2013年12月英语六级模拟试卷

2013年12月英语六级模拟试卷 2013年12月CET6模拟试卷 Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” You can cite examples to illustrate your point. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. Write your essay on Answer Sheet 1. 注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。 Part II Listening Comprehension (30 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 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 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 happened to see Anna fall on her back. B) The serious accident may leave Anna paralyzed. C) The doctor’s therapy has been very successful. D) The injury will confine Anna to bed for quite a while. 2. A) Give his contribution some time later. B) Borrow some money from the woman. C) Buy an expensive gift for Gemma. D) Take up a collection next week. 3. A) Add more fruits and vegetables to her diet. B) Ask Tony to convey thanks to his mother. C) Tell Tony’s mother that she eats no meat. D) Decline the invitation as early as possible. 4. A) She phoned Fred about the book. B) She was late for the appointment. C) She ran into Fred on her way here. D) She often keeps other people waiting. 5. A) Simply raise the issue in their presentation. B) Find more relevant information for their work. C) Put more effort into preparing for the presentation. D) Just make use of whatever information is available. 6. A) He needs a vehicle to be used in harsh weather. B) He has a fairly large collection of quality trucks. C) He has had his truck adapted for cold temperatures. D) He does routine truck maintenance for the woman. 7. A) Visit a different store for a silk or cotton shirt. B) Get a discount on the shirt she is going to buy. C) Look for a shirt of a more suitable color and size. D) Replace the shirt with one of some other material. 8. A) Not many people have read his article. B) He regrets having published the article. C) Most readers do not share his viewpoints. D) The woman is only trying to console him. Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 9. A) To test how responsive dolphins are to various signals. B) To examine how long it takes dolphins to acquire a skill. C) To see if dolphins can learn to communicate with each other. D) To find out if the female dolphin is cleverer than the male one. 10. A) Press the right-hand lever first. C) Raise their heads above the water. B) Produce the appropriate sound. D) Swim straight into the same tank. 11. A) Both dolphins were put in the same tank. B) The male dolphin received more rewards. C) The lever was beyond the dolphins’ reach. D) Only one dolphin was able to see the light. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 12. A) Good or bad, they are there to stay. B) Believe it or not, they have survived. C) Like it or not, you have to use them. D) Gain or lose, they should be modernised. 13. A) The frequent train delays. C) The food sold on the trains. B) The monopoly of British Railways. D) The high train ticket fares. 14. A) Competition from other modes of transport. B) The low efficiency of their operation. C) Constant complaints from passengers. D) The passing of the new transport act. 15. A) They will be de-nationalised. C) They are fast disappearing. B) They lose a lot of money. D) They provide worse service. 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). Answer Sheet 1 with a single Then mark the corresponding letter on line through the centre. 注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。 Passage One Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard. 16. A) Iced coffees sold by some popular chains are contaminated. B) Some iced coffees have as many calories as a hot dinner. C) Some brand-name coffees contain harmful substances. D) Drinking coffee after a meal is more likely to cause obesity. 17. A) Have some fresh fruit. C) Exercise at the gym. B) Take a hot shower. D) Eat a hot dinner. 18. A) They could enjoy a happier family life. B) They could greatly improve their work efficiency. C) Many embarrassing situations could be avoided. D) Many cancer cases could be prevented. Passage Two Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard. 19. A) It has attracted worldwide attention. B) It will change the concept of food. C) It can help solve global food crises. D) It will become popular gradually. 20. A) It comes regularly from its donors. B) It has been drastically cut by NASA. C) It has been increased over the years. D) It is still far from being sufficient. 21. A) They are less healthy than we expected. B) They are not as natural as we believed. C) They are not as expensive as before. D) They are more nutritious and delicious. Passage Three Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 22. A) Writing articles on family violence. B) Hunting news for the daily headlines. C) Reporting criminal offenses in Greenville. D) Covering major events of the day in the city. 23. A) It has fewer violent crimes than big cities. B) It is a much safer place than it used to be. C) Assaults often happen on school campuses. D) Rapes rarely occur in the downtown areas. 24. A) They are very destructive. B) There are a wide range of cases. C) There has been a rise in such crimes. D) They have aroused fear among the residents. 25. A) Offer help to crime victims. B) Work as a newspaper editor. C) Write about something pleasant. D) Do some research on local politics. 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 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. 注意:此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。 George Herbert Mead said that humans are talked into humanity. He meant that we gain personal identity as we communicate with others. In the earliest years of our lives, our parents tell us who we are. ―You’re 26 .‖ ―You’re so strong.‖ We first see ourselves through the eyes of others, so their messages form important 27 of our self-concepts. Later we interact with teachers, friends, 28 partners, and co-workers who communicate their views of us. Thus, how we see ourselves reflects the views of us that others communicate. The 29 connection between identity and communication is dramatically evident in children who 30 human contact. Case studies of children who were isolated from others reveal that they lack a firm self-concept, and their mental and psychological development is severely hindered by lack of language. Communication with others not only affects our sense of identity but also directly influences our physical and emotional 31 . Consistently, research shows that communicating with others promotes health, whereas social isolation 32 stress, disease, and early death. People who lack close friends have greater levels of anxiety and depression than people who are close to others. A group of researchers reviewed 33 studies that traced the relationship between health and interaction with others. The conclusion was that social isolation is 34 as dangerous as high blood pressure, smoking and obesity. Many doctors and researchers believe that loneliness harms the immune system, making us more 35 to a range of minor and major illnesses. 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. Answer Sheet Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on 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. To understand why we should be concerned about how young people read, it helps to know something about the way the ability to read evolved. Unlike the ability to understand and produce spoken language, the ability to read must be painstakingly 36 by each individual. The ―reading circuits‖ we construct in the brain can be 37 or they can be robust, depending on how often and how 38 we use them. Th ers are enjoying the experience the most, the pace of their reading 39 slows. The combination of fast, fluent decoding of words and slow, unhurried progress on the page gives deep readers time to enrich their reading with reflection and analysis. It gives them time to establish an 40 relationship with the author, the two of them 41 in a long and warm conversation like people falling in love. This is not reading as many young people know it. Their reading difference between what literary critic Frank Kermode calls ―carnal (肉体 的) reading‖ and ―spiritual reading.‖ If we allow our offspring to believe carnal reading is all there is — if we don’t open the door to spiritual reading, through an early 42 on discipline and practice — we will have 43 them of an enjoyable experience they would not otherwise encounter. Observing young people’s 44 to digital devices, some progressive educators talk about ―meeting kids where they are,‖ molding instruction around their onscreen habits. This is mistaken. We need, 45 , to show them someplace they’ve never been, a place only deep reading can take them. AB) actually J) notwithstan C) attachment K) petition D) cheated L) rather E) engaged M) scarcely F) feeble N) swayed G) illicit O) vigorously H) insistence S Directions: 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. UN had the foresight to convene a ―world assembly on ageing‖ back in 1982, but that came and went. By 1994 the World Bank had noticed that something big was happening. In a report entitled ―Averting the Old Age Crisis‖, it argued that pension arrangements in most countries were unsustainable. [B] For the next ten years a succession of books, mainly by Ame rm. They had titles like Young vs Old, Gray Dawn and The Coming Generational Storm, and their message was blunt: health-care systems were heading for the rocks, pensioners were taking young people to the cleaners, and soon there would be intergenerational warfare. [C] Since then the debate has become less emotiona wn about the subject. Books, conferences and research papers have multiplied. International organisations such as the OECD and the EU issue regular reports. Population ageing is on every agenda, from G8 economic conferences to NATO summits. The World Economic Forum plans to consider the future of pensions and health care at its prestigious Davos conference early next year. The media, [D] Whether all that attention has translated into sufficient action is another question. Governments in rich countries now accept that their pension and pro mises will soon become unaffordable, and many of them have embarked on reforms, but so far only timidly. That is not surprising: politicians with an eye on the next election will hardly rush to introduce unpopular measures that may not bear fruit for years, perhaps decades. [E] The outline of the changes needed is clear. To avoid fiscal (财政的) meltdown, public pensions and health-care provisi tax es may have to go up. By far the most effective method to restrain pension spending is to give people the opportunity to work longer, because it increases tax revenues and reduces spending on pensions at the same time. It may even keep them alive longer. John Rother, the AARP’s head of policy and strategy, points to studies showing that other things being equal, people who remain at work have lower death rates than their retired peers. [F] Younger people today mostly accept that they will have to work for longer and that their pensions will be less generous. E old er workers are worth holding on to. That may be because they have had plenty of younger ones to choose from, partly thanks to the post-war baby-boom and partly because over the past few decades many more women have entered the labour force, increasing employers’ choice. But the reservoir of women able and willing to take up paid work is running low, and the baby-boomers are going grey. [G]In many countries immigrants have been filling such gaps in the labour force as have already emerged (and remember that the real shortage is still around ten yea rs off). Immigration in the developed world is the highest it has ever been, and it is making a useful difference. In still-fertile America it currently accounts for about 40% of total population growth, and in fast-ageing western Europe for about 90%. [H] On the face of it, it seems the perfect solution. Many developing countries have lots of young wil l boost tax revenues and keep up economic growth. But over the next few decades labour forces in rich countries are set to shrink so much that inflows of immigrants would have to increase enormously to compensate: to at least twice their current size in western Europe’s most youthful countries, and three times in the older ones. Japan would need a large multiple of the few immigrants it has at present. Public opinion polls show that people in most rich countries already think that immigration is too high. Further big increases would be politically unfeasible. [I] To tackle the problem of ageing populations at its root, ―old‖ countries would have to rejuvenate (使年轻) themselves by having more of their own children. A num ber of them have tried, some more successfully than others. But it is not a simple matter of offering financial incentives or providing more child care. Modern urban life in rich countries is not well adapted to large families. Women find it hard to combine family and career. They often compromise by having just one child. [J] And if fertility in ageing countries does not pick up? It will not be the end of the world, at le dif ferent place. Older societies may be less innovative and more strongly disinclined to take risks than younger ones. By 2025 at the latest, about half the voters in America and most of those in western European countries will be over 50—and older people turn out to vote in much greater numbers than younger ones. Academic studies have found no evidence so far that older voters have used their power at the ballot box to push for policies that specifically benefit them, though if in future there are many more of them they might start doing so. [K] Nor is there any sign of the intergenerational warfare predicted in the 1990s. After all, older people themselves mostly have families. In a recent study o gro wn-up children in 11 European countries, Karsten Hank of Mannheim University found that 85% of them lived within 25km of each other and the majority of them were in touch at least once a week. [L] Even so, the shift in the centre of gravity to older age groups is bound to have a profound effect on societies, not just economically a of o ther ways too. Richard Jackson and Neil Howe of America’s CSIS, in a thoughtful book called The Graying of the Great Powers, argue that, among other things, the ageing of the developed countries will have a number of serious security implications. [M] For example, the shortage of young adults is likely to make countries more reluctant to commit the Ame rica will find itself playing an ever-increasing role in the developed world’s defence effort. Because America’s population will still be growing when that of most other developed countries is shrinking, America will be the only developed country that still matters geopolitically (地缘 政治上). Ask me in 2020 ] There is little that can be done to stop population agein [N live with it. But s ieve that given the right policies, the effects, though grave, need not be catastrophic. Most countries have recognised the need to do something and are beginning to act. [O] But even then there is no guarantee that their efforts will work. What is happening now is historically nomics and Demography of Ageing at the University of California, Berkeley, puts it briefly and clearly: ―We don’t really know what population ageing will be like, because nobody has done it yet.‖ 注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。 4 6. Employers should realise it is important to 1. A recent study found that most old people in some European countries had 1. Few governments in rich countries have launc 1. In a report published some 20 1. Countries that have a shortage of young adults wi 1. One-c 1. A series of books, mostly authored by Americans, warned o 1. Compared with younger ones, olde 1. The best solu 1. Immigration as a means to boost the shrinking labour force may m . tion C D questions 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. e Q For most of the 20th century, Asia asked itself wh ly indebted and sluggish (经济滞长的) nations learn from a flourishing Asia? Just a few decades ago, Asia’s two giants were stagnating (停滞不前) under faulty economic ideologies. However, once China began embracing free-mark rms in the 1980s, followed by India in the 1990s, both countries achieved rapid growth. Crucially, as they opened up their markets, they balanced market economy with sensible government direction. As the Indian economist Amartya Sen has wisely said, ―The invisible hand of the market has often relied heavily on the visible hand of government.‖ Contrast this middle path with America and Europe, which have each gone ideologically o easingly clinging to the ideology of uncontrolled free markets and dismissing the role of government—following Ronald Reagan’s idea that ―government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.‖ Of course, when the markets came crashing down in 2007, it was decisive government intervention that saved the day. Despite this fact, many Americans are still strongly opposed to ―big government.‖ If Americans could only free themselves from their antigovernment doctrine, they would be ral measures could put the country back on the right path. A simple consumption tax of, say, 5% would significantly reduce the country’s huge government deficit without damaging productivity. A small gasoline tax would help free America from its dependence on oil imports and create incentives for green energy development. In the same way, a significant reduction of wasteful agricultural subsidies could also lower the deficit. But in order to take advantage of these common-sense solutions, Americans will have to put aside their own attachment to the idea of smaller government and less regulation. American politicians will have to develop the courage to follow what is taught in all American public-policy schools: that there are good taxes and bad taxes. Asian countries have embraced this wisdom, and have built sound long-term fiscal (财政的) policies as a result. Meanwhile, Europe has fallen prey to a different ideological trap: the belief that European governments would always have infinite owing as if there were no tomorrow. Unlike the Americans, who felt that the markets knew best, the Europeans failed to anticipate how the markets would react to their endless borrowing. Today, the European Union is creating a $580 billion fund to ward off sovereign collapse. This will buy the EU time, but it will not solve the bloc’s larger problem. 注意:此部分试 56. What has contributed to the rapid economic growth in China and India? B) Heavy reliance on the hand of government. C) Copying western-style economic behavior. D) Timely reform of government at all levels. What does Ronald Reagan mean by saying ―go A) Government action is key to solving economic problems. B) Many C) Many social ills are caused by wrong government policies. D) Government regulation hinders economic development. 58. What stopped the American economy from collapsing in 2007? A) Cooperation between the government and businesses. B) Self-regulatory repair mechanisms of the free market. C) Effective measures adopted by the government. D) Abandonment of big government by the public. 59. What is the author’s suggestion to the American public in face of the government deficit? A) They give up the idea of smaller government and less regulation. B) They put up with the inevitable sharp increase of different taxes. C) They urge the government to revise its existing public policies. D) They develop green energy to avoid dependence on oil import. 60. What is the problem with the European Union? A) Conservative ideology. C) Lack of resources. B) Excessive borrowing. D) Shrinking market. Passage Two Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage. Picture a typical MBA lecture theatre twenty years ago. In it the majority of students will have conformed to the standard model of the time: male, middle class and Western. Walk into a class today, however, and you’ll get a completely different impression. For a start, you will now see plenty more women—the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, for example, boasts that 40% of its new enrolment is female. You will also see a wide range of ethnic groups and nationals of practically every country. It might be tempting, therefore, to think that the old barriers have been broken down and equal opportunity achieved. But, increasingly, this apparent diversity is becoming a mask for a new type of conformity. Behind the differences in sex, skin tones and mother tongues, there are common attitudes, expectations and ambitions which risk creating a set of clones among the business leaders of the future. Diversity, it seems, has not helped to address fundamental weaknesses in business leadership. So what can be done to create more effective managers of the commercial world? According to Valerie Gauthier, associate dean at HEC Paris, the key lies in the process by which MBA programmes recruit their students. At the moment candidates are selected on a fairly narrow set of criteria such as prior academic and career performance, and analytical and problem solving abilities. This is then coupled to a school’s picture of what a diverse class should look like, with the result that passport, ethnic origin and sex can all become influencing factors. But schools rarely dig down to find out what really makes an applicant succeed, to create a class which also contains diversity of attitude and approach—arguably the only diversity that, in a business context, really matters. Professor Gauthier believes schools should not just be selecting candidates from traditional sectors such as banking, consultancy and industry. They should also be seeking individuals who have backgrounds in areas such as political science, the creative arts, history or philosophy, which will allow them to put business decisions into a wider context. Indeed, there does seem to be a demand for the more rounded leaders such diversity might create. A study by Mannaz, a leadership development company, suggests that, while the bully-boy chief executive of old may not have been eradicated completely, there is a definite shift in emphasis towards less tough styles of management—at least in America and Europe. Perhaps most significant, according to Mannaz, is the increasing interest large companies have in more collaborative management models, such as those prevalent in Scandinavia, which seek to integrate the hard and soft aspects of leadership and encourage delegated responsibility and accountability. 注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。 61. What characterises the business school student population of today? A) Greater diversity. C) Exceptional diligence. B) Intellectual maturity. D) Higher ambition. 62. What is the author’s concern about current business school education? A) It will arouse students’ unrealistic expectations. B) It stresses competition rather than cooperation. C) It focuses on theory rather than on practical skills. D) It will produce business leaders of a uniform style. 63. What aspect of diversity does Valerie Gauthier think is most important? A) Attitude and approach to business. B) Social and professional experience. C) Age and educational background. D) Ethnic origin and gender. 64. What applicants does the author think MBA programmes should consider recruiting? A) Applicants with prior experience in corporate activities. B) Applicants with sound knowledge in math and statistics. C) Applicants from less developed regions and areas. D) Applicants from outside the traditional sectors. 65. What does Mannaz say about the current management style? A) It is eradicating the tough aspects of management. B) It is shifting towards more collaborative models. C) It adopts the bully-boy chief executive model. D) It encourages male and female executives to work side by side. 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. 中国新年是中国最重要的传统节日，在中国也被称为春节。新年的庆祝活动从除夕开始一直延续到元宵节(the Lantern Festival)，即从农历(lunar calendar)最后一个月的最后一天至新年第一个月的第十五天。各地欢度春节的习俗和传统有很大差异，但通常每个家庭都会在除夕夜团聚，一起吃年夜饭。为驱厄运、迎好运，家家户户都会进行大扫除。人们还会在门上粘贴红色的对联(couplets)，对联的主题为健康、发财和好运。其他的活动还有放鞭炮、发红包和探亲访友等。 注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。 Tape Script of Listening Comprehension 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 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 1 with a single line through the centre. 1. W: Did you hear that Anna needs to stay in bed for four weeks? M: Yeah. She injured her spine in a fall. And the doctor told her to lie flat on her back for a month, so it can mend. Q: What can we learn from the conversation? 2. W: We’re taking up a collection to buy a gift for Gemma. She’ll have been with the company 25 years next week. M: Well, count me in, but I’m a bit short on cash now. When do you need it? Q: What is the man going to do? 3. W: Tony’s mother has invited me to dinner. Do you think I should tell her in advance that I’m a vegetarian? M: Of course. I think she’d appreciate it—imagine how you’d both feel if she fixed a turkey dinner or something. Q: What does the man suggest the woman do? 4. W: I hope you’re not too put out with me for the delay. I had to stop by Fred’s home to pick up a book on my way here. M: Well, that’s not a big deal. But you might at least phone if you know you’re going to keep someone waiting. Q: What do we learn about the woman from the conversation? 5. W: I don’t think we have enough information for our presentation. But we have to give it tomorrow. There doesn’t seem to be much we can do about it. M: Yeah. At this point, we’ll have to make do with what we’ve got. Q: What does the man suggest they do? 6. M: This truck looks like what I need, but I’m worried about maintenance. For us, it’ll have to operate for long periods of time in very cold temperatures. W: We have several models that are specially adapted for extreme conditions. Would you like to see them? Q: What do we learn about the man from the conversation? 7. W: I’d like to exchange this shirt. I’ve learned that the person I bought it for is allergic to wool. M: Maybe we can find something in cotton or silk. Please come this way. Q: What does the woman want to do? 8. W: I think your article in the school newspaper is right on target. And your viewpoints have certainly convinced me. M: Thanks. But in view of the general responses, you and I are definitely in the minority. Q: What does the man mean? Conversation One W: One of the most interesting experiments with dolphins must be one done by Dr Jarvis Bastian. What he tried to do was to teach a male dolphin called Buzz and a female called Doris to communicate with each other across a solid barrier. M: So how did he do it exactly? W: Well, first of all he kept the two dolphins together in the same tank and taught them to press levers whenever they saw a light. The levers were fitted to the side of the tank next to each other. If the light flashed on and off several times, the dolphins were supposed to press the left-hand lever followed by the right-hand one. If the light was kept steady, the dolphins were supposed to press the levers in reverse order. Whenever they responded correctly they were rewarded with fish. M: Sounds terribly complicated … W: Well, that was the first stage. In the second stage, Dr Bastian separated the dolphins into two tanks. They could still hear one another but they couldn’t actually see each other. The levers and the light were set up in exactly the same way, except that this time it was only Doris who could see the light indicating which lever to press first. But in order to get their fish both dolphins had to press the levers in the correct order. This meant of course that Doris had to tell Buzz whether it was a flashing light or whether it was a steady light. M: So did it work? W: Well – amazingly enough, the dolphins achieved a 100% success rate … Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 9. What is the purpose of Dr Jarvis Bastian’s experiment? 10. What were the dolphins supposed to do when they saw the steady light? 11. How did the second stage of the experiment differ from the first stage? Conversation Two W: There’s an element there about competition, though, isn’t there? Because British Railways are a nationalised industry, there’s only one railway system in the country. If you don’t like a particular can of baked beans, you can go and buy another, but if you don’t like a particular railway, you can’t go and use another. M: Some people who write to me say this. They say that if you didn’t have a monopoly, you wouldn’t be able to do the things you do. Well, I don’t think we do anything deliberately to upset our customers. We have particular problems. Since 1946 when the Transport Act came in, we were nationalised. W: Do you think that’s a good thing? Has it been a good thing for the railways, do you think, to be nationalised? M: Oh, I think so, yes. Because in general, modes of transport are all around, let’s face the fact. The car arrived, the car is here to stay. There’s no question about that. W: So what you’re saying then is that if the railways hadn’t been nationalised, they would simply have disappeared. M: Oh, I think they would have. They’re disappearing fast in America. Er, the French railways lose ?1 billion a year, the German railways ?2 billion a year. But you see, those governments are prepared to pour money into the transport system to keep it going. W: So in a sense you’re caught between two extremes, on the one hand you’re trying not to lose too much money, and on the other hand you’ve got to provide the best service. M: Yes, you’re right. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 12. What does the woman say about British Railways? 13. What do some people who write to the man complain about? 14. What does the man say threatens the existence of railways? 15. What does the man say about railways in other countries? 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 Enjoying an iced coffee? Better skip dinner or hit the gym afterwards, with a cancer charity warning that some iced coffees contain as many calories as a hot dinner. The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) conducted a survey of iced coffees sold by some popular chains in Britain including Starbucks, Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee to gauge the calories as studies increasingly link obesity with cancer. The worst offender — a coffee from Starbucks — had 561 calories. Other iced coffees contained more than 450 calories and the majority had in excess of 200. Health experts advise that the average woman should consume about 2,000 calories a day and a man about 2,500 calories to maintain a healthy weight. Dieters aim for 1,000 to 1,500 calories a day. ―The fact that there is an iced coffee on the market with over a quarter of a woman’s daily calories allowance is alarming,‖ Dr. Rachel Thompson, science program manager at London-based WCRF, said in a widely-reported statement. ―This is the amount of calories you might expect to have in an evening meal, not in a drink.‖ The WCRF has estimated that 19,000 cancers a year in Britain could be prevented if people lost their excess weight, with growing evidence that excess body fat increases the risk of various cancers. ―If you are having these types of coffee regularly, then they will increase the chances of you becoming overweight, which in turn increases your risk of developing cancer, as well as other diseases such as heart disease,‖ she added. Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard. 16. What warning did some health experts give? 17. What does the speaker suggest people do after they have an iced coffee? 18. What could British people expect if they maintained a normal body weight according to the WCRF? Passage Two In a small laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Vladimir Mironov has been working for a decade to grow meat. A developmental biologist and tissue engineer, Dr. Mironov is one of only a few scientists worldwide involved in bioengineering ―cultured‖ meat. It’s a product he believes could help solve future global food crises resulting from shrinking amounts of land available for growing meat the old-fashioned way. Growth of cultured meat is also under way in the Netherlands, Mironov told Reuters in an interview, but in the United States, it is science in search of funding and demand. The new National Institute of Food and Agriculture won’t fund it, the National Institutes of Health won’t fund it, and NASA funded it only briefly, Mironov said. ―It’s classic disruptive technology,‖ Mironov said. ―Bringing any new technology on the market, on average, costs $1 billion. We don’t even have $1 million.‖ Director of the Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Center in the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology at the medical university, Mironov now primarily conducts research on tissue engineering, or growing, of human organs. ―There’s an unpleasant factor when people find out meat is grown in a lab. They don’t like to associate technology with food,‖ said Nicholas Genovese, a visiting scholar in cancer cell biology. ―But there’re a lot of products that we eat today that are considered natural that are produced in a similar manner,‖ Genovese said. Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard. 19. What does Dr. Mironov think of bioengineering cultured meat? 20. What does Dr. Mironov say about the funding for their research? 21. What does Nicholas Genovese say about a lot of products we eat today? Passage Three Florence Hayes is a journalist for the Greenville Journal, the daily newspaper in town. Specifically, she covers crime in the Greenville area. This responsibility takes her to many different places every week—the police station, the court and the hospital. Most of the crimes that she writes about fall into two groups: violent crimes and crimes against property. There isn’t much violent crime in a small town like Greenville, or at least not as much as in large urban areas. But assaults often occur on Friday and Saturday nights near the bars downtown. There’re also one or two rapes on campus every semester. Florence is very interested in this type of crime and tries to write a long article about each one. She expects that this will make women more careful when they walk around Greenville alone at night. Fortunately, there’re usually no murders in Greenville. Crimes against property make up most of Ms. Hayes’ reporting. They range from minor cases of deliberate damaging of things to much more serious offenses, such as car accidents involving drunk drivers, or bank robberies. But Florence has to report all of these violations, from the thief who took typewriters from every unlocked room in a dormitory to the thief who stole $1 million worth of artwork from the university museum. Ms. Hayes enjoys working for a newspaper, but she sometimes gets unhappy about all the crimes she has to report. She would prefer to start writing about something more interesting and less unpleasant, such as local news or politics. Maybe next year! Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 22. What is Florence Hayes’ main responsibility as a journalist? 23. What does the speaker say about security in Greenville? 24. What do we learn about crimes against property in the Greenville area? 25. What would Florence Hayes prefer to do? 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 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. George Herbert Mead said that humans are talked into humanity. He meant that we gain personal identity as we communicate with others. In the earliest years of our lives, our parents tell us who we are. ―You’re (26) intelligent.‖ ―You’re so strong.‖ We first see ourselves through the eyes of others, so their messages form important (27) foundations of our self-concepts. Later we interact with teachers, friends, (28) romantic partners, and co-workers who communicate their views of us. Thus, how we see ourselves reflects the views of us that others communicate. The (29) profound connection between identity and communication is dramatically evident in children who (30) are deprived of human contact. Case studies of children who were isolated from others reveal that they lack a firm self-concept, and their mental and psychological development is severely hindered by lack of language. Communication with others not only affects our sense of identity but also directly influences our physical and emotional (31) well-being. Consistently, research shows that communicating with others promotes health, whereas social isolation (32) is linked to stress, disease, and early death. People who lack close friends have greater levels of anxiety and depression than people who are close to others. A group of researchers reviewed (33) scores of studies that traced the relationship between health and interaction with others. The conclusion was that social isolation is (34) statistically as dangerous as high blood pressure, smoking and obesity. Many doctors and researchers believe that loneliness harms the immune system, making us more (35) vulnerable to a range of minor and major illnesses. 参考答案 Part II Listening Comprehension Section A 1. D 2. A 3. C 4. B 5. D 6. A 7. D 8. C 9. C 10. A 11. D 12. C 13. B 14. A 15. B Section B 16. B 17. C 18. D 19. C 20. D 21. B 22. C 23. A 24. B 25. C Section C 26. intelligent 27. foundations 28. romantic 29. profound 30. are deprived of 31. well-being 32. is linked to 33. scores of 34. statistically 35. vulnerable Part III Reading Comprehension Section A 36. A 37. F 38. O 39. B 40. I 41. E 42. H 43. D 44. C 45. L Section B 46. F 47. K 48. D 49. A 50. M 51. I 52. B 53. J 54. E 55. H Section C 56. A 57. D 58. C 59. A 60. B 61. A 62. D 63. A 64. D 65. B Part IV Translation Chinese New Year is the most important traditional Chinese holiday. In China, it is also known as the Spring Festival. New Year celebrations run from Chinese New Year’s Eve, the last day of the last month of the lunar calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month. Customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese New Year vary widely from place to place. However, New Year’s Eve is usually an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly clean the house in order to sweep away ill fortune and to bring in good luck. And doors will be decorated with red couplets with themes of health, wealth and good luck. Other activities include lighting firecrackers, giving money in red envelopes, and visiting relatives and friends.