and when good manufacturing jobs have vanished, perhaps never to return, there is something deeply troubling about this dilution of American craftsmanship.This isn't a lament (伤感) - or not merely a lament - for bygone times. It's a social and cultural issue, as well as an economic one. The Home Depot approach to craftsmanship - simplify it, dumb it down, hire a contractor - is one signal that mastering tools and working with one's hands is receding in America as a hobby, as a valued skill, as a cultural influence that shaped thinking and behavior in vast sections of the country. That should be a matter of concern in a presidential election year. Yet neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney promotes himself as tool-savvy (使用工具很在行的) presidential timber, in the mold of a Jimmy Carter, a skilled carpenter and cabinet maker. The Obama administration does worry publicly about manufacturing, a first cousin of craftsmanship. When the Ford Motor Company, for example, recently announced that it was bringing some production home, the White House cheered. "When you see things like Ford moving new production from Mexico to Detroit, instead of the other way around, you know things are changing," says Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council.Ask the administration or the Republicans or most academics why America needs more manufacturing, and they respond that manufacturing gives birth to innovation, brings down the trade deficit, strengthens the dollar, generates jobs, arms the military and brings about a recovery from recession. But rarely, if ever, do they publicly take the argument a step further, asserting that a growing manufacturing sector encourages craftsmanship and that craftsmanship is, if not a birthright, then a vital ingredient of the American self-image as a can-do, inventive, we-can-make-anything people. Traditional vocational training in public high schools is gradually declining, stranding thousands of young people who seek training for a craft without going to college. Colleges, for their part, have since 1985 graduated fewer chemical, mechanical, industrial and metallurgical (冶金的) engineers, partly in response to the reduced role of manufacturing, a big employer of them.The decline started in the 1950s, when manufacturing generated a sturdy 28% of the national income, or gross domestic product, and employed one-third of the workforce. Today, factory output generates just 12% of G.D.P. and employs barely 9% of the nation's workers.Mass layoffs and plant closings have drawn plenty of headlines and public debate over the years, and they still occasionally do. But the damage to skill and craftsmanship- that's needed to build a complex airliner or a tractor, or for a worker to move up from assembler to machinist to supervisor - went largely unnoticed."In an earlier generation, we lost our connection to the land, and now we are losing our connection to the machinery we depend on," says Michael Hout, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley. "People who work with their hands," he went on, "are doing things today that we call service jobs, in restaurants and laundries, or in medical technology and the like."That's one explanation for the decline in traditional craftsmanship. Lack of interest is another. The big money is in fields like finance. Starting in the 1980s, skill in finance grew in importance, and, as depicted in the news media and the movies, became a more appealing source of income.By last year, Wall Street traders, bankers and those who deal in real estate generated 21% of the national income, double their share in the 1950s. And Warren Buffett, the good-natured financier, became a homespun folk hero, without the tools and overalls (工作服)."Young people grow up without developing the skills to fix things around the house," says Richard Curtin, director of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. "They know about computers, of course, but they don't know how to build them."Manufacturing's shrinking presence undoubtedly helps explain the decline in craftsmanship, if only because many of the nation's assembly line workers were skilled in craft work, if not on the job then in their spare time. In a late 1990s study of blue-collar employees at a General Motors plant (now closed) in Linden, N. J., the sociologist Ruth Milkman of City University of New York found that many line workers, in their off-hours, did home renovation and other skilled work."I have often thought," Ms. Milkman says, "that these extracurricular jobs were an efforton the part of the workers to regain their dignity after suffering the degradation of repetitive assembly line work in the factory."Craft work has higher status in nations like Germany, which invests in apprenticeship (学徒) programs for high school students. "Corporations in Germany realized that there was an interest to be served economically and patriotically in building up a skilled labor force at home; we never had that ethos (风气)," says Richard Sennett, a New York University sociologist who has written about the connection of craft and culture.The damage to American craftsmanship seems to parallel the steep slide in manufacturing employment. Though the decline started in the 1970s, it became much steeper beginning in 2000. Since then, some 5.3 million jobs, or one-third of the workforce in manufacturing, have been lost. A stated goal of the Obama administration is to restore a big chunk of this employment, along with the multitude of skills that many of the jobs required.As for craftsmanship itself, the issue is how to preserve it as a valued skill in the general population. Ms. Milkman, the sociologist, argues that American craftsmanship isn't disappearing as quickly as some would argue - that it has instead shifted to immigrants. "Pride in craft, it is alive in the immigrant world," she says.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。