大学英语六级新题型考试(二)

大学英语六级新题型考试(二)

—Band Six—

Part Ⅰ Writing(30 minutes)

1. 一些“洋”节日在中国越来越流行

2. 一些中国传统节日反倒无人问津

3. 你如何看待这种现象

Part ⅡReading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes)

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 14, mark

Y (for YES)if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;

N (for NO)if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;

NG (for NOT GIVEN)if the information is not given in the passage.

For questions 510, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

More than 2,300 universities in over 100 countries have introduced Chinese courses to their curricula, and young overseas nationals flock

to China each year to learn Chinese. In 2004, the number of

international students in China was 400,000, with an annual increase of 20 percent in the past five years, according to the Chinese Ministry of Education.

The Rise of China’s E conomy

Monsieur Label and his wife, both respected architects living in Paris’ Sixth Quarter, have enrolled their daughter in a nearby school where Chinese classes start at kindergarten. Monsieur Label says of China: “I and my colleagues witnessed th e country’s amazing development when we attended a recent seminar in Shenzhen. I believe

that China is the economic superpower of the future. My wife and I speak French, English and Spanish, but my daughter should also learn Chinese because it will be usef ul to her when she grows up.”

Since Chinese courses were added to the curricula of 132 French junior and senior high schools their enrollment has doubled. That at the Oriental Language and Culture College, one of France’s largest Chinese teaching colleges, has skyrocketed in

recent years, according to Xu Dan, dean of the Chinese Department. She confirms that Chinese and Japanese are now the two most studied Asian languages.

French junior student Beida is totally fluent in Chinese. “I’m learning Chinese because I want to be an intern ational lawyer in China,” he explains.

Young French entrepreneur Patric Penia established his Beiyan Consultancy Company in Paris, and it now works together with China Central Television in introducing French traditions and culture to Chinese audiences. Patric also cooperated with Beijing’s University of Finance and Economics and Central University of Finance and Economics in launching a three-week crash course in Chinese in Beijing. In 2005, he initiated the “Chinese people and business management” training course in Paris, which consists of seminars to help French businessmen understand how Chinese business operates.

Germany has also caught on to the benefits of Chinese language learning, and has added Chinese to its high school graduation exams. Many international corporations also hold introductory Chinese courses for employee’s assigned work in China. “English isn’t enough,” says Herr Gerck, president of Siemens China, “We need to equip our staff with the ability to dea l with Chinese merchants in their own language.”

In Britain, a Chinese teaching program that will form part of the national curriculum has been formulated and approved by the Department of Education and Skills. In the U.S., Chinese is part of the Advance Placement Program for American high school students. This means that students can take college-level Chinese in the same way as they learn French, Spanish and German and gain credits if they get good test results. More than 2,500 primary and high schools now offer AP courses in the Chinese language.

Cultural Echoes

Chinese characters, along with the Confucian philosophy, have always had profound influence on Han cultural circles in Asia, and after

a brief hiatus, Chinese language teaching is in demand once more in the ROK, Singapore, Japan and Vietnam.

“Singaporeans rushed to learn English in the 1970s, when it was believed to be the most useful language for the future. Now, in the 21st century, a lack of Chinese-speaking skills is seen as a disadvant age,” says one Singaporean student, who recently graduated from Beijing University with a BA in international relations.

The German ambassador to the ROK once told vice minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng: “Nowadays, high school teachers of German and F rench must also learn Chinese if they want to keep their jobs.”

In the ROK, a high HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi—the Chinese Language Proficiency Test taken by non native speakers) acts as a springboard for jobs and promotions in large corporations. The number of colleges

offering Chinese language courses in the ROK at present stands at 347, compared to 20 in the 1980s. By the year 2007, Chinese courses will be taught in primary and high schools, according to the ROK

minister of Education. In the course of China’s economic boom over the past two decades, a large number of Koreans have immigrated to China. Many now have their own businesses, which would have been impossible without a formal grounding in Chinese.

In Thailand, Chinese has eclipsed Japanese to become the second

most common second language. “Public interest has moved from Japanese

to Chinese,” the Japanese Sankei Shimbun recently reported, “the number of people learning Chinese in Thailand now is te nfold that of

ten years ago.”

Indonesian Pr esident Suharto’s resignation in 1998 provided the opportunity for a closer relationship between the two nations and for

the Indonesian Chinese population to learn Chinese language as well as Chinese traditions. In the belief that “Chinese children should learn Chinese” Indonesian Chinese residents sent their children to schools offering Chinese courses so that they might understand Chinese cultural traditions as well as speak the language. Enrollment at such schools soon skyrocketed, and parents often queued up all night in order to be secure admission for their children.

Why Chinese?

“People around the world are rushing to learn Chinese. This

interest can be attributed to China’s economic opportunities and its telling effect on the future” so stated th e article China—Embracing

the World published in the May issue of The Hindu.

In view of the international demand for Chinese language learning, the Chinese government plans to set up 100 Confucius Institutes around the world. The Confucius Institute is a nonprofit organization whose aim is to promote the Chinese language and culture overseas through Internet or on-campus non-degree courses. The first institute was established in Seoul, ROK in November 2004. Since then branches have been set up in many other countries, including the U.S., Sweden, France and Uzbekistan.

Great hopes have been laid on Chengo (Chinese and English on the Go), an

E-language learning system based on pinyin rather than Chinese characters developed by 12 experts from China and the U.S., as a means

to help children learn Chinese. This software capt ures children’s attention with stories, games and animations based on the 2008 Olympics.

In order to ensure that there are sufficient teachers to meet the current demand, the Chinese government has set up training centers where overseas teachers of Chinese can attend lectures. It has also launched overseas training courses.

In addition to dispatching Chinese teachers abroad to teach Chinese, the government has also sent over 1,000 professionally qualified volunteers to countries in Asia, Europe, America and Africa.

Since Chinese became so popular in the international community, the number of foreign students applying to take the Chinese Language Proficiency Test (HSK) has

surged from 21,000 in 1996 to 100,000 in 2004. It is now possible

to take the HSK exam, known to candidates as the “Chinese TOEFL”, at 151 local universities or colleges in 34 countries.

The Paris-based Chinese newspaper European Times, which has the highest circulation among Chinese-language newspapers in Europe,

released a comment early this year entitled “Develop as Rapidly as the Chinese Economy Booms” that analyzed why so many people are rushing to learn Chinese and study in China. Its conclusions were that China’s increasing economic competitiveness and the brilliant future career it offers is a powerful lure to mastering Chinese. But it also pointed out that learning Chinese is the key to Chinese cultural traditions. After

all, what point is there in learni ng a foreign language if you can’t use it to express knowledge of the culture from which it sprang!

1. This article mainly discusses about the popularity of Chinese in western countries.

2. Monsieur Label and his wife send their children to learn Chinese because they hope that their children can learn as many foreign languages as possible.

3. Many German international corporations hold introductory Chinese courses for employees assigned work in China because they want their staff become interested in China.

4. In Thailand, the most popular second language nowadays is Chinese.

5. Singaporeans believe that a lack of -speaking skills is a disadvantage in the 21st century.

6. After the resignation of Indonesian President in 1998, Indonesian Chinese residents sent their children to school offering in the belief that “Chinese children should learn C hinese”.

7. China’s economic opportunities and its on the future

contributes to people’s interest in learning Chinese.

8. The Confucius Institutes aim at promoting the Chinese language and culture overseas through Internet or courses.

9. An E-language learning system called Chengo is hopeful to help children learn Chinese for this software captures with stories, games and animations based on the 2008 Olympics.

10. The popularity of Chinese in the world makes the “Chinese TOFEL”,

the exam, possible.

Part ⅣReading 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 on Answer Sheet 2.

Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.

Many of the workers who served at the World Trade Center after the September eleventh attacks became sick. They breathed a harmful mix of dust, smoke and chemicals in the ruins of the Twin Towers and a third building that fell. Some went days without good protection for their lungs. Five years later, many of the thousands who worked at Ground Zero in the early days after the attacks still have health problems.

Doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City have announced the results of the largest study yet of these workers. The study confirmed high rates of breathing problems in members of the building trades, firefighters, police officers and other workers. Almost

seventy percent of the workers in the study had a new or worsened breathing problem. These problems developed during or after their time working in the mountain of wreckage. About sixty percent still had breathing problems at the time of their examination. The researchers say they decided to study the effects on breathing first because other disorders might be slower to appear. Mount Sinai says it tested almost twelve thousand people between two thousand two and two thousand four. Eight out of ten of them agreed to have their results used in the report. The new results added strength to a Mount Sinai study released in two thousand four. That study was based on only about one thousand workers.

Some lawmakers have sharply criticized city and state officials for letting workers labor at Ground Zero without satisfactory equipment. Officials have also been criticized for saying the air was relatively safe. State and federal officials have promised more than fifty million dollars to pay for treatment of the workers. Doctor Robin Herbert is one of the directors of the Mount Sinai testing program. She says people are still coming to the hospital for treatment of problems that were caused by the dust at Ground Zero. In her words: “My worry is that mone y will be gone in a year, and what happens then?”

47. What caused the health problems to workers after the September eleventh attacks according to this passage?

48. Who suffer the breathing problems most according to the latest study?

49. The researchers decided to study the effects on breathing first

because might appear in a later period of time.

50. are sharply criticized by some lawmakers because they let workers labor at Ground Zero without satisfactory equipment.

51. What measures have the officials promised to take to deal with the health problem?

Section B

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statement. 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.

With the prospect of coal and petroleum supplies running out and with air pollution becoming an increasing concern, the major countries of the world are seeking alternate sources of energy. If a means to obtain energy from water, especially from the ocean, can be effected economically, it would provide a never ending supply of energy, since 70% of the ear th’s surface is ocean and another 10% is fresh water in rivers and lakes.

From the beginning of time man has used waterpower as a source of working energy—waterfalls and dams—but these are fresh water sources and are landlocked. The seas have contributed little or nothing in the way of power. The use of temperature variation between currents is one

area of exploration. Ocean water is heated by the sun near the equator and drawn by the rotation of the earth toward the poles, where it cools and drops toward the ocean floor and starts its journey back toward the equator. The differential between the tw o currents is 1℃ and 7℃. To use it, the scientists must find the places where they run near land and are not too far away from each other.

America, the greatest consumer of energy, has been working on another kind of thermal sea energy proposal. One plan would somewhat resemble the operation of a refrigerator on a vast scale. Warm water would be the heat source, cold water the heat sink. A component such as fog would be liquid at a cold temperature and turn to gas as it warmed.

Oceans also offer wave power, tides and the chemical reaction of salt water as potential sources of energy. All these uses are theoretically possible. Britain is interested in wave power, using a string of “tear drop” devices that depend on very active wave areas at 100 feet depths. In addition to this, the British are working on a method that the Japanese have already put into practical use on a small scale for powering their navigational boats. This method is called an oscillating(振荡) water column and rides the waves with a series of cylinders(气缸) having one way air valves. Wave movement produces air under pressure that has only one escape route—to a turbine(涡轮) that powers a generator.

52. The use of water referred in this passage is .

A) a new concept compared with other ways of natural resources

B) less expensive than petroleum and other means of energies

C) now being used more from the ocean than from rivers and lakes

D) being developed to supplement other sources of energy

53. In the matter of developing energy from ocean water, Britain

is .

A) working on an old Japanese method

B) the most advanced country in the field

C) following the lead of the United states

D) consolidating their work with operations

54. The development of oceanic water power is important to America because .

A) there is a severe shortage of coal and petroleum

B) it is the cheapest method of producing energy

C) petroleum supplies are being steadily drained

D) obtaining energy from ocean water are simpler

55. Getting energy from the ocean is important to .

A) Russia because of its limited coal and petroleum resources on land

B) America because it is the greatest consumer of energy in the world

C) Asia because most of Asian countries lack other sources of

energy

D) South America because a great part of the population is very

poor

56. The oscillating water column produces power from .

A) the turbine that powers the generator

B) the generator that produces electricity

C) the cylinders that drives the turbine

D) the air that escapes from the turbine

Passage Two

Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

The civilization(文化) of the Renaissance was the creation of prosperous cities and of rulers who drew substantial income from their urban subjects in the Italian

city states and the countries of England and France. The commerce that kept cities alive also provided the capital and the flow of ideas that helped build Renaissance culture. During the early Middle Ages foreign trade had virtually come to a halt. By the 11th century, however, population growth and contact with other cultures through military

efforts such as the Crusades(十字军东征) helped revive commercial activity. Trade slowly increased with the exchange of luxury goods in the Mediterranean region and various commodities such as fish, furs, and metals across the North and Baltic seas. Commerce soon moved inland, bringing new opulence to the citizens of towns along major trade routes. As traffic along these routes increased, existing settlements grew and new ones were established.

The cities of Italy were located between western Europe and the area along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea known as the Levant. Italy’s leadership in the Renaissance was due in part to its central location for trade. The cities became important and wealthy commercial centers, and the riches collected by the merchants of Venice, Genoa, Milan, and a host of smaller cities supported Italy’s political and cultural achievements.

Important towns developed beyond Italy as well. Especially with the expansion of trade, towns grew along the Danube and Rhine rivers of Europe; around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea; and in the Low Countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands where northern and southern trade routes met. Wherever these towns were located, they became a unique element in a medieval world that up to this time was dominated by seignorialism(领主制), an agricultural system in which the primary economic and political relationship was between landowners and their tenants.

57. The Renaissance .

A) was an ideological movement throughout the world

B) took place in Italy only

C) was originated in Italy

D) was influential in most European countries

58. The commerce .

A) was an important element in building the Renaissance culture

B) kept the people in cities alive with food and clothes

C) brought about the exchange of ideas

D) was always prosperous between city states

59. The location of the important cities shares a similarity that .

A) they are all Italian cities

B) they are all located by important routes

C) they are all prosperous with commerce

D) they are all located by seaside

60. The most probable meaning of the word “opulence” (Line

9,Para.1)may be .

A) technologiesB) commercial means

C) cultureD) prosperity

61. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A) Italy was merely an important cultural center during the Renaissance.

B) During the Middle Ages, foreign trade once was stopped.

C) The development of cities had great bearings to commerce.

D) Geographical locations were significant in the booming of cities.

Part ⅤError Correction(15 minutes)

Directions: This part consists of a short passage. In this passage, there are altogether 10 mistakes, one in each numbered line. You may

have to change a word, add a word or delete a word. Mark out the

mistakes and put the corrections in the blanks provided. If you change a word, cross it out and write the correct word in the corresponding blank.

I f you add a word, put an insertion mark(∧) in the right place and

write the missing word in the blank. If you delete a word, cross it out and put a slash (/) in the blank.

The problems which face with learners of English can 62

be divided into three categories: psychological, culture, 63

and linguistic. The largest category seems to be linguistic.

When foreign learners first have the opportunity to speak to

a native speaker of English, they may have a shock: they

often have little difficulty in understanding spoken English 64 of native speakers. There are a number of reasons to this. 65 First, it seems to students that English people speak very 66 quickly. Secondly, they say with a variety of accents.

Thirdly, different styles of speech are used in different situations, for example, everyday spoken English, which is colloquial and idiomatic, are different from the English 67 used for academic purposes. For all of these reasons

students will have difficulty, mainly because we lack 68 practice in listening to English people speaking English.

What can a student do then to overcome these

difficulties?Well, obviously, he can benefit in attending English classes and he should take every opportunity

available to speak with native speakers of English. He

should be aware of, however, that English people are, by 70 temperament, often reserved and may be willing to start a 71 conversation. So he should have the courage to take the

initiative (主动).

Part ⅥTranslation(5 minutes)

Directions: Complete the following sentences on Answer Sheet 2 by translating into English the Chinese given in brackets.

72. If you get into a bath full of water _________(有一部分水就会漫到地上).

73. The tendency of a boy to become attached to his mother and to resent his father _________(被称作) the “Oedipus Complex”.

74. He is a disgusting man who is fond of _________(向别人的妻子献殷勤).

75. The medicine _________(治愈了她的慢性咳嗽) which she had suffered 20 years.

76. Their findings _________(揭示了)the burial customs of the Indian tribes of that area.