2006年12月24日大学英语六级(CET-6)真题试卷(A卷)
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled The Importance of Reading Classics. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below.
1. 阅读经典书籍对人的成长至关重要
2. 现在愿意阅读经典的人却越来越少，原因是…
3. 我们大学生应该怎么做
The Importance of Reading Classics
Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.
For questions 1-4, mark
Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;
N (for NO) if statement contradicts the information given in the passage;
NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.
For questions 5-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
Space Tourism
Make your reservations now. The space tourism industry is officially open for business, and tickets are going for a mere $20 million for a one-week stay in space. Despite reluctance from National Air and Space Administration (NASA)，Russia made American businessman Dennis Tito the world’s first space tourist. Tito flew into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on April 30, 2001. The second space tourist, South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth, took off aboard the Russian Soyuz on April 25, 2002, also bound for the ISS.
Lance Bass of ‘N Sync was supposed to be the third to make the $20 million trip, but he did not join the three-man crew as they blasted off on October 30, 2002, due to lack of payment. Probably the most incredible aspect of this proposed space tour was that NASA approved of it.
These trips are the beginning of what could be a profitable 21st century industry. There are already several space tourism companies planning to build suborbital vehicles and orbital cities within the next two decades. These companies have invested millions, believing that the space tourism industry is on the verge of taking off.
In 1997, NASA published a report concluding that selling trips into space to private citizens could be worth billions of dollars. A Japanese report supports these findings, and projects that space tourism could be a $10 billion per year industry within the next two decades. The only obstacles to opening up space to tourists are the space agencies, who are concerned with safety and the development of a reliable, reusable launch vehicle.
Space Accommodations
Russia’s Mir space station was supposed to be the first destination for space tourists. But in March 2001，the Russian Aerospace Agency brought Mir down into the Pacific Ocean. As it turned out, bringing down Mir only temporarily delayed the first tourist trip into space.
The Mir crash did cancel plans for a new reality-based game show from NBC, which was going to be called Destination Mir. The Survivor-like TV show was scheduled to air in fall 2001, Participants on the show were to go through training at Russia’s cosmonaut (宇航员) training center, Star City. Each week, one of the participants would be eliminated from the show, with the winner receiving a trip to the Mir space station. The Mir crash has ruled out NBC’s space plans for now. NASA is against beginning space tourism until the International Space Station is completed in 2006.
Russia is not alone in its interest in space tourism. There are several projects underway to commercialize space travel. Here are a few of the groups that might take tourists to space:
l Space Island Group is going to build a ring-shaped, rotating “commercial space infrastructure (基础结构)” that will resemble the Discovery spacecraft in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Space Island says it will build its space city out of empty NASA space-shuttle fuel tanks (to start, it should take around 12 or so), and place it about 400 miles above Earth. The space city will rotate once per minute to create a gravitational pull one-third as strong as Earth’s.
l According to their vision statement. Space Adventures plans to “fly tens of thousand of people in space over the next 10-15 years and beyond, around the moon, and back, from spaceports both on Earth and in space, to and from private space stations, and board dozen of different vehicles...”
l Even Hilton Hotels has shown interest in the space tourism industry and possibility of building or co-funding a space hotel. However, the company did say that it believes such a space hotel is 15 to 20 years away.
Initially, space tourism will offer simple accommodations at best. For instance, if the International Space Station is used as a tourist attraction, guests won’t find the luxurious surroundings of a hotel room on Earth. It has been designed for conducting research, not entertainment. However, the first generation of space hotels should offer tourists a much more comfortable experience.
In regard to a concept for a space hotel initially planned by Space Island, such a hotel could offer guests every convenience they might find at a hotel on Earth, and some they might not. The small gravitational pull created by the rotating space city would allow space-tourists and residents to walk around and function facilities would be possible. Additionally, space tourists would even be able to take space walks.
Many of these companies believe that they have to offer an extremely enjoyable experience in order for passengers to pay thousands, if not millions, of dollars to ride into space. So will space create another separation between the haves and have-nots?
The Most Expensive Vacation
Will space be an exotic retreat reserved for only the wealthy? Or will middle-class folks have a chance to take their families to space? Make no mistake about it, going to space will be the most expensive vacation you ever take. Prices right now are in the tens of millions of dollars. Currently, the only vehicles that can take you into space are the space shuttle and the Russian Soyuz, both of which are terribly inefficient. Each spacecraft requires millions of pounds of fuel to take off into space, which makes them expensive to launch. One pound of payload (有效载重) costs about $10,000 to put into Earth’s orbit.
NASA and Lockheed Martin are currently developing a single-stage-to-orbit launch space plane, called the VentureStar, that could be launched for about a tenth of what the space shuttle costs to launch. If the VentureStar takes off, the number of people who could afford to take a trip into space would move into the millions.
In 1998, a joint report from NASA and the Space Transportation Association stated that improvements in technology could push fares for space travel as low as $50,000, and possibly down to $20,000 or $10,000 a decade later. The report concluded that a ticket price of $50,000, there could be 500,000 passengers flying into space each year. While still leaving out many people, these prices would open up space to a tremendous amount of traffic.
Since the beginning of the space race, the general public has said, “Isn’t that great—when do I get to go?” Well, our chance might be closer than ever. Within the next 20 years, space planes could be taking off for the Moon at the same frequency as airplanes flying between New York and Los Angles.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
1. Lance Bass wasn’t able to go on a tour of space because of health problems.
2. Several tourism companies believe space travel is going to be a new profitable industry.
3. The space agencies are reluctant to open up space to tourists.
4. Two Australian billionaires have been placed on the waiting list for entering space as private passengers.
5. The price for the winner in the fall 2001 NBA TV game show would have been ________.
6. Hilton Hotels believes it won’t be long before it is possible to build a ________.
7. In order for space tourists to walk around and function normally, it is necessary for the space city to create a ________.
8. What making going to space the most expensive vacation is the enormous cost involved in ________.
9. Each year 500,000 space tourists could be flying into space if ticket prices could be lowered to ________.
10. Within the next two decades, ________ could be as intercity air travel.
Part III Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A) B) C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
11. A) Dr. Smith’s waiting room isn’t tidy.
B) Dr. Smith enjoys reading magazines.
C) Dr. Smith has left a good impression on her.
D) Dr. Smith may not be a good choice.（）
12. A) The man will rent the apartment when it is available.
B) The man made a bargain with the landlady over the rent.
C) The man insists on having a look at the apartment first.
D) The man is not fully satisfied with the apartment.（）
13. A) Packing up to go abroad.
B) Drawing up a plan for her English course.
C) Brushing up on her English.
D) Applying for a visa to the United Sates.（）
14. A) He is anxious to find a cure for his high blood pressure.
B) He doesn’t think high blood pressure is a problem for him.
C) He was not aware of his illness until diagnosed with it.
D) He did not take the symptoms of his illness seriously.（）
15. A) To investigate the cause of AIDS.
B) To raise money for AIDS patients.
C) To rally support for AIDS victims in Africa.
D) To draw attention to the spread of AIDS in Asia.（）
16. A) It has a very long history.
B) It is a private institution.
C) It was founded by Thomas Jefferson.
D) It stresses the comprehensive study of nature.（）
17. A) They can’t fit into the machine.
B) They have not been delivered yet.
C) They were sent to the wrong address.
D) They were found to be of the wrong type.（）
18. A) The food served in the cafeteria usually lacks variety.
B) The cafeteria sometimes provides rare food for the students.
C) The students find the service in the cafeteria satisfactory.
D) The cafeteria tries hard to cater to the students’ needs.（）
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. A) He picked up some apples in his yard.
B) He cut some branches off the apple tree.
C) He quarreled with his neighbor over the fence.
D) He cleaned up all the garbage in the woman’s yard.（）
20. A) Trim the apple trees in her yard.
B) Pick up the apples that fell in her yard.
C) Take the garbage to the curb for her.
D) Remove the branches from her yard.（）
21. A) File a lawsuit against the man.
B) Ask the man for compensation.
C) Have the man’s apple tree cut down.
D) Throw garbage into the man’s yard.（）
22. A) He was ready to make a concession.
B) He was not intimidated.
C) He was not prepared to go to court.
D) He was a bit concerned.（）
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23. A) Bad weather.
B) Breakdown of the engines.
C) Human error.
D) Failure of the communications system.（）
24. A) Two thousand feet.
B) Twenty thousand feet.
C) Twelve thousand feet.
D) Twenty-two thousand feet.（）
25. A) Accurate communication is of utmost importance.
B) Pilots should be able to speak several foreign languages.
C) Air controllers should keep a close watch on the weather.
D) Cooperation between pilots and air controllers is essential.（）
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 choice marked A) B) C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
Passage One
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. A) His father caught a serious disease.
B) His mother passed away.
C) His mother left him to marry a rich businessman.
D) His father took to drinking.（）
27. A) He disliked being disciplined.
B) He couldn’t pay his gambling debts.
C) He was expelled by the university.
D) He enjoyed working for a magazine.（）
28. A) His poems are heavily influenced by French writers.
B) His stories are mainly set in the State of Virginia.
C) His work difficult to read.
D) Hid language is not refined.（）
29. A) He grieved to death over the loss of his wife.
B) He committed suicide for unknown reasons.
C) He was shot dead at the age of 40.
D) He died of heavy drinking.（）
Passage Two
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
30. A) Women.
B) Manual workers.
C) Prisoners.
D) School age children.（）
31. A) He taught his students how to pronounce the letters first.
B) He matched the letters with the sounds familiar to the learners.
C) He showed the learners how to combine the letters into simple words.
D) He divided the letters into groups according to the way they are written.（）
32. A) It can help people to become literate within a short time.
B) It was originally designed for teaching the English language.
C) It enables the learners to master a language within three months.
D) It is effective in teaching any alphabetical language to Brazilians.（）
Passage Three
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. A) The crop’s blooming period is delayed.
B) The roots of crops are cut off.
C) The topsoil is seriously damaged.
D) The growth of weeds is accelerated.（）
34. A) It’s a new way of applying chemical fertilizer.
B) It’s an improved method of harvesting crops.
C) It’s an creative technique for saving labor.
D) It’s a farming process limiting the use of ploughs.（）
35. A) In areas with few weeds and unwanted plants.
B) In areas with a severs shortage of water.
C) In areas lacking in chemical fertilizer.
D) In areas dependent on imported food.（）
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
Adults are getting smarter about how smart babies are. Not long ago, researchers learned that 4-day-olds could understand (36) ________ and subtraction. Now, British research (37) ________ Graham Schafer has discovered that infants can learn words for uncommon things long before they can speak. He found that 9-month-old infants could be taught, through repeated show-and-tell, to (38) ________ the names of objects that were foreign to them, a result that (39) ________ in some ways the received (40) ________ that, apart from learning to (41) ________ things common to their daily lives, children don’t begin to build vocabulary until well into their second year. “It’s no (42) ________ that children learn words, but the words they tend to know are words linked to (43) ________ situations in the home,” explains Schafer. “(44) ________________________________ with an unfamiliar voice giving instructions in an unfamiliar setting.”
Figuring out how humans acquire language may shed light on why some children learn to read and write later than others, Schafer says, and could lead to better treatments for developmental problems. (45) ________________________________. “Language is a test case for human cognitive development,” says Schafer. But parents eager to teach their infants should take note (46) ________________________________. “This is not about advancing development,” he says. “It’s just about what children can do at an earlier age than what educators have often thought.”
Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2.
Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.
I’ve heard from and talked to many people who described how Mother Nature simplified their lives for them. They’d lost their home and many or all of their possessions through fires, floods, earthquakes, or some other disaster. Losing everything you own under such circumstances can be distressing, but the people I’ve heard from all saw their loss, ultimately as a blessing.
“The fire saved us the agony of deciding what to keep and what to get rid of,” one woman wrote. And once all those things were no longer there, she and her husband saw how they had weighed them down and complicate their lives.
“There was so much stuff we never used and that was just taking up space. We vowed when we started over, we’d replace only what we needed, and this time we’d do it right. We’ve kept our promise: we don’t have much now, but what we have is exactly what we want.”
Though we’ve never had a catastrophic loss such as that, Gibbs and I did have a close call shortly before we decided to simplify. At that time we lived in a fire zone. One night a firestorm rages through and destroyed over six hundred homes in our community. That tragedy gave us the opportunity to look objectively at the goods we’d accumulated.
We saw that there was so much we could get rid of and only never miss, but be better off without. Having almost lost it all, we found it much easier to let go of the things we knew we’d never use again.
Obviously, there’s a tremendous difference between getting rid of possessions and losing them through a natural disaster without having a say in the matter. And this is not to minimize the tragedy and pain such a loss can generate.
But you might think about how you would approach the acquisition process if you had it to do all over again. Look around your home and make a list of what you would replace.
Make another list of things you wouldn’t acquire again no matter what, and in fact would be happy to be rid of.
When you’re ready to start unloading some of your stuff, that list will be a good place to start.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
47. Many people whose possessions were destroyed in natural disasters eventually considered their loss ________.
48. Now that all their possessions were lost in the fire, the woman and her husband felt that their lives had been ________.
49. What do we know about the author’s house from the sentence “Gibbs and did have a close call ...” (Line 1-2, Para. 4)?
50. According to the author, getting rid of possessions and losing them through a natural disaster are vastly ________.
51. What does the author suggest people do with unnecessary things?
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C), and D). 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 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.
In a purely biological sense, fear begins with the body’s system for reacting to things that can harm us—the so-called fight-or-flight response. “An animal that can’t detect danger can’t stay alive,” says Joseph LeDoux. Like animals, humans evolved with an elaborate mechanism for processing information about potential threats. At its core is a cluster of neurons (神经元) deep in the brain known as the amygdale (扁桃核).
LeDoux studies the way animals and humans respond to threats to understand how we form memories of significant events in our lives. The amygdale receives input from many parts of the brain, including regions responsible for retrieving memories. Using this information, the amygdale appraises a situation—I think this charging dog wants to bite me—and triggers a response by radiating nerve signals throughout the body. These signals produce the familiar signs of distress: trembling, perspiration and fast-moving feet, just to name three.
This fear mechanism is critical to the survival of all animals, but no one can say for sure whether beasts other than humans know they’re afraid. That is, as LeDoux says, “if you put that system into a brain that has consciousness, then you get the feeling of fear.”
Humans, says Edward M. Hallowell, have the ability to call up images of bad things that happened in the past and to anticipate future events. Combine these higher thought processes with our hardwired danger-detection systems, and you get a near-universal human phenomenon: worry.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, says Hallowell. “When used properly, worry is an incredible device,” he says. After all, a little healthy worrying is okay if it leads to constructive action—like having a doctor look at that weird spot on your back.
Hallowell insists, though, that there’s a right way to worry. “Never do it alone, get the facts and then make a plan.” He says. Most of us have survived a recession, so we’re familiar with the belt-tightening strategies needed to survive a slump.
Unfortunately, few of us have much experience dealing with the threat of terrorism, so it’s been difficult to get fact about how we should respond. That’s why Hallowell believes it was okay for people to indulge some extreme worries last fall by asking doctors for Cipro (抗炭疽菌的药物) and buying gas masks.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
52. The “so-called fight-or-flight response” (Line 2, Para. 1) refers to “________”.
A) the biological process in which human beings’ sense of self-defense evolves
B) the instinctive fear human beings feel when faced with potential danger
C) the act of evaluating a dangerous situation and making a quick decision
D) the elaborate mechanism in the human brain for retrieving information（B）
53. From the studies conducted by LeDoux we learn that ________.
A) reactions of humans and animals to dangerous situations are often unpredictable
B) memories of significant events enable people to control fear and distress
C) people’s unpleasant memories are derived from their feeling of fear
D) the amygdale plays a vital part in human and animal responses to potential danger（D）
54. From the passage we know that ________.
A) a little worry will do us good if handled properly
B) a little worry will enable us to survive a recession
C) fear strengthens the human desire to survive danger
D) fear helps people to anticipate certain future events（A）
55. Which of the following is the best way to deal with your worries according to Hallowell?
A) Ask for help from the people around you.
B) Use the belt-tightening strategies for survival.
C) Seek professional advice and take action.
D) Understand the situation and be fully prepared.（D）
56. In Hallowell’s view, people’s reaction to the terrorist threat last fall was ________.
A) ridiculous
B) understandable
C) over-cautious
D) sensible（B）
Passage Two
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
Amitai Etzioni is not surprised by the latest headings about scheming corporate crooks (骗子). As a visiting professor at the Harvard Business School in 1989, he ended his work there disgusted with his students’ overwhelming lost for money. “They’re taught that profit is all that matters,” he says. “Many schools don’t even offer ethics (伦理学) courses at all.”
Etzioni expressed his frustration about the interests of his graduate students. “By and large, I clearly had not found a way to help classes full of MBAs see that there is more to life than money, power, fame and self-interest.” He wrote at the time. Today he still takes the blame for not educating these “business-leaders-to-be.” “I really like I failed them,” he says. “If I was a better teacher maybe I could have reached them.”
Etzioni was a respected ethics expert when he arrived at Harvard. He hoped his work at the university would give him insight into how questions of morality could be applied to places where self-interest flourished. What he found wasn’t encouraging. Those would be executives had, says Etzioni, little interest in concepts of ethics and morality in the boardroom—and their professor was met with blank stares when he urged his students to see business in new and different ways.
Etzioni sees the experience at Harvard as an eye-opening one and says there’s much about business schools that he’d like to change. “A lot of the faculty teaching business are bad news themselves,” Etzioni says. From offering classes that teach students how to legally manipulate contracts, to reinforcing the notion of profit over community interests, Etzioni has seen a lot that’s left him shaking his head. And because of what he’s seen taught in business schools, he’s not surprised by the latest rash of corporate scandals. “In many ways things have got a lot worse at business schools, I suspect,” says Etzioni.
Etzioni is still teaching the sociology of right and wrong and still calling for ethical business leadership. “People with poor motives will always exist.” He says. “Sometimes environments constrain those people and sometimes environments give those people opportunity.” Etzioni says the booming economy of the last decade enabled those individuals with poor motives to get rich before getting in trouble. His hope now: that the cries for reform will provide more fertile soil for his long-standing messages about business ethics.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
57. What impressed Amitai Etzioni most about Harvard MBA students?
A) Their keen interest in business courses.
B) Their intense desire for money.
C) Their tactics for making profits.
D) Their potential to become business leaders.（B）
58. Why did Amitai Etzioni say “I really feel like I failed them” (Line 4, Para. 2)?
A) He was unable to alert his students to corporate malpractice.
B) He didn’t teach his students to see business in new and different ways.
C) He could not get his students to understand the importance of ethics in business.
D) He didn’t offer courses that would meet the expectations of the business-leaders-to-be.（C）
59. Most would-be executives at the Harvard Business School believed that ________.
A) questions of morality were of utmost importance in business affairs
B) self-interest should not be the top priority in business dealings
C) new and different principles should be taught at business schools
D) there was no place for ethics and morality in business dealings（D）
60. In Etzioni’s view, the latest rash of corporate scandals could be attributed to ________.
A) the tendency in business schools to stress self-interest over business ethics
B) the executives’ lack of knowledge in legally manipulating contracts
C) the increasingly fierce competition in the modern business world
D) the moral corruption of business school graduates（A）
61. We learn from the last paragraph that ________.
A) the calls for reform will help promote business ethics
B) businessmen with poor motives will gain the upper hand
C) business ethics courses should be taught in all business schools
D) reform in business management contributes to economic growth（A）
Part V Error Correction (15 minutes)
Directions: This part consists of a short passage. In this passage, there are altogether 10 mistakes, one in each numbered line. You may have to change a word, add a word or delete a word. Mark out the mistakes and put the corrections in the blanks provided. If you change a word, cross it out and write the correct word in the corresponding blank. If you add a word, put an insertion mark (∧) in the right place and write the missing word in the blank. If you delete a word, cross it and put a slash (/) in the blank.
注意：此部分试题在答题卡2上；请在答题卡2上作答。
Example:
Television is rapidly becoming the literature of our periods╱. 1. time/times/period
Many of the arguments having╱ used for the study of literature as 2. ______________
a school subject are valid for ∧ study of television. 3. ______the______
The National Endowment for the Arts recently released the results of its “Reading at Risk” survey, which described the movement of the American public away from books and literature and toward television and electronic media. According to the survey, “reading is on the decline on every (62) region, within every ethnic group, and at every educational level.”
The day the NEA report released, the U.S. House, in a tie (63) Vote, upheld the government’s right to obtain bookstore and library records under a provision of the USA Patriot Act. The House proposal would have barred the federal government (64) from demand library records, reading lists, book customer lists and other material in terrorism and intelligence investigations.
These two events are completely unrelated to, yet they (65) echo each other in the message they send about the place of books and reading in American culture. At the heart (66) of the NEA survey is the belief in our democratic System depends on leaders who can think critically, analyze (67) texts and discussing books and literature. At the same time, through a provision of the Patriot Act, the leaders of our country are unconsciously sending the message that reading (68) may be connected to desirable activities that might undermine our system of government rather than helping democracy flourish.
Our culture’s decline in reading begin well before the (69) existence of the Patriot Act. During the 1980s’ culture wars, school systems across the country pulled some books from (70) library shelves because its content was deemed by parents and teachers to be inappropriate. Now what started in schools across the country is playing itself out on a nation stage and (71) is possibly having an impact on the reading habits of the American public.
Part VI Translation (5 minutes)
Directions: Complete the sentences by translating into English the Chinese given in brackets. Please write your translation on Answer Sheet 2.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答，只需写出译文部分。
72. If you had ________ (听从了我的忠告，你就不会陷入麻烦).
73. With tears on her face, the lady ________ (看着她受伤的儿子被送进手术室).
74. After the terrorist attack, tourists ________ (被劝告暂时不要去该国旅游).
75. I prefer to communicate with my customers ________ (通过写电子邮件而不是打电话).
76. ________ (直到截止日他才寄出) his application form.
