英语六级考试模拟题及答案
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篇1：英语六级考试模拟题及答案
听材料，回答下列各题：
There is growing dissatisfaction toward rich people, according to a new online poll.
The poll by the China Youth Daily 26_______ sina.com has highlighted the apparent 27_______ over the country's widening income gap.
Nearly 8,000 people filled in online 28_______ last week, and when asked to use three words to describe the society's rich, the top 29_______ were “extravagant”, “greedy” and “corrupt”.
About 57 percent of those 30_______ said that “extravagant” was the best word to describe the rich, followed closely by “greedy”.
31_______ , despite their dissatisfaction, 93 percent of those polled wished they could be rich too, and that richer people should be “socially 32 _______”.
Some 33_______ percent of respondents also praised rich people for being “smart”.
Nearly 90 percent of respondents agreed that most people in society, including themselves, 33 speak up for the poor but were 34_______ to take action and actually do something for them.
The survey comes on the heels of a heated debate over comments made by renowned economist Mao Yushi, who said a couple of days ago that he was speaking for the rich and working for the poor.
A report released by the Asian Development Bank last Wednesday revealed that China's Gini coefficient-an indicator of the wealth divide-rose from 0.407 in 1993 to 0.473 in .
An earlier Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report said that the richest 10 percent of Chinese families now own more than 40 percent of all private assets, while the poorest 10 percent in the country share less than 2 percent of the total wealth.
The country's income gap is close to that of Latin America, the report which 35_______ in January said.
根据下列短与答案，填写36-45题。
Cancer is the world's top “economic killer” as well as its likely leading cause of death. Cancer costs more in 36_______ and lost life than AIDS, malaria, the flu and other diseases that spread person-to-person. Chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes 37 _______ for more than 60 percent of deaths worldwide but less than 3 percent of public and private 38_______ for global health, said Rachel Nugent of the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based policy research group. Money shouldn't be taken away from fighting diseases that. 39_______ person-to-person, but the amount 40_______ to cancer is way out of whack (重击) with the impact it has, said Otis Brawley, the cancer society's chief medical officer.
Cancer's economic toll (损耗) was $895 billion in --equivalent to 1.5 percent of the world's gross 41 _______ product, the report says. That's in terms of disability and years of life lost--not the cost of treating the disease, which wasn't addressed in the report. Many groups have been pushing for more attention to non-infectious causes of death, and the United Nations General Assembly has set a meeting on this a year from now. Some policy experts are 42_______ it to the global initiative that led to big increases in spending on AIDS nearly a decade ago. “This needs to be discussed at the UN--how we are going to deal with this rising burden of 43_______ disease”, said Dr. Andreas Ullrich, medical officer for cancer control at WHO.
Researchers used the World Health Organization's death and disability reports, and economic data from the World Bank. They 44_______ disability-adjusted life years, which reflect the impact a disease has on how long and how 45 _______ people live.
A.productively
B.supplying
C.shifting
D.spread
E.account
F.funding
G.calculated
H.devoted
I .productivity
J.chronic
K.comparing
L. domestic
M.doubtful
N.clumsily
O.disability
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.
根据答案，回答46-55题。
Daylight Saving Time (DST)
How and When Did Daylight Saving Time Start?
A.Benjamin Franklin--of “early to bed and early to rise” fame-was apparently the first person to suggest the concept of daylight savings. While serving as U.S. ambassador to France in Paris, Franklin wrote of being awakened at 6 a.m. and realizing, to his surprise, that the sun would rise far earlier than he usually did. Imagine the resources that might be saved if be and others rose before noon and burned less midnight oil, Franklin,tongue half in cheek, wrote to a newspaper.
B.It wasn't until World War I that daylight savings were realized on a grand scale. Germany was the first state to adopt the time changes, to reduce artificial lighting and thereby save coal for the war effort. Friends and foes soon followed suit. In the U.S. a federal law standardized the yearly start and end of daylight saving time in 1918--for the states that chose to observe it.
C.During World War II the U.S. made daylight saving time mandatory (强制的) for the whole country, as a way to save wartime resources. Between February 9, 1942, and September 30, 1945, the government took it a step further. During this period daylight saving time was observed year-round, essentially making it the new standard time, if only for a few years. Many years later, the Energy Policy Act of was enacted, mandating a controversial month-long extension of daylight saving time, starting in .
Daylight Saving Time: Energy Saver or Just Time Suck?
D.In recent years several studies have suggested that daylight saving time doesn't actually save energy-and might even result in a net loss. Environmental economist Hendrik Wolff, of the University of Washington, coauthored a paper that studied Australian power-use data when parts of the country extended daylight saving time for the Sydney Olympics and others did not. The researchers found that the practice reduced lighting and electricity consumption in the evening but increased energy use in the now dark mornings--wiping out the evening gains. That's because the extra hour that daylight saving time adds in the evening is a hotter hour. “So if people get home an hour earlier in a warmer house, they turn on their air conditioning,” the University of Washington's Wolff said.
E. But other studies do show energy gains. In an October 2008 daylight saving time report to Congress, mandated by the same 2005 energy act that extended daylight saving time, the U.S. Department of Energy asserted that springing forward does save energy. Extended daylight saving time saved 1.3 terawatt (太瓦) hours of electricity. That figure suggests that daylight saving time reduces annual U.S. electricity consumption by 0.03 percent and overall energy consumption by 0.02 percent. While those percentages seem small, they could represent significant savings because of the nation's enormous total energy use.
F. What's more, savings in some regions are apparently greater than in others. California, for instance, appears to benefit most from daylight saving time--perhaps because its relatively mild weather encourages people to stay outdoors later. The Energy Department report found that daylight saving time resulted in an energy savings of one percent daily in the state.
G.But Wolff, one of many scholars who contributed to the federal report, suggested that the numbers were subject to statistical variability (变化) and shouldn't be taken as hard facts. And daylight savings' energy gains in the U.S. largely depend on your location in relation to the Mason-Dixon Line, Wolff said.“The North might be a slight winner, because the North doesn't have as much air conditioning,” he said. “But the South is a definite loser in terms of energy consumption. The South has more energy consumption under daylight saving.”
Daylight Saving Time: Healthy or Harmful?
H. For decades advocates of daylight savings have argued that, energy savings or no, daylight saving time boosts health by encouraging active lifestyles--a claim Wolff and colleagues are currently putting to the test. “In a nationwide American time-use study, we're clearly seeing that, at the time of daylight saving time extension in the spring, television watching is substantially reduced and outdoor behaviors like jogging, walking, or going to the park are substantially increased,” Wolff said. “That's remarkable, because of course the total amount of daylight in a given day is the same. ”
I. But others warn of ill effects. Till Roermeberg, a university professor in Munich (慕尼黑), Germany, said his studies show that our circadian (生理节奏的) body clocks--set by light and darkness--never adjust to gaining an “extra” hour of sunlight to the end of the day during daylight saving time.
J. One reason so many people in the developed world are chronically (长期地) overtired, he said, is that they suffer from social jet lag. “ In other words, their optimal circadian sleep periods don't accord with their actual sleep schedules. Shifting daylight from morning to evening only increases this lag, he said. ”Light doesn't do the same things to the body in the morning and the evening. More light in the morning would advance the body clock, and that would be good. But more light in the evening would even further delay the body clock. “
K.Other research hints at even more serious health risks. A 2008 study concluded that, at least in Sweden, heart attack risks go up in the days just after the spring time change. ”The most likely explanation to our findings is disturbed sleep and disruption of biological rhythms,“ One expert told National Geographic News via email. Daylight Savings' Lovers and Haters
L. With verdicts (定论) on the benefits, or costs, of daylight savings so split, it may be no surprise that the yearly time changes inspire polarized reactions. In the U.K., for instance, the Lighter Later movement--part of I0:10,a group advocating cutting carbon emissions--argues for a sort of extreme daylight savings. First, they say, move standard time forward an hour, then keep observing daylight saving time as usual--adding two hours of evening daylight to what we currently consider standard time. The folks behind Standardtime.com, on the other hand, want to abolish daylight saving time altogether, calling energy-efficiency claims ”unproven. “
M. National telephone surveys by Rasmussen Reports from spring and fall deliver the same answer.Most people just ”don't think the time change is worth the hassle (麻烦的事). “ Forty-seven percent agreed with that statement, while only 40 percent disagreed. But Seize the Daylight author David Prerau said his research on daylight saving time suggests most people are fond of it. ”1 think if you ask most people if they enjoy having an extra hour of daylight in the evening eight months a year, the response would be pretty positive.“
46、Daylight savings' energy gains might be various due to different climates.
47、Disturbed sleep and disruption of biological rhythms may be the best explanation to higher heart attack risks in the days after the spring time change.
48、A research indicated that DST might not save energy by increasing energy use in the dark mornings, though it reduced lighting and electricity consumption in the evening.
49、Germany took the lead to save wartime resources by adopting the time changes and reducing artificial lighting.
50、A university professor studied the effect of daylight saving time and sounded the alarm of its negative effects.
51、Social jet lag can partly account for people's chronic fatigue syndrome in developed countries.
52、The figure of a study in the U.S. suggested that DST could save a lot of energy nationally.
53、Supporters of daylight savings have long considered daylight saving time does good to people's health.
54、A group advocating cutting carbon emissions launches the Lighter Later movement to back a kind of extreme daylight savings.
55、A scholar contributing to a federal report suggested that the amount of saved energy had something to do with geographic position.
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.
根据下列短文，回答56-60题。
The unique human habit of taking in and employing animals--even competitors like wolves--spurred on human tool-making and language, which have both driven humanity's success, Pat Shipman says, paleoanthropologist of Penn State University. ”Wherever you go in the world, whatever ecosystem (生态系统), whatever culture, people live with animals,“ Shipman said.
For early humans, taking in and caring for animals would seem like a poor strategy for survival. ”On the face of it, you are wasting your resources. So this is a very weird behavior,“ Shipman said. But it's not so weird in the context something else humans were doing about 2.6 million years ago: switching from a mostly vegetarian diet to one rich in meat. This happened because humans invented stone hunting tools that enabled them to compete with other top predators. Quite a rapid and bizarre switch for any animal. So we invented the equipment, learned how to track and kill, and eventually took in animals who also knew how to hunt--like wolves and other canines. Others, like goats, cows and horses, provided milk, hair and, finally, hides and meat.
Managing all of these animals--or just tracking them--requires technology, knowledge and ways to preserve and convey information. So languages had to develop and evolve to meet the challenges. Tracking game has even been argued to be the origin of scientific inquiry, said Peter Richerson, professor emeritus (名誉退休的) in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California, Davis. One of the signs that this happened is in petroglyphs (史前岩画) and other rock art left by ancient peoples. At first they were abstract, geometric patterns that are impossible to decipher (破译). Then they converge on one subject: animals.
There have also been genetic changes in both humans and our animals. For the animals those changes developed because human bred them for specific traits, like a cow that gives more mill or a hen that lays more eggs. But this evolutionary influence works both ways. Dogs, for instance, might have been selectively taken in by humans who shared genes for more compassion, Those humans then prospered with the dogs' help in hunting and securing their homes.
56、What do we learn from the first paragraph about animals?
A.Animals have driven humanity's success.
B.Tool-making and language are uniquely human habits.
C.Employing wolves is uniquely human habit.
D.People live with animals everywhere.
57、Why did Shipman say taking in animal is a poor strategy for survival?
A.Early humans were poor in survival resources.
B.Taking in animal was a very weird behavior.
C.Early humans didn't know how to track and kill.
D.Early humans switched from a vegetarian diet to meat.
58、Why did languages have to develop and evolve to meet the challenges?
A.Early humans should have communication in tracking game.
B.Language can enable humans to compete with other top predators.
C.Animals should understand the orders given by humans.
D.Language could give a rapid and bizarre switch for any animal.
59、What do we learn from the statement of Pat Shipman and Peter Richerson?
A.Caring for animals seemed common after people invented tools.
B.After language developed early humans learned how to track and kill.
C.Managing and tracking animals are the origin of modem science.
D.Language developed from abstract to specific because of animals.
60、What do we learn from the last paragraph?
A.Animals changes are developed by themselves.
B.Human bred animals for specific genes.
C.Evolutionary influence works on both humans and animals.
D.Genes could make the dogs help people in hunting.
篇2：英语六级考试模拟题及答案
Part I Writing.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled The Civil Servant Test Craze. Your essay should start with a brief description of the picture. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
Surfing on the Web
1.有人网上冲浪为了娱乐;
2.有人认为应充分利用网络来学习;
3.我的观点。
听力题：
1、
A.The man forgot to return the book to his teacher.
B.The man will apologize to Michelle.
C.Michelle has a bad memory.
D.The woman needs the book at a later time.
2、
A.The cause of her health problem.
B.The importance of physical exercise.
C.The necessity of staying attentive in class.
D.The bad effects &working a computer.
3、
A.Fast foods are unhealthy.
B.It's unfair indeed.
C.Not all fast foods are harmful.
D.Fast food companies made their customers mad.
4、
A.She gets angry with delays of the train.
B.She is willing to wait for the next train.
C.She doesn't understand what the man says.
D.She is happy to talk with the man.
5、
A.To probe into the cause of natural disasters.
B.To warn people of the environmental conditions.
C.To formulate effective plans to help the victims.
D.To study the influences of natural disasters.
6、
A.She prefers to stay by herself.
B.She is a little shy in nature.
C.She dislikes making friends with others.
D.She is talkative when with strangers.
7、
A.Stay in the sun.
B.Find a new friend.
C.See a doctor.
D.Go to the students' center.
8、
A.He dresses in an informal manner at work.
B.He dresses very casually on vacation.
C.He gets unfamiliar in the eyes of his friends.
D.He is a lousy employee at work.
Conversation One.
听材料，回答下列问题：
9、
A.How to spend summer holiday.
B.How to avoid seasickness.
C.How to prepare for a boat trip.
D.How to deal with vomiting on a sea trip.
10、
A.He should eat a little food.
B.He should eat nothing.
C.He should eat as much as possible.
D.He can eat what he likes.
11、
A.At the stem.
B.At the bow.
C.At the bottom deck.
D.At the middle of the ship.
Conversation Two.
听材料，回答下列各题：
12、
A.Films most exciting for them to see.
B.Film tickets suitable to buy.
C.Showing time of the films.
D.Various ways to get film tickets.
13、
A.Ten.
B.Eight.
C.Six.
D.Five.
14、
A.His friends will be available to see the movie.
B.The tickets are cheaper than the Thursday's,
C.There will be more friends to go to the cinema.
D.The film will be more moving than the Thursday's.
15、
A.By ordering them.
B.By paying the money now,
C.By calling the clerk.
D.By sending an e-mail.
Passage One.
听材料，回答下列各题：
16、
A.Less than 7 billion.
B.Half a billion.
C.No more than 70 million.
D.About 15 million.
17、
A.Personal information.
B.Political scandals.
C.Business affairs,
D.Religious events.
18、
A.Politicians.
B.Executives.
C.Teachers.
D.College students.
19、
A.It is sad that you can find comfort with friends only in Facebook.
B.It is convenient to chat with others across communities with Facebook.
C.It is terrible to reveal personal feelings in Facebook.
D.It is satisfying to find the social norm changing over time with Facebook.
Passage Two.
听材料，回答下列各题：
20、
A.President Barack Obama.
B.President Bill Clinton.
C.President Franklin Roosevelt.
D.President George W. Bush.
21、
A.Algebra and math.
B.English-language arts and mathematics.
C.Math and reading.
D.English and reading.
22、
A.The aim is to complete the national education system which lacks the standard.
B.The aim is to let states show yearly progress in students learning measured by themselves.
C.The aim is for high school students to make a good preparation for further study and careers.
D.The aim is to make American education system more powerful in a competitive economy.
Passage Three.
听材料，回答下列各题：
23、
A.It is trying to occupy the Indian movie market.
B.It is aiming to surpass America's Hollywood.
C.It is aiming to impress American audience.
D.It is trying to break into the global film market.
24、
A.It used English as the language.
B.It can't satisfy different audience's tastes.
C.Its budget was not enough.
D.It used a Mexican actress.
25、
A.He has much faith in Bollywood's global film.
B.He supports further exploration of the global market.
C.He suggests an adjustment for Bollywood's global strategy.
D.He calls for more investment in the film market.
篇3：英语六级考试阅读理解模拟题及答案
文章精要
文章指出，目前美国大学在录取新生时，仍然比较看重分数。在一些学校里由 于奖学金政策的执行，学生的分数迅速攀升。考试的拥护者指出，考试有必要存在， 因为它给学生提供了展示自我的平台，而这也无疑会给学生带来巨大的压力。
答案解析
1. E 本题的出题点在E段的最后一句话，属于数字题。从原文可以看出，申请 者的人数为47,317，而获得4.0或者4.0以上分数者的人数接近23,000，由此 可知比例接近50%。
2. F 本题是F段的总结。原文提到，对学生的选拔最为严格的学校也越来越难 以参与到降低标准考试的影响的活动中来，也就是说，这些学校很难降低 标准考试的影响。
3. K 本题的出题点在K段的最后两句话，属于数字题。More than 30 years ago可推测应该是上世纪七八十年代，对应原文的1975年;从原文可以看出，在 大一新生中，在高中取得A或者更好成绩的人数差不多是总人数的 !%%，而在1975年时此比例减半，大约为11.5%。
4. H 本题的出题点在H段。原文提到最近标准考试有一些负面影响，许多学校已经停止要求用考试分数来评判学生。题干的negative effects转述了原文 的bad publicity。
5. D 本题是对D段前两句话的同义转述。原文提到：有些人把Zalasky的努力这种现象称为“分数膨胀”，暗示他的这种进步不值得接受，而其他人认为那 些学生真正赢得了好的评价，题干中的win the praise for him同义转述了原 文中的earning their better marks。
6. B 本题的出题点在B段的第一句和第五句。原文提到even Zalasky is nervous about his prospects。接着在第五句中提到了原因：It’s that so many of his classmates are so good.由此可知题目是这两句的总结。
7. P 本题的出题点在P段的第二句话。题目中的Some colleges替换原文中的colleges like his;题目中的conquered和原文中的overcome属于同义词转换; 原文中的are more interested in换成了另一种说法would like to admit;原文中 的robots是一种比喻的说法，比喻那些完美得像机器人一样的学生。
8. N 本题的出题点在N段的最后一句话。题目中的In the next year替换原文中的Next year;题目中的a series of替换原文中的a range of;题目中的avoiding paying too much attention to替换原文中的no longer giving…weight to。
9. S 本题考查人物的观点。S段后半部分指出，Zalasky表示，学校的想法是，如果你没有得到全A的成绩，你就没有学得很好，学生们为了得到A都有很 大的压力。文章最后提到，Hicks将Zalasky所在的学校和纽约洋基队的情 况作了比较，“如果他们不能取胜，那么他们就失败了”，即对于学生来说 不能得到A就等于失败。
10. Q本题出题点在Q段的第一句话。题目表达意思与原句表述一致，题目用非限定性定语从句解释说明原文中破折号之后的内容;题目中的more and more schools和原文中的a growing number of schools属于同义转述。
篇4：英语六级考试阅读模拟题带答案
The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of the proportion of a woman's life spent in caring for the children. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties ? and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, opportunity and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman's youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five years and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances and convenience foods.
This important change in women's life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-or-part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.
21. According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to_______.
A. stay at home after leaving school B. marry men younger than themselves
C. start working again later in life D. marry while still at school
22. We are told that in an average family about 1900_______.
A. many children died before they lived to more than five
B. seven or eight children lived to be more than five
C. the youngest child would be fifteen
D. four or five children died when they were five
23. Many girls, the passage claims, are now likely to_______.
A. give up their jobs for good after they are married
B. leave school as soon as they can
C. marry so that they can get a job
D. continue working until they are going to have a baby
24. One reason why a woman today may take a job is that she_______.
A. is younger when her children are old enough to look after .themselves
B. does not like children herself
C. need not worry about food for her children
D. can retire from family responsibilities when she reaches sixty
25. Nowadays, a husband tends to_______.
A. play a greater part in looking after the children
B. help his wife by doing much of the housework
C. feel dissatisfied with his role in the family
D. take a part-time job so that he can help in the home
篇5：英语六级考试阅读模拟题带答案
Of all the continents, the most drastic reduction in wildlife has occurred in North America, where the transition from a rural to a highly industrialized society has been most rapid. Among the victims are birds, mammals, and fish. We will never again see the passenger pigeon or the eastern elk. They have been wiped out. Of many other species, only a few representatives still survive in the wild. The U. S. Department of the Interior has put no fewer than 109 species on the endangered species list. (An endangered species is one with poor prospects for survival and in need of protection. ) This list includes everything from the timber wolf to the whooping crane. Even the bald eagle, our national symbol, is threatened.
Animals that kill other game for food are called predators. The predators include the wolf, mountain lion, fox, bobcat, and bear. Attack against these animals began with the arrival of the first European settlers, who wished to protect their livestock. Eventually, a reward was offered to hunters for every predator that was killed. This reward is called a bounty. Ironically, the Federal government is the chief founder of predator-control programs.
The settlers also brought in their Old World fears and superstitions concerning predators. Whether preying (捕食) on livestock or not, predators were shot on sight. This attitude continues to this day for coyotes, eagles, foxes, mountain lions, and bobcats, and is largely responsible for placing the eastern timber wolf, grizzly bear, and bald eagle on the endangered species list.
Yet every animal, including the predator, has its place in nature's grand design. Predators help maintain the health of their prey species by eliminating the diseased, young, old and injured. Predators like the mountain lion and the wolf help to keep the deer herds healthy. Occasional loss of livestock must be weighed against the good these animals do in maintaining the balance of nature.
26. In North America, the number of wild animals has reduced most greatly mainly 112
because_______.
A. the birds, mammals and fish there are most predators
B. the development there has been at the highest pace
C. only a few species still live in the world
D. many species have been put on the endangered species list
27. The first European settlers killed predators chiefly in order to_______.
A. eat their meat B. protect themselves
C. please the Federal government D. protect their livestock
28. Some animal species are in danger of disappearing altogether from the earth as a result of_______.
A. people's superstitious attitude
B. people's dislike of some animals, such as bald eagle
C. people's hunting games
D. the self-killing of the predators
29. Bounty hunters are people who_______.
A. take care of wilderness areas
B. preserve our wildlife
C. kill meat-eating animals for money
D. work in the fund of predator-control programs
30. According to the writer, even if the meat-eating animals sometimes caused losses of livestock, man should_______.
A. estimate the value of predators
B. compare the losses with the benefits of predators
C. keep the balance of nature
D. raise more livestock
篇6：英语六级考试阅读理解模拟题及答案
Words: 1,372
Higher Grades Challenge College Application Process
A) Josh Zalasky should be the kind of college applicant with little to worry about. The high school senior is taking three Advanced Placement courses. Outside the classroom, he，s involved in mock trial, two Jewish youth groups and has a job with a restaurant chain. He，s a National Merit semifinalist and scored in the top ? percent of all students who take the ACT.
B) But in the increasingly frenzied world of college admissions, even Zalasky is nervous about his prospects. He doubts he#ll get into the University of Wisconsin, a top choice. The reason: his grades. It$s not that they%re bad. It&s that so many of his classmates are so good. Zalasky’s GPA is nearly an A minus, and yet he ranks only about in the middle of his senior class of 543 at Edina High School outside Minneapolis, Minnesota. That means he will have to find other ways to stand out.
C) “It’s extremely difficult,” he said. “I spent all summer writing my essay. We even hired a private tutor to make sure that essay was the best it can be. But even with that, it’s like I*m just kind of leveling the playing field.” Last year, he even considered transferring out of his highly competitive public school, to some place where his grades would look better.
D) Some call the phenomenon that Zalasky’s fighting “grade inflation”―implying the boost is undeserved. Others say students are truly earning their better marks. Regardless, it’s a trend that’s been building for years and may only be accelerating: many students are getting very good grades. So many, in fact, it is getting harder and harder for colleges to use grades as a measuring stick for applicants.
E) Extra credit for AP courses, parental lobbying and genuine hard work by the most competitive students have combined to shatter any semblance of a Bell curve, one in which A，s are reserved only for the very best. For example, of the 47,317 applications the University of California, Los Angeles, received for this fall’s freshman class, nearly 23,000 had GPAs of 4.0 or above.
F) That’s also making it harder for the most selective colleges―who often call grades the single most important factor in admissions―to join in a growing movement to lessen the influence of standardized tests.
G) “We，re seeing 30, 40 valedictorians at a high school because they don，t want to create these distinctions between students,” said Jess Lord, dean of admission and financial aid at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. “ If we don’t have enough information, there’s a chance we’ll become more heavily reliant on test scores, and that’s a real negative to me.”
H) Standardized tests have endured a heap of bad publicity lately, with the SAT raising anger about its expanded length and recent scoring problems. A number of schools have stopped requiring test scores, to much fanfare.
I) But lost in the developments is the fact that none of the most selective colleges have dropped the tests. In fact, a national survey shows overall reliance on test scores is higher in admissions than it was a decade ago. “It’s the only thing we have to evaluate students that will help us tell how they compare to each other,” said Lee Stetson, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania.
J) Grade inflation is hard to measure, and experts，caution numbers are often misleading because standards and scales vary so widely. Different practices of “weighting” GPAs for AP work also play havoc. Still, the trend seems to be showing itself in a variety of ways.
K) The average high school GPA increased from 2.68 to 2.94 between 1990 and , according to a federal study. Almost 23 percent of college freshmen in reported their average grade in high school was an A or better, according to a national survey by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute. In 1975, the percentage was about half that.
L) GPAs reported by students on surveys when they take the SAT and ACT exams have also risen―and faster than their scores on those tests. That suggests their classroom grades aren’t rising just because students are getting smarter. Not surprisingly, the test-owners say grade inflation shows why testing should be kept: it gives all students an equal chance to shine.
M) The problems associated with grade inflation aren’t limited to elite college applicants. More than 70 percent of schools and districts analyzed by an education audit company called SchoolMatch had average GPAs significantly higher than they should have been based on their standardized test scores―including the school systems in Chicago, Illinois, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Denver, Colorado, San Bernardino, California, and Columbus, Ohio. That raises concerns about students graduating from those schools unprepared for college. “They get mixed in with students from more rigorous schools and they just get blown away,” said SchoolMatch CEO William Bainbridge.
N) In Georgia, high school grades rose after the state began awarding HOPE scholarships to students with a 3.0 high school GPA. But the scholarship requires students to keep a 3.0 GPA in college, too, and more than half who received the HOPE in the fall of and entered the University of Georgia system lost eligibility before earning 30 credits. Next year, Georgia is taking a range of steps to tighten eligibility, including calculating GPA itself rather than relying on schools, and no longer giving extra GPA weight to vaguely labeled “honors” classes.
O) Among those who work with students gunning for the more selective colleges, opinions differ as to why there seem to be so many straight-A students. “I think there are more pressures now than there used to be, because 20 or 30 years ago kids with a B plus average got into some of the best colleges in the country,” said William Shain, dean of admissions and financial aid at Bowdoin College in Maine. “It didn，t matter if you had a 3.9 instead of a 3.95. I don，t know if it matters now either, but people are more likely to think it does.”
P) Lord, the Haverford dean, sees grade inflation as the outcome of an irrational fear among students to show any slip up―in grades or discipline. In fact, colleges like his are often more interested in students who have overcome failure and challenge than robots who have never been anything less than perfect. “There，s a protection and encouragement of self-esteem that I don’t agree with, but I think it’s a lot of what’s going on here,” he said. “And the college admissions process feeds into that.”
Q) Back in Minnesota, Edina may join a growing number of schools that no longer officially rank students―a move that could help students like Zalasky, who says he was told by Wisconsin his class rank makes him a longshot. “They feel they’re being left behind or not getting into the schools that they’re applying to because of a particular class rank,” says Edina counselor Bill Hicks. “And there is some validity with respect to some certain schools that use certain formulas.”
R) But the colleges most popular with Edina students already know how strong the school is: students’ median verbal and math SAT scores are 1170 out of 1600. Hicks isn’t willing to blame the concentration grades at the top on spineless teachers, or on grade-grubbing by parents and students. Expectations are high, and grades are based on student mastery of the material, not a curve. Wherever teachers place the bar for an A, the students clear it.
S) “Everyone here is like, ‘ if I can get a 98 why would I get a 93? said Lavanya Srinivasan, who was ranked third in her Edina class last year. Far from being pushovers, she says, Edina teachers are tougher than those in a course she took at Harvard last summer. Zalasky agrees the students work hard for their high grades. “The mentality of this school is, if you’re not getting straight A，s you’re not doing well,” he said. “There’s just so much pressure on us day in and day out to get straight A’s that everybody does.” Hicks compares the atmosphere at Edina to the World Series expectations that always surround the superstar lineup of the New York Yankees. “If they don’t win it,” he said, “then it’s failure.”
1. Nearly half of the applications that the University of California received this autumn had GPAs of 4.0 or above.
2. It，s also harder for the most selective colleges to lessen the effect of standardized tests.
3. More than 30 years ago, about 11.5 percent of college freshmen reported their average grade in high school was an A or better.
4. Because of the negative effects of standardized tests recently, a lot of universities have no longer required test scores.
5. Some think Zalasky’s improvement unworthy, while others think his high grades win the praise for him.
6. Because many of his classmates are so outstanding, Zalasky is nervous about his college application.
7. Some colleges would like to admit students who have conquered failure and challenge rather than those who have never been anything less than perfect.
8. In the next year, Georgia is taking a series of measures to tighten qualification, including calculating GPA itself and avoiding paying too much attention to vaguely labeled “honors” classes.
9. In Zalasky，s opinion, students are put under great pressure to work hard to get straight A”s, or they will be regarded as losers.
10. More and more schools no longer officially rank students by grade, which can help students like Zalasky.
篇7：大学英语六级考前模拟题及答案
Part ⅡReading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Directions:There are 4 passages in this part. 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre. ?
Passage 1 ?
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:?
People do not analyze every problem they meet. Sometimes they try to remember a solution from the last time they had a similar problem. They often accept the o pinions or ideas of other people. Other times they begin to act without thinking ; they try to find a solution by trial and error. However, when all these methods fail, the person with a problem has to start analyzing. There are six stages in analyzing a problem.?
First the person must recognize that there is a problem. For example, Sam’s bicycle is broken, and he cannot ride it to class as he usually does. Sam must see that there is a problem with his bicycle.?
Next the thinker must define the problem. Before Sam can repair his bicycle, he must find the reason why it does not work. For instance, he must determine if the problem is with the gears, the brakes, or the frame. He must make his problem more specific.?
Now the person must look for information that will make the problem clearer and lead to possible solutions. For instance, suppose Sam decided that his bike does not work because there is something wrong with the gear wheels. At this time, he can look in his bicycle repair book and read about gears. He can talk to his friends at the bike shop. He can look at his gears carefully.?
After studying the problem, the person should have several suggestions for a possible solution. Take Sam as an illustration. His suggestions might be: put oil on the gear wheels; buy new gear wheels and replace the old ones; tighten or loosen the gear wheels. ?
Eventually one suggestion seems to be the solution to the problem. Sometimes the final idea comes very suddenly because the thinker suddenly sees something new or sees something in a new way. Sam, for example, suddenly sees that there is a piece of chewing gum(口香糖)between the gear wheels. He immediately realizes the solution to his problem: he must clean the gear wheels.?
Finally the solution is tested. Sam cleans the gear wheels and finds that afterwards his bicycle works perfectly. In short, he has solved the problem.?
21.In analyzing a problem we should do all the following except ____.?
A) recognize and define the problem
B) look for information to make the problem clearer?
C) have suggestions for a possible solution
D) find a solution by trial or mistake?
22.By referring to Sam’s broken bicycle, the author intends to ____.?
A) illustrate the ways to repair his bicycle
B) discuss the problems of his bicycle?
C) tell us how to solve a problem
D) show us how to analyze a problem?
23.Which of the following is NOT true??
A) People do not analyze the problem they meet.
B) People often accept the opinions or ideas of other people.?
C) People may learn from their past experience
D) People cannot solve some problems they meet.?
24.As used in the last sentence, the phrase “in short” means ____.
A) in the long run B) in detail C) in a word D) in the end?
25.What is the best title for this passage??
A) Six Stages for Repairing Sam’s Bicycle.
B) Possible Ways to Problem-solving.?
C) Necessities of Problem Analysis.
D) Suggestions for Analyzing a Problem.?
Passage 2?
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:?
Stone tools, animal bones and an incised mammoth tusk found in Russia’s frigid far north have provided what archaeologists say is the first evidence that modern humans or Neanderthals lived in the Arctic more than 30,000 years ago, at least 15,000 years earlier than previously thought.?
A team of Russian and Norwegian archaeologists, describing the discovery in today’s issue of the journal Nature, said the campsite, at Mamontovaya Kurya, on the Ura River at the Arctic Circle, was the “oldest documented evidence for human resence at this high latitude. ”Digging in the bed of an old river channel close to the Ural Mountains, the team uncovered 123 mammal bones, including horse, reindeer and wolf. “The most important find,” they said, was a four-foot mammoth tusk with grooves made by chopping with a sharp stone edge, “unequivocally the work of humans.” The tusk was carbon-dated at about 36,600 years old. Plant remains found among the artifacts were dated at 30,000 to 31,000 years.?
Other archaeologists said the analysis appeared to be sound. But they cautioned that it was difficult, when dealing with riverbed deposits, to be sure that artifacts had not become jumbled out of their true place, and thus time, in the geologic layers. They questioned whether the discoverers could reliably conclude tha the stone tools were in fact contemporary with the bones. But in a commentary accompanying the article, Dr. John A. J. Gowlett of the University of Liverpool in England wrote, “Although there are questions to be answered, the artifacts illustrate both the capacity of early humans to do the unexpected, and the value of archaeologists’ researching in unlikely areas.”?
The discoverers said they could not determine from the few stone artifacts whether the site was occupied by Neanderthals, hominids who by then had a long history as hunters in Europe and western Asia, or some of the first anatomically modern humans to reach Europe.? In any case, other archaeologists said, the findings could be significant. If these toolmakers were Neanderthals, the findings suggested that these human relatives, who became extinct after 30,000 years ago, were more capable and adaptable than they are generally given credit for. Living in the Arctic climate presumably required higher levels of technology and social organization.?
If they were modern humans, then the surprise is that they had penetrated so farnorth in such a short time. There has been no firm evidence for modern humans in Europe before about 35,000 years ago. It had generally been thought that the northernmost part of Eurasia was not occupied by humans until the final stage of the last ice age, some 13,000 to 14,000 years ago, when the world’s climate began to moderate. Dr. Gowlett said the new findings indicated that the Arctic region of European Russia was extremely cold but relatively dry and ice-free more than 30,000 years ago.?
26.What is the significance of the discovery??
A) It shows that modern humans lived in the Arctic more than 3,000 years ago.
B) It shows that Neanderthals lived in the Arctic more than 3,000 years ago.
C) It shows the oldest documented evidence for human presence at such high latitude.?
D) It shows human could use tools 30,000 years ago.?
27.Why the team believed that the four-foot mammoth tusk was the most important find??
A) Because it was the longest tusk ever found.?
B) Because there were signs left by human’s tools on it.?
C) Because there were grooves on it.?
D) Because there are not any mammoth tusk all over the world.?
28.When did the Neanderthals extinct??
A) More than 30,000 years ago.B) After 30,000 years ago.?
C) Before about 35,000 years ago.D) Some 13,000 to 14,000 years ago.?
29.Who were those toolmakers??
A) Neanderthals. B) Modern humans.C) Archaeologists. D) Not determined.?
30.What’s the weather like in the Arctic region of European Russia more than 30,000 years ago??
A) Moderate temperature, relatively dry and ice-free.?
B) Extremely cold, relatively dry and ice-free.?
C) Extremely cold, plenty of raining and ice-free.?
D) Extremely cold, relatively dry and ice frosted. ?
Passage 3
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:?
After watching my mother deal with our family of five, I can’t understand why her answer to the question, “What do you do?” is always, “Oh, I’m just a housewife.” JUST a housewife?” Anyone who spends most of her time in meal preparation and cleanup, washing and drying clothes, keeping the house clean, leading ascout troop, playing taxi driver to us kids when it’s time for school, music lessons or the dentist, doing volunteer work for her favorite charity, and making sure that all our family needs are met is not JUST a housewife. She’ s the real Wonder Woman.?
Why is it that so many mothers like mine think of themselves as second-class or something similar? Where has this notion come from? Have we males made them feel this way? Has our society made “going to work” outside the home seem more important than what a housewife must face each day??
I would be very curious to see what would happen if a housewife went on strike. Dishes would pile up. Food in the house would run out. No meals would appear on the table. There would be no clean clothes when needed. High boots would be required just to make it through the house scattered with garbage. Walking and bus riding would increase. Those scout troops would have to break up. Charities would suffer.?
I doubt if the man of the house would be able to take over. Oh, he might start out with the attitude that he can do just as good a job, but how long would that last? Not long, once he had to come home each night after work to more household duties. There would be no more coming home to a prepared meal; he’d have to fix it himself. The kids would all be screaming for something to eat, clean clothes and more bus fare money. Once he quieted the kids, he’d have to clean the house, go shopping, make sure that kids got a bath, and fix lunches for the next day. Once the kids were down for the night, he might be able to crawl into an unmade bed and try to read the morning newspaper.?
No, I don’t think many males are going to volunteer for the job. I know I don’t want it. So, thanks, mom! I’ll do what I can to create a national holiday for housewives. It could be appropriately called Wonder Woman Day.?
31.By what means do the children of the author’s family go to school??
A) They take school bus.B) They take a taxi.?
C) Their mother drives for them.D) Scout troop sends them to school.
32.If a housewife went on strike, which one of the following statements is NOT true??
A) Children would scream for something to eat.?
B) No meals would appear on the table.?
C) The scout troops would have a wonderful time.?
D) The man of the house wouldn’t be able to take over.?
33.In the author’s opinion, ____.?
A) many males are going to volunteer for housewives’ work?
B) housewives deserve a national holiday named Wonder Woman Day?
C) the man of the house would be able to take over the housewives’ work?
D) housewives are second-class citizens or something similar ?
34.The author’s attitude toward housewives’ work is ____.?
A) critical B) indifferent C) ironical D) appreciative?
35.The main idea of the passage is about ____.?
A) housewives, the wonder women?
B) what would happen if housewives went on strike?
C) the replacement of women by men as housewives?
D) the setting up of a national holiday for housewives?
Passage 4
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:?
Children are getting so fat they may be the first generation to die before their parents, an expert claimed yesterday. ?
Today’s youngsters are already falling prey to potential killers such as diabetes because of their weight. Fatty fast-food diets combined with sedentary lifestyles dominated by televisions and computers could mean kids will die tragically young, says Professor Andrew Prentice, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.?
At the same time, the shape of the human body is going through a huge evolutionary shift because adults are getting so fat. Here in Britain, latest research shows that the average waist size for a man is 36-38in and may be 42-44in by 2032.
This compares with only 32.6in in 1972. Women’s waists have grown from an average of 22in in 1920 to 24 ins in the Fifties and 30in now. One of the major reasons why children now are at greater risk is that we are getting fatter younger. In the UK alone, more than one million under-16s are classed as overweight or obese ― double the number in the mid-Eighties. One in ten four-year-olds are also medically classified as obese. The obesity pandemic ― an extensive epidemic ― which started in the US, has now spread to Europe, Australia, Central America and the Middle East. ?
Many nations now record more than 20 per cent of their population as clinically obese and well over half the population as overweight. Prof Prentice said the change in our shape has been caused by a glut of easily available high-energy foods combined with a dramatic drop in the energy we use as a result of technology developments. ?
He is not alone in his concern. Only last week one medical journal revealed how obesity was fuelling a rise in cancer cases. Obesity also increases the risk factor for strokes and heart disease. An averagely obese person’s lifespan is shortened by around nine years while a severely obese person by many more. ?
Prof Prentice said: “So will parents outlive their children, as claimed recently by an American obesity specialist?” The answer is yes ― and no. Yes, when the offspring become grossly obese. This is now becoming an alarmingly common occurrence in the US. Such children and adolescents have a greatly reduced quality of life in terms of both their physical and psychosocial health. So say No to that doughnut and burger.?
36.What does the word “sedentary (Para. 2)” mean??
A) sit still. B) eat too much. C) study very hardh. D) passive thinking.?
37.Which statement is TRUE??
A) The average waist size for a man is 36-38in.?
B) The average waist size for a woman is 30in.?
C) In the mid-Eighties, more than half million under-16s in the UK are classed as overweight.?
D) The obesity pandemic has now spread to South America.?
38.According to Prof Prentice, what are the reasons for the change in our shape??
A) We eat too much and refuse to do physical exercises.?
B) High-energy foods are easy to get and technology develops fast.?
C) High-energy foods are the main diet and we use technology.?
D) High-energy foods are easy to get and we consume less energy.?
39.Obesity increases the risk factor of ____.?
A) diabetes, short sight, cancer, strokes
B) diabetes, cancer, strokes, psychosocial illness?
C) cancer, strokes, fatty, heart disease
D) strokes, heart disease, diabetes, headache?
40.What does the author mean by “So say No to that doughnut and burger”??
A) Answering the question “will parents outlive their children?”.?
B) The doughnut and burger should be banned.?
C) We should lead a healthy life.?
D) We should begin dieting. ?
Part ⅢVocabulary (20 minutes)
Directions:There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part .For each sentence there are four choices marked A),B),C) and D). Choose the ONE answer that best completes the sentence. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre. ?
41.Water fills the ____ in the ground.?
A) depression B) distress C) depressions D) prosperity?
42.What you are discussing is a psychological problem and is out of the ____ of art.?
A) domain B) range C) area D) region?
43.Helen doesn’t know how much I spent in painting your house. If she ever found out, I’m sure ____.?
A) she’d never forgive me C) she’ll never forgive me?
B) she never forgives me D) she never forgave me?
44.Do you think it possible to have the work ____ within 3 days.?
A) to do B) done
C) to be done D) being done?
45.A good scientist ____ into all aspects of a problem in order to find solutions.?
A) pricks B) pokes C) probes D) peers?
46.Most good writers use every means ____to make the reader’s way smooth and easy.?
A) at their disposal B) at their request
C) at their will D) at their convenience?
47.Even as a child he showed an inclination to ____ over the other children.?
A) dominate B) rule C) govern D) inspect?
48.If most breadwinners ____a day’s pay to the Hope Project, then it will be hopeful.?
A) gift B) present C) donate D) give?
49.We started burning some leaves in our yard, but the fire got ____and we had to call the fire brigade to put it out.?
A) out of hand B) out of order C) out of place D) out of way?
50.Astronauts are ____ all kinds of tests before they are actually sent up in a spacecraft.?
A)inclined to B)subjected to C)prone to D)bound to?
51.The policeman ____ noted something different about the fellow’s accent.?
A) undoubted B) doubtless
C) doubtful D) undoubting?
52.In his unhappiness he had come even to question his ____.?
A) diversity B) entity
C) prosperity D) minority?
53.Rising energy costs increase operating costs ____for many older air-conditioning systems in large buildings, causing owners to seek help.?
A) heatedly B) severely C) fiercely D) drastically?
54.As you must have seen from my work, I’m perfectly ____of him.?
A) indignant B) independent C) influential D) innocent?
55.Opponents of our present tax program argue that it discourages ____ from trying new fields of business activity.?
A) entrepreneurs B) sportsmen
C) eolouists D) mediators?
56.His____, scheduled for the week of Jan.23, was stated last week when he filed an appeal and asked the judge to spare his life.
A) desertion B) execution
C) suicide D) persecution?
57.Happiness, like a deer in the forest , dislikes ____ attention and if you chase it, it will run away.?
A) impatient B) purposeful C) undue D) uncomfortable?
58.After the completion of that bridge, the ____company’s business has been shrinking.?
A) navigation B) carriage C) marine D) ferry?
59.The teacher richly ____ the use of the word.?
A) exemplifies B) embodies
C) typifies D) proclaims?
60.Poor eyesight will ____ you from military service.?
A) prevent B) restrain C) exempt D) stop?
61.A ____ of the long report by the budget committee was submitted to the mayor for approval.?
A) shorthand B) scheme C) schedule D) sketch?
62.In less than a millionth of a second the vast computer of an international airline can ____accept 800 booking inquiries, and search its 50 million memory units for appropriate replies.?
A) simultaneously B) implicitly C) cautiously D) confidentially?
63.The____ spent in unscrewing the rusty bolt left her exhausted.?
A) expedition B) execution
C) employment D) exertion?
64.Have you any proof that a headless ghost ____ that house??
A) hunted B) examined
C) haunted D) wandered ?
65.The streets are ____ with people. ?
A)live B)lively C)living D)alive ?
66.Psychologists have succeeded in ____parents’ confidence in their own authority.?
A) underratingB) undervaluing C) underplaying D) undermining?
67.A wrongdoer is constantly ____ by fear of discovery.?
A) pursued B)haunted
C)stayed in D)hauled?
68.The child was playing on the floor with his collection of ____ farm animals.?
A) infinitesimal B) microscopic
C) trivial D) miniature?
69.It was later admitted that the information had been obtained from unreliable ____.?
A) origins B) sources C) resources D) amendes ?
70.The newly-elected President says the election was ____compliance with the law.?
A) spacious B) sophisticated C) substantial D) steady?
篇8：英语六级阅读理解强化模拟题及答案
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 the 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.
April Fools' Special: History's Hoaxes
Happy April Fools' Day. To mark the occasion, National Geographic News has compiled a list of some of the more memorable hoaxes in recent history. They are the lies, darned(可恨的) lies, and whoppers(弥天大谎)that have been perpetrated on the gullible(易受骗的)and unsuspecting to fulfill that age-old desire held by some to put the joke on others.
Internet Hoaxes
The Internet has given birth to a proliferation(增殖)of hoaxes. E-mail inboxes are bombarded on an almost daily basis with messages warning of terrible computer viruses that cause users to delete benign(良性)chunks of data from their hard drives, or of credit card scams that entice the naive to give all their personal information, including passwords and bank account details, to identity thieves. Other e-mails give rise to wry(歪曲的)chuckles, which is where this list begins.
Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide(一氧化二氢)
City officials in Aliso Viejo, California, were so concerned about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide that they scheduled a vote last month on whether to ban foam(泡沫)cups from city-sponsored events after they learned the chemical was used in foam-cup production.
Officials called off the vote after learning that dihydrogen monoxide is the scientific term for water.
“It's embarrassing,” city manager David J. Norman told the Associated Press. “We had a paralegal(律师助手)who did bad research.”
Indeed, the paralegal had fallen victim to an official-looking Web site touting the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide. An e-mail originally authored in 1990 by Eric Lechner, then a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, claimed that dihydrogen monoxide “is used as an industrial solvent and coolant, and is used in the production of Styrofoam(聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料).”
Other dangers pranksters(爱开玩笑的人)associated with the chemical included accelerated corrosion and rusting, severe burns, and death from inhalation.
Versions of the e-mail continue to circulate today, and several Web sites, including that of the Coalition to Ban DHMO, warn, tongue-in-cheek, of water's dangers.
Alabama Changes Value of Pi
The April newsletter put out by New Mexicans for science and Reason contains an article titled “Alabama Legislature Lays Siege to Pi”. It was penned by April Holiday of the Associmated Press (sic) and told the story of how the Alabama state legislature voted to change the value of the mathematical constant Pi from 3.14159 to the round number of 3.
The ersatz(假的)news story was written by Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist Mark Boslough to parody(滑稽地模仿)legislative and school board attacks on the teaching of evolution in New Mexico.
At Boslough's suggestion, Dave Thomas, the president of New Mexicans for science and Reason, posted the article in its entirety to the Internet newsgroup Talk. Origins on April 1. (The newsgroup hosts a lively debate on creation vs. evolution.) Later that evening Thomas posted a full confession to the hoax. He thought he had put all rumors to bed.
But to Thomas's surprise, however, several newsgroup readers forwarded the article to friends and posted it on other newsgroups.
When Thomas checked in on the story a few weeks later, he was surprised to learn that it had spread like wildfire. The telltale signs of the article's satirical intent, such as the April 1 date and misspelled “Associmated Press” dateline, had been replaced or deleted.
Alabama legislators were bombarded with calls protesting the law. The legislators explained that the news was a hoax. There was not and never had been such a law.
TV and Newspaper Hoaxes
Before the advent of the Internet, and even today, traditional media outlets such as newspapers, radio, and television, have sometimes hoaxed their audiences. The deceptions run the gamut from purported natural disasters to wishful news.
Swiss Spaghetti (意大利式细面条) Harvest
Alex Boese, curator of the Museum of Hoaxes, a regularly updated Web site that also appeared in book form in November , said one of his favorite hoaxes remains one perpetrated by the British Broadcasting Company.
On April 1, 1957, the BBC aired a report on the television news show Panorama about the bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland.
Viewers watched Swiss farmers pull pasta off spaghetti trees as the show's anchor, Richard Dimbleby, attributed the bountiful harvest to the mild winter and the disappearance of the spaghetti weevil.
The broadcaster detailed the ins and outs of the life of the spaghetti farmer and anticipated questions about how spaghetti grows on trees. Thousands of people believed the report and called the BBC to inquire about growing their own spaghetti trees, to which the BBC replied, “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”
“It was a great satirical effect about British society,” Boese said. “British society really was like that at that time. The British have a tendency to be a bit insulated(绝缘的) and do not know that much about the rest of Europe.”
Taco Liberty Bell
On April 1, , readers in five major U.S. cities opened their newspapers to learn from a full page announcement that the Taco Bell Corporation had purchased the Liberty Bell from the U.S. government. The announcement reported that the company was relocating the historic bell from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Irvine, California. The move, the corporation said in the advertisement, was part of an “effort to help the national debt”.
Hundreds of other newspapers and television shows ran stories related to the press release on the matter put out by Taco Bell's public relations firm, PainePR. Outraged citizens called the Liberty Bell National Historic Park in Philadelphia to express their disgust. A few hours later the public relations firm released another press announcement stating that the stunt was a hoax.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry got into the act when he remarked that the government would also be “selling the Lincoln Memorial to Ford Motor Company and renaming it the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial”.
Crop Circles
Strange, circular formations began to appear in the fields of southern England in the mid-1970s, bringing busloads of curious onlookers, media representatives, and believers in the paranormal out to the countryside for a look.
A sometimes vitriolic(讽刺的)debate on their origins has since ensued(跟着发生), and the curious formations have spread around the world, becoming more and more elaborate as the years go by.
Some people consider the crop formations to be the greatest works of modern art to emerge from the 20th century, while others are convinced they are signs of extraterrestrial communications or landing sites of UFOs.
The debate rages even today, although in 1991 Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, two elderly men from Wiltshire County, came forward and claimed responsibility for the crop circles that appeared there over the preceding 20 years. The pair made the circles by pushing down nearly ripe crops with a wooden plank suspended from a rope.
Moon Landing―a Hoax?
Ever since NASA sent astronauts to the moon between 1969 and 1972, skeptics have questioned whether the Apollo missions were real or simply a ploy to one-up(领先)the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The debate resurfaced and reached crescendo levels in February , when For television aired a program called Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?
Guests on the show argued that NASA did not have the technology to land on the moon. Anxious to win the space race, NASA acted out the Apollo program in movie studios, they said. The conspiracy theorists pointed out that the pictures transmitted from the moon do not include stars and that the flag the Americans planted on the moon is waving, even though there is though to be no breeze on the moon.
NASA quickly refuted these claims in a series of press releases, stating that any photographer would know it is difficult to capture something very bright and very dim on the same piece of film. Since the photographers wanted to capture the astronauts striding across the lunar surface in their sunlit space suits, the background stars were too faint to see.
As for the flag, NASA said that the astronauts were turning it back and forth to get in firmly planted in the lunar soil, which made it wave.
1. Some people have the age-old desire to put the joke on others.
2. According to the passage, the only form of Internet hoaxes is e-mail hoax.
3. Dihydrogen monoxide is a very dangerous chemical, which is often used as an industrial solvent.
4. Dihydrogen monoxide can accelerate corrosion and rusting, and cause sever burns and even death from inhalation.
5. The reason why the ersatz news that Alabama changed the value of Pi spread wildly was that ________ forwarded the article to friends and posted it on other newsgroups.
6. Traditional media outlets such as ________ may still hoax their audiences nowadays.
7. According to Boese, many people believed the report of Swiss spaghetti harvest because the British did not know ________.
8. According to a hoax announcement, the Taco Bell Corporation bough the Liberty Bell and moved it to Irvine to help ________.
9. The crop circles were thought to be the greatest works of modern art, the signs of ________ or landing sites of UFOs.
10. Some people thought that NASA acted out the Apollo program in movie studios partially because the pictures transmitted from the moon do not include ________.
篇9：大学英语六级口语考试真题模拟题
第一部分：Evolution of sleep
Sleep is very ancient. In the electroencephalographic sense we share it with all the primates and almost all the other mammals and birds: it may extend back as far as the reptiles.
There is some evidence that the two types of sleep, dreaming and dreamless, depend on the life-style of the animal, and that predators are statistically much more likely to dream than prey, which are in turn much more likely to experience dreamless sleep. In dream sleep, the animal is powerfully immobilized and remarkably unresponsive to external stimuli. Dreamless sleep is much shallower, and we have all witnessed cats or dogs cocking their ears to a sound when apparently fast asleep. The fact that deep dream sleep is rare among pray today seems clearly to be a product of natural selection, and it makes sensethat today, when sleep is highly evolved, the stupid animals are less frequently immobilized by deep sleep than the smart ones. But why should they sleep deeply at all? Why should a state of such deep immobilization ever have evolved?
Perhaps one useful hint about the original function of sleep is to be found in the fact that dolphins and whales and aquatic mammals in genera seem to sleep very little. There is, by and large, no place to hide in the ocean. Could it be that, rather than increasing an animal’s vulnerability, the University of Florida and Ray Meddis of London University have suggested this to be the case. It is conceivable that animals who are too stupid to be quite on their own initiative are, during periods of high risk, immobilized by the implacable arm of sleep. The point seems particularly clear for the young of predatory animals. This is an interesting notion and probably at least partly true.
第二部分：The war between Britain and France
In the late eighteenth century, battles raged in almost every corner of Europe, as well as in the Middle East, south Africa ,the West Indies, and Latin America. In reality, however, there was only one major war during this time, the war between Britain and France. All other battles were ancillary to this larger conflict, and were often at least partially related to its antagonist’ goals and strategies. France sought total domination of Europe . this goal was obstructed by British independence and Britain’s efforts throughout the continent to thwart Napoleon; through treaties. Britain built coalitions (not dissimilar in concept to today’s NATO) guaranteeing British participation in all major European conflicts. These two antagonists were poorly matched, insofar as they had very unequal strengths; France was predominant on land, Britain at sea. The French knew that, short of defeating the British navy, their only hope of victory was to close all the ports of Europe to British ships. Accordingly, France set out to overcome Britain by extending its military domination fromMoscow t Lisbon, from Jutland to Calabria. All of this entailed tremendous risk, because France did not have the military resources to control this much territory and still protect itself and maintain order at home.
French strategists calculated that a navy of 150 ships would provide the force necessary to defeat the British navy. Such a force would give France a three-to-two advantage over Britain. This advantage was deemed necessary because of Britain’s superior sea skills and technology because of Britain’s superior sea skills and technology, and also because Britain would be fighting a defensive war, allowing it to win with fewer forces. Napoleon never lost substantial impediment to his control of Europe. As his force neared that goal, Napoleon grew increasingly impatient and began planning an immediate attack.
第三部分： Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States, and ,in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in America. His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product and in part from his policy of expanding during periods of economic decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their investments.
Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt strongly that the wealthy should use their fortunes for the benefit of society. He opposed charity, preferring instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to help themselves. “He who dies rich, dies disgraced,” he often said.
Among his more noteworthy contributions to society are those that bear his name, including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts, and a museum of national history. He also founded a school of technology that is now part of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other philanthrophic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to promote understanding between nations, the Carnegie Institute of Washington to fund scientific research, and Carnegie Hall to provide a center for the arts.
Few Americans have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie's generosity. His contributions of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the public library system that we all enjoy today.
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