2018年12月英语六级真题第2套

2018年12月大学英语六级考试真题(第1套)Part ⅣTranslation (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English.You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.中国越来越重视公共图书馆，并鼓励人们充分加以利用。

新近公布的统计数字表明，中国的公共图书馆数量在逐年增长。

许多图书馆通过翻新和扩建，为读者创造了更为安静、舒适的环境。

大型公共图书馆不仅提供种类繁多的参考资料，而且定期举办讲座、展览等活动。

近年来，也出现了许多数字图书馆，从而节省了存放图书所需的空间。

一些图书馆还推出了自动服务秕，使读者借书还书更加方便，进一步满足了读者的需求。

2018年12月大学英语六级考试真题(第2套)Part ⅣTranslation (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English.You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.近年来，中国越来越多的博物馆免费向公众开放。

博物馆展览次数和参观人数都明显增长。

在一些广受欢迎的博物馆门前，排长队已很常见。

这些博物馆必须采取措施限制参观人数。

如今，展览形式越来越多样。

一些大型博物馆利用多媒体和虚拟现实等先进技术，使展览更具吸引力。

不少博物馆还举办在线展览，人们可在网上观赏珍稀展品。

然而，现场观看展品的体验对大多数参观者还是更具吸引力。

2018年12月大学英语六级考试真题(第3套)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.近年来，中国政府进一步加大体育馆建设投资，以更好地满足人们快速增长地健身需求。

Part I Writing (30minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on ho w to balance jobresponsibilities and personal interests. You should write at lea st 150 words but no more than 200 words.______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ __________Part II Listening Comprehension (30minutes)听力音频MP3文件，点击进入听力真题页面Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear two longconversations. 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 mustch oose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then m ark thecorresponding 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) Stop worrying about him.B) Keep away from the statue.C) Take a picture of him.D) Pat on a smile for the photo.2. A) Gaining great fame on the Internet.B) Publishing a collection of his photos.C) Collecting the best photos in the world.D) Becoming a professional photographer.3. A) Surfing various websites and collecting photos.B) Editing his pictures and posting them online.C) Following similar accounts to compare notes.D) Studying the pictures in popular social media.4. A) They are far from satisfactory.B) They are mostly taken by her mom.C) They make an impressive album.D) They record her fond memories.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) A journal reporting the latest progress in physics.B) An introductory course of modem physics.C) An occasion for physicists to exchange ideas.D) A series of interviews with outstanding physicists.6. A) The future of the physical world.B) The origin of the universe.C) Sources of radiation.D) Particle theory.7. A) How matter collides with anti-matter.B) Whether the universe will turn barren.C) Why there exists anti-matter.D) Why there is a universe at all8. A) Matter and anti-matter are opposites of each other.B) Anti-matter allowed humans to come into existence.C) The universe formed due to a sufficient amount of matter.D) Anti-matter exists in very high-temperature environments.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each pas sage, you will hear three or four questions. Both the passage and the questio ns will bespoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the b est answer fromthe four choices marked A, B, C and D. Then mark the corres ponding letter on AnswerSheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.9. A) She found herself speaking a foreign language.B) She woke up speaking with a different accent.C) She found some symptoms of her illness gone.D) She woke up finding herself in another country.10. A) It is usually caused by a stroke or brain injury.B) It has not yet found any effective treatment.C) It leaves the patient with a distorted memory.D) It often happens to people with speech defects.11. A) British.B) Irish.C) Russian.D) Australian.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) Water sports.B) Racing in rivers.C) Stories about women swimmers.D) Books about swimming.13. A) She succeeded in swimming across the English Channel.B) She published a guide to London's best swimming spots.C) She told her story of adventures to some young swimmers.D) She wrote a book about the history of swimwear in the UK.14. A) They loved vacationing on the seashore.B) They had a unique notion of modesty.C) They were prohibited from swimming.D) They were fully dressed when swimming.15. A) She designed lots of appropriate swimwear for women.B) She once successfully competed against men in swimming.C) She was the first woman to swim across the English Channel.D) She was an advocate of women's right to swim in public pools.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks f ollowedby three or four questions. The recordings will be played only once. Af ter you hear aquestion, you must choose the best answer from the four choic es marked A, B, C andD. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Shee t 1 with a single line throughthe centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.16. A) Build a machine that can detect lies.B) Develop a magnetic brain scanner.C) Test the credibility of court evidence.D) Win people's complete trust in them.17. A) They are optimistic about its potential.B) They are sceptical of its reliability.C) They think it is but business promotion.D) They celebrate it with great enthusiasm.18. A) It is not to be trusted at all.B) It does not sound economical.C) It may intrude into people's privacy.D) It may lead to overuse in court trials.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) Most of its residents speak several languages.B) Some of its indigenous languages are dying out.C) Each village there speaks a totally different language.D) Its languages have interested researchers the world over.20. A) They are spread randomly across the world.B) Some are more difficult to learn than others.C) More are found in tropical regions than in the mild zones.D) They enrich and impact each other in more ways than one.21. A) They used different methods to collect and analyze data.B) They identified distinct patterns of language distribution.C) Their conclusions do not correspond to their original hypotheses.D) There is no conclusive account for the cause of language diversity.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) Its middle-class is disappearing.B) Its wealth is rationally distributed.C) Its population is rapidly growing.D) Its cherished dream is coming true.23. A) Success was but a dream without conscientious effort.B) They could realize their dreams through hard work.C) A few dollars could go a long way.D) Wealth was shared by all citizens.24. A) Better working conditions.B) Better-paying jobs.C) High social status.D) Full employment.25. A) Reduce the administrative costs.B) Adopt effective business models.C) Hire part-time employees only.D) Make use of the latest technology.Part III Reading Comprehension (40minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage withten blanks. You are require d to select one word foreach blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passagethrough carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the co rresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line throught he centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Surfing the Internet during class doesn't just steal focus from the educator；it also hurtsstudents who're already struggling to __26__ the material. A new study from Michigan StateUniversity, though, argues that all students—includ ing high achievers—see a decline in performance when they browse the Inte rnet during class for non-academic purposes.To measure the effects of Internet-based distractions during class, researche rs __27__500 students taking an introductory psychology class at Michigan State Unive rsity. Researchers usedACT scores as a measure of intellectual __28__ Bec ause previous research has shown thatpeople with high intellectual abilities are better at __29__ out distractions, researchersbelieved students with high ACT scores would not show a __30__ decrease in performance due to their use of digital devices. But students who surfed the web during class did worseontheir exams regardless of their ACT scores, suggesting that even the acade mically smarteststudents are harmed when they're distracted in class.College professors are increasingly __31__ alarm bells about the effects smar tphones, laptops, and tablets have on academic performance. One 2013 st udy of college students found that 80% of students use their phones or laptop s during class, with the average student checkingtheir digital device 11 times in a __32__ class. A quarter of students report that their use ofdigital device s during class causes their grades to __33__.Professors sometimes implement policies designed to __34__ students' use of digital devices, and world where people are increasingly some instructors e ven confiscate (没收）tablets andphones. In dependent on their phones, though, such strategies of ten fail. One internationalstudy found that 84% of people say they couldn't go a day without their smartphones. Untilstudents are able to __35__ the pull of social networking, texting, and endlessly surfing theweb, they may continue to straggle in their classes.A) aptitude B) eradication C) evaluated D) evaporated E) filtering F) grasp G) legacy H) minimize I) obscure J) obsess K) raising L) resist M) signific ant N) suffer O) typicalSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statemen ts attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the pa ragraphs. Identify the paragraphfrom which the information is derived. You m ay choose a paragraph more than once. Eachparagraph is marked with a lette r. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter onAnswer Sheet2.A Pioneering Woman of Science Re-Emerges after 300 YearsA) Maria Sibylla Merian, like many European women of the 17th century, stay ed busy managinga household and rearing children. But on top of that, Meria n, a German-born woman who livedin the Netherlands, also managed a succe ssful career as an artist, botanist, naturalist andentomologist (昆虫学家).B)"She was a scientist on the level with a lot of people we spend a lot of time ta lking about," said Kay Etheridge, a biologist at Gettysburg College in Pennsylv ania who has been studying thescientific history of Merian's work."She didn't do as much to change biology as Charles Darwin, but she was sig nificant. "C) At a time when natural history was a valuable tool for discovery, Merian d iscovered factsabout plants and insects that were not previously known. Her observations helped dismiss the popular belief that insects spontaneouslyemerged from mud. The knowledge she collectedover decades didn't just sati sfy those curious about nature, but also provided valuable insights into medi cine and science. She was the first to bring together insects and theirhabitats, including food they ate, into a single ecological composition.D) After years of pleasing a fascinated audience across Europe with books of detailed descriptions and life-size paintings of familiar insects, in 1699 she s ailed with her daughternearly 5,000 miles from the Netherlands to South America to study insects in the jungl es ofwhat is now known as Suriname. She was 52 years old. The result was h er masterpiece, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium.E) In her work, she revealed a side of nature so exotic, dramatic and valua ble to Europeansof the time that she received much acclaim. But a century l ater, her findings came underscientific criticism. Shoddy（粗糙的）reproductions of her work along with setbacks to women'sroles in 18th- and 1 9th- century Europe resulted in her efforts being largely forgotten."It waskind of stunning when she sort of dropped off into oblivion（遗忘）," said Dr. Etheridge."Victorians started putting women in a box, and they're still trying to crawl o ut of it."F) Today, the pioneering woman of the sciences has re-emerged. In recent ye ars, feminists，historians and artists have all praised Merian's tenacity（坚韧）, talent andinspirational artistic compositions. And now biologists like Dr. Etheridge are digging into thescientific texts that accompanied her art. Three hundred years after her death, Merian will be celebrated at an international symposium in Amsterdam this June.G) And last month, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium was republish ed. It contains 60 plates (插图）and original descriptions, along with stories about Merian's life and updateds cientific descriptions. Before writing Metamorphosis, Merian spent decades do cumentingEuropean plants and insects that she published in a series of books. She began in her 20s, making textless, decorative paintings of flowers with insects."Then she got really serious," Dr. Etheridge said. Merian started raising insect s at home, mostly butterflies and caterpillars."Shewould sit up all night until they came out of the pupa (桶）so she could draw them," she said.H) The results of her decades' worth of careful observations were detailed pa intings anddescriptions of European insects, followed by unconventional vis uals and stories of insects andanimals from a land that most at the time could only imagine. It's possible Merian used amagnifying glass to capture the det ail of the split tongues of sphinx moths (斯芬克斯飞蛾）depicted in the painting. She wrote that the two tongues combine to form one tube fordrinking nectar (花蜜）. Some criticized this detail later, saying there was just one tongue, but Merian wasn't wrong. She may have observed the adult moth just as it emer ged from its pupa. For a brief moment during that stage of its life cycle, the t ongue consists of two tiny half-tubesbefore merging into one.I) It may not have been ladylike to depict a giant spider devouring a hummi ngbird, but whenMerian did it at the turn of the 18th century, surprisingly, no body objected. Dr. Etheridge calledit revolutionary. The image, which also c ontained novel descriptions of ants, fascinated aEuropean audience that was more concerned with the exotic story unfolding before them thanthe gender of the person who painted it.J)"All of these things shook up their nice, neat little view," Dr. Etheridge said. B ut later, peopleof the Victorian era thought differently. Her work had been rep roduced, sometimes incorrectly. A few observations were deemed impossibl e."She'd been called a silly woman for saying thata spider could eat a bird," Dr . Etheridge said. But Henry Walter Bates, a friend of CharlesDarwin, observed it and put it in book in 1863, proving Merian was correct.K) In the same plate, Merian depicted and described leaf-cutter ants for the fi rst time."InAmerica there are large ants which can eat whole trees bare as a broom h andle in a singlenight, she wrote in the description. Merian noted how the a nts took the leaves below groundto their young. And she wouldn't have know n this at the time, but the ants use the leaves tofarm fungi (菌类）underground to feed their developing babies.L) Merian was correct about the giant bird-eating spiders, ants building bridge s with theirbodies and other details. But in the same drawing, she incorrectly l umped together army andleaf-cutter ants. And instead of showing just the ty pical pair of eggs in a hummingbird nest, she painted four. She made other mistakes in Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium aswell: not every cat erpillar and butterfly matched.M) Perhaps one explanation for her mistakes is that she cut short her Surina me trip aftergetting sick, and completed the book at home in Amsterdam. An d errors are common amongsome of history's most- celebrated scientific min ds, too."These errors no more invalidate Ms. Merian's work than do well- known mis conceptions published by Charles Darwin or IsaacNewton," Dr. Etheridge wrote in a paper that argued that too many have wrongly focu sed onthe mistakes of her work.N) Merian's paintings inspired artists and ecologists. In an 1801 drawing fro m his book, General Zoology Amphibia, George Shaw, an English botanist and zoologist, credited Merian fordescribing a frog in the account of her South A merican expedition, and named the young treefrog after her in his portraya l of it. It wouldn't be fair to give Merian all the credit. Shereceived assistanc e naming plants, making sketches and referencing the work of others. Herdau ghters helped her color her drawings.O) Merian also made note of the help she received from the natives of Surina me, as well asslaves or servants that assisted her. In some instances she wro te moving passages that includedher helpers in descriptions. As she wrote in her description of the peacock flower,"TheIndians, who are not treated well by their Dutch masters, use the seeds t o abort their children, so that they will not become slaves like themselves. Th e black slaves from Guinea and Angolahave demanded to be well treated, thr eatening to refuse to have children. In fact, theysometimes take their own li ves because they are treated so badly, and because they believethey will be b orn again, free and living in their own land. They told me this themselves. " P) Londa Schiebinger, a professor of the history of science at Stanford Univer sity, called thispassage rather astonishing. It's particularly striking centurie s later when these issues are still prominent in public discussions about soci al justice and women's rights."She was ahead ofher time," Dr. Etheridge said.36. Merian was the first scientist to study a type of American ant.37. The European audience was more interested in Merian's drawings than he r gender.38. Merian's masterpiece came under attack a century after its publication.39. Merian's mistakes in her drawings may be attributed to her shortened sta y in SouthAmerica.40. Merian often sat up the whole night through to observe and draw insects.41. Merian acknowledged the help she got from natives of South America.42. Merian contributed greatly to people's better understanding of medicine a nd science.43. Merian occasionally made mistakes in her drawings of insects and birds.44. Now, Merian's role as a female forerunner in sciences has been re-establi shed.45. Merian made a long voyage to South America to study jungle insects over three centuriesago.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by s ome questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four cho ices marked A), B), C) and D). Youshould decide on the best choice and markthe corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with asingle line through the cen tre.Passage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.While human achievements in mathematics continue to reach new levels of c omplexity, manyof us who aren't mathematicians at heart (or engineers by t rade) may struggle to rememberthe last time we used calculus (微积分）.It's a fact not lost on American educators, who amid rising math failure rates are debating howmath can better meet the real-life needs of students. Should we change the way math is taughtin schools, or eliminate some courses enti rely?Andrew Hacker, Queens College political science professor, thinks that advan ced algebra andother higher-level math should be cut from curricula in favor of courses with more routine usefulness, like statistics."We hear on all sides that we're not teaching enough mathematics, and the C hinese are runningrings around us," Hacker says."I'm suggesting we're teaching too much mathematics to toomany people. . . not everybody has to know calculus. If you're going to become an aeronautic al (航空的）engineer, fine. But most of us aren't."Instead, Hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at Queen s College： Numeracy 101. There, his students of "citizen statistics" learn to a nalyze public information likethe federal budget and corporate reports. Suc h courses, Hacker argues, are a remedy for thenumerical illiteracy of adults who have completed high-level math like algebra but are unableto calculat e the price of, say, a carpet by area.Hacker's argument has met with opposition from other math educators who say what's neededis to help students develop a better relationship with math earlier, rather than teaching themless math altogether.Maria Droujkova is a founder of Natural Math, and has taught basic calculus concepts to 5-year-olds. For Droujkova, high-level math is important, and wh at it could use in Americanclassrooms is an injection of childlike wonder. "Make mathematics more available," Droujkova says."Redesign it so it's more accessible tomore kinds of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had badexperiences. " Pamela Harris, a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, has a similar p erspective. Harrissays that American education is suffering from an epidemi c of "fake math"一an emphasis onrote memorization (死记硬背）of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how mathcan influenc e the ways we see the world.Andrew Hacker, for the record, remains skeptical."I'm going to leave it to those who are in mathematics to work out the ways t o make theirsubject interesting and exciting so students want to take it," Hac ker says."All that I ask is thatalternatives be offered instead of putting all of us on the road to calculus. "46. What does the author say about ordinary Americans?A) They struggle to solve math problems.B) They think math is a complex subject.C) They find high-level math of little use.D) They work hard to learn high-level math.47. What is the general complaint about America's math education according to Hacker?A) America is not doing as well as China.B) Math professors are not doing a good job.C) It doesn't help students develop their literacy.D) There has hardly been any innovation for years.48. What does Andrew Hacker's Numeracy 101 aim to do?A) Allow students to learn high-level math step by step.B) Enable students to make practical use of basic math.C) Lay a solid foundation for advanced math studies.D) Help students to develop their analytical abilities.49. What does Maria Droujkova suggest math teachers do in class?A) Make complex concepts easy to understand.B) Start teaching children math at an early age.C) Help children work wonders with calculus.D) Try to arouse students' curiosity in math.50. What does Pamela Harris think should be the goal of math education?A) To enable learners to understand the world better.B) To help learners to tell fake math from real math.C) To broaden Americans' perspectives on math.D) To exert influence on world development.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.For years, the U. S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The B ureau of LaborStatistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demandwill grow faster than supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs bythen.So what's the solution? Robots.Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend. Toyohashi Universit y of Technologyhas developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can makehospital rounds, delivermedications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as adoctor or nurse, who can use it to reco rd and access patient data. This type of robot will likelybe one of the first to b e implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact.Robots capable of social engagement help with loneliness as well as cogni tive functioning, but the robot itself doesn't have to engage directly—it can s erve as an intermediary for human communication. Telepresence robots suc h as MantaroBot, Vgo, and Giraff can be controlled through a computer, smar tphone, or tablet, allowing family members or doctors to remotelymonitor pati ents or Skype them, often via a screen where the robot's ' face' would be. If youcan't get to the nursing home to visit grandma, you can use a telepresenc e robot to hang outwith her. A 2016 study found that users had a "consisten tly positive attitude" about the Giraffrobot's ability to enhance communicati on and decrease feelings of loneliness.A robot's appearance affects its ability to successfully interact with humans, which is why theRIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research decided to develop arobotic nurse that looks like a huge teddy bear . RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance), also known as ‘Robear', can h elp patients into and out of wheelchairs and beds with its strongarms.On the less cute and more scary side there is Actroid F, which is so human-lik e that somepatients may not know the difference. This conversational robot c ompanion has cameras in itseyes, which allow it to track patients and use a ppropriate facial expressions and bodylanguage in its interactions. During a month- long hospital trial, researchers asked 70 patientshow they felt being around the robot and "only three or four said they didn't like having itaround. "It's important to note that robotic nurses don't decide courses of treatment or make diagnoses (though robot doctors and surgeons may not be far off). Ins tead, they perform routine andlaborious tasks, freeing nurses up to attend t o patients with immediate needs. This is oneindustry where it seems the int egration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement.51. What does the author say about Japan?A) It delivers the best medications for the elderly.B) It takes the lead in providing robotic care.C) It provides retraining for registered nurses.D) It sets the trend in future robotics technology.52. What do we learn about the robot Terapio?A) It has been put to use in many Japanese hospitals.B) It provides specific individualized care to patients.C) It does not have much direct contact with patients.D) It has not revolutionized medical service in Japan.53. What are telepresence robots designed to do?A) Directly interact with patients to prevent them from feeling lonely.B) Cater to the needs of patients for recovering their cognitive capacity.C) Closely monitor the patients' movements and conditions around the clock.D) Facilitate communication between patients and doctors or family membe rs.54. What is one special feature of the robot Actroid F?A) It interacts with patients just like a human companion.B) It operates quietly without patients realizing its presence.C) It likes to engage in everyday conversations with patients.D) It uses body language even more effectively than words.55. What can we infer from the last paragraph?A) Doctors and surgeons will soon be laid off.B) The robotics industry will soon take off.C) Robots will not make nurses redundant.D) Collaboration will not replace competition.Part IV Translation (30minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage f rom Chinese intoEnglish. You should write your answer on AnswerSheet 2.中国越来越重视公共图书馆，并鼓励人们充分加以利用。

2018年12月大学生英语六级考试真题卷一（听力部分）PartⅡ 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) It can benefit professionals and non-professionals alike.B) It lists the various challenges physicists are confronting.C) It describes how some mysteries of physics were solved.D) It is one of the most fascinating physics books ever written.2. A) Physicists’ contribution to humanity.B) Stories about some female physicists.C) Historical evolution of modern physics.D) Women’s changing attitudes to physics.3. A)By exposing a lot of myths in physics.B) By describing her own life experiences.C) By including lots of fascinating knowledge.D) By telling anecdotes about famous professors.4. A) It avoids detailing abstract concepts of physics.B) It contains a lot of thought-provoking questions.C) It demonstrates how they can become physicists.D)It provides experiments they can do themselves.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) He is too busy to finish his assignment in time.B) He does not know what kid of topic to write on.C) He does not understand the professor’s instructions.D) He has no idea how to proceed with his dissertation.6. A) It is too broad.B) It is outdated.C) It is challenging.D) It is interesting.7. A) Biography.B) Nature.C) Photography.D) Beauty.8. A) Improve his cumulative grade.B) Develop his reading ability.C) Stick to the topic assigned.D) List the parameters first.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 co rresponding 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) The unprecedented high temperature in Greenland.B) The collapse of ice on the northern tip of Greenland.C) The unusual clod spell in the Arctic area in October.D) The rapid change of Arctic temperature within a day.10. A) It has created a totally new climate pattern.B) It will pose a serious threat to many species.C) It typically appears about once every ten years.D) It has puzzled the climate scientists for decades.11. A) Extinction of Arctic wildlife.B) Iceless summers in the Arctic.C) Emigration of indigenous people.D) Better understanding of ecosystems.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) A good start.B) A detailed plan.C) A strong determination.D) A scientific approach.13. A) Most people get energized after a sufficient rest.B) Most people tend to have finite source of energy.C) It is vital to take breaks between demanding mental tasks.D) It is most important to have confidence in one’s willpower.14. A) They could keep on working longer.B) They could do more challenging tasks.C) They found it easier to focus on work at hand.D) They held more positive attitudes toward life.15. A) They are part of their nature.B) They are subject to change.C) They are related to culture.D) They are beyond control.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) About half of current jobs might be automated.B) The jobs of doctors and lawyers would be threatened.C) The jobs market is becoming somewhat unpredictable.D) Machine learning would prove disruptive by 2013.17. A) They are widely applicable for massive open online courses.B) They are now being used by numerous high school teachers.C) They could read as many as 10,000 essays in a single minute.D) They could grade high-school essays just like human teacher.18. A) It needs instructions throughout the process.B) It dose poorly on frequency, high-volume tasks.C) It has to rely on huge amounts of previous data.D) It is slow when it comes to tracking novel things.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) The engineering problems with solar power.B) The generation of steam with the latest technology.C) The importance of exploring new energy sources.D) The theoretical aspects of sustainable energy.20. A) Drive trains with solar energy.B) Upgrade the city’s train facilities.C) Build a new ten-kilometre railway line.D) Cut-down the city’s energy consumption.21. A) Build a tank for keeping calcium oxide.B) Find a new material for storing energy.C) Recover super-heated steam.D) Collect carbon dioxide gas.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) The lack of supervision by both the nation and local government.B) The impact of the current economics crisis at home and abroad.C) The poor management of day centres and home help services.D) The poor relation between national heath and social care services.23. A) It was mainly provided by voluntary services.B) It mainly caters to the need of privileged.C) It called for a sufficient number of volunteers.D) It has deteriorated over the past sixty years.24. A) Their longer lifespans.B) Fewer home helpers available.C) Their preference for private services.D) More of them suffering serious illness.25. A) They are unable to pay for health services.B) They have long been discriminated against.C) They are vulnerable to illness and diseases.D) They have contributed a great deal to society.参考答案1. A) It can benefit professionals and non-professionals alike.2. B) Stories about some female physicists.3. C) By including lots of fascinating knowledge.4. D) It provides experiments they can do themselves.5. D）He has not idea how to proceed with his dissertation.6. A) It is too broad.7. B) Nature.8. C) Stick to the topic assigned.9. A) The unprecedented high temperature in Greenland.10. C) It typiaclly appears about once every ten years.11. B) Iceless summers in the Arctic.12. C) A strong determination.13. D) It is most important to have confidence in one`s willpower.14. A) They could keep on working longer.15. B) They are subject to change.16. A) About half of current jobs might be automated.17. D) They could grade high-school essays just like human teachers.18. C) It has to rely on huge amounts of previous data.19. D) The theoretical aspects of sustainable energy.20. A) Drive trains with solar energy.21. B) Find a new material for storing energy.22. D) The poor relation between national health and social care services.23. A) It was mainly provided by voluntary services.24. C) Their preference for private services.25. B) They have long been discriminated against.听力原文Conversation 1A: Hey, I just read a great book about physics. I think you‘d like it. It’s called the physics of the world. It‘s written by a scientist named Sylvia Mendez.B: Oh, I read that book. It was great. The writer is a warm and competent guide to the mysteries of physics. I think it promises enrichment for any reader from those who know little about science to the career physicist.A: And it‘s refreshing to see a strong curious clever woman adding her voice to the scientific discourse and a field that has been traditionally dominated by men. I think she has to be commended for making an effort to include anecdotes about little known female scientists. You know they were often victims of a generation firmly convinced that the woman’s place was in the home.B: I like how the book is clearly written with each chapter brought to life by pieces of fascinating knowledge. For example in one chapter she exposes a myth that I‘ve heard taught by university physics professors. I’ ve often heard that medieval glass windows are thicker at the bottom because glass flows like a fluid. This, she shows, is not true. The distortion is actually thanks to a peculiarity of the glassmakers process.A: Yeah I like how she cultivates scientific engagement by providing a host of Do It Yourself experiments that bring the same foundational principles of classical physics that govern everything from the solar system to your kitchen table. From using complex laws of physics to test whether a spinning egg is cooked to measuring atmospheric pressure by lifting a piece of cardboard. Her hands-on examples make her book a truly interactive read.B: Yes I must say this a equation-free book is an ideal read for scientists of all stripes, anyone teaching science and even people who dislike physics.Question 1. what does the woman say about the book the man recommended?A) It can benefit professionals and non-professionals alike.Question 2. what can we find in the book the man recommended?B) Stories about some female physicists.Question 3. How does the author bring her book to life?C) By including lots of fascinating knowledge.Question 4. How does the book cultivate readers interest in physics.D)It provides experiments they can do themselves.Conversation 2A: Hi professor. I was hoping I could have a moment of your time if you‘re not too busy. I’m having some problems getting started on my dissertation and I was hoping you could give me some advice on how to begin.B: Sure. I have quite a few students though. So can you remind me what your topic is?A: The general topic I chose is aesthetics, but that’s as far as I’ve got I don‘t really know where to go from there.B: Yeah，that’s much too large a topic. You really need to narrow it down in order to make it more accessible. Otherwise you’ll be writing a book.A: Exactly. That’s what I wanted to ask you about. I was hoping it would be possible for me to change topics. I’m really more interested in nature than beauty.B: I‘m afraid you have to adhere to the assigned topic. Still, If you’re interested in nature, then that certainly can be worked into your dissertation. We‘ve talked about Hume before in class right.A: Oh yeah, he’s the philosopher who wrote about where our ideas of beauty come from.B: Exactly. I suggest you go to the library and get a copy of his biography. Start from there. But remember to stick to the parameters of the assignment. This paper is a large part of your cumulative grade. So make sure to follow the instructions. If you take a look at his biography. You can get a good idea of how his life experiences manifest themselves in his theories of beauty. specifically the way he looked towards nature as the origin of what we find beautiful.A: Great. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, Professor. I‘ll let you get back to class now.B: If there’s anything else you need, please come see me in my office any time.Question 5. What is the man‘s problem?D) He has not idea how to proceed with his dissertation.Question 6. What does the professor think of the man‘s topic?A) It is too broadQuestion 7. What’s the man really more interested in?B) Nature.Question 8. What does the professor say the man has to do?C) Stick to the topic assigned.Passage 1During the arctic winter from October to March, the average temperature in the frozen north typically hovers around minus 20 degrees Celsius. But this year the Arctic is experiencing much higher temperatures. On February the 20th the temperature in Greenland climbed above freezing or zero degrees Celsius and it stayed there for over 24 hours. Then on February the 24th the temperature on Greenland’ s northern tip reached six degrees Celsius. Climate scientists describe the phenomenon as stunning. Weather conditions that drive this bizarre temperature surge have visited the Arctic before. They typically appear about once in a decade. However, the last such increase in temperature took place two years ago. This is troubling as climbing arctic temperatures combined with rapid sea ice loss are creating a new type of climate feedback loop which could accelerate Arctic warming. Indeed, sea ice cover in the Arctic is melting faster than expected. Without those masses of cooling sea ice, warm air brought to the Arctic can penetrate further inland than it ever did before. The air can stay warmer longer too. This drives additional melting. Overall earth is warming at a rapid pace. 2014 through 2017 rank as the hottest years on record and the Arctic is warming twice as fast as any place else on earth. This raises unique challenges for Arctic wildlife and indigenous people who depend on Arctic ecosystems to survive. Previously climate forecasts predicted that Arctic summer ice would disappear entirely by around 2060, but based on what scientists are seeing now the Arctic may be facing summers without ice within 20 years.Question 9. What did climate scientists describe as stunning?A) The unprecedented high temperature in Greenland.Question 10. What does the passage say about that temperature surge in the Arctic?C) It typiaclly appears about once every ten years.Question 11. What may occur in 20 years according to scientists’ recent observations?B) Iceless summers in the Arctic.Passage2A good dose of willpower is often necessary to see any task through whether it’s sticking to a spending plan or finishing a great novel. And if you want to increase that willpower, a new study suggests you just simply have to believe you have it. According to this study, what matters most is what we think about our willpower. If we believe it’s a finite resource, we act that way, we feel exhausted and need breaks between demanding mental tasks. However, people who view their willpower as a limitless resource get energized instead. The researchers used a psychological assessment tool to test the validity of the study. They asked 1100 Americans and 1600 Europeans to grade different statements such as after a challenging mental activity, my energy is depleted and I must rest to get it refueled again or I can focus on a mental task for long periods without feeling tired.Although there was little difference between men and women overall. Americans were more likely to admit to needing breaks after completing mentally challenging tasks European participants on the other hand claimed they were able to keep going. Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that the key to boosting your willpower is to believe that you have an abundant supply of it. Your feelings about your willpower affect the way you behave. But these feelings are changeable, they said. Changing your beliefs about the nature of your self-control can have positive effects on character development. This leads to healthier behaviors and perceptions of other people.Question 12. What is often necessary for carrying through a task?C) A strong determination.Question 13. What is the finding of the new study?D) It is most important to have confidence in one`s willpower.Question 14. What do we learn about European participants as compared with their American counterparts?A) They could keep on working longer.Question 15. What do the research say concerning people‘s feelings about willpower?B) They are subject to change.Lecture 1Here is my baby niece Sarah. Her mum is a doctor and her dad is a lawyer. By the time Sarah goes to college the jobs her parents do are going to look dramatically different. In 2013，researchers at Oxford University did a study on the future of work. They concluded that almost one in every two jobs has a high risk of being automated by machines. Machine learning is the technology that’s responsible for most of this disruption. It’s the most powerful branch of artificial intelligence. It allows machines to learn from data and copy some of the things that humans can do. My company, Kaggle, operates on the cutting edge of machine learning. We bring together hundreds of thousands of experts to solve important problems for industry and academia. This gives us an unique perspective on what machines can do, what they can‘t do and what jobs they might automate or threaten. Machine learning started making its way into industry in the early 90s. It started with relatively simple tasks. It started with things like assessing credit risk from loan applications, sorting the mail by reading handwritten zip codes. Over the past few years, we have made dramatic breakthroughs. Machine learning is now capable of far, far more complex tasks. In 2012, Kaggle challenged its community to build a program that could grade high school essays. The winning programs were able to match the grades given by human teachers. Now given the right data, machines are going to outperform humans at tasks like this. A teacher might read 10000 essays over a 40-year career. A machine can read millions of essays within minutes. We have no chance of competing against machines on frequent high-volume tasks, but there are things we can do that machines cannot. Where machines have made very little progress is in tackling novel situations. Machines can’t handle things they haven’t seen many times before. The fundamental limitation of machine learning is that it needs to learn from large volumes of past data. But humans don’t. We have the ability to connect seemingly different threads to solve problems we’ve never seen before.Question 16. What did the researchers at Oxford University conclude?A) About half of current jobs might be automated.Question 17. What do we learn about Kaggle companies winning programs?D) They could grade high-school essays just like human teachers.Question 18. What is the fundamental limitation on machine learning?C) It has to rely on huge amounts of previous data.Lecture 2We’ve talked recently about the importance of sustainable energy. We’ve also talked about the different theories on how that can be done. So far, our discussions have all been theoretical. Now I have a practical question for you all. Can you run a 140,000 kilogram train on just the steam generated by solar power? Well, one engineer, Tim Casselman, believes it‘s possible. And his home city of Sacramento, California should see the technology’s first test as part of the upgrading of its rail yard. Casselman, who is an inventor and self-proclaimed steam visionary, is campaigning for a new steam train that runs without any fire and could run on an existing 10 kilometer line drawingtourists and perhaps offering city commuters a green alternative to their cars. Casselman wants to build an array of solar magnifying mirrors at one end of the line to collect and focus heat onto water filled tubes. This would generate steam that could be used to fill tanks on a small steam train without the use of fire. Supplying power to trains in this way would offer the shortest distance from well to wheels he says with the least amount of energy lost. According to Harry Valentijn, a Canadian engineer who is researching modern steam technology, a special tank measuring 2 by 10 metres could store over 750 kilowatt hours of energy as high pressure steam enough to pull a two car train for an hour or so. Energy to drive a steam locomotive can be stored in other materials besides water for example a team at Tohoku University in Japan has studied materials that can store large amounts of heat when heated. These materials turn from a solid into a liquid absorbing energy as they change phase. The liquid is maintained above its melting point until steam is required at which point the liquid is allowed to turn back into a solid releasing its stored energy another team at Nagoya University in Japan has tested calcium compound as an energy storage material. Heating this chemical compound drives off carbon dioxide gas leaving calcium oxide the gas can be stored under pressure and attain to recover the energy the gas is fed back over the calcium oxide. In theory says Valentijn this can create a high enough temperature to generate superheated steam.Question 19. What has the speaker previously talked about?D) The theoretical aspects of sustainable energy.Question 20. What is Tim Casselman trying to do in Sacramento?A) Drive trains with solar energy.Question 21. What has a Japanese research team tried to do?B) Find a new material for storing energy.Lecture 3Today’s crisis in care for older people in England has two main causes.First，people are living longer with a lot more complex needs. Second, they rely on a system that has long been marked by a poor relation between national health and social-care services.Current services originate in two key measures. They are the National Health Service and the 1948 National Assistance Act. This required local government to provide residential accommodation for older people and supervise care homes run by independent organizations.They also provided home and community services including meals, day centers and home helpers and other subsidized services. The National Health Service was free and wholly publicly provided. It delivered the best health-care for all. No such vision guided residential and community care though. The care was substantially provided by voluntary services which worked together with local authorities as they long had with eligibility based on income. Today, life expectancy has risen from 66 for a male at birth in 1948 to around 80 now. In addition, there is better overall health and improved medical knowledge and care. This means an unprecedented number of people are surviving longer in conditions requiring expert support. Families provide at least as much care as they ever did. Even so, they can rarely without subsidised support address serious personal needs. Care for older people faced persistent criticism as these trends became apparent. From the early 1960s, local authorities were required to plan health and welfare services. The aim was to enable older people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible, but this increased concern about the lack of coordination between free health and paid-for social care. Through the 1970s, a number of measures sought to improve matter. However at a time of financial crisis, funding diminished and little changed. In the 1980s, the government cut spending. Meanwhile, preference for private over public services made management even more difficult. Simultaneously, the number of sick olderpeople grew. Governments emphasized the need to improve services. They did so though while doing little to stop the erosion of available aid. Services were irregular across authorities. Unless you were prepared to pay, they were increasingly difficult to obtain for any but the most severely disabled. Why has 60 years of criticism produced so little change. Discrimination against older people has a long history. Additionally, those affected by inadequate health and social care are too vulnerable to launch the protests that have addressed other forms of discrimination.Question 22. What is one cause of the current crisis in care for the elderly in England?D) The poor relation between national health and social care services.Question 23. What does the speaker say about residential and community care?A) It was mainly provided by voluntary services.Question 24. What made management of care for the elderly more difficult in the 1980s?C) Their preference for private services.Question 25. What does the speaker say about older people in England?B) They have long been discriminated against.。

一．作文For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance work and leisure. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.第一段：描述工作和业余很难平衡的一个社会现象。

第二段：进行观点的阐述。

第三段：得出结论。

Along with the development of society， more and more problems are brought to our attention; one of the most serious problems is how to reach the balance between work and leisure。

People have different attitudes towards the problem。

It is generally agreed that work has been playing an increasingly important role in our life， because we need to work to earn money for life。

But if people put too much time on work， their health conditions will be damaged and suffer from kinds of diseases。

The sub health among workers has attracted extensive attention of the society， which can be found in TV programs， newspapers， university classes and many aspect of our everyday life。

2018年12月大学英语六级真题（第二套）(总分：710.00，做题时间：150分钟)一、Part Ⅰ Writing(总题数：1，分数：106.50)Directions ： For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance job responsibilities and personal interests. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.（分数：106.50）__________________________________________________________________________________________ 正确答案：(Work is a means of livelihood for most people, while personal interests often add spice to one's life. Both are beyond dispute indispensable for leading a fulfilling life. But it is far from easy to achieve a trade-off between them.It requires, above all, full and proper use of work time. More exactly, people should follow their work plans and make a concentrated effort to complete their assignments. Being productive at work, in fact, not only benefits your career development, but also saves you plenty of time and energy to explore private interests. Once you find your favorite pastimes, try to make them part of your life, lest you idle such hard-won free time away. Movie fans, for example, can spend one hour or more watching films each weeknight and share their comments via social media on weekends.A better approach, of course, is to seek a job or start a business closely related to one's hobbies, though it is less practical for most people. But at any rate, it is inadvisable to be distracted by personal interests at work or to be a workaholic.)解析：二、Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension(总题数：0，分数：0.00)Section A(总题数：2，分数：56.80)Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.（分数：28.4）Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.（分数：28.4）(1).（分数：7.1）A.Stop worrying about him.B.Keep away from the statue.C.Take a picture of him. √D.Put on a smile for the photo.解析：听力原文：Conversation One对话 1M: Do you mind taking my photo with the statueover there? I think it will mak e a great shot.男：能不能帮我和那边的雕像照张相？我觉得这会是一个很棒的照片。

2018年12月份大学英语六级仔细阅读译文及详细解析（卷二）Section CPassage One全文翻译及命题分析也许是时候让农场主们歇歇脚了，因为机器人正被用来监测庄稼生长、拔除杂草，甚至放牧。

商业种植面积及其广袤，需要数千工时来耕作。

澳大利亚最偏远的苏坡杰克·唐斯（Suplejack Downs）牛场就是一个典型的例子。

它位于北部地区，绵延4000平方公里，距离最近的主要城市艾丽丝泉（Alice Springs）逾13个小时车程。

这些大规模农场极度偏远，往往无人照料，每年只能监测一两次，这意味着如果牲畜生病或需要援助，农场主可能需要很长时间才能发现。

然而，机器人正前来救援。

机器人目前正在威尔士进行为期两年的试验，该试验将训练“农场机器人”放牧，监测牲畜的健康，并确保有足够的牧场供它们放牧。

这些机器人配备了许多传感器来识别环境、牛群以及食物的状况，使用热传感器和视觉传感器来探测体温的变化。

悉尼大学的萨拉·苏卡黎(Salah Sukarieh)将在新南威尔士州中部的几个农场进行试验，他说：“你还可以用颜色、质地和形状传感器检测地面上的牧草质量。

”在试验期间，将对机器人的算法和技术性细节进行微调，使其更适合生病的牲畜，并确保它能够安全地绕过树木、淤泥、沼泽和丘陵等潜在障碍区。

苏卡黎说:“我们希望改善牲畜的健康品质，并让农场主更容易维护牲畜在广阔的草场上信步由缰的壮观景象。

”机器人并不局限于放牧和监控牲畜，他们还被用来统计单果数量，检查农作物，甚至拔除杂草。

许多机器人配备有高科技传感器和复杂的学习算法，以避免它们在与人类并肩工作时伤害人类。

机器人还知晓最高效、最安全的通行方式，使工程师和农场主能够分析和更好地优化机器人的属性和任务，并提供现场直播，实时反馈农场上正在发生的事情。

当然，农业工人担心其岗位被取代。

然而，由于劳动力空缺的不断加剧，大规模生产难以维持，正是农场主们在力推技术进步。

2018年12月大学英语六级真题试卷（二）(题后含答案及解析)题型有：1. Writing 2. Listening Comprehension 3. Reading Comprehension 4. TranslationPart I Writing1．For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance job responsibilities and personal interests. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.正确答案：How to Balance Job Responsibilities and Personal Interests When it comes to the issue of how to balance job responsibilities and personal interests, the majority of people will be confused. Since both of them have a significant impact on our life, then how to strike a balance between the two. Here are my views. On the one hand, we should attach primary importance to job responsibilities, as our job can provide us regular income with which we can live the life we like. Besides, now that we’ve taken this job, we should regard it as our mission and be conscientious about it. On the other hand, important as it is, job is not everything of our life. It’ s also necessary for us to spend due time on our personal interests, so that we can take a rest from work. What’ s more, whether we can develop our personal interests also has a great effect on our life quality. All in all, it is high time that we placed great emphasis on the balance of job responsibilities and personal interests. We are supposed to ensure the time to develop our interests on the condition of finishing our job.解析：这是一篇议论文写作，话题是如何平衡工作责任与个人兴趣。

2018年12月英语六级真题及答案三套完整版2018年12月英语六级考试真题试卷附答案(完整版第1套)Part I Writing(30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an e ssay on how to balance workand leisure. You should write at least 1 50 words but no more than 200 words.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________How to Balance Work and LeisureJust as the old saying goes, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", which illustrates the importance and necessity of keeping a balance between work and leisure. However, in today's fast-paced work culture, it's difficult for most people to successfully maintain a good balance between the two.As for me, some tips can contribute to achieving the balance. First of all, you should develop efficient working habits, because only in this way can you squeeze out some leisure time. It requires you to devote your full attention to the task at hand and complete daily work efficiently. Second, in order to relieve the fatigue and stress, it's vital to schedule one thing that you are interested in each day and set aside some time for relaxation. Last but not least, for those workaholics, please keep in mind that if you work hard, you shouldn't feel guilty when you spend time on personal leisure, for entertainment is also a part of life.To conclude, work and leisure complement each other, so when you get tired and bored with your daily grind, try to take some time off work to relax yourself.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) It can benefit professionals and non-professionals alike.B) It lists the various challenges physicists arc confronting.C) It describes how some mysteries of physics were solved.D) It is one of the most fascinating physics books ever written.2. A）physicists' contribution to humanity.B) Stories about some female physicists.C) Historical evolution of modern physics.D) Women's changing attitudes to physics.3. A) By exposing a lot of myths in physics.B) By describing her own life experiences.C) By including lots of fascinating knowledge.D) By telling anecdotes about famous professors.4. A) It avoids detailing abstract concepts of physics.B) It contains a lot of thought-provoking questions.C) It demonstrates how they can become physicists.D) It provides experiments they can do themselves.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) He is too busy to finish his assignment in time.B) He does not know what kind of topic to write on.C) He does not understand the professor's instructions.D) He has no idea how to proceed with his dissertation论文、专题、学术演讲.6. A) It is too broad宽的、宽阔的.B) It is a bit outdated过时的、落伍的.C) It is challenging.D) It is interesting.7. A) Biography传记、档案.B) Nature.C) Philosophy哲学.D)Beauty.8. A)Improve his cumulative grade.B) Develop his reading ability.C) Stick to坚持、忠于、信守 the topic assigned.D) List the parameters first.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) The unprecedented空前的、史无前例的 high temperature高温 in Greenland.B) The collapse of ice on the northern tip of Greenland.C) The unusual cold spell in the Arctic area in October.D) The rapid change of Arctic temperature within a day.10. A) It has created a totally new climate pattern.B) It will pose a serious threat to many species.C) It typically appears about once every ten years.D) It has puzzled the climate scientists for decades.11. A) Extinction of Arctic wildlife.B) Iceless summers in the Arctic.C) Emigration of indigenous people.D) Better understanding of ecosystems.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) A good start.B) A detailed plan.C) A strong determination.D) A scientific approach.13. A) Most people get energized after a sufficient rest.B) Most people tend to have a finite source of energy.C) It is vital to take breaks between demanding mental tasks.D) It is most important to have confidence in one's willpower意志力、毅力.14. A) They could keep on继续、连续不断 working longer.B) They could do more challenging tasks.C) They found it easier to focus on work at hand.D) They held more positive attitudes toward life.15. A) They are part of their nature.B) They are subject to受制于、服从 change.C) They are related to culture.D) They are beyond control.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) About half of current jobs might be automated.B) The jobs of doctors and lawyers would be threatened.C) The job market is becoming somewhat unpredictable.D) Machine learning would prove disruptive by 2013.17. A) They are widely applicable for massive open online courses.B) They are now being used by numerous high school teachers.C) They could read as many as 10, 000 essays in a single minute.D) They could grade评级、评分 high-school essays just like human teachers18. A) It needs instructions throughout the process.B) It does poorly on frequent, high-volume tasks.C) It has to rely on huge amounts of previous以前的、先前的 data.D) It is slow when it comes to tracking novel things.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) The engineering problems with solar power.B) The generation of steam with the latest technology.C) The importance of exploring new energy sources.D) The theoretical aspects of sustainable energy可持续能源、可再生能源.20. A) Drive trains with solar energy太阳能.B) Upgrade the city's train facilities.C) Build a new ten-kilometre railway line.D) Cut down the city's energy consumption21. A) Build a tank for keeping calcium oxide.B) Find a new material for storing储存、存储 energy.C) Recover super-heated steam.D) Collect carbon dioxide gas.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) The lack of supervision by both the national and local governments.B) The impact of the current economic crisis at home and abroad.C) The poor management of day centres and home help services.D) The poor relation between national health and social care services.23. A) It was mainly provided by voluntary services.B) It mainly caters to the needs of the privileged.C) It called for a sufficient number of volunteers.D) It has deteriorated over the past sixty years.24. A) Their longer lifespans.B) Fewer home helpers available.C) Their preference for private services.D) More of them suffering serious illnesses.25. A) They are unable to pay for health services.B) They have long been discriminated辨别 against.C) They are vulnerable to illnesses and diseases.D) They have contributed a great deal to society.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.Just off the coast of Southern California sits Santa Cruz Island, where a magical creature called the island fox _F_26_dwells_. A decade ago, this island's ecosystem 生态系统 was in _B_27_chaos混乱的_ Wild pigs attracted golden eagles from the mainland, and those flying _L_28_predators捕食者、食肉动物_ crashed the fox population. So the Nature Conservancy launched a _H_29_fierce凶猛、凶狠_ war against the pigs, complete with helicopters直升机 and sharp shooters.And it worked. Today, federal agencies are pulling the island fox from the Endangered Species List. It's the fastest-ever recovery of a mammal哺乳动物, joining peers 同龄人、同事 like the Louisiana black bear as glowing successes in the history of the Endangered濒临灭绝的 Species Act.But the recovery of Santa Cruz Island isn't just about the fox. The Nature Conservancy 保护、管理 has _D_30_declared_ war on a multitude of大量、一大批 invasive入侵的、侵略性的 species here, from sheep to plants to the _A_31_aggressive侵略性的、好斗的、有进取心的_ Argentine ant阿根廷蚂蚁."Our philosophy with the island has always been, 'OK, _M_32_remove _ the threats and let the island go back to what it was," says ecologist Christina Boser. And it appears to be working. Native plants are coining back, and the fox once again bounds about carefree.But keeping those foxes from harm will occupy Boser and her colleagues for years to come. You see, humans are still allowed on Santa Cruz Island, and they bring dogs. So Boser has to vaccinate her foxes against various diseases. "We're obligated to keep a pulse on the population for at least five years after the foxes are delisted," says Boser. That includes tagging标记、标签 the foxes and _K_33_monitoring监视、监测_ their numbers to ensure nothing goes wrong.This is the story of the little fox that has come back, and the people who have _E_34_dedicated奉献_ their lives to protecting it. This is the story of wildlife 野生动植物 conservation保护、保存、保持 in the age of mass _G_35_extinction灭绝、消灭_.A) aggressive B) chaos C) configuration D) declared E) dedicated F) dwells G) extinction H) fierce I) hinders J) mammal K) monitoring L) predators M) remove N) tempt O) underlyingSection 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.Do Parents Invade Children's Privacy When They Post Photos Online?A) When Katlyn Burbidge's son was 6 years old, he was performing some ridiculous song and dance typical of a first-grader. But after she snapped a photo and started using her phone, he asked her a serious question: "Are you going to post that online?"She laughed and answered, "Yes, I think I will." What he said next stopped her. "Can you not?"B) That's when it dawned on her: She had been posting photos of him online without asking his permission. "We're big advocates of bodily autonomy and not forcing him to hug or kiss people unless he wants to, but it never occurred to me that I should ask his permission to post photos of him online," says Burbidge, a mom of two in Wakefield, Massachusetts. "Now when I post a photo of him online, I show him the photo and get his okay. "C) When her 8-month-old is 3 or 4 years old, she plans to start asking him in an age-appropriate way, "Do you want other people to see this?" That’s precisely the approach that two researchers advocated before a room of pediatricians （儿科医生）last week at the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting, when they discussed the 21st century challenge of "sharenting", a new term for parents' online sharing about their children. "As advocates of children's rights, we believe that children should have a voice about what information is shared about them if possible", says Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in Gainesville.D) Whether it's ensuring that your child isn't bullied over something you post, that their identity isn't digitally "kidnapped", or that their photos don't end up on a half dozen child pornography (色情） sites, as one Australian mom discovered, parents and pediatricians are increasingly aware of the importance of protecting children's digital presence. Steinberg and Bahareh Keith, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine, say most children will likely never experience problems related to what their parents share, but a tension still exists between parents' rights to share their experiences and their children's rights to privacy.E) "We're in no way trying to silence parents, voices," Steinberg says. "At the same time, we recognize that children might have an interest in entering adulthood free to create their own digital footprint. "They cited a study presented earlier this year of 249 pairs of parents and their children in which twice as many children as parents wanted rules on what par ents could share. "The parents said, ‘We don't need rules-we're fine,’ and the children said, ‘Our parents need rules,’ Keith says. "The children wanted autonomy about this issue and were worried about their parents sharing information about them. "F) Although the American Academy of Pediatrics offers guidelines recommending that parents model appropriate social media use for their children, it does not explicitly discuss oversharing by parents. "I think this is a very legitimate concern, and I appreciate their drawing our attention to it", David Hill, a father of five, says. He sees a role for pediatricians to talk with parents about this，but believes the messaging must extend far beyond pediatricians, offices. "I look forward to seeing researchers expand our understanding of the issue so we can translate it into effective education and policy," he says.。

2018年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第1套）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance work and leisure. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________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.Questions1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.1. A) It can benefit professionals and non-professionals alike.B) It lists the various challenges physicists are confronting.C) It describes how some mysteries of physics were solved.D) It is one of the most fascinating physics books ever written.2. A) Physicists’ contribution to humanity.B) Stories about some female physicists.C) Historical evolution of modern physics.D) Women’s changing attitudes to physics.3. A) By exposing a lot of myths in physics.B) By describing her own life experiences.C) By including lots of fascinating knowledge.D) By telling anecdotes about famous professors.4. A) It avoids detailing abstract concepts of physics.B) It contains a lot of thought-provoking questions.C) It demonstrates how they can become physicists.D) It provides experiments they can do themselves.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) He is too busy to finish his assignment in time.B) He does not know what kind of topic to write on.C) He does not understand the professor’s instructions.D) He has no idea how to proceed with his dissertation.6. A) It is too broad. B) It is a bit outdated.C) It is challenging. D) It is interesting.7. A) Biography. B) Nature. C) Philosophy. D) Beauty.8. A) Improve his cumulative grade. B) Develop his reading ability.C) Stick to the topic assigned. D) List the parameters first.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 answerQuestions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.9. A) The unprecedented high temperature in Greenland.B) The collapse of ice on the northern tip of Greenland.C) The unusual cold spell in the Arctic area in October.D) The rapid change of Arctic temperature within a day.10. A) It has created a totally new climate pattern.B) It will pose a serious threat to many species.C) It typically appears about once every ten years.D) It has puzzled the climate scientists for decades.11. A) Extinction of Arctic wildlife.B) Iceless summers in the Arctic.C) Emigration of indigenous people.D) Better understanding of ecosystems.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) A good start.B) A detailed plan.C) A strong determination.D) A scientific approach.13. A) Most people get energized after a sufficient rest.B) Most people tend to have a finite source of energy.C) It is vital to take breaks between demanding mental tasks.D) It is most important to have confidence in one’s willpower.14. A) They could keep on working longer.B) They could do more challenging tasks.C) They found it easier to focus on work at hand.D) They held more positive attitudes toward life.15. A) They are part of their nature.B) They are subject to change.C) They are related to culture.D) They are beyond control.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) About half of current jobs might be automated.B) The jobs of doctors and lawyers would be threatened.C) The job market is becoming somewhat unpredictable.D) Machine learning would prove disruptive by 2013.17. A) They are widely applicable for massive open online courses.B) They are now being used by numerous high school teachers.C) They could read as many as 10,000 essays in a single minute.D) They could grade high-school essays just like human teachers.18. A) It needs instructions throughout the process.B) It does poorly on frequent, high-volume tasks.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) The engineering problems with solar power.B) The generation of steam with the latest technology.C) The importance of exploring new energy sources.D) The theoretical aspects of sustainable energy.20. A) Drive trains with solar energy.B) Upgrade the city’s train facilities.C) Build a new ten-kilometre railway line.D) Cut down the city’s energy consumption.21. A) Build a thank for keeping calcium oxide.B) Find a new material for storing energy.C) Recover super-heated steam.D) Collect carbon dioxide gas.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) The lack of supervision by both the national and local governments.B) The impact of the current economic crisis at home and abroad.C) The poor management of day centres and home help services.D) The poor relation between national health and social care services.23. A) It was mainly provided by voluntary services.B) It mainly caters to the needs of the privileged.C) It called for a sufficient number of volunteers.D) It has deteriorated over the past sixty years.24. A) Their longer lifespans.B) Fewer home helpers available.C) Their preference for private services.D) More of them suffering serious illnesses.25. A) They are unable to pay for health services.B) They have long been discriminated against.C) They are vulnerable to illnesses and diseases.D) They have contributed a great deal to society.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.Just off the coast of Southern California sits Santa Cruz Island, where a magical creature called the island fox 26 .A decade ago, this island’s ecosystem was in 27 . Wild pigs attracted golden eagles from the mainland, and those flying 28 crashed the fox population. So the Nature Conservancy launched a 29 war against the pigs, complete with helicopters and sharp shooters.And it worked. Today, federal agencies are pulling the island fox from the Endangered Species List. It’s the fastest-ever recovery of a mammal, joining peers like the Louisiana black bear as glowing successes in the history of theof invasive species here, from sheep to plants to the 31 Argentine ant. “Our philosophy with the island has always been, ‘OK, 32 the threats and let the island go back to what it was,’” says ecologist Christina Boser. And it appears to be working. Native plants are coming back, and the fox once again bounds about carefree.But keeping those foxes from harm will occupy Boser and her colleagues for years to come. You see, humans are still allowed on Santa Cruz Island, and they bring dogs. So Boser has to vaccinate her foxes against various diseases. “We’re obligated to keep a pulse on the population for at least five years after the foxes are delisted,” says Boser. That includes tagging the foxes and 33 their numbers to ensure nothing goes wrong.This is the story of the little fox that has come back, and the people who have 34 their lives to protecting it. This is the story of wildlife conservation in the age of mass 35 .Section BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.Do Parents Invade Children’s Privacy When They Post Photos Online?[A] When Katlyn Burbidge’s son was 6 years old, he was performing some ridiculous song and dance typical of afirst-grader. But after she snapped a photo and started using her phone, he asked her a serious question:“Are you going to post that online?” She laughed and answered, “Yes, I think I will.” What he said next stopped her. “Can you not?”[B] That’s when it dawned on her: She had been posting photos of him online without asking his permission. “We’re big advocates of bodily autonomy and not forcing him to hug or kiss people unless he wants to, but it never occurred to me that I should ask his permission to post photos of him online,” says Burbidge, a mom of two in Wakefield, Massachusetts. “Now when I post a photo of him online, I show him the photo and get his okay.”[C] When her 8-month-old is 3 or 4 years old, she plans to start asking him in an age-appropriate way, “Do you want other people to see this?” That’s precisely the approach that two researchers advocated before a room of pediatricians (儿科医生) last week at the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting, when they discussed the 21st century challenge of “sharenting,” a new term for parents’ online sharing about their children. “As advocates of children’s rights, we believe tha t children should have a voice about what information is shared about them if possible,” says Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in Gainesville.[D] Whether it’s ensuring that your child isn’t bullied over something you post, that their identity isn’t digitally “kidnapped”, or that their photos don’t end up on a half dozen child pornography (色情) sites, as one Australian mom discovered, parents and pediatricians are increasingly aware of the importance of protecting children’s digital presence. Steinberg and Bahareh Keith, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine, say most children will likely never experience problems related to what their parents share, but a tension still exists between parents’ rights to share their experiences and their children’s rights to privacy.[E] “We’re in no way trying to silence parents’ voices,” Steinberg says. “At the same time, we recognize that children might have an interest in entering adulthood free to create their own digital footprint.” They cited a study presented earliersays. “The children wanted autonomy about this issue and were worried about their parents sharing information about them.”[F] Although the American Academy of Pediatrics offers guidelines recommending that parents model appropriate social media use for their children, it does not explicitly discuss oversharing by parents. “I think this is a very legitimat e concern, and I appreciate their drawing our attention to it,” David Hill, a fat her of five, says. He sees a role for pediatricians to talk with parents about this, but believes the messaging must extend far beyond pediatricians’ offices. “I look forward to seeing researchers expand our understanding of the issue so we can translate i t into effective education and policy,” he says.[G] There’s been little research on the topic, Steinberg wrote in a law article about this issue. While states could pass laws related to sharing information about children online, Steinberg feels parents themselves are generally best suited to make these decisions for their families. “While we didn’t want to create any unnecessary panic, we did find some concerns that were troublesome, and we thought that parents or at least physicians should be aware of tho se potential risks,” Steinberg says. They include photos repurposed for inappropriate or illegal means, identity theft, embarrassment, bullying by peers or digital kidnapping.[H] But that’s the negative side, with risks that must be balanced against the b enefits of sharing. Steinberg pointed out that parental sharing on social media helps build communities, connect spread-out families, provide support and raise awareness around important social issues for which parents might be their children’s only voice.[I] A C.S. Mott survey found among the 56 percent of mothers and 34 percent of fathers who discussed parenting on social media, 72 percent of them said sharing made them feel less alone, and nearly as many said sharing helped them worry less and gave them advice from other parents. The most common topics they discussed included kids’ sleep, nutrition, discipline, behavior problems and day care and preschool.[J] “There’s this peer-to-peer nature of health care these days with a profound opportunity for parents to learn helpful tips, safety and prevention efforts, pro-vaccine messages and all kinds of other messages from other parents in their social communities,” says Wendy Sue Swanson, a pediatrician and executive director of digital health at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she blogs about her own parenting journey to help other parents. “They’re getting nurtured by people they’ve already selected that they trust,” she says.[K] “How do we weigh the risks, how do we think about the benefits, and how do we alleviate the risks?” she says. “Those are the questions we need to ask ourselves, and everyone can have a different answer.”[L] Some parents find the best route for them is not to share at all. Bridget O’Hanlon and her husband, who live in Cleveland, decided before their daughter was born that they would not post her photos online. When a few family members did post pictures, O’Hanlon and her husband made their wishes clear. “It’s been hard not to share pictures of her because people always want to know how babies and toddlers (学走路的孩子) are doing and to see pictures, but we made the decision to have social media while she did not,” O’Hanlon said. Similarly, Alison Jamison of New York decided with her husband that their child had a right to their own online identity. They did use an invitation-only photo sharing platform so that friends and family, including those far away, could see the photos, but they stood firm, simply refusing to put their child’s photos on other social media platforms.[M] “For most families, it’s a journey. Sometimes it goes wrong, but most of the time it doesn’t,” says Swanson, who recommends starting to ask children permission to post narratives or photos around ages 6 to 8. “We’ll learn more and more what our tolerance is. We can ask our kids to help us learn as a society what’s okay and what’s not.”[N] Indeed, that learning process goes both ways. Bria Dunham, a mother in Somerville, Massachusetts, was so excited to watch a moment of brotherly bonding while her first-grader and baby took a bath together that she snapped a few photos. But when she considered posting them online, she took the perspective of her son: How would he feel if his classmates’ parents saw photos of him chest-up in the bathtub? “It made me think about how I’m teaching him to have ownership of his own body and how what is shared today endures into the future,” Dunham says. “So I kept the pictures to myself and accepted this as one more step in supporting his increasing autonomy.”36. Steinberg argued parental sharing online can be beneficial.37. According to an expert, when children reach school age, they can help their parents learn what can and cannot bedone.38. One mother refrained from posting her son’s photos online when she considered the matter from her son’sperspective.39. According to a study, more children than parents think there should be rules on parents’ sharing.40. Katlyn Burbidge had never realized she had to ask her son’s approval to put his photos online.41. A mother decided not to post her son’s photo online when he asked her not to.42. A woman pediatrician tries to help other parents by sharing her own parenting experience.43. There are people who decide simply not to share their children’s photos online.44. Parents and physicians should realize sharing information online about children may involve risks.45. Parents who share their parenting experiences may find themselves intruding into their children’s privacy.Section CDirections: T here are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some question 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.Perhaps it is time for farmers to put their feet up now that robots are used to inspect crops, dig up weeds, and even have become shepherds, too. Commercial growing fields are astronomically huge and take thousands of man-hours to operate. One prime example is one of Australia’s most isolated cattle stations, Suplejack Downs in the Northern Territory, extending across 4,000 square kilometers, taking over 13 hours to reach by car from the nearest major town—Alice Springs.The extreme isolation of these massive farms leaves them often unattended, and monitored only once or twice a year, which means if the livestock falls ill or requires assistance, it can be a long time for farmers to discover.However, robots are coming to the rescue.Robots are currently under a two-year trial in Wales which will train “farmbots” to herd, monitor the health of livestock, and make sure there is enough pasture for them to graze on. The robots are equipped with many sensors to identify conditions of the environment, cattle and food, using thermal and vision sensors that detect changes in body temperature.“You’ve also got color, texture and shape sensors looking down at the ground to check pasture quality,” says Salah Sukkarieh of the University of Sydney, who will carry out trials on several farms in central New South Wales.During the trials, the robot algorithms (算法) and mechanics will be fine-tuned to make it better suited to ailing livestock and ensure it safely navigates around potential hazards including trees, mud, swamps, and hills.“We want to improve the quality of animal health and make it easier for farmers to maintain large landscapes where animals roam free,” says Sukkarieh.The robots are not limited to herding and monitoring livestock. They have been created to count individual fruit, inspect crops, and even pull weeds.Many robots are equipped with high-tech sensors and complex learning algorithms to avoid injuring humans as they work side by side. The robots also learn the most efficient and safest passages, and allow engineers and farmers to analyze and better optimize the attributes and tasks of the robot, as well as provide a live stream giving real-time feedback on exactly what is happening on the farms.Of course, some worry lies in replacing agricultural workers. However, it is farmers that are pushing for the advancements due to ever-increasing labor vacancies, making it difficult to maintain large-scale operations.The robots have provided major benefits to farmers in various ways, from hunting and pulling weeds to monitoring the condition of every single fruit. Future farms will likely experience a greater deal of autonomy as robots take up more and more farm work efficiently.46. What may farmers be able to do with robots appearing on the farming scene?A)Upgrade farm produceB) Enjoy more leisure hours.C) Modify the genes of crops.D) Cut down farming costs.47. What will “farmbots” be expected to do?A)Take up many of the farmers’ routines.B)Provide medical treatments for livestock.C)Lead the trend in farming the world over.D)Improve the quality of pastures for grazing.48. What can robots do when equipped with high-tech sensors and complex learning algorithms?A)Help farmers choose the most efficient and safest passages.B)Help farmers simplify their farming tasks and management.C)Allow farmers to learn instantly what is occurring on the farm.D)Allow farmers to give them real-time instructions on what to do.49. Why are farmers pressing for robotic farming?A)Farming costs are fast increasing.B)Robotics technology is maturing.C)Robotic farming is the trend.D)Labor short is worsening50. What does the author think future farms will be like?A)More and more automated.B)More and more productive.C)Larger and larger in scale.D)Better and better in condition.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passageThe public must be able to understand the basics of science to make informed decisions. Perhaps the most dramatic example of the negative consequences of poor communication between scientists and the public is the issue of climate change, where a variety of factors, not the least of which is a breakdown in the transmission of fundamental climate data to the general public, has contributed to widespread mistrust and misunderstanding of scientists and their research.The issue of climate change also illustrates how the public acceptance and understanding of science (or the lack of it) can influence governmental decision-making with regard to regulation, science policy and research funding.However, the importance of effective communication with a general audience is not limited to hot issues like climate change. It is also critical for socially charged neuroscience issues such as the genetic basis for a particular behavior, the therapeutic potential of stem cell therapy for neurodegenerative diseases, or the use of animal models, areas where the public understanding of science can also influence policy and funding decisions. Furthermore, with continuing advances in individual genome (基因组) sequencing and the advent of personalized medicine, more non-scientists will need to be comfortable analyzing complex scientific information to make decisions that directly affect their quality of life.Science journalism is the main channel for the popularization of scientific information among the public. Much has been written about how the relationship between scientists and the media can shape the efficient transmission of scientific advances to the public. Good science journalists are specialists in making complex topics accessible to a general audience, while adhering to scientific accuracy.Unfortunately, pieces of science journalism can also oversimplify and generalize their subject material to the point that the basic information conveyed is obscured or at worst, obviously wrong. The impact of a basic discovery on human health can be exaggerated so that the public thinks a miraculous cure is a few months to years away when in reality the significance of the study is far more limited.Even though scientists play a part in transmitting information to journalists and ultimately the public, too often the blame for ineffective communication is placed on the side of the journalists. We believe that at least part of the problem lies in places other than the interaction between scientists and members of the media, and exists because for one thing we underestimate how difficult it is for scientists to communicate effectively with a diversity of audiences, and for another most scientists do not receive formal training in science communication.51. What does the example of climate change serve to show?A)The importance of climate data is increasingly recognized.B)Adequate government funding is vital to scientific research.C)Government regulation helps the public understand science.D)Common folks’ scientific knowledge can sway policy making.52. What should non-scientists do to ensure their quality of life?A)Seek personalized medical assistance from doctors.B)Acquire a basic understanding of medical science.C)Have their individual genome sequenced.D)Make informed use of animal models.53.Why is it important for scientists to build a good relationship with the media?A)It helps them to effectively popularize new scientific information.B)It enables the public to develop a positive attitude toward science.C)It helps them to establish a more positive public image.D)It enables them to apply their findings to public health.54.What does the author say is the problem with science journalism?A)It is keen on transmitting sensational information.B)It tends to oversimplify people’s health problems.C)It may give inaccurate or distorted information to the public.D)It may provide information open to different interpretations.55.What should scientists do to impart their latest findings to the public more effectively?A)Give training to science journalists.B)Stimulate public interest in science.C)Seek timely assistance from the media.D)Improve their communication skills.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.近年来，中国越来越多的博物馆免费向公众开放。

【导语】2018年12⽉英语六级考试已结束，四六级频道在考后特别整理了2018年12⽉英语六级真题及答案【完整版】，仅供⼤家参考，祝⼤家顺利通过六级考试！温馨提⽰：“考试采取“多题多卷”模式，试题顺序不统⼀，请依据试题进⾏核对。

” 2018年12⽉英语六级真题答案完整版：卷⼀写作 For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance academic study and extracurricular activities。

You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words。

第⼀段：学术学习和课外活动同等重要 第⼆段：分析重要性的原因。

第三段：得出结论。

It is generally agreed that academic study has been playing a crucial role in students’ life。

Nevertheless， we should not neglect the equal importance of extracurricular activities which can help us to build confidence and enhance overall abilities。

A number of factors might account for participating in both academic study and extracurricular activities。

With respect to academic study， one of the most common factors is to facilitate our academic competence。

Part I. Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the challenges of studying abroad. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part II. Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section A News ReportDirections：In this section，you will hear three news reports。

At the end of each news report，you will hear two or three questions。

Both the news report 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 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1.A) A man was pulled to safety after a building collapse.B) A beam about ten feet long collapsed to the ground.C) A rescue worker got trapped in the basement.D) A deserted 100-year-old building caught fire.2.A) He suffered a fatal injury in an accident.B) He once served in a fire department.C) He was collecting building materials.D) He moved into his neighbor's old house.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3.A) Improve the maths skills of high school teachers.B) Change British people's negative view of maths.C) Help British people understand their paychecks.D) Launch a campaign to promote maths teaching.4.A) Children take maths courses at an earlier age.B) The public sees the value of maths in their life.C) British people know how to do elementary calculations.D) Primary school teachers understand basic maths concepts.Questions 5 and 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5.A) He owns a fleet of aircraft.B) He is learning to be a pilot.C) He regards his royal duties as a burden.D) He held a part-time job for over 20 years.6.A) He can demonstrate his superior piloting skills.B) He can change his focus of attention and relax.C) He can show his difference from other royalty.D) He can come into closer contact with his people.7.A) They enjoyed his company.B) They liked him in his uniform.C) They rarely recognised him.D) They were surprised to see him.Section B ConversationDirections：In this section，you will hear two long conversations。

2018年12月英语六级考试真题及答案(完整版第2套)Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance job responsibilities and personal interests. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________How to Balance Job Responsibilities and Personal InterestsIn today's highly competitive environment, the heavy workload makes people out of breath and leaves them no time for their hobbies. Therefore, learning to balance job responsibilities and personal interests is of great significance for modern people. Here are some suggestions which can help us achieve the balance. In the first place, we should be aware that although work duties are our first priority, it doesn't mean that we cannot explore personal interests. Secondly, it's important to realize that beneficial activities off work help us get relaxed. We can transfer our focus from busy work by reading an interesting book or listening to music, thereby getting our intense nerves calm down. What's more, find enough time to develop our hobbies by finishing the task on time. We should arrange our time reasonably and complete our daily work efficiently, which will give us more freedom to allocate time to pursue personal interests.In sum, it is absolutely do-able to strike a balance between full-time work and personal hobbies as long as we realize the benefit of cultivating培养interests and the importance of reasonable time arrangement.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) Stop worrying about him.B) Keep away from the statue.C) Take a picture拍照、照相of him.D) Pat on a smile for the photo.2. A) Gaining great fame名声、名望on the Internet.B) Publishing a collection of his photos.C) Collecting the best photos in the world.D) Becoming a professional photographer.3. A) Surfing various websites and collecting photos.B) Editing his pictures and posting them online.C) Following similar accounts to compare notes.D) Studying the pictures in popular social media.4. A) They are far from satisfactory.B) They are mostly taken by her mom.C) They make an impressive album.D) They record her fond memories.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) A journal reporting the latest progress in physics.B) An introductory course of modem physics.C) An occasion for physicists to exchange ideas.D) A series of interviews with outstanding physicists.6. A) The future of the physical world.B) The origin of the universe.C) Sources of radiation.D) Particle theory.7. A) How matter collides with anti-matter.B) Whether the universe will turn barren.C) Why there exists anti-matter.D) Why there is a universe at all8. A) Matter and anti-matter are opposites of each other.B) Anti-matter allowed humans to come into existence.C) The universe formed due to a sufficient amount of matter.D) Anti-matter exists in very high-temperature environments.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) She found herself speaking a foreign language.B) She woke up speaking with a different accent.C) She found some symptoms of her illness gone.D) She woke up finding herself in another country.10. A) It is usually caused by a stroke中风、行程or brain injury脑损伤.B) It has not yet found any effective treatment.C) It leaves the patient with a distorted memory.D) It often happens to people with speech defects.11. A) British.B) Irish.C) Russian.D) Australian.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) Water sports.B) Racing in rivers.C) Stories about women swimmers.D) Books about swimming.13. A) She succeeded in swimming across the English Channel.B) She published a guide to London's best swimming spots.C) She told her story of adventures to some young swimmers.D) She wrote a book about the history of swimwear in the UK.14. A) They loved vacationing on the seashore.B) They had a unique notion of modesty.C) They were prohibited from swimming.D) They were fully dressed when swimming.15. A) She designed lots of appropriate swimwear for women.B) She once successfully competed against men in swimming.C) She was the first woman to swim across the English Channel英吉利海峡.D) She was an advocate of women's right to swim in public pools.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) Build a machine that can detect侦查、发现lies谎言.B) Develop a magnetic brain scanner.C) Test the credibility of court evidence.D) Win people's complete trust in them.17. A) They are optimistic about its potential.B) They are sceptical of its reliability.C) They think it is but business promotion.D) They celebrate it with great enthusiasm.18. A) It is not to be trusted at all.B) It does not sound economical.C) It may intrude into people's privacy.D) It may lead to overuse in court trials.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) Most of its residents speak several languages.B) Some of its indigenous languages are dying out.C) Each village there speaks a totally different language.D) Its languages have interested researchers the world over.20. A) They are spread randomly across the world.B) Some are more difficult to learn than others.C) More are found in tropical热带的regions than in the mild温和zones.D) They enrich and impact each other in more ways than one.21. A) They used different methods to collect and analyze data.B) They identified distinct patterns of language distribution.C) Their conclusions do not correspond to their original hypotheses.D) There is no conclusive决定性的account说明、解释for the cause of language diversity多样性、多元化. Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) Its middle-class中层阶级、中等的is disappearing消失.B) Its wealth is rationally distributed.C) Its population is rapidly growing.D) Its cherished dream is coming true.23. A) Success was but a dream without conscientious effort.B) They could realize their dreams through hard work.C) A few dollars could go a long way.D) Wealth was shared by all citizens.24. A) Better working conditions.B) Better-paying jobs.C) High social status.D) Full employment.25. A) Reduce the administrative costs.B) Adopt effective business models.C) Hire part-time employees only.D) Make use of the latest technology.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.Surfing the Internet during class doesn't just steal focus from the educator；it also hurts students who're already struggling to _F_26_ grasp_ the material. A new study from Michigan State University, though, argues that all students—including high achievers—see a decline in performance when they browse the Internet during class for non-academic purposes.To measure the effects of Internet-based distractions during class, researchers _C_27_evaluated_ 500 students taking an introductory psychology class at Michigan State University. Researchers used ACT scores as a measure of intellectual _A_28_aptitude (天才、天资）_ Because previous research has shown that people with high intellectual abilities are better at _E_29_filtering_ out distractions, researchers believed students with high ACT scores would not show a _M_30_significant_ decrease in performancedue to their use of digital devices. But students who surfed the web during class did worse on their exams regardless of their ACT scores, suggesting that even the academically smartest students are harmed when they're distracted in class.College professors are increasingly _K_31_raising_ alarm bells about the effects smartphones, laptops, and tablets have on academic performance. One 2013 study of college students found that 80% of students use their phones or laptops during class, with the average student checking their digital device 11 times in a _O_32_typical_ class. A quarter of students report that their use of digital devices during class causes their grades to _N_33_suffer_.Professors sometimes implement policies designed to _H_34_minimize_ students' use of digital devices, and world where people are increasingly some instructors even confiscate (没收）tablets and phones. In dependent on their phones, though, such strategies often fail. One international study found that 84% of people say they couldn't go a day without their smartphones. Until students are able to _L_35_resist抵抗、抗拒_ the pull of social networking, texting, and endlessly surfing the web, they may continue to straggle in their classes.A) aptitude B) eradication C) evaluated D) evaporated E) filtering F) grasp G) legacy H) minimize I) obscure J) obsess K) raising L) resist M) significant N) suffer O) typicalSection 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 Pioneering Woman of Science Re-Emerges after 300 YearsA) Maria Sibylla Merian, like many European women of the 17th century, stayed busy managing a household and rearing children. But on top of that, Merian, a German-born woman who lived in the Netherlands, also managed a successful career as an artist, botanist, naturalist and entomologist (昆虫学家).B) "She was a scientist on the level with a lot of people we spend a lot of time talking about," said Kay Etheridge, a biologist at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania who has been studying the scientific history of Merian's work. "She didn't do as much to change biology as Charles Darwin, but she was significant. "C) At a time when natural history was a valuable tool for discovery, Merian discovered facts about plants and insects that were not previously known. Her observations helped dismiss the popular belief that insects spontaneously emerged from mud. The knowledge she collected over decades didn't just satisfy those curious about nature, but also provided valuable insights into medicine and science. She was the first to bring together insects and their habitats, including food they ate, into a single ecological composition.D) After years of pleasing a fascinated audience across Europe with books of detailed descriptions and life-size paintings of familiar insects, in 1699 she sailed with her daughter nearly 5, 000 miles from the Netherlands to South America to study insects in the jungles of what is now known as Suriname. She was 52 years old. The result was her masterpiece, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium.E) In her work, she revealed a side of nature so exotic, dramatic and valuable to Europeans of the time that she received much acclaim. But a century later, her findings came under scientific criticism. Shoddy （粗糙的）reproductions of her work along with setbacks to women's roles in 18th- and 19th- century Europe resulted in her efforts being largely forgotten. "It was kind of stunning when she sort of dropped off into oblivion（遗忘）," said Dr. Etheridge. "Victorians started putting women in a box, and they're still trying to crawl out of it."F) Today, the pioneering woman of the sciences has re-emerged. In recent years, feminists，historians and artists have all praised Merian's tenacity（坚韧）, talent and inspirational artistic compositions. And now biologists like Dr. Etheridge are digging into the scientific texts that accompanied her art. Three hundred years after her death, Merian will be celebrated at an international symposium in Amsterdam this June.G) And last month, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium was republished. It contains 60 plates (插图）and original descriptions, along with stories about Merian's life and updated scientific descriptions. Before writing Metamorphosis, Merian spent decades documenting European plants and insects that she published in a series of books. She began in her 20s, making textless, decorative paintings of flowers with insects. "Then she got really serious," Dr. Etheridge said. Merian started raising insects at home, mostly butterflies and caterpillars. "She would sit up all night until they came out of the pupa (桶）so she could draw them," she said.H) The results of her decades' worth of careful observations were detailed paintings and descriptions of European insects, followed by unconventional visuals and stories of insects and animals from a land that most at the time could only imagine. It's possible Merian used a magnifying glass to capture the detail of the split tongues of sphinx moths (斯芬克斯飞蛾）depicted in the painting. She wrote that the two tongues combine to form one tube for drinking nectar (花蜜）. Some criticized this detail later, saying there was just one tongue, but Merian wasn't wrong. She may have observed the adult moth just as it emerged from its pupa. For a brief moment during that stage of its life cycle, the tongue consists of two tiny half-tubes before merging into one.I) It may not have been ladylike to depict a giant spider devouring a hummingbird, but when Merian did it at the turn of the 18th century, surprisingly, nobody objected. Dr. Etheridge called it revolutionary. The image, which also contained novel descriptions of ants, fascinated a European audience that was more concerned with the exotic story unfolding before them than the gender of the person who painted it.J) "All of these things shook up their nice, neat little view," Dr. Etheridge said. But later, people of the Victorian era thought differently. Her work had been reproduced, sometimes incorrectly. A few observations were deemed impossible. "She'd been called a silly woman for saying that a spider could eat a bird," Dr. Etheridge said. But Henry Walter Bates, a friend of Charles Darwin, observed it and put it in book in 1863, proving Merian was correct.K) In the same plate, Merian depicted and described leaf-cutter ants for the first time. "In America there are large ants which can eat whole trees bare as a broom handle in a single night, she wrote in the description. Merian noted how the ants took the leaves below ground to their young. And she wouldn't have known this at the time, but the ants use the leaves to farm fungi (菌类）underground to feed their developing babies.L) Merian was correct about the giant bird-eating spiders, ants building bridges with their bodies and other details. But in the same drawing, she incorrectly lumped together army and leaf-cutter ants. Andinstead of showing just the typical pair of eggs in a hummingbird nest, she painted four. She made other mistakes in Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium as well: not every caterpillar and butterfly matched.M) Perhaps one explanation for her mistakes is that she cut short her Suriname trip after getting sick, and completed the book at home in Amsterdam. And errors are common among some of history's most- celebrated scientific minds, too. "These errors no more invalidate Ms. Merian's work than do well- known misconceptions published by Charles Darwin or Isaac Newton, " Dr. Etheridge wrote in a paper that argued that too many have wrongly focused on the mistakes of her work.N) Merian's paintings inspired artists and ecologists. In an 1801 drawing from his book, General Zoology Amphibia, George Shaw, an English botanist and zoologist, credited Merian for describing a frog in the account of her South American expedition, and named the young tree frog after her in his portrayal of it. It wouldn't be fair to give Merian all the credit. She received assistance naming plants, making sketches and referencing the work of others. Her daughters helped her color her drawings.O) Merian also made note of the help she received from the natives of Suriname, as well as slaves or servants that assisted her. In some instances she wrote moving passages that included her helpers in descriptions. As she wrote in her description of the peacock flower, "The Indians, who are not treated well by their Dutch masters, use the seeds to abort their children, so that they will not become slaves like themselves. The black slaves from Guinea and Angola have demanded to be well treated, threatening to refuse to have children. In fact, they sometimes take their own lives because they are treated so badly, and because they believe they will be born again, free and living in their own land. They told me this themselves. "P) Londa Schiebinger, a professor of the history of science at Stanford University, called this passage rather astonishing. It's particularly striking centuries later when these issues are still prominent in public discussions about social justice and women's rights. "She was ahead of her time," Dr. Etheridge said.36. Merian was the first scientist to study a type of American ant. K37. The European audience was more interested in Merian's drawings than her gender.I38. Merian's masterpiece came under attack a century after its publication.E39. Merian's mistakes in her drawings may be attributed to her shortened stay in South America.M40. Merian often sat up the whole night through to observe and draw insects.G41. Merian acknowledged the help she got from natives of South America.O42. Merian contributed greatly to people's better understanding of medicine and science.C43. Merian occasionally made mistakes in her drawings of insects and birds.L44. Now, Merian's role as a female forerunner in sciences has been re-established.F45. Merian made a long voyage to South America to study jungle insects over three centuries ago.DSection 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.While human achievements in mathematics continue to reach new levels of complexity, many of us who aren't mathematicians at heart (or engineers by trade) may struggle to remember the last time we used calculus (微积分）.It's a fact not lost on American educators, who amid rising math failure rates are debating how math can better meet the real-life needs of students. Should we change the way math is taught in schools, or eliminate some courses entirely?Andrew Hacker, Queens College political science professor, thinks that advanced algebra and other higher-level math should be cut from curricula in favor of courses with more routine usefulness, like statistics."We hear on all sides that we're not teaching enough mathematics, and the Chinese are running rings around us," Hacker says. "I'm suggesting we're teaching too much mathematics to too many people. . . not everybody has to know calculus. If you're going to become an aeronautical (航空的）engineer, fine. But most of us aren't."Instead, Hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at Queens College：Numeracy 101. There, his students of "citizen statistics" learn to analyze public information like the federal budget and corporate reports. Such courses, Hacker argues, are a remedy for the numerical illiteracy of adults who have completed high-level math like algebra but are unable to calculate the price of, say, a carpet by area.Hacker's argument has met with opposition from other math educators who say what's needed is to help students develop a better relationship with math earlier, rather than teaching them less math altogether.Maria Droujkova is a founder of Natural Math, and has taught basic calculus concepts to 5-year-olds. For Droujkova, high-level math is important, and what it could use in American classrooms is an injection of childlike wonder."Make mathematics more available," Droujkova says. "Redesign it so it's more accessible to more kinds of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had bad experiences. "Pamela Harris, a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, has a similar perspective. Harris says that American education is suffering from an epidemic of "fake math"一an emphasis on rote memorization (死记硬背）of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how math can influence the ways we see the world.Andrew Hacker, for the record, remains skeptical."I'm going to leave it to those who are in mathematics to work out the ways to make their subject interesting and exciting so students want to take it," Hacker says. "All that I ask is that alternatives be offered instead of putting all of us on the road to calculus. "46. What does the author say about ordinary Americans?A) They struggle to solve math problems.B) They think math is a complex subject.C) They find high-level math of little use.D) They work hard to learn high-level math.47. What is the general complaint about America's math education according to Hacker?A) America is not doing as well as China.B) Math professors are not doing a good job.C) It doesn't help students develop their literacy.D) There has hardly been any innovation for years.48. What does Andrew Hacker's Numeracy 101 aim to do?A) Allow students to learn high-level math step by step.B) Enable students to make practical use of basic math.C) Lay a solid foundation for advanced math studies.D) Help students to develop their analytical abilities.49. What does Maria Droujkova suggest math teachers do in class?A) Make complex concepts easy to understand.B) Start teaching children math at an early age.C) Help children work wonders with calculus.D) Try to arouse students' curiosity in math.50. What does Pamela Harris think should be the goal of math education?A) To enable learners to understand the world better.B) To help learners to tell fake math from real math.C) To broaden Americans' perspectives on math.D) To exert influence on world development.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.For years, the U. S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then.So what's the solution? Robots.Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend. Toyohashi University of Technology has developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. This type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact.Robots capable of social engagement help with loneliness as well as cognitive functioning, but the robot itself doesn't have to engage directly—it can serve as an intermediary for human communication. Telepresence robots such as MantaroBot, Vgo, and Giraff can be controlled through a computer, smartphone, or tablet, allowing family members or doctors to remotely monitor patients or Skype them, often via a screen where the robot's ' face' would be. If you can't get to the nursing home to visit grandma, you can use a telepresence robot to hang out with her. A 2016 study found that users had a "consistently positive attitude" about the Giraff robot's ability to enhance communication and decrease feelings of loneliness.A robot's appearance affects its ability to successfully interact with humans, which is why the RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research decided to develop a robotic nurse that looks like a huge teddy bear. RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance), also known as ‘Robear', can help patients into and out of wheelchairs and beds with its strong arms.On the less cute and more scary side there is Actroid F, which is so human-like that some patients may not know the difference. This conversational robot companion has cameras in its eyes, which allow it to track patients and use appropriate facial expressions and body language in its interactions. During a month- long hospital trial, researchers asked 70 patients how they felt being around the robot and "only three or four said they didn't like having it around."It's important to note that robotic nurses don't decide courses of treatment or make diagnoses (though robot doctors and surgeons may not be far off). Instead, they perform routine and laborious tasks, freeing nurses up to attend to patients with immediate needs. This is one industry where it seems the integration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement.51. What does the author say about Japan?A) It delivers the best medications for the elderly.B) It takes the lead in providing robotic care.C) It provides retraining for registered nurses.D) It sets the trend in future robotics technology.52. What do we learn about the robot Terapio?A) It has been put to use in many Japanese hospitals.B) It provides specific individualized care to patients.C) It does not have much direct contact with patients.D) It has not revolutionized medical service in Japan.53. What are telepresence robots designed to do?A) Directly interact with patients to prevent them from feeling lonely.B) Cater to the needs of patients for recovering their cognitive capacity.C) Closely monitor the patients' movements and conditions around the clock.D) Facilitate communication between patients and doctors or family members.54. What is one special feature of the robot Actroid F?A) It interacts with patients just like a human companion.B) It operates quietly without patients realizing its presence.C) It likes to engage in everyday conversations with patients.D) It uses body language even more effectively than words.55. What can we infer from the last paragraph?A) Doctors and surgeons will soon be laid off.B) The robotics industry will soon take off.C) Robots will not make nurses redundant.D) Collaboration will not replace competition.Part IV Translation (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.中国越来越重视公共图书馆，并鼓励人们充分加以利用。

2018年12月大学英语六级真题（第二套）2018年12月大学英语六级真题（第二套）(总分：710.00，做题时间：150分钟)一、Part Ⅰ Writing(总题数：1，分数：106.50)Directions ：For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance job responsibilities and personal interests. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.（分数：106.50）________________________________________________________________ __________________________ 正确答案：(Work is a means of livelihood for most people, while personal interests often add spice to one's life. Both are beyond dispute indispensable for leading a fulfilling life. But it is far from easy to achieve a trade-off between them.It requires, above all, full and proper use of work time. More exactly, people should follow their work plans and make a concentrated effort to complete their assignments. Being productive at work, in fact, not only benefits your career development, but also saves you plenty of time and energy to explore private interests. Once you find your favorite pastimes, try to make them part of your life, lest you idle such hard-won free time away. Movie fans, for example, can spend one hour or more watching films each weeknight and share their comments via social media on weekends.A better approach, of course, is to seek a job or start a business closely related to one's hobbies, though it is less practical for most people. But at any rate, it is inadvisable to be distracted by personal interests at work or to be a workaholic.)解析：二、Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension(总题数：0，分数：0.00)Section A(总题数：2，分数：56.80)Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.（分数：28.4）Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.（分数：28.4）(1).（分数：7.1）A.Stop worrying about him.B.Keep away from the statue.C.Take a picture of him. √D.Put on a smile for the photo.解析：听力原文：Conversation One对话 1M: Do you mind taking my photo with the statueover there?I think it will mak e a great shot.男：能不能帮我和那边的雕像照张相？我觉得这会是一个很棒的照片。

Listening ComprehensionPartSection ANews Report OneRescue crews pulled a man to safety after a collapse at a construction site in Brooklyn on Tuesday.The incident happened on the400block of Rutland Road just after12:30 p.m.The fire department of New York says the vacant100-year-old building being pulled down partially collapsed.A man described as a“non-worker civilian”was buried up to his waist in the basement.The man was collecting building materials when the first floor collapsed underneath him.He was trapped under a beam about10 feet below the surface for nearly an hour and a half.The man was then taken to hospital.Officials said he's in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.The building was reportedly purchased by a neighboring church in2011.It was the site of a2006fire and has remained vacant ever since.周二，布鲁克林区一处建筑工地发生了坍塌事故后，救援队将一名男子救至安全地带。

2018年12月英语六级考试真题及答案(完整版第2套)Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance job responsibilities and personal interests. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________How to Balance Job Responsibilities and Personal InterestsIn today's highly competitive environment, the heavy workload makes people out of breath and leaves them no time for their hobbies. Therefore, learning to balance job responsibilities and personal interests is of great significance for modern people. Here are some suggestions which can help us achieve the balance. In the first place, we should be aware that although work duties are our first priority, it doesn't mean that we cannot explore personal interests. Secondly, it's important to realize that beneficial activities off work help us get relaxed. We can transfer our focus from busy work by reading an interesting book or listening to music, thereby getting our intense nerves calm down. What's more, find enough time to develop our hobbies by finishing the task on time. We should arrange our time reasonably and complete our daily work efficiently, which will give us more freedom to allocate time to pursue personal interests.In sum, it is absolutely do-able to strike a balance between full-time work and personal hobbies as long as we realize the benefit of cultivating培养interests and the importance of reasonable time arrangement.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) Stop worrying about him.B) Keep away from the statue.C) Take a picture拍照、照相of him.D) Pat on a smile for the photo.2. A) Gaining great fame名声、名望on the Internet.B) Publishing a collection of his photos.C) Collecting the best photos in the world.D) Becoming a professional photographer.3. A) Surfing various websites and collecting photos.B) Editing his pictures and posting them online.C) Following similar accounts to compare notes.D) Studying the pictures in popular social media.4. A) They are far from satisfactory.B) They are mostly taken by her mom.C) They make an impressive album.D) They record her fond memories.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. A) A journal reporting the latest progress in physics.B) An introductory course of modem physics.C) An occasion for physicists to exchange ideas.D) A series of interviews with outstanding physicists.6. A) The future of the physical world.B) The origin of the universe.C) Sources of radiation.D) Particle theory.7. A) How matter collides with anti-matter.B) Whether the universe will turn barren.C) Why there exists anti-matter.D) Why there is a universe at all8. A) Matter and anti-matter are opposites of each other.B) Anti-matter allowed humans to come into existence.C) The universe formed due to a sufficient amount of matter.D) Anti-matter exists in very high-temperature environments.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) She found herself speaking a foreign language.B) She woke up speaking with a different accent.C) She found some symptoms of her illness gone.D) She woke up finding herself in another country.10. A) It is usually caused by a stroke中风、行程or brain injury脑损伤.B) It has not yet found any effective treatment.C) It leaves the patient with a distorted memory.D) It often happens to people with speech defects.11. A) British.B) Irish.C) Russian.D) Australian.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.12. A) Water sports.B) Racing in rivers.C) Stories about women swimmers.D) Books about swimming.13. A) She succeeded in swimming across the English Channel.B) She published a guide to London's best swimming spots.C) She told her story of adventures to some young swimmers.D) She wrote a book about the history of swimwear in the UK.14. A) They loved vacationing on the seashore.B) They had a unique notion of modesty.C) They were prohibited from swimming.D) They were fully dressed when swimming.15. A) She designed lots of appropriate swimwear for women.B) She once successfully competed against men in swimming.C) She was the first woman to swim across the English Channel英吉利海峡.D) She was an advocate of women's right to swim in public pools.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) Build a machine that can detect侦查、发现lies谎言.B) Develop a magnetic brain scanner.C) Test the credibility of court evidence.D) Win people's complete trust in them.17. A) They are optimistic about its potential.B) They are sceptical of its reliability.C) They think it is but business promotion.D) They celebrate it with great enthusiasm.18. A) It is not to be trusted at all.B) It does not sound economical.C) It may intrude into people's privacy.D) It may lead to overuse in court trials.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. A) Most of its residents speak several languages.B) Some of its indigenous languages are dying out.C) Each village there speaks a totally different language.D) Its languages have interested researchers the world over.20. A) They are spread randomly across the world.B) Some are more difficult to learn than others.C) More are found in tropical热带的regions than in the mild温和zones.D) They enrich and impact each other in more ways than one. ？21. A) They used different methods to collect and analyze data.B) They identified distinct patterns of language distribution.C) Their conclusions do not correspond to their original hypotheses.D) There is no conclusive决定性的account说明、解释for the cause of language diversity多样性、多元化.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.22. A) Its middle-class中层阶级、中等的is disappearing消失.B) Its wealth is rationally distributed.C) Its population is rapidly growing.D) Its cherished dream is coming true.23. A) Success was but a dream without conscientious effort.B) They could realize their dreams through hard work.C) A few dollars could go a long way.D) Wealth was shared by all citizens.24. A) Better working conditions.B) Better-paying jobs.C) High social status.D) Full employment.25. A) Reduce the administrative costs.B) Adopt effective business models.C) Hire part-time employees only.D) Make use of the latest technology.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.Surfing the Internet during class doesn't just steal focus from the educator；it also hurts students who're already struggling to _F_26_ grasp_ the material. A new study from Michigan State University, though, argues that all students—including high achievers—see a decline in performance when they browse the Internet during class for non-academic purposes.To measure the effects of Internet-based distractions during class, researchers _C_27_evaluated_ 500 students taking an introductory psychology class at Michigan State University. Researchers used ACT scores as a measure of intellectual_A_28_aptitude (天才、天资）_ Because previous research has shown that people with high intellectual abilities are better at _E_29_filtering_ out distractions, researchers believed students with high ACT scores would not show a _M_30_significant_ decrease in performance due to their use of digital devices. But students who surfed the web during class did worse on their exams regardless of their ACT scores, suggesting that even the academically smartest students are harmed when they're distracted in class.College professors are increasingly _K_31_raising_ alarm bells about the effects smartphones, laptops, and tablets have on academic performance. One 2013 study of college students found that 80% of students use their phones or laptops during class, with the average student checking their digital device 11 times in a _O_32_typical_ class. A quarter of students report that their use of digital devices during class causes their grades to _N_33_suffer_.Professors sometimes implement policies designed to _H_34_minimize_ students' use of digital devices, and world where people are increasingly some instructors even confiscate (没收）tablets and phones. In dependent on their phones, though, such strategies often fail. One international study found that 84% of people say they couldn't go a day without their smartphones. Until students are able to _L_35_resist抵抗、抗拒_ the pull of social networking, texting, and endlessly surfing the web, they may continue to straggle in their classes.A) aptitude B) eradication C) evaluated D) evaporated E) filtering F) grasp G) legacy H) minimize I) obscure J) obsess K) raising L) resist M) significant N) suffer O) typicalSection 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 Pioneering Woman of Science Re-Emerges after 300 YearsA) Maria Sibylla Merian, like many European women of the 17th century, stayed busy managing a household and rearing children. But on top of that, Merian, a German-born woman who lived in the Netherlands, also managed a successful career as an artist, botanist, naturalist and entomologist (昆虫学家).B) "She was a scientist on the level with a lot of people we spend a lot of time talking about," said Kay Etheridge, a biologist at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania who has been studying the scientific history of Merian's work. "She didn't do as much to change biology as Charles Darwin, but she was significant. "C) At a time when natural history was a valuable tool for discovery, Merian discovered facts about plants and insects that were not previously known. Her observations helped dismiss the popular belief that insects spontaneously emerged from mud. Theknowledge she collected over decades didn't just satisfy those curious about nature, but also provided valuable insights into medicine and science. She was the first to bring together insects and their habitats, including food they ate, into a single ecological composition.D) After years of pleasing a fascinated audience across Europe with books of detailed descriptions and life-size paintings of familiar insects, in 1699 she sailed with her daughter nearly 5, 000 miles from the Netherlands to South America to study insects in the jungles of what is now known as Suriname. She was 52 years old. The result was her masterpiece, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium.E) In her work, she revealed a side of nature so exotic, dramatic and valuable to Europeans of the time that she received much acclaim. But a century later, her findings came under scientific criticism. Shoddy（粗糙的）reproductions of her work along with setbacks to women's roles in 18th- and 19th- century Europe resulted in her efforts being largely forgotten. "It was kind of stunning when she sort of dropped off into oblivion（遗忘）," said Dr. Etheridge. "Victorians started putting women in a box, and they're still trying to crawl out of it."F) Today, the pioneering woman of the sciences has re-emerged. In recent years, feminists，historians and artists have all praised Merian's tenacity（坚韧）, talent and inspirational artistic compositions. And now biologists like Dr. Etheridge are digging into the scientific texts that accompanied her art. Three hundred years after her death, Merian will be celebrated at an international symposium in Amsterdam this June.G) And last month, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium was republished. It contains 60 plates (插图）and original descriptions, along with stories about Merian's life and updated scientific descriptions. Before writing Metamorphosis, Merian spent decades documenting European plants and insects that she published in a series of books. She began in her 20s, making textless, decorative paintings of flowers with insects. "Then she got really serious," Dr. Etheridge said. Merian started raising insects at home, mostly butterflies and caterpillars. "She would sit up all night until they came out of the pupa (桶）so she could draw them," she said.H) The results of her decades' worth of careful observations were detailed paintings and descriptions of European insects, followed by unconventional visuals and stories of insects and animals from a land that most at the time could only imagine. It's possible Merian used a magnifying glass to capture the detail of the split tongues of sphinx moths (斯芬克斯飞蛾）depicted in the painting. She wrote that the two tongues combine to form one tube for drinking nectar (花蜜）. Some criticized this detail later, saying there was just one tongue, but Merian wasn't wrong. She may have observed the adult moth just as it emerged from its pupa. For a brief moment during that stage of its life cycle, the tongue consists of two tiny half-tubes before merging into one.I) It may not have been ladylike to depict a giant spider devouring a hummingbird, but when Merian did it at the turn of the18th century, surprisingly, nobody objected. Dr. Etheridge called it revolutionary. The image, which also contained novel descriptions of ants, fascinated a European audience that was more concerned with the exotic story unfolding before them than the gender of the person who painted it.J) "All of these things shook up their nice, neat little view," Dr. Etheridge said. But later, people of the Victorian era thought differently. Her work had been reproduced, sometimes incorrectly. A few observations were deemed impossible. "She'd beencalled a silly woman for saying that a spider could eat a bird," Dr. Etheridge said. But Henry Walter Bates, a friend of Charles Darwin, observed it and put it in book in 1863, proving Merian was correct.K) In the same plate, Merian depicted and described leaf-cutter ants for the first time. "In America there are large ants which can eat whole trees bare as a broom handle in a single night, she wrote in the description. Merian noted how the ants took the leaves below ground to their young. And she wouldn't have known this at the time, but the ants use the leaves to farm fungi (菌类）underground to feed their developing babies.L) Merian was correct about the giant bird-eating spiders, ants building bridges with their bodies and other details. But in the same drawing, she incorrectly lumped together army and leaf-cutter ants. And instead of showing just the typical pair of eggs in a hummingbird nest, she painted four. She made other mistakes in Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium as well: not every caterpillar and butterfly matched.M) Perhaps one explanation for her mistakes is that she cut short her Suriname trip after getting sick, and completed the book at home in Amsterdam. And errors are common among some of history's most- celebrated scientific minds, too. "These errors no more invalidate Ms. Merian's work than do well- known misconceptions published by Charles Darwin or Isaac Newton, " Dr. Etheridge wrote in a paper that argued that too many have wrongly focused on the mistakes of her work.N) Merian's paintings inspired artists and ecologists. In an 1801 drawing from his book, General Zoology Amphibia, George Shaw, an English botanist and zoologist, credited Merian for describing a frog in the account of her South American expedition, and named the young tree frog after her in his portrayal of it. It wouldn't be fair to give Merian all the credit. She received assistance naming plants, making sketches and referencing the work of others. Her daughters helped her color her drawings. O) Merian also made note of the help she received from the natives of Suriname, as well as slaves or servants that assisted her. In some instances she wrote moving passages that included her helpers in descriptions. As she wrote in her description of the peacock flower, "The Indians, who are not treated well by their Dutch masters, use the seeds to abort their children, so that they will not become slaves like themselves. The black slaves from Guinea and Angola have demanded to be well treated, threatening to refuse to have children. In fact, they sometimes take their own lives because they are treated so badly, and because they believe they will be born again, free and living in their own land. They told me this themselves. "P) Londa Schiebinger, a professor of the history of science at Stanford University, called this passage rather astonishing. It's particularly striking centuries later when these issues are still prominent in public discussions about social justice and women's rights. "She was ahead of her time," Dr. Etheridge said.36. Merian was the first scientist to study a type of American ant. K37. The European audience was more interested in Merian's drawings than her38. Merian's masterpiece came under attack a century after its39. Merian's mistakes in her drawings may be attributed to her shortened stay in South40. Merian often sat up the whole night through to observe and draw41. Merian acknowledged the help she got from natives of South42. Merian contributed greatly to people's better understanding of medicine and43. Merian occasionally made mistakes in her drawings of insects and44. Now, Merian's role as a female forerunner in sciences has been45. Merian made a long voyage to South America to study jungle insects over three centuriesSection 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.While human achievements in mathematics continue to reach new levels of complexity, many of us who aren't mathematicians at heart (or engineers by trade) may struggle to remember the last time we used calculus (微积分）.It's a fact not lost on American educators, who amid rising math failure rates are debating how math can better meet thereal-life needs of students. Should we change the way math is taught in schools, or eliminate some courses entirelyAndrew Hacker, Queens College political science professor, thinks that advanced algebra and other higher-level math should be cut from curricula in favor of courses with more routine usefulness, like statistics."We hear on all sides that we're not teaching enough mathematics, and the Chinese are running rings around us," Hacker says. "I'm suggesting we're teaching too much mathematics to too many people. . . not everybody has to know calculus. If you're going to become an aeronautical (航空的）engineer, fine. But most of us aren't."Instead, Hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at Queens College：Numeracy 101. There, his students of "citizen statistics" learn to analyze public information like the federal budget and corporate reports. Such courses, Hacker argues, are a remedy for the numerical illiteracy of adults who have completed high-level math like algebra but are unable to calculate the price of, say, a carpet by area.Hacker's argument has met with opposition from other math educators who say what's needed is to help students develop a better relationship with math earlier, rather than teaching them less math altogether.Maria Droujkova is a founder of Natural Math, and has taught basic calculus concepts to 5-year-olds. For Droujkova, high-level math is important, and what it could use in American classrooms is an injection of childlike wonder."Make mathematics more available," Droujkova says. "Redesign it so it's more accessible to more kinds of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had bad experiences. "Pamela Harris, a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, has a similar perspective. Harris says that American education is suffering from an epidemic of "fake math"一an emphasis on rote memorization (死记硬背）of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how math can influence the ways we see the world.Andrew Hacker, for the record, remains skeptical."I'm going to leave it to those who are in mathematics to work out the ways to make their subject interesting and exciting so students want to take it," Hacker says. "All that I ask is that alternatives be offered instead of putting all of us on the road to calculus. "46. What does the author say about ordinary Americans？A) They struggle to solve math problems.B) They think math is a complex subject.C) They find high-level math of little use.D) They work hard to learn high-level math.47. What is the general complaint about America's math education according to Hacker？A) America is not doing as well as China.B) Math professors are not doing a good job.C) It doesn't help students develop their literacy.D) There has hardly been any innovation for years.48. What does Andrew Hacker's Numeracy 101 aim to do？A) Allow students to learn high-level math step by step.B) Enable students to make practical use of basic math.C) Lay a solid foundation for advanced math studies.D) Help students to develop their analytical abilities.49. What does Maria Droujkova suggest math teachers do in class？A) Make complex concepts easy to understand.B) Start teaching children math at an early age.C) Help children work wonders with calculus.D) Try to arouse students' curiosity in math.50. What does Pamela Harris think should be the goal of math education？A) To enable learners to understand the world better.B) To help learners to tell fake math from real math.C) To broaden Americans' perspectives on math.D) To exert influence on world development.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.For years, the U. S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then.So what's the solution Robots.Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend. Toyohashi University of Technology has developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. This type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact.Robots capable of social engagement help with loneliness as well as cognitive functioning, but the robot itself doesn't have to engage directly—it can serve as an intermediary for human communication. Telepresence robots such as MantaroBot, Vgo, and Giraff can be controlled through a computer, smartphone, or tablet, allowing family members or doctors to remotely monitor patients or Skype them, often via a screen where the robot's ' face' would be. If you can't get to the nursing home to visit grandma, you can use a telepresence robot to hang out with her. A 2016 study found that users had a "consistently positive attitude" about the Giraff robot's ability to enhance communication and decrease feelings of loneliness.A robot's appearance affects its ability to successfully interact with humans, which is why the RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research decided to develop a robotic nurse that looks like a huge teddy bear. RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance), also known as ‘Robear', can help patients into and out of wheelchairs and beds with its strong arms.On the less cute and more scary side there is Actroid F, which is so human-like that some patients may not know the difference. This conversational robot companion has cameras in its eyes, which allow it to track patients and use appropriate facial expressions and body language in its interactions. During a month- long hospital trial, researchers asked 70 patients how they felt being around the robot and "only three or four said they didn't like having it around."It's important to note that robotic nurses don't decide courses of treatment or make diagnoses (though robot doctors and surgeons may not be far off). Instead, they perform routine and laborious tasks, freeing nurses up to attend to patients with immediate needs. This is one industry where it seems the integration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement.51. What does the author say about Japan？A) It delivers the best medications for the elderly.B) It takes the lead in providing robotic care.C) It provides retraining for registered nurses.D) It sets the trend in future robotics technology.52. What do we learn about the robot Terapio？A) It has been put to use in many Japanese hospitals.B) It provides specific individualized care to patients.C) It does not have much direct contact with patients.。

2018 年 12 月四级英语听力真题第二套Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section A News ReportDirections ：In this section,you will hear three news reports.At the end of each news report,you will hear two or three questions.Both the news report 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 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1.A) A man was pulled to safety after a building collapse.B)A beam about ten feet long collapsed to the ground.C)A rescue worker got trapped in the basement.D)A deserted 100-year-old building caught fire.2.A) He suffered a fatal injury in an accident.B)He once served in a fire department.C)He was collecting building materials.D)He moved into his neighbor's old house.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3.A) Improve the maths skills of high school teachers.B)Change British people's negative view of maths.C)Help British people understand their paychecks.D)Launch a campaign to promote maths teaching.4.A) Children take maths courses at an earlier age.B)The public sees the value of maths in their life.C)British people know how to do elementary calculations.D) Primary school teachers understand basic maths concepts.Questions 5 and 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5.A) He owns a fleet of aircraft.B)He is learning to be a pilot.C)He regards his royal duties as a burden.D)He held a part-time job for over 20 years.6.A) He can demonstrate his superior piloting skills.B)He can change his focus of attention and relax.C)He can show his difference from other royalty.D)He can come into closer contact with his people.7.A) They enjoyed his company.B)They liked him in his uniform.C)They rarely recognised him.D)They were surprised to see him.Section B ConversationDirections ：In this section,you will hear two long conversations.At the end of each conversations you will hear four questions. Both the conversations andthe question-s will be spoken only once。

2018年12月大学英语六级阅读试卷解析Section BResilience Is About How You recharge, Not How You Endure[A] As constant travelers and parents of a 2-year-old, we sometimes fantasize about how much work we can do when one of us gets on a plane, undistracted by phones, friends, or movies. We race to get all our ground work done: packing, going through security, doing a last-minute work call, calling each other, then boarding the plane. Then, when we try to have that amazing work session in flight, we get nothing done. Even worse, after refreshing our email or reading the same studies over and over, we are too exhausted when we land to soldier on with(继续处理) the emails that have inevitably still piled up.[B] Why should flying deplete us? We’re just sitting there doing nothing. Why can’t we be tougher — more resilient（有复原力的）and determined in our work so we can accomplish all of the goals we set for ourselves? Based on our current research, we have come to realize that the problem is not our hectic schedule or the plane travel itself; the problem comes from a misunderstanding of what it means to be resilient, and the resulting impact of overworking.[C] We often take a militaristic, “tough” approach to resilience and determination like a Marine pulling himself through the mud, a boxer going one more round, or a football player picking himself up off the ground for one more play. We believe that longer we tough it out, the tougher we are, and therefore the more successful we will be. However, this entire conception is scientifically inaccurate.[D] The very lack of a recovery period is dramatically holding back our collective ability to be resilient and successful. Research has found that there is a direct correlation between lack of recovery and increased incidence of health and safety problems. And lack of recovery —whether by disrupting sleep with thoughts of work or having continuous cognitive arousal by watching our phones — is costing our companies $62 billion a year in lost productivity.[E] And just because work stops, it doesn’t mean we are recovering. We “stop” work sometimes at 5PM, but then we spend the night wrestling with solutions to work problems, talking about our work over dinner, and falling asleep thinking about how much work we’ll do tomorrow. In a study just released, researchers from Norway found that 7.8% of Norwegians have become workaholics(工作狂). The scientists cite a definition of “workaholism” as “being overly concerned about work, driven by an uncontrollable work motivation, and investing so much time and effort to work that it impairs other important life areas.”[F] We believe that the number of people who fit that definition includes the majority ofAmerican workers, including those who read HBR, which prompted us to begin a study of workaholism in the U.S. Our study will use a large corporate dataset from a major medical company to examine how technology extends our working hours and thus interferes with necessary cognitive recovery, resulting in huge health care costs and turnover costs for employers.[G] The misconception of resilience is often bred from an early age. Parents trying to teach their children resilience might celebrate a high school student staying up until 3AM to finish a science fair project. What a distortion of resilience! A resilient child is a well-rested one. When an exhausted student goes to school, he risks hurting everyone on the road with his impaired driving; he doesn’t have the cognitive resources to do well on his English test; he has lower self-control with his friends; and at home, he is moody with his parents. Overwork and exhaustion are the opposite of resilience. And the bad habits we learn when we’re young only magnify when we hit the workforce.[H] As Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz have written, if you have too much time in the performance zone, you need more time in the recovery zone, otherwise you risk burnout. Mustering your resources to “try hard” requires burning energy in order to overcome your currently low arousal level. This is called upregulation. It also exacerbates exhaustion. Thus the more imbalanced we become due to overworking, the more value there is in activities that allow us to return to a state of balance. The value of a recovery period rises in proportion to the amount of work required of us.[I] So how do we recover and build resilience? Most people assume that if you stop doing a task like answering emails or writing a paper, that your brain will naturally recover, such that when you start again later in the day or the next morning, you’ll have your energy back. But surely everyone reading this has had times where you lie in bed for hours, unable to fall asleep because your brain is thinking about work. If you lie in bed for eight hours, you may have rested, but you can still feel ex hausted the next day. That’s because rest and recovery are not the same thing. Stopping does not equal recovering.[J] If you’re trying to build resilience at work, you need adequate internal and external recovery periods. As researchers Zijlstra, Cropley and Rydstedt write in their 2014 paper: “Internal recovery refers to the shorter periods of relaxation that take place within the frames of the workday or the work setting in the form of short scheduled or unscheduled breaks, by shifting attention or changing to other work tasks when the mental or physical resources required for the initial task are temporarily depleted or exhausted. External recovery refers to actions that take place outside of work—e.g. in the free time between the workdays, and during w eekends, holidays or vacations.” If after work you lie around on your bed and get riled up by political commentary on your phone or get stressed thinking about decisions about how to renovate your home, your brain has not received a break from high mental arousal states. Our brains need a rest as much as our bodies do.[K] If you really want to build resilience, you can start by strategically stopping. Give yourself the resources to be tough by creating internal and external recovery periods. Amy Blankson describes how to strategically stop during the day by using technology to control overworking. She suggests downloading the Instant or Moment apps to see how many times you turn on your phone each day. You can also use apps like Offtime or Unpludded to create tech free zones by strategically scheduling automatic airplane modes. The average person turns on their phone 150times every day. If every distraction took only 1 minute, that would account for 2.5 hours a day.[L] In addition, you can take a cognitive break every 90 minutes to charge your batteries. Try to not have lunch at your desk, but instead spend time outside or with your friends —not talking about work. Take all of your paid time off, which not only gives you recovery periods, but raises your productivity and likelihood of promotion.[M] As for us, we’ve started using our plane time as a work-free zone, and thus time to dip into the recovery phrase. The results have been fantastic. We are usually tired already by the time we get on a plane, and the crowed space and unstable internet connection make work more challenging. Now, instead of swimming upstream, we relax, sleep, watch movies, or listen to music. And when we get off the plane, instead of being depleted, we feel recovered and ready to return to the performance zone.36. It has been found that inadequate recovery often leads to poor health and accidents 答案：D解析：考察同义替换【D】The very lack of a recovery period is dramatically holding back our collective ability to be resilient and successful. Research has found that there is a direct correlation between lack of recovery and increased incidence of health and safety problems. And lack of recovery — whether by disrupting sleep with thoughts of work or having continuous cognitive arousal by watching our phones — is costing our companies $62 billion a year in lost productivity.37. Mental relaxation is much needed, just as physical relaxation is.答案：J解析：考察同义替换【J】If you’re trying to build resilience at work, you need adequate internal and external recovery periods. As researchers Zijlstra, Cropley and Rydstedt write in their 2014 paper: “Internal recovery refers to the shorter periods of relaxation that take place within the frames of the workday or the work setting in the form of short scheduled or unscheduled breaks, by shifting attention or changing to other work tasks when the mental or physical resources required for the initial task are temporarily depleted or exhausted. External recovery refers to actions that take place outside of work—e.g. in the free time between the workdays, and during weekends, holidays or vacations.” If after work you lie around on your bed and get riled up by political commentary on your phone or get stressed thinking about decisions about how to renovate your home, your brain has not received a break from high mentalarousal states. Our brains need a rest as much as our bodies do.38. Adequate rest not only helps one recover, but also increases one’s work efficiency答案：L解析：考查原词+同义替换【L】In addition, you can take a cognitive break every 90 minutes to charge your batteries. Try to not have lunch at your desk, but instead spend time outside or with your friends —not talking about work. Take all of your paid time off, which not only gives you recovery periods, but raises your productivity and likelihood of promotion.39. The author always has a hectic time before taking a flight.答案：A解析：考察原词定位【A】As constant travelers and parents of a 2-year-old, we sometimes fantasize about how much work we can do when one of us gets on a plane, undistracted by phones, friends, or movies. We race to get all our ground work done: packing, going through security, doing a last-minute work call, calling each other, then boarding the plane. Then, when we try to have that amazing work session in flight, we get nothing done. Even worse, after refreshing our email or reading the same studies over and over, we are too exhausted when we land to soldier on with(继续处理) the emails that have inevitably still piled up.40. Recovery may not take place even if one seems to have stopped working答案：E解析：考察同义替换【E】And just because work stops, it doesn’t mean we are recovering. We “stop” work sometimes at 5PM, but then we spend the night wrestling with solutions to work problems, talking about our work over dinner, and falling asleep thinking about how much work we’ll do tomorrow. In a study just released, researchers from Norway found that 7.8% of Norwegians have become workaholics(工作狂). The scientists cite a definition of “workaholism” as “being overly concerned about work, driven by an uncontrollable work motivation, and investing so much time and effort to work that it impairs other important life areas.”41. It is advised that technology be used to prevent people from overworking.答案：K解析：考查同义替换[K] If you really want to build resilience, you can start by strategically stopping. Give yourself the resources to be tough by creating internal and external recovery periods. Amy Blankson describes how to strategically stop during the day by using technology to control overworking. She suggests downloading the Instant or Moment apps to see how many times you turn on your phone each day. You can also use apps like Offtime or Unpludded to create tech free zones by strategically scheduling automatic airplane modes. The average person turns on their phone 150 times every day. If every distraction took only 1 minute, that would account for 2.5hours a day.42. Contrary to popular belief, rest does not equal recovery.答案：I解析：考查同义替换与概括总结[I] So how do we recover and build resilience? Most people assume that if you stop doing a task like answering emails or writing a paper, that your brain will naturally recover, such that when you start again later in the day or the next morning, you’ll have your energy back. Bu t surely everyone reading this has had times where you lie in bed for hours, unable to fall asleep because your brain is thinking about work. If you lie in bed for eight hours, you may have rested, but you can still feel exhausted the next day. That’s beca use rest and recovery are not the same thing. Stopping does not equal recovering.43.The author has come to see that his problem results from a misunderstanding of the meaning of resilience.答案：B解析：考查同义替换加概括总结[B] Why should flying deplete us? We’re just sitting there doing nothing. Why can’t we be tougher — more resilient（有复原力的）and determined in our work so we can accomplish all of the goals we set for ourselves? Based on our current research, we have come to realize that the problem is not our hectic schedule or the plane travel itself; the problem comes from a misunderstanding of what it means to be resilient, and the resulting impact of overworking.44 People s distorted view about resilience may have developed from their upbringing.答案：G解析：考查同义替换与概括总结[G] The misconception of resilience is often bred from an early age. Parents trying to teach their children resilience might celebrate a high school student staying up until 3AM to finish a science fair project. What a distortion of resilience! A resilient child is a well-rested one. When an exhausted student goes to school, he risks hurting everyone on the road with his impaired driving; he doesn’t have the cognitive resources to do well on his English test; he has lower self-control with his friends; and at home, he is moody with his parents. Overwork and exhaustion are the opposite of resilience. And the bad habits we learn when we’re young only magnify when we hit the workforce.45 People tend to think the more determined they are, the greater their success will be.答案：C解析：考查同义替换[C] We often take a militaristic, “tough” approach to resilience and determination like a Marine pulling himself through the mud, a boxer going one more round, or a football player picking himself up off the ground for one more play. We believe that longer we tough it out, the tougher we are, and therefore the more successful we will be.However, thisentire conception is scientifically inaccurate.Section CPassage2Q51-55On Jan. 9, 2007, 10 years ago today, Steve Jobs formally announced Apple's "revolutionary mobile phone" —a device that combined the functionality of an iPod, phone and Internet communication into a single unit, navigated by touch.It was a huge milestone in the development of smartphones, which are now owned by a majority of American adults and are increasingly common across the globe.As smartphones have proliferated, so have questions about their impact on how we live and how we work. Often the advantages of convenient, mobile technology are both obvious and taken for granted, leaving more subtle topics for concerned discussion: Are smartphones disturbing children's sleep? Is an inability to get away from work having a negative impact on health? And what are the implications for privacy?But today, on the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, let's take a moment to consider a less obvious advantage: the potential for smartphone technology to revolutionize behavioral science. That's because, for the first time in human history, a large proportion of the species is in continuous contact with technology that can record key features of an individual's behavior and environment. To quote a recent article published in Perspectives in Psychological Science: "Psychology has a great deal of data on what people believe they do... but little data on what people actually do."Researchers have already begun to use smartphones in social scientific research, either to query people regularly as they engage in their normal lives or to record activity using the device's built-in sensors. These studies are confirming, challenging and extending what's been found using more traditional approaches, in which people report how they behaved in real life or participate in relatively short and artificial laboratory-based tasks.To illustrate the use of smartphone-based data collection, consider a forthcoming study that combined queries embedded in everyday life with sensor data to paint a more accurate picture of how mood is affected by a person's location. The data for the study came from more than 12,000 members of the general public who downloaded a free Android app to participate in the research. Twice during the day, they were prompted to report their mood and location, with location information additionally collected from the phone's location sensors. Using both kinds of location data, the study found that people reported significantly more positive moods in locations that typically involve social interactions (such as a caféor friend's house) than at home, and more positive moods at home than at work.Other studies have used sensor data to draw more subtle kinds of inferences. For instance, a study published in 2015 followed 48 students over the course of a 10-week school term. Using a combination of location, activity and audio sensors, the researchers could infer students' patterns of class attendance, study time, physical activity and socializing. These variables, in turn, predicted student GPA with surprisingly high accuracy. Another 2015 study used mobile phones to track 40 adult participants over a two-week period. Using patterns of movement and phone usage, the researchers were able to identify behaviors that predicted symptoms of depression.These studies are just first steps. As more data are collected and methods for analysis improve, researchers will be in a better position to identify how different experiences, behaviors and environments relate to each other and evolve over time, with the potential to improve people's productivity and wellbeing in a variety of domains. Beyond revealing population-wide patterns, the right combination of data and analysis can also help individuals identify unique characteristics of their own behavior, including conditions that could indicate the need for some form of intervention — such as an uptick in behaviors that signal a period of depression.Smartphone-based data collection comes at an opportune time in the evolution of psychological science. Today, the field is in transition, moving away from a focus on laboratory studies with undergraduate participants towards more complex, real-world situations studied with more diverse groups of people. Smartphones offer new tools for achieving these ambitions, offering rich data about everyday behaviors in a variety of contexts.So here's another way in which smartphones might transform the way we live and work: by offering insights into human psychology and behavior and, thus, supporting smarter social science.51. What does the author say about the negative impact of smartphones?A. It has been overshadowed by the positive impact.B. It has more often than not been taken for granted.C. It is not so obvious but has caused some concern.D. It is subtle but should by no means be overstated.答案：C解析：通过题干定位至第三段，由Often the advantages of convenient, mobile technology are both obvious and taken for granted, leaving more subtle topics for concerned discussion可知，C 选项，消极的影响没有优点那么明显但是已经导致一些令人忧虑的问题，符合原文。