2007 年 12 月英语六级真题及答案
Writing
Part I
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Digital
Age. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below.
1. 如今数字化产品得到越来越广泛的使用,并举例
2. 数字化产品的使用对人工作,学习,生活产生的影响
(30 minutes)
Digital Age
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Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)
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 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked [A], [B], [C] and [D].
For questions 8 -10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
(15 minutes)
Seven Ways to Save the World
Forget the old idea that conserving energy is a form of self-denial — riding bicycles,
dimming the lights, and taking fewer showers. These days conservation is all about efficiency:
getting the same — or better — results from just a fraction of the energy. When a slump in
business travel forced Ulrich Rǒmer to cut cost costs at his family-owned hotel in Germany, he
replaced hundreds of the hotel’s wasteful light bulbs, getting the same light for 80 percent
less power. He bought a new water boiler with a digitally controlled pump, and wrapped insulation
around the pipes. Spending about € 100,000 on these and other improvements, he slashed his €
90,000 fuel and power bill by € 60,000. As a bonus, the hotel’s lower energy needs have reduced
its annual carbon emissions by more than 200 metric tons. “For us, saving energy has been very,
very profitable,” he says. “And most importantly, we’re not giving up a single comfort for
our guests.”
Efficiency is also a great way to lower carbon emissions and help slow global warming. But
the best argument for efficiency is its cost — or, more precisely, its profitability. That’s
because quickly growing energy demand requires immense investment in new supply, not to mention
the drain of rising energy prices.
No wonder efficiency has moved to the top of the political agenda. On Jan. 10, the European
Union unveiled a plan to cut energy use across the continent by 20 percent by 2020. Last March,
China imposed a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency by 2020. Even George W. Bush, the Texas
oilman, is expected to talk about energy conversation in his State of the Union speech this week.
The good news is that the world is full of proven, cheap ways to save energy. Here are the
seven that could have the biggest impact:
Insulate
Space heating and cooling eats up 36 percent of all the world’s energy. There’s virtually
no limit to how much of that can be saved, as prototype “zero-energy homes” in Switzerland
and Germany have shown. There’s been a surge in new ways of keeping heat in and cold out (or
vice versa). The most advanced insulation follows the law of increasing returns: if you add enough,
you can scale down or even eliminate heating and air-conditioning equipment, lowering costs even
before you start saving on utility bills. Studies have shown that green workplaces (ones that
don’t constantly need to have the heat or air-conditioner running) have higher worker
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productivity and lower sick rates.
Change Bulbs
Lighting eats up 20 percent of the world’s electricity, or the equivalent of roughly 600,000
tons of coal a day. Forty percent of that powers old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs — a
19th-century technology that wastes most of the power it consumes on unwanted heat.
Compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, not only use 75 to 80 percent less electricity than
incandescent bulbs to generate the same amount of light, but they also last 10 times longer.
Phasing old bulbs out by 2030 would save the output of 650 power plants and avoid the release
of 700 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year.
Comfort Zone
Water boilers, space heaters and air conditioners have been notoriously inefficient. The
heat pump has altered that equation. It removes heat from the air outside or the ground below
and uses it to supply heat to a building or its water supply. In the summer, the system can be
reversed to cool building as well.
Most new residential buildings in Sweden are already heated with ground-source heat pumps.
Such systems consume almost no conventional fuel at all. Several countries have used subsidies
to jump-start the market, including Japan, where almost 1 million heat pumps have been installed
in the past two years to heat water for showers and hot tubs.
Remake Factories
From steel mills to paper factories, industry eats up about a third of the world’s energy.
The opportunities to save are vast. In Ludwigshafen, German chemicals giant BASF runs an
interconnected complex of more than 200 chemical factories, where heat produced by one chemical
process is used to power the next. At the Ludwigshafen site alone, such recycling of heat and
energy saves the company € 200 million a year and almost half its CO2 emissions. Now BASF is
doing the same for new plants in China. “Optimizing (优化) energy efficiency is a decisive
competitive advantage, ” says BASF CEO Jǔrgen Hambrecht.
Green Driving
A quarter of the world’s energy — including two thirds of the annual production of oil
— is used for transportation. Some savings come free of charge: you can boost fuel efficiency
by 6 percent simply by keeping your car’s tires properly inflated (充气). Gasoline-electric
hybrid (混合型) models like the Toyota Prius improve mileage by a further 20 percent over
conventional models.
A Better Fridge
More than half of all residential power goes into running household appliances,producing
a fifth of the world’s carbon emissions. And that’s true even though manufacturers have already
hiked the efficiency of refrigerators and other white goods by as much as 70 percent since the
1980s. According to an International Energy Agency study, if consumers chose those models that
would save them the most money over the life of the appliance, they’d cut global residential
power consumption and their utility bills by 43 percent.
Flexible Payment
Who says you have to pay for all your conservation investment ? “Energy service
contractors” will pay for retrofitting(翻折改造) in return for a share of the client’s annual
utility-bill savings. In Beijing, Shenwu Thermal Energy Technology Co. specializes in
retrofitting China’s steel furnaces. Shenwu puts up the initial investment to install a heat
exchanger that preheats the air going into the furnace,slashing the client’s fuel costs . Shenwu
pockets a cut of those savings, so both Shenwu and the client profit.
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If saving energy is so easy and profitable, why isn’t everyone doing it? It has to do with
psychology and a lack of information. Most of us tend to look at today’s price tag more than
tomorrow’s potential savings. That holds double for the landlord or developer, who won’t
actually see a penny of the savings his investment in better insulation or a better heating system
might generate. In many people’s minds, conservation is still associated with self-denial. Many
environmentalists still push that view.
Smart governments can help push the market in the right direction. The EU’s 1994 law on
labeling was such a success that it extended the same idea to entire buildings last year. To
boost the market value of efficiency, all new buildings are required to have an “energy pass”
detailing power and heating consumption. Countries like Japan and Germany have successively
tightened building codes, requiring an increase in insulation levels but leaving it up to builders
to decide how to meet them.
The most powerful incentives, of course, will come from the market itself. Over the past
year, sky-high fuel prices have focused minds on efficiency like never before. Ever-increasing
pressure to cut costs has finally forced more companies to do some math on their energy use.
Will it be enough? With global demand and emissions rising so fast, we may not have any
choice but to try. Efficient technology is here now, proven and cheap. Compared with all other
options, it’s the biggest, easiest and most profitable bang for the buck.
1. What is said to be the best way to conserve energy nowadays?
[A] Raising efficiently.
[C] Finding alternative resources
[B] Cutting unnecessary costs.
[D] Sacrificing some personal comforts.
2. What does the European Union plan to do?
[A] Diversify energy supply.
[C] Reduce carbon emissions.
[B] Cut energy consumption.
[D] Raise production efficiency.
3. If you add enough insulation to your house, you may be able to _______.
[B] cut your utility bills by half.
[A] improve your work environment
[C] get rid of air-conditioners
[D] enjoy much better health
4. How much of the power consumed by incandescent bulbs is converted into light?
[A] A small portion.
[C] Almost half.
[B] Some 40 percent
[D] 75 to 80 percent.
5. Some countries have tired to jump-start the market of heat pumps by_________.
[A] upgrading the equipment
[C] implementing high-tech
[B] encouraging investments
[D] providing subsidies
6. German chemicals giant BASF saves € 200 million a year by_________.
[A] recycling heat and energy
[C] using the newest technology
[B] setting up factories in China
[D] reducing the CO2 emissions of its plants
7. Global residential power consumption can be cut by 43 percent if________.
[A] we increase the insulation of walls and water pipes
[B] we choose simpler models of electrical appliances
[C] we cut down on the use of refrigerators and other white goods
[D] we choose the most efficient models of refrigerators and other white goods
8. Energy service contractors profit by taking a part of clients’__________.
9. Many environmentalists maintain the view that conservation has much to do with___________.
10. The strongest incentive energy conservation will drive from_____________.
Part III
Section A
Listening Comprehension
(35 minutes)
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Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At
theendofeachconversation,oneormorequestionswillbeaskedaboutwhatwassaid.Boththe
conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a
pause.Duringthepause,youmustreadthefourchoicesmarked[A],[B],[C]and[D],anddecide
which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single
line through the centre.
11. [A] Proceed in his own way.
[B] Stick to the original plan.
[D] Try to change his colleague’s mind.
[C] Compromise with his colleague.
12. [A] Many has a keen eye for style.
[B] Nancy regrets buying the dress.
[C] Nancy and Mary went shopping together in Rome.
[D] Nancy and Mary like to follow the latest fashion.
13. [A] Wash the dishes.
[C] Pick up George and Martha.
[B] Go to the theatre.
[D] Take her daughter to hospital.
14. [A] She enjoys making up stories about other people.
[B] She can never keep anything to herself for long.
[C] She is eager to share news with the woman.
[D] She is the best informed woman in town.
15. [A] A car dealer.
[B] A mechanic.
[C] A driving examiner.
[D] A technical consultant.
16. [A] The shopping mall has been deserted recently.
[B] Shoppers can only find good stores in the mall.
[C] Lots of people moved out of the downtown area.
[D] There isn’t much business downtown nowadays.
17. [A] He will help the woman with her reading.
[B] The lounge is not a place for him to study in.
[C] He feels sleepy whenever he tries to study.
[D] A cozy place is rather hard to find on campus.
18. [A] To protect her from getting scratches.
[B] To help relieve her of the pain.
[C] To prevent mosquito bites.
[D] To avoid getting sun burnt.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. [A] In a studio.
[B] In a clothing store.
[D] At a fashion show.
[C] At a beach resort.
20. [A] To live there permanently.
[B] To stay there for half a year.
[C] To find a better job to support herself.
[D] To sell leather goods for a British company.
21. [A] Designing fashion items for several companies.
[B] Modeling for a world-famous Italian company.
[C] Working as an employee for Ferragamo.
[D] Serving as a sales agent for Burberrys.
22. [A] It has seen a steady decline in its profits.
[B] It has become much more competitive.
[C] It has lost many customers to foreign companies.
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[D] It has attracted a lot more designers from abroad.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23. [A] It helps her to attract more public attention.
[B] It improves her chance of getting promoted.
[C] It strengthens her relationship with students.
[D] It enables her to understand people better.
24. [A] Passively.
25. [A] It keeps haunting her day and night.
[B] Positively.
[C] Skeptically.
[D] Sensitively.
[B] Her teaching was somewhat affected by it.
[C] It vanishes the moment she steps into her role.
[D] Her mind goes blank once she gets on the stage.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you
will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After
youhearaquestion,youmustchoosethebestanswerfromthefourchoicesmarked[A],[B],[C]
and [D]. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the
centre.
Passage One
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. [A] To win over the majority of passengers from airlines in twenty years.
[B] To reform railroad management in western European countries.
[C] To electrify the railway lines between major European cities.
[D] To set up an express train network throughout Europe.
27. [A] Major European airlines will go bankrupt.
[B] Europeans will pay much less for traveling.
[C] Traveling time by train between major European cities will be cut by half.
[D] Trains will become the safest and most efficient means of travel in Europe.
28. [A] Train travel will prove much more comfortable than air travel.
[B] Passengers will feel much safer on board a train than on a plane.
[C] Rail transport will be environmentally friendlier than air transport.
[D] Traveling by train may be as quick as, or even quicker than, by air.
29. [A] In 1981.
[C] In 1990.
[B] In 1989.
[D] In 2000.
Passage Two
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
30. [A] There can be no speedy recovery for mental patients.
[B] Approaches to healing patients are essentially the same.
[C] The mind and body should be taken as an integral whole.
[D] There is no clear division of labor in the medical profession.
31. [A] A doctor’s fame strengthens the patients’ faith in them.
[B] Abuse of medicines is widespread in many urban hospitals.
[C] One third of the patients depend on harmless substances for cure.
[D] A patient’s expectations of a drug have an effect on their recovery.
32. [A] Expensive drugs may not prove the most effective.
[B] The workings of the mind may help patients recover.
[C] Doctors often exaggerate the effect of their remedies.
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[D] Most illnesses can be cured without medication.
Passage Three
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. [A] Enjoying strong feelings and emotions.
[B] Defying all dangers when they have to.
[C] Being fond of making sensational news.
[D] Dreaming of becoming famous one day.
34. [A] Working in an emergency room.
[C] Watching horror movies.
35. [A] A rock climber.
[C] A resident doctor.
[B] Listening to rock music.
[D] Doing daily routines.
[B] A psychologist.
[D] A career consultant.
Section C
Directions: In thissection, youwill heara passagethree times. When the passage is read for
the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for
the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact
words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the
missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard
orwritedownthemainpointsinyourownwords.Finally,whenthepassageisreadforthethird
time, you should check what you have written.
If you’re like most people, you’ve indulged in fake listening many times. You go to history
class, sit in the third row, and look (36) ________ at the instructor as she speaks. But your
mind is far away, (37)_________ in the clouds of pleasant daydreams. (38)__________ you come
back to earth: The instructor writes an important term on the chalkboard, and you (39)___________
copy it in you notebook. Every once in a while the instructor makes a (40)_________ remark, causing
others in the class to laugh. You smile politely, pretending that you’ve heard the remark and
found it mildly (41)__________. You have a vague sense of (42)________ that you aren’t paying
close attention. But you tell yourself that any (43) __________ you miss can be picked up from
a friend’s notes. Besides, (44)____________________.So back you go into your private little
world, only later do you realize you’ve missed important information for a test.
Fake listening may be easily exposed, since many speakers are sensitive to facial cues and
can tell if you’re merely pretending to listen. (45)___________________.
Even if you are not exposed there’s another reason to avoid fakery. It’s easy for this
behavior to become a habit. For some people, the habit is so deeply rooted that
(46)__________________________. As a result, they miss lots of valuable information.
Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
Section A
Directions: Inthissection,thereisashortpassagewith5questionsorincompletestatements.
Readthepassagecarefully. Then answerthequestions orcomplete thestatementsinthe fewest
possible words. Please write your answers on Answer sheet 2.
Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.
Men, these days, are embracing fatherhood with the round-the-clock involvement their partners
have always dreamed of — handling night feedings, packing lunches and bandaging knees. But unlike
women, many find they’re negotiating their new roles with little support or information. “Men
in my generation (aged 25-40) have a fear of becoming dads because we have no role models,”
says Jon Smith, a writer. They often find themselves excluded from mothers’ support networks,
and are eyed warily (警觉地) on the playground.
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The challenge is particularly evident in the work-place. There, men are still expected to
be
breadwinners climbing the corporate ladder: traditionally-minded bosses are often unsympathetic
to family needs. In Denmark most new fathers only take two weeks of paternity leave (父亲的
陪产假) — even though they are allowed 34 days. As much as if not more so than women, fathers
struggle to be taken seriously when they request flexible arrangements.
Though Wilfried-Fritz Maring, 54, a data-bank and Internet specialist with German firm FIZ
Karlsruhe, feels that the time he spends with his daughter outweighs any disadvantages, he admits,
“With my decision to work from home I dismissed any opportunity for promotion.”
Mind-sets(思维定势) are changing gradually. When Maring had a daughter, the company equipped
him with a home office and allowed him to choose a job that could be performed from there. Danish
telecom company TDC initiated an internal campaign last year to encourage dads to
take paternity leave: 97 percent now do. “When an employee goes on paternity leave and is with
his kids, he gets a new kind of training: in how to keep cool under stress.” says spokesperson
Christine Elberg Holm. For a new generation of dads, kids may come before the company - but
it’s a shift that benefits both.
47. Unlike women, men often get little support or information from
48. Besides supporting the family, men were also expected to
49. Like women, men hope that their desire for a flexible schedule will be
50. When Maring was on paternity leave, he was allowed by his company to work
51. Christine Holm believes paternity leave provides a new kind of training for men in that it
.
.
.
.
can help them cope with
.
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions
orunfinishedstatements.Foreachofthemtherearefourchoicesmarked[A],[B],[C]and[D].
You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with
a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.
Like most people, I’ve long understood that I will be judged by my occupation, that my
profession is a gauge people use to see how smart or talented I am. Recently, however, I was
disappointed to see that it also decides how I’m treated as a person.
Last year I left a professional position as a small-town reporter and took a job waiting
tables. As someone paid to serve food to people. I had customers say and do things to me I suspect
they’d never say or do to their most casual acquaintances. One night a man talking on his cell
phone waved me away, then beckoned (示意) me back with his finger minute later, complaining he
was ready to order and asking where I’d been.
I had waited tables during summers in college and was treated like a peon (勤杂工) plenty
of people. But at 19 years old, I believed I deserved inferior treatment from professional adults.
Besides, people responded to me differently after I told them I was in college. Customers would
joke that one day I’d be sitting at their table, waiting to be served.
Once I graduated I took a job at a community newspaper. From my first day, I heard a respectful
tone from everyone who called me. I assumed this was the way the professional world worked —
cordially.
I soon found out differently. I sat several feet away from an advertising sales representative
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with a similar name. Our calls would often get mixed up and someone asking for Kristen would
be transferred to Christie. The mistake was immediately evident. Perhaps it was because money
was involved, but people used a tone with Kristen that they never used with me.
My job title made people treat me with courtesy. So it was a shock to return to the restaurant
industry.
It’s no secret that there’s a lot to put up with when waiting tables, and fortunately,
much of it can be easily forgotten when you pocket the tips. The service industry, by definition,
exists to cater to others’ needs. Still, it seemed that many of my customers didn’t get the
difference between server and servant.
I’m now applying to graduated school, which means someday I’ll return to a profession where
people need to be nice to me in order to get what they want, I think I’ll take them to dinner
first, and see how they treat someone whose only job is to serve them.
52. The author was disappointed to find that _______.
[A] one’s position is used as a gauge to measure one’s intelligence
[B] talented people like her should fail to get a respectable job
[C] one’s occupation affects the way one is treated as a person
[D] professionals tend to look down upon manual workers
53. What does the author intend to say by the example in the second paragraph?
[A] Some customers simply show no respect to those who serve them.
[B] People absorbed in a phone conversation tend to be absent-minded.
[C] Waitresses are often treated by customers as casual acquaintances.
[D] Some customers like to make loud complaints for no reason at all.
54. How did the author feel when waiting tables at the age of 19?
[A] She felt it unfair to be treated as a mere servant by professional.
[B] She felt badly hurt when her customers regarded her as a peon.
[C] She was embarrassed each time her customers joked with her.
[D] She found it natural for professionals to treat her as inferior.
55. What does the author imply by saying “…many of my customers didn’t get the difference
between server and servant”(Lines 3-4, Para.7)?
[A] Those who cater to others’ needs are destined to be looked down upon.
[B] Those working in the service industry shouldn’t be treated as servants.
[C] Those serving others have to put up with rough treatment to earn a living.
[D] The majority of customers tend to look on a servant as server nowadays.
56. The author says she’ll one day take her clients to dinner in order to ________.
[A] see what kind of person they are
[B] experience the feeling of being served
[C] show her generosity towards people inferior to her
[D] arouse their sympathy for people living a humble life
Passage Two
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
What’s hot for 2007 among the very rich? A $7.3million diamond ring. A trip to Tanzania
to hunt wild animals. Oh, and income inequality.
Sure, some leftish billionaires like George Soros have been railing against income
inequality for years. But increasingly, centrist and right-wing billionaires are staring to worry
about income inequality and the fate of the middle class.
In December, Mortimer Zuckerman wrote a column in U.S. News & World Report, which he owns.
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