1999 年 6 月英语六级真题及答案
Part I Listening Comprehension (20 minutes)
Section A
Directions: Inthissection,youwillhear10shortconversations.Attheendofeach
conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. Both the
conversationandthequestionwillbespokenonlyonce.Aftereachquestion
therewillbeapause.Duringthepause,youmustreadthefourchoicesmarked
A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the
corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the
centre.
Example:
You will hear:
You will read: A) 2 hours.
B) 3 hours.
C) 4 hours.
D) 5 hours.
From the conversation we know that the two are talking about some work they will
start at 9 o’clock in the morning and have to finish at 2 in the afternoon. Therefore,
D) “5 hours” is the correct answer. You should choose [D] on the Answer Sheet and
mark it with a single line through the center.
Sample Answer [A] [B] [C] [D]
1.
A) The man attended the concert, but didn’t like it.
B) The man was sorry to miss the football game.
C) The man is more interested in football than in classical music.
D) The man was sorry that he didn’t attend the concert.
2.
A) Singing loudly.
B) Listening to music.
C) Studying.
D) Talking on the phone.
3.
A) She can’t receive any calls.
B) She can’t make any calls.
C) She can do nothing with the phone.
D) She can’t repair the phone.
4.
A) Tom is very responsible.
B) Tom’s words aren’t reliable.
C) What Tom said is true.
D) Tom is not humorous at all.
5.
A) How to use a camera.
B) How to use a washer.
C) How to use a keyboard.
D) How to use a tape recorder.
6.
A) They should put the meeting to an end.
B) They should hold another meeting to discuss the matter.
C) She would like to discuss another item.
D) She wants to discuss the issue again later.
7.
A) He believes the Browns have done a sensible thing.
B) He doesn’t think the Browns should move to another place.
C) He doesn’t think the Browns’ investment is a wise move.
D) He believes it is better for the Browns to invest later.
8.
A) He may convert it and use it as a restaurant.
B) He may pull it down and build a new restaurant.
C) He may rent it out for use as a restaurant.
D) He may sell it to the owner of a restaurant.
9.
A) She doesn’t like the way the professor lectures.
B) She’s having a hard time following the professor’s lectures.
C) She is not interested in course.
D) She’s having difficulty with the heavy reading assignments.
10. A) He never keeps his promises.
B) He is crazy about parties.
C) He has changed his mind.
D) He is not sociable.
Section B Compound Dictation
注意: 听力理解的 B 节(Section B)为复合式听写(Compound Dictation),题目在卷二上。
现在请取出试卷二。
Directions: Inthissection,you will hear a passagetreetimes. When thepassageis
readforthefirsttime,youshouldlistencarefullyforitsgeneralidea.
Thenlistento thepassage again.Whenthe passageis read forthesecond
time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from S1 to S7 with
theexactwordsyouhavejustheard.ForblanksnumberedS8toS10youare
requiredtofillinmissinginformation.Youcaneitherusetheexactwords
youhavejustheardorwritedownthemainpointsinyourownwords.Finally,
whenthepassageisreadforthethirdtime,youshouldcheckwhatyouhave
written.
President Clinton later today joins (S1) ________ presidents Ford, Carter and Bush
at “the president’s summit for America’s future” (S2) ________ at recruiting one
million volunteer tutors to provide after-school, weekend and summer reading help for
up to three million children. Mr. Clinton will ask Congress this coming week for nearly
three (S3) ________ dollars to fund a five-year program called “America Reads”.
The program would fund the (S4) ________ efforts of 20 thousand reading (S5)
________ and it would also give (S6) ________ to help parents help children read by
the third grade, or about age eight. During his Saturday radio (S7) ________, the
president explained why the program is important. “We need ‘America Reads’ and we
need it now. Studies show that if the fourth-graders fail to read well, (S8) ________.
But, 40 percent of them still can’t read at a basic level.”
Volunteer tutors, who provide community service in exchange for college funding,
are being used in literacy and tutoring programs. (S9) ________.
The president says many of the Philadelphia summit’s corporate sponsors will
recruit tutors. (S10) ________.
Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Directions: Thereare4readingpassagesinthispart.Eachpassageisfollowedbysome
questionsorunfinishedstatements.Foreachofthemtherearefourchoices
markedA),B),C)andD).Youshoulddecideonthebestchoiceandmarkthe
corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the
center.
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.
We sometimes think humans are uniquely vulnerable to anxiety, but stress seems to
affect the immune defenses of lower animals too. In one experiment, for example,
behavioral immunologist(免疫学家) Mark Laudenslager, at the University of Denver, gave
mild electric shocks to 24 rats. Half the animals could switch off the current by turning
a wheel in their enclosure, while the other half could mot. The rats in the two groups
were paired so that each time one rat turned the wheel it protected both itself and
its helpless partner from the shock. Laudenslager found that the immune response was
depressed below normal in the helpless rats but not in those that could turn off the
electricity. What he has demonstrated, he believes, is that lack of control over an
event, not the experience itself, is what weakens the immune system.
Other researchers agree. Jay Weiss, a psychologist at Duke University School of
Medicine, has shown that animals who are allowed to control unpleasant stimuli don’t
develop sleep disturbances or changes in brain chemistry typical of stressed rats. But
if the animals are confronted with situations they have no control over, they later
behave passively when faced with experiences they can control. Such findings reinforce
psychologists’ suspicions that the experience or perception of helplessness is one
of the most harmful factors in depression.
One of the most startling examples of how the mind can alter the immune response
was discovered by chance. In 1975 psychologist Robert Ader at the University of
Rochester School of Medicine conditioned(使形成条件反射) mice to avoid saccharin(糖
精) by simultaneously feeding them the sweetener and injecting them with a drug that
while suppressing their immune systems caused stomach upsets. Associating the saccharin
with the stomach pains, the mice quickly learned to avoid the sweetener. In order to
extinguish this dislike for the sweetener, Ader reexposed the animals to saccharin,
this time without the drug, and was astonished to find that those mice that had received
the highest amounts of sweetener during their earlier conditioning died. He could only
speculate that he had so successfully conditioned the rats that saccharin alone now
served to weaken their immune systems enough to kill them.
11. Laudenslager’s experiment showed that the immune system of those rats who could
turn off the electricity ________.
A) was strengthened
B) was not affected
C) was altered
D) was weakened
12. According to the passage, the experience of helplessness causes rats to ________.
A) try to control unpleasant stimuli
B) turn off the electricity
C) behave passively in controllable situations
D) become abnormally suspicious
13. The reason why the mice in Ader’s experiment avoided saccharin was that ________.
A) they disliked its taste
B) it affected their immune systems
C) it led to stomach pains
D) they associated it with stomachaches
14. The passage tells us that the most probable reason for the death of the mice in
Ader’s experiment was that ________.
A) they had been weakened psychologically by the saccharin
B) the sweetener was poisonous to them
C) their immune systems had been altered by the mind
D) they had taken too much sweetener during earlier conditioning
15. It can be concluded from the passage that the immune systems of animals ________.
A) can be weakened by conditioning
B) can be suppressed by drug injections
C) can be affected by frequent doses of saccharin
D) can be altered by electric shocks
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.
The destruction of our natural resources and contamination of our food supply
continue occur, largely because of the extreme difficulty in affixing(把…固定) legal
responsibility on those who continue to treat our environment with reckless abandon
(放任). Attempts to prevent pollution by legislation, economic incentives and friendly
persuasion have been net by lawsuits, personal and industrial denial and long delays
—not only in accepting responsibility, but more importantly, in doing something about
it.
It seems that only when government decides it can afford tax incentives or
production sacrifices is there any initiative for change. Where is industry’s and our
recognition that protecting mankind’s great treasure is the single most important
responsibility? If ever there will be time for environmental health professionals to
come to the frontlines and provide leadership to solve environmental problems, that
time is now.
We are being asked, and, in fact, the public is demanding that we take positive
action. It is our responsibility as professionals in environmental health to make the
difference. Yes, the ecologists, the environmental activists and the conservationists
serve to communicate, stimulate thinking and promote behavioral change. However, it
is those of us who are paid to make the decisions to develop, improve and enforce
environmental standards, I submit, who must lead the charge.
We must recognize that environmental health issues do not stop at city limits,
county lines, state or even federal boundaries. We can no longer afford to be
tunnel-visioned in our approach. We must visualize issues from every perspective to
make the objective decisions. We must express our views clearly to prevent media
distortion and public confusion.
I believe we have a three-part mission for the present. First, we must continue
to press for improvements in the quality of life that people can make for themselves.
Second, we must investigate and understand the link between environment and health.
Third, we must be able to communicate technical information in a form that citizens
can understand. If we can accomplish these three goals in this decade, maybe we can
finally stop environmental degradation, and not merely hold it back. We will then be
able to spend pollution dollars truly on prevention rather than on bandages.
16. We can infer from the first two paragraphs that the industrialists disregard
environmental protection chiefly because ________.
A) they are unaware of the consequences of what they are doing
B) they are reluctant to sacrifice their own economic interests
C) time has not yet come for them to put due emphasis on it
D) it is difficult for them to take effective measures
17. The main task now facing ecologists, environmental activists and conservationists
is ________.
A) to prevent pollution by legislation, economic incentives and persuasion
B) to arouse public awareness of the importance of environmental protection
C) to take radical measures to control environmental pollution
D) to improve the quality of life by enforcing environmental standards
18. The word “tunnel-visioned (Line 2, Para. 4) most probably means “________”.
A) narrow-minded
B) blind to the facts
C) short-sighted
D) able to see only one aspect
19. Which of the following, according to the author, should play the leading role in
the solution of environmental problems?
A) Legislation and government intervention.
B) The industry’s understanding and support.
C) The efforts of environmental health professionals.
D) The cooperation of ecologists, environmental activists and conservationists.
20. Which of the following is true according to the last paragraph?
A) Efforts should be exerted on pollution prevention instead of on remedial
measures.
B) More money should be spent in order to stop pollution.
C) Ordinary citizens have no access to technical information on pollution.
D) Environmental degradation will be stopped by the end of this decade.
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
British universities, groaning under the burden of a huge increase in student
numbers, are warning that the tradition of a free education is at risk. The universities
have threatened to impose an admission fee on students to plug a gap in revenue if the
government does not act to improve their finances and scrap some public spending
cutbacks.
The government responded to the universities’ threat by setting up the most
fundamental review of higher education for a generation, under a non-party
troubleshooter (调停人),Sir Ron Dearing.
One in three school-leavers enters higher education, five times the number when
the last review took place thirty years ago.
Everyone agrees a system that is feeling the strain after rapid expansion needs
a lot more money-but there is little hope of getting it from the taxpayer and not much
scope for attracting more finance from business.
Most colleges believe students should contribute to tuition costs, something that
is common elsewhere in the world but would mark a revolutionary change in Britain.
Universities want the government to introduce a loan scheme for tuition fees and have
suspended their own threatened action for now. They await Dearing’s advice, hoping
it will not be too late-some are already reported to be in financial difficulty.
As the century nears its end, the whole concept of what a university should be is
under the microscope. Experts ponder how much they can use computers instead of
classrooms, talk of the need for lifelong learning and refer to students as
“consumers.”
The Confederation (联盟) of British Industry, the key employers’ organization,
wants even more expansion in higher education to help fight competition on world markets
from booming Asian economies. But the government has doubts about more expansion. The
Timesnewspaper egress, complaining that quality has suffered as student numbers soared,
with close tutorial supervision giving way to “mass production methods more typical
of European universities.”
21. The chief concern of British universities is ________.
A) how to tackle their present financial difficulty
B) how to expand the enrollment to meet the needs of enterprises
C) how to improve their educational technology
D) how to put an end to the current tendency of quality deterioration
22. We can learn from the passage that in Britain ________.
A) the government pays dearly for its financial policy
B) universities are mainly funded by businesses
C) higher education is provided free of charge
D) students are ready to accept loan schemes for tuition
23. What was the percentage of high school graduates admitted to universities in Britain
thirty years ago?
A) 20% or so.
B) About 15%.
C) Above 30%.
D) Below 10%.
24. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A) the British government will be forced to increase its spending on higher
education
B) British employers demand an expansion in enrollment at the expense of quality
C) the best way out for British universities is to follow their European
counterparts
D) British students will probably have to pay for their higher education in the
near future
25. Which of the following is the viewpoint of the Times newspaper?
A) Expansion in enrollment is bound to affect the quality of British higher
education.
B) British universities should expand their enrollment to meet the needs of
industry.
C) European universities can better meet the needs of the modern world.
D) British universities should help fight competition on world markets.
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
There’s simple premise behind what Larry Myers does for a living: If you can smell
it, you can find it.
Myers is the founder of Auburn University’s Institute for Biological Detection
Systems, the main task of which is to chase the ultimate in detection devices—an
artificial nose.
For now, the subject of their research is little more than a stack of gleaming chips
tucked away in a laboratory drawer. But soon, such a tool could be hanging from the
belts of police, arson (纵火) investigators and food-safety inspectors.
The technology that they are working in would suggest quite reasonably that, within
three to five years, we’ll have some workable sensors ready to use. Such devices might
find wide use in places that attract terrorists. Police could detect drugs, bodies and
bombs hidden in cars, while food inspectors could easily test food and water for
contamination.
The implications for revolutionary advances in public safety and the food industry
are astonishing. But so, too, are the possibilities for abuse; Such machines could
determine whether a woman is ovulating (排卵), without a physical exam-or even her
knowledge.
One of the traditional protectors of American liberty is that is has been impossible
to search everyone. That’s getting not to be the case.
Artificial biosensors created at Auburn work totally differently from anything ever