2016 年 06 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 1 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on living in the
virtual world. Try to imagine what will happen when people spend more and more time in
the virtual world instead of interacting in the real world. You are required to write at least
150 words but no more than 200 words.

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

Section A
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
1. A) Project organizer. C) Marketing manager.
B) Public relations officer. D) Market research consultant.
2. A) Quantitative advertising research. C) Research methodology.
B) Questionnaire design. D) Interviewer training.
3. A) They are intensive studies of people’s spending habits.
B) They examine relations between producers and customers.
C) They look for new and effective ways to promote products.
D) They study trends or customer satisfaction over a long period.
4. A) The lack of promotion opportunity. C) Designing questionnaires.
B) Checking charts and tables. D) The persistent intensity.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A) His view on Canadian universities.
B) His understanding of higher education.
C) His suggestions for improvements in higher education.
D) His complaint about bureaucracy in American universities.
6. A) It is well designed. C) It varies among universities.
B) It is rather inflexible. D) It has undergone great changes.
7. A) The United States and Canada can learn from each other.
B) Public universities are often superior to private universities.
C) Everyone should be given equal access to higher education.
D) Private schools work more efficiently than public institutions.
8. A) University systems vary from country to country.
B) Efficiency is essential to university management.
C) It is hard to say which is better, a public university or a private one.
D) Many private universities in the U.S. are actually large bureaucracies.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will
hear three or four 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.
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A) Government’s role in resolving an economic crisis.
B) The worsening real wage situation around the world.
 C) Indications of economic recovery in the United States.
D) The impact of the current economic crisis on people’s life.
10. A) They will feel less pressure to raise employees’ wages.
B) They will feel free to choose the most suitable employees.
C) They will feel inclined to expand their business operations.
D) They will feel more confident in competing with their rivals.
11. A) Employees and companies cooperate to pull through the economic crisis.
B) Government and companies join hands to create jobs for the unemployed.
C) Employees work shorter hours to avoid layoffs.
D) Team work will be encouraged in companies.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A) Whether memory supplements work.
B) Whether herbal medicine works wonders.
C) Whether exercise enhances one’s memory.
D) Whether a magic memory promises success.
13. A) They help the elderly more than the young.
B) They are beneficial in one way or another.
C) They generally do not have side effects.
D) They are not based on real science.
14. A) They are available at most country fairs.
B) They are taken in relatively high dosage.
C) They are collected or grown by farmers.
D) They are prescribed by trained practitioners.
15. A) They have often proved to be as helpful as doing mental exercise.
B) Taking them with other medications might entail unnecessary risks.
C) Their effect lasts only a short time.
D) Many have benefited from them.
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by
three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A) How catastrophic natural disasters turn out to be to developing nations.
B) How the World Meteorological Organization studies natural disasters.
C) How powerless humans appear to be in face of natural disasters.
D) How the negative impacts of natural disasters can be reduced.
17. A) By training rescue teams for emergencies.
B) By taking steps to prepare people for them.
C) By changing people’s views of nature.
D) By relocating people to safer places.
18. A) How preventive action can reduce the loss of life.
B) How courageous Cubans are in face of disasters.
C) How Cubans suffer from tropical storms.
D) How destructive tropical storms can be.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A) Pay back their loans to the American government.
B) Provide loans to those in severe financial difficulty.
C) Contribute more to the goal of a wider recovery.
D) Speed up their recovery from the housing bubble.
20. A) Some banks may have to merge with others.
B) Many smaller regional banks are going to fail.
C) It will be hard for banks to provide more loans.
D) Many banks will have to lay off some employees.
21. A) It will work closely with the government.
B) It will endeavor to write off bad loans.
C) It will try to lower the interest rate.
D) It will try to provide more loans.
22. A) It won’t help the American economy to turn around.
B) It won’t do any good to the major commercial banks.
C) It will win the approval of the Obama administration.
D) It will be necessary if the economy starts to shrink again.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
23. A) Being unable to learn new things.
B) Being rather slow to make changes.
C) Losing temper more and more often.
D) Losing the ability to get on with others.
24. A) Cognitive stimulation. C) Balanced diet.
B) Community activity. D) Fresh air.
25. A) Ignoring the signs and symptoms of aging.
B) Adopting an optimistic attitude towards life.
C) Endeavoring to give up unhealthy lifestyles.
D) Seeking advice from doctors from time to time.
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one
word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read
the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is
identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2
with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more
than once.
Pursuing a career is an essential part of adolescent development. “The adolescent
becomes an adult when he 26 a real job.” To cognitive
researchers like Piaget, adulthood meant the beginning of an 27
.
Piaget argued that once adolescents enter the world of work, their newly acquired
ability to form hypotheses allows them to create representations that are too ideal. The
28 of such ideals, without the tempering of the reality of a
job or profession, rapidly leads adolescents to become 29
of the non-idealistic world and to press for reform in a characteristically adolescent
 way. Piaget said: “True adaptation to society comes 30 when the
adolescent reformer attempts to put his ideas to work.”
Of course, youthful idealism is often courageous, and no one likes to give up
dreams. Perhaps, taken 31 out of context, Piaget’s statement seems
harsh. What he was 32 , however, is the way reality can modify idealistic
views. Some people refer to such modification as maturity. Piaget argued
that attaining and accepting a vocation is one of the best ways to modify idealized
views and to mature. As careers and vocations become less available during times of
33 , adolescents may be especially hard hit. Such difficult economic times may
leave many adolescents 34 about their roles in society. For this
reason, community interventions and government job programs that offer summer and
vacation work are not only economically 35 but also help to
stimulate the adolescent’s sense of worth.

A) automatically I) incidentally
B) beneficial J) intolerant
C) capturing K) occupation
D) confused L) promises
E) emphasizing M) recession
F) entrance N) slightly
G) excited O) undertakes
H) existence

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.
Can Societies be rich and green?
[A] “If our economies are to flourish, if global poverty is to be eliminated and if the well-being
of the world’s people enhanced—not just in this generation but in succeeding generations—
we must make sure we take care of the natural environment and resources on which our
economic activity depends.” That statement comes not, as you might imagine, from a
stereotypical tree-hugging, save-the-world greenie (环保主义者), but from Gordon Brown,
a politician with a reputation for rigour, thoroughness and above all, caution.
[B] A surprising thing for the man who runs one of the world’s most powerful economies to
say? Perhaps; though in the run-up to the five-year review of the millennium ( 千 年 的 )
Goals, he is far from alone. The roots of his speech, given in March at the roundtable
meeting of environment and energy ministers from the G20 group of nations, stretch back
to 1972, and the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.
[C] “The protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue which affects
the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world,” read the final
declaration from this gathering, the first of a sequence which would lead to the Rio de
Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992 and the World Development Summit in Johannesburg three
years ago.
[D] Hunt through the reports prepared by UN agencies and development groups—many for
conferences such as this year’s Millennium Goals review—and you will find that the
linkage between environmental protection and economic progress is a common thread.
[E] Managing ecosystems sustainably is more profitable than exploiting them, according to the
 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. But finding hard evidence to support the thesis is not
so easy. Thoughts turn first to some sort of global statistic, some indicator which would rate
the wealth of nations in both economic and environmental terms and show a relationship
between the two.
[F] If such an indicator exists, it is well hidden. And on reflection, this is not surprising; the
single word “environment” has so many dimensions, and there are so many other factors
affecting wealth—such as the oil deposits—that teasing out a simple economy-environment
relationship would be almost impossible.
[G] The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a vast four-year global study which reported its
initial conclusions earlier this year, found reasons to believe that managing ecosystems
sustainably— working with nature rather than against it—might be less profitable in the
short term, but certainly brings long-term rewards.
[H] And the World Resources Institute (WRI) in its World Resources 2005 report, issued at the
end of August, produced several such examples from Africa and Asia; it also demonstrated
that environmental degradation affects the poor more than the rich, as poorer people derive
a much higher proportion of their income directly from the natural resources around them.
[I] But there are also many examples of growing wealth by trashing the environment, in rich
and poor parts of the world alike, whether through unregulated mineral extraction, drastic
water use for agriculture, slash-and-burn farming, or fossil-fuel-guzzling ( 大 量 消 耗 )
transport. Of course, such growth may not persist in the long term—which is what Mr.
Brown and the Stockholm declaration were both attempting to point out. Perhaps the best
example of boom growth and bust decline is the Grand Banks fishery. For almost five
centuries a very large supply of cod (鳕鱼) provided abundant raw material for an industry
which at its peak employed about 40,000 people, sustaining entire communities in
Newfoundland. Then, abruptly, the cod population collapsed. There were no longer enough
fish in the sea for the stock to maintain itself, let alone an industry. More than a decade
later, there was no sign of the ecosystem re-building itself. It had, apparently, been fished
out of existence; and the once mighty Newfoundland fleet now gropes about frantically for
crab on the sea floor.
[J] There is a view that modern humans are inevitably sowing the seed of a global Grand
Banks-style disaster. The idea is that we are taking more out of what you might call the
planet’s environmental bank balance than it can sustain; we are living beyond our
ecological means. One recent study attempted to calculate the extent of this “ecological
overshoot of the human economy”, and found that we are using 1.2 Earth’s-worth of
environmental goods and services—the implication being that at some point the debt will
be called in, and all those services—the things which the planet does for us for free—will
grind to a halt.
[K] Whether this is right, and if so where and when the ecological axe will fall, is hard to
determine with any precision—which is why governments and financial institutions are
only beginning to bring such risks into their economic calculations. It is also the reason
why development agencies are not united in their view of environmental issues; while
some, like the WRI, maintain that environmental progress needs to go hand-in-hand with
economic development, others argue that the priority is to build a thriving economy, and
then use the wealth created to tackle environmental degradation.
[L] This view assumes that rich societies will invest in environmental care. But is this right? Do
things get better or worse as we get richer? Here the Stockholm declaration is ambiguous.
“In the developing countries,” it says, “most of the environmental problems are caused by
under-development,” So it is saying that economic development should make for a cleaner
world? Not necessarily. “In the industrialised countries, environmental problems are
generally related to industrialisation and technological development,” it continues. In other
words, poor and rich both over-exploit the natural world, but for different reasons. It’s
simply not true that economic growth will surely make our world cleaner.
[M] Clearly, richer societies are able to provide environmental improvements which lie well
beyond the reach of poorer communities. Citizens of wealthy nations demand national
 parks, clean rivers, clean air and poison-free food. They also, however, use far more natural
resources—fuel, water (all those baths and golf courses) and building materials.
[N] A case can be made that rich nations export environmental problems, the most graphic
example being climate change. As a country’s wealth grows, so do its greenhouse gas
emissions. The figures available will not be completely accurate. Measuring emissions is
not a precise science, particularly when it comes to issues surrounding land use; not all
nations have released up-to-date data, and in any case, emissions from some sectors such as
aviation are not included in national statistics. But the data is exact enough for a clear trend
to be easily discernible. As countries become richer, they produce more greenhouse gases;
and the impact of those gases will fall primarily in poor parts of the world.
[O] Wealth is not, of course, the only factor involved. The average Norwegian is better off than
the average US citizen, but contributes about half as much to climate change. But could
Norway keep its standard of living and yet cut its emissions to Moroccan or even Ethiopian
levels? That question, repeated across a dozen environmental issues and across our diverse
planet, is what will ultimately determine whether the human race is living beyond its
ecological means as it pursues economic revival.
36. Examples show that both rich and poor countries exploited the environment for economic
progress.
37. Environmental protection and improvement benefit people all over the world.
38. It is not necessarily true that economic growth will make our world cleaner.
39 The common theme of the UN reports is the relation between environmental protection and
economic growth.
40. Development agencies disagree regarding how to tackle environment issues while ensuring
economic progress.
41. It is difficult to find solid evidence to prove environmental friendliness generates more
profits than exploiting the natural environment.
42. Sustainable management of ecosystems will prove rewarding in the long run.
43. A politician noted for being cautious asserts that sustainable human development depends
on the natural environment.
44. Poor countries will have to bear the cost for rich nations’ economic development.
45. One recent study warns us of the danger of the exhaustion of natural resources on Earth.

Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some
questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B),
C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on
Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Interactive television advertising, which allows viewers to use their remote controls to
click on advertisements, has been pushed for years. Nearly a decade ago it was predicted
that viewers of “ Friends”, a popular situation comedy, would soon be able to purchase a
sweater like Jennifer Aniston’s with a few taps on their remote control. “ It’s been the year
of interactive television advertising for the last ten or twelve years,” says Colin Dixon of a
digital-media consultancy. So the news that Cablevision, an American cable company, was
rolling out interactive advertisements to all its customers on October 6th was greeted with
some skepticism. During commercials, an overlay will appear at the bottom of the screen,
prompting viewers to press a button to request a free sample or order a catalogue.
Cablevision hopes to allow customers to buy things with their remote controls early next
year.
Television advertising could do with a boost. Spending fell by 10% in the first half of
 the year. The popularization of digital video recorders has caused advertisers to worry that
their commercials will be skipped. Some are turning to the Internet, which is cheaper and
offers concrete measurements like click-through rates—especially important at a time when
marketing budgets are tight. With the launch of interactive advertising, “many of the dollars
that went to the Internet will come back to the TV,” says David Kline of Cablevision. Or so
the industry hopes.
In theory, interactive advertising can engage viewers in a way that 30-second spots do
not. Unilever recently ran an interactive campaign for its Axe deodorant (除臭剂), which
kept viewers engaged for more than three minutes on average.
The amount spent on interactive advertising on television is still small. Magna, an
advertising agency, reckons it will be worth about $ 138 million this year. That falls far
short of the billions of dollars people once expected it to generate. But DirecTV, Comcast
and Time Warner Cable have all invested in it. A new effort led by Canoe Ventures, a
coalition of leading cable providers, aims to make interactive advertising available across
America later this year. BrightLine iTV, which designs and sells interactive ads, says
interest has surged: it expects its revenues almost to triple this year. BSkyB, Britain’s
biggest satellite-television service, already provides 9 million customers with interactive
ads.
Yet there are doubts whether people watching television, a “lean back” medium, crave
interaction.Click-through rates have been high so far (around 3-4% , compared with less
than 0.3% online), but that may be a result of the novelty. Interactive ads and viewers might
not go well together.

46. What does Colin Dixon mean by saying “It’s been the year of interactive television
advertising for the last ten or twelve years” (Lines 4, Para.1)?
A) Interactive television advertising will become popular in 10-12 years.
B) Interactive television advertising has been under debate for the last decade or so.
C) Interactive television advertising is successful when incorporated into situation comedies.
D) Interactive television advertising has not achieved the anticipated results.
47. What is the public’s response to Cablevision’s planned interactive TV advertising
program?
A) Pretty positive.
B) Totally indifferent.
C) Somewhat doubtful.
D) Rather critical.
48. What is the impact of the wide use of digital video recorders on TV advertising?
A) It has made TV advertising easily accessible to viewers.
B) It helps advertisers to measure the click-through rates.
C) It has placed TV advertising at a great disadvantage.
D) It enables viewers to check the sales items with ease.
49. What do we learn about Unilever’s interactive campaign?
A) It proves the advantage of TV advertising.
B) It has done well in engaging the viewers.
C) It helps attract investments in the company.
D) It has boosted the TV advertising industry.
50. How does the author view the hitherto high click-through rates?
A) They may be due to the novel way of advertising.
B) They signify the popularity of interactive advertising.
C) They point to the growing curiosity of TV viewers.
D) They indicate the future direction of media reform.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
What can be done about mass unemployment? All the wise heads agree: there’re no
quick or easy answers. There’s work to be done, but workers aren’t ready to do it—they’re
in the wrong places, or they have the wrong skills. Our problems are “ structural,” and will
take many years to solve.
But don’t bother asking for evidence that justifies this bleak view. There isn’t any. On
the contrary, all the facts suggest that high unemployment in America is the result of
inadequate demand. Saying that there’re no easy answers sounds wise, but it’s actually
foolish: our unemployment crisis could be cured very quickly if we had the intellectual
clarity and political will to act. In other words, structural unemployment is a fake problem,
which mainly serves as an excuse for not pursing real solutions.
The fact is job openings have plunged in every major sector, while the number of
workers forced into part-time employment in almost all industries has soared.
Unemployment has surged in every major occupational category. Only three states, with a
combined population not much larger than that of Brooklyn, have unemployment rates
below 5%. So the evidence contradicts the claim that we’re mainly suffering from structural
unemployment. Why, then, has this claim become so popular?
Part of the answer is that this is what always happens during periods of high
unemployment—in part because experts and analysts believe that declaring the problem
deeply rooted, with no easy answers, makes them sound serious.
I’ve been looking at what self-proclaimed experts were saying about unemployment
during the Great Depression; it was almost identical to what Very Serious People are saying
now. Unemployment cannot be brought down rapidly, declared one 1935 analysis, because
the workforce is “ unadaptable and untrained. It cannot respond to the opportunities which
industry may offer.” A few years later, a large defense buildup finally provided a fiscal
stimulus adequate to the economy’s needs—and suddenly industry was eager to employ
those “ unadaptable and untrained” workers.
But now, as then, powerful forces are ideologically opposed to the whole idea of
government action on a sufficient scale to jump-start the economy. And that,
fundamentally, is why claims that we face huge structural problems have been multiplying:
they offer a reason to do nothing about the mass unemployment that is crippling our
economy and our society.
So what you need to know is that there’s no evidence whatsoever to back these claims.
We aren’t suffering from a shortage of needed skills; we’re suffering from a lack of policy
resolve. As I said, structural unemployment isn’t a real problem, it’s an excuse—a reason
not to act on America’s problems at a time when action is desperately needed.
51. What does the author think is the root cause of mass unemployment in America?
A) Corporate mismanagement. C) Technological advances.
B) Insufficient demand. D) Workers’ slow adaptation.

52. What does the author think of the experts’ claim concerning unemployment?
A) Self-evident.C) Irrational.
B) Thought-provoking. D) Groundless.

53. What does the author say helped bring down unemployment during the Great Depression?
A) The booming defense industry.
 B) The wise heads’ benefit package.
C) Nationwide training of workers.
D) Thorough restructuring of industries.

54. What has caused claims of huge structural problems to multiply?

A) Powerful opposition to government’s stimulus efforts.
B) Very Serious People’s attempt to cripple the economy.
C) Evidence gathered from many sectors of the industries.
D) Economists’ failure to detect the problems in time.

55. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A) To testify to the experts’ analysis of America’s problems.
B) To offer a feasible solution to the structural unemployment.
C) To show the urgent need for the government to take action.
D) To alert American workers to the urgency for adaptation.

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.
中国的创新正以前所未有的速度蓬勃发展。 为了在科学技术上尽快赶超世界发达国
家，中国近年来大幅度增加了研究开发资金。 中国的大学和研究所正在积极开展创新研
究，这些研究覆盖了从大数据到生物化学、从新能源到机器人等各类高科技领域。 它们还与
各地的科技园合作，使创新成果商业化。 与此同时，无论在产品还是商业模式上，中国企
业家也在努力争做创新的先锋，以适应国内外消费市场不断变化和增长的需求。
 2016年06月大学英语六级考试真题（第2套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the use of
robots.Try to imagine what will happen when more and more robots take the place of
human beings in industry as well as people's daily lives. You are required to write at least
150 words but no more than 200 words.

Part II Listening Comprehension(30 minutes)

Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each
conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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.
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
1 . A) The project the man managed at Cucin Tech.
B) The updating of technology at Cucin Tech.
C) The man’s switch to a new career.
D) The restructuring of her company.
2. A) Talented personnel.
B) Strategic innovation.
3. C) Competitive products.
D) Effective promotion.
3. A) Expand the market.
B) Recruit more talents.
C) Innovate constantly.
D) Watch out for his competitors.
4. A) Possible bankruptcy .
B) Unforeseen difficulties.
C) Conflicts within the company.
D) Imitation by one’s competitors.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A) The job of an interpreter.
B) The stress felt by professionals.
C) The importance of language proficiency.
D) The best way to effective communication.
6. A) Promising. C) Rewarding.
B) Admirable. D) Meaningful.
7. A) They all have a strong interest in language.
B) They all have professional qualifications.
C) They have all passed language proficiency tests.
D) They have all studied cross-cultural differences.
8. A) It requires a much larger vocabulary.
B) It attaches more importance to accuracy.
 C) It is more stressful than simultaneous interpreting.
D) It puts one’s long-term memory under more stress.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will
hear three or four 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.
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A) It might affect mother’s health. C) It might increase the risk of infants’ death.
B) It might disturb infants’ sleep. D) It might increase mothers’ mental distress.
10. A) Mothers who breast-feed their babies have a harder time falling asleep.
B) Mothers who sleep with their babies need a little more sleep each night.
C) Sleeping patterns of mothers greatly affect their newborn babies’ health.
D) Sleeping with infants in the same room has a negative impact on mothers.
11. A) Change their sleep patterns to adapt to their newborn babies’.
B) Sleep in the same room but not in the same bed as their babies.
C) Sleep in the same house but not in the same room as their babies.
D) Take precautions to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A) A lot of native languages have already died out in the US.
B) The US ranks first in the number of endangered languages.
C) The efforts to preserve Indian languages have proved fruitless.
D) More money is needed to record the native languages in the US.
13. A) To set up more language schools.
B) To document endangered languages.
C) To educate native American children.
D) To revitalise America’s native languages.
14. A) The US government’s policy of Americanising Indian children.
B) The failure of American Indian languages to gain an official status.
C) The US government’s unwillingness to spend money educating Indians.
D) The long-time isolation of American Indians from the outside world.
15. A) It is being utilised to teach native languages.
B) It tells traditional stories during family time.
C) It speeds up the extinction of native languages.
D) It is widely used in language immersion schools.
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by
three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A) It pays them up to half of their previous wages while they look for work.
B) It covers their mortgage payments and medical expenses for 99 weeks.
 C) It pays their living expenses until they find employment again.
D) It provides them with the basic necessities of everyday life.
17. A) Creating jobs for the huge army of unemployed workers.
B) Providing training and guidance for unemployed workers.
C) Convincing local lawmakers to extend unemployment benefits.
D) Raising funds to help those having no unemployment insurance.
18. A) To offer them loans they need to start their own businesses.
B) To allow them to postpone their monthly mortgage payments.
C) To create more jobs by encouraging private investments in local companies.
D) To encourage big businesses to hire back workers with government subsidies.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A) They measured the depths of sea water.
B) They analyzed the water content.
C) They explored the ocean floor.
D) They investigated the ice.
20. A) Eighty percent of the ice disappears in summer time.
B) Most of the ice was accumulated over the past centuries.
C) The ice ensures the survival of many endangered species.
D) The ice decrease is more evident than previously thought.
21. A) Arctic ice is a major source of the worlds’ fresh water.
B) The melting Arctic ice has drowned many coastal cities.
C) The decline of Arctic ice is irreversible.
D) Arctic ice is essential to human survival.
22. A) It will do a lot of harm to mankind.
B) There is no easy way to understand it.
C) It will advance nuclear technology.
D) There is no easy technological solution to it.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
23. A) The reason why New Zealand children seem to have better self-control.
B) The relation between children’s self-control and their future success.
C) The health problems of children raised by a single parent.
D) The deciding factor in children’s academic performance.
24. A) Children raised by single parents will have a hard time in their thirties.
B) Those with a criminal record mostly come from single parent families.
C) Parents must learn to exercise self-control in front of their children.
D) Lack of self-control in parents is a disadvantage for their children.
25. A) Self-control can be improved through education.
B) Self-control can improve one’s financial situation.
C) Self-control problems may be detected early in children.
D) Self-control problems will diminish as one grows up.
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select
one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage.
Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is
 identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet
2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more
than once.
Let’s say you love roller-skating. Just the thought of 26 on your r
oller-skates brings a smile to your face. You also know that roller-skating is excellent exer
cise. You have a 27 attitude toward it.
This description of roller-skating 28 the three components of an attitu
de: affect, cognition, and behavior. You love the activity; it’s great fun. These feelings
29 the affective or emotional component; they are an important i
ngredient in attitudes. The knowledge we have about the object constitutes the cognitive co
mponent of an attitude. You understand the health 30 that the activity can bring. Final
ly, attitudes have a behavioral component. Our attitudes 31 us to go outside to e
njoy roller-skating.
Now, we don’t want to leave you with the 32 that these three component
s always work together 33 . They don’t; sometimes the
y clash. For example, let’s say you love pizza (affective component); however, you have hi
gh cholesterol and understand (knowledge component) that eating pizza may be bad for you
r health. Which behavior will your attitude result in, eating pizza or 34 it? The
answer depends on which component happens to be stronger. If you are walking past a pizz
a restaurant at lunchtime, your emotions and feelings probably will be stronger than your k
nowledge that pizza may not be the best food for your health. In that instance, you have piz
za for lunch. If you are at home trying to decide where to go for dinner, however, the knowl
edge component may 35 , and you decide to go where you can eat a healthier meal.

A) avoiding I) positive

B) benefits J) prevail

C) highlight K) primarily

D) illustrates L) prompt

E) impression M) specifications

F) improves N) strapping

G) inquiring O) typical

H) perfectly

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.
The Changing Generation
A) It turns out today’s teenagers aren’t so scary after all. Results of USA WEEKEND’s Teens
& Parents survey reveal a generation of young people who get along well with their parents
and approve of the way they’re being raised. They think of their parents with affection and
 respect. They speak with Mom or Dad when they have a problem. Most feel that their paren
ts understand them, and they believe their family is the No. 1 priority in their parents’ lives.
Many even think their parents are cool! Although more than a third have an object in their r
ooms they would like to keep secret from their parents, rarely is it anything more alarming
than a diary or off-color (低俗的) book or CD.
B) Such results may seem surprising against the background of shocking incidents that color th
e way the mass media portray the young. In October 2000, the same month the survey was t
aken, the Washington-based Center for Media and Public Affairs wrote in its publication
Media Monitor that, in a recent month of TV news coverage of American youth, just 2% of
teens were shown at home, and just 1% were portrayed in a work setting. In contrast, the cri
minal justice system accounted for nearly one out of every five visual backgrounds. No wo
nder parents worry their own kids might spin out of control once they hit the turbulent wate
rs of adolescence.
C) The overall facts ought to reassure us. The survey shows us that today’s teens are affectiona
te, sensible and far happier than the angry and tortured souls that have been painted for us b
y stereotypes. From other sources, we also know teenage crime, drug abuse and premarital s
ex are in general decline. We,of course, need to pay attention to youngsters who are filled
with discontent and hostility, but we should not allow these extreme cases to distort our
view of most young people.
D) My own research at the Stanford Center on Adolescence uses in-depth interviews with
small samples of youngsters rather than large-scale surveys. Still, in my studies and others I
have read, I find the same patterns as in USA WEEKEND’S survey. Today’s teenagers
admire their parents and welcome parental guidance about important matters such as career
choice—though certainly not Mom and Dad’s advice on matters of personal taste, such as
music or fashion. When we ask teens to choose a hero, they usually select an older family
member rather than a remote public figure. Most teens say they enjoy the company of both
parents and friends.
E) Contrary to some stereotypes, most adolescents believe they must be tolerant of differences
among individuals (though they do not always find this easy in the cliquish (拉帮结派的)
environment of high school). Many of them volunteer for community service with
disadvantaged people. One prevalent quality we have found in teens’ statements about
themselves, their friends and their families is a strikingly positive emotional tone. By and
large, these are very nice kids, and as the band The Who used to sing, “ The kids are
alright.”
F) How much is today’s spirit of harmony a change from our more turbulent past? A mere
generation ago, parent-child relations were described as “the generation gap”. Yet even
then reports of widespread youth rebellion were overdone: Most kids in the ’60s and ’70s
shared their parents’ basic values. Still, it is true that American families are growing closer
at the dawn of this new millennium (千年). Perhaps there is less to fight about, with the
country in a period of tranquility and the dangers of drug abuse and other unwholesome
behavior well known. Perhaps in the face of impersonal and intimidating globalization, a
young person’s family feels more like a friendly haven than an oppressive trap. And
perhaps parents are acting more like parents than in the recent past. Within just the past five
years, I have noticed parents returning to a belief that teenagers need the guidance of elders
rather than the liberal, “anything goes” mode of child-rearing that became popular in the
second half of the 20th century.
G) But missing from all these data is the sense that today’s young care very much about their
country, about the broader civic and political environment, or about the future of their
society. They seem to be turning inward-generally in a pro-social manner, certainly with
positive benefits for intimate relationships, but too often at the expense of a connection with
the present and future world beyond, including the society they will one day inherit.
H) Recently, we examined more than 400 essays on the “ laws of life ” that teens from two
communities had written as part of an educational program initiated by the John Templeton
Foundation in Radnor, Pa. In those essays, and in follow-up interviews with a few of the
 teenagers, we found lots of insight, positive feeling and inspirational thinking. But we also
found little interest in civic life beyond the tight circles of their family and immediate
friends.
I) For example, only one boy said he would like to be president when he grows up. When I
was in high school, dozens in my class alone would have answered differently. In fact,
other recent studies have found there has never been a time in American history when so
small a proportion of young people have sought or accepted leadership roles in local civic
organizations. It is also troubling that voting rates among our youngest eligible voters—18-
to 24-year-olds—are way down: Little more than one in four now go to the polls, even in
national elections, compared with almost twice that many when 18-year-olds were first
given the vote.
J) In our interviews, many students viewed politics with suspicion and distaste. “Most
politicians are kind of crooked (不诚实的),” one student declared. Another, discussing
national politics, said, “I feel like one person can’t do that much, and I get the impression
most people don’t think a group of people can do that much.” Asked what they would like
to change in the world, the students mentioned only personal concerns such as slowing
down the pace of life, gaining good friends, becoming more spiritual, becoming either more
materially successful or less materially oriented (depending on the student’s values), and
being more respectful of the Earth, animals and other people. One boy said, “I’d rather be
concentrating on artistic efforts than saving the world or something.”
K) It is fine and healthy for teens to cultivate their personal interests, and it is good news when
young people enjoy harmonious relations with their family and friends. But there is also a
place in a young life for noble purposes that include a dedication to the broader society, a
love of country and an aspiration to make their own leadership contributions.
L) In the past, the young have eagerly participated in national service and civic affairs, often
with lots of energy and idealism. If this is not happening today, we should ask why. Our
society needs the full participation of its younger citizens if it is to continue to thrive. We
know the promise is there—this is a well-grounded, talented, warm-hearted group of
youngsters. We have everything to gain by encouraging them to explore the world beyond
their immediate experience and to prepare themselves for their turn at shaping that world.
36. Not many young people eligible for voting are interested in local or national elections t
hese days.
37. Parents are concerned that their children may get involved in criminal offences once th
ey reach their teens.
38. Even during the turbulent years of last century, youth rebellion was often exaggerated i
n the media.
39. Teenagers of today often turn to their parents for advice on such important matters as c
areer choice.
40. The incidence of teenage crime and misbehavior is decreasing nowadays.
41. Young people should have lofty ideals in life and strive to be leaders.
42. Some young people like to keep something to themselves and don’t want their parents t
o know about it.
43. It is beneficial to encourage young people to explore the broader word and get ready to
make it a better place.
44. Many teenagers now offer to render service to the needy.
45. Interviews with students find many of them are only concerned about personal matter
s.

Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some
questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B),
C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on
Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Manufacturers of products that claim to be environmentally friendly will face tight
er rules on how they are advertised to consumers under changes proposed by the Feder
al Trade Commission.
The commission’s revised “Green Guides” warn marketers against using labels th
at make broad claims, like “eco-friendly”. Marketers must qualify their claims on the p
roduct packaging and limit them to a specific benefit, such as how much of the product
is recycled.
“This is really about trying to cut through the confusion that consumers have whe
n they are buying a product and that businesses have when they are selling a product,”
said Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the commission.
The revisions come at a time when green marketing is on the rise. According to a
new study, the number of advertisements with green messages in mainstream magazine
s has risen since 1987, and peaked in 2008 at 10.4%. In 2009, the number dropped to 9
%.
But while the number of advertisements may have dipped, there has been a rapid s
pread of eco-labeling. There are both good and bad players in the eco-labeling game.
In the last five years or so, there has been an explosion of green claims and enviro
nmental claims. It is clear that consumers don’t always know what they are getting.
A handful of lawsuits have been filed in recent years against companies accused o
f using misleading environmental labels. In 2008 and 2009, class-action lawsuits (集
体诉讼) were filed against SC Johnson for using “ Greenlist” labels on its cleaning pr
oducts. The lawsuits said that the label was misleading because it gave the impression t
hat the products had been certified by a third party when the certification was the comp
any’s own.
“ We are very proud of our accomplishments under the Greenlist system and we b
elieve that we will prevail in these cases,” Christopher Beard, director of public affairs
for SC Johnson, said, while acknowledging that “ this has been an area that is difficult t
o navigate.”
Companies have also taken it upon themselves to contest each other’s green claim
s.
David Mallen, associate director of the Council of Better Business Bureau, said in
the last two years the organization had seen an increase in the number of claims compa
nies were bringing against each other for false or misleading environmental product cla
ims.
“About once a week, I have a client that will bring up a new certification I’ve nev
er even heard of and I’m in this industry,” said Kevin Wilhelm, chief executive officer
of Sustainable Business Consulting. “It’s kind of a Wild West, anybody can claim them
selves to be green.” Mr. Wilhelm said the excess of labels made it difficult for business
es and consumers to know which labels they should pay attention to.
47. What do the revised “Green Guides” require businesses to do?
A) Manufacture as many green products as possible.
B) Indicate whether their products are recyclable.
C) Specify in what way their products are green.
D) Attach green labels to all of their products.

47. What does the author say about consumers facing an explosion of green claims?
A) They can easily see through the businesses’ tricks.
B) They have to spend lots of time choosing products.
C) They have doubt about current green certification.
D) They are not clear which products are truly green.
48. What was SC Johnson accused of in the class-action lawsuits?
A) It gave consumers the impression that all its products were truly green.
B) It gave a third party the authority to label its products as environmentally friendly.
C) It misled consumers to believe that its products had been certified by a third party.
D) It sold cleaning products that were not included in the official “Greenlist”.

49. How did Christopher Beard defend his company’s labeling practice?
A) There were no clear guidelines concerning green labeling.
B) His company’s products had been well received by the public.
C) It was in conformity to the prevailing practice in the market.
D) No law required the involvement of a third party in certification.

50.What does Kevin Wilhelm imply by saying “It’s kind of a Wild West” (Line 3, Para. 11)?
A) Businesses compete to produce green products.
B) Each business acts its own way in green labeling.
C) Consumers grow wild with products labeled green.
D) Anything produced in the West can be labeled green.

Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
America’s education system has become less a ladder of opportunity than a struct
ure to transmit inequality from one generation to the next.
That’s why school reform is so critical. This is an issue of equality, opportunity an
d national conscience. It’s not just about education, but about poverty and justice.
It’s true that the main reason inner-city schools do poorly isn’t teachers’ unions, b
ut poverty. Southern states without strong teachers’ unions have schools at least as awf
ul as those in union states. Some Chicago teachers seem to think that they shouldn’t be
held accountable until poverty is solved. There’re steps we can take that would make s
ome difference, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying some of them—yet the union is re
sisting.
I’d be sympathetic if the union focused solely on higher compensation. Teachers n
eed to be much better paid to attract the best college graduates to the nation’s worst sch
ools. But, instead, the Chicago union seems to be using its political capital primarily to
protect weak performers.
There’s solid evidence that there are huge differences in the effectiveness of teach
ers. The gold standard study by Harvard and Columbia University scholars found that e
ven in high-poverty schools, teachers consistently had a huge positive or negative impa
ct.
Get a bottom 1% teacher, and the effect is the same as if a child misses 40% of the
school year. Get a teacher from the top 20% , and it’s as if a child has gone to school fo
r an extra month or two. The study found that strong teachers in the fourth through eigh
th grades raised the skills of their students in ways that would last for decades. Just hav
ing a strong teacher for one elementary year left pupils a bit less likely to become moth
ers as teenagers, a bit more likely to go to college and earning more money at age 28.
How does one figure out who is a weak teacher? Yes, that’s a challenge. But resea
rchers are improving systems to measure a teacher’s performance throughout the year,
and, with three years of data, it’s usually possible to tell which teachers are failing.
Unfortunately, the union in Chicago is insisting that teachers who are laid off—oft
en for being ineffective—should get priority in new hiring. That’s an insult to students.
Teaching is so important that it should be like other professions, with high pay an
d good working conditions but few job protections for bottom performers.
This isn’t a battle between garment workers and greedy bosses. The central figure
s in the Chicago schools strike are neither strikers nor managers but 350,000 children.
Protecting the union demand sacrifices those students, in effect turning a blind eye to th
e injustice in the education system.

51. What do we learn about America’s education system?

A) It provides a ladder of opportunity for the wealthy.
B) It contributes little to the elimination of inequality.
C) It has remained basically unchanged for generations.
D) It has brought up generations of responsible citizens.
52. What is chiefly responsible for the undesirable performance of inner-city schools?
A) Unqualified teachers.
B) Lack of financial resources.
C) Unfavorable learning environment.
D) Subconscious racial discrimination.
53. What does the author think the union should do to win popular support?
A) Assist the city government in reforming schools.
B) Give constructive advice to inner-city schools.
C) Demand higher pay for teachers.
D) Help teachers improve teaching.
54. What is the finding of the gold standard study by Harvard and Columbia University scholars?
A) Many inner-city school teachers are not equal to their jobs.
B) A large proportion of inner-city children often miss classes.
C) Many students are dissatisfied with their teachers.
D) Student performance has a lot to do with teachers.
55.Why does the author say the Chicago union’s demand is an insult to students?
A) It protects incompetent teachers at the expense of students.
B) It underestimates students’ ability to tell good teachers from poor ones.
C) It makes students feel that they are discriminated against in many ways.
D) It totally ignores students’ initiative in the learning process.
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.
旗袍(qipao) 是一种雅致的中国服装，源于中国的满族（Manchu Nationality)。在清代，
旗袍是王室女性穿着的宽松长袍上世纪 20 年代，受西方服饰影响，旗袍发生了一些变化。袖
口（cuffs) 变窄，袍身变短。这些变化使女性美得以充分展现。
如今，旗袍经常出现在世界级的时装秀上。中国女性出席重要社交聚会时，旗袍往往是
她们的首选。很多中国新娘也会选择旗袍作为结婚礼服。一些有影响的人士甚至建议将旗袍作
为中国女性的民族服饰。
 2016年06月大学英语六级考试真题（第3套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on e-learning.
Try to imagine what will happen when more and more people study online instead of
attending school. You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

Part II Listening Comprehension(30 minutes)

淘宝店铺【光速考研工作室】 温馨提示：历年全国六级考试共考2套听力，第3套套真题听力
与第2套内容完全相同，只是题目选项顺序不同，因此不再重复出现。
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select
one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage.
Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is
identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet
2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more
than once.
The robotics revolution is set to bring humans face to face with an old fear—man-
made creations as smart and capable as we are but without a moral compass. As robots
take on ever more complex roles, the question naturally 26 : Who
will be responsible when they do something wrong? Manufacturers? Users? Software
writers? The answer depends on the robot.
Robots already save us time, money and energy. In the future, they will improve
our health care, social welfare and standard of living. The 27 of
computational power and engineering advances will 28 enable
lower⁃cost in⁃home care for the disabled, 29 use of driverless cars
that may reduce drunk-and distracted⁃driving accidents and countless home and
service-industry uses for robots, from street cleaning to food preparation.
But there are 3 0 to be problems. Robot cars will crash. A
drone (遥控飞行器) operator will 31 someone’s privacy. A
robotic lawn mower(割草机） will run over a neighbor’s cat. Juries sympathetic to the
32 of machines will punish entrepreneurs with company-
crushing 33 and damages. What should governments do to
protect people while 34 space for innovation?
Big, complicated systems on which much public safety depends, like driverless
cars, should be built, 35 and sold by manufacturers who take
responsibility for ensuring safety and are liable for accidents. Governments should set
safety requirements and then let insurers price the risk of the robots based on the
manufacturer’s driving record, not the passenger’s.
A)arises I) manifesting
B) ascends J) penalties
C) bound K) preserving
 D)combination L) programmed
E) definite M) proximately
F) eventually N) victims
G) interfere O) widespread
H) invade

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.
Reform and Medical Costs

[A] Americans are deeply concerned about the relentless rise in health care costs and health
insurance premiums. They need to know if reform will help solve the problem. The answer
is that no one has an easy fix for rising medical costs. The fundamental fix—reshaping how
care is delivered and how doctors are paid in a wasteful, abnormal system—is likely to be
achieved only through trial and error and incremental (渐进的) gains.
[B] The good news is that a bill just approved by the House and a bill approved by the Senate
Finance Committee would implement or test many reforms that should help slow the rise in
medical costs over the long term. As a report in The New England Journal of Medicine
concluded, “Pretty much every proposed innovation found in the health policy literature
these days is contained in these measures.”
[C] Medical spending, which typically rises faster than wages and the overall economy, is
propelled by two things: the high prices charged for medical services in this country and the
volume of unnecessary care delivered by doctors and hospitals, which often perform a lot
more tests and treatments than a patient really needs.
[D] Here are some of the important proposals in the House and Senate bills to try to address
those problems, and why it is hard to know how well they will work.
[E] Both bills would reduce the rate of growth in annual Medicare payments to hospitals,
nursing homes and other providers by amounts comparable to the productivity savings
routinely made in other industries with the help of new technologies and new ways to
organize work. This proposal could save Medicare more than $ 100 billion over the next
decade. If private plans demanded similar productivity savings from providers, and refused
to let providers shift additional costs to them, the savings could be much larger. Critics say
Congress will give in to lobbyists and let inefficient providers off the hook (放过). That is
far less likely to happen if Congress also adopts strong “ pay-go” rules requiring that any
increase in payments to providers be offset by new taxes or budget cuts.
[F] The Senate Finance bill would impose an excise tax (消费税) on health insurance plans that
cost more than $ 8,000 for an individual or $ 21,000 for a family. It would most likely
cause insurers to redesign plans to fall beneath the threshold. Enrollees would have to pay
more money for many services out of their own pockets, and that would encourage them to
think twice about whether an expensive or redundant test was worth it. Economists project
 that most employers would shift money from expensive health benefits into wages, The
House bill has no similar tax. The final legislation should.
[G] Any doctor who has wrestled with multiple forms from different insurers, or patients who
have tried to understand their own parade of statements, know that simplification ought to
save money. When the health insurance industry was still cooperating in reform efforts, its
trade group offered to provide standardized forms for automated processing. It estimated
that step would save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. The bills would
lock that pledge into law.
[H] The stimulus package provided money to convert the inefficient, paper⁃driven medical
system to electronic records that can be easily viewed and transmitted. This requires open
investments to help doctors convert. In time it should help restrain costs by eliminating
redundant tests, preventing drug interactions, and helping doctors find the best treatments.
[I] Virtually all experts agree that the fee⁃for⁃service system—doctors are rewarded for the
quantity of care rather than its quality or effectiveness—is a primary reason that the cost of
care is so high. Most agree that the solution is to push doctors to accept fixed payments to
care for a particular illness or for a patient’s needs over a year. No one knows how to make
that happen quickly. The bills in both houses would start pilot projects within Medicare.
They include such measures as accountable care organizations to take charge of a patient’s
needs with an eye on both cost and quality, and chronic disease management to make sure
the seriously ill, who are responsible for the bulk of all health care costs, are treated
properly. For the most part, these experiments rely on incentive payments to get doctors to
try them.
[G] Testing innovations do no good unless the good experiments are identified and expanded
and the bad ones are dropped. The Senate bill would create an independent commission to
monitor the pilot programs and recommend changes in Medicare’s payment policies to urge
providers to adopt reforms that work. The changes would have to be approved or rejected
as a whole by Congress, making it hard for narrow-interest lobbies to bend lawmakers to
their will.
[K] The bills in both chambers would create health insurance exchanges on which small
businesses and individuals could choose from an array of private plans and possibly a
public option. All the plans would have to provide standard benefit packages that would be
easy to compare. To get access to millions of new customers, insurers would have a strong
incentive to lower their prices, perhaps by accepting slimmer profit margins or demanding
better deals from providers.
[L] The final legislation might throw a public plan into the competition, but thanks to the fierce
opposition of the insurance industry and Republican critics, it might not save much money.
The one in the House bill would have to negotiate rates with providers, rather than using
Medicare rates, as many reformers wanted.
[M] The president’s stimulus package is pumping money into research to compare how well
various treatments work. Is surgery, radiation or careful monitoring best for prostate (前列
腺) cancer? Is the latest and most expensive cholesterol⁃lowering drug any better than its
common competitors? The pending bills would spend additional money to accelerate this
effort.
[N] Critics have charged that this sensible idea would lead to rationing of care. (That would be
true only if you believed that patients should have an unrestrained right to treatments
 proven to be inferior.) As a result, the bills do not require, as they should, that the results of
these studies be used to set payment rates in Medicare.
[O] Congress needs to find the courage to allow Medicare to pay preferentially for treatments
proven to be superior. Sometimes the best treatment might be the most expensive. But
overall, we suspect that spending would come down through elimination of a lot of
unnecessary or even dangerous tests and treatments.
[P] The House bill would authorize the secretary of health and human services to negotiate
drug prices in Medicare and Medicaid. Some authoritative analysts doubt that the secretary
would get better deals than private insurers already get. We believe negotiation could work.
It does in other countries.
[Q] Missing from these bills is any serious attempt to rein in malpractice costs. Malpractice
awards do drive up insurance premiums for doctors in high⁃risk specialties, and there is
some evidence that doctors engage in “defensive medicine” by performing tests and
treatments primarily to prove they are not negligent should they get sued.

36. With a tax imposed on expensive health insurance plans, most employers will likely
transfer money from health expenses into wages.
37. Changes in policy would be approved or rejected as a whole so that lobbyists would find it
hard to influence lawmakers.
38. It is not easy to curb the rising medical costs in America.
39. Standardization of forms for automatic processing will save a lot of medical expenses.
40 Republicans and the insurance industry are strongly opposed to the creation of a public
insurance plan.
41. Conversion of paper to electronic medical records will help eliminate redundant tests and
prevent drug interactions.
42. The high cost of medical services and unnecessary tests and treatments have driven up
medical expenses.
43. One main factor that has driven up medical expenses is that doctors are compensated for the
amount of care rather than its effect.
44. Contrary to analysts’ doubts, the author believes drug prices may be lowered through
negotiation.
45. Fair competition might create a strong incentive for insurers to charge less.

Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some
questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B),
C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on
Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Facing water shortages and escalating fertilizer costs, farmers in developing countries
are using raw sewage ( 下 水 道 污 水 ) to irrigate and fertilize nearly 49 million acres of
cropland, according to a new report—and it may not be a bad thing.
 While the practice carries serious health risks for many, those dangers are outweighed
by the social and economic gains for poor urban farmers and consumers who need
affordable food.
“There is a large potential for wastewater agriculture to both help and hurt great
numbers of urban consumers,” said Liqa Raschid-Sally, who led the study.
The report focused on poor urban areas, where farms in or near cities supply relatively
inexpensive food. Most of these operations draw irrigation water from local rivers or lakes.
Unlike developed cities, however, these areas lack advanced water-treatment facilities, and
rivers effectively become sewers (下水道).
When this water is used for agricultural irrigation, farmers risk absorbing disease-
causing bacteria, as do consumers who eat the produce raw and unwashed. Nearly 2.2
million people die each year because of diarrhea-related ( 与 腹 泻 相 关 的 ) diseases,
according to WHO statistics. More than 80% of those cases can be attributed to contact
with contaminated water and a lack of proper sanitation. But Pay Drechsel, an
environmental scientist, argues that the social and economic benefits of using untreated
human waste to grow food outweigh the health risks.
Those dangers can be addressed with farmer and consumer education, he said, while
the free water and nutrients from human waste can help urban farmers in developing
countries to escape poverty.
Agriculture is a water-intensive business, accounting for nearly 70% of global fresh
water consumption.
In poor, dry regions, untreated wastewater is the only viable irrigation source to keep
farmers in business. In some cases, water is so scarce that farmers break open sewage pipes
transporting waste to local rivers.
Irrigation is the primary agricultural use of human waste in the developing world. But
frequently untreated human waste harvested from lavatories is delivered to farms and
spread as fertilizer.
In most cases, the human waste is used on grain crops, which are eventually cooked,
minimizing the risk of transmitting water-borne diseases. With fertilizer prices jumping
nearly 50% per metric ton over the last year in some places, human waste is an attractive,
and often necessary, alternative.
In cases where sewage mud is used, expensive chemical fertilizer use can be avoided.
The mud contains the same critical nutrients.
“Overly strict standards often fail,” James Bartram, a WHO water-health expert, said.
“We need to accept that fact across much of the planet, so waste with little or no treatment
will be used in agriculture for good reason.”

46.What does the author say about the use of raw sewage for farming?
A) Its risks cannot be overestimated.
B) It should be forbidden altogether.
C) Its benefits outweigh the hazards involved.
D) It is polluting millions of acres of cropland.
47.What is the main problem caused by the use of wastewater for irrigation?
A) Rivers and lakes nearby will gradually become contaminated.
B) It will drive producers of chemical fertilizers out of business.
C) Farmers and consumers may be affected by harmful bacteria.
D) It will make the farm produce less competitive on the market.
48.What is environmental scientist Pay Drechsel’s attitude towards the use of untreated human
waste in agriculture?
A) Favorable. C) Indifferent.
B) Skeptical. D) Responsible.
49. What does Pay Dreschsel think of the risks involved in using untreated human waste for farming?
 A) They have been somewhat exaggerated.
B) They can be dealt with through education.
C) They will be minimized with new technology.
D) They can be addressed by improved sanitation.
50.What do we learn about James Bartram’s position on the use of human waste for
farming?
A) He echoes Pay Drechsel’s opinion on the issue.
B) He challenges Liqa Raschid-Sally’s conclusion
C) He thinks it the only way out of the current food crisis.
D) He deems it indispensable for combating global poverty.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
These days, nobody needs to cook. Families graze on high⁃cholesterol take-aways and
microwaved ready-meals. Cooking is an occasional hobby and a vehicle for celebrity chefs.
Which makes it odd that the kitchen has become the heart of the modern house: what the
great hall was to the medieval castle, the kitchen is to the 21st-century home.
The money spent on kitchens has risen with their status. In America the kitchen market
is now worth $ 170 billion, five times the country’s film industry. In the year to August
2007, IKEA, a Swedish furniture chain, sold over one million kitchens worldwide. The
average budget for a “major” kitchen overhaul in 2006, calculates Remodeling magazine,
was a staggering $ 54,000; even a “minor” improvement cost on average $ 18,000.
Exclusivity, more familiar in the world of high fashion, has reached the kitchen:
Robinson & Cornish, a British manufacturer of custom-made kitchens, offers a Georgian-
style one which would cost￡145,000-155,000—excluding building, plumbing and
electrical work. Its big selling point is that nobody else will have it: “You won’t see this
kitchen anywhere else in the world.”
The elevation of the room that once belonged only to the servants to that of design
showcase for the modern family tells the story of a century of social change. Right into the
early 20th century, kitchens were smoky, noisy places, generally located underground, or to
the back of the house, and as far from living space as possible. That was as it should be:
kitchens were for servants, and the aspiring middle classes wanted nothing to do with them.
But as the working classes prospered and the servant shortage set in, housekeeping
became a matter of interest to the educated classes. One of the pioneers of a radical new
way of thinking about the kitchen was Catharine Esther Beecher, sister of Harriet Beecher
Stowe. In American Woman’s Home, published in 1869, the Beecher sisters recommended
a scientific approach to household management, designed to enhance the efficiency of a
woman’s work and promote order.
Many contemporary ideas about kitchen design can be traced back to another
American, Christine Frederick, who set about enhancing the efficiency of the housewife.
Her 1919 work, Household Engineering: Scientific Management in the Home, was based on
detailed observation of a housewife’s daily routine. She borrowed the principle of
efficiency on the factory floor and applied it to domestic tasks on the kitchen floor.
Frederick’s central idea, that “stove, sink and kitchen table must be placed in such a
relation that useless steps are avoided entirely”, inspired the first fully fitted kitchen,
designed in the 1920s by Margarete Schütte-Lihotsky. It was a modernist triumph, and
many elements remain central features of today’s kitchen.
51. What does the author say about the kitchen of today?
A) It is where housewives display their cooking skills.
B) It is where the family entertains important guests.
C) It has become something odd in a modern house.
D) It is regarded as the center of a modern home.
52. Why does the Georgian-style kitchen sell at a very high price?
A) It is believed to have tremendous artistic value.
B) No duplicate is to be found in any other place.
 C) It is manufactured by a famous British company.
D) No other manufacturer can produce anything like it.
53. What does the change in the status of the kitchen reflect?
A) Improved living conditions.
B) Women’s elevated status.
C) Technological progress.
D) Social change.
54. What was the Beecher sisters’ idea of a kitchen?
A) A place where women could work more efficiently.
B) A place where high technology could be applied.
C) A place of interest to the educated people.
D) A place to experiment with new ideas.
55. What do we learn about today’s kitchen?
A) It represents the rapid technological advance in people’s daily life.
B) Many of its central features are no different from those of the 1920s.
C) It has been transformed beyond recognition.
D) Many of its functions have changed greatly.

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.
深圳是中国广东省一座新开发的城市。在改革开放之前,深圳不过是一个渔村,仅有三万
多人。20 世纪 80 年代,中国政府创建了深圳经济特区,作为实施社会主义市场经济的试验田。
如今,深圳的人口已经超过 1,000 万,整个城市发生了巨大的变化。
到 2014 年,深圳的人均 (per-capita) GDP 已达 25,000 美元,相当于世界上一些发达国
家的水平。就综合经济实力而言,深圳居于中国顶尖城市之列。由于其独特的地位,深圳也是国
内外企业家创业的理想之地。