2012年6月大学英语六级阅读真题及答案

2012

年

6

月大学英语六级阅读真题及答

案

2012

年

6

月大学英语六级阅读真题及答案

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

the

statements

in

the

fewest

possible

words.

Please

write

your

answers on Answer Sheet 2

1

Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.

In face of global warming, much effort has been focused

on

reducing

greenhouse

gas

emissions

through

a

variety

of

strategies. But while much of the research and innovation has

concentrated on finding

less-polluting

energy alternatives, it

may be decades before clean technologies like wind and solar

meet a significant portion of our energy needs.

In the meantime, the amount of CO2 in the air is rapidly

approaching

the

limits

proposed

by

the

Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“

As long as we

’

re consuming

fossil

fuels,

we

’

re

putting

out

CO2,

”

says

Klaus

Lackner,

a

geophysicist at Columbia, University

”

We cannot let the CO2

in the atmosphere rise indefinitely.

”

That sense of urgency has increased interest in capturing

and storing CO2, which the IPCC says could provide the more

than

50%

reduction

in

emissions

thought

needed

to

reduce

2

global warming.

“

We see the potential for capture and storage

to

play

an

integral

role

in

reducing

emissions,

”

says

Kim

Corley, Shell

’

s senior advisor of CO2 and environmental affairs.

That

forward

thinking

strategy

is

gaining

support.

The

U.S.

Department

of

Energy

recently

proposed

putting

$$1

billion

into a new $$2.4 billion coal-burning energy plant. The plant

’

s

carbon- capture technologies would serve as a pilot project for

other new coal-burning plants.

But what do you do with the gas once you

’

ve captured it?

One

option

is

to

put

it

to

new

uses.

Dakota

Gasification

of

North Dakota captures CO2 at a plant that converts coal into

synthetic

natural

gas.

It

then

ships

the

gas

200

miles

by

pipeline

to

Canada,

where

it

is

pumped

underground

in

oil

recovery operations. In the Netherlands, Shell delivers CO2 to

farmers

who

pipe

it

into

their

greenhouses,

increasing

their

yield of fruits and vegetables.

However,

scientists

say

that

the

scale

of

CO2

emissions

will require vast amounts of long-term storage. Some propose

3

storing the CO2 in coal mines or liquid storage in the ocean,

Shell favors storing CO2 in deep geological structures such as

saline(

盐的

) formations and exhausted oil and gas fields that

exist throughout the world.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡

2

上作答。

47. What are suggested as renewable and less-polluting

energy alternatives?

48.

What

does

the

author

say

is

a

forward

thinking

strategy concerning the reduction of CO2 emissions?

49. One way of handing the captured CO2 as suggested

by the author is to store it and .

50.

Through

using

CO2,

Dutch

farmers

have

been

able

4

to .

51. Long-term storage of CO2 is no easy job because of .

参考答案

Section A

ing and storing CO2

或者

capture and storage of

CO2

48. capture and storage

49. put it to new use

5

50. increase their yield of fruits and vegetables

51. the scale of CO2 emissions

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.

6

As anyone who has tried to lose weight knows, realistic

goal-setting

generally

produces

the

best

results.

That's

partially

because

it

appears

people

who

set

realistic

goals

actually

work

more

efficiently,

and

exert

more

effort,

to

achieve those goals.

What's far less understood by scientists, however, are the

potentially harmful effects of goal- setting.

Newspapers

relay

daily

accounts

of

goal-setting

prevalent in industries and businesses up and down both Wall

Street and Main Street , yet there has been surprisingly little

research on how the long-trumpeted practice of setting goals

may

have

contributed

to

the

current

economic

crisis

,

and

unethical (

不道德的

)behavior in general.

“

Goals

are

widely

used

and

promoted as having

really

beneficial effects. And yet, the same motivation that can push

7

people to exert more effort in a constructive way could also

motivate

people

to

be

more

likely

to

engage

in

unethical

behaviors,

”

says Maurice Schweitzer, an associate professor at

Penn

’

sWhartonSchool.

“

It turns out there

’

s no economic benefit to just having

a goal---you just get a psychological benefit

”

Schweitzer says.

“

But in many cases, goals have economic rewards that make

them more powerful.

”

A prime example Schweitzer and his colleagues cite is the

2004 collapse of energy-trading giant Enron, where managers

used

financial

incentives

to

motivate

salesmen

to

meet

specific

revenue

goals.

The

problem,

Schweitzer

says,

is

the

actual trades were not profitable.

Other studies have shown that saddling employees with

unrealistic goals can compel them to lie, cheat or steal. Such

was the case in the early 1990s when Sears imposed a sales

8

quota

on

its

auto

repair

staff.

It

prompted

employees

to

overcharge for work and to complete unnecessary repairs on a

companywide basis.

Schweitzer concedes his research runs counter to a very

large body of literature that commends the many benefits of

goal-setting. Advocates of the practice have taken issue with

his team

’

s use of such evidence as news accounts to support

his conclusion that goal-setting is widely over-prescribed

In

a

rebuttal

(

反

驳

)

paper,

Dr.

Edwin

Locke

writes:

“

Goal- setting is not going away. Organizations cannot thrive

without being focused on their desired end results any more

than an individual can thrive without goals to provide a sense

of purpose.

”

But

Schweitzer

contends

the

“

mounting

causal

evidence

”

linking goal-setting and harmful behavior should

be

studied

to

help

spotlight

issues

that

merit

caution

and

9

further investigation.

“

Even a few negative effects could be so

large that they outweigh many positive effects,

”

he says.

“

Goal-setting

does

help

coordinate

and

motivate

people.

My

idea

would

be

to

combine

that

with

careful

oversight, a strong organizational culture, and make sure the

goals

that

you

use

are

going

to

be

constructive

and

not

significantly harm the organization,

”

Schweitzer says.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡

2

上作答。

52. What message does the author try to convey about

goal-setting?

A) Its negative effects have long been neglected.

B) The goal increase people

’

s work efficiency.

10

C) Its role has been largely underestimated.

D) The goals most people set are unrealistic.

53.

What

does

Maurice

Schweitzer

want

to

show

by

citing the example of Enron?

A) Setting realistic goals can turn a failing business into

success.

B)

Businesses

are

less

likely

to

succeed

without

setting

realistic goals.

C)

Financial

incentives

ensure

companies

meet

specific

11

revenue goals.

D) Goals with financial rewards have strong motivational

power.

54. How did Sears

’

goal- setting affect its employees?

A)

They

were

obliged

to

work

more

hours

to

increase

their sales.

B)

They

competed

with

one

another

to

attract

more

customers.

C) They resorted to unethical practice to meet their sales

quota.

12