2014年12月全国大学英语六级考试真题及答案及听力原文(第一套)

Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part,you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of picture a nd then discuss whether technology is indispensable in education. You should give so undargument to support your views and write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.“I’m going to need tech support”Part IIListening Section ADirections：In this section，you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause,you must read the four choices marked A)，B)，C)and D)， and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.1. A) The man’s tennis racket is good enough.B) The man should get a pair of new shoes.C) She can wait for the man for a little while.D) Physical exercise helps her stay in shape.【答案】B2.A) The woman will skip Dr. Smith’s lecture to help the man.B) Kathy is very pleased to attend the lecture by Dr. Smith.C) The woman is good at doing lab demonstrations.D) The man will do all he can to assist the woman.【答案】A3.A) The woman asked the man to accompany her to the party.B) Steve became rich soon after graduation from college.C) Steve invited his classmates to visit his big cottage.D) The speakers and Steve used to be classmates.【答案】D4.A) In a bus.B) In a clinic.C) In a boat.D) In a plane.【答案】C5. A) 10:10.B) 9:50.C) 9:40.D) 9:10.【答案】B6. A) She does not like John at all.B) John has got many admirers.C) She does not think John is handsome.D) John has just got a bachelor’s degree. 【答案】A7. A) He has been bumping along for hours.B) He has got a sharp pain in the neck.C) He is involved in a serious accident.D) He is trapped in a terrible traffic jam. 【答案】D8. A)She is good at repairing things.B)She is a professional mechanic.C)She should improve her physical condition.D)She cannot go without washing machine.【答案】AQuestion 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A)Some witnesses failed to appear in court.B)The case caused debate among the public.C)The accused was found guilty of stealing.D)The accused refused to plead guilty in court.【答案】C10. A)He was out of his mind.B)He was unemployed.C)His wife deserted him.D)His children were sick.【答案】B11. A) He had been in jail before.B) He was unworthy of sympathy.C) He was unlikely to get employed.D) He had committed the same sort of crime.【答案】AQuestions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) Irresponsible.B) Unsatisfactory.C) Aggressive.D) conservative.【答案】B13. A) Internal communication.B) Distribution of brochures.C) Public relations.D) Product design.【答案】C14. A) Placing advertisement in the trade press.B) Drawing sketches for advertisements.C) Advertising in the national press.D) Making television commercials.【答案】D15. A) She has the motivation to do the job.C) She is not so easy to get along with.B) She knows the tricks of advertising.D) She is not suitable for the position.【答案】DPassage OneQuestions 16 to 19 are based on the conversation you have just heard.16. A)The cozy communal life.B)The cultural diversity.C)Innovative academic programs.D)Imperative school buildings. A【答案】A17. A)It is very beneficial to their academic progress.B)It helps them soak up the surrounding culture.C)It is as important as their learning experience.D)It ensures their physical and mental heal.【答案】C18. A)It offers the most challenging academic programs.B)It has the world’s best-known military academics.C)It provides numerous options for students.D)It draws faculty from all around the world.【答案】C19. A)They try to give students opportunities for experiment.B)They are responsible merely to their Ministry of education.C)They strive to develop every student’s academic potential.D)They ensure that all students get roughly equal attention.【答案】BPassage TwoQuestions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.20. A) It will arrive at Boulogne at half past two.B) It crosses the English Channel twice a day.C) It is now about half way to the French coast.D) It is leaving Folkestone in about five minutes.【答案】D21. A) Opposite the ship’s office.B) Next to the duty-free shop.C) At the rear of B deck.D) In the front of A deck.【答案】D22. A) It is for the sole use of passengers travelling with cars.B) It is much more spacious than the lounge on C deck.C) It is for the use of passengers travelling with children.D) It is for senior passengers and people with VIP cards.【答案】APassage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.23. A) It was named a after its location.B) It was named after its discoverer.C) It was named after a cave art expert.D) It was named after one of its painters.【答案】B24. A) Animal painting was part of the spiritual life of the time.B) Deer were worshiped by the ancient Cro-Magnon people.C) Cro-Magnon people painted animals they hunted and ate.D) They were believed to keep evils away from cave dwellers.【答案】C25. A) They know little about why the paintings were created.B) They have difficulty telling when the paintings were done.C) They are unable to draw such interesting and fine paintings.D) They have misinterpreted the meaning of the cave paintings.【答案】APart IIListening Section BDirections：In this section，you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage，you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C)and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.If you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls, you’ll probably live at home and commute to classes. This arrangement has a lot of(26)_____. It’s cheaper. It provides a comfortable and familiar setting, and it means you’ll get the kind of home cooking you’re used to instead of the monotony(单调)that(27)_____ even the best institutional food.However, commuting students need to(28)_____ to become involved in the life of their college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students. Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in(29)_____ and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like.One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents’unwillingness to recognize that they’re adults. The(30)_____ from high school to college is a big one, and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you’d have if you were living away. Home rules that might have been(31)_____ when you were in high school don’t apply. If your parents are(32)_____ to renegotiate, you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility that goes with maturity. Parents are more willing to(33)_____ their children as adults when they behave like adults. If, however，there’s so much friction at home that it(34)_____ your academic work, you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends. Sometimes this is a happy solution when family(35)_____ make everyone miserable.26._____【答案】advantages27._____【答案】characterizes28._____【答案】go out of their way29._____【答案】seeking out30._____【答案】transition31._____【答案】appropriate32._____【答案】reluctant33._____【答案】acknowledge34._____【答案】interferes35._____【答案】tensionsPart III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section A?Directions: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 singleline through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.Children are natural-born scientists. They have 36 minds, and they aren’t afraid to admit they don’t know something. Most of them, 37 lose this as they get older. They become self-conscious and don’t want to appear stupid. Instead of finding things out for themselves they make 38 that often turn out to be wrongSo it’s not a case of getting kids interested in science. You just have to avoid killing the 39 for learning that they were born with. It’s no coincidence that kids start deserting science once it becomes formalized. Children naturally have a blurred approach to 40 knowledge. They see learning about science or biology or cooking as all part of the same act-it’s all learning. It’s only because of the practicalities of education that you have to start breaking down the curriculum into specialist subjects. You need to have specialist teachers who 41 what they know. Thus once they enter school, children begin to define subjects and erect boundaries that needn’t otherwise exist.Dividing subjects into science, maths, English ,etc. is something we dofor 42 . In the end it’s all learning, but many childrentoday 43 themselves from a scientific education. They think science is for scientists, not for them.Of course we need to specialize 44 . Each of us has only so much time on Earth, so we can’t study everything. At 5 years old, our field of knowledge and 45 is broad, covering anything from learning to walk to learning to count. Gradually it narrows down so that by the time we are 45, it might be one tiny little corner within science.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

2014年12月英语六级考试听力真题（短文三篇）今年最后一场六级考试已经圆满的落下了帷幕，接下来带大家重温这次考试，为大家提供了以下2014年12月英语六级听力真题，供大家参考!【短文一】Many foreign students are attracted not only to the academic programs at a particular U.S. college but also to the larger community, which affords the chance to soak up the surrounding culture. Few foreign universities put much emphasis on the cozy communal life that characterizes American campuses from clubs and sports teams to student publications and drama societies. “The campus and the American university have become identical in people’s minds,” says Brown University President Vartan Gregorian. “In America it is assumed that a student’s daily life is as important as his learning experie nce.”Foreign students also come in search of choices. America’s menu of options—research universities, state institutions, private liberal-arts schools, community colleges, religious institutions, military academies—is unrivaled. “In Europe,” says history professor Jonathan Steinberg, who has taught at both Harvard and Cambridge, “there is one system, and that is it.” While students overseas usually must demonstrate expertise in a specific field, whether law or philosophy or chemistry, most American universities insist that students sample natural and social sciences, languages and literature before choosing a field of concentration.Such opposing philosophies grow out of different traditions and power structures. In Europe and Japan, universities are answerable only to a ministry of education, which sets academicstandards and distributes money.While centralization ensures that all students are equipped with roughly the same resources and perform at roughly the same level, it also discourages experimentati on. “When they make mistakes, they make big ones,” says Robert Rosenzweig, president of the Association of American Universities. “They seta system in wrong directions, and it’s like steering a supertanker.”16. What does the speaker say characterizes American campuses?17. What does Brown University president Vartan Gregorian say about students' daily life?18. In what way is the United States unrivaled according to the speaker?19. What does the speaker say about universities in Europe and Japan?【短文二】Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard your Sea-link ferry from Folkestone to Boulogne and wish you a pleasant trip with us. We are due to leave Folkestone in about five minutes and a journey to Boulogne will take approximately two hours. We are getting good reports of the weather in the Channel and in France, so we should have a calm crossing. Sun and temperatures of 30 degrees celsius are reported on the French coast. For your convenience on the journey, we'd like to point out that there ar e a number of facilities available on board. There's a snack bar serving sandwiches and hot and cold refreshments situated in the front of A deck. There is also a restaurant serving hot meals situated on B deck. If you need to change money or cash travelers' checks, we have a bank on board. You can find a bank on C deck. Between the ship's office and the duty free shop,toilets are situated on B deck at the rear of the ship and on A deck next to the snack bar. For the children, there's a games room on C deck next to the duty free shop. Here children can find a variety of electronic games. Passengers are reminded that the lounge on B deck is for the sole use of passengers traveling with cars and that there is another lounge on C deck at the front of the ship for passengers traveling without cars. Finally, ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to wish you a pleasant journey and hope that you'll travel with us again in the near future.20. What does the speaker say about the Sea-link ferry?21. Where is the snack bar situated?22. What does the speaker say about the lounge on B deck?【短文三】On Christmas Eve in 1994, humans entered a cave in the mountains of southeastern France for what was probably the first time in 20,000 years. The vivid images of more than 300 animals that Jean-Marie Chauvet and his assistants found on the cave walls were like none that they had seen before. Unusual in the Grotte Chauvet, as the cave is now called in honor of its discoverer, are paintings of many flat sheeting animals. Other known caves from the same geographical area and time period contain only paintings of plantites. The paintings in this cave refute the old theory that Cro-Magnoon people painted animals that they hunted and then ate. Now many specialists believe that cave paintings were not part of a ritual to bring good luck to hunters. They point out that while deer made up a major part of their diet, there're no drawings of deer. They believe that the animals painted were those central to the symbolic and spiritual life of the times; animals that represented something deep and spiritual to the people. Scientists are hopeful that Groo Chaviewill yield new information about the art and lifestyle of Cro-Magnoon people. They readily admit, however, that little is understood yet as to the reasons why ice age artists created their interesting and detailed paintings. Scientists also wonder why some paintings were done in areas that are so difficult to get to, in caves, for example, that are 2,400 feet underground, and accessible only by crawling through narrow passageways.23. How did the cave get its name?24. What is the old theory about the paintings in the cave?25. What do scientists readily admit according to the speaker?大家按Ctrl+D收藏本站即可第一时间了解最新英语六级考试动态!猜你可能喜欢：。

2014年12月英语六级真题及答案（文字版）第1：作文Part I WritingDirections: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the following topic. You should write at least 180 words but no more than 200 words.作文题一：学历歧视作文题二：科技与学习作文题三：学习没有捷径第2：听力Part II ListeningSection ADirections：In this section，you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A) , B) , C) and D)， and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.Question 1A.At a groceryB.In a parking lotC.In a car showroomD.At a fast food restaurantQuestion 2A.Have a little nap after lunchB.Get up and take a short walkC.Change her position now and thenD.Stretch legs before standing upQuestion 3A.The students should practice long-distance runningB.He doesn’t quite believe what the woman saysC.The students’ physical condition is not desirableD.He thinks the race is too hard for the studentsQuestion 4A.They do not want to have a baby at presentB.They cannot afford to get married right nowC.They are both pursuing graduate studiesD.They will get their degrees in two yearsQuestion 5A.Twins usually have a lot in commonB.He must have been mistaken for JackC.Jack is certainly not as healthy as he isD.He has not seen Jack for quite a few daysQuestion 6A.The man will take the woman wo the museumB.The man knows where the museum is locatedC.The woman is asking the way at the crossroadsD.The woman will attend the opening of the museumQuestion 7A.They cannot ask the guy to leaveB.The guy has been coming in for yearsC.They should not look down upon the guyD.The guy must be feeling extremely lonelyQuestion 8A.Collect timepiecesB.Become time-consciousC.Learn to mend locksD.Keep track of his daily activitiesQuestions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. Question 9A.It winds its way to the seaB.It is quickly risingC.It is eating into its banksD.It is wide and deepQuestion 10A.Get the trucks over to the other side of the riverB.Take the equipment apart before being ferriedC.Reduce the transport cost as much as possibleD.Try to speed up the operation by any meansQuestion 11A.Ask the commander to send a helicopterB.Halt the operation until further ordersC.Cut trees and build rowing boatsD.Find as many coats as possibleQuestions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.Question 12A.Help him join an Indian expeditionB.Talk about his climbing experiencesC.Give up mountain climbing altogetherD.Save money to buy climbing equipmentQuestion 13A.He was very strict with his childrenB.He climbed mountains to earn a livingC.He had an unusual religious backgroundD.He was the first to conquer Mt. QomolangmaQuestion 14A.They are like humansB.They are sacred placesC.They are to be protectedD.They are to be conqueredQuestion 15A.It was his father’s training that pilled him throughB.It was a milestone in his mountain climbing careerC.It was his father who gave him the strength to succeedD.It helped him understand the Sherpa view of mountainsSection BDirections：In this section，you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage，you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C)and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centrePassage OneQuestion 16A. By reviewing what he has said previouslyB.By comparing memorandums with lettersC.By showing a memorandum’ s structureD.By analyzing the organization of a letterQuestion 17A.They spent a lot of time writing memorandumsB.They seldom read a memorandum through to the endC.They placed emphasis on the format of memorandumsD.They ignored many of the memorandums they receivedQuestion 18A.Style and wordingB.Structure and lengthC.Directness and clarityD.Simplicity and accuracyPassage TwoQuestions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 19A.Accurate datingB.Professional lookC.Direct statement of purposeD.Inclusion of appropriate humorQuestion 20A.They give top priority to their work efficiencyB.They make an effort to lighten their workloadC.They never change work habits unless forced toD.They try hard to make the best use of their timeQuestion 21A.Self-confidenceB.Sense of dutyC.Work efficiencyD.Passion for workQuestion 22A.They are addicted to playing online gamesB.They try to avoid work whenever possibleC.They find to pleasure in the work they doD.They simply have no sense of responsibilityPassage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 23A.He lost all his propertyB.He was sold to a circusC.He was forced into slaveryD.He ran away from his familyQuestion 24A.A carpenterB.A businessmanC.A master of hisD.A black drummerQuestion 25A.It named its town hall after Solomon NorthupB.It declared July 24 Solomon Northup DayC.It freedom all blacks in the town from slaveryD.It hosted a reunion for the Northup familySection CDirections：In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.Section CIntolerance is the art of ignoring any views that differ from your own.It(26)_____ itself a hatred. Stereotypes, prejudice, and(27)_____.Once it intensifies in people, intolerance is nearly impossible to overcome. But why would anyone want to be labeled intolerant. Why would people want to be (28)_____about the world around them? Why would one want to be part of the problem in America, instead of the solution?There are many explanations for intolerant attitudes, some (29)_____ childhood. It is likely that intolerant folks grew up (30)_____ intolerant parents and the cycle of prejudice has simply continued for (31)_____. Perhaps intolerant people are so set in their ways that they find it easier to ignore anything that might not (32)_____ their limited view of life. Or maybe intolerant students have simply never been (33)_____ to anyone different form themselves. But none of these reason is an excuse for allpwing the intolerance to continue.Intolerance should not be confused with disagreement.It is,of course,possible as diasgree with an opinion without being intolerant of it.If you understand a belief but still don't believe in that specific belief,that's fine.You are (34)_____ your opinion.As a matter of fact.(35)_____ disseniers(持异议者)are important for any belief.If we all believed the same things.we would never grow,and we would never learn about the world around us,does not stem frim disagreement.It stems from fear,And fear stems from fear.And fear stems from ignorance.第3：选词填空Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section AHis future subjects have not always treated the Prince of Wales with the respect one XXXX expect. They laughed aloud in 1986 when the heir to the British(36)_____ told a TV reporter that he talked to his plants at his country house, Highgrove, to stimulate their growth. The Prince was being humorous- “My sense of humor will get me into trouble one day”, he said to his aids(随从)-but listening to CharlesWindsor can indeed prove stimulating. The royal(37)_____ has been promoting radical ideas for most of his adult life. Some of his(38)_____, which once sounded a bit weird, were simply ahead of their time. Now, finally, the world seems to be catching up with him.Take his views on farming. Prince Charles’ Duchy Home Farm went(39)_____ back in 1986. When most shoppers cared only about the low price tag on suspiciously blemish-free(无瑕疵的) vegetables and(40)_____ large chickens piled high in supermarkets.His warnings on climate change proved farsighted,too.Charles began(41)_____ action in warming in 1990 and says he has been worried about the(42)_____ of man on the environment same be was a teenger.Although he was gradually gained international(43)_____ as one of the world's lending conservationists,many British people still think of him as an(34)_____ person who talks to plants.This year,as it happens,South Korean scientists proved that plants really do(45)_____ to round.So Charles was ahead of the game there,too.A.conformB.eccentricC.environmentalistD.expeditionsE.impactF.notionsanicH.originallyI.recognitionJ.respondK.subordinateL.suppressingM.throneN.unnaturallyO.urging第4：长篇阅读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. High School Sports Aren’t Killing AcademicsA)In this month’s Atlantic cover article, “The Case Against High-School Sports,” Amanda Ripley argues that school-sponsored sports programs should beseriously cut. She writes that, unlike most countries that outperform the United States on international assessments, American schools put too much of an emphasis on athletics, “ Sports are embedded in American schools in a way they are not almost anywhere else,” she writes, “Yet this difference hardly ever comes up in domestic debates about America’s international mediocrity(平庸)in education.”B)American student-athletes reap many benefits from participating in sports, but the costs to the schools could outweigh their benefits, she argues, In particular, Ripley contends that sports crowd out the academic missions of schools: America should learn from South Korea and Finland and every other country at the top level of international test scores, all of whom emphasize athletics far less in school. ”Even in eighth grade, American kids spend more than twice the time Korean kids spend playing sports,” she writes, citing a 2010 study published in the Journal of Advanced Academics.C)It might well be true that sports are far more rooted in American high schools than in other countries. But our reading of international test scores finds no support for the argument against school athletics. Indeed, our own research and that of others lead us to make the opposite case. School-sponsored sports appear to provide benefits that seem to increase, not detract(减少)from, academic success.D)Ripley indulges a popular obsession(痴迷)with international test score comparisons, which show wide and frightening gaps between the United States and other countries. She ignores, however, the fact that states vary at least as much in test scores as do developed countries. A 2011 report from Harvard University shows that Massachusetts produces math scores comparable to South Korea and Finland, while Mississippi scores are closer to Trinidad and Tobago. Ripley’s thesis about sports falls apart in light of this fact. Schools in Massachusetts provide sports programs while schools in Finland do not. Schools in Mississippi may love football while in Tobago interscholastic sports are nowhere near as prominent. Sports cannot explain these similarities in performance. They can’t explain international differences either.E)If it is true that sports undermine the academic mission of American schools, we would expect to see a negative relationship between the commitment to athletics and academic achievement. However, the University of Arkansas’s Daniel Bowen and Jay Greene actually find the opposite. They examine this relationship by analyzing schools’ sports winning percentages as well as student-athletic participation rates compared to graduation rates and standardized test score achievement over afive-year period for all public high schools in Ohio. Controlling for student poverty levels, demographics(人口统计状况), and district financial resources, both measures of a school’s commitment to athletics are significantly and positively related to lower dropout rates as well as higher test scores.F)On-the-field success and high participation in sports is not random-it requires focus and dedication to athletics. One might think this would lead schools obsessed with winning to deemphasize academics. Bowen and Greene’s results contradict that argument. A likely explanation for this seemingly counterintuitive(与直觉相反的)result is that success in sports programs actually facilitates or reflects greater social capital within a school’s community.G)Ripley cites the writings of renowned sociologist James Coleman, whose research in education was groundbreaking. Coleman in his early work held athletics in contempt, arguing that they crowded out schools’ academic missions. Ripley quotes his 1961 study, The Adolescent Society, where Coleman writes, “Altogether, the trophy(奖品)case would suggest to the innocent visitor that he was entering an athletic club, not an educational institution.”H)However, in later research Coleman would show how the success of schools is highly dependent on what he termed social capital, “the social networks, and the relationships between adults and children that are of value for the child’s growing up.”I)According to a 2013 evaluation conducted by the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago, a program called Becoming a Man-Sports Edition creates lasting improvements in the boys’ study habits and grade point averages. During the first year of the program, students were founds to be less likely to transfer schools or be engaged in violent crime. A year after the program, participants were less likely to have had an encounter with the juvenile justice system.J)If school-sponsored sports were completely eliminated tomorrow, many American students would still have opportunities to participate in organized athletics elsewhere, much like they do in countries such as Finland, Germany, and South Korea. The same is not certain when it comes to students from more disadvantaged backgrounds. In an overview of the research on non-school based after-school programs, researchers find that disadvantaged children participate in these programs at significantly lower rates. They find that low-income students have less access due to challenges with regard to transportation, non-nominal fees, and off-campus safety. Therefore, reducing or eliminating these opportunities would most likely deprive disadvantaged students of the benefits from athletic participation, not least of which is the opportunity to interact with positive role models outside of regular school hours.K)Another unfounded criticism that Ripley makes is bringing up the stereotype that athletic XX are typically lousy(蹩脚的)classroom teachers. “American principals, unlike the XX XX of principals around the world, make many hiring decisions with their sports teams in mind, which does not always end well for students,” she writes. Educators who seek employment at schools primarily for the purpose of coaching are likely to shirk(推卸)teaching responsibilities, theargument goes. Moreover, even in the cases where the employee is a teacher first and athletic coach second, the additional responsibilities that come with coaching likely comes at the expense of time otherwise spent on planning, grading, and communicating with parents and guardians.L)The data, however, do not seem to confirm this stereotype. In the most rigorous study on the classroom results of high school coaches, the University of Arkansas’s Anna Egalite finds that athletic coaches in Florida mostly tend to perform just as well as their non-coaching counterparts, with respect to raising student test scores. We do not doubt that teachers who also coach face serious tradeoffs that likely come at the expense of time they could dedicate to their academic obligations. However, as with sporting events, athletic coaches gain additional opportunities for communicating and serving as mentors(导师)that potentially help students succeed and make up for the costs of coaching commitments.M)If schools allow student-athletes to regularly miss out on instructional time for the sake of traveling to athletic competitions, that’s bad. However, such issues would be better addressed by changing school and state policies with regard to the scheduling of sporting events as opposed to total elimination. If the empirical evidence points to anything, it points towards school sponsored sports providing assets that are well worth the costs.N)Despite negative stereotypes about sports culture and Ripley’s presumption that academics and athletics are at odds with one another, we believe that the greater body of evidence shows that school-sponsored sports programs appear to benefit students. Successes on the playing field can carry over to the classroom and vice versa(反之亦然). More importantly, finding ways to increase school communities’social capital is imperative to the success of the school as whole, not just the athletes.46.Stunets from low-income families have less access to off-campus sports programs.47.Amanda Ripley argues that America should learn from other countries that rank high in international tests and lay less emphasis on athletics.48.According to the author,Amanda Ripley fails to note that stunents'performance in exams varies from state to state.49.Amanda Ripley thinks that athletic coaches are poor at classroom instruction.50.James Coleman's later resrarch make an argument for a school's social capital.51.Reaearchers find that there is a ppsitive relationship between a school's commitment to athletics and academic achievements.52.Aa rigorous study finds that athletic coaches also do well in raising students'test scores.53.According to an evaluation,spograms contribute to students's academic preformance and character building.54.Amanda Ripley believes the emphasis on school sports shuold be brought up whentrying to understand why Aamerican students are mediocre.55.James Coleman suggests in his earlier writings that school athletics would undermine a school's image.第5：仔细阅读Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. . You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage oneIt is easy to miss amid the day-to-day headlines of global economic recession, but there is a less conspicuous kind of social upheaval(剧变)underway that is fast altering both the face of the planet and the way human beings live. That change is the rapid acceleration of urbanization. In 2008, for the first time in human history, more than half the world’s population was living in towns and cities. And as a recently published paper shows, the process of urbanization will only accelerate in the decades to come—with an enormous impact on biodiversity and potentially on climate change.As Karen Seto, the led author of the paper, points out, the wave of urbanization isn’t just about the migration of people into urban environments, but about the environments themselves becoming bigger to accommodate all those people. The rapid expansion of urban areas will have a huge impact on biodiversity hotspots and on carbon emissions in those urban areas.Humans are the ultimate invasive species—when the move into new territory, the often displace the wildlife that was already living there. And as land is cleared for those new cities—especially in the dense tropical forests—carbon will be released into the atmosphere as well. It’s true that as people in developing nations move from the countryside to the city, the shift may reduce the pressure on land, which could in turn be good for the environment. This is especially so in desperately poor countries, where residents in the countryside slash and burn forests each growing season to clear space for farming. But the real difference is that in developing nations, the move from rural areas to cities often leads to an accompanying increase in income — and that increase leads to an increase in the consumption of food and energy, which in turn causes a rise in carbon emissions. Getting enough to eat and enjoying the safety and comfort of living fully on the grid is certainly a good thing — but it does carry an environmental price.The urbanization wave can’t be stopped — and it shouldn’t be. But Seto’s paper does underscore the importance of managing that transition. If we do it the right way, we can reduce urbanization’s impact on the environment. “There’s an enormous opportunity here, and a lot of pressure and responsibility to think abouthow we urbanize,” says Seto. “One thing that’s clear is that we can’t build cities the way we have over the last couple of hundred years. The scale of this transition won’t allow that.” We’re headed towards an urban planet no matter what, but whether it becomes heaven or hell is up to us.56. What issue does the author try to draw people’s attention to?A. The shrinking biodiversity worldwide.B. The rapid increase of world population.C. The ongoing global economic recession.D. The impact of accelerating urbanization.57. In what sense are humans the ultimate invasive species?A. They are much greedier than other species.B. They are a unique species born to conquer.C. They force other species out of their territories.D. They have an urge to expand their living space.58. In what way is urbanization in poor countries good for the environment?A. More land will be preserved for wildlife.B. The pressure on farmland will be lessened.C. Carbon emissions will be considerably reduced.D. Natural resources will be used more effectively.59. What does the author say about living comfortably in the city?A. It incurs a high environmental price.B. It brings poverty and insecurity to an end.C. It causes a big change in people’s lifestyle.D. It narrows the gap between city and country.60. What can be done to minimize the negative impact of urbanization according to Seto?A. Slowing down the speed of transition.B. Innovative use of advanced technology.C. Appropriate management of the process.D. Enhancing people’s sense of responsibility.Passage TwoWhen Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched in Feb. 2004, even he could not imagine the forces it would let loose. His intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website rapidly evolved into, ended up connecting the world.To the children of this connected era, the world is one giant social network. They are not bound — as were previous generations of humans — by what they were taught. They are only limited by their curiosity and ambition. During my childhood, all knowledge was local. You learned everything you knew from your parents, teachers, preachers, and friends.With the high-quality and timely information at their fingertips, today’s children are rising normally tame middle class is speaking up against social ills. Silicon Valley executives are being shamed into adding women to their boards. Political leaders are marshalling the energy of millions for elections and political causes. All of this is being done with social media technologies that Facebook and its competitors set free.As does every advancing technology, social media has created many new problems. It is commonly addictive and creates risks for younger users. Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and elsewhere to seek and brainwash recruits. And it exposes us and our friends to disagreeable spying. We may leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but through social media we tell criminals exactly where we are, when we plan to return home, and how to blackmail(敲诈)us.Governments don’t need informers any more. Social media allows government agencies to spy on their own citizens. We record our thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on Facebook; we share our political views, social preferences, and plans. We post intimate photographs of ourselves. No spy agency or criminal organization could actively gather the type of data that we voluntarily post for them.The marketers are also seeing big opportunities. Amazon is trying to predict what we will order. Google is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media profiles. We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to alleviate the dangers.Regardless of what social media people use, one thing is certain: we are in a period of accelerating change. The next decade will be even more amazing and unpredictable than the last. Just as no one could predict what would happen with social media in the last decade, no one can accurately predict where this technology will take us.I am optimistic, however, that a connected humanity will find a way to uplift itself.61. What was the purpose of Facebook when it was first created?A. To help students connect with the outside world.B. To bring university students into closer contact.C. To help students learn to live in a connected era.D. To combine the world into an integral whole.62. What difference does social media make to learning?A. Local knowledge and global knowledge will merge.B. Student will become more curious and ambitious.C. People are able to learn wherever they travel.D. Sources of information are greatly expanded.63. What is the author’s greatest concern with social media technology?A. Individuals and organizations may use it for evil purposes.B. Government will find it hard to protect classified information.C. People may disclose their friends’ information unintentionally.D. People’s attention will be easily distracted from their work in hand.64. What do businesses use social media for?A. Creating a good corporate image.B. Conducting large-scale market surveys.C. Anticipating the needs of customers.D. Minimizing possible risks and dangers.65. What does the author think of social media as a whole?A. It will enable human society to advance at a faster pace.B. It will pose a grave threat to our traditional ways of life.C. It is bound to bring about another information revolution.D. It breaks down the final barriers in human communication.第6：翻译Part IV TranslationDirections: 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.翻译题一：自从1978年启动改革以来，中国已从计划经济转为以市场为基础的经济，经历了经济和社会的快速发展。

indispensable in education. You should give sound arguments to support your views and write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. 6. A) She does not like John at all. C) She does not think John is handsome. B) John has got many admirers. D) John has just got a bachelor's degree. 7. A) He has been bumping along for hours. C) He is involved in a serious accident. B) He has got a sharp pain in the neck. D) He is trapped in a terrible traffic jam. 8. A) She is good at repairing things. C) She should improve her physical condition. B) She is a professional mechanic. D) She cannot go without a washing machine. Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 9. A) Some witnesses failed to appear in court. C) The accused was found guilty of stealing. B) The case caused debate among the public. D) The accused refused to plead guilty in court. 10. A) He was out of his mind. C) His wife deserted him. B) He was unemployed. D) His children were sick. 11. A) He had been in jail before. C) He was unlikely to get employed. B) He was unworthy of sympathy. D) He had committed the same sort of crime. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 12. A) Irresponsible. B) Unsatisfactory. C) Aggressive. D) Conservative. 13. A) Internal communication. C) Public relations. B) Distribution of brochures. D) Product design. 14. A) Placing advertisements in the trade press. C) Advertising in the national press. B) Drawing sketches for advertisements. D) Making television commercials. 15. A) She has the motivation to do the job. C) She is not so easy to get along with. B) She knows the tricks of advertising. D) She is not suitable for the position. Section B Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre. Passage One Questions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard. 16. A) The cozy communal life. C) Innovative academic programs. B) The cultural diversity. D) Impressive school buildings. 17. A) It is very beneficial to their academic progress. B) It helps them soak up the surrounding culture. C) It is as important as their learning experience. D) It ensures their physical and mental health. 18. A) It offers the most challenging academic programs. B) It has the world's best-known military academies. C) It provides numerous options for students. D) It draws faculty from all around the world. 19. A) They try to give students opportunities for experimentation. B) They are responsible merely to their Ministry of Education. C) They strive to develop every student's academic potential. D) They ensure that all students get roughly equal attention. Passage Two Questions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard. 20. A) It will arrive at Boulogne at half past two. C) It is now about half way to the French coast. B) It crosses the English Channel twice a day. D) It is leaving Folkestone in about five minutes. 21. A) Opposite the ship's office. C) At the rear of B deck. B) Next to the duty-free shop. D) In the front of A deck. 22. A) It is for the sole use of passengers travelling with cars. B) It is much more spacious than the lounge on C deck. C) It is for the use of passengers travelling with children. D) It is for senior passengers and people with VIP cards. Passage Three Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 23. A) It was named after its location. C) It was named after a cave art expert. B) It was named after its discoverer. D) It was named after one of its painters. 24. A) Animal painting was part of the spiritual life of the time. B) Deer were worshiped by the ancient Cro-Magnon people. C) Cro-Magnon people painted animals they hunted and ate. D) They were believed to keep evils away from cave dwellers. 25. A) They know little about why the paintings were created. B) They have difficulty telling when the paintings were done. C) They are unable to draw such interesting and fine paintings. D) They have misinterpreted the meaning of the cave paintings. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you you should should should listen listen listen carefully carefully carefully for for for its its its general general general idea. idea. idea. When When When the the the passage passage passage is is is read read read for for for the the the second second second time, time, time, you you you are are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written. If you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls, you'll probably live at home and commute to classes. This arrangement has a lot of 26 . It's cheaper. It provides a comfortable and familiar setting, and it means you'll get the kind of home cooking you're used to instead of the monotony (单调) that 27 even the best institutional food. However, commuting students need to 28 to become involved in the life of their college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students. Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in 29 and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like. One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents' unwillingness to recognize that they're adults. The 30 from high school to college is a big one, and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you'd have if you were living away. Home rules that might have been 31 when you were in high school don't apply. If your parents are 32 to renegotiate, you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility that goes with maturity. Parents are more willing to 33 their children as adults when they behave like adults. If, however, there's so much friction at home that it 34 your academic work, you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends. Sometimes this is a happy solution when family 35 make everyone miserable. Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes) Section A Directions: 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 36 to 45 are based on the following passage. Children are natural-born scientists. They have 36 minds, and they aren't afraid to admit they don't know something. Most of them, 37 , lose this as they get older. They become self-conscious and don't want to appear stupid. Instead of finding things out for themselves they make 38 that often turn out to be wrong. So it's not a case of getting kids interested in science. You just have to avoid killing the 39 for learning that they were born with. It's no coincidence that kids start deserting science once it becomes formalised. Children naturally have a blurred approach to 40 knowledge. They see learning about science or biology or cooking as all part of the same act —it's all learning. It's only because of the practicalities of education that you have to start breaking down the curriculum into specialist subjects. You need to have specialist teachers who 41 what what they they they know. know. know. Thus Thus Thus once once once they they they enter enter enter school, school, school, children children children begin begin begin to to to define define define subjects subjects subjects and and and erect erect boundaries that needn't otherwise exist. Dividing subjects into science, maths, English, etc. is something we do for 42 . In the end it's all learning, but many children today 43 themselves from a scientific education. They think science is for scientists, not for them. Of course we need to specialise 44 . Each of us has only so much time on Earth, so we can't study everything. At 5 years old, our field of knowledge and 45 is broad, covering anything from learning to walk to learning to count. Gradually it narrows down so that by the time we are 45, it might be one tiny little corner within science. A) accidentally B) acquiring C) assumptions D) convenience E) eventually F) exclude G) exertion H) exploration I) formulas J) ignite K) impart L) inquiring M) passion N) provoking O) unfortunately Section B Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph 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. Meaning Is Healthier Than Happiness [A] For at least the last decade, the happiness craze has been building. In the last three months alone, over 1,000 books on happiness were released on Amazon, including Happy Money, Happy-People-Pills For All, and, for those just starting out, Happiness for Beginners. [B] One of the consistent claims of books like these is that happiness is associated with all sorts of good life outcomes, including —most promisingly —good health. Many studies have noted the connection between a happy mind and a healthy body —the happier we are, the better health outcomes we seem to have. In an overview of 150 studies on this topic, researchers put it like this: "Inductions of well-being lead to healthy functioning, and inductions of ill-being lead to compromised health." [C] [C] But But But a a a new new new study, study, study, just just just published published published in in in the the the Proceedings Proceedings Proceedings of of of the the the National National National Academy Academy Academy of of of Sciences Sciences Sciences (PNAS) (PNAS) challenges the rosy picture. Happiness may not be as good for the body as researchers thought. It might even be bad. [D] Of course, it's important to first define happiness. A few months ago, I wrote a piece called "There's More to Life Than Being Happy" about a psychology study that dug into what happiness really means to people. It specifically explored the difference between a meaningful life and a happy life. [E] It seems strange that there would be a difference at all. But the researchers, who looked at a large sample of people over a month-long period, found that happiness is associated with selfish "taking" behavior and that having a sense of meaning in life is associated with selfless "giving" behavior. [F] [F] "Happiness "Happiness "Happiness without without without meaning meaning meaning characterizes characterizes characterizes a a relatively relatively shallow, shallow, shallow, self-absorbed self-absorbed self-absorbed or or or even even even selfish selfish selfish life, life, life, in in which things go well, needs and desires are easily satisfied, and complicated relationships are avoided," the authors of the study wrote. "If anything, pure happiness is linked to not helping others in need." While being happy is about feeling good, meaning is derived from contributing to others or to society in a bigger way. As Roy Baumeister, one of the researchers, told me, "Partly what we do as human beings is to take care of others and contribute to others. This makes life meaningful but it does not necessarily make us happy." [G] The new PNAS study also sheds light on the difference between meaning and happiness, but on the biological level. Barbara Fredrickson, a psychological researcher at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Steve Cole, a genetics and psychiatry (精神病学) researcher at UCLA, examined the self-reported levels of happiness and meaning in 80 research subjects. [H] Happiness was defined, as in the earlier study, by feeling good. The researchers measured happiness by asking subjects questions like "How often did you feel happy?", "How often did you feel interested in life?" and "How often did you feel satisfied?" The more strongly people endorsed these measures of "hedonic (享乐主义的) well-being," or pleasure, the higher they scored on happiness. [I] Meaning was defined as an orientation to something bigger than the self. They measured meaning by asking questions like "How often did you feel that your life has a sense of direction or meaning to it?" and "How often did you feel that you had something to contribute to society?" The more people endorsed these measures of "eudaimonic (幸福论的) well-being"—or, simply put, virtue —the more meaning they felt in life. [J] After noting the sense of meaning and happiness that each subject had, Fredrickson and Cole, with their research colleagues, looked at the ways certain genes expressed themselves in each of the participants. Like neuroscieritists who use fMRI (功能磁共振成像) scanning to determine how regions in the brain respond to different different stimuli, stimuli, stimuli, Cole Cole Cole and Fredrickson and Fredrickson are are interested interested interested in in in how how how the the the body, body, body, at at the the genetic genetic genetic level, level, level, responds responds responds to to feelings of happiness and meaning. [K] Cole's past work has linked various kinds of chronic adversity to a particular gene expression pattern. When people feel lonely, are grieving the loss of a loved one, or are struggling to make ends meet, their bodies go into threat mode. This triggers the activation of a stress-related gene pattern that has two features: an increase in the activity of pro-inflammatory (促炎症的) genes and a decrease in the activity of genes involved in anti-viral responses. [L] Cole and Fredrickson found that people who are happy but have little to no sense of meaning in their lives have the same gene expression patterns as people who are responding to and enduring chronic adversity. That That is, is, is, the the the bodies bodies bodies of of of these these these happy happy happy people people people are are are preparing preparing preparing them them them for for for bacterial bacterial bacterial threats threats threats by by by activating activating activating the the pro-inflammatory response. Chronic inflammation is, of course, associated with major illnesses like heart disease and various cancers. [M] [M] "Empty "Empty "Empty positive positive positive emotions"emotions"emotions"——like like the the the kind kind kind people people people experience experience experience during during during manic manic manic ((狂喜的) ) episodes episodes episodes or or artificially induced euphoria (欣快) from alcohol and drugs—"are about as good for you as adversity," says Fredrickson. [N] It's important to understand that for many people, a sense of meaning and happiness in life overlap; many people score jointly high (or jointly low) on the happiness and meaning measures in the study. But for many others, there is a dissonance (不一致)—they feel that they are low on happiness and high on meaning or that their lives are very high in happiness, but low in meaning. This last group, which has the gene expression pattern associated with adversity, formed 75 percent of study participants. Only one quarter of the study participants participants had had had what what what the the the researchers researchers researchers call call call "eudaimonic "eudaimonic "eudaimonic predominance"predominance"predominance"——that that is, is, is, their their their sense sense sense of of of meaning meaning outpaced their feelings of happiness. [O] [O] This This This is is is too too too bad bad bad given given given the the the more more more beneficial beneficial beneficial gene gene gene expression expression expression pattern pattern pattern associated associated associated with with with meaningfulness. meaningfulness. People whose levels of happiness and meaning line up, and people who have a strong sense of meaning but are not necessarily happy, showed a de-activation of the adversity stress response. Their bodies were not preparing them for the bacterial infections that we get when we are alone or in trouble, but for the viral infections we get when surrounded by a lot of other people. [P] Fredrickson's past research, described in her two books, Positivity and Love 2.0, has mapped the benefits of positive emotions in individuals. She has found that positive emotions broaden a person's perspective and help protect people against adversity. So it was surprising to her that hedonic well-being, which is associated with positive emotions and pleasure, did so badly in this study compared with eudaimonic well-being. [Q] [Q] "It's "It's "It's not not not the the the amount amount amount of of of hedonic hedonic hedonic happiness happiness happiness that's that's that's a a a problem." problem." problem." Fredrickson Fredrickson Fredrickson tells tells tells me, me, me, "It's "It's "It's that that that it's it's it's not not matched by eudaimonic well-being. It's great when both are in step. But if you have more hedonic well-being than would be expected, that's when this [gene] pattern that's similar to adversity emerged." [R] The terms hedonism and eudaimonism bring to mind the great philosophical debate, which has shaped Western civilization for over 2,000 years, about the nature of the good life. Does happiness lie in feeling good, as hedonists think, or in doing and being good, as Aristotle and his intellectual descendants, the virtue ethicists (伦理学家), think? From the evidence of this study, it seems that feeling good is not enough. People need meaning to thrive. In the words of Carl Jung, "The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it." Jung's wisdom certainly seems to apply to our bodies, if not also to our hearts and our minds. 46. The author's recent article examined how a meaningful life is different from a happy life. 47. It should be noted that many people feel their life is both happy and meaningful. 48. According to one survey, there is a close relationship between hedonic well-being measures and high scores on happiness. 49. According to one of the authors of a new study, what makes life meaningful may not make people happy. 50. Experiments were carried out to determine our body's genetic expression of feelings of happiness and meaning. 51. A new study claims happiness may not contribute to health. 52. According to the researchers, taking makes for happiness while giving adds meaning to life. 53. Evidence from research shows that it takes meaning for people to thrive. 54. With regard to gene expression patterns, happy people with little or no sense of meaning in life are found to be similar to those suffering from chronic adversity. 55. Most books on happiness today assert that happiness is beneficial to health. Section C Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. Passage One Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage. Nothing Nothing succeeds succeeds succeeds in in in business business business books books books like like like the the the study study study of of of success. success. success. The The The current current current business-book business-book business-book boom boom boom was was launched launched in in in 1982 1982 1982 by by by Tom Tom Tom Peters Peters Peters and and and Robert Robert Robert Waterman Waterman Waterman with with with In In In Search Search Search of of of Excellence. Excellence. Excellence. The The The trend trend trend has has continued with a succession of experts and would-be experts who promise to distil the essence of excellence into three (or five or seven) simple rules. The Three Rules is a self-conscious contribution to this type of writing; it even includes a bibliography of "success studies". Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed work for a consultancy, Deloitte, that is determined to turn itself into more of a thought-leader and less a corporate repairman. They employ all the tricks of the success success books. books. books. They They They insist insist insist that that that their their their conclusions conclusions conclusions are are are "measurable "measurable "measurable and and and actionable"actionable"actionable"——guides guides to to to behaviour behaviour rather than analysis for its own sake. Success authors usually serve up vivid stories about how exceptional businesspeople businesspeople stamped stamped stamped their their their personalities personalities personalities on on on a a a company company company or or or rescued rescued rescued it it it from from from a a a life-threatening life-threatening life-threatening crisis. crisis. MessrsRaynor MessrsRaynor and and and Ahmed Ahmed Ahmed are are are happier happier happier chewing chewing chewing the the the numbers: numbers: numbers: they they they provide provide provide detailed detailed detailed appendices appendices appendices on on "calculating the elements of advantage" and "detailed analysis". The authors spent five years studying the behaviour of their 344 "exceptional companies", only to come up at first with nothing. Every hunch (直觉) led to a blind alley and every hypothesis to a dead end. It was only when they shifted their attention from how companies behave to how they think that they began to make sense of their voluminous material. Management Management is is is all all all about about about making making making difficult difficult difficult tradeoffs tradeoffs tradeoffs in in in conditions conditions conditions that that that are are are always always always uncertain uncertain uncertain and and and often often fast-changing. fast-changing. But But But exceptional exceptional exceptional companies companies companies approach approach approach these these these tradeoffs tradeoffs tradeoffs with with with two two two simple simple simple rules rules rules in in in mind, mind, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously. First: better before cheaper. Companies are more likely to succeed in the long run if they compete on quality or performance than on price. Second: revenue before cost. Companies have more to gain in the long run from driving up revenue than by driving down costs. Most success studies suffer from two faults. There is "the halo (光环) effect", whereby good performance leads commentators to attribute all manner of virtues to anything and everything the company does. These virtues then suddenly become vices when the company fails. MessrsRaynor and Ahmed work hard to avoid these mistakes by studying large bodies of date over several decades. But they end up embracing a different error: error: stating stating stating the the the obvious. obvious. obvious. Most Most Most businesspeople businesspeople businesspeople will will will not not not be be be surprised surprised surprised to to to learn learn learn that that that it it it is is is better better better to to to find find find a a profitable niche (隙缝市场) and focus on boosting your revenues than to compete on price and cut your way to success. The difficult question is how to find that profitable niche and protect it. There, The Three Rules is less useful. 56. What kind of business books are most likely to sell well? A) Books on excellence. C) Books on business rules. B) Guides to management. D) Analyses of market trends. 57. What does the author imply about books on success so far? A) They help businessmen one way or another. B) They are written by well-recognised experts. C) They more or less fall into the same stereotype. D) They are based on analyses of corporate leaders. 58. How does The Three Rules differ from other success books according to the passage? A) It focuses on the behaviour of exceptional businessmen. B) It bases its detailed analysis on large amounts of data. C) It offers practicable advice to businessmen. D) It draws conclusions from vivid examples. 59. What does the passage say contributes to the success of exceptional companies? A) Focuis on quality and revenue. B) Management and sales promotion. C) Lower production costs and competitive prices. D) Emphasis on after-sale service and maintenance. 60. What is the author's comment on The Three Rules? A) It can help to locate profitable niches. C) It is noted for its detailed data analysis. B) It has little to offer to businesspeople. D) It fails to identify the keys to success. Passage Two Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage. When When Harvard Harvard Harvard student student student Mark Mark Mark Zuckerberg Zuckerberg Zuckerberg launched launched launched    in in in Feb. Feb. Feb. 2004, 2004, 2004, even even even he he he could could could not not imagine the forces it would let loose. His intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website rapidly evolved into, ended up connecting the world. To the children of this connected era, the world is one giant social network. They are not bound —as were previous generations of humans —by what they were taught. They are only limited by their curiosity and ambition. ambition. During During During my my my childhood, childhood, childhood, all all all knowledge knowledge knowledge was was was local. local. local. You You You learned learned learned everything everything everything you you you knew knew knew from from from your your parents, teachers, preachers, and friends. With the high-quality and timely information at their fingertips, today's children are rising above the fears and biases of their parents. Adults are also participating in this revolution. India's normally tame middle class is speaking up against social ills. Silicon Valley executives are being shamed into adding women to their boards. Political leaders are marshalling the energy of millions for elections and political causes. All of this is being done with social media technologies that Facebook and its competitors set free. As As does does does every every every advancing advancing advancing technology, technology, technology, social social social media media media has has has created created created many many many new new new problems. problems. problems. It It It is is is commonly commonly addictive and creates risks for younger users. Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and elsewhere to seek and brainwash recruits. And it exposes us and our friends to disagreeable spying. We may leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but through social media we tell criminals exactly where we are, when we plan to return home, and how to blackmail (敲诈) us. Governments don't need informers any more. Social media allows government agencies to spy on their own citizens. We record our thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on Facebook; we share our political views, social social preferences, preferences, preferences, and and and plans. plans. plans. We We We post post post intimate intimate intimate photographs photographs photographs of of of ourselves. ourselves. ourselves. No No No spy spy spy agency agency agency or or or criminal criminal organization could actively gather the type of data that we voluntarily post for them. The marketers are also seeing big opportunities. Amazon is trying to predict what we will order. Google is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media profiles. We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to alleviate the dangers. Regardless of what social media people use, one thing is certain: we are in a period of accelerating change. The next decade will be even more amazing and unpredictable than the last. Just as no one could predict what 。

2014年12月大学英语六级真题及详解（第一套）Part I Writing(30minutes)Directions:For this part,you are allowed30minutes to write an essay based on the picture below.You should start your essay with a brief description of thepicture and then discuss whether technology is indispensable ineducation.You should give sound arguments to support your views andwrite at least150words but no more than200words.“I’m going to need tech support.”【审题构思】本题是画图作文，考生需要根据图片内容及题目给出的话题写作。

图片中可以看到学生对于非常简单的问题都不能自己独立回答，而需要借助于技术，由此可知，教育太过依赖于技术，学生都失去了自己独立解决问题的能力。

根据话题，要求讨论技术是否在教育中必不可少，考生可以从图片内容入手，指出自己的观点：技术虽然可以一定程度帮助我们学习，但是并不是必不可少的，太过依赖于技术反而不利于学习。

接着在第二段针对此观点进行论证时，则可以根据技术在学习中的这两个方面分别进行论述。

【参考范文】Is Technology Indispensable in Education?(1)The phenomenon depicted in the cartoon that the student cannot complete such easy calculation as“what is2plus2?”without a tech support,reveals that nowadays in education,we are too dependent on technology and the essence of learning is ignored.As far as I am concerned,technology plays a useful but not indispensable role in education.(2)Undoubtedly,technology is a useful tool in assisting students in study if used appropriately.(3)For example,if you want to learn certain skills or solve certain problems,the Internet allows you to search for different kinds of materials that you need and the computer can help you deal with some sophisticated calculations.(4)However,education is not just to solve some certain problems,but to inspire the students and help them tap their potentials.If the students are too dependent on technology,if they just resort to technology instead of thinking by themselves,they will never learn how to solve problem and their potentials can never be touched.And then,the essence of education,learning,is totally ignored.(5)All in all,technology is not indispensable in education and students cannot depend on technology to solve every problem.If possible,technology can be employed by students as a tool,but it can never replace learning.【行文点评】(1)揭示图片内容，并表达自己的观点：在现代教育中，我们过于依赖技术，而学习的本质已被忽视。

2014年12月大学英语六级考试第一套答案与详解（卷一）Part ⅠWriting1、审题:本次作文是图画作文【考频:★★☆】，这是2013年12月六级改革后第一次出现该类型作文，但体裁仍是常见的议论文。

本次作文给出的图画理解起来难度不大，而且涉及的话题是教育和科技的关系，这是考生比较熟悉的话题，因此写起来并不难。

2、列提纲：3. 语言:对图画的描述要用词准确，议论部分可适当使用从句等高分句型。

Technology and EducationWhat the drawing vividly depicts is that a pupil tells his teacher he needs tech support to solve an extremely easy question on the blackboard. The drawing illustrates that we-are highly dependent on technology, overlooking the importance of independent thinking.Those who favor the significance of technology in education argue that it facilitates learning and enables us to have easier access to infinite learning resources. In contrast, people who hold the opposite opinion maintain that over-dependence on technology is harmful. They think that a student who gets into the habit of doing his homework by downloading answers from the Internet will end up ignorant and being unable to think critically and creatively. And the drawing is a good illustration of this point. For another example, if you always write your homework or reports on a word processor，you may forget how to write the words in no time.As far as I am concerned, technology plays an important but not indispensable role in education. Over-dependence on technology does more harm than good. I suggest that we should master the basic knowledge on our own and learn how to apply technology in education properly. Only in this way can we benefit most from our learning process.PartⅡListening Comprehension1.听力原文：M: Before we play again, I’m going to buy a good tennis racket.W:Your shoes aren’t in a very good shape，either.Q: What does the woman mean?1. A) The man’s tennis racket is good enough.B)The man should get a pair of new shoes.C)She can wait for the man for a little while.D)Physical exercise helps her stay in shape.【预测】由A)“男士的网球拍已经足够好了”、B)“男士应该买双新鞋”和D)“体育锻炼帮她保持身材”可以推测，对话内容与体育锻炼有关。

2014年12月大学英语6级考试真题及答案（整理总结版）（一）听力部分真题和答案：短对话：1.M: Before we play again, I’m going to buy a good tennis racket.W: Your shoes aren’t in a very good shape either.Q: What does the woman mean?2.M: Barbara, I’d like you could assist me in the lab demonstration. But aren’t you supposed to go to Dr. Smith’s lecture today?W: I ask Cathy to take notes for me.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?3.W: Steve invi ted me to the dinner party on Sunday evening. Have you received your invitation yet? M: Yes, he found me this morning and told me he wanted all his old classmates to come to the reunion.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?4.W: I’m afraid I’m a little bit s easick. I feel dizzy.M: Close your eyes and relax. You’ll be all right as soon as we come at shore.Q: Where does the conversation most probably take place?5.W: I wonder what’s happened to our train. It should have been here twenty minutes ago according to the timetable. But it’s already 9:30.M: There’s no need to get nervous. The announcement says it’s forty minutes late.Q: When is the train arriving?6.M: John is handsome and wealthy. Believe it or not, he is still a bachelor.W: He is a notorious g uy in many girls’ eyes. I’m sick of hearing his name.Q: What does the woman mean?7.M: Cars had lined up bumper to bumper. And I’ve been held up on the express way for the entire hour.W: Really? It must be a pain in the neck. But be patient, anyway, you can do nothing but wait. Q: What do we learn about the man?8.W: Yesterday I was surprised to see Mary using that washing machine you’re going to throw away. M: Yes, it’s quite old and in a very poor condition. Frankly speaking, that she got it working amazes me a lot.Q: What does the man imply about Mary?答案：1. B. The man should get a pair of new shoes.2. A. The woman will skip Dr. Smith’s lecture to help the man.3. D. The speakers and Steve used to be classmates.4. C. In a boat.5. B. 9:50.6. A. She does not like John at all.7. D. He is trapped in a terrible traffic jam.8. A. She is good at repairing things.长对话：Conversation 1M: A recent case I heard was of a man accused and found guilty of breaking into a house and stealing some money.W: Well, was he really guilty, judge?M: He admit ted that he’d done it, and there were several witnesses saying that he had indeed done it. So I can only assume that he was guilty.W: Why did he do it?M: Well, the reasons were little muddied, probably at least it seemed in a trial that he did it to get some money to feed his family. You see, he’d been out of work for some time.W: Well, he’d been out of work and he chose to break into a ho use to get money for his family and apparently in front of people that, err... could see him do it.M: His attorney presented testimony that he had indeed applied for jobs and was listed with several employment agencies, including the state employment agency, but they weren’t any jobs.W: And he had no luck!M: He had no luck and it’d been some time. He had two children and both of them were needing food and clothing.W: So he was in desperate circumstances. Did you sentence him?M: Yes.W: But what good do es it do to put the man into jail when he’s obviously in such need?M: This particular fellow has been in prison before.W: For the same thing?M: No, for a different sort of crime.W: Huh?M: But he did know about crime, so I suppose there are folks that just have to go back to prison several times.9. What did the judge say about the case he recently heard?10. What do we learn about the man at the time of crime?11. What did the judge say about the accused?Conversation 2M: Ah, how do you do, Ms. Wezmore?W: How do you do?M: Do sit down.W: Thank you.M: I’m glad you’re interes ted in our job. Now, let me explain it. We plan to increase our advertising considerably. At present, an advertising agency handles our account, but we haven’t been too pleased with the results lately and we may give our account to another agency.W: What would my work entail?M: You’d be responsible to me for all advertising and to Mr. Grunt for public rel ations.You’d brief the agency whoever it is on the kind of advertising campaign we want. You’d also be responsible for getting our leaflets, brochures and catalogs designed.W: I presume you advertise in the national press as well as the trade press.M: Yes, we do.W: Have you thought about advertising on television?M: We don’t think it’s a suitable medium for us. And it’s much too expensive.W: I can just imagine a scene with a typist sitting on an old-fashioned typing chair, her back aching, exhaus ted, then we show her in one of your chairs. Her back properly supported filling full of energy, typing twice as quickly.M: Before you get carried away with your little scene, Ms. Wezmore, I regret to have to tell you again that we are not planning to go into television.W: That’s a shame. I’ve been doing a lot of television work lately and it interests me enormously.M: Then I really don’t think that this is quite the right job for you here, Ms. Wezmore.12. What does the man think of their present advertising agency?13. What would the woman be responsible for to Mr. Grunt?14. What is the woman most interested in doing?15. What does the man think of the woman applicant?答案：Conversation 19. C. The accused was found guilty of stealing.10. B. He was unemployed.11. A. He had been in jail before.Conversation 212. B. Unsatisfactory.13. C. Public relations.14. D. Making television commercials.15. D. She is not suitable for the position.短文1Many foreign students are attrac ted not only to the academic programs at a particular U.S. college but also to the larger community, which affords the chance to soak up the surrounding culture. Few foreign universities put much emphasis on the cozy communal life that characterizes American campuses from clubs and sports teams to student publications and drama societies. “The campus and the American university have bec ome identical in people’s minds,” says Brown University President Vartan Gregorian. “In America it is assumed that a student’s daily life is as important as his learning experience.”F oreign students also come in search of choices. America’s menu of options—research universities, state institutions, private liberal-arts schools, community colleges, religious institutions, military academies—is unrivaled. “In Europe,” says history profes sor Jonathan Steinberg, who has taught at both Harvard and Cambridge, “there is one system, and that is it.” While students overseas usually must demonstrate expertise in a specific field, whether law or philosophy or chemistry, most American universities insist that students sample natural and social sciences, languages and literature before choosing a field of concentration.Such opposing philosophies grow out of different traditions and power structures. In Europe and Japan, universities are answerable only to a ministry of education, which sets academic standards and distributes money.While centralization ensures that all students are equipped with roughly the same resources and perform at roughly the same level, it also discourages experimentation. “When they make mistakes, they make big ones,” says Robert Rosenzweig, president of the Association of American Universities. “They set a system in wrong directions, and it’s like steering a supertanker.”问题：16. What does the speaker say characterizes American campuses?17. What does Brown University president Vartan Gregorian say about students' daily life?18. In what way is the Uni ted States unrivaled according to the speaker?19. What does the speaker say about universities in Europe and Japan?答案：16. What does the speaker say characterizes American campuses?答案：(A) The cozy communal life.【点评】：细节题。

2014年12月大学英语六级考试真题(一)答案与详解Part Ⅰ Writing审题思路本篇题目一改过去常写的议论文，要求写对自己影响最大的大学同学。

根据题目要求，写作重点应当是描述，而不是议论。

考生首先应直接或间接地引出主题，然后通过具体事例阐释该同学对“我”产生重大影响的原因,最后发表议论，照应前文，升华主题。

由此可知，题目要求写一篇夹叙夹议，以叙述为主的作文。

写作提纲一、提出观点：同学“Tom ”改变了“我”（be subject to being pessimistic ，strive to encourage, appreciate)二、阐释主题：1、在他的帮助下，我发现英语没那么难(be confused about ，make progress)2、他教我如何面对挫折(live through setbacks) 三、升华主题：l 、“Tom”让我认识到了自信和乐观的重要性(the significance of self-confidence and optimism )2、这种态度使人受益终身(benefit people all his life)范文点评全文翻译对我影响最大的大学同学我曾经对自己的学习并不那么自信，而且遇到挫折时就容易悲观。

然而，当我的一个大学同学汤姆竭尽全力鼓励我的时候，我发现自己渐渐地有所改变。

我非常感激他对我的帮助。

以前我的英语不好，然而每当我对老师的讲解感到迷惑不解时，汤姆总是用清晰明了的方式给我解释。

渐高分范文 精彩点评A Classmate Who Has Influenced Me Most in College ① Once upon a time, I was not so confident about my study and was subject to being pessimistic when confronted with frustrations. ② However, I found myself gradually changing as Tom, one of my classmates in college, strived to encourage me. ③ I really appreciate his help. ④ I used not to be good at English ； however, whenever I was confused about the teacher’s explanation, he always interpreted it to me in- an explicit way. Gradually, I found English not so difficult and made progress day by day. ⑤ In addition, it was Tom who kept guiding me how to live through all kinds of setbacks in life. ⑥ I’l l never forget the very day when I failed my speech contest and I was overwhelmed and ashamed.⑦ Tom told me that nobody can defeat a person if he is determined to stand upto every failure. ⑧With his encouragement, I regained confidence, realizing that optimism was always the key to success. ⑨ Thanks to Tom, I eventually learned the significance ofself-confidence and optimism. They not only serve as indispensable characteristics of personality but also will benefit people all his life.① ②通过描述那个曾经缺乏自信而且悲观的 “我”渐渐地有所改变引出文章主题——对 “我”影响最大的大学同学，他竭尽全力鼓励“我”。

2014年12月英语六级听力真题(第一套) Section A1.A) The man’s tennis racket is good enough.B) The man should get a pair of new shoes.C) She can wait for the man for a little while.D) Physical exercise helps her stay in shape.2.A) The woman will skip Dr. Smith’s lecture to help the man.B) Kathy is very pleased to attend the lecture by Dr. Smith.C) The woman is good at doing lab demonstrations.D) The man will do all he can do assist the woman.3.A) The woman asked the man to accompany her to the party.B) Steve became rich soon after graduation from college.C) Steve invited his classmates to visit his big cottage.D) The speakers and Steve used to be classmates.4.A) In a bus.B) In a clinic.C) In a boat.D) In a plane.5.A) 10:10.B) 9:50.C) 9:40.D) 9:10.6.A) She does not like John at all.B) John has got many admirers.C) She does not think John is handsome.D) John has just got a bachelor’s degree.7.A) He has been bumping along for hours.B) He has got a sharp pain in the neck.C) He is involved in a serious accident.D) He is trapped in a terrible traffic jam.8. A) She is good at repairing things.B) She is a professional mechanic.C) She should improve her physical condition.D) She cannot go without a washing machine.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9.A) Some witnesses failed to appear in court.B) The case caused debate among the public.C) The accused was found guilty of stealing.D) The accused refused to plead guilty in court.10.A) He was out of his mind.B) He was unemployed.C) His wife deserted him.D) His children were sick.11.A) He had been in jail before.B) He was unworthy of sympathy.C) He was unlikely to get employed.D) He had committed the same sort of crime.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.A) Irresponsible.B) Unsatisfactory.C) Aggressive.D) Conservative.13.A) Internal communication.B) Distribution of brochures.C) Public relations.D) Product design.14.A) Placing advertisements in the trade press.B) Drawing sketches for advertisements.C) Advertising in the national press.D) Making television commercials.15.A) She has the motivation to do the job.B) She is not so easy to get along with.C) She knows the tricks of advertising.D) She is not suitable for the position.Section BPassage OneQuestions 16 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.16.A) The cozy communal life.B) Innovative academic programs.C) The cultural diversity.D) Impressive school buildings.17.A) It is very beneficial to their academic progress.B) It helps them soak up the surrounding culture.C) It is as important as their learning experience.D) It ensures their physical and mental health.18.A) It offers the most challenging academic programs.B) It has the world’s best-known military academies.C) It provides numerous options for students.D) It draws faculty from all around the world.Passage TwoQuestions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19.A) They try to give students opportunities for experimentation.B) They are responsible merely to their Ministry of Education.C) They strive to develop every student’s academic potential.D) They ensure that all students get roughly equal attention.20.A) It will arrive at Boulogne at half past two.B) It crosses the English Channel twice a day.C) It is now about half way to the French coast.D) It is leaving Folkestone in about five minutes21.A) Opposite the ship’s office.B) At the rear of B deck.C) Next to the duty-free shop.D) In the front of A deck.Passage ThreeQuestions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22.A) It is the sole use of passengers travelling with cars.B) It is much more spacious than the lounge on C deck.C) It is for the use of passengers travelling with children.D) It is for senior passengers and people with VIP cards.23.A) It was named after its location.B) It was named after a cave art expert.C) It was named after its discoverer.D) It was named after one of its painters.24.A) Animal painting was part of the spiritual life of the time.B) Deer were worshiped by the ancient Cro-Magnon people.C) Cro-Magnon people painted animals they hunted and ate.D) They were believed to keep evils away from cave dwellers.25.A) They know little about why the paintings were created.B) They have difficulty telling when the paintings were done.C) They are unable to draw such interesting and fine paintings.D) They have misinterpreted the meaning of the cave paints.Section CIf you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls, you’ll probably live at home and commute to classes. This arrangement has a lot of __26__. It’s cheaper. It provides a comfortable and familiar setting, and it means you’ll get the kind of home cooking you’re used to instead of the monotony (单调) that__27__ even the best institutional food.However, commuting students need to __28__ to become involved in the life of their college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students. Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in __29__ and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like.One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents’unwillingness to recognize that they’re adults. The __30__ from high school to college is a big one, and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you’d have if you were living away. Home rules that might have been __31__ when you were in high school don’t apply. If your parents are __32__ to renegotiate, you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility that goes with maturity. Parents are more willing to__33__ their children as adults when they behave like adults. If, however,there’s so much friction at home that it __34__ your academic work, you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends. Sometimes this is a happy solution when family __35__ make三、2014年12月英语六级听力原文(第一套)短对话:1.M: Before we play again, I’m going to buy a good tennis racket.W: Your shoes aren’t in a very good shape either.Q: What does the woman mean?2.M: Barbara, I’d like you could assist me in the lab demonstration. But aren’t you supposed to go to Dr. Smith’s lecture today?W: I ask Cathy to take notes for me.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?3.W: Steve invited me to the dinner party on Sunday evening. Have you received your invitation yet?M: Yes, he found me this morning and told me he wanted all his old classmates to come to the reu nion.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?4.W: I’m afraid I’m a little bit seasick. I feel dizzy.M: Close your eyes and relax. You’ll be all right as soon as we come at shore. Q: Where does the conversation most probably take place?5.W: I wonder what’s happened to our train. It should have been here twenty minutes ago according to the timetable. But it’s already 9:30.M: There’s no need to get nervous. The announcement says it’s forty minutes late. Q: When is the train arriving?6.M: John is handsome and wealthy. Believe it or not, he is still a bachelor.W: He is a notorious guy in many girls’eyes. I’m sick of hearing his name.Q: What does the woman mean?7.M: Cars had lined up bumper to bumper. And I’ve been held up on the express way for the entire hour.W: Really? It must be a pain in the neck. But be patient, anyway, you can do nothing but wait.Q: What do we learn about the man?8.W: Yesterday I was surprised to see Mary using that washing machine you’re going to throw away.M: Yes, it’s quite old and in a very poor condition. Frankly speaking, that she got itworking amazes me a lot.Q: What does the man imply about Mary?长对话Conversation 1M: A recent case I heard was of a man accused and found guilty of breaking into a house and stealing some money.W: Well, was he really guilty, judge?M: He admitted that he’d done it, and there were several witnesses saying that he had indeed done it. So I can only assume that he was guilty.W: Why did he do it?M: Well, the reasons were little muddied, probably at least it seemed in a trial that he did it to get some money to feed his family. You see, he’d been out of work for some time.W: Well, he’d been out of work and he chose to break into a house to get money for his family and apparently in front of people that, err…could see him do it. M: His attorney presented testimony that he had indeed applied for jobs and was listed with several employment agencies, including the state employment agency, but they weren’t any jobs.W: And he had no luck!M: He had no luck and it’d been some time. He had two children and both of them were needing food and clothing.W: So he was in desperate circumstances. Did you sentence him?M: Yes.W: But what good does it do to put the man into jail when he’s obviously in such need?M: This particular fellow has been in prison before.W: For the same thing?M: No, for a different sort of crime.W: Huh?M: But he did know about crime, so I suppose there are folks that just have to go back to prison several times.9. What did the judge say about the case he recently heard?10. What do we learn about the man at the time of crime?11. What did the judge say about the accused?长对话Conversation 2暂无…短文一Many foreign students are attracted not only to the academic programs at a particular U.S. college but also to the larger community, which affords the chanceto soak up the surrounding culture. Few foreign universities put much emphasis on the cozy communal life that characterizes American campuses from clubs and sports teams to student publications and drama societies. “The campus and the American university have become identical in people’s minds,”says Brown University President Vartan Gregorian. “In America it is assumed that a student’s daily life is as important as his learning experience.”Foreign students also come in search of choices. America’s menu of options—research universities, state institutions, private liberal-arts schools, community colleges, religious institutions, military academies—is unrivaled. “In Europe,”says history professor Jonathan Steinberg, who has taught at both Harvard and Cambridge, “there is one system, and that is it.”While students overseas usually must demonstrate expertise in a specific field, whether law or philosophy or chemistry, most American universities insist that students sample natural and social sciences, languages and literature before choosing a field of concentration.Such opposing philosophies grow out of different traditions and power structures. In Europe and Japan, universities are answerable only to a ministry of education, which sets academic standards and distributes money.While centralization ensures that all students are equipped with roughly the same resources and perform at roughly the same level, it also discourages experimentation. “When they make mistakes, they make big ones,”says Robert Rosenzweig, president of the Association of American Universities. “They set a system in wrong directions, and it’s like steering a supertanker.”16. What does the speaker say characterizes American campuses?17. What does Brown University president Vartan Gregorian say about students’daily life?18. In what way is the United States unrivaled according to the speaker?19. What does the speaker say about universities in Europe and Japan?短文二Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard your Sea-link ferry from Folkestone to Boulogne and wish you a pleasant trip with us. We are due to leave Folkestone in about five minutes and a journey to Boulogne will take approximately two hours. We are getting good reports of the weather in the Channel and in France, so we should have a calm crossing. Sun and temperatures of 30 degrees celsius are reported on the French coast. For your convenience on the journey, we’d like to point out that there ar e a number of facilities available on board. There’s a snack bar serving sandwiches and hot and cold refreshments situated in the front of A deck. There is also a restaurant serving hot meals situated on B deck. If you need to change money or cash travelers’checks, we have a bank on board. You can find a bank on C deck. Between the ship’s office and the duty free shop, toilets are situated on B deck at the rear of the ship and on A deck next to the snack bar. For the children, there’s a games room on C deck next to the duty free shop. Here children can find a variety of electronic games. Passengers are reminded that thelounge on B deck is for the sole use of passengers traveling with cars and that there is another lounge on C deck at the front of the ship for passengers traveling without cars. Finally, ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to wish you a pleasant journey and hope that you’ll travel with us again in the near future.20. What does the speaker say about the Sea-link ferry?21. Where is the snack bar situated?22. What does the speaker say about the lounge on B deck?短文三On Christmas Eve in 1994, humans entered a cave in the mountains of southeastern France for what was probably the first time in 20,000 years. The vivid images of more than 300 animals that Jean-Marie Chauvet and his assistants found on the cave walls were like none that they had seen before. Unusual in the Grotte Chauvet, as the cave is now called in honor of its discoverer, are paintings of many flat sheeting animals. Other known caves from the same geographical area and time period contain only paintings of plantites. The paintings in this cave refute the old theory that Cro-Magnoon people painted animals that they hunted and then ate. Now many specialists believe that cave paintings were not part of a ritual to bring good luck to hunters. They point out that while deer made up a major part of their diet, there’re no drawings of deer. They believe that the animals painted were those central to the symbolic and spiritual life of the times; animals thatrepresented something deep and spiritual to the people. Scientists are hopeful that Groo Chavie will yield new information about the art and lifestyle of Cro-Magnoon people. They readily admit, however, that little is understood yet as to the reasons why ice age artists created their interesting and detailed paintings. Scientists also wonder why some paintings were done in areas that are so difficult to get to, in caves, for example, that are 2,400 feet underground, and accessible only by crawling through narrow passageways.23. How did the cave get its name?24. What is the old theory about the paintings in the cave?25. What do scientists readily admit according to the speaker?听力填空If you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls, you’ll probably live at home and commute to classes. This arrangement has a lot of advantages. It’s cheaper. It provides a comfortable and familiar setting, and it means you’ll get the kind of home cooking you’re used to instead of the monotony (单调) that characterizes even the best institutional food.However, commuting students need to go out of their way to become involved in the life of their college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students. Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in seeking out and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like.One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents’unwillingness to recognize that they’re adults. The transition from high school to college is a big one, and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you’d have if you were living away. Home rules that might have been appropriate when you were in high school don’t apply. If your parents are reluctant to renegotiate, you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility that goes with maturity. Parents are more willing to acknowledge their children as adults when they behave like adults. If, however, there’s so much friction at home that it interferes with your academic work, you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends. Sometimes this is a happy solution when family tensions make everyone miserable四、2014年12月英语六级听力答案(第一套)1. B. The man should get a pair of new shoes.2. A. The woman will skip Dr. Smith’s lecture to help the man.3. D. The speakers and Steve used to be classmates.4. C. In a boat.5. B. 9:50.6. A. She does not like John at all.7. D. He is trapped in a terrible traffic jam.8. A. She is good at repairing things.Conversation 19. C. The accused was found guilty of stealing.10. B. He was unemployed.11. A. He had been in jail before.Conversation 212. B. Unsatisfactory.13. C. Public relations.14. D. Making television commercials.15. D. She is not suitable for the position.Passage 116. What does the speaker say characterizes American campuses?答案：(A) The cozy communal life.【点评】：细节题。

2014年12月英语六级真题及答案（文字版）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Part I WritingDirections: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the following topic. You shoul d write at least 180 words but no more than 200 words.作文题一：学历歧视作文题二：科技与学习作文题三：学习没有捷径Part II ListeningSection ADirections：In this section，you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation an d the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, y ou must read the four choices marked A) , B) , C) and D)，and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.Question 1A.At a groceryB.In a parking lotC.In a car showroomD.At a fast food restaurantQuestion 2A.Have a little nap after lunchB.Get up and take a short walkC.Change her position now and thenD.Stretch legs before standing upQuestion 3A.The students should practice long-distance runningB.He doesn’t quite believe what the woman saysC.The students’ physical condition is not desirableD.He thinks the race is too hard for the studentsQuestion 4A.They do not want to have a baby at presentB.They cannot afford to get married right nowC.They are both pursuing graduate studiesD.They will get their degrees in two yearsQuestion 5A.Twins usually have a lot in commonB.He must have been mistaken for JackC.Jack is certainly not as healthy as he isD.He has not seen Jack for quite a few daysQuestion 6A.The man will take the woman wo the museumB.The man knows where the museum is locatedC.The woman is asking the way at the crossroadsD.The woman will attend the opening of the museumQuestion 7A.They cannot ask the guy to leaveB.The guy has been coming in for yearsC.They should not look down upon the guyD.The guy must be feeling extremely lonelyQuestion 8A.Collect timepiecesB.Become time-consciousC.Learn to mend locksD.Keep track of his daily activitiesQuestions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. Question 9A.It winds its way to the seaB.It is quickly risingC.It is eating into its banksD.It is wide and deepQuestion 10A.Get the trucks over to the other side of the riverB.Take the equipment apart before being ferriedC.Reduce the transport cost as much as possibleD.Try to speed up the operation by any meansQuestion 11A.Ask the commander to send a helicopterB.Halt the operation until further ordersC.Cut trees and build rowing boatsD.Find as many coats as possibleQuestions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.Question 12A.Help him join an Indian expeditionB.Talk about his climbing experiencesC.Give up mountain climbing altogetherD.Save money to buy climbing equipmentQuestion 13A.He was very strict with his childrenB.He climbed mountains to earn a livingC.He had an unusual religious backgroundD.He was the first to conquer Mt. QomolangmaQuestion 14A.They are like humansB.They are sacred placesC.They are to be protectedD.They are to be conqueredQuestion 15A.It was his father’s training that pilled him throughB.It was a milestone in his mountain climbing careerC.It was his father who gave him the strength to succeedD.It helped him understand the Sherpa view of mountainsSection BDirections：In this section，you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage，you will he ar some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a questi on, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C)and D). Then mark the cor responding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centrePassage OneQuestion 16A. By reviewing what he has said previouslyB.By comparing memorandums with lettersC.By showing a memorandum’ s structureD.By analyzing the organization of a letterQuestion 17A.They spent a lot of time writing memorandumsB.They seldom read a memorandum through to the endC.They placed emphasis on the format of memorandumsD.They ignored many of the memorandums they received Question 18A.Style and wordingB.Structure and lengthC.Directness and clarityD.Simplicity and accuracyPassage TwoQuestions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 19A.Accurate datingB.Professional lookC.Direct statement of purposeD.Inclusion of appropriate humorQuestion 20A.They give top priority to their work efficiencyB.They make an effort to lighten their workloadC.They never change work habits unless forced toD.They try hard to make the best use of their timeQuestion 21A.Self-confidenceB.Sense of dutyC.Work efficiencyD.Passion for workQuestion 22A.They are addicted to playing online gamesB.They try to avoid work whenever possibleC.They find to pleasure in the work they doD.They simply have no sense of responsibilityPassage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.Question 23A.He lost all his propertyB.He was sold to a circusC.He was forced into slaveryD.He ran away from his familyQuestion 24A.A carpenterB.A businessmanC.A master of hisD.A black drummerQuestion 25A.It named its town hall after Solomon NorthupB.It declared July 24 Solomon Northup DayC.It freedom all blacks in the town from slaveryD.It hosted a reunion for the Northup familySection CDirections：In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the fir st time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, yo u are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage i s read for the third time, you should check what you have written.Section CIntolerance is the art of ignoring any views that differ from your own. It(26)_____ itself a hatred. St ereotypes, prejudice, and(27)_____.Once it intensifies in people, intolerance is nearly impossible to overco me. But why would anyone want to be labeled intolerant. Why would people want to be (28)_____about the world around them? Why would one want to be part of the problem in America, instead of the soluti on?There are many explanations for intolerant attitudes, some (29)_____ childhood. It is likely that intole rant folks grew up (30)_____ intolerant parents and the cycle of prejudice has simply continued for (31)_ ____. Perhaps intolerant people are so set in their ways that they find it easier to ignore anything that mi ght not (32)_____ their limited view of life. Or maybe intolerant students have simply never been (33)__ ___ to anyone different form themselves. But none of these reason is an excuse for allpwing the intoleran ce to continue.Intolerance should not be confused with disagreement.It is,of course,possible as diasgree with an opini on without being intolerant of it.If you understand a belief but still don't believe in that specific belief,tha t's fine.You are (34)_____ your opinion.As a matter of fact.(35)_____ disseniers(持异议者)are important for any belief.If we all believed the same things.we would never grow,and we would never learn about the world around us,does not stem frim disagreement.It stems from fear,And fear stems from fear.And fear s tems from ignorance.Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section AHis future subjects have not always treated the Prince of Wales with the respect one XXXX expect. They laughed aloud in 1986 when the heir to the British(36)_____ told a TV reporter that he talked to h is plants at his country house, Highgrove, to stimulate their growth. The Prince was being humorous- “M y sense of humor will get me into trouble o ne day”, he said to his aids(随从)-but listening to Charles W indsor can indeed prove stimulating. The royal(37)_____ has been promoting radical ideas for most of his adult life. Some of his(38)_____, which once sounded a bit weird, were simply ahead of their time. No w, finally, the world seems to be catching up with him.Take his views on farming. Prince Charles’ Duchy Home Farm went(39)_____ back in 1986. When most shoppers cared only about the low price tag on suspiciously blemish-free(无瑕疵的) vegetables and(4 0)_____ large chickens piled high in supermarkets.His warnings on climate change proved farsighted,too.Charles began(41)_____ action in warming in 1 990 and says he has been worried about the(42)_____ of man on the environment same be was a teenger.Although he was gradually gained international(43)_____ as one of the world's lending conservationist s,many British people still think of him as an(34)_____ person who talks to plants.This year,as it happens, South Korean scientists proved that plants really do(45)_____ to round.So Charles was ahead of the game there,too.A.conformB.eccentricC.environmentalistD.expeditionsE.impactF.notionsanicH.originallyI.recognitionJ.respondK.subordinateL.suppressingM.throneN.unnaturallyO.urgingSection BDirections: In this section，you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each s tatement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the infor mation 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.High School Sports Are n’t Killing AcademicsA)In this month’s Atlantic cover article, “The Case Against High-School Sports,” Amanda Ripley arg ues that school-sponsored sports programs should be seriously cut. She writes that, unlike most countries t hat outperform the United States on international assessments, American schools put too much of an emph asis on athletics, “ Sports are embedded in American schools in a way they are not almost anywhere els e,” she writes, “Yet this difference hardly ever comes up in domestic debates about America’s internation al mediocrity(平庸)in education.”B)American student-athletes reap many benefits from participating in sports, but the costs to the scho ols could outweigh their benefits, she argues, In particular, Ripley contends that sports crowd out the acad emic missions of schools: America should learn from South Korea and Finland and every other country at the top level of international test scores, all of whom emphasize athletics far less in school. ”Even in ei ghth grade, American kids spend more than twice the time Korean kids spend playing sports,” she writes, citing a 2010 study published in the Journal of Advanced Academics.C)It might well be true that sports are far more rooted in American high schools than in other count ries. But our reading of international test scores finds no support for the argument against school athletics. Indeed, our own research and that of others lead us to make the opposite case. School-sponsored sports appear to provide benefits that seem to increase, not detract(减少)from, academic success.D)Ripley indulges a popular obsession(痴迷)with international test score comparisons, which show wid e and frightening gaps between the United States and other countries. She ignores, however, the fact that states vary at least as much in test scores as do developed countries. A 2011 report from Harvard Univer sity shows that Massachusetts produces math scores comparable to South Korea and Finland, while Missis sippi scores are closer to Trinidad and Tobago. Ripley’s thesis about sports falls apart in light of this fact. Schools in Massachusetts provide sports programs while schools in Finland do not. Schools in Mississipp i may love football while in Tobago interscholastic sports are nowhere near as prominent. Sports cannot e xplain these similarities in performance. They can’t explain international differences either.E)If it is true that sports undermine the academic mission of American schools, we would expect to see a negative relationship between the commitment to athletics and academic achievement. However, the University of Arkansas’s Daniel Bowen and Jay Greene actually find the opposite. They examine this rela tionship by analyzing schools’ sports winning percentages as well as student-athletic participation rates co mpared to graduation rates and standardized test score achievement over a five-year period for all public high schools in Ohio. Controlling for student poverty levels, demographics(人口统计状况), and district fin ancial resources, both measures of a school’s commitment to athletics are significantly and positively relat ed to lower dropout rates as well as higher test scores.F)On-the-field success and high participation in sports is not random-it requires focus and dedication to athletics. One might think this would lead schools obsessed with winning to deemphasize academics. B owen and Greene’s results contradict tha t argument. A likely explanation for this seemingly counterintuitiv e(与直觉相反的)result is that success in sports programs actually facilitates or reflects greater social capita l within a school’s community.G)Ripley cites the writings of renowned sociologist James Coleman, whose research in education was groundbreaking. Coleman in his early work held athletics in contempt, arguing that they crowded out sch ools’ academic missions. Ripley quotes his 1961 study, The Adolescent Society, where Coleman writes, “Alt ogether, the trophy(奖品)case would suggest to the innocent visitor that he was entering an athletic cl ub, not an educational institution.”H)However, in later research Coleman would show how the success of schools is highly dependent o n what he termed soc ial capital, “the social networks, and the relationships between adults and children th at are of value for the child’s growing up.”I)According to a 2013 evaluation conducted by the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago, a progra m called Becoming a Man-Sports Edition creates lasting improvements in the boys’ study habits and grad e point averages. During the first year of the program, students were founds to be less likely to transfer schools or be engaged in violent crime. A year after the program, participants were less likely to have ha d an encounter with the juvenile justice system.J)If school-sponsored sports were completely eliminated tomorrow, many American students would stil l have opportunities to participate in organized athletics elsewhere, much like they do in countries such as Finland, Germany, and South Korea. The same is not certain when it comes to students from more disa dvantaged backgrounds. In an overview of the research on non-school based after-school programs, researc hers find that disadvantaged children participate in these programs at significantly lower rates. They find t hat low-income students have less access due to challenges with regard to transportation, non-nominal fees, and off-campus safety. Therefore, reducing or eliminating these opportunities would most likely deprive disadvantaged students of the benefits from athletic participation, not least of which is the opportunity to in teract with positive role models outside of regular school hours.K)Another unfounded criticism that Ripley makes is bringing up the stereotype that athletic XX are t ypically lousy(蹩脚的)classroom teachers. “American principals, unlike the XX XX of principals around th e world, make many hiring decisions with their sports teams in mind, which does not always end well fo r students,” she writes. Educators who seek employment at school s primarily for the purpose of coaching are likely to shirk(推卸)teaching responsibilities, the argument goes. Moreover, even in the cases where th e employee is a teacher first and athletic coach second, the additional responsibilities that come with coac hing likely comes at the expense of time otherwise spent on planning, grading, and communicating with p arents and guardians.L)The data, however, do not seem to confirm this stereotype. In the most rigorous study on the class room results of high school coac hes, the University of Arkansas’s Anna Egalite finds that athletic coaches in Florida mostly tend to perform just as well as their non-coaching counterparts, with respect to raising student test scores. We do not doubt that teachers who also coach face serious tradeoffs that likely come at the expense of time they could dedicate to their academic obligations. However, as with sporting even ts, athletic coaches gain additional opportunities for communicating and serving as mentors(导师)that poten tially help students succeed and make up for the costs of coaching commitments.M)If schools allow student-athletes to regularly miss out on instructional time for the sake of travelin g to athletic competitions, that’s bad. However, such issues would be better addresse d by changing school and state policies with regard to the scheduling of sporting events as opposed to total elimination. If the empirical evidence points to anything, it points towards school sponsored sports providing assets that are well worth the costs.N)Despite negative stereotypes about sports culture and Ripley’s presumption that academics and athle tics are at odds with one another, we believe that the greater body of evidence shows that school-sponsor ed sports programs appear to benefit students. Successes on the playing field can carry over to the classro om and vice versa(反之亦然). More importantly, finding ways to increase school communities’ social capit al is imperative to the success of the school as whole, not just the athletes.46.Stunets from low-income families have less access to off-campus sports programs.47.Amanda Ripley argues that America should learn from other countries that rank high in international te sts and lay less emphasis on athletics.48.According to the author,Amanda Ripley fails to note that stunents'performance in exams varies from sta te to state.49.Amanda Ripley thinks that athletic coaches are poor at classroom instruction.50.James Coleman's later resrarch make an argument for a school's social capital.51.Reaearchers find that there is a ppsitive relationship between a school's commitment to athletics and ac ademic achievements.52.Aa rigorous study finds that athletic coaches also do well in raising students'test scores.53.According to an evaluation,spograms contribute to students's academic preformance and character building.54.Amanda Ripley believes the emphasis on school sports shuold be brought up when trying to understand why Aamerican students are mediocre.55.James Coleman suggests in his earlier writings that school athletics would undermine a school's image.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfi nished 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 c entre.Passage oneIt is easy to miss amid the day-to-day headlines of global economic recession, but there is a less co nspicuous kind of social upheaval(剧变)underway that is fast altering both the face of the planet and the way human beings live. That change is the rapid acceleration of urbanization. In 2008, for the first time i n human history, more than half the world’s population was living in towns and cities. And as a recently published paper shows, the process of urbanization will only accelerate in the decades to come—with an enormous impact on biodiversity and potentially on climate change.As Karen Seto, the led author of the paper, po ints out, the wave of urbanization isn’t just about the migration of people into urban environments, but about the environments themselves becoming bigger to a ccommodate all those people. The rapid expansion of urban areas will have a huge impact on biodiversity hotspots and on carbon emissions in those urban areas.Humans are the ultimate invasive species—when the move into new territory, the often displace the wildlife that was already living there. And as land is cleared for those new cities—especially in the dense tropical forests—carbon will be released into the atmosphere as well. It’s true that as people in developi ng nations move from the countryside to the city, the shift may reduce the pressure on land, which could in turn be good for the environment. This is especially so in desperately poor countries, where residents in the countryside slash and burn forests each growing season to clear space for farming. But the real di fference is that in developing nations, the move from rural areas to cities often leads to an accompanying increase in income —and that increase leads to an increase in the consumption of food and energy, wh ich in turn causes a rise in carbon emissions. Getting enough to eat and enjoying the safety and comfort of living fully on the grid is certainly a good thing —but it does carry an environmental price.The urbanization wave can’t be stopped —and it shouldn’t be. But Seto’s paper does underscore the importance of managing that transition. If we do it the right way, we can reduce urbanization’s impact on the environment. “There’s an enormous opportunity here, and a lot of pressure and responsibility to thin k about how we urbanize,” says Seto. “One thing that’s clear is that we can’t build cities the way we ha ve over the last couple of hundred years. The scale of this transition won’t allow that.” We’re headed to wards an urban planet no matter what, but whether it becomes heaven or hell is up to us.56. What issue does the author try to draw people’s attention to?A. The shrinking biodiversity worldwide.B. The rapid increase of world population.C. The ongoing global economic recession.D. The impact of accelerating urbanization.57. In what sense are humans the ultimate invasive species?A. They are much greedier than other species.B. They are a unique species born to conquer.C. They force other species out of their territories.D. They have an urge to expand their living space.58. In what way is urbanization in poor countries good for the environment?A. More land will be preserved for wildlife.B. The pressure on farmland will be lessened.C. Carbon emissions will be considerably reduced.D. Natural resources will be used more effectively.59. What does the author say about living comfortably in the city?A. It incurs a high environmental price.B. It brings poverty and insecurity to an end.C. It causes a big change in people’s lifestyle.D. It narrows the gap between city and country.60. What can be done to minimize the negative impact of urbanization according to Seto?A. Slowing down the speed of transition.B. Innovative use of advanced technology.C. Appropriate management of the process.D. Enhancing people’s sense of responsibility.Passage TwoWhen Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched in Feb. 2004, even he could not i magine the forces it would let loose. His intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website rapidly evolved into, ended up connecting the world.To the children of this connected era, the world is one giant social network. They are not bound —as were previous generations of humans —by what they were taught. They are only limited by their cu riosity and ambition. During my childhood, all knowledge was local. You learned everything you knew from your parents, teachers, preachers, and friends.With the high-quality and timely information at their fingertips, today’s children are rising normally t ame middle class is speaking up against social ills. Silicon Valley executives are being shamed into addin g women to their boards. Political leaders are marshalling the energy of millions for elections and politica l causes. All of this is being done with social media technologies that Facebook and its competitors set fr ee.As does every advancing technology, social media has created many new problems. It is commonly a ddictive and creates risks for younger users. Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and el sewhere to seek and brainwash recruits. And it exposes us and our friends to disagreeable spying. We ma y leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but through social media we tell criminals exactly where we are, when we plan to return home, and how to blackmail(敲诈)us.Governments don’t need informers a ny more. Social media allows government agencies to spy on the ir own citizens. We record our thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on Facebook; we share our political views, social preferences, and plans. We post intimate photographs of ourselves. No spy agency or crimi nal organization could actively gather the type of data that we voluntarily post for them.The marketers are also seeing big opportunities. Amazon is trying to predict what we will order. Go ogle is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media profiles. We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to alleviate the dangers.Regardless of what social media people use, one thing is certain: we are in a period of accelerating chan ge. The next decade will be even more amazing and unpredictable than the last. Just as no one could pre dict what would happen with social media in the last decade, no one can accurately predict where this te chnology will take us. I am optimistic, however, that a connected humanity will find a way to uplift itsel f.61. What was the purpose of Facebook when it was first created?A. To help students connect with the outside world.B. To bring university students into closer contact.C. To help students learn to live in a connected era.D. To combine the world into an integral whole.62. What difference does social media make to learning?A. Local knowledge and global knowledge will merge.B. Student will become more curious and ambitious.C. People are able to learn wherever they travel.D. Sources of information are greatly expanded.63. What is the author’s greatest concern with social media technology?A. Individuals and organizations may use it for evil purposes.B. Government will find it hard to protect classified information.C. Peopl e may disclose their friends’ information unintentionally.D. People’s attention will be easily distractedfrom their work in hand.64. What do businesses use social media for?A. Creating a good corporate image.B. Conducting large-scale market surveys.C. Anticipating the needs of customers.D. Minimizing possible risks and dangers.65. What does the author think of social media as a whole?A. It will enable human society to advance at a faster pace.B. It will pose a grave threat to our traditional ways of life.C. It is bound to bring about another information revolution.D. It breaks down the final barriers in human communication.Part IV TranslationDirections: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into Englis h. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.翻译题一：自从1978年启动改革以来，中国已从计划经济转为以市场为基础的经济，经历了经济和社会的快速发展。

2014年12月大学英语六级考试真题(一)Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions：For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then discuss whether technology is indispensable in education. You should give sound arguments to support your views and write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words •注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。

PartⅡListening Comprehension (30 minutes) Section ADirections：In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause • During the pause，you must read the four choices marked A) 9 B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答：1.A) The man’s tennis racket is good enough.B)The man should get a pair of new shoes.C)She can wait for the man for a little while.D)Physical exercise helps her stay in shape.2.A) The woman will skip Dr. Smiths lecture to help the man.B)Kathy is very pleased to attend the lecture by Dr. Smith.C)The woman is good at doing lab demonstrations.D)The man will do all he can to assist the woman.3.A) The woman asked the man to accompany her to the party.B)Steve became rich soon after graduation from college.C)Steve invited his classmates to visit his big cottage.D)The speakers and Steve used to be classmates.4.A) In a bus. C) In a boat.B)In a clinic. D) In a plane.5. A) 10：10. B) 9：50. C) 9：40. D) 9：10.6. A) She does not like John at all.B)John has got many admirers.C)She does not think John is handsome.D)John has just got a bachelor’s degree.7. A) He has been bumping along for hours.B)He has got a sharp pain in the neck.C)He is involved in a serious accident.D)He is trapped in a terrible traffic jam.8. A) She is good at repairing things.B)She is a professional mechanic.C)She should improve her physical condition.D)She cannot go without a washing machine.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A) Some witnesses failed to appear in court.B)The case caused debate among the public.C)The accused was found guilty of stealing.D)The accused refused to plead guilty in court.10. A) He was out of his mind. C) His wife deserted him.B) He was unemployed. D) His children were sick.11. A) He had been in jail before. C) He was unlikely to get employed.B)He was unworthy of sympathy. D) He had committed the same sort of crime.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) Irresponsible. C) AggressiveB)Unsatisfactory. D) Conservative.13. A) Internal communication. C) Public relations.B)Distribution of brochures. D) Product design14. A) Placing advertisements in the trade press. C) Advertising in the national press.B)Drawing sketches for advertisements. D) Making television commercials.15. A) She has the motivation to do the job. C) She is not so easy to get along with.B)She knows the tricks of advertising. D) She is not suitable for the position.Section BDirections ：In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A)，B)，C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。

（自我意识）Children are natural-born scientists. They have inquiring minds, and they aren’t afraid to admit they don’t know something. Most of them, unfortunately, lose this as they get older. They become self-conscious and don’t want to appear stupid. Instead of finding things out for themselves they make assumption that often turn out to be wrong.vt.So it’s not a case of getting kids interested in science. You just have to avoid killing the passion for learning that they were born with. It’s no coincidence that kids start deserting science once it becomes formalised. Children naturally have a blurred approach to acquiringknowledge. They see learning about science or biology or cooking as all part of the same act---it’s all learning. It’s only because of the practicalities of education that you have to start breaking down the curriculum into specialist subjects. You need to have specialist teachers who impart what they know. Thus once they enter school, children begin to define subjects and erect boundaries that needn’t otherwise exist.Dividing subjects into science, maths, English, etc. is something we do for convenience. In the end it’s all learning, but many children today exclude themselves from a scientific education. They think science is forscientists, not for them.（直到）Of course we need to specialise eventually. Each of us has only so much time on Earth, so we can’t study everything. At 5 years old, our field of knowledge andexploration is broad, covering anything from learning to walk to learning to count. Gradually it narrows down so that by the time we are 45, it might be one tiny little corner within science.。

2014年12月英语六级真题及答案Part I WritingDirections: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the following topic. You shoul d write at least 180 words but no more than 200 words.作文题一：学历歧视作文题二：科技与学习作文题三：学习没有捷径Part II ListeningSection ADirections：In this section，you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation an d the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, y ou must read the four choices marked A) , B) , C) and D)，and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.Question 1A.At a groceryB.In a parking lotC.In a car showroomD.At a fast food restaurantQuestion 2A.Have a little nap after lunchB.Get up and take a short walkC.Change her position now and thenD.Stretch legs before standing upQuestion 3A.The students should practice long-distance runningB.He doesn’t quite believe what the woman saysC.The students’ physical condition is not desirableD.He thinks the race is too hard for the studentsQuestion 4A.They do not want to have a baby at presentB.They cannot afford to get married right nowC.They are both pursuing graduate studiesD.They will get their degrees in two yearsQuestion 5A.Twins usually have a lot in commonB.He must have been mistaken for JackC.Jack is certainly not as healthy as he isD.He has not seen Jack for quite a few daysQuestion 6A.The man will take the woman wo the museumB.The man knows where the museum is locatedC.The woman is asking the way at the crossroadsD.The woman will attend the opening of the museumQuestion 7A.They cannot ask the guy to leaveB.The guy has been coming in for yearsC.They should not look down upon the guyD.The guy must be feeling extremely lonelyQuestion 8A.Collect timepiecesB.Become time-consciousC.Learn to mend locksD.Keep track of his daily activitiesQuestions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. Question 9A.It winds its way to the seaB.It is quickly risingC.It is eating into its banksD.It is wide and deepQuestion 10A.Get the trucks over to the other side of the riverB.Take the equipment apart before being ferriedC.Reduce the transport cost as much as possibleD.Try to speed up the operation by any meansQuestion 11A.Ask the commander to send a helicopterB.Halt the operation until further ordersC.Cut trees and build rowing boatsD.Find as many coats as possibleQuestions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.Question 12A.Help him join an Indian expeditionB.Talk about his climbing experiencesC.Give up mountain climbing altogetherD.Save money to buy climbing equipmentQuestion 13A.He was very strict with his childrenB.He climbed mountains to earn a livingC.He had an unusual religious backgroundD.He was the first to conquer Mt. QomolangmaQuestion 14A.They are like humansB.They are sacred placesC.They are to be protectedD.They are to be conqueredQuestion 15A.It was his father’s training that pilled him throughB.It was a milestone in his mountain climbing careerC.It was his father who gave him the strength to succeedD.It helped him understand the Sherpa view of mountainsSection BDirections：In this section，you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage，you will he ar some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a questi on, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C)and D). Then mark the cor responding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centrePassage OneQuestion 16A. By reviewing what he has said previouslyB.By comparing memorandums with lettersC.By showing a memorandum’ s structureD.By analyzing the organization of a letterQuestion 17A.They spent a lot of time writing memorandumsB.They seldom read a memorandum through to the endC.They placed emphasis on the format of memorandumsD.They ignored many of the memorandums they received Question 18A.Style and wordingB.Structure and lengthC.Directness and clarityD.Simplicity and accuracyPassage TwoQuestions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 19A.Accurate datingB.Professional lookC.Direct statement of purposeD.Inclusion of appropriate humorQuestion 20A.They give top priority to their work efficiencyB.They make an effort to lighten their workloadC.They never change work habits unless forced toD.They try hard to make the best use of their timeQuestion 21A.Self-confidenceB.Sense of dutyC.Work efficiencyD.Passion for workQuestion 22A.They are addicted to playing online gamesB.They try to avoid work whenever possibleC.They find to pleasure in the work they doD.They simply have no sense of responsibilityPassage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 23A.He lost all his propertyB.He was sold to a circusC.He was forced into slaveryD.He ran away from his familyQuestion 24A.A carpenterB.A businessmanC.A master of hisD.A black drummerQuestion 25A.It named its town hall after Solomon NorthupB.It declared July 24 Solomon Northup DayC.It freedom all blacks in the town from slaveryD.It hosted a reunion for the Northup familySection CDirections：In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the fir st time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, yo u are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage i s read for the third time, you should check what you have written.Section CIntolerance is the art of ignoring any views that differ from your own. It(26)_____ itself a hatred. St ereotypes, prejudice, and(27)_____.Once it intensifies in people, intolerance is nearly impossible to overco me. But why would anyone want to be labeled intolerant. Why would people want to be (28)_____about the world around them? Why would one want to be part of the problem in America, instead of the soluti on?There are many explanations for intolerant attitudes, some (29)_____ childhood. It is likely that intole rant folks grew up (30)_____ intolerant parents and the cycle of prejudice has simply continued for (31)_ ____. Perhaps intolerant people are so set in their ways that they find it easier to ignore anything that mi ght not (32)_____ their limited view of life. Or maybe intolerant students have simply never been (33)__ ___ to anyone different form themselves. But none of these reason is an excuse for allpwing the intoleran ce to continue.Intolerance should not be confused with disagreement.It is,of course,possible as diasgree with an opini on without being intolerant of it.If you understand a belief but still don't believe in that specific belief,tha t's fine.You are (34)_____ your opinion.As a matter of fact.(35)_____ disseniers(持异议者)are important fo r any belief.If we all believed the same things.we would never grow,and we would never learn about theworld around us,does not stem frim disagreement.It stems from fear,And fear stems from fear.And fear s tems from ignorance.Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section AHis future subjects have not always treated the Prince of Wales with the respect one XXXX expect. They laughed aloud in 1986 when the heir to the British(36)_____ told a TV reporter that he talked to h is plants at his country house, Highgrove, to stimulate their growth. The Prince was being humorous- “M y sense of humor will get me into trouble one day”, he said to his aids(随从)-but listening to Charles W indsor can indeed prove stimulating. The royal(37)_____ has been promoting radical ideas for most of his adult life. Some of his(38)_____, which once sounded a bit weird, were simply ahead of their time. No w, finally, the world seems to be catching up with him.Take his views on farming. Prince Charles’ Duchy Home Farm went(39)_____ back in 1986. When most shoppers cared only about the low price tag on suspiciously blemish-free(无瑕疵的) vegetables and(4 0)_____ large chickens piled high in supermarkets.His warnings on climate change proved farsighted,too.Charles began(41)_____ action in warming in 1 990 and says he has been worried about the(42)_____ of man on the environment same be was a teenger.Although he was gradually gained international(43)_____ as one of the world's lending conservationist s,many British people still think of him as an(34)_____ person who talks to plants.This year,as it happens, South Korean scientists proved that plants really do(45)_____ to round.So Charles was ahead of the game there,too.A.conformB.eccentricC.environmentalistD.expeditionsE.impactF.notionsanicH.originallyI.recognitionJ.respondK.subordinateL.suppressingM.throneN.unnaturallyO.urgingSection BDirections: In this section，you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each s tatement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the infor mation 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.High School Sports Are n’t Killing AcademicsA)In this month’s Atlantic cover article, “The Case Against High-School Sports,” Amanda Ripley arg ues that school-sponsored sports programs should be seriously cut. She writes that, unlike most countries t hat outperform the United States on international assessments, American schools put too much of an emph asis on athletics, “ Sports are embedded in American schools in a way they are not almost anywhere els e,” she writes, “Yet this difference hardly ever comes up in domestic debates about America’s internation al mediocrity(平庸)in education.”B)American student-athletes reap many benefits from participating in sports, but the costs to the scho ols could outweigh their benefits, she argues, In particular, Ripley contends that sports crowd out the acad emic missions of schools: America should learn from South Korea and Finland and every other country at the top level of international test scores, all of whom emphasize athletics far less in school. ”Even in ei ghth grade, American kids spend more than twice the time Korean kids spend playing sports,” she writes, citing a 2010 study published in the Journal of Advanced Academics.C)It might well be true that sports are far more rooted in American high schools than in other count ries. But our reading of international test scores finds no support for the argument against school athletics. Indeed, our own research and that of others lead us to make the opposite case. School-sponsored sports appear to provide benefits that seem to increase, not detract(减少)from, academic success.D)Ripley indulges a popular obsession(痴迷)with international test score comparisons, which show wid e and frightening gaps between the United States and other countries. She ignores, however, the fact that states vary at least as much in test scores as do developed countries. A 2011 report from Harvard Univer sity shows that Massachusetts produces math scores comparable to South Korea and Finland, while Missis sippi scores are closer to Trinidad and Tobago. Ripley’s thesis about sports falls apart in light of this fact. Schools in Massachusetts provide sports programs while schools in Finland do not. Schools in Mississipp i may love football while in Tobago interscholastic sports are nowhere near as prominent. Sports cannot e xplain these similarities in performance. They can’t explain international differences either.E)If it is true that sports undermine the academic mission of American schools, we would expect to see a negative relationship between the commitment to athletics and academic achievement. However, the University of Arkansas’s Daniel Bowen and Jay Greene actually find the opposite. They examine this rela tionship by analyzing schools’ sports winning percentages as well as student-athletic participation rates compared to graduation rates and standardized test score achievement over a five-year period for all public high schools in Ohio. Controlling for student poverty levels, demographics(人口统计状况), and district fin ancial resources, both measures of a school’s commitment to athletics are significantly and positively relat ed to lower dropout rates as well as higher test scores.F)On-the-field success and high participation in sports is not random-it requires focus and dedication to athletics. One might think this would lead schools obsessed with winning to deemphasize academics. B owen and Greene’s results contradict tha t argument. A likely explanation for this seemingly counterintuitiv e(与直觉相反的)result is that success in sports programs actually facilitates or reflects greater social capita l within a school’s community.G)Ripley cites the writings of renowned sociologist James Coleman, whose research in education was groundbreaking. Coleman in his early work held athletics in contempt, arguing that they crowded out sch ools’ academic missions. Ripley quotes his 1961 study, The Adolescent Society, where Coleman writes, “Alt ogether, the trophy(奖品)case would suggest to the innocent visitor that he was entering an athletic cl ub, not an educational institution.”H)However, in later research Coleman would show how the success of schools is highly dependent o n what he termed soc ial capital, “the social networks, and the relationships between adults and children th at are of value for the child’s growing up.”I)According to a 2013 evaluation conducted by the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago, a progra m called Becoming a Man-Sports Edition creates lasting improvements in the boys’ study habits and grad e point averages. During the first year of the program, students were founds to be less likely to transfer schools or be engaged in violent crime. A year after the program, participants were less likely to have ha d an encounter with the juvenile justice system.J)If school-sponsored sports were completely eliminated tomorrow, many American students would stil l have opportunities to participate in organized athletics elsewhere, much like they do in countries such as Finland, Germany, and South Korea. The same is not certain when it comes to students from more disa dvantaged backgrounds. In an overview of the research on non-school based after-school programs, researc hers find that disadvantaged children participate in these programs at significantly lower rates. They find t hat low-income students have less access due to challenges with regard to transportation, non-nominal fees, and off-campus safety. Therefore, reducing or eliminating these opportunities would most likely deprive d isadvantaged students of the benefits from athletic participation, not least of which is the opportunity to in teract with positive role models outside of regular school hours.K)Another unfounded criticism that Ripley makes is bringing up the stereotype that athletic XX are t ypically lousy(蹩脚的)classroom teachers. “American principals, unlike the XX XX of principals around the world, make many hiring decisions with their sports teams in mind, which does not always end well fo r students,” she writes. Educators who seek employment at schools primarily for the purpose of coaching are likely to shirk(推卸)teaching responsibilities, the argument goes. Moreover, even in the cases where th e employee is a teacher first and athletic coach second, the additional responsibilities that come with coac hing likely comes at the expense of time otherwise spent on planning, grading, and communicating with p arents and guardians.L)The data, however, do not seem to confirm this stereotype. In the most rigorous study on the class room results of high school coaches, the University of Arkansas’s Anna Egalite finds that athletic coaches in Florida mostly tend to perform just as well as their non-coaching counterparts, with respect to raising student test scores. We do not doubt that teachers who also coach face serious tradeoffs that likely come at the expense of time they could dedicate to their academic obligations. However, as with sporting even ts, athletic coaches gain additional opportunities for communicating and serving as mentors(导师)that poten tially help students succeed and make up for the costs of coaching commitments.M)If schools allow student-athletes to regularly miss out on instructional time for the sake of travelin g to athletic c ompetitions, that’s bad. However, such issues would be better addressed by changing school and state policies with regard to the scheduling of sporting events as opposed to total elimination. If the empirical evidence points to anything, it points towards school sponsored sports providing assets that are well worth the costs.N)Despite negative stereotypes about sports culture and Ripley’s presumption that academics and athle tics are at odds with one another, we believe that the greater body of evidence shows that school-sponsor ed sports programs appear to benefit students. Successes on the playing field can carry over to the classro om and vice versa(反之亦然). More importantly, finding ways to increase school communities’ social capit al is imperative to the success of the school as whole, not just the athletes.46.Stunets from low-income families have less access to off-campus sports programs.47.Amanda Ripley argues that America should learn from other countries that rank high in international te sts and lay less emphasis on athletics.48.According to the author,Amanda Ripley fails to note that stunents'performance in exams varies from sta te to state.49.Amanda Ripley thinks that athletic coaches are poor at classroom instruction.50.James Coleman's later resrarch make an argument for a school's social capital.51.Reaearchers find that there is a ppsitive relationship between a school's commitment to athletics and ac ademic achievements.52.Aa rigorous study finds that athletic coaches also do well in raising students'test scores.53.According to an evaluation,spograms contribute to students's academic preformance and character building.54.Amanda Ripley believes the emphasis on school sports shuold be brought up when trying to understand why Aamerican students are mediocre.55.James Coleman suggests in his earlier writings that school athletics would undermine a school's image.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfi nished 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 c entre.Passage oneIt is easy to miss amid the day-to-day headlines of global economic recession, but there is a less co nspicuous kind of social upheaval(剧变)underway that is fast altering both the face of the planet and the way human beings live. That change is the rapid acceleration of urbanization. In 2008, for the first time i n human history, more than half the world’s population was living in towns and cities. And as a recently published paper shows, the process of urbanization will only accelerate in the decades to come—with an enormous impact on biodiversity and potentially on climate change.As Karen Seto, the led author of the paper, po ints out, the wave of urbanization isn’t just about the migration of people into urban environments, but about the environments themselves becoming bigger to a ccommodate all those people. The rapid expansion of urban areas will have a huge impact on biodiversity hotspots and on carbon emissions in those urban areas.Humans are the ultimate invasive species—when the move into new territory, the often displace the wildlife that was already living there. And as land is cleared for those new cities—especially in the dense tropical forests—carbon will be released into the atmosphere as well. It’s true that as people in developi ng nations move from the countryside to the city, the shift may reduce the pressure on land, which could in turn be good for the environment. This is especially so in desperately poor countries, where residents in the countryside slash and burn forests each growing season to clear space for farming. But the real di fference is that in developing nations, the move from rural areas to cities often leads to an accompanying increase in income —and that increase leads to an increase in the consumption of food and energy, wh ich in turn causes a rise in carbon emissions. Getting enough to eat and enjoying the safety and comfort of living fully on the grid is certainly a good thing —but it does carry an environmental price.The urbanization wave can’t be stopped —and it shouldn’t be. But Seto’s paper does underscore the importance of managing that transition. If we do it the right way, we can reduce urbanization’s impact o n the environment. “There’s an enormous opportunity here, and a lot of pressure and responsibility to thin k about how we urbanize,” says Seto. “One thing that’s clear is that we can’t build cities the way we ha ve over the last couple of hundred years. The scale of this transition won’t allow that.” We’re headed to wards an urban planet no matter what, but whether it becomes heaven or hell is up to us.56. What issue does the author try to draw people’s attention to?A. The shrinking biodiversity worldwide.B. The rapid increase of world population.C. The ongoing global economic recession.D. The impact of accelerating urbanization.57. In what sense are humans the ultimate invasive species?A. They are much greedier than other species.B. They are a unique species born to conquer.C. They force other species out of their territories.D. They have an urge to expand their living space.58. In what way is urbanization in poor countries good for the environment?A. More land will be preserved for wildlife.B. The pressure on farmland will be lessened.C. Carbon emissions will be considerably reduced.D. Natural resources will be used more effectively.59. What does the author say about living comfortably in the city?A. It incurs a high environmental price.B. It brings poverty and insecurity to an end.C. It causes a big change in people’s lifestyle.D. It narrows the gap between city and country.60. What can be done to minimize the negative impact of urbanization according to Seto?A. Slowing down the speed of transition.B. Innovative use of advanced technology.C. Appropriate management of the process.D. Enhancing people’s sense of responsibility.Passage TwoWhen Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched in Feb. 2004, even he could not i magine the forces it would let loose. His intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website rapidly evolved into, ended up connecting the world.To the children of this connected era, the world is one giant social network. They are not bound —as were previous generations of humans —by what they were taught. They are only limited by their cu riosity and ambition. During my childhood, all knowledge was local. You learned everything you knew fr om your parents, teachers, preachers, and friends.With the high-quality and timely information at their fingertips, today’s children are rising normally t ame middle class is speaking up against social ills. Silicon Valley executives are being shamed into addin g women to their boards. Political leaders are marshalling the energy of millions for elections and political causes. All of this is being done with social media technologies that Facebook and its competitors set fr ee.As does every advancing technology, social media has created many new problems. It is commonly a ddictive and creates risks for younger users. Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and el sewhere to seek and brainwash recruits. And it exposes us and our friends to disagreeable spying. We ma y leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but through social media we tell criminals exactly where we are, when we plan to return home, and how to blackmail(敲诈)us.Governments don’t need informers a ny more. Social media allows government agencies to spy on the ir own citizens. We record our thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on Facebook; we share our political views, social preferences, and plans. We post intimate photographs of ourselves. No spy agency or crimi nal organization could actively gather the type of data that we voluntarily post for them.The marketers are also seeing big opportunities. Amazon is trying to predict what we will order. Go ogle is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media profiles. We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to alleviate the dangers.Regardless of what social media people use, one thing is certain: we are in a period of accelerating chan ge. The next decade will be even more amazing and unpredictable than the last. Just as no one could pre dict what would happen with social media in the last decade, no one can accurately predict where this te chnology will take us. I am optimistic, however, that a connected humanity will find a way to uplift itsel f.61. What was the purpose of Facebook when it was first created?A. To help students connect with the outside world.B. To bring university students into closer contact.C. To help students learn to live in a connected era.D. To combine the world into an integral whole.62. What difference does social media make to learning?A. Local knowledge and global knowledge will merge.B. Student will become more curious and ambitious.C. People are able to learn wherever they travel.D. Sources of information are greatly expanded.63. What is the author’s greatest concern with social media technology?A. Individuals and organizations may use it for evil purposes.B. Government will find it hard to protect classified information.C. Peopl e may disclose their friends’ information unintentionally.D. People’s attention will be easily distractedfrom their work in hand.64. What do businesses use social media for?A. Creating a good corporate image.B. Conducting large-scale market surveys.C. Anticipating the needs of customers.D. Minimizing possible risks and dangers.65. What does the author think of social media as a whole?A. It will enable human society to advance at a faster pace.B. It will pose a grave threat to our traditional ways of life.C. It is bound to bring about another information revolution.D. It breaks down the final barriers in human communication.Part IV TranslationDirections: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into Englis h. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.翻译题一：自从1978年启动改革以来，中国已从计划经济转为以市场为基础的经济，经历了经济和社会的快速发展。

2014年12月英语六级真题及答案Part I WritingDirections: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the following topic. You shoul d write at least 180 words but no more than 200 words.作文题一：学历歧视作文题二：科技与学习作文题三：学习没有捷径Part II ListeningSection ADirections：In this section，you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation an d the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, y ou must read the four choices marked A) , B) , C) and D)，and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.Question 1A.At a groceryB.In a parking lotC.In a car showroomD.At a fast food restaurantQuestion 2A.Have a little nap after lunchB.Get up and take a short walkC.Change her position now and thenD.Stretch legs before standing upQuestion 3A.The students should practice long-distance runningB.He doesn’t quite believe what the woman saysC.The students’ physical condition is not desirableD.He thinks the race is too hard for the studentsQuestion 4A.They do not want to have a baby at presentB.They cannot afford to get married right nowC.They are both pursuing graduate studiesD.They will get their degrees in two yearsQuestion 5A.Twins usually have a lot in commonB.He must have been mistaken for JackC.Jack is certainly not as healthy as he isD.He has not seen Jack for quite a few daysQuestion 6A.The man will take the woman wo the museumB.The man knows where the museum is locatedC.The woman is asking the way at the crossroadsD.The woman will attend the opening of the museumQuestion 7A.They cannot ask the guy to leaveB.The guy has been coming in for yearsC.They should not look down upon the guyD.The guy must be feeling extremely lonelyQuestion 8A.Collect timepiecesB.Become time-consciousC.Learn to mend locksD.Keep track of his daily activitiesQuestions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. Question 9A.It winds its way to the seaB.It is quickly risingC.It is eating into its banksD.It is wide and deepQuestion 10A.Get the trucks over to the other side of the riverB.Take the equipment apart before being ferriedC.Reduce the transport cost as much as possibleD.Try to speed up the operation by any meansQuestion 11A.Ask the commander to send a helicopterB.Halt the operation until further ordersC.Cut trees and build rowing boatsD.Find as many coats as possibleQuestions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.Question 12A.Help him join an Indian expeditionB.Talk about his climbing experiencesC.Give up mountain climbing altogetherD.Save money to buy climbing equipmentQuestion 13A.He was very strict with his childrenB.He climbed mountains to earn a livingC.He had an unusual religious backgroundD.He was the first to conquer Mt. QomolangmaQuestion 14A.They are like humansB.They are sacred placesC.They are to be protectedD.They are to be conqueredQuestion 15A.It was his father’s training that pilled him throughB.It was a milestone in his mountain climbing careerC.It was his father who gave him the strength to succeedD.It helped him understand the Sherpa view of mountainsSection BDirections：In this section，you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage，you will he ar some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a questi on, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C)and D). Then mark the cor responding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centrePassage OneQuestion 16A. By reviewing what he has said previouslyB.By comparing memorandums with lettersC.By showing a memorandum’ s structureD.By analyzing the organization of a letterQuestion 17A.They spent a lot of time writing memorandumsB.They seldom read a memorandum through to the endC.They placed emphasis on the format of memorandumsD.They ignored many of the memorandums they received Question 18A.Style and wordingB.Structure and lengthC.Directness and clarityD.Simplicity and accuracyPassage TwoQuestions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 19A.Accurate datingB.Professional lookC.Direct statement of purposeD.Inclusion of appropriate humorQuestion 20A.They give top priority to their work efficiencyB.They make an effort to lighten their workloadC.They never change work habits unless forced toD.They try hard to make the best use of their timeQuestion 21A.Self-confidenceB.Sense of dutyC.Work efficiencyD.Passion for workQuestion 22A.They are addicted to playing online gamesB.They try to avoid work whenever possibleC.They find to pleasure in the work they doD.They simply have no sense of responsibilityPassage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 23A.He lost all his propertyB.He was sold to a circusC.He was forced into slaveryD.He ran away from his familyQuestion 24A.A carpenterB.A businessmanC.A master of hisD.A black drummerQuestion 25A.It named its town hall after Solomon NorthupB.It declared July 24 Solomon Northup DayC.It freedom all blacks in the town from slaveryD.It hosted a reunion for the Northup familySection CDirections：In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the fir st time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, yo u are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage i s read for the third time, you should check what you have written.Section CIntolerance is the art of ignoring any views that differ from your own. It(26)_____ itself a hatred. St ereotypes, prejudice, and(27)_____.Once it intensifies in people, intolerance is nearly impossible to overco me. But why would anyone want to be labeled intolerant. Why would people want to be (28)_____about the world around them? Why would one want to be part of the problem in America, instead of the soluti on?There are many explanations for intolerant attitudes, some (29)_____ childhood. It is likely that intole rant folks grew up (30)_____ intolerant parents and the cycle of prejudice has simply continued for (31)_ ____. Perhaps intolerant people are so set in their ways that they find it easier to ignore anything that mi ght not (32)_____ their limited view of life. Or maybe intolerant students have simply never been (33)__ ___ to anyone different form themselves. But none of these reason is an excuse for allpwing the intoleran ce to continue.Intolerance should not be confused with disagreement.It is,of course,possible as diasgree with an opini on without being intolerant of it.If you understand a belief but still don't believe in that specific belief,tha t's fine.You are (34)_____ your opinion.As a matter of fact.(35)_____ disseniers(持异议者)are important fo r any belief.If we all believed the same things.we would never grow,and we would never learn about theworld around us,does not stem frim disagreement.It stems from fear,And fear stems from fear.And fear s tems from ignorance.Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section AHis future subjects have not always treated the Prince of Wales with the respect one XXXX expect. They laughed aloud in 1986 when the heir to the British(36)_____ told a TV reporter that he talked to h is plants at his country house, Highgrove, to stimulate their growth. The Prince was being humorous- “M y sense of humor will get me into trouble one day”, he said to his aids(随从)-but listening to Charles W indsor can indeed prove stimulating. The royal(37)_____ has been promoting radical ideas for most of his adult life. Some of his(38)_____, which once sounded a bit weird, were simply ahead of their time. No w, finally, the world seems to be catching up with him.Take his views on farming. Prince Charles’ Duchy Home Farm went(39)_____ back in 1986. When most shoppers cared only about the low price tag on suspiciously blemish-free(无瑕疵的) vegetables and(4 0)_____ large chickens piled high in supermarkets.His warnings on climate change proved farsighted,too.Charles began(41)_____ action in warming in 1 990 and says he has been worried about the(42)_____ of man on the environment same be was a teenger.Although he was gradually gained international(43)_____ as one of the world's lending conservationist s,many British people still think of him as an(34)_____ person who talks to plants.This year,as it happens, South Korean scientists proved that plants really do(45)_____ to round.So Charles was ahead of the game there,too.A.conformB.eccentricC.environmentalistD.expeditionsE.impactF.notionsG.or ganicH.originallyI.recognitionJ.respondK.subordinateL.suppressingM.throneN.unnaturallyO.urgingSection BDirections: In this section，you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each s tatement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the infor mation 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.High School Sports Are n’t Killing AcademicsA)In this month’s Atlantic cover article, “The Case Against High-School Sports,” Amanda Ripley arg ues that school-sponsored sports programs should be seriously cut. She writes that, unlike most countries t hat outperform the United States on international assessments, American schools put too much of an emph asis on athletics, “ Sports are embedded in American schools in a way they are not almost anywhere else,” she writes, “Yet this difference hardly ever comes up in domestic debates about America’s internation al mediocrity(平庸)in education.”B)American student-athletes reap many benefits from participating in sports, but the costs to the scho ols could outweigh their benefits, she argues, In particular, Ripley contends that sports crowd out the acad emic missions of schools: America should learn from South Korea and Finland and every other country at the top level of international test scores, all of whom emphasize athletics far less in school. ”Even in ei ghth grade, American kids spend more than twice the time Korean kids spend playing sports,” she writes, citing a 2010 study published in the Journal of Advanced Academics.C)It might well be true that sports are far more rooted in American high schools than in other count ries. But our reading of international test scores finds no support for the argument against school athletics. Indeed, our own research and that of others lead us to make the opposite case. School-sponsored sports appear to provide benefits that seem to increase, not detract(减少)from, academic success.D)Ripley indulges a popular obsession(痴迷)with international test score comparisons, which show wid e and frightening gaps between the United States and other countries. She ignores, however, the fact that states vary at least as much in test scores as do developed countries. A 2011 report from Harvard Univer sity shows that Massachusetts produces math scores comparable to South Korea and Finland, while Missis sippi scores are closer to Trinidad and Tobago. Ripley’s thesis about sports falls apart in light of this fact. Schools in Massachusetts provide sports programs while schools in Finland do not. Schools in Mississipp i may love football while in Tobago interscholastic sports are nowhere near as prominent. Sports cannot e xplain these similarities in performance. They can’t explain international differences either.E)If it is true that sports undermine the academic mission of American schools, we would expect to see a negative relationship between the commitment to athletics and academic achievement. However, the University of Arkansas’s Daniel Bowen and Jay Greene actually find the opposite. They examine this rela tionship by analyzing schools’ sports winning percentages as well as student-athletic participation rates co mpared to graduation rates and standardized test score achievement over a five-year period for all public high schools in Ohio. Controlling for student poverty levels, demographics(人口统计状况), and district fin ancial resources, both measures of a school’s commitment to athletics are significantly and positively relat ed to lower dropout rates as well as higher test scores.F)On-the-field success and high participation in sports is not random-it requires focus and dedication to athletics. One might think this would lead schools obsessed with winning to deemphasize academics. B owen and Greene’s results contradict tha t argument. A likely explanation for this seemingly counterintuitiv e(与直觉相反的)result is that success in sports programs actually facilitates or reflects greater social capita l within a school’s community.G)Ripley cites the writings of renowned sociologist James Coleman, whose research in education was groundbreaking. Coleman in his early work held athletics in contempt, arguing that they crowded out sch ools’ academic missions. Ripley quotes his 1961 study, The Adolescent Society, where Coleman writes, “Alt ogether, the trophy(奖品)case would suggest to the innocent visitor that he was entering an athletic cl ub, not an educational institution.”H)However, in later research Coleman would show how the success of schools is highly dependent o n what he termed soc ial capital, “the social networks, and the relationships between adults and children th at are of value for the child’s growing up.”I)According to a 2013 evaluation conducted by the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago, a progra m called Becoming a Man-Sports Edition creates lasting improvements in the boys’ study habits and grad e point averages. During the first year of the program, students were founds to be less likely to transfer schools or be engaged in violent crime. A year after the program, participants were less likely to have ha d an encounter with the juvenile justice system.J)If school-sponsored sports were completely eliminated tomorrow, many American students would stil l have opportunities to participate in organized athletics elsewhere, much like they do in countries such as Finland, Germany, and South Korea. The same is not certain when it comes to students from more disa dvantaged backgrounds. In an overview of the research on non-school based after-school programs, researc hers find that disadvantaged children participate in these programs at significantly lower rates. They find t hat low-income students have less access due to challenges with regard to transportation, non-nominal fees, and off-campus safety. Therefore, reducing or eliminating these opportunities would most likely deprive d isadvantaged students of the benefits from athletic participation, not least of which is the opportunity to in teract with positive role models outside of regular school hours.K)Another unfounded criticism that Ripley makes is bringing up the stereotype that athletic XX are t ypically lousy(蹩脚的)classroom teachers. “American principals, unlike the XX XX of principals around th e world, make many hiring decisions with their sports teams in mind, which does not always end well fo r students,” she writes. Educators who seek employment at school s primarily for the purpose of coaching are likely to shirk(推卸)teaching responsibilities, the argument goes. Moreover, even in the cases where th e employee is a teacher first and athletic coach second, the additional responsibilities that come with coac hing likely comes at the expense of time otherwise spent on planning, grading, and communicating with p arents and guardians.L)The data, however, do not seem to confirm this stereotype. In the most rigorous study on the class room results of high school coac hes, the University of Arkansas’s Anna Egalite finds that athletic coaches in Florida mostly tend to perform just as well as their non-coaching counterparts, with respect to raising student test scores. We do not doubt that teachers who also coach face serious tradeoffs that likely comeat the expense of time they could dedicate to their academic obligations. However, as with sporting even ts, athletic coaches gain additional opportunities for communicating and serving as mentors(导师)that poten tially help students succeed and make up for the costs of coaching commitments.M)If schools allow student-athletes to regularly miss out on instructional time for the sake of travelin g to athletic c ompetitions, that’s bad. However, such issues would be better addressed by changing school and state policies with regard to the scheduling of sporting events as opposed to total elimination. If the empirical evidence points to anything, it points towards school sponsored sports providing assets that are well worth the costs.N)Despite negative stereotypes about sports culture and Ripley’s presumption that academics and athle tics are at odds with one another, we believe that the greater body of evidence shows that school-sponsor ed sports programs appear to benefit students. Successes on the playing field can carry over to the classro om and vice versa(反之亦然). More importantly, finding ways to increase school communities’ social capit al is imperative to the success of the school as whole, not just the athletes.46.Stunets from low-income families have less access to off-campus sports programs.47.Amanda Ripley argues that America should learn from other countries that rank high in international te sts and lay less emphasis on athletics.48.According to the author,Amanda Ripley fails to note that stunents'performance in exams varies from sta te to state.49.Amanda Ripley thinks that athletic coaches are poor at classroom instruction.50.James Coleman's later resrarch make an argument for a school's social capital.51.Reaearchers find that there is a ppsitive relationship between a school's commitment to athletics and ac ademic achievements.52.Aa rigorous study finds that athletic coaches also do well in raising students'test scores.53.According to an evaluation,spograms contribute to students's academic preformance and character building.54.Amanda Ripley believes the emphasis on school sports shuold be brought up when trying to understand why Aamerican students are mediocre.55.James Coleman suggests in his earlier writings that school athletics would undermine a school's image.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfi nished 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 c entre.Passage oneIt is easy to miss amid the day-to-day headlines of global economic recession, but there is a less co nspicuous kind of social upheaval(剧变)underway that is fast altering both the face of the planet and the way human beings live. That change is the rapid acceleration of urbanization. In 2008, for the first time i n human history, more than half the world’s population was living in towns and cities. And as a recently published paper shows, the process of urbanization will only accelerate in the decades to come—with an enormous impact on biodiversity and potentially on climate change.As Karen Seto, the led author of the paper, po ints out, the wave of urbanization isn’t just about the migration of people into urban environments, but about the environments themselves becoming bigger to a ccommodate all those people. The rapid expansion of urban areas will have a huge impact on biodiversity hotspots and on carbon emissions in those urban areas.Humans are the ultimate invasive species—when the move into new territory, the often displace the wildlife that was already living there. And as land is cleared for those new cities—especially in the dense tropical forests—carbon will be released into the atmosphere as well. It’s true that as people in developi ng nations move from the countryside to the city, the shift may reduce the pressure on land, which could in turn be good for the environment. This is especially so in desperately poor countries, where residents in the countryside slash and burn forests each growing season to clear space for farming. But the real di fference is that in developing nations, the move from rural areas to cities often leads to an accompanying increase in income —and that increase leads to an increase in the consumption of food and energy, wh ich in turn causes a rise in carbon emissions. Getting enough to eat and enjoying the safety and comfort of living fully on the grid is certainly a good thing —but it does carry an environmental price.The urbanization wave can’t be stopped —and it shouldn’t be. But Seto’s paper does underscore the importance of managing that transition. If we do it the right way, we can reduce urbanization’s impact o n the environment. “There’s an enormous opportunity here, and a lot of pressure and responsibility to thin k about how we urbanize,” says Seto. “One thing that’s clear is that we can’t build cities the way we ha ve over the last couple of hundred years. The scale of this transition won’t allow that.” We’re headed to wards an urban planet no matter what, but whether it becomes heaven or hell is up to us.56. What issue does the author try to draw people’s attention to?A. The shrinking biodiversity worldwide.B. The rapid increase of world population.C. The ongoing global economic recession.D. The impact of accelerating urbanization.57. In what sense are humans the ultimate invasive species?A. They are much greedier than other species.B. They are a unique species born to conquer.C. They force other species out of their territories.D. They have an urge to expand their living space.58. In what way is urbanization in poor countries good for the environment?A. More land will be preserved for wildlife.B. The pressure on farmland will be lessened.C. Carbon emissions will be considerably reduced.D. Natural resources will be used more effectively.59. What does the author say about living comfortably in the city?A. It incurs a high environmental price.B. It brings poverty and insecurity to an end.C. It causes a big change in people’s lifestyle.D. It narrows the gap between city and country.60. What can be done to minimize the negative impact of urbanization according to Seto?A. Slowing down the speed of transition.B. Innovative use of advanced technology.C. Appropriate management of the process.D. Enhancing people’s sense of responsibility.Passage TwoWhen Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched in Feb. 2004, even he could not i magine the forces it would let loose. His intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website rapidly evolved into, ended up connecting the world.To the children of this connected era, the world is one giant social network. They are not bound —as were previous generations of humans —by what they were taught. They are only limited by their cu riosity and ambition. During my childhood, all knowledge was local. You learned everything you knew fr om your parents, teachers, preachers, and friends.With the high-quality and timely information at their fingertips, today’s children are rising normally t ame middle class is speaking up against social ills. Silicon Valley executives are being shamed into addin g women to their boards. Political leaders are marshalling the energy of millions for elections and politica l causes. All of this is being done with social media technologies that Facebook and its competitors set fr ee.As does every advancing technology, social media has created many new problems. It is commonly a ddictive and creates risks for younger users. Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and el sewhere to seek and brainwash recruits. And it exposes us and our friends to disagreeable spying. We ma y leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but through social media we tell criminals exactly where we are, when we plan to return home, and how to blackmail(敲诈)us.Governments don’t need informers a ny more. Social media allows government agencies to spy on the ir own citizens. We record our thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on Facebook; we share our politicalviews, social preferences, and plans. We post intimate photographs of ourselves. No spy agency or crimi nal organization could actively gather the type of data that we voluntarily post for them.The marketers are also seeing big opportunities. Amazon is trying to predict what we will order. Go ogle is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media profiles. We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to alleviate the dangers.Regardless of what social media people use, one thing is certain: we are in a period of accelerating chan ge. The next decade will be even more amazing and unpredictable than the last. Just as no one could pre dict what would happen with social media in the last decade, no one can accurately predict where this te chnology will take us. I am optimistic, however, that a connected humanity will find a way to uplift itsel f.61. What was the purpose of Facebook when it was first created?A. To help students connect with the outside world.B. To bring university students into closer contact.C. To help students learn to live in a connected era.D. To combine the world into an integral whole.62. What difference does social media make to learning?A. Local knowledge and global knowledge will merge.B. Student will become more curious and ambitious.C. People are able to learn wherever they travel.D. Sources of information are greatly expanded.63. What is the author’s greatest concern with social media technology?A. Individuals and organizations may use it for evil purposes.B. Government will find it hard to protect classified information.C. Peopl e may disclose their friends’ information unintentionally.D. People’s attention will be easily distractedfrom their work in hand.64. What do businesses use social media for?A. Creating a good corporate image.B. Conducting large-scale market surveys.C. Anticipating the needs of customers.D. Minimizing possible risks and dangers.65. What does the author think of social media as a whole?A. It will enable human society to advance at a faster pace.B. It will pose a grave threat to our traditional ways of life.C. It is bound to bring about another information revolution.D. It breaks down the final barriers in human communication.Part IV TranslationDirections: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into Englis h. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.翻译题一：自从1978年启动改革以来，中国已从计划经济转为以市场为基础的经济，经历了经济和社会的快速发展。

2014年12月大学英语六级考试真题一Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then discuss what qualities an employer should look for in job applicant. You should give sound arguments to support your views and write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section A1. A) In a parking lot.B) At a grocery.C) At a fast food restaurant.D) In a car showroom.2. A) Change her position now and then.B) Stretch her legs before standing up.C) Have a little nap after lunch.D) Get up and take a short walk.3. A) The students should practice long-distance running.B) The students’ physical condition is not desirable.C) He doesn’t quite believe what the woman says.D) He thinks the race is too hard for the students.4. A) They will get their degrees in two years.B) They are both pursuing graduate studies.C) They cannot afford to get married right now.D) They do not want to have a baby at present.5. A) He must have been mistaken for Jack.B) Twins usually have a lot in common.C) Jack is certainly not as healthy as he is.D) He has not seen Jack for quite a few days.6. A) The woman will attend the opening of the museum.B) The woman is asking the way at the crossroads.C) The man knows where the museum is located.D) The man will take the woman to the museum.7. A) They cannot ask the guy to leave. B) The guy has been coming in for years.C) The guy must be feeling extremely lonely. D) They should not look down upon the guy.8. A) Collect timepieces. B) Become time-conscious.C) Learn to mend clocks. D) Keep track of his daily activities.9. A) It is eating into its banks. B) It winds its way to the sea.C) It is wide and deep. D) It is quickly rising.10. A) Try to speed up the operation by any means.B) Take the equipment apart before being ferried.C) Reduce the transport cost as much as possible.D) Get the trucks over to the other side of the river.11. A) Find as many boats as possible.B) Cut trees and build rowing boats.C) Halt the operation until further orders.D) Ask the commander to send a helicopter12. A) Talk about his climbing experiences. B) Help him join an Indian expedition.C) Give up mountain climbing altogether. D) Save money to buy climbing equipment.13. A) He was the first to conquer Mt. Qomolangma.B) He had an unusual religious background.C) He climbed mountains to earn a living.D) He was very strict with his children.14. A) They are to be conquered. B) They are to be protected.C) They are sacred places. D) They are like humans.15. A) It was his father’s training that pulled him through.B) It was a milestone in his mountain climbing career.C) It helped him understand the Sherpa view of mountains.D) It was his father who gave him the strength to succeed.Section BPassage One16. A) By showing a memorandum’s structure. B) By analyzing the organization of a letter.C) By comparing memorandums with letters. D) By reviewing what he has said previously.17. A) They ignored many of the memorandums they received.B) They placed emphasis on the format of memorandums.C) They seldom read a memorandum through to the end.D) They spent a lot of time writing memorandums.18. A) Style and wording. B) Directness and clarity.C) Structure and length. D) Simplicity and accuracy.19. A) Inclusion of appropriate humor. B) Direct statement of purpose.C) Professional look. D) Accurate dating.Passage Two20. A) They give top priority to their work efficiency.B) They make an effort to lighten their workload.C) They try hard to make the best use of their time.D) They never change work habits unless forced to.21. A) Sense of duty. B) Self-confidence.C) Work efficiency. D) Passion for work.22. A) They find no pleasure in the work they do. B) They try to avoid work whenever possible.C) They are addicted to playing online games. D) They simply have no sense of responsibility.Passage Three23. A) He lost all his property. B) He was sold to a circus.C) He ran away from his family. D) He was forced into slavery.24. A) A carpenter. B) A master of his.C) A businessman. D) A black drummer.25. A) It named its town hall after Solomon Northup. B) It freed all blacks in the town from slavery.C) It declared July 24 Solomon Northup Day. D) It hosted a reunion for the Northup family.Section CIntolerance is the art of ignoring any views that differ from your own. It (26) ________ itself in hatred, stereotypes, prejudice, and (27)________ . Once it intensifies in people, intolerance is nearly impossible to overcome. But why would anyone want to be labeled intolerant? Why would people want to be (28) ________ about the world around them? Why would one want be part of the problem in America, instead of the solution?There are many explanations for intolerant attitudes, some (29) ________ childhood. Itis likely that intolerant forks grew up (30) ________ intolerant parents and the cycle of prejudice has simply continued for (31) ________ . Perhaps intolerant people are so set in their ways that they find it easier to ignore anything that might not (32) ________ their limited view of life. Or maybe intolerant students have simply never been (33)________ to anyone different from themselves. But none of these reasons is an excuse for allowing the intolerance to continue.Intolerance should not be confused with disagreement. It is, of course, possible to disagree with an opinion without being intolerant of it. If you understand a belief butstill don’t believe in that specific belief, that’s fine. You are (34) ________ your opinion. As a matter of fact, (35) ________ dissenters（持异议者）are important for any belief. If we all believed the same things, we would never grow, and we would never learn about the world around us. Intolerance does not stem from disagreement. It stems from fear. And fear stems from ignorance.Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section AIt was 10 years ago, on a warm July night, that a newborn lamb took her first breath in a small shed in Scotland. From the outside, she looked no different from thousands of other sheep born on 36 farms. But Dolly, as the world soon came to realize, was no 37 lamb. She was cloned from a single cell of an adult female sheep, 38 long-held scientific dogma that had declared such a thing biologically impossible.A decade later, scientists are starting to come to grips with just how different Dolly was. Dozens of animals have been cloned since that first lamb—mice, cats, cows and, most recently, a dog—and it’s becoming 39 clear that they are all, in one way or another, defective.It’s 40 to think of clones as perfect carbon copies of the original. It turns out, though, that there are various degrees of genetic 41. That may come as a shock to people who have paid thousands of dollars to clone a pet cat only to discover that the baby cat looks and behaves 42 like their beloved pet—with a different- color coat of fur, perhaps, or a 43 different attitude toward its human hosts.And these are just the obvious differences. Not only are clones 44 from the original template（模板）by time, but they are also the product of an unnatural molecular mechanism that turns out not to be very good at making 45 copies. In fact, the process can embed small flaws in the genes of clones that scientists are only now discovering.A) abstractB) completelyC) desertedD) duplicationE) everythingF) identicalG) increasinglyH) miniatureI) nothingJ) ordinaryK) overturningL) separatedM) surroundingN) systematicallyO) tempting参考答案：　36-M-surrounding　37-J-ordinary 38-K-overturning 39-G-increasingly 40-O-tempting 41-D-duplication 42-I-nothing 43-B-completely 44-L-separated 45-F-identica lSection BShould Single-Sex Education Be Eliminated?[A] Why is a neuroscientist here debating single-sex schooling? Honestly, I had no fixed ideas on the topic when I started researching it for my book, Pink Brain, Blue Brain. Butany discussion of gender differences in children inevitably leads to this debate, so I felt compelled to dive into the research data on single-sex schooling. I read every study I could, weighed the existing evidence, and ultimately concluded that single-¬sex education is notthe answer to gender gaps in achievement—or the best way forward for today’s young people. After my book was published, I met several developmental and cognitive psychologists whose work was addressing gender and education from different angles, and we published a peer-reviewed Education Forum piece in Science magazine with the provocative title, “The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Education.”[B] We showed that three lines of research used to justify single-sex schooling—educational, neuroscience, and social psychology—all fail to support its alleged benefits, and so the widely-held view that gender separation is somehow better for boys, girls, orboth is nothing more than a myth.The Research on Academic Outcomes[C] First, we reviewed the extensive educational research that has compared academic outcomes in students attending single-sex versus coeducational schools. The overwhelming conclusion when you put this enormous literature together is that there is no clear academic advantage of sitting in all-female or all-male classes, in spite of much popular belief to the contrary. I base this conclusion not on any individual study, but on large- scale and systematic reviews of thousands of studies conducted in every major English-speaking country.[D] Of course, there’re many excellent single-sex schools out there, but as these careful research reviews have demonstrated, it’s not their single-sex composition that makes them excellent. It’s all the other advantages that are typically packed into such schools, such as financial resources, quality of the faculty, and pro-¬academic culture, along with the family background and pre-selected ability of the students themselves that determine their outcomes.[E] A case in point is the study by Linda Sax at UCLA, who used data from a large national survey of college freshmen to evaluate the effect of single-sex versuscoeducational high schools. Commissioned by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools, the raw findings look pretty good for the funders—higher SAT scores and a stronger academic orientation among women who had attended all girls' high schools (men weren’t studied). However, once the researchers controlled for both student and school attributes—measuressuch as family income, parents’ education, and school resources—most of these effects were erased or diminished.[F] When it comes to boys in particular, the data show that single-sex education is distinctly unhelpful for them. Among the minority of studies that have reported advantagesof single-sex schooling, virtually all of them were studies of girls. There’re no rigorous studies in the United States that find single-sex schooling is better for boys, and in fact, a separate line of research by economists has shown both boys and girls exhibit greater cognitive growth over the school year based on the “dose” of girls in a classroom. In fact, boys benefit even more than girls from having larger numbers of female classmates. Sosingle-sex schooling is really not the answer to the current “boy crisis” in education.Brain and Cognitive Development[G] The second line of research often used to justify single-sex education falls squarely within my area of expertise: brain and cognitive development. It's been more than a decade now since the “brain sex movement” began infiltrating（渗入）our schools, and there are literally hundreds of schools caught up in the fad（新潮）. Public schools in Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida and many other states now proudly declare on their websites that they separate boys and girls because “research solidly indicates that boys and girls learn differently,” due to “hard-wired” differences in their brains, eyes, ears, autonomic nervous systems, and more.[H] All of these statements can be traced to just a few would-be neuroscientists, especially physician Leonard Sax and therapist Michael Gurian. Each gives lectures, runs conferences, and does a lot of professional development on so-called “gender-specific learning.” I analyzed their various claims about sex differences in hearing, vision, language, math, stress responses, and “learning styles” in my book and a long peer-reviewed paper. Other neuroscientists and psychologists have similarly exposed their work.In short, the mechanisms by which our brains learn language, math, physics, and every other subject don’t differ between boys and girls. Of course, learning does vary a lot between individual students, but research reliably shows that this variance is far greater within populations of boys or girls than between the two sexes.[I] The equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits separation of students by sex in public education that’s based on precisely this kind of “overbroad generalizations about the different talents, capacities, or preferences of males and females.” And the reason it is prohibited is because it leads far too easily tostereotyping and sex discrimination.Social Developmental Psychology[J] That brings me to the third area of research which fails to support single-sex schooling and indeed suggests the practice is actually harmful: social-developmental psychology.[K] It’s a well-proven finding in social psychology that segregation promotes stereotyping and prejudice, whereas intergroup contact reduces them—and the results are the same whether you divide groups by race, age, gender, body mass index, sexual orientation, or any other category. What’s more, children are especially vulnerable to this kind of bias, because they are dependent on adults for learning which social categories are important and why we divide people into different groups.[L] You don’t have to look far to find evidence of stereotyping and sex discrimination in single-sex schools. There was the failed single-sex experiment in California, where six school districts used generous state grants to set up separate boys' and girls' academies in the late 1990s. Once boys and girls were segregated, teachers resorted to traditional gender stereotypes to run their classes, and within just three years, five of the six districts had gone back to coeducation.[M] At the same time, researchers are increasingly discovering benefits of gender interaction in youth. A large British study found that children with other-sex oldersiblings（兄弟姐妹）exhibit less stereotypical play than children with same-sex older siblings, such as girls who like sports and building toys and boys who like art and dramatic play. Another study of high school social networks found less bullying and aggression the higher the density of mixed-sex friendships within a given adolescent network. Then there is the finding we cited in our Science paper of higher divorce and depression rates among a large group of British men who attended single-sex schools as teenagers, which might be explained by the lack of opportunity to learn about relationships during their formative years.[N] Whether in nursery school, high school, or the business world, gender segregation narrows our perceptions of each other, facilitating stereotyping and sexist attitudes. It’s very simple: the more we structure children and adolescents’ environment around gender distinctions and separation, the more they will use these categories as the primary basisfor understanding themselves and others.[O] Gender is an important issue in education. There are gaps in reading, writing, and science achievement that should be narrower. There are gaps in career choice that should be narrower—if we really want to maximize human potential and American economic growth. But stereotyping boys and girls and separating them in the name of fictitious（虚构的）brain differences is never going to close these gaps.46. Hundreds of schools separate boys from girls in class on the alleged brain and cognitive differences.47. A review of extensive educational research shows no obvious academic advantage of single-sex schooling.48. The author did not have any fixed ideas on single-sex education when she began her research on the subject.49. Research found men who attended single-sex schools in their teens were more likely to suffer from depression.50. Studies in social psychology have shown segregation in school education has a negative impact on children.51. Reviews of research indicate there are more differences in brain and cognitive development within the same sex than between different sexes.52. The findings of the national survey of college freshmen about the impact of single-sex schooling fail to take into account student and school attributes.53. It wasn’t long before most of the school districts that experimented with single-sex education abandoned the practice.54. Boys from coeducational classes demonstrate greater cognitive abilities according to the economists' research.55. As careful research reviews show, academic excellence in some single-sex schools is attributed to other factors than single-sex education.参考答案：GCAMK HELFDSection CPassage OneInternational governments' inaction concerning sustainable development is clearly worrying but the proactive（主动出击的）approaches of some leading-edge companies are encouraging. Toyota, Wal-Mart, DuPont, M&S and General Electric have made tackling environmental wastes a key economic driver.DuPont committed itself to a 65% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the 10 years prior to 2010. By 2007, DuPont was saving $2.2 billion a year through energy efficiency, the same as its total declared profits that year. General Electric aims to reduce the energyintensity of its operations by 50% by 2015. They have invested heavily in projects designedto change the way of using and conserving energy.Companies like Toyota and Wal-Mart are not committing to environmental goals out of the goodness of their hearts. The reason for their actions is a simple yet powerful realisation that the environmental and economic footprints fit well together. When M&S launched its “Plan A” sustainability programme in 2007, it was believed that it would cost over £200 million in the first five years. However, the initiative had generated £105 million by2011/12.When we prevent physical waste, increase energy efficiency or improve resource productivity, we save money, improve profitability and enhance competitiveness. In fact,there are often huge “quick win” opportunities, thanks to years of neglect.However, there is a considerable gap between leading-edge companies and the rest of the pack. There are far too many companies still delaying creating a lean and green business system, arguing that it will cost money or require sizable capital investments. They remain stuck in the “environment is cost” mentality. Being environmentally friendly does not have to cost money. In fact, going beyond compliance saves cost at the same time that itgenerates cash, provided that management adopts the new lean and green model.Lean means doing more with less. Nonetheless, in most companies, economic and environmental continuous improvement is viewed as being in conflict with each other. This is one of the biggest opportunities missed across most industries. The size of the opportunityis enormous. The 3% Report recently published by World Wildlife Fund and CDP shows that the economic prize for curbing carbon emissions in the US economy is $780 billion between nowand 2020. It suggests that one of the biggest levers for delivering this opportunity is “increased efficiency through management and behavioural change”—in other words, lean and green management.Some 50 studies show that companies that commit to such aspirational goals as zero waste, zero harmful emissions, and zero use of non-renewable resources are financiallyoutperforming their competitors. Conversely, it was found that climate disruption is already costing $1.2 trillion annually, cutting global GDP by 1.6%. Unaddressed, this will double by 2030.56. What does the author say about some leading-edge companies?A) They operate in accordance with government policies.B) They take initiatives in handling environmental wastes.C) They are key drivers in their nations，economic growth.D) They are major contributors to environmental problems.57. What motivates Toyota and Wal-Mart to make commitments to environmental protection?A) The goodness of their hearts. B) A strong sense of responsibility.C) The desire to generate profits. D) Pressure from environmentalists.58. Why are so many companies reluctant to create an environment-friendly business system?A) They are bent on making quick money. B) They do not have the capital for the investment.C) They believe building such a system is too costly. D) They lack the incentive to change business practices.59. What is said about the lean and green model of business?A) It helps businesses to save and gain at the same time.B) It is affordable only for a few leading-edge companies.C) It is likely to start a new round of intense competition.D) It will take a long time for all companies to embrace it.60. What is the finding of the studies about companies committed to environmental goals?A) They have greatly enhanced their sense of social responsibility.B) They do much better than their counterparts in terms of revenues.C) They have abandoned all the outdated equipment and technology.D) They make greater contributions to human progress than their rivals.Passage TwoIf you asked me to describe the rising philosophy of the day, I'd say it is data-ism. We now have the ability to gather huge amounts of data. This ability seems to carry with it certain cultural assumptions—that everything that can be measured should be measured; that data is a transparent and reliable lens that allows us to filter out emotionalism and ideology; that data will help us do remarkable things—like foretell the fixture.Over the next year, I’m hoping to get a better grip on some of the questions raised by the data revolution: In what situations should we rely on intuitive pattern recognition and in which situations should we ignore intuition and follow the data? What kinds of events are predictable using statistical analysis and what sorts of events are not?I confess I enter this in a skeptical frame of mind, believing that we tend to get carried away in our desire to reduce everything to the quantifiable. But at the outset let me celebrate two things data does really well.First, it's really good at exposing when our intuitive view of reality is wrong. For example, nearly every person who runs for political office has an intuitive sense that they can powerfully influence their odds of winning the election if they can just raise and spend more money. But this is largely wrong.After the 2006 election, Sean Trende constructed a graph comparing the incumbent（在任者的）campaign spending advantages with their eventual margins of victory. There was barely any relationship between more spending and a bigger victory.Likewise, many teachers have an intuitive sense that different students have different learning styles: some are verbal and some are visual; some are linear, some are holistic（整体的）.Teachers imagine they will improve outcomes if they tailor their presentations to each student. But there’s no evidence to support this either.Second, data can illuminate patterns of behavior we haven’t yet noticed. For example,I've always assumed people who frequently use words like “I,” “me,” and “mine” are probably more self-centered than people who don't. But as James Pennebaker of the University of Texas notes in his book, The Secret Life of Pronouns, when people are feeling confident, they are focused on the task at hand, not on themselves. High-status, confident people use fewer “I” words, not more.Our brains often don’t notice subtle verbal patterns, but Pennebaker’s computers can. Younger writers use more negative and past-tense words than older writers who use more positive and future-tense words.In sum, the data revolution is giving us wonderful ways to understand the present and the past. Will it transform our ability to predict and make decisions about the future?We’ll see.61. What do data-ists assume they can do?A) Transform people’s cultural identity. B) Change the way future events unfold.C) Get a firm grip on the most important issues. D) Eliminate emotional and ideological bias.62. What do people running for political office think they can do?A) Use data analysis to predict the election result. B) Win the election if they can raise enough funds.C) Manipulate public opinion with favorable data. D) Increase the chances of winning by foul means.63. Why do many teachers favor the idea of tailoring their presentations to different students?A) They think students prefer flexible teaching methods.B) They will be able to try different approaches.C) They believe students，learning styles vary.D) They can accommodate students with special needs.64. What does James Pennebaker reveal in The Secret Life of Pronouns?A) The importance of using pronouns properly.B ) Repeated use of first-person pronouns by self-centered people.C) Frequent use of pronouns and future tense by young people.D) A pattern in confident people’s use of pronouns.65. Why is the author skeptical of the data revolution?A) Data may not be easily accessible. B) Errors may occur with large data samples.C) Data cannot always do what we imagine it can. D) Some data may turn out to be outdated.参考答案：56. D）They are major contributors to environmental problems. 57. C）The desire to generate profits. 58. C）They believe building such a system is too costly. 59. A）It helps businesses to save and gain at the same time. 60. B）They do much better than their counterparts in terms of revenues. 61. D）Eliminate emotional and ideological bias. 62. B）Win the election if they can raise enough funds. 63. C） They believe students’ learning styles vary. 64. D）A pattern in confident people’s use of pronouns. 65. C）Data cannot always do what we imagine it can.Translation (30 minutes)中国将努力确保到2015年就业者接受过平均13.3年的教育。

2014年12月6级第1套听力真题Section A1What does the woman mean?A:The man’s tennis racket is good enough.B:The man should get a pair of new shoes.C:She can wait for the man for a little while.D:Physical exercise helps her stay in shape.答案:B2What do we learn from the conversation?A:The woman will skip Dr. Smith’s lecture to help the man. B:Kathy is very pleased to attend the lecture by Dr. Smith. C:The woman is good at doing lab demonstrations.D:The man will do all he can to assist the woman.答案:A3What do we learn from the conversation?A:The woman asked the man to accompany her to the party. B:Steve became rich soon after graduation from college. C:Steve invited his classmates to visit his big cottage.D:The speakers and Steve used to be classmates.答案:D4Where does the conversation most probably take place? A:In a bus.B:In a clinic.C:In a boatD:In a plane.答案:C5When is the train arriving?A:10:10:00B:9:50:00C:9:40:00D:9:10:00答案:B6What does the woman mean?A:She does not like John at all.B:John has got many admirers.C:She does not think John is handsome.D:John has just got a bachelors degree.答案:A7What do we learn about the man?A:He has been bumping along for hours.B:He has got a sharp pain in the neck.C:He is involved in a serious accident.D:He is trapped in a terrible traffic jam.答案:D8What does the man imply about Mary?A:She is good at repairing things.B:She is a professional mechanic.C:She should improve her physical condition.D:She cannot go without a washing machine.答案:A9What did the judge say about the case he recently heard? A:Some witnesses failed to appear in court.B:The case caused debate among the public.C:The accused was found guilty of stealing.D:The accused refused to plead guilty in court.答案:C10What do we learn about the man at the time of crime?A:He was out of his mind.B:He was unemployed.C:His wife deserted him.D:His children were sick.答案:B11What did the judge say about the accused?A:He had been in jail before.B:He was unworthy of sympathy.C:He was unlikely to get employed.D:He had committed the same sort of crime.答案:A12What does the man think of their present advertising agency? A:Irresponsible.B:Unsatisfactory.C:Aggressive.D:Conservative.答案:B13What would the woman be responsible for to Mr. Grunt?A:Internal communication.B:Distribution of brochure.C:Public relations.D:Product design.答案:C14What is the woman most interested in doing?A:Placing advertisements in the trade press.B:Drawing sketches for advertisements.C:Advertising in the national press.D:Making television commercials.答案:D15What does the man think of the woman applicant?A:She has the motivation to do the job.B:She knows the tricks of advertising.C:She is not so easy to get along with.D:She is not suitable for the portion.答案:DSection B16What does the speaker say characterizes American campuses?A:The cozy communal life.B:The cultural diversity.C:Innovative academic programs.D:Impressive school buildings.答案:A17What does Brown University president Vartan Gregorian say about students' daily life? A:It is very beneficial to their academic progress.B:It helps them soak up the surrounding culture.C:It is as important as their learning experience.D:It ensures their physical and mental health.答案:C18In what way is the United States unrivaled according to the speaker?A:It offers the most challenging academic programs.B:It has the world’s best-known military academies.C:It provides numerous options for students.D:It draws faculty from all around the world.答案:C19What does the speaker say about universities in Europe and Japan? A:They try to give students opportunities for experimentation.B:They are responsible merely to their Ministry of Education.C:They strive to develop every student’s academic potential.D:They ensure that all students get roughly equal attention.答案:B20What does the speaker say about the Sea-link ferry?A:It will arrive at Boulogne at half past two.B:It crosses the English Channel twice a day.C:It is now about half way to the French coast.D:It is leaving Folkestone in about five minutes.答案:D21Where is the snack bar situated?A:Opposite the ship’s office.B:Next to the duty-free shop.C:At the rear of B deck.D:In the front of A deck.答案:D22What does the speaker say about the lounge on B deck?A:It is for the sole use of passengers travelling with cars.B:It is much more spacious than the lounge on C deck.C:It is for the use of passengers travelling with children.D:It is for senior passengers and people with VIP cards.答案:A23How did the cave get its name?A:It was named after its location.B:It was named after its discoverer.C:It was named after a cave art expert.D:It was named after one of its painters.答案:B24What is the old theory about the paintings in the cave?A:Animal painting was part of the spiritual life of the time.B:Deer were worshiped by the ancient Cro-Magnon people.C:Cro-Magnon people painted animals they hunted and ate.D:They were believed to keep evils away from cave dwellers.答案:C25What do scientists readily admit according to the speaker?A:They know little about why the paintings were created.B:They have difficulty telling when the paintings were done.C:They are unable to draw such interesting and fine painting.D:They have misinterpreted the meaning of the cave paintings.答案:ASection CIf you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls, you'll probably live at home and commute to classes.This arrangement has a lot of 26____.It's cheaper.It provides a comfortable and familiar setting, and it means you'll get the kind of home cooking you're used to instead of the monotony (单调) that 27____ even the best institutional food. However, commuting students need to 28____ to become involved in the life of their college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students.Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in 29____ and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like.One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents' unwillingness to recognize that they're adults.The 30____ from high school to college is a big one, and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you'd have if you were living away.Home rules that might have been 31____ when you were in high school don't apply.If your parents are 32____ to renegotiate, you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility that goes with maturity.Parents are more willing to 33____ their children as adults when they behave like adults.If, however, there's so much friction at home that it 34____ your academic work, you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends.Sometimes this is a happy solution when family 35____ make everyone miserable.26:advantages27:characterizes28:go out of their way29:seeking out30:transition31:appropriate32:reluctant33:acknowledge34:interferes with35:tensions2014年12月6级第1套听力原文Section A1:M:Before we play again, I’m going to buy a good tennis racket.W:Your shoes aren’t in a very good shape either.2:M:Barbara, I’d like you could assist me in the lab demonstration. But aren’t you supposed to go to Dr. Smith’s lecture today?W:I ask Cathy to take notes for me.3:W:Steve invited me to the dinner party on Sunday evening. Have you received your invitation yet?M:Yes, he found me this morning and told me he wanted all his old classmates to come to the reunion.4:W:I’m afraid I’m a little bit seasick. I fee l dizzy.M:Close your eyes and relax. You’ll be all right as soon as we come at shore.5:W:I wonder what’s happened to our train. It should have been here twenty minutes ago according to the timetable. But it’s already 9:30.M:There’s no need to get nervous. The announcement says it’s forty minutes late. 6:M:John is handsome and wealthy. Believe it or not, he is still a bachelor.W:He is a notorious guy in many girls’ eyes. I’m sick of hearing his name.7:M:Cars are lined up bumper to bump er. And I’ve been held up on the express way for an entire hour.W:Really? It must be a pain in the neck. But be patient, anyway, you can do nothing but wait.8:W:Yesterday I was surprised to see Mary using that washing machine you’re going to throw away.M:Yes, it’s quite old and in a very poor condition. Frankly speaking, that she got it working amazes me a lot.9:M:A recent case I heard was of a man accused and found guilty of breaking into a house and stealing some money.W:Well, was he really guilty, judge?M:He admitted that he’d done it, and there were several witnesses saying that he had indeed done it.M:So I can only assume that he was guilty.W:Why did he do it?M:Well, the reasons were little muddied, probably at least it seemed in a trial that he did it to get some money to feed his family.M:You see, he’d been out of work for some time.W:Well, he’d been out of work and he chose to break into a house to get money for his family and apparently in front of people that, err... could see him do it.M:His attorney presented testimony that he had indeed applied for jobs and was listed with several employment agencies,M:including the state employment agency, but they weren’t any jobs.W:And he had no luck!M:He had no luck and it’d been some time.M:He had two children and both of them were needing food and clothing.W:So he was in desperate circumstances. Did you sentence him?M:Yes.W:But what good does it do to put the man into jail when he’s o bviously in such need? M:This particular fellow has been in prison before.W:For the same thing?M:No, for a different sort of crime.W:Huh?M:But he did know about crime, so I suppose there are folks that just have to go back to prison several times.10::11::12:M:Ah, how do you do, Ms. Wezmore?W:How do you do?M:Do sit down.W:Thank you.M:I’m glad you’re interested in our job.M:Now, let me explain it.M:We plan to increase our advertising considerably.M:At present, an advertising agency handles our account, but we haven’t been too pleased with the results lately and we may give our account to another agency.W:What would my work entail?M:You’d be responsible to me for all advertising and to Mr. Grunt for public relations. M:You’d brief the agency whoever it is on the kind of advertising campaign we want. M:You’d also be responsible for getting our leaflets, brochures and catalogs designed. W:I presume you advertise in the national press as well as the trade press.M:Yes, we do.W:Have you thought about advertising on television?M:We don’t think it’s a suitable medium for us.M:And it’s much too expensive.W:I can just imagine a scene with a typist sitting on an old-fashioned typing chair, W:her back aching, exhausted, then we show her in one of your chairs.W:Her back properly supported filling full of energy, typing twice as quickly.M:Before you get carried away with your little scene, Ms. Wezmore,M:I regret to have to tell you again that we are not planning to go into television.W:That’s a shame.W:I’ve been doing a lot of television work lately and it interests me enormously.M:Then I really don’t think that this is quite the right job for you here, Ms. Wezmore. 13::14::15::Section B16:Many foreign students are attracted not only to the academic programs at a particular U.S. college but also to the larger community, which affords the chance to soak up the surrounding culture.Few foreign universities put much emphasis on the cozy communal life that characterizes American campuses from clubs and sports teams to student publications and drama societies.“The campus and the American university have become identical in people’s minds,” says Brown University President Vartan Gregorian.“In America it is assumed that a student’s daily life is as important as his learning experience.”Foreign students also come in search of choices.America’s menu of options—research universities, state institutions, private liberal-arts schools, community colleges, religious institutions, military academies—is unrivaled.“In Europe,” says history professor Jonathan Steinberg, who has taught at both Harvard and Cambridge, “there is one system,and that is it.”While students overseas usually must demonstrate expertise in a specific field,whether law or philosophy or chemistry, most American universities insist that students sample natural and social sciences, languages and literature before choosing a field of concentration.Such opposing philosophies grow out of different traditions and power structures.In Europe and Japan, universities are answerable only to a ministry of education, which sets academic standards and distributes money.While centralization ensures that all students are equipped with roughly the same resourcesand perform at roughly the same level, it also discourages experimentation.“When they make mistakes, they make big ones,” says Robert Rosenzweig, president o f the Association of American Universities.“They set a system in wrong directions, and it’s like steering a supertanker.”17:18:19:20:Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard your Sea-link ferry from Folkestone to Boulogne and wish you a pleasant trip with us.We are due to leave Folkestone in about five minutes and a journey to Boulogne will take approximately two hours.We are getting good reports of the weather in the Channel and in France, so we should have a calm crossing.Sun and temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius are reported on the French coast.For your convenience on the journey, we'd like to point out that there are a number of facilities available on board.There's a snack bar serving sandwiches and hot and cold refreshments situated in the front of A deck.There is also a restaurant serving hot meals situated on B deck.If you need to change money or cash travelers' checks, we have a bank on board.You can find a bank on C deck.Between the ship's office and the duty free shop, toilets are situated on B deck at the rear of the ship and on A deck next to the snack bar.For the children, there's a games room on C deck next to the duty free shop.Here children can find a variety of electronic games.Passengers are reminded that the lounge on B deck is for the sole use of passengers traveling with cars and that there is another lounge on C deckat the front of the ship for passengers traveling without cars.Finally, ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to wish you a pleasant journey and hope that you'll travel with us again in the near future.21: 22:23:On Christmas Eve in 1994, humans entered a cave in the mountains of southeastern France for what was probably the first time in 20,000 years.The vivid images of more than 300 animals that Jean-Marie Chauvet and his assistants found on the cave walls were like none that they had seen before.Unusual in the Grotte Chauvet, as the cave is now called in honor of its discoverer, are paintings of many flat sheeting animals.Other known caves from the same geographical area and time period contain only paintingsof plantites.The paintings in this cave refute the old theory that Cro-Magnoon people painted animals that they hunted and then ate.Now many specialists believe that cave paintings were not part of a ritual to bring good luck to hunters.They point out that while deer made up a major part of their diet, there're no drawings of deer.They believe that the animals painted were those central to the symbolic and spiritual life of the times;animals that represented something deep and spiritual to the people.Scientists are hopeful that Groo Chavie will yield new information about the art and lifestyle of Cro-Magnoon people.They readily admit, however, that little is understood yet as to the reasons why ice age artists created their interesting and detailed paintings.Scientists also wonder why some paintings were done in areas that are so difficult to get to, in caves, for example, that are 2,400 feet underground, and accessible only by crawling through narrow passageways.24:25:Section CIf you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls, you'll probably live at home and commute to classes.This arrangement has a lot of advantages.It's cheaper.It provides a comfortable and familiar setting, and it means you'll get the kind of home cooking you're used to instead of the monotony (单调) that characterizes even the best institutional food. However, commuting students need to go out of their way to become involved in the life of their college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students.Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in seeking out and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like.One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents' unwillingness to recognize that they're adults.The transition from high school to college is a big one, and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you'd have if you were living away.Home rules that might have been appropriate when you were in high school don't apply.If your parents are reluctant to renegotiate, you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility that goes with maturity.Parents are more willing to acknowledge their children as adults when they behave like adults.If, however, there's so much friction at home that it interferes with your academic work, you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends.Sometimes this is a happy solution when family tensions make everyone miserable.。

Part I Writing作文题一：学历歧视Part II ListeningSection AQuestion 1A.At a groceryB.In a parking lotC.In a car showroomD.At a fast food restaurantQuestion 2A.Have a little nap after lunchB.Get up and take a short walkC.Change her position now and thenD.Stretch legs before standing upQuestion 3A.The students should practice long-distance runningB.He doesn’t quite believe what the woman saysC.The students’ physical condition is not desirableD.He thinks the race is too hard for the studentsQuestion 4A.They do not want to have a baby at presentB.They cannot afford to get married right nowC.They are both pursuing graduate studiesD.They will get their degrees in two yearsQuestion 5A.Twins usually have a lot in commonB.He must have been mistaken for JackC.Jack is certainly not as healthy as he isD.He has not seen Jack for quite a few daysQuestion 6A.The man will take the woman wo the museumB.The man knows where the museum is locatedC.The woman is asking the way at the crossroadsD.The woman will attend the opening of the museumQuestion 7A.They cannot ask the guy to leaveB.The guy has been coming in for yearsC.They should not look down upon the guyD.The guy must be feeling extremely lonelyQuestion 8A.Collect timepiecesB.Become time-consciousC.Learn to mend locksD.Keep track of his daily activities Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.Question 9A.It winds its way to the seaB.It is quickly risingC.It is eating into its banksD.It is wide and deepQuestion 10A.Get the trucks over to the other side of the riverB.Take the equipment apart before being ferriedC.Reduce the transport cost as much as possibleD.Try to speed up the operation by any meansQuestion 11A.Ask the commander to send a helicopterB.Halt the operation until further ordersC.Cut trees and build rowing boatsD.Find as many coats as possibleQuestions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. Question 12A.Help him join an Indian expeditionB.Talk about his climbing experiencesC.Give up mountain climbing altogetherD.Save money to buy climbing equipmentQuestion 13A.He was very strict with his childrenB.He climbed mountains to earn a livingC.He had an unusual religious backgroundD.He was the first to conquer Mt. QomolangmaQuestion 14A.They are like humansB.They are sacred placesC.They are to be protectedD.They are to be conqueredQuestion 15A.It was his father’s training that pilled him throughB.It was a milestone in his mountain climbing careerC.It was his father who gave him the strength to succeedD.It helped him understand the Sherpa view of mountainsSection BPassage OneQuestion 16A. By reviewing what he has said previouslyB.By comparing memorandums with lettersC.By showing a memorandum’ s structureD.By analyzing the organization of a letterQuestion 17A.They spent a lot of time writing memorandumsB.They seldom read a memorandum through to the endC.They placed emphasis on the format of memorandumsD.They ignored many of the memorandums they receivedQuestion 18A.Style and wordingB.Structure and lengthC.Directness and clarityD.Simplicity and accuracyPassage TwoQuestions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.Question 19A.Accurate datingB.Professional lookC.Direct statement of purposeD.Inclusion of appropriate humorQuestion 20A.They give top priority to their work efficiencyB.They make an effort to lighten their workloadC.They never change work habits unless forced toD.They try hard to make the best use of their timeQuestion 21A.Self-confidenceB.Sense of dutyC.Work efficiencyD.Passion for workQuestion 22A.They are addicted to playing online gamesB.They try to avoid work whenever possibleC.They find to pleasure in the work they doD.They simply have no sense of responsibilityPassage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.Question 23A.He lost all his propertyB.He was sold to a circusC.He was forced into slaveryD.He ran away from his familyQuestion 24A.A carpenterB.A businessmanC.A master of hisD.A black drummerQuestion 25A.It named its town hall after Solomon NorthupB.It declared July 24 Solomon Northup DayC.It freedom all blacks in the town from slaveryD.It hosted a reunion for the Northup familySection CIntolerance is the art of ignoring any views that differ from your own. It(26)_____ itself a hatred. Stereotypes, prejudice,and(27)_____.Once it intensifies in people, intolerance is nearly impossible to overcome. But why would anyone want to be labeled intolerant. Why would people want to be (28)_____about the world around them? Why would one want to be part of the problem in America, instead of the solution?There are many explanations for intolerant attitudes, some (29)_____ childhood. It is likely that intolerant folks grew up (30)_____ intolerant parents and the cycle of prejudice has simply continued for (31)_____. Perhaps intolerant people are so set in their ways that they find it easier to ignore anything that might not (32)_____ their limited view of life. Or maybe intolerant students have simply never been (33)_____ to anyone different form themselves. But none of these reason is an excuse for allpwing the intolerance to continue.Intolerance should not be confused with disagreement.It is,of course,possible as diasgree with an opinion without being intolerant of it.If you understand a belief but still don't believe in that specific belief,that's fine.You are (34)_____ your opinion.As a matter offact.(35)_____ disseniers(持异议者)are important for any belief.If we all believed the same things.we would never grow,and we would never learn about the world around us,does not stem frim disagreement.It stems from fear,And fear stems from fear.And fear stems from ignorance.Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section AHis future subjects have not always treated the Prince of Wales with the respect one XXXX expect. They laughed aloud in 1986 when the heir to the British(36)_____ told a TV reporter that he talked to his plants at his country house, Highgrove, to stimulate their growth. The Prince was being humorous- “My sense of humor will get me into trouble one day”, he said to his aids(随从)-but listening to Charles Windsor can indeed prove stimulating. The royal(37)_____ has been promoting radical ideas for most of his adult life. Some of his(38)_____, which once sounded a bit weird, were simply ahead of their time. Now, finally, the world seems to be catching up with him.Take his views on farming. Prince Charles’ Duchy Home Farm went(39)_____ back in 1986. When most shoppers cared only about the low price tag on suspiciously blemish-free(无瑕疵的) vegetables and(40)_____ large chickens piled high in supermarkets.His warnings on climate change proved farsighted,too.Charles began(41)_____ action in warming in 1990 and says he has been worried about the(42)_____ of man on the environment same be was a teenger.Although he was gradually gained international(43)_____ as one of the world's lending conservationists,many British people still think of him as an(34)_____ person who talks to plants.This year,as it happens,South Korean scientists proved that plants reallydo(45)_____ to round.So Charles was ahead of the game there,too.A.conformB.eccentricC.environmentalistD.expeditionsE.impactF.notionsanicH.originallyI.recognitionJ.respondK.subordinateL.suppressingM.throneN.unnaturallyO.urging36-45答案：36-40：M throne C environmentalist F notions H originally N unnaturally41-45：O urging E impact I recognition B eccentric J respondSection 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.High School Sports Aren’t Killing AcademicsA)In this month’s Atlantic cover article, “The Case Against High-School Sports,” Amanda Ripley argues that school-sponsored sports programs should be seriously cut. She writes that, unlike most countries that outperform the United States on international assessments, American sc hools put too much of an emphasis on athletics, “ Sports are embedded in American schools in a way they are not almost anywhere else,” she writes, “Yet this difference hardly ever comes up in domestic debates about America’s internat ional mediocrity(平庸)in education.”B)American student-athletes reap many benefits from participating in sports, but the costs to the schools could outweigh their benefits, she argues, In particular, Ripley contends that sports crowd out the academic missions of schools: America should learn from South Korea and Finland and every other country at the top level of international test scores, all of whom emphasize athletics far less in school. ”Even in eighth grade, American kids spend more than twice the time Korean kids spend playing sports,” she writes, citing a 2010 study published in the Journal of Advanced Academics.C)It might well be true that sports are far more rooted in American high schools than in other countries. But our reading of international test scores finds no support for the argument against school athletics. Indeed, our own research and that of others lead us to make the opposite case. School-sponsored sports appear to provide benefits that seem to increase, not detract(减少)from, academic success.D)Ripley indulges a popular obsession(痴迷)with international test score comparisons, which show wide and frightening gaps between the United States and other countries. She ignores, however, the fact that states vary at least as much in test scores as do developed countries. A 2011 report from Harvard University shows that Massachusetts produces math scores comparable to South Korea and Finland, while Mississippi scores are closer to Trinidad and Tobago. Ripley’s thesis about sports falls apart in light of this fact. Schools in Massachusetts provide sports programs while schools in Finland do not. Schools in Mississippi may love football while in Tobago interscholastic sports are nowhere near as prominent. Sports cannot explain these similarities in performance. They ca n’t explain international differences either.E)If it is true that sports undermine the academic mission of American schools, we would expect to see a negative relationship between the commitment to athletics and academic achievement. However, the Univer sity of Arkansas’s Daniel Bowen and Jay Greene actually find the opposite. They examine this relationship by analyzing schools’ sports winning percentages as well as studen t-athletic participation rates compared to graduation rates and standardized test score achievement over a five-year period for all public high schools in Ohio. Controlling for student poverty levels, demographics(人口统计状况), and district financial resources, both measures of a school’s commitment to athletics are significantly and positivel y related to lower dropout rates as well as higher test scores.F)On-the-field success and high participation in sports is not random-it requires focus and dedication to athletics. One might think this would lead schools obsessed with winning to deemphas ize academics. Bowen and Greene’s results contradict that argument. A likely explanation for this seemingly counterintuitive(与直觉相反的)result is that success in sports programs actually facilitates or reflects greater social capital within a school’s communit y.G)Ripley cites the writings of renowned sociologist James Coleman, whose research in education was groundbreaking. Coleman in his early work held athletics in contempt, arguing that they crowded out schools’ academic missions. Ripley quotes his 1961 s tudy, The Adolescent Society, where Coleman writes, “Altogether, the trophy(奖品)case would suggest to the innocent visitor that he was entering an athletic club, not an educational institution.”H)However, in later research Coleman would show how the success of schools is highly dependent on what he termed social capital, “the social networks, and the relationships between adults and children that are of value for the child’s growing up.”I)According to a 2013 evaluation conducted by the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago, a program called Becoming aMan-Sports Edition creates lasting improvements in the boys’ study habits and grade point averages. During the first year of the program, students were founds to be less likely to transfer schools or be engaged in violent crime. A year after the program, participants were less likely to have had an encounter with the juvenile justice system.J)If school-sponsored sports were completely eliminated tomorrow, many American students would still have opportunities to participate in organized athletics elsewhere, much like they do in countries such as Finland, Germany, and South Korea. The same is not certain when it comes to students from more disadvantaged backgrounds. In an overview of the research on non-school based after-school programs, researchers find that disadvantaged children participate in these programs at significantly lower rates. They find thatlow-income students have less access due to challenges with regard to transportation, non-nominal fees, and off-campus safety. Therefore, reducing or eliminating these opportunities would most likely deprive disadvantaged students of the benefits from athletic participation, not least of which is the opportunity to interact with positive role models outside of regular school hours.K)Another unfounded criticism that Ripley makes is bringing up the stereotype that athletic XX are typically lousy(蹩脚的)classroom teachers. “American principals, unlike the XX XX of principals around the world, make many hiring decisions with their sports teams in mind, which does not always end well for students,” she writes. Educators who seek employment at schools prim arily for the purpose of coaching are likely to shirk(推卸)teaching responsibilities, the argument goes. Moreover, even in the cases where the employee is a teacher first and athletic coach second, the additional responsibilities that come with coaching likely comes at the expense of time otherwise spent on planning, grading, and communicating with parents and guardians.L)The data, however, do not seem to confirm this stereotype. In the most rigorous study on the classroom results of high school coaches, the University of Arkansas’s Anna Egalite finds that athletic coaches in Florida mostly tend to perform just as well as theirnon-coaching counterparts, with respect to raising student test scores. We do not doubt that teachers who also coach face serious tradeoffs that likely come at the expense of time they could dedicate to their academic obligations. However, as with sporting events, athletic coaches gain additional opportunities for communicating and serving as mentors(导师)that potentially help students succeed and make up for the costs of coaching commitments.M)If schools allow student-athletes to regularly miss out on instructional time for the sake of traveling to athletic competitions, that’s bad. However, such issues would be better addressed by changing school and state policies with regard to the schedulin g of sporting events as opposed to total elimination. If the empirical evidence points to anything, it points towards school sponsored sports providing assets that are well worth the costs.N)Despite negative stereotypes about sports culture and Ripley’s presumption that academics and athletics are at odds with one another, we believe that the greater body of evidence shows that school-sponsored sports programs appear to benefit students. Successes on the playing field can carry over to the classroom and vice versa(反之亦然). More importantly, finding ways to increase school communities’ social capital is imperative to the success of the school as whole, not just the athletes.46.Stunets from low-income families have less access to off-campus sports programs.47.Amanda Ripley argues that America should learn from other countries that rankhigh in international tests and lay less emphasis on athletics.48.According to the author,Amanda Ripley fails to note that stunents'performance in exams varies from state to state.49.Amanda Ripley thinks that athletic coaches are poor at classroom instruction.50.James Coleman's later resrarch make an argument for a school's social capital.51.Reaearchers find that there is a ppsitive relationship between a school's commitment to athletics and academic achievements.52.Aa rigorous study finds that athletic coaches also do well in raising students'test scores.53.According to an evaluation,spograms contribute to students's academic preformance and character building.54.Amanda Ripley believes the emphasis on school sports shuold be brought up when trying to understand why Aamerican students are mediocre.55.James Coleman suggests in his earlier writings that school athletics would undermine a school's image.46-55答案：46-D 47-N48-H49-F50-J51-C52-E53-R54-L55-BSection CPassage oneIt is easy to miss amid the day-to-day headlines of global economic recession, but there is a less conspicuous kind of social upheaval(剧变)underway that is fast altering both the face of the planet and the way human beings live. That change is the rapid acceleration of urbanization. In 2008, for the first time in human history, more than half the world’s population was living in towns and cities. And as a recently published paper shows, the process of urbanization will only accelerate in the decades to come—with an enormous impact on biodiversity and potentially on climate change.As Karen Seto, the led author of the paper, points out, the wave of urbanization isn’t just about the migration of people int o urban environments, but about the environments themselves becoming bigger to accommodate all those people. The rapid expansion of urban areas will have a huge impact on biodiversity hotspots and on carbon emissions in those urban areas.Humans are the ultimate invasive species—when the move into new territory, the often displace the wildlife that was already living there. And as land is cleared for those new cities—especially in the dense tropical forests—carbon will be released into the atmosphere as well. It’s true that as people in developing nations move from the countryside to the city, the shift may reduce the pressure on land, which could in turn be good for the environment. This is especially so in desperately poor countries, where residents in the countryside slash and burn forests each growing season to clear space for farming. But the real difference is that in developing nations, the move from rural areas to cities often leads to an accompanying increase in income — and that increase leads to an increase in the consumption of food and energy, which in turn causes a rise in carbon emissions. Getting enough to eat and enjoying the safety and comfort of living fully on the grid is certainly a good thing — but it does carry an environmental price.The ur banization wave can’t be stopped —and it shouldn’t be. But Seto’s paper does underscore the importance of managing that transition. If we do it the right way, we can reduce urbanization’s impact on the environment. “There’s an enormous opportuni ty here, and a lot of pressure and responsibility to think about how we urbanize,” says Seto. “One thing that’s clear is that we can’t bui ld cities the way we have over the last couple of hundred years. The scale of this transition won’t allow that.” We’re headed to wards an urban planet no matter what, but whether it becomes heaven or hell is up to us.56. What issue does the author try to draw people’s attention to?A. The shrinking biodiversity worldwide.B. The rapid increase of world population.C. The ongoing global economic recession.D. The impact of accelerating urbanization.57. In what sense are humans the ultimate invasive species?A. They are much greedier than other species.B. They are a unique species born to conquer.C. They force other species out of their territories.D. They have an urge to expand their living space.58. In what way is urbanization in poor countries good for the environment?A. More land will be preserved for wildlife.B. The pressure on farmland will be lessened.C. Carbon emissions will be considerably reduced.D. Natural resources will be used more effectively.59. What does the author say about living comfortably in the city?A. It incurs a high environmental price.B. It brings poverty and insecurity to an end.C. It causes a big change in people’s lifestyle.D. It narrows the gap between city and country.60. What can be done to minimize the negative impact of urbanization according to Seto?A. Slowing down the speed of transition.B. Innovative use of advanced technology.C. Appropriate management of the process.D. Enhancing people’s sense of responsibility.56 D 57 C 58 B 59 A 60 CPassage TwoWhen Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched in Feb. 2004, even he could not imagine the forces it would let loose. His intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website rapidly evolved into, ended up connecting the world.To the children of this connected era, the world is one giant social network. They are not bound — as were previous generations of humans — by what they were taught. They are only limited by their curiosity and ambition. During my childhood, all knowledge was local. You learned everything you knew from your parents, teachers, preachers, and friends.With the high-quality and timely information at their fingertips, today’s children are rising normally tame middle class is speaking up against social ills. Silicon Valley executives are being shamed into adding women to their boards. Political leaders are marshalling the energy of millions for elections and political causes. All of this is being done with social media technologies that Facebook and its competitors set free.As does every advancing technology, social media has created many new problems. It is commonly addictive and creates risks for younger users. Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and elsewhere to seek and brainwash recruits. And it exposes us and our friends to disagreeable spying. We may leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but through social media we tell criminals exactly where we are, when we plan to return home, and how to blackmail(敲诈)us.Governments don’t need informers any more. Social media allows government agencies to spy on their own citizens. We record ou r thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on Facebook; we share our political views, social preferences, and plans. We post intimate photographs of ourselves. No spy agency or criminal organization could actively gather the type of data that we voluntarily post for them.The marketers are also seeing big opportunities. Amazon is trying to predict what we will order. Google is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media profiles. We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to alleviate the dangers.Regardless of what social media people use, one thing is certain: we are in a period of accelerating change. The next decade will be even more amazing and unpredictable than the last. Just as no one could predict what would happen with social media in the last decade, no one can accurately predict where this technology will take us. I am optimistic, however, that a connected humanity will find a way to uplift itself.61. What was the purpose of Facebook when it was first created?A. To help students connect with the outside world.B. To bring university students into closer contact.C. To help students learn to live in a connected era.D. To combine the world into an integral whole.62. What difference does social media make to learning?A. Local knowledge and global knowledge will merge.B. Student will become more curious and ambitious.C. People are able to learn wherever they travel.D. Sources of information are greatly expanded.63. What is the author’s greatest concern with social media technology?A. Individuals and organizations may use it for evil purposes.B. Government will find it hard to protect classified information.C. People may disclose their friends’ information unintentionally.D. People’s attention will be easily distractedfrom their work in hand.64. What do businesses use social media for?A. Creating a good corporate image.B. Conducting large-scale market surveys.C. Anticipating the needs of customers.D. Minimizing possible risks and dangers.65. What does the author think of social media as a whole?A. It will enable human society to advance at a faster pace.B. It will pose a grave threat to our traditional ways of life.C. It is bound to bring about another information revolution.D. It breaks down the final barriers in human communication.61 B 62 D 63 A 64 B 65 A。