2015年12月英语六级真题卷第一套(含答案)

2015

年

12

月英语六级真题卷第

一套

(

含答案

)

2015

年

12

月份真题（第一套）

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Part I Writing

Direction: For this part, you are

allowed 30 minutes to write a short eaasy

based

on

the

picture

below.

You

should

focus

on the difficulty in acquiring useful

information in spite of advanced

information

technology.

You

are

required

to

write

at

least

150

words

but

no

more

than

200

words.

have

lots

of

information

technology.

We

just

don't

have

much

useful

infor mation.

Part

Ⅲ

Reading Comprehension

Section A

As it is, sleep is so undervalued that

getting

by

on

fewer

hours

has

become

a

badge

of honor. Plus, we live in a culture

that_____(37)to the late-nighter, from

24-hour grocery stores to online shopping

sites that never close. It's no surprise,

then,

that

more

than

half

of

American

adults

don't

get

the

7

to

9

hours

of

shut-eye

every

night as_____(38)by sleep experts.

Whether or not we can catch up on

sleep-on the weekend, say-is a

hotly_____(39)topic

among

sleep

researches.

The latest evidence suggests that while it

isn't_____(40),

it

might

help.

When

Liu,

the

UCLA sleep researcher and professor of

medicine,

brought_____(41)sleep-restricted people

into the lab for a weekend of sleep during

which

they

logged

about

10

hours

per

night,

they showed_____(42)in the ability of

insulin(

胰岛素

)to

process

blood

sugar.

That

suggests that catchup sleep may undo some

but not all of the damage that

sleep_____(43)causes,

which

is

encouraging

given how many adults don't get the hours

they need each night. Still, Liu

isn't_____(44)to endorse the habit of

sleeping less and making up for it later.

Sleeping

pills,

while

helpful

for

some,

are

not_____(45)an

effective

remedy

either.

“

A sleeping pill will_____(46)one area of

the brain, but there's never going to be a

perfect

sleeping

pill,

because

you

couldn't

really replicates(

复制

)the different

chemicals moving in and out of different

parts of the brain to go through the

different stages of sleep,

Collop, director of the Emory University

Sleep Center.

atively

cally

d

ation

ements

arily

ated

ption

ended

ses

Section B

Climate change may be real, but it's

still not easy being green.

[A]The road to climate hell is paved

with our good intentions. Politicians may

tackle

polluters

while

scientists

do

battle

with carbon emissions. But the most

pervasive problem is less obvious: our own

behavior. We get distracted before we can

turn

down

the

heating.

We

break

our

promise

not

to

fly

after

hearing

about

a

neighbour's

trip to India. Ultimately, we can't be

bothered to change our attitude.

Fortunately for the planet, social science

and

behavioural

economics

may

be

able

to

do

that for us.

[B]Despite mournful polar bears and

charts showing carbon emissions soaring,

most people find it hard to believe that

global

warming

will

affect

them

personally.

Recent polls by the Pew Research Centre in

Washington,

DC,

found

that

75-80

per

cent

of

participants regarded climate change as an

important issue. But respondents ranked it

last on a list of priorities.

[C]This inconsistency largely stems

from a feeling of powerlessness.

can't

actually

remove

the

source

of

our

fear,

we

tend

to

adapt

psychologically

by

adopting

a range of defence mechanisms,

Crompton, change strategist for the

environmental organization Word Wide Fund

for Nature.

[D]Part

of

the

fault

lies

with

our

inner

caveman.

Evolution

has

programmed

humans

to

pay

most

attention

to

issues

that

will

have

an immediate impact.

now

because

if

we

don't

survive

for

the

next

minute, we're not going to be around in ten

years' time,

the Centre for Research on Environmental

Decision

at

Columbia

University

in

New

York.

If

the

Thames

for

Research

on

Environmental

Decision

at

Columbia

University

in

New

York.

If the Thams were lapping around Big Ben,

Londoners wound face up to the problem of

emissions pretty quickly. But in practice,

our brain discounts the risks-and

benefits- associated with issues that lie

some way ahead.

[E]Matthew

Rushworth,

of

the

Department

of Experimental Psychology at the

University of Oxford, sees this in his lab

every day.

agents seem to make decisions is that they

assign a lower weighting to outcomes that

are

going

to

be

further

away

in

the

future,

he

says.

is

a

very

sensible

way

for

an

animal to make decisions in the wild and

would

have

been

very

helpful

for

humans

for

thousands of years.

[F] Not any longer. By the time we wake

up to the threat posed by climate changes,

it could well be too late. And it we're not

going to make rational decisions about the

future,

others

may

have

to

help

us

to

do

so.

[G]

Few

political

libraries

are

without

a copy of Nudge: Improving Decisions About

Health. Wealth and Happiness, by Richard

Thaler and Cass Sunstein. They argue that

governments should persuade us into making

better

decisions-such

as

saving

more

in

our

pension plans-by changing the default

options. Professor Weber believes that

environmental

policy

can

make

use

of

similar

tactics. If, for example, building codes

included green construction guidelines,

most

developers

would

too

lazy

to

challenge

them.

[H] Defaults are certainly part of the

solution. But social scientists are most

concerned about crafting messages that

exploit

our

group

mentality(

心态

).

need

to

understand

what

motivates

people,

what

it

is that allows them to make change.

Professor

Neil

Adger,

of

the

Tyndall

Centre

for

Climate

Change

Research

in

Norwich.

is

actually

about

what

their

peers

think

of

them, what their social norms are, what is

seen as desirable in society.

words, our inner caveman is continually

looking over his shoulder to see what the

rest of the tribe are up to.

[I] The passive attitude we have to

climate

change

as

individuals

can

be

altered

by continuing us in-and measuring us

against-our peer group.

primitive and elemental,

Cialdini, author of Influence: The

Psychology of Persuasion.

together,

fish

school

together,

cattle

herd

together

……

just perceiving norms is

enough to cause people to adjust their

behavior in the direction of the crowd.

[J] These norms

can

take

us

beyond

good

intensions.

Caldini

conducted

a

study

in

San

Diego

in

which

coat

hangers

bearing

messages

about saving energy were hung on people's

doors. Some of the messages mentioned the

environment,

some

financial

savings,

others

social responsibility. But it was the ones

that mentioned the actions of neighbours

that drove down power use.

[K] Other studies show that simply

providing

the

facility

for

people

to

compare

their energy use with the local average is

enough to cause them to modify their

behaviour. The Conservatives plan to adopt

this strategy by making utility companies

print

the

average

local

electricity

and

gas

usage on people's bills.

[L] Social science can also teach

politicians how to avoid our collective

capacity for self-destructive behavior.

Environmental campaigns that tell us how

many people drive SUVs unwittingly(

不经意

地

)imply that this behavior is widespread

and thus permissible. Cialdini recommends

some careful framing of the message.

buys

yet

another

SUV,

it

reduces

our

ability

to be energy- independent.

[M] Tapping into how we already see

ourselves is crucial. The most successful

environmental

strategy

will

marry

the

green

message to our own sense of identify. Take

your

average

trade

union

member,

chances

are

they will be politically motivated and be

used to collective action-much like Erica

Gregory.

A

retired

member

of

the

Public

and

Commercial

Services

Union,

she

is

setting

up

one

of

1,100

action

groups

with

the

support

of Climate Solidarity, a two-year

environmental campaign aimed at trade

unionists.

[N] Erica is proof that a

great-grandmother can help to lead the

revolution if you get the psychology

right-in this case, by matching her

enthusiasm for the environment with a

fondness for organizing groups.

it's a terrific idea,

campaign.

members think there must be something in

it.

She

is

expecting

up

to

20

people

at

the

first meeting she has called, at her local

pub in the Cornish village of Polperro.

[O] Nick Perks, project director for

Climate Solidarity, believes this sort of

activity is where the future of

environmental action lies.

civil society structures or networks is a

more effective way of creating change

……

and obviously trade unions are one of the

biggest civil society networks in the UK,

he says. The

campaign entered into a collaboration last

year with another such network-the Women's

Institute. Londoner Rachel Taylor joined

the campaign with the aim of making new

friends. A year on, the meetings have made

lasting changes to what she throws away in

her kitchen.

incentive if you're doing it with other

people,

she

says.

motivates

you

more

if

you

know

that

you've

got

to

provide

feedback

to a group.

[P]The power of such simple psychology

in fighting climate change is attracting

attention across the political

establishment. In the US, the House of

Representatives Science Committee has

approved a bill allocating $$10 million a

year to studying energy-related behavior.

In

the

UK,

new

studies

are

in

development

and

social scientists are regularly spotted in

British

government

offices.

With

the

help

of

psychologists, there is fresh hope that we

might go green after all.

47. When people find they are powerless to

change a situation, they tend to live with

it.

48.

To

be

effective,

environmental

messages

should be carefully framed.

49.

It

is

the

government's

responsibility

to

persuade people into making

environment-friendly decisions.

50.

Politicians

are

beginning

to

realise

the

importance

of

enlisting

psychologists'

help

in fighting climate change.

51. To find effective solutions to climate

change, it is necessary to understand what

motivates people to make change.

52.

In

their

evolution,

humans

have

learned

to pay attention to the most urgent issues

instead of long- term concerns.

53. One study shows that our neighbours'

actions are influential in changing our

behavior.

54. Despire clear signs of global warming,

it is not easy for most people to believe

climate

change

will

effect

their

own

lives.

55. We should take our future into

consideration in making decisions

concerning climate change before it is too

late.

56. Existing social networks can be more

effective in creating in people's

behaviour.

Section C

Passage One

More than a decade ago, cognitive

scientists John Bransfgord and Daniel

Schwartz, both then at Vanderbilt

University, found that knowledge to a new

situation

but

a

quality

was

not

the

ability

to

retain

facts

or

apply

prior

knowledge

to

a new situation but a quality they called

researches asked fifth graders and college

students to create a recovery plan to

protect bald eagles from extinction.

Shockingly, the two groups came up with

plans of similar quality (through the

college students had better spelling

skills). From the standpoint of a

traditional educator, this outcome

indicated

that

schooling

had

failed

to

help

students think about ecosystems and

extinction, major scientific ideas.

The researches decided to go deeper,

however.

They

asked

both

groups

to

generate

questions about important issues needed to

create recovery plans. On this task, they

found large differences. College students

focused on critical issues of

interdependence

between

eagles(

big

are

they?

and

do

they

eat?

The

college

students had cultivated the ability to ask

questions, the cornerstone of critical

thinking. They had learned how to learn.

Museums and other institutions of

informal learning may be better suited to

teach this skill than elementary and

secondly schools. At the Exploratorium in

San Francisco, we recently studied how

learning to ask good questions can affect

the quality of people's scientific inquiry

We

found

that

when

we

taught

participants

to

ask

if?

and

can?

questions

that

nobody

present

would

know

the

answer

to

and

that would spark exploration, they engaged

in

better

inquiry

at

the

next

exhibit- asking

more

questions,

performing

more

experiments

and making better interpretations of their

results. Specially, their questions became

more comprehensive at the new exhibit.

Rather than merely asking about something

they wanted to try, they tended to include

both cause and effect in their question.

Asking juicy questions appears to be a

transferable skill for deepening

collaborative inquiry into the science

content found in exhibits.

This

type

of

learning

is

not

confined

to

museums

of

institutional

settings.

Informal

learning environment tolerate failure

better than schools. Perhaps many teachers

have too little time to allow students to

form

and

pursue

their

own

questions

and

too

much

ground

to

cover

in

the

curriculum.

But

people must acquire this skill somewhere.

Our

society

depend

on

them

being

able

to

make

critical decisions about their own medical

treatment, says, or what we must do about

global energy needs and demands. For that,

we

have

a

robust

informal

system

that

gives