dalmatian2015年12月英语六级考试真题及答案详解和听力原文第二套

27

）

numbers .

Nor

is

it

damage

that

can

somehow

be

remedied

or

for

which

some

substitute

can

be

found.

Nor

is

it

something

that

simply

affects

our

own

generation. Nor is it something that could be remedied by some supernatural power. It is rather an

（

28

）< /p>

and final act for

which

there

is

no

remedy

on

earth

or

in

heaven.

A species

once

extinct

is

gone

forever.

However

many

generations

（

29)us in coming centuries, none of them will ever see this species that we extinguish. Not only are we bringing about

the extinction of life

（

30

）

, we are also making the land and the air and the sea so toxic that the very conditions of life are

being destroyed.

（

31

）

basic natural resources, not only are the nonrenewable resources being

32

）

in a frenzy (

疯狂

) of

processing, consuming, and

（< /p>

33

）

, but we are also mining much of our renewable resources, such as the very soil itself on

which terrestrial (

地球上的

) life depends.

The change that is taking place on the earth and in our minds is one of the greatest changes ever to take place in

human affairs, perhaps the greatest, since what we are talking about is not simply another historical change or cultural

（< /p>

34

）

, but a change of geological and biological as well as psychological order of

（

35).

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.

It seems to be a law in the technology industry that leading companies eventually lose their positions, often quickly

and brutally. Mobile phone champion Nokia, one of Europe's biggest technology success stories, was n o

（

36

）

, losing its

market share in just a few years.

In 2007, Nokia accounted for more than 40% of mobile phone sales

（

37

）

< br>But consumers'

preferences were alre ady

（

38

）

toward touch-screen smart phones. With the introduction of Apple's phone in the middle of

that year, Nokia's market share

< br>（

39

）

rapidly and revenue plunged. By the end of 2013, Nokia had sold its phone business to

Microsoft.

What sealed Nokia's fate was a series of decisions made by Stephen Elop in his position as CEO, which he

40

）

in

October 2010. Each day that Elop spent in charge of Nokia, the company's market value declined by $$ 23 million, making

him, by the numbers, one of the worst CEOs in history. But Elop was not the only person at

（

41

）

Nokia's board resisted

change, making it impossible for the company to adapt to rapid shifts in the industry. Most

（

42

）

, Jorma Ollila, who had led

Nokia's transition from an industrial company to a technology giant, was too fascinated by the company's

（

43

）

success to

recognize the change that was needed to sustain its competitiveness. The company also embarked on a

（

44

）

cost- cutting

program, which included the elimination of thousands of jobs. This contributed to the(45) of the company

’

s once-spirited

had motivated employees to take risks and make miracles. Good leaders left the company, taking Nokia's

sense of vision and directions with them. Not surprisingly, much of Nokia's most valuable design and programming talent

left as well.

A. assumed

D. deterioration

G. incidentally

J. relayed

M. subtle

B. bias

E. exception

H. notably

K. shifting

N. transmitting

C. desperate

F. fault

I. previous

L. shrank

O. worldwide

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.

First- Generation College-Goers: Unprepared and Behind Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of

higher education come on campus with little academic know

—

how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out

before graduation.

[

A]

When

Nijay

Williams

entered

college

last

fall

as

a

first

—

generation

student

and

Jamaican

immigrant,

he

was

academically

unprepared

for

the

rigors

of

higher

education.

Like

many

first

—

generation

students,

he

enrolled

in

a

medium-sized state university many of his high school peers were also attending, received a Pell Grant, and took out some

small federal loans to cover other costs.

Given the high price of room and board and the closeness of the school to his family, he chose to live at home and worked

between 30 and 40 hours a week while taking a full class schedule.

[ B] What Nijay didn't realize about his school

—

Tennessee State University

—

was its frighteningly low graduation rate:

a mere 29 percent for its first-generation students. At the end of his first year, Nijay lost his Pell Grant of over $$ 5,000 after

narrowly missing the 2.0 GPA cut-off, making it impossible for him to continue paying for school.

[ C ]Nijay represents a large and growing group of Americans: first

—

generation college students who enter school

unprepared or behind. To make matters worse, these schools are ill-equipped to graduate these students

—

young adults

who face specific challenges and obstacles. They typically carry financial burdens that outweigh those of their peers, are

more likely to work while attending school, and often require significant academic remediation (

补习

).

[

D

]

Matt

Rubinoff

directs

I'm

First,

a

nonprofit

organization

launched

last

October

to

reach

out

to

this

specific

population

of

students.

He

hopes

to

distribute

this

information

and

help

prospective

college-goers

fad

the

best

post- secondary fit. And while Rubinoff believes there are a good number of four

—

year schools that truly care about these

students and set aside significant resources and programs for them, he says that number isn't high enough.

[

E

]

not

only

the

selective

and

elite

institutions

that

provide

those

opportunities

for

a

small

subset

of

this

population,

programs, two

—

year colleges, and commuter state schools.

[ F] Despite this problem, many students are still drawn to these institutions--and two-year schools in particular. As a

former

high

school

teacher,

I

saw

students

choose

familiar,

cheaper

options

year

after

year.

Instead

of

skipping

out

on

higher education altogether, they chose community colleges or state schools with low bars for admittance.

[ G]

Track, a for

—

profit organization that specializes in coaching low-income students and supporting colleges in order to help

students

thrive.

reality

of

it

is

that

a

lot

of

low-income

kids

could

be

going

to

elite

universities

on

a

full

ride

scholarship and don't even realize it.

[

H]

students

are

coming

from

a

situation

where

no

one

around

them

has

the

experience

of

successfully

completing higher education, so they are coming in questioning themselves and their college worthiness,

That helps explain why, as I'm First's Rubinoff indicated, the schools to which these students end up resorting can end up

being

some

of

the

poorest matches

for

them.

The

University

of

Tennessee

in

Knoxville

offers

one

example

of

this

dilemma. A flagship university in the South, the school graduates just 16 percent of its first

—

generation students, despite

its overall graduation rate of 71 percent. Located only a few hours apart, The University of Tennessee and Tennessee State

are

worth

comparing.

Tennessee

State's

overall

graduation

rate

is

a

tiny

39

percent,

but

at

least

it

has

a

smaller

gap

between the outcomes for first

—

generation students and those of their peers.

[ I] Still, the University of Tennessee deserves credit for being transparent. Many large institutions keep this kind of

data

secret

—

or

at

least

make

it

incredibly

difficult

to

find

The

University

of

North Carolina

at Chapel

Hill,

for

instance,

admits only that the graduation rate for its first

—

generation pupils is

who graduate within four years (81 percent).

[ J] It is actually quite difficult to freed reliable statistics on the issue for many schools. Higher education institutions

are, under federal law, required to report graduation rates, but these reports typically only include Pell recipient numbers

—

not necessarily rates specific to first

—

generation students. Other initiatives fail to break down the data, too. Imagine

how intimidating it can be for prospective students unfamiliar with the complexities of higher education to navigate this

kind of information and then identify which schools are the best fit.

[ K] It was this lack of information that prompted the launch of I'm First in 2013, originally as an ann. of its umbrella

organization, the Center For Student Opportunity.

and help students to understand them to be realistic and accessible places, have them apply to these schools at greater

frequency and ultimately get in and enroll, we are going to raise the success rate,

ranging from large state institutions to smaller private schools.

[

L]

Chelsea

Jones,

who

now

directs

student

programming

at

I'm

First,

was

a

first

—

generation

college

student

at

Howard. Like other student new to the intimidating higher

—

education world, she often struggled on her path to college,

—

bound culture at my high school,

know the process.

—

access program through Princeton University in high school.

Now, she attributes

much of her understanding of college to that:

one really prepared me for.

[ M] She was fortunate, though. Howard, a well

—

regarded historically black college, had an array of resources for its

first

—

generation

students,

including

matching

kids

with

counselors,

commenting

first

—

generation

students

to

one

another, and TRIO, a national program that supported 200 students on Howard's campus. Still, Jones represents a small

percentage of first- generation students who are able to gain entry into more elite universities, which are often known for

robust financial aid packages and remarkably high graduation rates for first

—

generation students.(Harvard, for

example, boasts a six

—

year graduation rate for underrepresented minority groups of 98 percent. )

[ N]Christian Vazquez, a first

—

generation Yale graduate, is another exception, his success story setting him far apart

from students such as Nijay.

said,

half

—

joking

about

the

countless

resources

available

at

the

school.

Students

are

placed

in

small

groups

with

counselors ( trained seniors on campus) ;they have access to cultural and ethnic affinity (

联系

) groups, tutoring centers

and also have a

summer orientation specifically for first

—

generation students ( the latter being one of the most common programs for

students).

[ O]

hinting at mentors (

导师

), staff, and professors who all provided significant support for students who lacked confidence

about

46. Many first

—

generation college

—

goers have doubts about their abilities to get a college degree.

47. First

—

generation college students tend to have much heavier financial burdens than their peers.

48. The graduation rate of first

—

generation students at Nijay's university was incredibly low.

49. Some top institutions like Yale seem to provide first

—

generation students with more support than they actually

need.

50. On entering college, Nijay Williams had no idea how challenging college education was.

51. Many universities simply refuse to release their exact graduation rates for first-generation students.

52.

According

to

a

marketing

executive,

many

students

from

low-income

families

don't

know

they

could

have

a

chance of going to an elite university.

53. Some elite universities attach great importance to building up the first

—

generation students' serf

—

confidence.

54. I'm First distributes information to help first-generation college-goers find schools that are most suitable for them.

55. Elite universities tend to graduate fan’s

-generation students at a higher rate.

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.

Saying they can no longer ignore the rising prices of health care, some of the most influential medical groups in the

nation are recommending that doctors weigh the costs, not just the effectiveness of treatments, as they make decisions

about patient care. The shift, little noticed outside the medical establishment but already controversial inside it, suggests

that

doctors

are

starting

to

redefine

their

roles,

from

being

concerned

exclusively

about

individual

patients

to

exerting

influence

on

how

healthcare

dollars

are

spent.

In

practical

terms,

the

new

guidelines

being

developed

could

result

in

doctors choosing one drug over another for cost

reasons or even deciding that a particular treatment

—

at the end of

life, for example

—

is too expensive. In the extreme, some critics have said that making treatment decisions based on cost is

a

form

of

rationing.

Traditionally,

guidelines

have

heavily

influenced

the

practice

of

medicine,

and

the

latest

ones

are

expected

to

make

doctors

more

conscious

of

the

economic

consequences

of

their

decisions,

even

though

there's

no

obligation

to

follow

them.

Medical

society

guidelines

are

also

used

by

insurancecomoanies

to

help

determine

reimbursement (

报销

) policies. Some doctors see a potential conflict in trying to be both providers of patient care and

facial.

Overseers.

should

be

forces

in

society

who

should

be

concerned

about

the

budget,

but

they

shouldn't

be

functioning simultaneously as doctors,

of patients if they told patients,

budget in Massachusetts.

—

offs. Studies have shown, for example, that two drugs are

about equally effective in treating macular degeneration, and eye disease. But one costs $$ 50 a dose and the other close to

$$ 2,000. Medicare could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year if everyone used the cheaper drug, Avastin, instead of

the costlier one, Lucentis. But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved Avastin for use in the eye. and using it

rather

than

the

alternative,

Lucentis,

might

carry

an

additional,

although

slight,

safety

risk.

Should

doctors

consider

Medicare's budget in deciding what to use?

在道德层面上

) we are just worried about the patient in front

of us and not trying to save money for the insurance industry or society as a whole,

analysts say that there's a role for doctors to play in cost analysis because not many others are doing so.

said Dr. Daniel Sulmasy,

56. What do some most influential medical groups recommend doctors do?

A. Reflect on the responsibilities they are supposed to take.

B. Pay more attention to the effectiveness of their treatments.

C. Take costs into account when making treatment decisions.

D. Readjust their practice in view of the cuts in health care.

57. What were doctors mainly concerned about in the past?

A. Specific medicines to be used.

C. Professional advancement.

B. Effects of medical treatment.

D. Patients' trust.

58. What may the new guidelines being developed lead to?

A. The redefining of doctors' roles.

C. Conflicts between doctors and patients.

B. Overuse of less effective medicines.

D. The prolonging of patients' suffering.

59. What risk do doctors see in their dual role as patient care providers and financial overseers?

A. They may be involved in a conflict of interest.

C. They may have to use less effective drugs.

B. They may be forced to divide their attention.

D. They may lose the respect of patients.

60. What do some experts say about doctors' involvement in medical cost analysis?

A. It may add to doctors' already heavy workloads.

B. It will help to save money for society as a whole.

C. It results from society's failure to tackle the problem.

D. It raises doctors' awareness of their social responsibilities.

Passage Two

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

Economic inequality is the

to the Center for American Progress. Inequality is dangerous, he argued, not merely because it doesn't look good to have a

large gap between the rich and the poor, but because inequality itself destroys upward mobility, making it harder for the

poor to escape from poverty.

Dream,

threat to reducing poverty in

America. A number of prominent economists have also argued that it's harder for the

poor to climb the economic ladder today because the rungs (

横档

) in that ladder have grown farther apart.

For all the new attention devoted to the 1 percent, a new dam set from the Equality of Opportunity Project at Harvard

and Berkeley suggests that, if we care about upward mobility overall, we're vastly exaggerating the dangers of the rich

—

poor gap. Inequality itself is not a particularly strong predictor of economic mobility, as sociologist Scott Winship noted in a

recent article based on his analysis of this data. So what factors, at the community level, do predict if poor children will

move up the economic ladder as adtdts? what explains, for instance, why the Salt Lake City metro area is one of the 100

largest metropolitan areas most likely to lift the fortunes of the poor and the Atlanta metro area is one of the least likely?

Harvard

economist

Raj

Cherty

has

pointed

to

economic

and

racial

segregation,

community

density,

the

size

of

a

community's middle class, the quality of schools, commitments religiosity, and family structure, which he calls the

strongest correlate of upward mobility.

families and religiosity, are much more likely to see poor children get ahead than communities like Atlanta, with high levels

of racial and economic segregation. Chetty has not yet issued a comprehensive analysis of the relative predictive power of

each of these factors. Based on my analyses of the data. of the factors that Chetty has highlighted, the following three

seem to be most predictive of upward mobility in a given community.

1. Per- capita (

人均

) income growth

2. Prevalence of single mothers ( where correlation is strong, but negative)

3. Per-capita local government spending In other words, communities with high levels of per-capita income growth,

high percentages of two- parent families, and high local government spending-which may stand for good schools-are the

most likely to help poor children relive Horatio Alger's rags-to-riches story.

61. How does Obama view economic inequality?

A. It is the biggest obstacle to social mobility.

C. It is the No. 1 enemy of income growth.

B. It is the greatest threat to social stability.

D. It is the most malicious social evil of our time.

62. What do we learn about the inequality gap from Scott Winship's data analysis?

A. It is fast widening across most parts of America.

C. It is not correctly interpreted.

B. It is not a reliable indicator of economic mobility.

D. It is overwhelmingly ignored.

63. Compared with Atlanta, metropolitan Salt Lake City is said to

A. have placed religious beliefs above party politics.

B. have bridged the gap between the rich and the poor.

C. offer poor children more chances to climb the social ladder.

D. suffer from higher levels of racial and economic segregation.

64. What is strongly correlated with social mobility according to economist Raj Cherty?

A. Family structure.

B. Racial equality.

C. School education.

D. Community density.

65. What does the author seem to suggest?

A. It is important to increase the size of the middle class.

B. It is highly important to expand the metropolitan areas.

C. It is most imperative to focus our efforts on the elimination of income inequality.

D. It is better to start from the community to help poor children move up the social ladder.

Part

Ⅳ

Translation (30 minutes)

Directions:

For

this

part,

you

are

allowed

30

minutes

to

translate

a

passage

from Chinese

into

English.

You

should

write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

在中国，父母总是竭力帮助孩子，甚至为孩子做重要决定，而不管孩子想要什么，因为他们相信这样做是为孩< /p>

子好。结果，孩子的成长和教育往往屈从于父母的意愿如果父母决定为孩子报名参加一个课 外班，以增加其被重点

学校录取的机会，他们会坚持自己的决定。即使孩子根本不感兴趣 。

然而 在美国，父母很可能会尊重孩子的意见，并在决策时更注重他们的意见。中国父母十分重视教育或许值得