2002年1月12日大学英语六级考试

试卷一

Part I　　　　　　　　　　Listening Comprehension　　　　　　　　　　(20 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each conversa-

tion, a question will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the question will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on 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 centre.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Sample Answer [A] [B] [C] [D]



1. A) All the passengers were killed.　　　　C) No more survivors have been found.

B) The plane crashed in the night.　　　　D) It's too late to search for survivors.



2. A) Its results were just as expected.

B) It wasn't very well designed.

C) It fully reflected the students' ability.

D) Its results fell short of her expectations.



3. A) He believes dancing is enjoyable.　　　　C) He admires those who dance.

B) He definitely does not like dancing.　　　　D) He won't dance until he has done his work.



4. A) His computer doesn't work well.　　　　　C) He didn't register for a proper course.

B) He isn't getting along with his staff.　　　　D) He can't apply the theory to his program.



5. A) Reading on the campus lawn.　　　　　　C) Applying for financial aid.

B) Depositing money in the bank.　　　　　　D) Reviewing a student's application.



6. A) A new shuttle bus.　　　　　　　　　　C) An airplane flight.

B) A scheduled space flight. 　　　　　　　　D) The first space flight.



7. A) The deadline is drawing near.　　　　C) She turned in the proposals today.

B) She can't meet the deadline.　　　　　　D) They are two days ahead of time.



8. A) By going on a diet.　　　　　　　　C) By doing physical exercise.

B) By having fewer meals.　　　　　　　　D) By eating fruit and vegetables.



9. A) He enjoyed it as a whole.　　　　　　C) He didn't like it at all.

B) He didn't think much of it.　　　　　　　　D) He liked some parts of it.



10. A) It looks quite new. 　　　　　　　　C) It looks old, but it runs well.

B) It needs to be repaired.　　　　　　　　D) Its engine needs to be painted.



Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.



Passage One

Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.

11. A) Experience in negotiating. 　　　　　　C) The time they spend on preparation.

B) A high level of intelligence.　　　　　　D) The amount of pay they receive.



12. A) Study the case carefully beforehand.　　　　C) Appear friendly to the other party.

B) Stick to a set target.　　　　　　　　　　 D) Try to be flexible about their terms.



13. A) Make sure there is no misunderstanding.

B) Try to persuade by giving various reasons.

C) Repeat the same reasons.

D) Listen carefully and patiently to the other party.



Passage Two

Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard.

14. A) They eat huge amounts of food. 　　　　C) They usually eat to their hearts' content.

B) They usually eat twice a day.　　　　　　D) They eat much less than people assume.



15. A) When it is breeding.

B) When it feels threatened by humans in its territory.

C) When its offspring is threatened.

D) When it is suffering from illness.



16. A) They are not as dangerous as people think.

B) They can be as friendly to humans as dogs.

C) They attack human beings by nature.

D) They are really tame sea animals.



Passage Three

Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.

17. A) Because people might have to migrate there someday.

B) Because it is very much like the earth.

C) Because it is easier to explore than other planets.

D) Because its atmosphere is different from that of the earth.



18. A) Its chemical elements must be studied.　　　　　　C) Big spaceships must be built.

B) Its temperature must be lowered.　　　　　　　　　　D) Its atmosphere must be changed.



19. A) It influences the surface temperature of Mars.

B) It protects living beings from harmful rays.

C) It keeps a planet from overheating.

D) It is the main component of the air people breathe.



20. A) Man will probably be able to live there in 200 years.

B) Scientists are rather pessimistic about it.

C) Man will probably be able to live there in 100,000 years' time.

D) Scientists are optimistic about overcoming the difficulties soon.



Part II　　　　　　　　Reading Comprehension　　　　　　　　　　(35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or

unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C)and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.



Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

　　Navigation computers, now sold by most car-makers, cost $2,000 and up. No surprise, then,

that they are most often found in luxury cars, like Lexus, BMW and Audi. But it is a developing

technology－meaning prices should eventually drop-and the market does seem to be growing.



　　Even at current prices, a navigation computer is impressive. It can guide you from point to point in most major cities with precise turn-by-turn directions-spoken by a clear uman-sounding voice, and written on a screen in front of the driver.



　　The computer works with an antenna ( 天线 ) that takes signals from no fewer than three of

the 24 global positioning system (GPS) satellites. By measuring the time required for a signal to

travel between the satellites and the antenna, the car's location can be pinned down within 100

meters.



　　The satellite signals, along with inputs on speed from a wheel-speed sensor and direction froma meter, determine the car's position even as it moves. This information is combined with a map database. Streets, landmarks and points of interest are included.



　　Most systems are basically identical. The differences come in hardware-the way the computer accepts the driver's request for directions and the way it presents the driving instructions.On most systems, a driver enters a desired address, motorway junction or point of interest via a touch screen or disc. But the Lexus screen goes a step further: you can point to any spot on the map screen and get directions to it.



　　BMW's system offers a set of cross hairs ( 瞄准器上的十字纹 ) that can be moved across themap (you have several choices of map scale) to pick a point you'd like to get to. Audi's screen can be switched to TV reception.



　　Even the voices that recite the directions can differ, with better systems like BMW's and

Lexus's having a wider vocabulary. The instructions are available in French, German, Spanish,

Dutch and Italian, as well as English. The driver can also choose parameters for determining the

route: fastest, shortest or no freeways ( 高速公路 ), for example.



21. We learn from the passage that navigation computers________.

A) will greatly promote sales of automobiles

B) may help solve potential traffic problems

C) are likely to be accepted by more drivers

D) will soon be viewed as a symbol of luxury



22. With a navigation computer, a driver will easily find the best route to his destination________.

A) by inputting the exact address　　　　　　C) by checking his computer database

B) by indicating the location of his car　　　　D) by giving vocal orders to the computer



23. Despite their varied designs, navigation computers used in cars

A) are more or less the same price

B) provide directions in much the same way

C) work on more or less the same principles

D) receive instructions from the same satellites



24. The navigation computer functions________.

A) by means of a direction finder and a speed detector

B) basically on satellite signals and a map database

C) mainly through the reception of turn-by-turn directions

D) by using a screen to display satellite signals



25. The navigation systems in cars like Lexus, BMW and Audi are mentioned to show

A) the immaturity of the new technology

B) the superiority of the global positioning system

C) the cause of price fluctuations in car equipment

D) the different ways of providing guidance to the driver



Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

　　"The world's environment is surprisingly healthy. Discuss." If that were an examination topic, most students would tear it apart, offering a long list of complaints: from local smog ( 烟雾 ) to global climate change, from the felling ( 砍伐 ) of forests to the extinction of species. The list would largely be accurate, the concern legitimate. Yet the students who should be given the highest marks would actually be those who agreed with the statement. The surprise is how good things are, not how bad.



　　After all, the world's population has more than tripled during this century, and world output

has risen hugely, so you would expect the earth itself to have been affected. Indeed, if people lived, consumed and produced things in the same way as they did in 1900 (or 1950, or indeed 1980), the world by now would be a pretty disgusting place: smelly, dirty, toxic and dangerous.



　　But they don't. The reasons why they don't, and why the environment has not been mined,

have to do with prices, technological innovation, social change and government regulation in re-

sponse to popular pressure. That is why, today's environmental problems in the poor countries

ought, in principle, to be solvable.



　　Raw materials have not run out, and show no sign of doing so. Logically, one day they must: the planet is a finite place. Yet it is also very big, and man is very ingenious. What has happened is that every time a material seems to be running short, the price has risen and, in response, people have looked for new sources of supply, tried to find ways to use less of the material, or looked for a new substitute. For this reason prices for energy and for minerals have fallen in real terms during the century. The same is true for food. Prices fluctuate, in response to harvests, natural disasters and political instability; and when they rise, it takes some time before new sources of supply become available. But they always do, assisted by new farming and crop technology. The long term trend has been downwards.



　　It is where prices and markets do not operate properly that this benign ( 良性的 ) trend begins to stumble, and the genuine problems arise. Markets cannot always keep the environment healthy. If no one owns the resource concerned, no one has an interest in conserving it or fostering it: fish is the best example of this.



26. According to the author, most students________.

A) believe the world's environment is in an undesirable condition

B) agree that the environment of the world is not as bad as it is thought to be

C) get high marks for their good knowledge of the world's environment

D) appear somewhat unconcerned about the state of the world's environment



27. The huge increase in world production and population ________.

A) has made the world a worse place to live in

B) has had a positive influence on the environment

C) has not significantly affected the environment

D) has made the world a dangerous place to live in



28. One of the reasons why the long-term trend of prices has been downwards is that________.

A) technological innovation can promote social stability

B) political instability will cause consumption to drop

C) new farming and crop technology can lead to overproduction

D) new sources are always becoming available



29. Fish resources are diminishing because________.

A) no new substitutes can be found in large quantities

B) they are not owned by any particular entity

C) improper methods of fishing have mined the fishing grounds

D) water pollution is extremely serious



30. The primary solution to environmental problems is________.

A) to allow market forces to operate properly

B) to curb consumption of natural resources

C) to limit the growth of the world population

D) to avoid fluctuations in prices



Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

　　About the time that schools and others quite reasonably became interested in seeing to it that all children, whatever their background, were fairly treated, intelligence testing became unpopular.



　　Some thought it was unfair to minority children. Through the past few decades such testing

has gone out of fashion and many communities have indeed forbidden it.



　　However, paradoxically, just recently a group of black parents filed a lawsuit (诉讼) in California claiming that the state's ban on IQ testing discriminates against their children by denying them the opportunity to take the test. (They believed, correctly, that IQ tests are a valid method of evaluating children for special education classes.) The judge, therefore, reversed, at least partially,his original decision.



　　And so the argument goes on and on. Does it benefit or harm children from minority groups to have their intelligence tested? We have always been on the side of permitting, even facilitating,

such testing. If a child of any color or group is doing poorly in school it seems to us very important to know whether it is because he or she is of low intelligence, or whether some other factor is the cause.



　　What school and family can do to improve poor performance is influenced by its cause. It is

not discriminative to evaluate either a child's physical condition or his intellectual level.



　　Unfortunately, intellectual level seems to be a sensitive subject, and what the law allows us to do varies from time to time. The same fluctuation back and forth occurs in areas other than intelligence. Thirty years or so ago, for instance, white families were encouraged to adopt black children. It was considered discriminative not to do so.



　　And then the style changed and this cross-racial adopting became generally unpopular, and

social agencies felt that black children should go to black families only. It is hard to say what are the best procedures. But surely good will on the part of all of us is needed.



　　As to intelligence, in our opinion, the more we know about any child's intellectual level, the better for the child in question.



31. Why did the intelligence test become unpopular in the past few decades?

A) Its validity was challenged by many communities.

B) It was considered discriminative against minority children.

C) It met with strong opposition from the majority of black parents.

D) It deprived the black children of their rights to a good education.



32. The recent legal action taken by some black parents in California aimed to________.

A) draw public attention to IQ testing C) remove the state's ban on intelligence tests

B) put an end to special education D) have their children enter white schools



33. The author believes that intelligence testing ________.

A) may ease racial confrontation in the United States

B) can encourage black children to keep up with white children

C) may seriously aggravate racial discrimination in the United States

D) can help black parents make decisions about their children's education



34. The author's opinion of child adoption seems to be that________.

A) no rules whatsoever can be prescribed

B) white families should adopt black children

C) adoption should be based on IQ test results