大学英语六级考试真题和答案第三套
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Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: Suppose you are asked to give advice on whether to attendcollege at home or abroad, write an essay to state your opinion. You are required towrite at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.【参照范文】Whether to Attend College at Home or AbroadCurrently,with studying abroad gains mounting popularity among people,there is a heated debate about whether to attend college at home or abroad. Opinions onthis topic vary from person to person. Some see more benefits in studying at homewhile others claim that studying abroad is a more ideal choice as it’ s more challenging.Personally, I am a strong favorer of the latter view. Listed below are thereasons for my advice. First of all, attending college abroad provides an opportunityto broaden one’ s experience and mind. You can acquire cross-cultural experiencesand gain new perspectives on your chosen field of study. In addition,studying abroad helps you to polish your social skills; you can make friends with different peoplewith different background. Thirdly,overseas studying is conducive to the formation of an independent, autonomous and tenacious personality, which willultimately benefit the achievement of our life goals.Just as an old saying goes: “It is better to travel thousand miles than to read tenthousand books. ” Then studying abroad can not only enable us to reap in our books,but also in our trips. And this is why attending college abroad is a preferable selectionfor me.Part II Listening Comprehension说明: 2017 年 6 月大学英语六级真题全国共考了两套听力。
2023年12月大学英语六级真题试卷及答案(三套全) 一、听力理解第一套第一节(共5小题)1. What does the woman ask the man to do?A. Turn the television off.B. Turn the volume down.C. Turn the radio on.Answer: B2. Where does the conversation most probably take place?A. At the post office.B. At the bank.C. At the hotel.Answer: C3. What does the man imply about the woman?A. She hasn’t been to New York City.B. She needs to find a new job.C. She travels a lot for work.Answer: A4. How long has the man been waiting?A. For an hour.B. For half an hour.C. For ten minutes.Answer: B5. What is the woman doing?A. She is looking for her keys.B. She is waiting for someone to arrive.C. She is talking on the phone.Answer: C第二节(共5小题)6. What is the woman asking the man to do?A. Fix her computer.B. Help her find a job.C. Visit her tomorrow.Answer: A7. What does the man offer to do next?A. Take the woman to the restaurant.B. Prepare dinner for the woman.C. Look for a restaurant on the Internet.Answer: C8. What does the man say abo ut the woman’s computer?A. It can’t be fixed.B. It needs a software update.C. It needs a new battery.Answer: B9. What does the woman suggest doing after dinner?A. Go for a walk.B. Watch a movie at home.C. Go to a movie theater.Answer: B10. How do es the woman feel about the man’s suggestion?A. Excited.B. Indifferent.C. Annoyed.Answer: A二、阅读理解第一套An important part of a child’s development is the acquisition of social skills. Social skills help children to interact effectively with others and build healthy relationships. These skills are vital for success in school, work, and life in general.One of the best ways to help children develop social skills is through play. Play allows children to practice andmaster social, emotional, and cognitive skills in a relaxed and enjoyableenvironment. Through play, children learn valuable skills such as cooperation, sharing, problem-solving, and communication.There are different types of play that help in the development of social skills. Cooperative play is when children play and work together towards a common goal. This type of play helps children to learn teamwork and collaboration. Pretend play, on the other hand, allows children to develop empathy and understanding of others’ perspectives. They learn to take on different roles and pretend to be someone else, which helps in developing their social and emotional intelligence. Board games and group activities also promote social interaction and help children learn important skills such as taking turns, following rules, and resolving conflicts in a fair manner.Parents and educators play a crucial role in promoting social skills development. They can create opportunities for play and provide guidance and support. It is important for parents to encourage their children to engage in various types of play and provide them with age-appropriate toys and games. Educators can incorporate play-based learning activities in the classroom to foster social skills development.In conclusion, play is a valuable tool for social skills development. It allows children to practice and master important skills while having fun. Parents and educators should recognize the importance of play and provide opportunities and support for children to engage in different types of play.第二套The concept of time management is essential in today’s fast-paced world. Effective time management helps individuals to prioritize tasks, handle multiple responsibilities, and increase productivity. It allows individuals to make the most out of their time and achieve their goals efficiently.Here are some tips for effective time management:1.Set goals: Identify your long-term and short-termgoals. Break them down into smaller, manageable tasks.This will help you stay focused and motivated.2.Prioritize tasks: Determine which tasks are mostimportant and urgent. Focus on completing these tasks first.3.Create a schedule: Use a planner or online calendarto schedule your tasks and activities. Set deadlines for each task to stay organized and keep track of your progress.4.Avoid multitasking: Multitasking may seem like atime-saving technique, but it can actually decreaseproductivity. Focus on one task at a time and give it yourfull attention.5.Delegate tasks: If possible, delegate tasks to others.This will free up your time and allow you to focus on more important tasks.6.Take breaks: Schedule regular breaks to rest andrecharge. This will help you maintain focus and preventburnout.7.Avoid procrastination: Procrastination can lead tounnecessary stress and missed deadlines. Break tasks into smaller, manageable parts and tackle them one at a time.8.Learn to say no: Don’t overcommit yourself. Learn tosay no to tasks that are not essential or do not align withyour goals.e technology: Take advantage of technology toolssuch as productivity apps and time tracking apps. Thesecan help you stay organized and manage your time moreeffectively.10.Review and adjust: Regularly review your scheduleand tasks. Adjust as needed to accommodate unexpectedevents or changes in priorities.By implementing these tips, you can improve your time management skills and achieve greater success in your personal and professional life.第三套The importance of physical exercise cannot be overstated. Regular exercise has numerous health benefits and plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.Physical exercise helps to strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve lung function, and increase muscle strength and endurance. It also promotes weight loss and helps to maintain a healthy body weight. Regular exercise reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, andcertain types of cancer. It can also improve mental health by reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.In addition to the physical benefits, exercise is also important for cognitive function. Studies have shown that regular exercise improves memory, attention, and problem-solving skills. It can also enhance creativity and productivity.Exercise is not only beneficial for adults but also for children and adolescents. Regular physical activity in childhood and adolescence helps to develop healthy bones, muscles, and joints. It improves coordination and balance, and reduces the risk of childhood obesity. It also has a positive impact on academic performance, including improved concentration and focus.There are many different forms of exercise that individuals can choose from, including aerobic exercise, strength training, flexibility exercises, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It is important to find a form of exercise that you enjoy and can incorporate into your daily routine.In conclusion, regular physical exercise is essential for overall health and well-being. It has numerous physical and mental health benefits and should be a priority for individuals of all ages. Make exercise a part of your daily routine and reap the rewards of a healthy and active lifestyle.三、写作题目及答案第一套写作题目:Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:。
2021年6月英语六级考试真题试卷附答案(完整版第3套)Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on the importance of motivation and methods in learning. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes) 说明:由于2021年6月六级考试全国共考了两套听力,本套真题听力与前2套内容相同,只是选项顺序不同,因此在本套真题中不再重复出现。
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. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please markthe corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Steel is valued for its reliability, but not when it gets cold. Most forms of steel __26__ become brittle (脆的)at temperatures below about -25℃ unless they are mixed with other metals. Now, though, a novel type of steel has been developed that resists __27__ at much lower temperatures, while retaining its strength and toughness—without the need for expensive __28__.Steel's fragility at low temperatures first became a major concern during the Second World War. After German U-boats torpedoed (用鱼雷攻击)numerous British ships, a 2,700-strong fleet of cheap- and-cheerful "Liberty ships" was introduced to replace the lost vessels, providing a lifeline for the __29__ British. But the steel shells of hundreds of the ships __30__ in the icy north Atlantic, and 12 broke in half and sank.Brittleness remains a problem when building steel structures in cold conditions, such as oil rigs in the Arctic. So scientists have __31__ to find a solution by mixing it with expensive metals such as nickel.Yuuji Kimura and colleagues in Japan tried a more physical__32__. Rather than adding other metals, they developed a complex mechanical process involving repeated heating and very severe mechanical deformation, known as tempforming.The resulting steel appears to achieve a combination of strength and toughness that is __33__ to that of modem steels that are very rich in alloy content and, therefore, very expensive.Kimura's team intends to use its tempformed steel to make ultra-high strength parts, such as bolts. They hope to reduce both the number of __34__ needed in a construction job and their weight—by replacing solid supports with __35__ tubes, for example. This could reduce the amount of steel needed to make everything from automobiles to buildings and bridges.A)abruptlyB)additivesC)approachD)ardentlyE)besiegedF)channelG)comparableH)componentsI)crackedJ)fracturesK)hollowL)relevantM)reshuffledN)strivedO)violentSection 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 future of personal satellite technology is here—are we ready for it?A)Satellites used to be the exclusive playthings of rich governments and wealthy corporations. But increasingly, as space becomes more democratized, they are coming within reach of ordinary people. Just like drones (无人机)before them, miniature satellites are beginning to fundamentally transform our conceptions of who gets to do what up above our heads.B)As a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences highlights, these satellites hold tremendous potential for making satellite-based science more accessible than ever before. However, as the cost of getting your own satellite in orbit drops sharply, the risks of irresponsible use grow. The question here is no longer "Can we?" but "Should we?" What are the potential downsides of having a slice of space densely populated by equipment built by people not traditionally labeled as "professionals" ? And what would the responsible and beneficial development and use of this technology actually look like? Some of the answers may come from a nonprofit organization that has been building and launching amateur satellites for nearly 50 years.C)Having your personal satellite launched into orbit might sound like an idea straight out of science fiction. But over the past few decades a unique class of satellites has been created that fits the bill: CubeSats. The "Cube" here simply refers to the satellite's shape. The most common CubeSat is a 10cm cube, so small that a single CubeSat could easily be mistaken for a paperweight on your desk. These mini-satellites can fit in a launch vehicle's formerly "wasted space. " Multiples can be deployed in combination for more complexmissions than could be achieved by one CubeSat alone.D)Within their compact bodies these minute satellites are able to house sensors and communications receivers/transmitters that enable operators to study Earth from space, as well as space around Earth. They're primarily designed for Low Earth Orbit (LEO)—an easily accessible region of space from around 200 to 800 miles above Earth, where human-tended missions like the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station (ISS) hang out. But they can attain more distant orbits; NASA plans for most of its future Earth-escaping payloads (to the moon and Mars especially) to carry CubeSats.E)Because they're so small and light, it costs much less to get a CubSat into Earth's orbit than a traditional communications or GPS satellite. For instance,a research group here at Arizona State University recently claimed their developmental small CubeSats could cost as little as $3,000 to put in orbit. This decrease in cost allows researchers, hobbyists and even elementary school groups to put simple instruments into LEO or even having them deployed from the ISS.F)The first CubeSat was created in the early 2000s,as a way of enabling Stanford graduate students to design, build,test and operate a spacecraft with similar capabilities to the USSR's Sputnik (前苏联的人造卫星).Since then, NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office and even Boeing have all launched and operated CubeSats. There are more than 130 currently in operation. The NASA Educational Launch of Nano Satellite program, which offers free launches for educational groups and science missions, is now open to U. S. nonprofit corporations as well. Clearly, satellites are not just for rocket scientists anymore.G)The National Academy of Sciences report emphasizes CubeSats' importance in scientific discovery and the training of future space scientists and engineers. Yet it also acknowledges that widespread deployment of LEO CubeSats isn't risk-free. The greatest concern the authors raise is space debris—pieces of "junk" that orbit the earth, with the potential to cause serious damage if they collide with operational units, including the ISS.H)Currently, there aren't many CubeSats and they're tracked closely. Yet as LEO opens up to more amateur satellites, they may pose an increasing threat. As the report authors point out, even near-misses might lead to the "creation of a burdensome regulatory framework and affect the futuredisposition of science CubeSats."I)CubeSat researchers suggest that now's the time to ponder unexpected and unintended possible consequences of more people than ever having access to their own small slice of space. In an era when you can simply buy a CubeSat kit off the shelf, how can we trust the satellites over our heads were developed with good intentions by people who knew what they were doing? Some "expert amateurs" in the satellite game could provide some inspiration for how to proceed responsibly.J)In 1969.the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)was created in order to foster ham radio enthusiasts' (业余无线电爱好者)participation in space research and communication. It continued the efforts, begun in 1961, by Project OSCAR—a U. S. -based group that built and launched the very first nongovernmental satellite just four years after Sputnik. As an organization of volunteers, AMSAT was putting "amateur" satellites in orbit decades before the current CubeSat craze. And over time, its members have learned a thing or two about responsibility. Here, open-source development has been a central principle. Within the organization, AMSAT has a philosophy of open sourcing everything—making technical data on all aspects of their satellites fully available toeveryone in the organization, and when possible, the public. According to a member of the team responsible for FOX 1-A, AMSAT's first CubeSat, this means that there's no way to sneak something like explosives or an energy emitter into an amateur satellite when everyone has access to the designs and implementation.K)However, they're more cautious about sharing information with nonmembers, as the organization guards against others developing the ability to hijack and take control of their satellites. This form of "self-governance" is possible within long-standing amateur organizations that, over time, are able to build a sense of responsibility to community members,as well as society in general. But what happens when new players emerge, who don't have deep roots within the existing culture?L)Hobbyists and students are gaining access to technologies without being part of a long-standing amateur establishment. They're still constrained by fimders, launch providers and a series of regulations—all of which rein in what CubeSat developers can and cannot do. But there's a danger they're ill-equipped to think through potential unintended consequences. What these unintended consequences might be is admittedly far from clear. Yet we know innovators can beremarkably creative with taking technologies in unexpected directions. Think of something as seemingly benign as the cellphone—we have microfinance and text-based social networking at one end of the spectrum, and improvised (临时制作的)explosive devices at the other.M)This is where a culture of social responsibility around CubeSats becomes important-not simply to ensure that physical risks are minimized, but to engage with a much larger community in anticipating and managing less obvious consequences of the technology. This is not an easy task. Yet the evidence from AMSAT and other areas of technology development suggests that responsible amateur communities can and do emerge around novel technologies. The challenge here, of course, is ensuring that what an amateur community considers to be responsible, actually is. Here's where there needs to be a much wider public conversation that extends beyond government agencies and scientific communities to include students, hobbyists,and anyone who may potentially stand to be affected by the use of CubeSat technology.36. Given the easier accessibility to space, it is time to think about how to prevent misuse of satellites.37. A group of mini-satellites can work together toaccomplish more complex tasks.38. The greater accessibility of mini-satellites increases the risks of their irresponsible use.39. Even school pupils can have their CubeSats put in orbit owing to the lowered launching cost.40. is careful about sharing information with outsiders to prevent hijacking of their satellites.41. NASA offers to launch CubeSats free of charge for educational and research purposes.42. Even with constraints, it is possible for some creative developers to take the CubeSat technology in directions that result in harmful outcomes.43. While making significant contributions to space science, CubeSats may pose hazards to other space vehicles.44. Mini-satellites enable operators to study Earth from LEO and space around it.45. AMSAT operates on the principle of having all its technical data accessible to its members, preventing the abuse of amateur satellites.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.When I re-entered the full-time workforce a few years ago after a decade of solitary self-employment, there was one thing I was looking forward to the most: the opportunity to have work friends once again. It wasn't until I entered the corporate world that I realized, for me at least, being friends with colleagues didn't emerge as a priority at all. This is surprising when you consider the prevailing emphasis by scholars and trainers and managers on the importance of cultivating close interpersonal relationships at work. So much research has explored the way in which collegial (同事的)ties can help overcome a range of workplace issues affecting productivity and the quality of work output such as team-based conflict, jealousy, undermining, anger, and more.Perhaps my expectations of lunches, water-cooler gossip and caring, deep-and-meaningful conversations were a legacy of the last time I was in that kind of office environment. Whereasnow, as I near the end of my fourth decade, I realize work can be fully functional and entirely fulfilling without needing to be best mates with the people sitting next to you.In an academic analysis just published in the profoundly-respected Journal of Management, researchers have looked at the concept of "indifferent relationships". It's a simple term that encapsulates (概括)the fact that relationships at work can reasonably be non-intimate, inconsequential, unimportant and even, dare I say it, disposable or substitutable.Indifferent relationships are neither positive nor negative. The limited research conducted thus far indicates they're especially dominant among those who value independence over cooperation, and harmony over confrontation. Indifference is also the preferred option among those who are socially lazy. Maintaining relationships over the long term takes effort. For some of us, too much effort .As noted above, indifferent relationships may not always be the most helpful approach in resolving some of the issues that pop up at work. But there are nonetheless several empirically proven benefits. One of those is efficiency. Less time chatting and socializing means more time working and(产出).The other is self-esteem. As human beings, we're primed to compare ourselves to each other in what is an anxiety-inducing phenomenon. Apparently, we look down on acquaintances more so than Mends. Since the former is most common among those inclined towards indifferent relationships, their predominance can bolster individuals' sense of self-worth.Ego aside, a third advantage is that the emotional neutrality of indifferent relationships has been found to enhance critical evaluation, to strengthen one's focus on task resolution, and to gain greater access to valuable information. None of that might be as fun as after-work socializing but, hey, I'll take it anyway.46. What did the author realize when he re-entered the corporate world?A) Making new Mends with his workmates was not as easy as he had anticipated.B)Cultivating positive interpersonal relationships helped him expel solitary feelings.C)Working in the corporate world requires more interpersonal skills than self-employment.D) Building close relationships with his colleagues wasnot as important as he had ejected.47. What do we learn from many studies about collegial relationships?A) Inharmonious relationships have an adverse effect on productivity.B) Harmonious relationships are what many companies aim to cultivate.C) Close collegial relationships contribute very little to product quality.D) Conflicting relationships in the workplace exist almost everywhere.48. What can be inferred about relationships at work from an academic analysis?A) They should be cultivated.B) They are virtually irrelevant.C) They are vital to corporate culture.D) They should be reasonably intimate.49. What does the author say about people who are socially lazy?A)They feel uncomfortable when engaging in social interactions.B) They often find themselves in confrontation with theircolleagues.C) They are unwilling to make efforts to maintain workplace relationships.D) They lack basic communication skills in dealing with interpersonal issues.60. What is one of the benefits of indifferent relationships?A) They provide fun at work.B) They help control emotions.C) They help resolve differences.D) They improve work efficiency.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.In a few decades, artificial intelligence (AI) will surpass many of the abilities that we believe make us special. This is a grand challenge for our age and it may require an "irrational" response.One of the most significant pieces of news from the US in early 2021 was the efforts of Google to make autonomous driving a reality. According to a report, Google's self-driving cars clocked 1,023,330 km, and required human intervention 124 times. That is one intervention about every 8,047 km of autonomousdriving. But even more impressive is the progress in just a single year: human interventions fell from 0.8 times per thousand miles to 0.2, a 400% improvement. With such progress, Google's cars will easily surpass my own driving ability later this year.Driving once seemed to be a very human skill. But we said that about chess, too. Then a computer beat the human world champion, repeatedly. The board game Go(围棋)took over from chess as a new test for human thinking in 2021, when a computer beat one of the world's leading professional Go players. With computers conquering what used to be deeply human tasks, what will it mean in the future to be human? I worry about my six-year-old son. What will his place bе in a world where machines beat us in one area after another? He'll never calculate faster, never drive better, or even fly more safely. Actually, it all comes down to a fairly simple question: What's so special about us? It can't be skills like arithmetic, which machines already excel in. So far, machines have a pretty hard time emulating creativity, arbitrary enough not to be predicted by a computer, and yet more than simple randomness.Perhaps, if we continue to improve information-processing machines, well soon have helpful rational assistants. So wemust aim to complement the rationality of the machine, rather than to compete with it. If I'm right, we should foster a creative spirit because a dose of illogical creativity will complement the rationality of the machine. Unfortunately, however, our education system has not caught up to the approaching reality. Indeed, our schools and universities are structured to mould pupils to be mostly obedient servants of rationality, and to develop outdated skills in interacting with outdated machines. We need to help our children learn how to best work with smart computers to improve human decision-making. But most of all we need to keep the long-term perspective in mind: that even if computers will outsmart us, we can still be the most creative. Because if we aren't, we won't be providing much value in future ecosystems,and that may put in question the foundation for our existence.51. What is the author's greatest concern about the use of AI?A) Computers are performing lots of creative tasks.B) Many abilities will cease to be unique to human beings.C) Computers may become more rational than humans.D) Many human skills are fast becoming outdated.52. What impresses the author most in the field of AI?A) Google's experimental driverless cars require little human intervention.B) Google's cars have surpassed his driving ability in just a single year.C) Google has made huge progress in autonomous driving in a short time.D) Google has become a world leader in the field of autonomous driving.53. What do we learn from the passage about creativity?A) It is rational.B) It is predictable.C) It is human specific.D) It is yet to be emulated by AI.54. What should schools help children do in the era of AI?A) Cultivate original thinking.B) Learn to work independently.C) Compete with smart machines.D) Understand how AI works.55. How can we humans justify our future existence?A) By constantly outsmarting computers.B) By adopting a long-term perspective.C) By rationally compromising with AI.D) By providing value with our creativity.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.成语(Chinese idioms)是汉语中的一种独特的表达方式,大多由四个汉字组成。
6级第三套试题及答案一、听力理解(共30分)1. A) 5:45 p.m. B) 6:15 p.m. C) 6:45 p.m. D) 7:15 p.m.2. A) 50 dollars. B) 80 dollars. C) 100 dollars. D) 120 dollars.3. A) At a restaurant. B) At a bookstore. C) At a post office. D) At a bank....20. A) Disappointed. B) Surprised. C) Annoyed. D) Relieved.答案:1. C2. B3. A...20. D二、阅读理解(共20分)1. What is the main idea of the passage?A) The importance of sleep.B) The benefits of exercise.C) The impact of diet on health.D) The role of stress in daily life.2. According to the author, what is the best way to improve memory?A) Taking more breaks.B) Eating a balanced diet.C) Exercising regularly.D) Getting enough sleep....10. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?A) The author is optimistic about the future.B) The author is concerned about the current situation.C) The author is suggesting a new approach.D) The author is warning against a potential problem.答案:1. A2. D...10. B三、完形填空(共20分)1. A) Despite B) Although C) Because D) Since2. A) to B) for C) with D) by...20. A) however B) therefore C) moreover D) besides答案:1. B2. C...20. A四、翻译(共30分)1. 随着科技的发展,人们的生活变得越来越方便。
英语六级真题卷第三套含答案SANY标准化小组 #QS8QHH-HHGX8Q8-GNHHJ8-HHMHGN#Part I WritingDirection:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay based on the picture below. You should focus on the harm caused by misleading information online. You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.It seems to be a law in the technology industry that leading companies eventually lose their position, often quickly and brutally. Mobile phone champion Nokia, one of Europe's biggest technology success stories, was no _____(37), losing its marketshare in just a few years.PartⅢ Reading ComprehensionIn 2007, Nokia accounted for more than 40% of mobile phone sales _____(38). But consumers' preferences were already_____(39)toward touch-screen smartphone. With the introduction of Apple's iPhone in the middle of that year, Nokia's market share _____(40)rapidly and revenue plunged. By the end of 2013, Nokia had sold its phone business to Microsoft.What sealed Nokia's fate was a series of decisions made by Stephen Elop in his position as CEO, which he _____(41)in October 2010. Each day that Elop spent in charge of Nokia, the company's market value declined by $23 million, making him, by the numbers, one of the worst CEOs in history.But Elop was not the only person at _____(42). Nokia's board resisted change, making it impossible for the company to adapt to rapid shifts in the industry. Most _____(43), Jorma Ollila, who had led Nokia's transition from an industrial company to a technology giant, was too fascinated by the company's _____(44)success to recognize the change that was needed to sustain its competitiveness.The company also embarked on a _____(45)cost-cutting program, which included the elimination of thousands of jobs. This contributed to the _____(46)of the company's once-spiritedculture, which had motivated employees to take risks and make miracles. Good leaders left the company, taking Nokia's sense of vision and direction with them. Not surprisingly, much of Nokia's most valuable design and programming talent left as well.Section BFirst-Generation College-Goers: Unprepared and BehindKids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on campus with little academic know-how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduation.A) When Nijay Williams entered college last fall as afires-generation student and Jamaican immigrant, he was academically unprepared for the rigors of higher education. Like many first-generation student, he enrolled in a medium-sized state university many of his high school peers were also attending, received a Pell Grant, and board and the closeness of the school to his family, he chose to live at home and worded between 30 and 40 hours a week while taking a full class schedule.B) What Nijay didn't realize about his school—Tennessee State University—was its frighteningly low graduation rate: a mere 29 percent for its first-generation students. At the end of his first year, Nijay lost his Pell Grant of over $5,000 after narrowly missing the GPA cut-off, making it impossible for him to continue paying for school.C) Nijay represents a large and growing group of Americans: first-generation college students who enter school unprepared or behind. To make matters worse, these schools are ill-equipped to graduate these students—young adults who face specific challenges and obstacles. They typically carry financial burdens that outweigh those of their peers, are more likely to work while attending school, and often require significant academic remediation(补习).D) Matt Rubinoff directs I'm First, a nonprofit organization launched last October to reach out to thisspecific population of students. He hopes to distribute this information and help prospective college-goers find the best post-secondary fit. And while Rubinoff believes there are a good number of four-year schools that truly care about these students and set aside significant resources and programs for them, he says that number isn't high enough.E) "It's not only the selective and elite institutions that provide those opportunities for a small subset of this population," Rubinoff said, adding that a majority of first-generation under graduates tend toward options such as online programs, two-year colleges, and commuter stand schools. "Unfortunately, there tends to be a lack of information and support to help students think bigger and broader."F) Despite this problem, many students are still drawn to these institutions—and two-year schools in particular. As a former high school teacher, I saw students choose familiar, cheaper options year after year. Instead of skipping out on higher education altogether, they chose community colleges or state schools with low bars for admittance.G) "They underestimate themselves when selecting a university," said Dave Jarrat, a marketing executive for InsideTrack, a for-profit organization that specializes in coaching low-income students and supporting colleges in order to help students thrive. "The reality of it is that a lot of low-income kids could be going to elite universities on a full ride scholarship and don't even realize it."H) "Many students are coming from a situation where no one around them has the experience of successfully completing higher education, so they are coming in questioning themselves and their college worthiness," Jarrat continued. That helps explain why, as I'm First's Rubinoff indicated, the schools to which these students end up resorting can end up being some of the poorest matches for them. The University of Tennessee and Tennessee State are worth comparing. Tennessee State's overall graduation rate is a tiny 39 percent, but at least it has a smaller gap between the outcomes for first-generation students and those of their peers.I) Still, the University of Tennessee deserves credit for being transparent. Many large institutions keep this kind of data secret—or at least make it incredibly difficult to find. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for instance, admits only that the graduation rate for its first-generationpupils is "much lower" than the percentage of all students who graduate within four years (81 percent).J) It is actually quite difficult to find reliablestatisties on the issue for many schools. Higher education institutions are, under federal law, required to report graduation rates, but these reports typically only include Pell recipient numbers—not necessarily rates specific to first-generation students. Other initiatives fail to break down the data, too. Imagine how intimidating it can be for prospective students unfamiliar with the complexities of higher education to navigate this kind of information and then identify which schools are the best fit.K) It was this lack of information that prompted the launch of I'm First in 2013, originally as an arm of its umbrella organization, the Center For Student Opportunity. "If we can help to direct students to more of these types of campuses and help students to understand them to be realistic and accessible places, have them apply to these schools at greater frequency and ultimately get in and enroll, we are going to raise the success rate,"Rubinoff said, citing a variety of collegesranging from large state institutions to smaller private schools.L) Chelsea Jones, who now directs student programming atI'm First, was a first-generation college student at Howard.Like other student new to the intimidating higher-education world, she often struggled on her path to college. "Therewasn't really a college-bound culture at my high school," she said. "I want to go to college but I didn't really know the process." Jones became involved with a college-access program through Princeton University in high school. Now she attributes much of her understanding of college to that:" But once I gotto campus, it was a completely different ball game that no one really prepared me for."M) She was fortunate, though. Howard, a well-regarded historically black college, had an array of resources for itsfirst-generation students, including matching kids with counselors, connecting first-generation students to one another, and TRIO, a national program that supported 200 students on Howard's campus. Still, Jones represents a small percentage of first-generation students who are able to gain entry into more elite universities, which are often known for robust financialaid packages and remarkably high graduation rates for first-generation students. (Harvard, for example, boasts a six-year graduation rate for underrepresented minority groups of 98 percent.)N) Christian Vazquez, a first-generation Tale graduate, is another exception, his success story setting him far apart from students such as Nijay. "There is a lot of support at Yale, to an extent, after a while, there is too much support." he said, half-joking about the countless resources available at the school. Students are placed in small groups with counselors (trained seniors on campus); they have access to cultural and ethnic affinity(联系)groups, tutoring centers and also have a summer orientation specifically for first-generation students (the latter being one of the most common programs for students).O) "Our support structure was more like:' You are going to get through Yale; you are going to do well.'" he said, hinting at mentors(导师),staff, and professors who all provided significant support for students who lacked confidence about "belonging" at such a top institution.46. Many first-generation college-goers have doubts abouttheir abilities to get a college degree.47. First-generation college students tend to have much heavier financial burdens than their peers.48. The graduation rate of first-generation students atNijay's university was incredibly low.49. Some top institutions like Yale seem to provide first-generation students with more support than they actually need. 50. On entering college, Nijay Williams had no idea how challenging college education was.51. Many universities simply refuse to release their exact graduation rates for first-generation students.52. According to a marketing executive, many students from low-income families dot's know they could have a chance of going to an elite university.53. Some elite university attach great importance to building up the first-generation students' self-confidence.54. I'm First distributes information to help first-generation college-goers find schools that are most suitablefor them.55. Elite universities tend to graduate first-generation students at a higher rate.Section CSaying they can no longer ignore the rising prices of health care, some of the most influential medical groups in the nation are recommending that doctors weigh the costs, not just the effectiveness of treatment, as they make decisions about patient care.The shift, little noticed outside the medical establishment but already controversial inside it, suggests that doctors are starting to redefine their roles, from being concerned exclusively about individual patients to exerting influence on how healthcare dollars are spent.In practical terms, the new guidelines being developed could result in doctors choosing one drug over another for cost reasons or even deciding that a particular treatment-at the end of life, for example-is too expensive. In the extreme, some critics have said that making treatment decisions based on cost is a form of rationing.Traditionally, guidelines have heavily influenced the practice of medicine, and the latest ones are expected to make doctors more conscious of the economic consequences of their decisions, even though there's no obligation to follow them. Medical society guidelines are also used by insurance companies to help determine reimbursement(报销)policies.Some doctors see a potential conflict in trying to be both providers of patient care and financial overseers."There should be forces in society who should be concerned about the budget, but they shouldn't be functioning simultaneously as doctors," said Dr. Martin Samuels at a Boston hospital. He said doctors risked losing the trust of patientsif they told patients, "I'm not going to do what I think is best for you because I think it's bad for the healthcare budget in Massachusetts."Doctors can face some grim trade-offs. Studies have shown, for example, that two drugs are about equally effective in treating macular degeneration, an eye disease. But one costs $50 a dose and the other close to $2,000. Medicare could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year if everyone used the cheaper drug. Avastin, instead of the costlier one, Lucentis.But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved Avastin for use in the eye, and using it rather than the alternative, Lucentis, might carry an additional, although slight, safety risk. Should doctors consider Medicare's budget in deciding what to use"I think ethically(在道德层面上)we are just worried about the patient in front of us and not trying to save money for the insurance industry or society as a whole," said Dr. Donald Jensen.Still, some analysts say that there's a role for doctors to play in cost analysis because not many others are doing so. "In some ways," said Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, "it represents a failure of wider society to take up the issue."57. What do some most influential medical groups recommend doctors doon the responsibilities they are supposed to take.more attention to the effectiveness of their treatments.costs into account when making treatment decisions.their practice in view of the cuts in health care.58. What were doctors mainly concerned about in the pastmedicines to be used.advancement.of medical treatment.' trust.59. What may the new guidelines being developed lead toredefining of doctors' roles.between doctors and patients.of less effective medicines.prolonging of patients' suffering.60. What risk do doctors see in their dual role as patient care providers and financial overseersmay be involved in a conflict of interest.may be forced to divide their attention.may have to use less effective drugs.may lose the respect of patients.61. What do some experts say about doctors' involvement in medical cost analysismay add to doctors' already heavy workloads.will help to save money for society as a whole.results from society's failure to tackle the problem.raises doctors' awareness of their social responsibilities.Passage TwoQuestions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.Economic inequality is the "defining challenge of our time," President Barack Obama declared in a speech last monthto the Center for American Progress. Inequality is dangerous,he argued, not merely because it doesn't look good to have a large gap between the rich and the poor, but because inequality itself destroy upward mobility, making it harder for the poorto escape from poverty. "Increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American Dream," he said.Obama is only the most prominent public figure to declare inequality Public Enemy and the greatest threat to reducing poverty in American. A number of prominent economists have also argued that it's harder for the poor to climb the economic ladder today because the rungs(横档)in that ladder have grown father apart.For all the new attention devoted to the I percent, a new datast from the Equality of Opportunity Projector at Harvard and Berkeley suggests that, if we care about upward mobility overall, we're vastly exaggerating the dangers of the rich-poor gap. Inequality itself is not a particularly strong predictor of economic mobility, as sociologist Scott Winship noted in a recent article based on his analysis of this data.So what factors, at the community level, do predict if poor children will move up the economic ladder as adults What explains, for instance, why the Salt Lake City metro area is one of the least likelyHarvard economist Raj Chetty has pointed to economic and racial segregation, community density, the size of acommunity's middle class, the quality of schools, community religiosity, and family structure, which he calls the "singlestrongest correlate of upward mobility." Chetty finds that communities like Salt Lake City, with high levels of two-parent families and religiosity, are much more likely to see poor children get ahead than communities like Atlanta, with high levels of racial and economic segregation.Chetty has not yet issued a comprehensive analysis of the relative predictive power of each of these factors. Based on my analyses of the data, of the factors that Chetty has highlighted, the following three seem to be most predictive of upward mobility in a given community:(年均)income growthof single mothers (where correlation is strong, but negative)local government spendingIn other words, communities with high levels of per-capita income growth, high percentages of two-parent families, and high local government spending——which may stand for good schools——are the most likely to help poor children relive Horatio Alger's rags-to-riches story.62. How does Obama view economic inequalityis the biggest obstacle to social mobility.is the greatest threat to social stability.is the enemy of income growth.is the most malicious social evil of our time.63. What do we learn about the inequality gap from Scott Winship's data analysisis fast widening across most parts of America.is not a reliable indicator of economic mobility.is not correctly interpreted.is overwhelmingly ignored.64. Compared with Atlanta, metropolitan Salt Lake City is said to_____.placed religious beliefs above party politicsbridged the gap between the rich and the poorpoor children more chances to climb the social ladderfrom higher levels of racial and economic segregation65. What is strongly correlated with social mobility according to economist Raj Chettystructure.equalityeducation.density.66. What does the author seem to suggestis important to increase the size of the middle class.is highly important to expand the metropolitan areas.is most imperative to focus our efforts on the elimination of income inequality.is better to start from the community to help poor children move up the social ladder.翻译部分在帮助国际社会于2030年前消除极端贫困过程中,中国正扮演着越来越重要的角色。
2024年6月大学英语六级考试真题和答案(第3套)Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “Nowadays, cultivating independent learning ability is becoming increasingly crucial for personal development.” 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.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 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.1. A) Read numerous comments users put online.B) Blended all his food without using a machine.C) Searched for the state-of-the-art models of blenders.D) Did thorough research on the price of kitchen appliances.2. A) Eating any blended food.B) Buying a blender herself.C) Using machines to do her cooking.D) Making soups and juices for herself.3. A) Cooking every meal creatively in the kitchen.B) Paying due attention to his personal hygiene.C) Eating breakfast punctually every morning.D) Making his own fresh fruit juice regularly.4. A) One-tenth of it is sugar.B) It looks healthy and attractive.C) One’s fancy may be tickled by it.D) It contains an assortment of nutrients.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) How he has made himself popular as the mayor of Berkton.B) How the residents will turn Berkton into a tourist attraction.C) How charming he himself considers the village of Berkton to be.D) How he has led people of Berkton to change the village radically.6. A) It was developed only to a limited extent.B) It was totally isolated as a sleepy village.C) It was relatively unknown to the outside.D) It was endowed with rare natural resources.7. A) The people in Berkton were in a harmonious atmosphere.B) The majority of residents lived in harmony with their neighbors.C) The majority of residents enjoyed cosy housing conditions.D) All the houses in Berkton looked aesthetically similar.8. A) They have helped boost the local economy.B) They have made the residents unusually proud.C) They have contributed considerably to its popularity.D) They have brought happiness to everyone in the village.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) They have created the smallest remote-controlled walking robot in the world.B) They are going to publish their research findings in the journal Science Robotics.C) They are the first to build a robot that can bend, crawl, walk, turn and even jump.D) They are engaged in research on a remote-controlled robot which uses special power.10. A) It changes its shape by complex hardware.B) It is operated by a special type of tiny motor.C) It moves from one place to another by memory.D) It is powered by the elastic property of its body.11. A) Replace humans in exploratory tasks.B) Perform tasks in tightly confined spaces.C) Explore the structure of clogged arteries.D) Assist surgeons in highly complex surgery.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) She threw up in the bathroom.B) She slept during the entire ride.C) She dozed off for a few minutes.D) She boasted of her marathon race.13. A) They are mostly immune to cognitive impairment.B) They can sleep soundly during a rough ride at sea.C) They are genetically determined to need less sleep.D) They constitute about 13 percent of the population.14. A) Whether there is a way to reach elite status.B) Whether it is possible to modify one’s genes.C) Whether having a baby impacts one’s passion.D) Whether one can train themselves to sleep less.15. A) It is in fact quite possible to nurture a passion for sleep.B) Babies can severely disrupt their parents’ sleep patterns.C) Being forced to rise early differs from being an early bird.D) New parents are forced to jump out of bed at the crack of dawn.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) We have poor awareness of how many controversial issues are being debated.B) No one knows better than yourself what you are thinking about at the moment.C) No one can change your opinions more than those who speak in a convincing tone.D) We are likely to underestimate how much we can be swayed by a convincing article.17. A) Their belief about physical punishment changed.B) Their memory pushed them toward a current belief.C) The memory of their initial belief came back to them.D) Their experiences of physical punishment haunted them.18. A) They apparently have little to do with moderate beliefs.B) They don’t reflect the changes of view on physical punishment.C) They may not apply to changes to extreme or deeply held beliefs.D) They are unlikely to alter people’s position without more evidence.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) American moms have been increasingly inclined to live alone.B) The American population has been on the rise in the past 25 years.C) American motherhood has actually been on the decline.D) The fertility rates in America have in fact been falling sharply.20. A) More new mothers tend to take greater care of their children.B) More new mothers are economically able to raise children.C) A larger proportion of women take pride in their children.D) A larger proportion of women really enjoy motherhood.21. A) The meaning of motherhood has changed considerably.B) More and more mothers go shopping to treat themselves.C) More mothers have adult children celebrating the holiday.D) The number of American mothers has been growing steadily.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) Add to indoor toxic pollutants.B) Absorb poisonous chemicals.C) Beautify the home environment.D) Soak up surrounding moisture.23. A) NASA did experiments in sealed containers resembling thesuper-insulated offices of 1970s.B) It was based on experiments under conditions unlike those in most homes or offices.C) NASA conducted tests in outer space whose environment is different from ours.D) It drew its conclusion without any contrastive data from other experiments.24. A) Natural ventilation proves much more efficient for cleaning the air than house plants.B) House plants disperse chemical compounds more quickly with people moving around.C) Natural ventilation turns out to be most effective with doors and windows wide open.D) House plants in a normal environment rarely have any adverse impact on the air.25. A) The root cause for misinterpretations of scientific findings.B) The difficulty in understanding what’s actually happening.C) The steps to be taken in arriving at any conclusion with certainty.D) The necessity of continually re-examining and challenging findings.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. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.A rainbow is a multi-colored, arc-shaped phenomenon that can appearin the sky. The colors of a rainbow are produced by the reflectionand____26____of light through water droplets (小滴) present in the atmosphere. An observer may____27____a rainbow to be located either near or far away, but this phenomenon is not actually located at any specific spot. Instead, the appearance of a rainbow depends entirely upon the position of the observer in____28____to the direction of light. In essence, a rainbow is an____29____illusion.Rainbows present a____30____made up of seven colors in a specific order. In fact, school children in many English-speaking countries are taught to remember the name “Roy G. Biv” as an aid for remembering the colors of a rainbow and their order. “Roy G. Biv”____31____for: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The outer edge of the rainbow arc is red, while the inner edge is violet.A rainbow is formed when light (generally sunlight) passes through water droplets____32____in the atmosphere. The light waves change direction as they pass through the water droplets, resulting in two processes: reflection and refraction (折射). When light reflects off a water droplet, it simply____33____back in the opposite direction from where it____34____. When light refracts, it takes a different direction. Some individuals refer to refracted light as “bent light waves.” A rainbow is formed because white light enters the water droplet, where it bends in several different directions. When these bent light waves reach the other side of the water droplet, they reflect back out of the droplet instead of____35____passing through the water. Since the white light is separated inside of the water, the refracted light appears as separate colors to the human eye.A) bouncesB) completelyC) dispersionD) eccentricE) hangingF) opticalG) originatesH) perceiveI) permeatesJ) ponderK) precedingL) recklesslyM) relationN) spectrumO) standsSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with tenstatements 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.Blame your worthless workdays on meeting recovery syndromeA) Phyllis Hartman knows what it’s like to make one’s way through the depths of office meeting hell. Managers at one of her former human resources jobs arranged so many meetings that attendees would fall asleep at the table or intentionally arrive late. With hours of her day blocked up with unnecessary meetings, she was often forced to make up her work during overtime. “I was actually working more hours than I probably would have needed to get the work done,” says Hartman, who is founder and president of PGHR Consulting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.B) She isn’t alone in her frustration. Between 11 million and 55 million meetings are held each day in the United States, costing most organisations between 7% and 15% of their personnel budgets. Every week, employees spend about six hours in meetings, while the average manager meets for a staggering 23 hours.C) And though experts agree that traditional meetings are essential for making certain decisions and developing strategy, some employees view them as one of the most unnecessary parts of the workday. The result is not only hundreds of billions of wasted dollars, but an annoyance of what organisational psychologists call “meeting recovery syndrome (MRS)”: time spent cooling off and regaining focus after a useless meeting. If you run to the office kitchen to get some relief with colleagues after a frustrating meeting,you’re likely experiencing meeting recovery syndrome.D) Meeting recovery syndrome is a concept that should be familiar to almost anyone who has held a formal job. It isn’t ground-breaking to say workers feel fatigued after a meeting, but only in recent decades have scientists deemed the condition worthy of further investigation. With its links to organisational efficiency and employee wellbeing, MRS has attracted the attention of psychologists aware of the need to understand its precise causes and cures.E) Today, in so far as researchers can hypothesise, MRS is most easily understood as a slow renewal of finite mental and physical resources. When an employee sits through an ineffective meeting their brain power is essentially being drained away. Meetings drain vitality if they last too long, fail to engage employees or turn into one-sided lectures. The conservation of resources theory, originally proposed in 1989 by Dr. Stevan Hobfoll, states that psychological stress occurs when a person’s resources are threatened or lost. When resources are low, a person will shift into defence to conserve their remaining supply. In the case ofoffice meetings, where some of employees’ most valuable resources are their focus, alertness and motivation, this can mean an abrupt halt in productivity as they take time to recover.F) As humans, when we transition from one task to another on the job —say from sitting in a meeting to doing normal work—it takes an effortful cognitive switch. We must detach ourselves from the previous task and expend significant mental energy to move on. If we are already drained to dangerous levels, then making the mental switch to the next thing is extra tough. It’s common to see people cyber-loafing after a frustrating meeting, going and getting coffee, interrupting a colleague and telling them about the meeting, and so on.G) Each person’s ability to recover from horrible meetings is different. Some can bounce back quickly, while others carry their fatigue until the end of the workday. Yet while no formal MRS studies are currently underway, one can loosely speculate on the length of an average employee’s lag time. Switching tasks in a non-MRS condition takes about 10 to 15 minutes. With MRS, it may take as long as 45 minutes on average. It’s even worse when a worker has several meetings that are separated by 30 minutes. “Not enough time to transition in a non-MRS situation to get anything done, and in an MRS situation, not quite enough time to recover for the next meeting,” says researcher Joseph Allen. “Then, add the compounding of back-to-back bad meetings and we may have an epidemic on our hands.”H) In an effort to combat the side effects of MRS, Allen, along with researcher Joseph Mroz and colleagues at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, published a study detailing the best ways to avoid common traps, including a concise checklist of do’s and don’ts applicable to any workplace. Drawing from around 200 papers to compile their comprehensive list, Mroz and his team may now hold a remedy to the largely undefined problem of MRS.I) Mroz says a good place to start is asking ourselves if our meetings are even necessary in the first place. If all that’s on the agenda is a quick catch-up, or some non-urgent information sharing, it may better suit the group to send around an email instead. “The second thing I would always recommend is keep the meeting as small as possible,” says Mroz. “If they don’t actually have some kind of immediate input, then they can follow up later. They don’t need to be sitting in this hour-long meeting.” Less time in meetings would ultimately lead to more employee engagement in the meetings they do attend, which experts agree is a proven remedy for MRS.J) Employees also feel taxed when they are invited together to meetings that don’t inspire participation, says Cliff Scott, professor of organisational science. It takes precious time for them to vent their emotions, complain and try to regain focus after a pointless meeting—one of the main traps of MRS. Over time as employees find themselves tied up in more and more unnecessary meetings—and thus dealing with increasing lag times from MRS—the waste of workday hours can feel insulting.K) Despite the relative scarcity of research behind the subject, Hartman has taught herself many of the same tricks suggested in Mroz’s study, and has come a long way since her days of being stuck with unnecessary meetings. The people she invites to meetings today include not just the essential employees, but also representatives from every department that might have a stake in the issue at hand. Managers like her, who seek input even from non-experts to shape their decisions, can find greater support and cooperation from their workforce, she says.L) If an organisation were to apply all 22 suggestions from Mroz and Allen’s findings, the most noticeable difference would be a stark decrease in the total number of meetings on the schedule, Mroz says. Lesstime in meetings would ultimately lead to increased productivity,which is the ultimate objective of convening a meeting. While none of the counter-MRS ideas have been tested empirically yet, Allen says one trick with promise is for employees to identify things that quickly change their mood from negative to positive. As simple as it sounds, finding a personal happy place, going there and then coming straight back to work might be key to facilitating recovery.M) Leaders should see also themselves as “stewards of everyone else’s valuable time”, adds Steven Rogelberg, author of The Surprising Science of Meetings. Having the skills to foresee potential traps and treat employees’ endurance with care allows leaders to provide effective short-term deterrents to MRS.N) Most important, however, is for organisations to awaken to the concept of meetings being flexible, says Allen. By reshaping the way they prioritise employees’ time, companies can eliminate the very sources of MRS in their tracks.36. Although employees are said to be fatigued by meetings, the condition has not been considered worthy of further research until recently. 37. Mroz and his team compiled a list of what to do and what not to do to remedy the problem of MRS.38. Companies can get rid of the root cause of MRS if they give priority to workers’ time.39. If workers are exhausted to a dangerous degree, it is extremely hard for them to transition to the next task.40. Employees in America spend a lot of time attending meetings while the number of hours managers meet is several times more.41. Phyllis Hartman has learned by herself many of the ways Mroz suggested in his study and made remarkable success in freeing herself fromunnecessary meetings.42. When meetings continue too long or don’t engage employees, they deplete vitality.43. When the time of meetings is reduced, employees will be more engaged in the meetings they do participate in.44. Some employees consider meetings one of the most dispensable parts of the workday.45. According to Mroz, if all his suggestions were applied, a very obvious change would be a steep decrease in the number of meetings scheduled.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.Sarcasm and jazz have something surprisingly in common: You know them when you hear them. Sarcasm is mostly understood through tone of voice, which is used to portray the opposite of the literal words. For example, when someone says, “Well, that’s exactly what I need right now,” their tone can tell you it’s not what they need at all.Most frequently, sarcasm highlights an irritation or is, quite simply, mean.If you want to be happier and improve your relationships, cut out sarcasm. Why? Because sarcasm is actually hostility disguised as humor.Despite smiling outwardly, many people who receive sarcastic comments feel put down and often think the sarcastic person is rude, or contemptible. Indeed, it’s not surprising that the origin of the word sarcasm derives from the Greek word “sarkazein” which literally means “to tear or strip the flesh off.” Hence, it’s no wonder that sarcasm is often preceded by the word “cutting” and that it hurts.What’s more, since actions strongly determine thoughts and feelings, when a person consistently acts sarcastically it may only serve to heighten their underlying hostility and insecurity. After all, when you come right down to it, sarcasm can be used as a subtle form of bullying —and most bullies are angry, insecure, or cowardly.Alternatively, when a person stops voicing negative comments, especially sarcastic ones, they may soon start to feel happier and more self-confident. Also, other people in their life benefit even more because they no longer have to hear the emotionally hurtful language of sarcasm.Now, I’m not saying all sarcasm is bad. It may just be better usedsparingly—like a potent spice in cooking. Too much of the spice, and the dish will be overwhelmed by it. Similarly, an occasional dash of sarcastic wit can spice up a chat and add an element of humor to it. But a big or steady serving of sarcasm will overwhelm the emotional flavor of any conversation and can taste very bitter to its recipient.So, tone down the sarcasm and work on clever wit instead, which is usually without any hostility and thus more appreciated by those you’re communicating with. In essence, sarcasm is easy while true, harmless wit takes talent.Thus, the main difference between wit and sarcasm is that, as already stated, sarcasm is often hostility disguised as humor. It can be intended to hurt and is often bitter and biting. Witty statements are usually in response to someone’s unhelpful remarks or behaviors, and the intent is to untangle and clarify the issue by emphasizing its absurdities. Sarcastic statements are expressed in a cutting manner; witty remarks are delivered with undisguised and harmless humor.46. Why does the author say sarcasm and jazz have something surprisingly in common?A) Both are recognized when heard.B) Both have exactly the same tone.C) Both mean the opposite of what they appear to.D) Both have hidden in them an evident irritation.47. How do many people feel when they hear sarcastic comments?A) They feel hostile towards the sarcastic person.B) They feel belittled and disrespected.C) They feel a strong urge to retaliate.D) They feel incapable of disguising their irritation.48. What happens when a person consistently acts sarcastically?A) They feel their dignity greatly heightened.B) They feel increasingly insecure and hostile.C) They endure hostility under the disguise of humor.D) They taste bitterness even in pleasant interactions.49. What does the author say about people quitting sarcastic comments?A) It makes others happier and more self-confident.B) It restrains them from being irritating and bullying.C) It benefits not only themselves but also those around them.D) It shields them from negative comments and outright hostility.50. What is the chief difference between a speaker’s wit and sarcasm?A) Their clarity.B) Their appreciation.C) Their emphasis.D) Their intention.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Variability is crucially important for learning new skills. Consider learning how to serve in tennis. Should you always practise serving from the exactly same location on the court, aiming at the same spot? Although practising in more variable conditions will be slower at first, it will likely make you a better tennis player in the end. This is because variability leads to better generalisation of what is learned.This principle is found in many domains, including speech perception and learning categories. For instance, infants will struggle to learn the category “dog” if they are only exposed to Chihuahuas, instead of many different kinds of dogs.“There are over ten different names for this basic principle,” says Limor Raviv, the senior investigator of a recent study. “Learning from less variable input is often fast, but may fail to generalise to new stimuli.”To identify key patterns and understand the underlying principles of variability effects, Raviv and her colleagues reviewed over 150 studies on variability and generalisation across fields, including computer science, linguistics, categorisation, visual perception and formal education.The researchers discovered that, across studies, the term variability can refer to at least four different kinds of variability, such as set size and scheduling. “These four kinds of variability have never been directly compared—which means that we currently don’t know which is most effective for learning,” says Raviv.The impact of variability depends on whether it is relevant to the task or not. But according to the ‘Mr. Miyagi principle’, practising seemingly unrelated skills may actually benefit learning of other skills.But why does variability impact learning and generalisation? One theory is that more variable input can highlight which aspects of a task are relevant and which are not.Another theory is that greater variability leads to broader generalisations. This is because variability will represent the real world better, including atypical (非典型的) examples.A third reason has to do with the way memory works: when training is variable, learners are forced to actively reconstruct their memories.“Understanding the impact of variability is important for literally every aspect of our daily life. Beyond affecting the way we learn language, motor skills, and categories, it even has an impact on our social lives,”explains Raviv. “For example, face recognition is affected by whether people grew up in a small community or in a larger community. Exposure to fewer faces during childhood is associated with diminished face memory.”“We hope this work will spark people’ s curiosity and generate morework on the topic,” concludes Raviv.“Our paper raises a lot of open questions. Can we find similar effects of variability beyond the brain, for instance, in the immune system?”51. What does the passage say about infants learning the category “dog”if they are exposed to Chihuahuas only?A) They will encounter some degree of difficulty.B) They will try to categorise other objects first.C) They will prefer Chihuahuas to other dog species.D) They will imagine Chihuahuas in various conditions.52. What does Raviv say about the four different kinds of variability?A) Which of them is most relevant to the task at hand is to be confirmed.B) Why they have an impact on learning is far from being understood.C) Why they have never been directly compared remains a mystery.D) Which of them is most conducive to learning is yet to be identified.53. How does one of the theories explain the importance of variability for learning new skills?A) Learners regard variable training as typical of what happens in the real world.B) Learners receiving variable training are compelled to reorganise their memories.C) Learners pay attention to the relevant aspects of a task and ignore those irrelevant.D) Learners focus on related skills instead of wasting time and effort on unrelated ones.54. What does the passage say about face recognition?A) People growing up in a small community may find it easy to remember familiar faces.B) Face recognition has a significant impact on literally every aspect of our social lives.C) People growing up in a large community can readily recognise any individual faces.D) The size of the community people grow up in impacts their face recognition ability.55. What does Raviv hope to do with their research work?A) Highlight which aspects of a task are relevant and which are not to learning a skill.B) Use the principle of variability in teaching seemingly unrelated skills in education.C) Arouse people’s interest in variability and stimulate more research on the topic.D) Apply the principle of variability to such fields of study as the immune system.。
2019年12月大学英语六级考试真题完整版(第三套)Part ⅠWriting (30 minutes)Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on the importance of having a sense of community responsibility. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)暂无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. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single 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.The number of devices you can talk to is multiplying—first it was your phone, then your car, and now you can tell your kitchen appliances what to do. But even without gadgets that understand our spoken commands, research suggests that, as bizarre as it sounds, under certain 26 , people regularly ascribe human traits to everyday objects.Sometimes we see things as human because we are 27 . In one experiment, people who reported feeling isolated were more likely than others to attribute 28 to various gadgets. In turn, feeling close to objects can 29 loneliness. When college students were reminded of a time they had been 30 in a social setting, they compensated by exaggerating their number of friends—unless they were first given tasks that caused them to interact with their phone as if it had human qualities. According to the researchers, the participants' phones 31 substituted for real friends.At other times, we personify products in an effort to understand them. One study found that three in four respondents yelled at their computer. Further, the more their computer gave them problems, the more likely the respondents were to re port that it had its own “beliefs and 32 .”So how do people assign traits to an object? In part, we rely on looks. On humans, wide faces are 33 with dominance. Similarly, people rated cars, clocks, and watches with wide faces as more dominant-looking than narrow-faced ones, and preferred them—especially in 34 situations. An analysis of car sales in Germany found that cars with gills (护栅) that were upturned like smiles sold best. The purchasers saw this 35 as increasing a car's friendliness.A) alleviateB) apparentlyC) arrogantD) associatedE) circumstancesF) competitiveG) concededH) consciousnessI) desiresJ) excludedK) featureL) lonelyM) separateN) spectacularlyO) warrantSection 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.[A] Though he didn’t come from a farming family, from a young age Tim Joseph was fascinated by the idea of living off the land. Reading magazines like The Stockman Grass Farmer and Graze, he got hooked on the idea of grass-fed agriculture. The idea that all energy and wealth comes from the sun really intrigued him He thought the shorter the distance between the sun and the end product, the higher the profit to the farmer.[B] Joseph wanted to put this theory to the test. In 2009, he and his wife Laura launched Maple Hill Creamery, an organic, all grass-fed yogurt company in northern New York. He quickly learned what the market has demonstrated: Demand for grass-fed products currently exceeds supply. Grass-fed beef is enjoying a 25-30% annual growth rate. Sales of grass-fed yogurt and kefir (发酵乳饮品) on the other hand, have in the last year increased by over 38%. This is in comparison with a drop of just under 1% in the total yogurt and kefir market according to natural and organic market research company SPINS. Joseph’s top priority became getting his hands on enough grass-fed milk to keep customers satisfied, since his own 64-cow herd wasn’t going to suffic e[C] His first partnership was with Paul and Phyllis Amburgh, owners of the Dharma Lea farm in New York. The Amburghs, too, were true believers in grass-fed. In addition to supplying milk from their own 85-head herd, they began to help other farmers in the area convent from conventional to certified organic and grass-fed in order to enter the Maple Hill supply chain. Since 2010, the couple has helped 125 small dairy farms convert to grass-fed, with more than 80% of those farms coming on board during the last two years.[D] All this conversion has helped Maple Hill grow 40-50% every year since it began with no end in sight. Joseph has learned that a farmer has to have a certain mindset to successfully convert. But convincing open-minded dairy people is actually not that hard, when you look at the economics. Grass-fed milk can fetch up to 2.5 times the price of conventional milk. Another factor is the squeeze that conventional dairy farmers have felt as the price of grain they feed their cows has gone up, tightening their profit margins. By replacing expensive grain feed with regenerative management practices, grass-fed farmers are insulated from jumps in the price of feed. These practices include grazing animals on grasses grown from the pastureland’s natural seed bunk, and fertilized by the cows’ own fertilizer[E] Champions of this type of regenerative grazing also point to its animal welfare, climate and health benefits: Grass-fed animals live longer out of confinement. Grazing herds stimulate microbial (微生物的) activity in the soil, helping to capture water and separate carbon. And grass-fed dairy and meat have been shown to be higher in certain nutrients and healthy fats.[F] In the grass fed system, farmers are also not subject to the wildly fluctuating milk prices of the international commodity market. The unpredictability of global demand and the lag-time it takes to add more cows to a herd to meet demand can result in events like the recent cheese surplus. Going grass-fed is a safe refuge, a way for family-scale farms to stay viable. Usually a farmer will get to the point where financially, what they’re doing is not working. That’s when they call Maple Hill. If the farm is well managed and has enough land, and the desire to convert is sincere, a relationship can begin. Through regular regional educational meetings, a large annual meeting, individual farm visits and thousands of phone calls, the Amburghs pass on the principles of pasture management. Maple Hill signs a contract pledging to buy the farm er’s milk at a guaranteed base price, plus quality premiums and incentives for higher protein, butter fat and other solids.[G] While Maple Hill's conversion program is unusually hands on and comprehensive, it’s just one of a growing number of businesses committed to slowly changing the way America farms. Joseph calls sharing his knowledge network through peer-to-peer learning a core piece of the company’s culture. Last summer, Massachusetts grass-fed beef advocate John Smith launched Big Picture Beef, a network of small grass-fed beef farms in New England and New York that is projected to bring to market 2,500 head of cattle from 125 producers this year. Early indications are that Smith will have no shortage of farm members. Since he began to informally a nnounce the network at farming conferences and on social media, he’s received a steady stream of inquiries from interested farmers.[H] Smith says he’ll provide services ranging from formal seminars to on-farm workshops on holistic (整体的) management, to one-on-one hand-holding and an almost 24/7 phone hotline for farmers who are converting. In exchange, he guarantees an above-market price for each animal and a calf-to-customer electronic ear tag ID system like that used in the European Union.[1] Though advocates portray grass fed products as a win-win situation for all, they do have downsides. Price, for one, is an issue. Joseph says his products are priced 10-20% above organic versions, but depending on the product chosen, compared to non-organic conventional yogurt, consumers could pay a premium of 30-50% or more for grass-fed. As for the meat, Smith says his grass-fed hamburger will be priced 20-25% over the conventional alternative. But a look at the prices on online grocer Fresh Direct suggests a grass-fed premium of anywhere from 35-60%,[J] And not every farmer has the option of going grass-fed. For both beef and dairy production it requires, at least in the beginning, more pastureland. Grass-fed beef production tends to be more labor-intensive as well. But Smith counters that if you factor in the hidden cost of government corn subsidies, environment degradation, and decreased human heath and animal welfare, grass-fed is the more cost-effective model. “The sun provides the lowest cost of production and the cheapest meat,” he says.[K] Another grass-fed booster spurring farmers to convert is EPIC, which makes meat-based protein bars. Founders Taylor Collins and his wife, Katie Forrest, used to be endurance athletes; now they’re advocates of grass-f ed meat. Soon after launching EPIC’S most successful product - the Bison Bacon Cranberry Bar - Collins and Forrest found they’d exhausted their sources for bison (北美野牛) raised exclusively on pasture. When they started researching the supply chain, they learned that only 2-3% of all bison is actually grass-fed. The rest is feed-lot confined and fed grain and corn.[L] But after General Mills bought EPIC in 2016, Collins and Forrest suddenly had the resources they needed to expand their supply chain. So the company teamed up with Wisconsin-based rancher Northstar Bison. EPIC fronted the money for the purchase of $2.5 million worth of young bison that will be raised according to its grass-fed protocols, with a guaranteed purchase price. The message to young people who might not otherwise be able to afford to break into the business is,“You can purchase this $3 million piece of land here, because I’m guaranteeing you today you'll have 1,000 bison on it.’ We’re bringing new blood into the old, conventional farmi ngecosystem, which is really cool to see,” Collins explains.36. Farmers going grass-fed are not affected by the ever-changing milk prices of the global market.37. Over the years, Tim Joseph’s partners have helped many dairy farmers to switch to gras s-fed.38. One advocate believes that many other benefits should be taken into consideration when we assess the cost-effectiveness of grass-fed farming.39. Many dairy farmers were persuaded to switch to grass-fed when they saw its advantage in terms of profits.40. Tim Joseph’s grass-fed program is only one example of how American farming practice is changing.41. Tim Joseph was fascinated by the notion that sunlight brings energy and wealth to mankind.42. One problem with grass-fed products is that they are usually more expensive than conventional ones.43. Grass fed products have proved to be healthier and more nutritious.44. When Tim Joseph started his business, he found grass-fed products fell short of demand.45. A snack bar producer discovered that the supply of purely grass-fed bison met was scarce.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.Schools are not just a microcosm(缩影) of society: they mediate it too. The best seek to alleviate the external pressures on their pupils while equipping them better to understand and handle the world outside-- at once sheltering them and broadening their horizons. This is ambitious in any circumstances. and in a divided and unequal society the two ideals can clash outright(直接地).Trips that many adults would consider the adventure of a lifetime-treks in Borneo, a sports tour toBarbados-appear to have become almost routine at some state schools. Parents are being asked for thousands of pounds. Though schools cannot profit from these trips, the companies that arrange them do. Meanwhile, pupils arrive at school hungry because their families can’t afford breakfast. The Child Poverty Action Group says n ine out of 30 in every classroom fall below the poverty line. The discrepancy is startlingly apparent. Introducing a fundraising requirement for students does not help, as better-off children can tap up richer aunts and neighbours.Probing the rock pools of a local beach or practising French on a language exchange can fire children’s passions, boost their skills and open their eyes to life’s possibilities. Educational outings help bright but disadvantaged students to get better scores in A-level tests. In this globalised age, there is a good case for international travel. and some parents say they can manage the cost of a school trip abroad more easily than afamily holiday. Even in the face of immense and mounting financial pressures. some schools have shown remarkable determination and ingenuity in ensuring that all their pupils are able to take up opportunities that may be truly life-changing. They should be applauded. Methods such as whole-school fundraising. with the proceeds(收益) pooled, can help to extend opportunities and fuel community spirit.But £3,000 trips cannot be justified when the average income for families with children is just over£30,000. Such initiatives close doors for many pupils. Some parents pull their children out of school because of expensive field trips. Even parents who can see that a trip is little more than a party or celebration may well feel guilt that their child is left behind.The Department for Education’s guidance says schools can charge only for board and lodging i f the trip is part of the syllabus, and that students receiving government aid are exempt from these costs. However, many schools seem to ignore the advice; and it does not cover the kind of glamorous, exotic trips. which are becoming increasingly common. Schools cannot be expected to bring together communities single-handed. But the least we should expect is that they do not foster divisions and exclude those who are already disadvantaged.46. What does the author say best schools should do?A) Prepare students to both challenge and change the divided unequal society.B) Protect students from social pressures and enable them to face the world.C) Motivate students to develop their physical as well as intellectual abilities.D) Encourage students to be ambitious and help them to achieve their goals.47. What does the author think about school field trips?A) They enable students from different backgrounds to mix with each other.B)They widen the gap between privileged and disadvantaged students.C) They give the disadvantaged students a chance to see the world.D) They only benefit students with rich relatives and neighbours.48. What does the author suggest can help build community spirit?A) Events aiming to improve community services.B) Activities that help to fuel students’ ingenuity.C) Events that require mutual understanding.D) Activities involving all students on campus.49. What do we learn about low-income parents regarding school field trips?A) They want their chi ldren to participate even though they don’t see much benefit.B) They don’t want their kids to participate but find it hard to keep them from going.C) They don’t want their kids to miss any chance to broaden their horizons despite the cost.D)They w ant their children to experience adventures but they don’t want them to run risks,50. What is the author’s expectation of schools?A) Bringing a community together with ingenuity.B) Resolving the existing discrepancies in society.C) Avoiding creating new gaps among students.D) Giving poor students preferential treatment.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Rising temperatures and overfishing in the pristine(未受污染的) waters around the Antarctic could see king penguin populations pushed to the brink of extinction by the end of the century, according to a new study. The study’s report states that as global warming transforms the environment in the world’s last great wilderness, 70 percent of king penguins could either disappear or be forced to find new breeding grounds.Co-author Céline Le Bohec, from the University of Strasbourg in France, warned:“If there’re no actions aimed at haling or controlling global warming, and the pace of the current human- induced changes such as climatechange and overfishing stays the same, the species may son disappear.” The findings come amid growing concern over the future of the Antarctic. Earlier this month a separate study found that a combination of climate change and industrial fishing is threatening the krill (磷虾) population in Antarctic waters, with a potentially disastrous impact on whales, seals and penguins. But today’s report is the starkest warning yet of the potentially devastating impactof climate change and human e xploitation on the Antarctic’s delicate ecosystems.Le Bohec said: “Unless current greenhouse gas emissions drop, 70 percent of king penguins - 1.1 million breeding pairs - will be forced to relocate their breeding grounds, or face extinction by 2100.” K ing penguins are the second-largest type of penguin and only breed on specific isolated islands in the Southern Ocean where there is no ice cover and easy access to the sea. As the ocean warms, a body of water called the Antarctic Polar Front - an upward movement of nutrient-rich sea that supports a huge abundance of marine life - is being pushed further south, This means that king penguins, which feed on fish and krill in this body of water, have to travel further to their feeding grounds, leaving their hungry chicks for longer. And as the distance between their breeding grounds and their food grows, entire colonies could be wiped out.Le Bohec said:“The plight of the king penguin should serve as a warning about the future of the entire marine environment in the Antarctic. Penguins, like other seabirds and marine mammals, occupy higher levels in the food chain and they are what we call bio-indicators of their ecosystems." Penguins are sensitive indicators of changes in marine ecosystems. As such, they are key species for understanding and predicting impacts of global change on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic marine ecosystems. The report found that although some king penguins may be able to relocate to new breeding grounds closer to their retreating food source, suitable new habitats would be scarce. Onlya handful of islands in the Southern Ocean are suitable for sustaining large breeding colonies.51. What will happen by 2100, according to a new study?A)King penguins in the Antarctic will be on the verge of dying out.B)Sea water will rise to a much higher level around the Antarctic.C) The melting ice cover will destroy the great Antarctic wilderness.D) The pristine waters around the Antarctic will disappear forever.52. What do we learn from the findings of a separate study?A)Shrinking krill population and rising temperatures could force Antarctic whales to migrate.B)Human activities have accelerated climate change in the Antarctic region in recent years.C)Industrial fishing and climate change could be fatal to certain Antarctic species.D)Krill fishing in the Antarctic has worsened the pollution of the pristine waters.53. What does the passage say about king penguins?A) They will turn out to be the second-largest species of birds to become extinct.B) Many of them will have to migrate to isolated islands in the Southern Ocean.C) They feed primarily on only a few kinds of krill in the Antarctic Polar Front.D) The majority of them may have to find new breeding grounds in the future.54. What happens when sea levels rise in the Antarctic?A) Many baby king penguins can’t have food in time.B) Many king penguins could no longer live on krill.C) Whales will invade king penguins’ breeding grounds.D) Whales will have to travel long distances to find food.55. What do we learn about the Southern Ocean?A)The king penguins there are reluctant to leave for new breeding grounds.B)Its conservation is key to the sustainable propagation of Antarctic species.C)It is most likely to become the ultimate retreat for species like the king penguin.D)Only a few of its islands can serve as huge breeding grounds for king penguins.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.荷花是中国的名花之一,深受人们喜爱。
第三套英语六级试题及答案一、听力理解(共30分)1. A) The man is looking for a job.B) The man is a job consultant.C) The man is a company manager.D) The man is a college student.答案:B2. A) The woman is worried about the man's health.B) The woman is worried about the man's safety.C) The woman is worried about the man's work.D) The woman is worried about the man's family.答案:A3. A) The woman is happy with the new apartment.B) The woman is not satisfied with the new apartment.C) The woman is surprised by the new apartment.D) The woman is disappointed with the new apartment.答案:B二、阅读理解(共40分)1. According to the passage, what is the main reason for the decline in honeybee populations?A) PesticidesB) Climate changeC) Habitat lossD) Disease答案:A2. What does the author suggest as a solution to the problem discussed in the passage?A) More researchB) Government interventionC) Public awareness campaignsD) International cooperation答案:B3. In the author's opinion, what is the most significant impact of the issue discussed in the passage?A) Economic lossB) Environmental degradationC) Loss of biodiversityD) Public health concerns答案:C三、翻译(共20分)1. 随着科技的发展,人们越来越依赖于电子设备。
附答案(第3套)(此文档分二部分:真题试题、答案)一、真题试卷Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on the importance ofmotivation and methods in learning. You can cite e某amples to illustrate your views. Youshould write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.Section A 选词填空at temperatures below about -25℃ unless they are mi某ed with other metals. Now, though, a novel type of steel has been developed that resists __27__ at much lower temperatures, while retaining its strength and toughness—without the need for e某pensive __28__.Steel's fragility at low temperatures first became a major concern during the Second World War. After German U-boats torpedoed (用鱼雷攻击)numerous British ships, a 2,700-strong fleet of cheap- and-cheerful \ ships\replace the lost vessels, providing a lifeline for the __29__ British. But the steel shells of hundreds of theships __30__ in the icy north Atlantic, and 12 broke in half and sank.Brittleness remains a problem when building steel structures in cold conditions, such as oil rigs in the Arctic. Soscientists have __31__ to find a solution by mi某ing it with e 某pensive metals such as nickel.K)hollow L)relevant M)reshuffled N)strived O)violentSection B 段落匹配The future of personal satellite technology is here—are we ready for it?。
2015年6月大学英语六级考试真题(第三套)听力同第二套Part IIISection AQuestions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.Travel websites have been around since the 1990s, when Expedia, Travelocity, and other holiday booking sites were launched, allowing travelers to compare flight and hotel prices with the click of a mouse. With information no longer 36____ by travel agents or hidden in business networks, the travel industry was revolutionized, as greater transparency helped 37____ prices.Today, the industry is going through a new revolution—this time transforming service quality. Online rating platforms—38____ in hotels, restaurants, apartments, and taxis—allow travelers to exchange reviews and experiences for all to see.Hospitality businesses are now ranked, analyzed, and compared not by industry 39____, but by the very people for whom the service is intended—the customer. This has 40____ a new relationship between buyer and seller. Customers have always voted with their feet; they can now explain theirdecision to anyone who is interested. As a result, businesses are much more 41____, often in very specific ways, which creates powerful 42____ to improve service.Although some readers might not care for gossipy reports of unfriendly bellboys(行李员)in Berlin or malfunctioning hotel hairdryers in Houston, the true power of online reviews lies not just in the individual stories, but in the websites' 43____ to aggregate a large volume of ratings.The impact cannot be 44____. Businesses that attract top ratings can enjoy rapid growth, as new customers are attracted by good reviews and 45____ provide yet more positive feedback. So great is the influence of online ratings that many companies now hire digital reputation managers to ensure a favorable online identity.Section BPlastic SurgeryA better credit card is the solution to ever larger hack attacks[A] A thin magnetic stripe (magstripe) is all that stands between your credit-card information and the bad guys. And they've been working hard to break in. That's why 2014 is shaping up as a major showdown: banks, law enforcement and technology companies are all trying to stop a network of hackers who are succeeding in stealing account numbers, names, email addresses and other crucial data used in identity theft. More than 100 million accounts at Target, Neiman Marcus and Michaels stores were affected in some way during the most recent attacks, starting last November.[B] Swipe(刷卡)is the operative word: cards are increasingly vulnerable to attacks when you make purchases in a store. In several recent incidents, hackers have been able to obtain massive information of credit-, debit-(借记)or prepaid-card numbers using malware, i.e. malicious software, inserted secretly into the retailers'point-of-sale system—the checkout registers. Hackers then sold the data to a second group of criminals operating in shadowy comers of the web. Not long after, the stolen data was showing up on fake cards and being used for online purchases.[C] The solution could cost as little as $2 extra for every piece of plastic issued. The fix is a security technology used heavily outside the U.S. While American credit cards use the 40-year-old magstripe technology to process transactions, much of the rest of the world uses smarter cards with a technology called EMV (short for Europay, MasterCard, Visa) that employs a chip embedded in the card plus a customer PIN (personal identification number) to authenticate(验证)every transaction on the spot. If a purchaser fails to punch in the correct PIN at the checkout, the transaction gets rejected. (Online purchases can be made by setting up a separate transaction code.)[D] Why haven't big banks adopted the more secure technology? When it comes to mailing out new credit cards, it's all about relative costs, says David Robertson, who runs the Nihon Report, an industry newsletter: "The cost of the card, putting the sticker on it, coding the account number and expiration date, embossing(凸印)it, the small envelop—all put together, you are in the dollar range." A chip-and-PIN card currently costs closer to $3, says Robertson, because of the price of chips. (Once large issuers convert together, the chip costs should drop.)[E] Multiply $3 by the more than 5 billion magstripe credit and prepaid cards in circulation in the U.S. Then consider that there's an estimated $12.4 billion in card fraud on a global basis' says Robertson. With 44% of that in the U.S., American credit-card fraud amounts to about $5.5 billion annually. Card issuers have so far calculated that absorbing the liability for even big hacks like the Target one is still cheaper than replacing all that plastic.[F] That leaves American retailers pretty much alone the world over in relying on magstripe technology to charge purchases—and leaves consumers vulnerable. Each magstripe has three tracks of information, explains payments security expert Jeremy Gumbley, the chief technology officer of CreditCall, an electronic-payments company. The first and third are used by the bank or card issuer. Your vital account information lives on the second track, which hackers try to capture. "Malware is scanning through the memory in real time and looking for data," he says. "It creates a text file that gets stolen."[G] Chip-and-PIN cards, by contrast, make fake cards or skimming impossible because the information that gets scanned is encrypted(加密). The historical reason the U.S. has stuck with magstripe, ironically enough, is once superior technology. Our cheap, ultra-reliable wired networks made credit-card authentication over the phone frictionless. In France, card companies created EMV in part because the telephone monopoly was so maddeningly inefficient and expensive. The EMV solution allowed transactions to be verified locally and securely.[H] Some big banks, like Wells Fargo, are now offering to convert your magstripe card to a chip-and-PIN model. (It's actually a hybrid(混合体)that will still have a magstripe, since most U.S. merchants don't have EMV terminals.) Should you take them up on it? If you travel internationally, the answer is yes.[I] Keep in mind, too, that credit cards typically have better liability protection than debit cards. If someone uses your credit card fraudulently(欺诈性地)it's the issuer or merchant, not you, that takes the hit. Debit cards have different liability limits depending on the bank and the events surrounding any fraud. "If it's available, the logical thing is to get a chip-and-PIN card from your bank," says Eric Adamowsky, a co-founder of . "I would use credit cards over debit cards because of liability issues." Cash still works pretty well too.[J] Retailers and banks stand to benefit from the lower fraud levels of chip-and-PIN cards but have been reluctant for years to invest in the new infrastructure(基础设施)needed for the technology, especially if consumers don't have access to it. It's a chicken-and-egg problem; no one wants to spend the money on upgraded point- of-sale systems that can read the chip cards if shoppers aren't carrying them一yet there's little point in consumers' carrying the fancy plastic if stores aren't equipped to use them. (An earlier effort by Target to move to chip and PIN never gained progress.) According to Gumbley, there's a "you-first mentality. The logjam(僵局)has to be broken."[K] JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently expressed his willingness to do so, noting that banks and merchants have spent the past decade suing each other over interchange fees—the percentage of the transaction price they keep-rather than deal with the growing hacking problem. Chase offers a chip-enabled card under its own brand and several others for travel-related companies such as British Airways and Ritz-Carlton.[L] The Target and Neiman hacks have also changed the cost calculation: although retailers have been reluctant to spend the $6.75 billion that Capgemini consultants estimate it will take to convert all their registers to be chip-and-PIN-compatible, the potential liability they now face is dramatically greater. Target has been hit with class actions from hacked consumers. "It's the ultimate nightmare," a retail executive from a well-known chain admitted to TIME.[M] The card-payment companies MasterCard and Visa are pushing hard for change. The two firms have warned all parties in the transaction chain一merchant, network, bank一that if they don't become EMV-compliant by October 2015, the party that is least compliant will bear the fraud risk.[N] In the meantime, app-equipped smartphones and digital wallets—all of which can use EMV technology—are beginning to make inroads(侵袭)on cards and cash. PayPal, for instance, is testing an app that lets you use your mobile phone to pay on the fly at local merchants—without surrendering any card information to them. And further down the road is biometric authentication, which could be encrypted with, say, a fingerprint.[O] Credit and debit cards, though, are going to be with us for the foreseeable future, and so are hackers, if we stick with magstripe technology. "It seems crazy to me," says Gumbley, who is English, "that a cutting-edge-technology country is depending on a 40-year-old technology." That's why it may be up to consumers to move the needle on chip and PIN. Says Robertson: ‘‘When you get the consumer into a position of worry and inconvenience, that's where the rubber hits the road."46. It's best to use an EMV card for international travel.47. Personal information on credit and debit cards is increasingly vulnerable to hacking.48. The French card companies adopted EMV technology partly because of inefficient telephone service.49. While many countries use the smarter EMV cards, the U.S. still clings to its old magstripe technology.50. Attempts are being made to prevent hackers from carrying out identity theft.51. Credit cards are much safer to use than debit cards.52. Big banks have been reluctant to switch to more secure technology because of the higher costs involved.53. The potential liability for retailers using magstripe is far more costly than upgrading their registers.54. The use of magstripe cards by American retailers leaves consumers exposed to the risks of losing account information.55. Consumers will be a driving force behind the conversion from magstripe to EMV technology.仔细阅读实际只考了两套Part IV Translation汉朝是中国历史上最重要的朝代之一。