2013年英语六级阅读冲刺训练

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大学英语六级阅读冲刺练习题（1）及解析（2）

大学英语六级阅读冲刺练习题（1）及解析（2）大学英语六级阅读冲刺练习题及解析（3）Definitions of ObesityA: How does one define when a person is considered to be obese and not just somewhat overweight? Height-weight tables give an approximate guideline as to whether one is simply overweight or has passed into the obese stage.B: The World Health Organization recommends using a formula that takes into account a person's height and weight. The "Body Mass Index" (BMI) is calculated by dividing the person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters, and is thus given in units of kg/m2. A BMI of 18.5-24.9 is considered to be the healthiest. A BMI of between 25 and 29.9 is considered to be overweight, while a BMI of over 30 is considered to be obese.C: However, it is recognized that this definition is limited as it does not take into account such variables as age, gender and ethnic origin, the latter being important as different ethnic groups have very different fat distributions. Another shortcoming is that it is not applicable to certain very muscular people such as athletes and bodybuilders, who can also have artificially high BMIs. Agencies such as the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) in the USA and the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF) are starting to define obesity in adults simply in terms of waist circumference.Health Effects of ObesityD: Over 2000 years ago, the Greek physician Hippocrates wrote that "persons who are naturally very fat are apt to die earlier than those who are slender". This observation remainsvery true today. Obesity has a major impact on a person's physical, social and emotional well-being. It increases the risk of developing diabetes mellitus type 2 ("mature onset diabetes") and also makes Type 2 diabetes more difficult to control. Thus weight loss improves the levels of blood glucose and blood fats, and reduces blood pressure. The association between obesity and coronary heart disease is also well-known.CancerE: Furthermore, in 2001 medical researchers established a link between being overweight and certain forms of cancer, and estimated that nearly 10,000 Britons per year develop cancer as a result of being overweight. This figure was made up of 5,893 women and 3,220 men, with the strongest associations being with breast and colon cancers. However, it is thought that being overweight may also increase the risk of cancer in the reproductive organs for women and in the prostate gland for men.F: The link between breast cancer and nutritional status is thought to be due to the steroid hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which are produced by the ovaries, and govern a woman's menstrual cycle. Researchers have found that the more a woman eats, or the more sedentary her lifestyle, the higher are the concentrations of progesterone. This link could explain why women from less affluent countries have lower rates of breast cancer. Women from less affluent nations tend to eat less food and to lead lifestyles which involve more daily movement. This lowers their progesterone level, resulting in lower predisposition to breast cancer.G: The Times newspaper, in 2002 reported that obesity was the main avoidable cause of cancer among non-smokers in theWestern world!AgingH: Research published by St Thomas' Hospital, London, UK in 2005 showed a correlation between body fat and aging, to the extent that being obese added 8.8 years to a woman's biological age. The effect was exacerbated by smoking, and a non-overweight woman who smokes 20 cigarettes a day for 20 years added 7.4 years to their biological age. The combination of being obese and a smoker added at least ten years to a woman’s biological age, and although the study only involved women, the lead researcher Professor Tim Spector believes the finding would also apply to men.I: The aging effect was determined by measuring the length of telomeres, tiny "caps" on the ends of chromosomes, which help protect the DNA from the ageing process. Indeed, telomeres have been dubbed the "chromosomal clock" because, as an organism ages, they become progressively shorter, and can be used to determine the age of the organism. Beyond a certain point, the telomere becomes so short that it is no longer able to prevent the DNA of the chromosome from falling apart. It is believed that excess body fat, and the chemicals present in tobacco smoke release free radicals which trigger inflammation. Inflammation causes the production of white blood cells which increases the rate of erosion of telomeres.DementiaJ: Recent research (2005) conducted in the USA shows that obesity in middle age is linked to an increased risk of dementia, with obese people in their 40s being 74% more likely to develop dementia compared to those of normal weight. For those who are merely overweight, the lifetime risk of dementia risk was 35%higher.K: Scientists from the Aging Research Centre at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have been able to take information such as age, number of years in education, gender, body mass index, blood pressure level, physical activity and genetic factors, assigning each a risk score. They then used this information to devise a predictive test for dementia. This test will enable people at risk, for the first time, to be able to affect lifestyle changes which will reduce their risk of contracting dementia.Other ProblemsL: The world-wide upsurge in obesity, particularly in children, is of major economic concern, liable to drain economies. Of further concern is that research conducted in Australia and published in 2006, shows that up to one third of breech pregnancies were undetected by the traditional "palpation" examination, the danger being greatest for those women who are overweight or obese—a growing proportion of mothers. This means that such women are not getting the treatment required to turn the baby around in time for the birth, and in many cases require an emergency Caesarean section.M: This is a true health-care crisis, far bigger than Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and ultimately, even bigger than AIDS.1. You can judge whether one is simply overweight or has passed into the obese stage according to the height-weight table.2. Using the "Body Mass Index"to define a person's weight ideal is limited, because it does not takes into account many variables such as age, gender and ethnic origin.3. A person's emotional well-being would be affected by obesity.4. Obesity has something to do with cancer in the prostate gland for man.5. Women from less affluent nations tend to have much less breast cancer.6. A non-overweight woman who smokes 20 cigarettes a day for 20 years added7.4 years to her biological age.7. The excess body fat, like the chemicals present in tobacco smoke, can lead to inflammation.8. Obese people in middle age run an increased risk of dementia .9. The predictive test for dementia will help people to affect lifestyle changes that will reduce their risk of contracting dementia.10. The world-wide upsurge in obesity, particularly in children, will possibly drain economies.答案 1. A 2. C 3. D 4. E 5. F 6. H7. I8. J9. K10. L。

2013年6月英语六级阅读训练

2013年6月英语六级阅读训练The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of theproportion of a woman's life spent in caring for the children. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties ? and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, opportunityand health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman's youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five years and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances and convenience foods.This important change in women's life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the firstopportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-or-part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.21. According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to_______.A. stay at home after leaving schoolB. marry men younger than themselvesC. start working again later in lifeD. marry while still at school22. We are told that in an average family about 1900_______.A. many children died before they lived to more than fiveB. seven or eight children lived to be more than fiveC. the youngest child would be fifteenD. four or five children died when they were five23. Many girls, the passage claims, are now likely to_______.A. give up their jobs for good after they are marriedB. leave school as soon as they canC. marry so that they can get a jobD. continue working until they are going to have a baby24. One reason why a woman today may take a job is that she_______.A. is younger when her children are old enough to look after .themselvesB. does not like children herselfC. need not worry about food for her childrenD. can retire from family responsibilities when she reaches sixty25. Nowadays, a husband tends to_______.A. play a greater part in looking after the childrenB. help his wife by doing much of the houseworkC. feel dissatisfied with his role in the familyD. take a part-time job so that he can help in the home答案：21. C 22. A 23. D 24. A 25. BNo one knows exactly how many disabled people there are in the world, but 11 suggest the figure is over 450 million. The number of disabled people in India 12 is probably more than double the totalpopulation of Canada.In the United Kingdom, about one in ten people have some disability. Disability is not just something that happens to other people: as we get older, many of us will become less 13 , hard of hearing or have failing eyesight.Disablement can take many forms and occur at any time of life. Some people are born with disabilities. Many others become disabled as they get older. There are many 14 disabling diseases. The longer time goes on, the worse they become. Some people are disabled in accidents. Many others may have a period of disability in the form of a mental illness. All areaffected by people's attitude towards them.Disabled people face many 15 barriers. Next time you go shopping or to work or to visit friends, imagine how you would 16 if you could not get up steps, or on to buses and trains. How would you cope if you could not see where you were going or could not hear the traffic? But there are other barriers; 17 can be even harder to break down and ignorance 18 represents by far the greatest barrier of all. It is almost impossible for the able-bodied to fullyappreciate what the severely disabled go through, so it is important to 19 attention to these barriers and show that it is the individual person and their ability, not their disability, which 20A. inevitablyB. evaluationsC. estimatesD. manageE. aloneF. countsG. prejudiceH. physicalI. mobile J. indifferently K. withdraw L. progressiveM. regular N. accounts O. draw答案：II. C 12. E 13. I 14. L 15. H 16. D 17. G 18. A 19. O 20. F。

英语六阅读冲刺训练

2013年英语六级阅读冲刺训练A lot of animals are afraid during an eclipse1 of the sun. Birds stop singing. Sometimes people too are afraid. Astronomers2 know the dates of eclipses and they are not afraid. The old astronomers of Babylon and Egypt had no telescopes3; but the sky in those countries is usually clear,and so they could watch the stars easily. They studied everything in the sky and they also noticed both total and partial eclipses.Because they knew the dates of eclipses,they had great power. People believed that the sky was important. They believed that an eclipse could kill a man.About 2500 years ago there was a very long war. One battle followed another, and the end never came. During one of the battles, there was a partial eclipse of the sun. The day got very dark,and the soldiers on both sides were filled with fear. They believed that the gods were angry. So they stopped fighting,and ended their long war.The sun is a star. It appears to be bigger than any other star. That is because it is near us; but the other stars are far away. The sun shines because it is very hot,but the moon shines because it reflects the sun's light. It is like a big mirror. If we visited the moon,we should see the earth. It is also like a mirror and it reflects the light of the sun.Does the sun ever get dark during the day? It does so when the moon hides it. Sometimes the moon goes in front of the sun. We can watch its edge when it slowly crosses the sun's disc5. Everything gets darker and darker; then,at last,we cannot see any part of the sun's disc. The moon is hiding it completely. That is a total eclipse of the sun; sometimes only part of the sun's disc is hidden; that is not a total eclipse. It is a partial eclipse of the sun.Questions 1 to 5 are based on the passage above.The passage is mainly about____.A.the old astronomersB.eclipse of the sunC.the eclipses in Babylon and EgyptD.the correlation between the sun and the earth2.We can conclude from the passage that_____.A.all people are afraid of eclipse of the sunB.the old astronomers could watch the stars easily with telescopesC.the old astronomers had mo interest in the skyD.the date of eclipse could be forecast3.The war mentioned in the third paragraph ended because_____.A.the astronomers used their great power to stop itB.an eclipse killed the soldiers on both sidesC.the war took so long time that the soldiers felt tiredD.a partial eclipse of the sun happened during one of the battles4.Which of the following statements is TRUE?A.The sun is very hot because it shines.B.The moon can shine because it is a star.C.Other stars appear to be smaller than the sun because they are far away.D.The earth cannot reflect the light of the sun because it isn't a real mirror.5.It can be concluded that an eclipse of the sun happens because_____.A.the moon passes between the sun and the earthB.the sun gets dark during the dayC.the earth's shadow falls on the moonD.no light from the sun can reach the moon文章精要说明文。

全国英语六级考试阅读临考冲刺题

全国英语六级考试阅读临考冲刺题全国英语六级考试阅读临考冲刺题Cunning proceeds from want of capacity.以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的全国英语六级考试阅读临考冲刺题，希望能给大家带来帮助!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 1975psychologist 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 strengthenedB) was not affectedC) was alteredD) was weakened12. According to the passage, the experience of helplessness causes rats to ________.A) try to control unpleasant stimuliB) turn off the electricityC) behave passively in controllable situationsD) become abnormally suspicious13. The reason why the mice in Ader’s experiment avoided saccharin was that ________.A) they disliked its tasteB) it affected their immune systemsC) it led to stomach painsD) they associated it with stomachaches14. 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 saccharinB) the sweetener was poisonous to themC) their immune systems had been altered by the mindD) they had taken too much sweetener during earlier conditioning15. It can be concluded from the passage that the immune systems of animals ________.A) can be weakened by conditioningB) can be suppressed by drug injectionsC) can be affected by frequent doses of saccharinD) can be altered by electric shocks参考答案：BCDCA。

英语六级冲刺阅读训练及答案(20篇)资料

一The Earth comprises three principal layers: the dense, iron-rich core, the mantle made of silicate (硅酸盐) that are semi-molten at depth, and the thin, solid-surface crust There are two kinds of crust, a lower and denser oceanic crust and an upper，lighter continental crust found over only about 40 percent of the Earth's surface. The rocks of the crust are of very different ages. Some continental rocks are over 3,000 million years old, while those of the ocean floor are less than 200 million years old. The crusts and the top, solid part of the mantle, totaling about 70 to 100 kilometers in thickness, at present appear to consist of about 15 rigid plates, 7 of which are very large. These plates move over the semi-molten lower mantleto produce all of the major topographical(地形学的)features of the Earth. Active zones where intense deformation occur are confined to the narrow, interconnecting boundaries of contactof the plates.There are three main types of zones of contact: spreading contacts where plates move apart, converging contacts where plates move towards each other, and transform contacts where plates slide past each other. Newoceanic crust is formed along one or more margins of each plate by material issuing from deeper layers of the Earth' s crust, for example, by volcanic eruptions (爆发) of lava (火山熔岩) at mid-ocean ridges. If at such a spreading contact the two plates support continents，a rift(裂缝) is formed that will gradually widen and become flooded by the tea. The Atlantic Ocean formed like this as the American and Afro-European plates moved in opposite directions. When two plates carrying continents collide, the continental blocks,too light to be drawn down, continue to float and therefore buckle (起褶皱) to form a mountain chain along the length of the margin of the plates.练习题：Choose correct answers to the question:1.The Earth’s crust______.A.can be classified into two typesB.is formed along the margins of the platesC.consists of semi-molten rocksD.is about 70 to 100 kilometers thick2.The 15 plates of the Earth are formed from ___.A.the oceanic crusts and continental crustsB.the crusts and the mantleC.the crusts and the top and solid part of the mantleD.the continental crusts and the solid part of the mantle3.Seriously-deformed zones appear _______A.whenever the crusts move over mantleB.when the plates move towards each otherC.in the narrow boundaries where two plates meetD.to be the major topographical feature of the Earth4.According to the second paragraph, the formation of the Atlantic Ocean is the example of_______.A.spreading contactsB.the influence of volcanic eruptionsC.converging contactsD.transform contacts5.This passage is probably_______.A.a newspaper advertisementB.a chapter of a novelC.an excerpt from a textbookD.a scientific report of new findings二A remarkable variety of insects live in this planet More species of insects exist than all other animal species together. Insects have survived on earth for more than 300 million years, and may possess the ability to survive for millions more.Insects can be found almost everywhere -- on the highest mountains and on the bottom of rushing streams, in the cold South Pole and in bubbling hot springs. They dig through the ground, jump and sing in the trees,and run and dance in the air. They come in many different colors and various shapes. Insects are extremely usefulto humans, pollinating (授粉)our crops as well as flowers in meadows, forests, deserts and other areas. But licks and some insects, such as mosquitoes and fleas, can transmit disease.There are many reasons why insects are so successful at surviving. Their amazing ability to adapt permits them to live in extreme ranges of temperatures and environments. The one place they have not yet been found to any major extent is in the open oceans. Insects can survive on a wide range, of natural and artificial foods—paint, pepper, glue, books, grain, cotton，other insects, plants and animals Because they are small they can hide in tiny spaces.A strong, hard but flexible shell covers their soft organs and is resistant to chemicals, water and physical impact. Their wings give them the option of flying away from dangerous situations or toward food or males. Also, insects have an enormous reproductive capacity: An African ant queen can lay as many as 43,000 eggs a day.Another reason for their success is the strategy of protective color. An insect may be right before our eyes, but nearly invisible because it is cleverly disguised like a green leaf, lump of brown soil, gray lichen (青苔),a seed or some other natural object Some insects use bright, bold colors to send warning signals that they taste bad,sting or are poison.Others have wing patterns that look like the eyes of a huge predator, bitter-tasting insects; hungry enemies are fooled into avoiding them.练习题：Choose correct answers to the question:1.Insects can be found in large amounts in the following places EXCEPT_____.A.on the mountains with little airB.in the cold polar areasC.in the hot desert areasD.in the open oceans2.Insects protect themselves from chemicals by _______A.hiding in tiny spacesB.having a strong shellC.flying away when necessaryD.changing colors or shapes3.Some insects disguise like natural objects so as to ______A.frighten away their enemiesB.avoid being discoveredC.send warning signalsD.look bitter-tasting4.The passage mentions that insects ______.A.can be found in any extreme environmentsB.have survived longer than any other creaturesC.can be fed on any natural or man-made foodsD.are important for the growth of crops and flowers5.The passage is mainly about ______A.how insects survive in different placesB.why insects can survive so successfullyC.what insects can do to the environmentD.where insects can be found in quantity三The fridge is considered necessary. It has been so since the 1960s when packaged food list appeared with the label: "Store in the refrigerator."In my fridge less Fifties childhood, 1 was fed well and healthy. The milkman came every day, the grocer, the butcher (肉商), the baker, and the ice-cream man delivered two or three times each week. The Sunday meat would last until Wednesday and surplus(剩余的) bread and milk became all kinds of cakes. Nothing was wasted, and we were never troubled by rotten food. Thirty years on food deliveries have ceased, fresh vegetables are almost unobtainable in the country.The invention of the fridge contributed comparatively little to the art of food preservation. Many well-tried techniques already existed -- natural cooling, drying, smoking, salting, sugaring, bottling...What refrigeration did promote was marketing --- marketing hardware and electricity, marketing soft drinks, marketing dead bodies of animals around the world in search of a good price.Consequently, most of the world's fridges are to be found, not in the tropics where they might prove useful, but in the rich countries with mild temperatures where they are climatically almost unnecessary. Every winter, millions of fridges hum away continuously, and at vast expense, busily maintaining an artificially-cooled space inside an artificially-heated house -- while outside, nature provides the desired temperature free of charge.The fridge's effect upon the environment has been evident, while its contribution to human happiness has been not important. If you don't believe me, try it yourself, invest in a food cabinet and mm off your fridge next winter. You may not eat the hamburgers(汉堡包), but at least you'll get rid of that terrible hum.练习题：Choose correct answers to the question:1.The statement "In my fridgeless fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthily." suggests that______.A.the author was well-fed and healthy even without a fridge in his fifties.B.the author was not accustomed to fridges even in his fifties.C.there was no fridge in the author's home in the 1950s.D.the fridge was in its early stage of development in the 1950s.2.Why does the author say that nothing was wasted before the invention of fridges?A.People would not buy more food than was necessary.B.Food was delivered to people two or three times a week.C.Food was sold fresh and did not get rotten easily.D.People had effective ways to preserve their food.3.Who benefited the least from fridges according to the author?A. Inventors.B. Consumers.C. Manufacturers.D. Travelling salesmen.4.Which of the following phrases in the fifth paragraph indicates the fridge's negative effect on the environment?A.“Hum away continuously”.B.“Climatically almost unnecessary”.C.“Artificially-cooled space”.D.“With mild temperatures”.5.What is the author's overall attitude toward fridges?A. Neutral.B. Critical.C. Objective.D. Compromising.四Moreover, insofar as any interpretation of its author can be made from the five or six plays attributed to him, the Wake field Master is uniformly considered to be a man of sharp contemporary observation. He was, formally, perhaps clerically educated, as his Latin and music, his Biblical and patristic lore indicate. He is, still, celebrated mainly for his quick sympathy for the oppressed and forgotten man, his sharp eye for character, a ready ear for colloquial vernacular turns of speech and a humor alternately rude and boisterous, coarse and happy. Hence despite his conscious artistry as manifest in his feeling for intricate metrical and stanza forms, he is looked upon as a kind of medieval Steinbeck, indignantly angry at, uncompromisingly and even brutally realistic in presenting the plight of the agricultural poor.Thus taking the play and the author together, it is mow fairly conventional to regard the former as a kind of ultimate point in the secularization of the medieval drama. Hence much emphasis on it as depicting realistically humble manners and pastoral life in the bleak hills of the West Riding of Yorkshire on a typically cold bight of December 24th. After what are often regarded as almost “documentaries”given in the three successive monologues of the three shepherds, critics go on to affirm that therealism is then intensified into a burlesque mock-treatment of the Nativity. Finally as a sort of epilogue or after-thought in deference to the Biblical origins of the materials, the play slides back into an atavistic mood of early innocent reverence. Actually, as we shall see, the final scene is not only the culminating scene but perhaps the raisond’etre of introductory “realism.”There is much on the surface of the present play to support the conventional view of its mood of secular realism. All the same, the “realism”of the Wake field Master is of a paradoxical turn. His wide knowledge of people, as well as books indicates no cloistered contemplative but one in close relation to his times. Still, that life was after all a predominantly religious one, a time which never neglected the belief that man was a rebellious and sinful creature in need of redemption, So deeply (one can hardly say “naively”of so sophisticated a writer) and implicitly religious is the Master that he is less able (or less willing) to present actual history realistically than is the author of the Brome “Abraham and Isaac”. His historical sense is even less realistic than that of Chaucer who just a few years before had done for his own time costume romances, such as The Knight’s Tale, Troilus and Cressida, etc. Moreover Chaucer had the excuse of highly romantic materials for taking liberties with history.1. Which of the following statements about the Wake field Master is NOT True?[A]. He was Chaucer’s contemporary.[B]. He is remembered as the author of five or six realistic plays.[C]. He write like John Steinbeck.[D]. HE was an accomplished artist.2. By “patristic”, the author means[A]. realistic. [B]. patriotic[C]. superstitious. [C]. pertaining to the Christian Fathers.3. The statement about the “secularization of the medieval drama”refers to the[A]. introduction of mundane matters in religious plays.[B]. presentation of erudite material.[C]. use of contemporary introduction of religious themes in the early days.4. In subsequent paragraphs, we may expect the writer of this passage to[A]. justify his comparison with Steinbeck.[B]. present a point of view which attack the thought of the second paragraph.[C]. point out the anachronisms in the play.[D]. discuss the works of Chaucer.五The earliest controversies about the relationship between photography and art centered on whether photograph’s fidelity to appearances and dependence on a machine allowed it to be a fine art as distinct from merely a practical art. Throughout the nineteenth century, the defence of photography was identical with the struggle to establish it as a fine art. Against the charge that photography was a soulless, mechanical copying of reality, photographers asserted that it was instead a privileged way of seeing, a revolt against commonplace vision, and no less worthy an art than painting.Ironically, now that photography is securely established as a fine art, many photographers find it pretentious or irrelevant to label it as such. Serious photographers variously claim to be finding, recording, impartially observing, witnessing events, exploring themselves—anything but making works of art. They are no longer willing to debate whether photography is or is not a fine art, except to proclaim that their own work is not involved with art. It shows the extent to which they simply take for granted the concept of art imposed by the triumph of Modernism: the better the art, the more subversive it is of the traditional aims of art.Photographers’disclaimers of any interest in making art tell us more about the harried status of the contemporary notion of art than about whether photography is or is not art. For example, those photographers who suppose that, by taking pictures, they are getting away from the pretensions of art as exemplified by painting remind us of those Abstract Expression ist painters who imagined they were getting away fromthe intellectual austerity of classical Modernist painting by concentrating on the physical act of painting. Much of photography’s prestige today derives from the convergence of its aims with those of recent art, particularly with the dismissal of abstract art implicit in the phenomenon of Pop painting during the1960’s. Appreciating photographs is a relief to sensibilities tired of the mental exertions demanded by abstract art. Classical Modernist painting—that is, abstract art as developed indifferent ways by Picasso, Kandinsky, and Matisse—presupposes highly developed skills of looking and a familiarity with other paintings and the history of art. Photography, like Pop painting, reassures viewers that art is not hard; photography seems to be more about its subjects than about art.Photography, however, has developed all the anxieties andself-consciousness of a classic Modernist art. Many professionals privately have begun to worry that the promotion of photography as an activity subversive of the traditional pretensions of art has gone so far that the public will forget that photography is a distinctive and exalted activity—in short, an art.1. What is the author mainly concerned with? The author is concerned with[A]. defining the Modernist attitude toward art.[B]. explaining how photography emerged as a fine art.[C]. explaining the attitude of serious contemporary photographers toward photography as art and placing those attitudes in their historical context.[D]. defining the various approaches that serious contemporary photographers take toward their art and assessing the value of each of those approaches.2. Which of the following adjectives best describes “the concept of art imposed by the triumph of Modernism”as the author represents it in lines 12—13?[A]. Objective [B]. Mechanical. [C]. Superficial. [D]. Paradoxical.3. Why does the author introduce Abstract Expressionist painter?[A]. He wants to provide an example of artists who, like serious contemporary photographers, disavowed traditionally accepted aims of modern art.[B]. He wants to set forth an analogy between the Abstract Expressionistpainters and classical Modernist painters.[C]. He wants to provide a contrast to Pop artist and others.[D]. He wants to provide an explanation of why serious photography, like other contemporary visual forms, is not and should not pretend to be an art.4. How did the nineteenth-century defenders of photography stress the photography?[A]. They stressed photography was a means of making people happy.[B]. It was art for recording the world.[C]. It was a device for observing the world impartially.[D]. It was an art comparable to painting.六The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Descriptions like ‘Palaeolithic Man’, ‘Neolithic Man’, etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless Man’. Histories of the time will go something like this: ‘in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of that time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn’t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks. ’The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world –or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deservesmention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: ‘I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.’The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says ‘I’ve been there. ’You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say ‘I’ve been there’–meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. ’When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.1、Anthorpologists label nowaday’s men ‘Legless’because________.A people forget how to use his legs.B people prefer cars, buses and trains.C lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.D there are a lot of transportation devices.2、Travelling at high speed means________.A people’s focus on the future.B a pleasure.C satisfying drivers’great thrill.D a necessity of life.3、Why does the author say ‘we are deprived of the use of our eyes’?A People won’t use their eyes.B In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.C People can’t see anything on his way of travel.D People want to sleep during travelling.4、What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?A Legs become weaker.B Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.C There is no need to use eyes.D The best way to travel is on foot.5. What does ‘a bird’s-eye view’mean?A See view with bird’s eyes.B A bird looks at a beautiful view.C It is a general view from a high position looking down.D A scenic place.七Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this is why they’re always coming in for criticism. Their critics seem to resent them because they have a flair forself-promotion and because they have so much money to throw around. ‘It’s iniquitous,’they say, ‘that this entirely unproductive industry (if we can call it that) should absorb millions of pounds each year. It only goes to show how much profit the big companies are making. Why don’t they stop advertising and reduce the price of their goods? After all, it’s the consumer who pays…’The poor old consumer! He’d have to pay a great deal more if advertising didn’t create mass markets for products. It is precisely because of the heavy advertising that consumer goods are so cheap. But we get the wrong idea if we think the only purpose of advertising is to sell goods. Another equally important function is to inform. A great deal of the knowledge we have about household goods derives largely from the advertisements we read. Advertisements introduce us to new products or remind us of the existence of ones we already know about. Supposing you wanted to buy a washing machine, it is more than likely you would obtain details regarding performance, price, etc., from an advertisement.Lots of people pretend that they never read advertisements, but this claim may beseriously doubted. It is hardly possible not to read advertisements these days. And what fun they often are, too! Just think what a railway station or a newspaper would be like without advertisements. Would you enjoy gazing at a blank wall or reading railway bye laws while waiting for a train? Would you like to read only closely printed columns of news in your daily paper? A cheerful, witty advertisement makes such a difference to a drab wall or a newspaper full of the daily ration of calamities.We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets. Newspapers, commercial radio and television companies could not subsist without this source of revenue. The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper, or can enjoy so many broadcast program mes is due entirely to the money spent by advertisers. Just think what a newspaper would cost if we had to pay its full price!Another thing we mustn’t forget is the ‘small ads.’which are in virtually every newspaper and magazine. What a tremendously useful service they perform for the community! Just about anything can be accomplished through these columns. For instance, you can find a job, buy or sell a house, announce a birth, marriage or death in what used to be called the ‘hatch, match and dispatch’column but by far the most fascinating section is the personal or‘agony’column. No other item in a newspaper provides such entertaining reading or offers such a deep insight into human nature. It’s the best advertisement for advertising there is!1. What is main idea of this passage?A. Advertisement.B. The benefits of advertisement.C. Advertisers perform a useful service to communities.D. The costs of advertisement.2. The attitude of the author toward advertisers is______.A. appreciative.B. trustworthy.C. critical.D. dissatisfactory.3. Why do the critics criticize advertisers?A. Because advertisers often brag.B. Because critics think advertisement is a “waste of money”.C. Because customers are encouraged to buy more than necessary.D. Because customers pay more.4. Which of the following is Not True?A. Advertisement makes contribution to our pockets and we may know everything.B. We can buy what we want.C. Good quality products don’t need to be advertised.D. Advertisement makes our life colorful.5. The passage is______.A. Narration.B. Description.C. Criticism.D. Argumentation.八Science is a dominant theme in our culture. Since it touches almost every facet of our life, educated people need at least some acquaintance with its structure and operation. They should also have an understanding of the subculture in which scientists live and the kinds of people they are. An understanding of general characteristics of science as well as specific scientific concepts is easier to attain if one knows something about the things that excite and frustrate the scientist.This book is written for the intelligent student or lay person whose acquaintance with science is superficial; for the person who has been presented with science as a musty storehouse of dried facts; for the person who sees the chief objective of science as the production of gadgets; and for the person who views the scientists as some sort of magician. The book can be used to supplement a course in any science, to accompany any course that attempts to give an understanding of the modern world, or –independently of any course –simply to provide a better understanding of science. We hope this book will lead readers to a broader perspectiveon scientific attitudes and a more realistic view of what science is, who scientists are, and what they do. It will give them an awareness and understanding of the relationship between science and our culture and an appreciation of the roles science may play in our culture. In addition, readers may learn to appreciate the relationship between scientific views and some of the values and philosophies that are pervasive in our culture.We have tried to present in this book an accurate and up-to-date picture of the scientific community and the people who populate it. That population has in recent years come to comprise more and more women. This increasing role of women in the scientific subculture is not an unique incident but, rather, part of the trend evident in all segments of society as more women enter traditionally male-dominated fields and make significant contributions. In discussing these changes and contribution, however, we are faced with a language that is implicitly sexist, one that uses male nouns or pronouns in referring to unspecified individuals. To offset this built-in bias, we have adopted the policy of using plural nouns and pronouns whenever possible and, when absolutely necessary, alternating he and she. This policy is far form being ideal, but it is at least an acknowledgment of the inadequacy of our language in treating half of the human race equally.We have also tried to make the book entertaining as well as informative. Our approach is usually informal. We feel, as do many other scientists, that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. As the reader may observe, we see science as a delightful pastime rather than as a grim and dreary way to earn a living.1. According to the passage, ‘scientific subculture’means _____.[A] cultural groups that are formed by scientists.[B] people whose knowledge of science is very limited.[C] the scientific community.[D] people who make good contribution to science.2. We need to know something about the structure and operation of science because_____.[A] it is not easy to understand the things that excite and frustrate scientists.。

2013年英语六级阅读备考练习题及答案

2013年英语六级阅读备考练习题及答案Anne Whitney, a sophomore (大学二年级学生) at Colorado State University, first had a problem taking tests when she began college. "I was always well prepared for my tests. Sometimes I studied for weeks before a test. Yet I would go in to take the test, only to find I could not answer the questions correctly. I would blank out because of nervousness and fear. I couldn't think of the answer. My low grades on the tests did not show what I knew to the teacher. " Another student in biology had similar experiences. He said, "My first chemistry test was very difficult. Then, on the second test, I sat down to take it, and I was so nervous that I was shaking. My hands were moving up and down so quickly that it was hard to hold my pencil. I knew the material and I knew the answers. Yet I couldn't even write them down!"These two young students were experiencing something called test anxiety. Because a student worries and is uneasy about a test, his or her mind does not work as well as it usually does. The student cannot write or think clearly because of the extreme tension and nervousness. Although poor grades are often a result of poor study habits, sometimes test anxiety causes the low grades. Recently, test anxiety has been recognized as a real problem, not just an excuse or a false explanation of lazy students.Special university advising courses try to help students. In these courses, advisors try to help students by teaching them how to manage test anxiety. At some universities, students take tests to measure their anxiety. If the tests show (heir anxiety is high, the students can take short courses to help them deal with (heir tensions. These courses teach students how to relax their bodies. Students are trained to become calm in very tense situations. By controlling their nervousness, they can let their minds work at ease. Learned information then comes out without difficulty on a test.An expert • at the University of California explains, " With almost all students, relaxation and less stress are felt after taking our program. Most of them experience better control during their tests. Almost all have some improvement. With some, the improvement is very great. "26. To "blank out" is probably______.A. to be like a blanketB. to be sure of an answerC. to be unable to think clearlyD. to show knowledge to the teacher27. Poor grades are usually the result of______.A. poor sleeping habitB. lazinessC. lack of sleepD. inability to form good study habits28. Test anxiety has been recognized as______.A. an excuse for lazinessB. the result of poor study habitsC. a real problemD. something that cannot be changed29. To deal with this problem, students say they want to______.A. take a short course on anxietyB. read about anxietyC. be able to manage or understand their anxietyD. take tests to prove they are not anxious30. A University of California advisor said______.A. all students could overcome the anxiety after taking a special test anxiety programB. almost all students felt less stress after taking a University of California advising courseC. students found it difficult to improve even though they had taken a special test anxiety courseD. students found it easy to relax as soon as they entered a University of California advising course26. C 27. D 28. C 29. A 30. B友情提示：部分文档来自网络整理，供您参考！文档可复制、编制，期待您的好评与关注！。

2013年12月英语月六级考试考前攻击深度阅读两篇及答案

2013年6月六级真题Section BDirections: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 center.Passage OneQuestions 52 to 56 are based pm the following passage.In 2011, many shoppers chose to avoid the frantic crowds and do their holiday shopping from the comfort of their computer. Sales at online retailers gained by more than 15%, making it the biggest season ever. But people are also returning those purchases at record rates, up 8% from last year.What went wrong? Is the lingering shadow of the global financial crisis making it harder to accept extravagant indulgences? Or that people shop more impulsively—and therefore make bad decisions—when online? Both arguments are plausible. However, there is a third factor: a question of touch. We can love the look but, in an online environment, we cannot feel the quality of a texture, the shape of the fit, the fall of a fold or, for that matter, the weight of an earring. And physically interacting with an object makes you more committed to your purchase.When my most recent book Brandwashed was released, I teamed up with a local bookstore to conduct an experiment about the difference between the online and offline shopping experience.I carefully instructed a group of volunteers to promote my book in two different ways. The first was a fairly hands-off approach. Whenever a customer would inquire about my book, the volunteer would take them over to the shelf and point to it. Out of 20 such requests, six customers proceeded with the purchase.The second option also involved going over to the shelf but, this time, removing the book and them subtly holding onto it for just an extra moment before placing it in the customer’s hands. Of the 20 people who were handed the book, 13 ended up buying it. Just physically passing the book showed a big difference in sales. Why? We feel something similar to a sense of ownership when we hold things in our hand. That’s why we establish or reestablish connection by greeting strangers and friends with a handshake. In this case, having to then let go of the book after holding it might generate a subtle sense of loss, and motivate us to make the purchase even more.A recent study also revealed the power of touch, in this case when it came to conventional mail.A deeper and longer-lasting impression of a message was formed when delivered in a letter, as opposed to receiving the same message online. Brain imaging showed that, on touching the paper, the emotional center of the brain was activated, thus forming a stronger bond. The study also indicated that once touch becomes part of the process, it could translate into a sense ofpossession.This sense of ownership is simply not part of the equation in the online shopping experience.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。