大学英语六级真题试卷-2007年12月(A卷）/2

 

Section C  Compound Dictation

Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three 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 or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

     If you’re like most people, you’re 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 your 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’re 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.

 

 

PartⅣ Reading Comprehension（Reading in Depth）(25 minutes)

Section A 

Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the 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 becaming 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.

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 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 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, 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 a 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) by 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 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 graduate 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 professionals.

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” (Line 3, 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. 3 million 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 starting 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. “Our nation’s core bargain with the middle class is disintegrating, ”lamented (哀叹) the 117th-richest man in America. “Most of our economic gains have gone to people at the very top of the income ladder. Average income for a household of people of working age, by contrast, has fallen five years in a row. ” He noted that “Tens of millions of Americans live in fear that a major health problem can reduce them to bankruptcy. ”

     Wilbur Ross Jr. has echoed Zuckerman’s anger over the bitter struggles faced by middle-class Americans. “It’s an outrage that any American’s life expectancy should be shortened simply because the company they worked for went bankrupt and ended health-care coverage,” said the former chairman of the International Steel Group.

     What’s happening? The very rich are just as trendy as you and I, and can be so when it comes to politics and policy. Given the recent change of control in Congress, the popularity of  measures like increasing the minimum wage, and efforts by California’s governor to offer universal health care,  these guys don’t need their own personal weathermen to know which way the wind blows.

     It’s possible that plutocrats（有钱有势的人）are expressing solidarity with the struggling middle class as part of an effort to insulate themselves from confiscatory（没收性的）tax policies. But the prospect that income inequality will lead to higher taxes on the wealthy doesn’t keep plutocrats up at night. They can live with that.

     No, what they fear was that the political challenges of sustaining support for global economic integration will be more difficult in the United States because of what has happened to the distribution of income and economic insecurity.

     In other words, if middle-class Americans continue to struggle financially as the ultrawealthy grow ever wealthier, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain political support for the free flow of goods, services, and capital across borders. And when the United States places obstacles in the way of foreign investors and foreign goods, it’s likely to encourage reciprocal action abroad. For people who buy and sell companies, or who

allocate capital to markets all around the world, that’s the real nightmare.

57. What is the current topic of common interest among the very rich in America?

A) The fate of the ultrawealthy people.

B) The disintegration of the middle class.

C) The inequality in the distribution of wealth.

D) The conflict between the left and the right wing.

58. What do we learn from Mortimer Zuckerman’s lamentation?

A) Many middle-income families have failed to make a bargain for better welfare.

B) The American economic system has caused many companies to go bankrupt.

C) The American nation is becoming more and more divided despite its wealth.

D) The majority of Americans benefit little from the natiion’s growing wealth.

59. From the fifth paragraph we can learn that ________.

A) the very rich are fashion-conscious

B) the very rich are politically sensitive

C) universal health care is to be implemented throughout America

D) Congress has gained popularity by increasing the minimum wage

60. What is the real reason for plutocrats to express solidarity with the middle class?

A) They want to protect themselves from confiscatory taxation.

B) They know that the middle class contributes most to society.

C) They want to gain support for global economic integration.

D) They feel increasingly threatened by economic insecurity.

61. What may happen if the United States places obstacles in the way of foreign investors and foreign goods?

A) The prices of imported goods will inevitably soar beyond control.

B) The investors will have to make great efforts to re-allocate capital.

C) The wealthy will attempt to buy foreign companies across borders.

D) Foreign countries will place the same economic barriers in return.

 

 

Part Ⅴ  Cloze   (15 minutes) 

Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D) on the right side of the paper. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

     In 1915 Einstein made a trip to G ttingen to give some lectures at the invitation of the mathematical physicist David Hilbert. He was particularly eager—too eager, it would turn (62)—to explain all the intricacies of relativity to him. The visit was a triumph, and he said to a friend excitedly, “I was able to (63) Hilbert of the general theory of relativity. ”

     (64) all of Einstein’s personal turmoil（焦躁）at the time, a new scientific anxiety was about to (65). He was struggling to find the right equations that would (66) his new concept of gravity, (67) that would define how objects move (68) space and how space is curved by objects. By the end of the summer, he (69) the mathematical approach he had been (70) for almost three years was flawed. And now there was a (71) pressure. Einstein discovered to his (72) that Hilbert had taken what he had learned from Einstein’s lectures and was racing to come up (73) the correct equations first.

     It was an enormously complex task. Although Einstein was the better physicist, Hilbert was the better mathematician. So in October 1915 Einstein (74) himself into a month-long frantic endeavor in (75) he returned to an earlier mathematical strategy and wrestled with equations, proofs, corrections and updates that he (76) to give as lectures to Berlin’s Prussian Academy of Sciences on four (77) Thursdays.

     His first lecture was delivered on Nov. 4. 1915, and it explained his new approach, (78) he admitted he did not yet have the precise mathematical formulation of it. Einstein also took time off from (79) revising his equations to engage in an awkward fandango (方丹戈双人舞)with his competitor Hilbert. Worried (80) being scooped（抢先），he sent Hilbert a copy of his Nov. 4 lecture. “I am (81) to know whether you will take kindly to this new solution, ”Einstein noted with a touch of defensiveness.

62.  A) up                B) over             C) out                    D) off

63.  A) convince          B) counsel          C) persuade               D) preach

64.  A)Above              B)Around            C)Amid                    D)Along

65.  A) emit              B) emerge           C) submit                 D) submerge

66.  A) imitate           B) ignite           C) describe               D) ascribe

67.  A) ones              B) those            C) all                    D) none

68.  A) into              B) beyond           C) among                  D) through

69.  A) resolved          B) realized         C) accepted               D) assured

70.  A) pursuing          B) protecting       C) contesting             D) contending

71.  A) complex           B) compatible       C) comparative            D) competitive

72.  A) humor             B) horror           C) excitement             D) extinction

73.  A) to                B) for              C) with                   D) against

74.  A) threw             B) thrust           C) huddled                D) hopped

75.  A) how               B) that             C) what                   D) which

76.  A) dashed            B) darted           C) rushed                 D) reeled

77.  A) successive        B) progressive      C) extensive              D) repetitive

78.  A) so                B) since            C) though                 D) because

79.  A) casually          B) coarsely         C) violently              D) furiously

80.  A) after             B) about            C) on                     D) in

81.  A) curious           B) conscious        C) ambitious              D) ambiguous

 

 

PartⅥ Translation  (5 minutes) 

 Directions: Complete the sentences by translating into English the Chinese given in brackets. Please write your translation on Answer Sheet 2.

82. But for mobile phones, ___________________ (我们的通信就不可能如此迅速和方便).

83. In handling an embarrassing situation,  _________________ (没有什么比幽默感更有帮助的了).

84. The Foreign Minister said he was resigning, ____________(但他拒绝进一步解释这样做的原因).

85. Human behavior is mostly a product of learning, ______________(而动物的行为主要依靠本能).

86. The witness was told that under no circumstances  ______________ (他都不应该对法庭说谎）.