2013年英语六级阅读备考练习题及答案
2013年12月英语六级阅读真题及答案（卷二）
2013年12月英语六级阅读真题及答案（卷二）Part3 Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section ADirections： In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before asking your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.To get a sense of how women have progressed in science, take a quick tour of the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley. This is a storied place, the 36 of some of the most important discoveries in modern science--- starting with Ernest Lawrence’s invention of the cyclotron (回旋加速器）in 1931.A generation ago, female faces were 37 and, even today, visitors walking through the first floor of LeConte Hall will see a full corridor of exhibits 38 the many distinguished physicists who made history here, 39 all of them white males.But climb up to the third floor and you’ll see a 40 display. There, among the photos of current faculty members and students, are portraits of the 41 head of the department, Marjorie Shapiro, and four other women whose research 42 everything from the mechanics of the universe to the smallest particles of matter.A sixth woman was hired just two weeks ago. Althoughthey're still only about 10 percent of the physics faculty, women are clearly a presence here. And the real 43 may be in the smaller photos to the right: graduate and undergraduate students, about 20 percent of them female. Every year Berkeley sends its fresh female physics PhDs to the country's top universities. That makes Shapiro optimistic, but also 44 "I believe things are getting better，" she says, "but they're not getting better as 45 as I would like."注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
2013年12月英语六级真题(含答案)(共三套)最新排版整理
2013年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第3套）Part I Writing (30 minutes)（请于正式开考后半小时内完成该部分，之后将进行听力考试）请用黑色签字笔在答题卡1指定区域内作答作文题，在试题册上的作答无效！Part ⅡListening Comprehension(30 minutes)Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section AQuestions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.Cell phones provide instant access to people. They are creating a major 36 in the social experiences of both children and adolescents. In one recent U.S. survey, about half the teens polled said that their cell phone had 37 their communication with friends. Almost all said that their cell phone was the way they stayed in touch with peers, one-third had used the cell phone to help a peer in need, and about 80% said the phone made them feel safer. Teenagers in Australia, 38 ,said that their mobile phones provided numerous benefits and were an39 part of their lives; some were so 40 to their phones that the researchers considered it an addiction. In Japan, too, researchers are concerned about cell phone addiction. Researchers in one study in Tokyo found that more than half of junior high school students used their phones to exchange e-mails with schoolmates more than 10 times a day.Cell phones 41 social connections with peers across time and space. They allow young people to exchange moment-by-moment experiences in their daily lives with special partners and thus to have a more 42 sense of connection with friends. Cell phones also can 43 social tolerance because they reduce children's interactions with others who are different from them. In addition to connecting peers, cell phones connect children and parents. Researchers studying teenagers in Israel concluded that, in that 44 environment, mobile phones were regarded as "security objects" in parent-teen relationships―im portant because they provided the possibility of 45 and communication at all times.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答A) affiliatedB) attachedC) contactD) contendE) continuousF) diminishG) enduranceH) foster I) hazardous J) improved K) instantaneous L) intrinsicM) relatively N) shiftO) similarlySection BWaste Not, Want Not Feeding the 9 Billion: The Tragedy of Waste[A] By 2075, the United Nations' mid-range projection for global population is about 9.5 billion.This means that there could be an extra three billion mouths to feed by the end of the century,a period in which substantial changes are anticipated in the wealth, calorie intake and dietarypreferences of people in developing countries across the world. Such a projection presents mankind with wide-ranging social, economic, environmental and political issues that need to be addressed today to ensure a sustainable future for all. One key issue is how to produce more food in a world of finite resources.[B] Today, we produce about four billion metric tonnes of food per year. Yet due to poor practicesin harvesting, storage and transportation, as well as market and consumer wastage, it is estimated that 30-50% of all food produced never reaches a human stomach. Furthermore, this figure does not reflect the fact that large amounts of land, energy, fertilisers and water have also been lost in the production of foodstuffs which simply end up as waste. This level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands. |Where Food Waste Happens[C] In 2010,the Institution of Mechanical Engineers identified three principal emerging populationgroups across the world, based on characteristics associated with their current and projected stage of economic development.• Fully developed, mature, post-industrial societies, such as those in Europe, characterised by stable or declining populations which are increasing in age.• Late-stage developing nations that are currently industrialising rapidly, for example China, which will experience declining rates of population growth, coupled with increasing affluence (富裕）and age profile.• Newly developing countries that are beginning to industrialise, primarily in Africa, with high to very high population growth rates, and characterised by a predominantly young age profile.[D] Each group over the coming decades will need to address different issues surrounding foodproduction, storage and transportation, as well as consumer expectations, if we are to continue to feed all our people.[E] In less-developed countries, such as those of sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia, wastagetends to occur primarily at the farmer-producer end of the supply chain. Inefficient harvesting, inadequate local transportation and poor infrastructure (基础设施)mean that produce is frequently handled inappropriately and stored under unsuitable farm site conditions.[F] In mature, fully developed countries such as the UK, more-efficient farming practices andbetter transport, storage and processing facilities ensure that a larger proportion of the food produced reaches markets and consumers. However, characteristics associated with modern consumer culture mean produce is often wasted through retail and customer behaviour. [G] Major supermarkets, in meeting consumer expectations, will often reject entire crops ofperfectly edible fruit and vegetables at the farm because they do not meet exacting marketing standards for their physical characteristics, such as size and appearance.[H] Of the produce that does appear in the supermarket, commonly used sales promotionsfrequently encourage customers to purchase excessive quantities which, in the case of perishable foodstuffs, inevitably generate wastage in the home. Overall between 30% and 50% of what has been bought in developed countries is thrown away by the purchaser.Better Use of Our Finite Resources[I] Wasting food means losing not only life-supporting nutrition but also precious resources,including land, water and energy. As a global society, therefore, tackling food waste will help contribute towards addressing a number of key resource issues.[J] Land Usage: Over the last five decades, improved farming techniques and technologies have helped to significantly increase crop yields along with a 12% expansion of farmed land use.However, a further increase in farming area without impacting unfavourably on what remains of the world's natural ecosystems appears unlikely. The challenge is that an increase in animal-based production will require more land and resources, as livestock (牲畜)farming demands extensive land use.[K] Water Usage: Over the past century, human use of fresh water has increased at more than double the rate of population growth. Currently about 3.8 trillion m3of water is used by humans per year. About 70% of this is consumed by the global agriculture sector, and the level of use will continue to rise over the coming decades.[L] Better irrigation can dramatically improve crop yield and about 40% of the world's food supply is currently derived from irrigated land. However, water used in irrigation is often sourced unsustainably.In processing foods after the agricultural stage, there are large additional uses of water that need to be tackled in a world of growing demand. This is particularly crucial inthe case of meat production, where beef uses about 50 times more water than vegetables. In the future, more effective washing techniques, management procedures, and recycling and purification of water will be needed to reduce wastage.[M]Energy Usage: Energy is an essential resource across the entire food production cycle, with estimates showing an average of 7-10 calories of input being required in the production of one calorie of food. This varies dramatically depending on crop, from three calories for plant crops to 35 calories in the production of beef. Since much of this energy comes from the utilisation of fossil fuels, wastage of food potentially contributes to unnecessary global warming as well as inefficient resource utilisation.[N] In the modem industrialised agricultural process—which developing nations are moving towards in order to increase future yields—energy usage in the making and application of fertilisers and pesticides represents the single biggest component. Wheat production takes 50% of its energy input for these two items alone. Indeed, on a global scale, fertiliser manufacturing consumes about 3-5% of the world's annual natural gas supply. With production anticipated to increase by 25% between now and 2030, sustainable energy sourcing will become an increasingly major issue. Energy to power machinery, both on the farm and in the storage and processing facilities, adds to the energy total, which currently represents about 3.1% of annual global energy consumption.Recommendations[O] Rising population combined with improved nutrition standards and shifting dietary preferences will exert pressure for increases in global food supply. Engineers, scientists and agriculturalists have the knowledge, tools and systems that will assist in achieving productivity increases. However, pressure will grow on finite resources of land, energy and water. The potential to provide 60-100% more food by simply eliminating losses, while simultaneously freeing up land, energy and water resources for other uses, is an opportunitythat should not be ignored. In order to begin tackling the challenge, the Institution recommends that:•The UN Food and Agriculture Organisat ion work with the international engineering community to ensure governments of developed nations put in place programmes that transfer engineering knowledge, design know-how, and suitable technology to newly developing countries. This will help improve produce handling in the harvest, and immediate post-harvest stages of food production.• Governments of rapidly developing countries incorporate waste minimisation thinking into the transport infrastructure and storage facilities currently being planned, engineered and built.• Governments in developed nations devise and im plement policy that changes consumer expectations. These should discourage retailers from wasteful practices that lead to the rejection of food on the basis of cosmetic characteristics, and losses in the home due to excessive purchasing by consumers.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
2013年6月英语六级快速阅读原文答案及点评
2013年6月英语六级快速阅读原文答案及点评2013年6月大学英语六级考试Part II Reading Comprehension快速阅读原文+答案+点评Part II Reading 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 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Welcome,Freshmen. Have an iPod.Taking a step that many professors may view as a bit counterproductive, some colleges and universities are doling out Apple iPhones and Internet-capable iPods to their students.The always-on Internet devices raise some novel possibilities, like tracking where students gather together. With far less controversy, colleges could send messages about canceled classes, delayed buses, campus crises or just the cafeteria menu.While schools emphasize its usefulness —online research in class and instant polling of students, for example —a big part of the attraction is, undoubtedly, that the iPhone is cool and a hit with students. Being equipped with one of the most recent cutting-edge IT products could just help a college or university foster a cutting-edge reputation.Apple stands to win as well, hooking more young consumers with decades of technology purchases ahead of them. The lone losers, some fear, could be professors.Students already have laptops and cell phones, of course, but the newest devices can take class distractions to a new level. They practically beg a user to ignore the long-suffering professor strug gling to pass on accumulated wisdom from the front of the room — a prospect that teachers find most irritating and students view as, well, inevitable.“When it gets a little boring, I might pull it out,”acknowledged Naomi Pugh, a first-year student at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Term., referring to her new iPod Touch, which can connect to the Internet over a campus wireless network. She speculated that professors might try even harder to make classes interesting if they were to compete with the devices.Experts see a movement toward the use of mobile technology in education, though they say it is in its infancy as professors try to come up with useful applications. Providing powerful handheld devices is sure to fuel debates over the role of technology in higher education.“We think this is the way the future is going to work,”said Kyle Dickson, co-director of research and the mobile learning initiative at Abilene Christian University in Texas, which has bought more than 600 iPhones and 300 iPods for students entering this fall.Although plenty of students take their laptops to class, they don’t take them everywhere and would prefer something lighter. Abilene Christian settled on the devices after surveying students and finding that they did not like hauling around their laptops, but that most of them always carried a cell phone, Dr. Dickson said.It is not clear how many colleges and universities plan to give out iPhones and iPods this fall; officials at Apple were unwilling to talk about the subject and said that they would not leak any institution’s plans.“We can’t announce other people’s news,”said Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPod and iPhone marketing at Apple. He also said that he could not discuss discounts to universities for bulk purchases.At least four institutions —the University of Maryland, Oklahoma Christian University, Abilene Christian and Freed-Hardeman —have announced that they will give the devices to some or all of their students this fall.Other universities are exploring their options. Stanford University has hired a student-run company to design applications like a campus map and directory for the iPhone. It is considering whether to issue iPhones but not sure it, snecessary, noting that more than 700 iPhones were registered on the university’s network last year.At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, iPhones might already have been everywhere, ifAT&T, the wireless carrier offering the iPhone in the United States, had a more reliable network, said Andrew Yu, mobile devices platform project manager at M.I.T.“We would have probably gone ahead with this, maybe just getting a thousand iPhones and giving them out,”Mr. Yusaid.The University of Maryland at College Park is proceeding cautiously, giving the iPhone or iPod Touch to 150 students, said Jeffrey Huskamp, vice president and chief information officer at the university. “We don’t think that we have all the answers,”Mr. Huskamp said. By observing how students use the gadgets, he said, “We’re trying to get answers from the students.”At each college, the students who choose to get an iPhone must pay for mobile phone service. Those service contracts include unlimited data use. Both the iPhones and the iPod Touch devices can connect to the Internet through campus wireless networks. With the iPhone, those networks may provide faster connections and longer battery life than AT&T’s data network. Many cell phones allow users to surf the Web, but only some newer ones are capable of wireless connection to the local area computer network.University officials say that they have no plans to track their students (and Apple said it would not be possible unless students give their permission). They say that they are drawn to the prospect of learning applications outside the classroom, though such lesson plans have yet to surface.“My colleagues and I are studying something called augmented reality (a field of computer research dealing with the combination of real-world and virtual reality),”said Christopher Dede, professor in learning technologies at Harvard University. “Alien Contact,”for example, is an exercise developed for middle-school students who use hand-held devices that can determine their location. As they walk around a playground or other area, text, video or audio pops up at various points to help them try to figure out why aliens were in the schoolyard.“You can imagine similar kinds of interactive activities along historical lines,”like following the Freedom Trail in Boston, Professor Dede said. “It’s important that we do research, so that we know how well something like this works.”The rush to distribute the devices worries some professors, who say that students are less likely toparticipate in class if they are multi-tasking. “I’m not someone who’s anti-technology, but I,m always worried that technology becomes an end in and of itself, and it replaces teaching or it replaces analysis,,’said Ellen Millender, associate professor of classics at Reed College in Portland, Ore. (She added that she hoped to buy an iPhone for herself once prices fall.)Robert Summers, who has taught at Cornell Law School for about 40 years, announced this week —in a detailed, footnoted memorandum —that he would ban laptop computers from his class on contract law.“I would ban that too if I knew the students were using it in class,”Professor Summers said of the iPhone, after the device and its capabilities were explained to him. “What we want to encour age in these students is an active intellectual experience, in which they develop the wide range of complex reasoning abilities required of good lawyers.”The experience at Duke University may ease some concerns. A few years ago, Duke began giving iPods to students with the idea that they might use them to record lectures (these older models could not access the Internet).“We had assumed that the biggest focus of these devices would be consuming the content,”said Tracy Futhey, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Duke.But that is not all that the students did. They began using the iPods to create their own “content,”making audio recordings of themselves and presenting them. The students turned what could have been a passive interaction into an active one, Ms. Futhey said.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
2013年6月英语六级考试答案卷二
2013年6月英语六级考试答案卷二2013年6月英语六级答案(卷二)考试采取“多题多卷”模式，试题顺序不统一，请依据试题进行核对Part I WritingControl trafficPart II Reading comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)1. What does the woman feel about the beauty in the picture?[C] Make-up can turn the ugly to be the beauty.2. What do women tend to do nowadays to care for their skins?[C] They tend to try natural vegetable on the face.3. What is the skincare function of cucumber according to the woman?[D] It is effective in tightening the skin.4. What does the woman suggest the man do?[B] Try some herbal plants.5. Why are flavorings added to the paste?[B] To give it a particular taste.6. What would be a good reason for buying the product?[A] It’s healthy food.7. When will the new product be available?[C] In about two years.8. One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go to whoever was sick and just be with them.9. When I looked at her and said “Bad girl,” She looked down at the ground and then went and hid.I saw a tear in her eyes.10. People would stop and ask if they could pet her. Of courseshe’d let anyone pet her. She was just the most lovable dog.Part III Listening ComprehensionSection A11. [C] She would like to know about that problem.12. [B] It is very interesting.13. [A] Taking a train.14. [C] The man should practice using the vocabulary.15. [A] Choose other time.16. [D] It will probably be cold.17. [A] The woman bought too many skirts.18. [B] In a hotel.19. [C] It’s the easiest way to communicate with other users.20. [A] It may not be of a high level of security.21. [B] IE and Windows.22. [D] Try to get a free E-mail account.23. [D] Refrigerator and kitchen stuff.24. [B] Advertise them on the university notice boards.25. [A] It may not pay well.Section BPassage One26. [C] Delighted.27. [B] Tell him the truth.28. [C] Remember a couple of names first.Passage Two29. [A] Cycling around a lake.30. [D] It needs water and electricity to keep its courses green.31. [C] It uses fewer resources.32. [B] To encourage people to go in for green sports.Passage Three33. [B] 334. [D] To get to know how to ask for financial aid.35. [B] To make JohnsonReview popular.Section C36. solo37. distances38. undertaking39. continent40. stranger41. puzzled42. afford43. estimated44. rapid economic growth has fuelled an explosive expansion in car ownership45. one of his aims was to promote cycling as safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly means of getting about46. with some estimates saying the number of people cycling to work has almost doubled in the last five yearsPart IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)Section A47. She fell so in love with a description of the Southwest of the U.S. that she moved there.48. As adventurous as the job sounds, the hard part is fact-checking all the information.49. What do we know about Jarolim from the passage?She is successful in her job.50. I always loved traveling and always liked to eat, but it never occurred to me that I could make money doing both of those things.51. What is one of the disadvantages of traveling as an air courier?She cannot decide when and where to travel.Section BPassage One52. Why is the woman calling the delivery company?[A] She needs some information.53. What is the woman sending to her sister?[C] Home-made candy.54. What day is the day when the conversation takes place?[B] Tuesday.55. Which method will the woman probably use to send her package?[D] Priority service.56. According to the conversation, in the late nineteenth century, what could a man’s headwear reveal about him?[C] His social status.Passage Two57. Tulips became popular among the upper classes because they associated the flowers with .[A] power and prestige58. In the tulip market, the Dutch bought and sold , which is similar to the futures market.[D] unsprouted flowers59. What does the author think about the age when the price of ever Internet stock skyrockets?[B] It is madness.60. when the market crashed, the prices of tulips fell by Percent of the highest prices.[C] ninety / 9061. What is regarded as the most recent version of the “tulip craze”?[A] The American investors’ madness over Internet stocks.Part V Cloze62. accelerated63. railways64. distant65. scarcely66. radius67. commute68. entrainment69. sparked70. know71. residential72. most73. but74. future75. occupied76. excesses77. related78. essentially79. where80. as81. processPart VI Translation82. If you are able to appreciate beauty in the ordinary (如果你擅于欣赏平凡中的美好), your life will be more vibrant.83. Consider the bad times as down payment for the good times. (把苦日子当做好日子的首付), Hang in there.84. You can’t change your situation. The only thing that you can change is how you choose to deal with it (你能改变的唯有面对它时的态度).85. A person’s character isn’t determined by how he or she enjoys victory, (一个人的品行不取决于这个人如何享受胜利), but rather how he or she endures defeat.86. No mater what, we all want to solve in a friendly way (我们都希望以友好的方式解决).。
2013年6月英语六级考试真题与答案(第3套)
2013年6月英语六级考试真题试卷（第3套）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark "A smile is the shortest distance between two people." You can cite examples to illustrate your point. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words._______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ 注意：此部分试题在答题卡1上作答。
Part II Reading 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 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A) , B) , C) and D) . For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Norman Borlaug: 'Father of the Green Revolution'Few people have quietly changed the world for the better more than this rural lad from the midwestern state of Iowa in the United States. The man in focus is Norman Borlaug, the Father of the 'Green Revolution', who died on September 12, 2009 at age 95. Norman Borlaug spent most of his 60 working years in the farmlands of Mexico, South Asia and later in Africa, fighting world hunger, and saving by some estimates up to a billion lives in the process. An achievement, fit for a Nobel Peace Prize.Early Years"I'm a product of the great depression" is how Borlaug described himself. A great-grandson of Norwegian immigrants to the United States, Borlaug was born in 1914 and grew up on a small farm in the northeastern corner of Iowa in a town called Cresco. His family had a 40-hectare (公顷) farm on which they grew wheat, maize (玉米) and hay and raised pigs and cattle. Norman spent most of his time from age 7-17 on the farm, even as he attended a one-room, one-teacher school at New Oregon in Howard County.Borlaug didn't have money to go to college. But through a Great Depression era programme, known as the National Youth Administration, Borlaug was able to enroll in the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis to study forestry. He excelled in studies and received his Ph.D. in plant pathology (病理学) and genetics in 1942. From 1942 to 1944, Borlaug was employed as a microbiologist at DuPont in Wilmington. However, following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Borlaug tried to join the military, but was rejected under wartime labour regulations.In MexicoIn 1944, many experts warned of mass starvation in developing nations where populations were expanding faster than crop production. Borlaug began work at a Rockefeller Foundation-funded project in Mexico to increase wheat production by developing higher-yielding varieties of the crop. It involved research in genetics, plant breeding, plant pathology, entomology (昆虫学) ,agronomy (农艺学) , soil science, and cereal technology. The goal of the project was to boost wheat production in Mexico, which at the time was importing a large portion of its grain. Borlaug said that his first couple of years in Mexico were difficult. He lacked trained scientists and equipment. Native farmers were hostile towards the wheat programme because of serious crop losses from 1939 to 1941 due to stem rust.Wheat varieties that Borlaug worked with had tall, thin stalks. While taller wheat competed better for sunlight, they had a tendency to collapse under the weight of extra grain - a trait called lodging. To overcome this, Borlaug worked on breeding wheat with shorter and stronger stalks, which could hold on larger seed heads. Borlaug's new semi-dwarf, disease-resistant varieties, called Pitic 62 and Penjamo 62, changed the potential yield of Mexican wheat dramatically. By 1963 wheat production in Mexico stood six times more than that of 1944.Green Revolution in IndiaDuring the 1960s, South Asia experienced severe drought condition and India had been importing wheat on a large scale from the United States. Borlaug came to India in 1963 along with Dr. Robert Anderson to duplicate his Mexican success in the sub-continent. The experiments began with planting a few of the high-yielding variety strains in the fields of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa in New Delhi, under the supervision of Dr. M. S. Swaminathan. These strains were subsequently planted in test plots at Ludhiana, Pantnagar, Kanpur, Pune and Indore. The results were promising, but large-scale success, however, was not instant. Cultural opposition to new agricultural techniques initially prevented Borlaug from going ahead with planting of new wheat strains in India. By 1965, when the drought situation turned alarming, the Government took the lead and allowed wheat revolution to move forward. By employing agricultural techniques he developed in Mexico, Borlaug was able to nearly double South Asian wheat harvests between 1965 and 1970.India subsequently made a huge commitment to Mexican wheat, importing some 18000 tonnes of seed. By 1968, it was clear that the Indian wheat harvest was nothing short of revolutionary. It was so productive that there was a shortage of labour to harvest it, of bull carts to haul it to the threshing floor (打谷场) , of jute (麻黄) bags to store it. Local governments in some areas were forced to shut down schools temporarily to use them as store houses.United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) observed that in 40 years between 1961 and 2001, "India more than doubled its population, from 452 million to more than 1 billion. At the same time, it nearly tripled its grain production from 87 million tonnes to 231 million tonnes. It accomplished this feat while increasing cultivated grain acreage (土地面积) a mere 8 percent." It was in India that Norman Borlaug's work was described as the 'Green Revolution.'In AfricaAfrica suffered widespread hunger and starvation through the 70s and 80s. Food and aid poured in from most developed countries into the continent, but thanks to the absence of efficient distribution system, the hungry remained empty-stomach. The then Chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Ryoichi Sasakawa wondered why the methods used in Mexico and India were not extended to Africa. He called up Norman Borlaug. now leading a semi-retired life, for help. He managed to convince Borlaug to help with his new effort and subsequently founded the Sasakawa Africa Association. Borlaug later recalled, "but after I saw the terrible circumstances there, I said, 'Let's just start growing'".The success in Africa was not as spectacular as it was in India or Mexico. Those elements thatallowed Borlaug's projects to succeed, such as well-organized economies and transportation and irrigation systems, were severely lacking throughout Africa. Because of this, Borlaug's initial projects were restricted to developed regions of the continent. Nevertheless, yields of maize, sorghum (高粱) and wheat doubled between 1983 and 1985.Nobel PrizeFor his contributions to the world food supply, Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Norwegian officials notified his wife in Mexico City at 4:00 a. m., but Borlaug had already left for the test fields in the Toluca valley, about 65 km west of Mexico City. A chauffeur (司机) took her to the fields to inform her husband. In his acceptance speech, Borlaug said, "the first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all mankind. Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world. Yet, 50 percent of the world population goes hungry."Green Revolution vs EnvironmentalistsBorlaug’s advocacy of intensive high-yield agriculture came under severe criticism from environmentalists in recent years. His work faced environmental and socio-economic criticisms, including charges that his methods have created dependence on monoculture crops, unsustainable farming practices, heavy indebtedness among subsistence farmers, and high levels of cancer among those who work with agriculture chemicals. There are also concerns about the long-term sustainability of fanning practices encouraged by the Green Revolution in both the developed and the developing world. In India, the Green Revolution is blamed for the destruction of Indian crop diversity, drought vulnerability, dependence on agro-chemicals that poison soils but reap large-scale benefits mostly to the American multi-national corporations. What these critics overwhelmingly advocate is a global movement towards "organic" or "sustainable" farming practices that avoid using chemicals and high technology in favour of natural fertilizers, cultivation and pest-control programmes.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
2013年12月六级真题及答案(共三套)
2013年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第1套）Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.Some performance evaluations require supervisors to take action. Employees who receive a very favorable evaluation may deserve some type of recognition or even a promotion. If supervisors do not acknowledge such outstanding performance, employees may either lose their36 and reduce their effort or search for a new job at a firm that will37 them for high performance. Supervisors should acknowledge high performance so that the employee will continue to perform well in the future.Employees who receive unfavorable evaluations must also be given attention. Supervisors must 38 the reasons for poor performance. Some reasons, such as a family illness, may have a temporary adverse 39 on performance and can be corrected. Other reasons, such as a bad attitude, may not be temporary. When supervisors give employees an unfavorable evaluation, they must decide whether to take any 40 actions. If the employees were unaware of their own deficiencies, the unfavorable evaluation can pinpoint(指出) the deficiencies that employees must correct. In this case, the supervisor may simply need to monitor the employees 41 and ensure that the deficiencies are corrected.If the employees were already aware of their deficiencies before the evaluation period, however, they may be unable or unwilling to correct them. This situation is more serious, and the supervisor may need to take action. The action should be 42 with the f irm‟s guidelines and may include reassigning the employees to new jobs, 43 them temporarily, or firing them. A supervisor‟s action toward a poorly performing worker can 44 the attitudes of other employees. If no 45 isimposed on an employee for poor performance, other employees may react by reducing their productivity as well.Section BDirections:In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The College Essay: Why Those 500 Words Drive Us CrazyA) Meg is a lawyer-mom in suburban Washington, D.C., where lawyer-moms are thick on theground. Her son Doug is one of several hundred thousand high-school seniors who had a painful fall. The deadline for applying to his favorite college was Nov. 1,and by early October he had yet to fill out the application. More to the point, he had yet to settle on a subject for the personal essay accompanying the application. According to college folklore, a well-turned essay has the power to seduce (诱惑) an admissions committee. “He wanted to do one thing ata time,”Meg says, explaining her son‟s delay. “But really, my son is a huge procrastinator (拖延者). The essay is the hardest thing to do, so he‟s put it off the longest.” Friends and other veterans of the process have warned Meg that the back and forth between editing parent and writing student can be traumatic (痛苦的).B) Back in the good old days—say, two years ago, when the last of my children suffered theordeal (折磨)—a high-school student applying to college could procrastinate all the way to New Year‟s Day of their senior year, assuming they could withstand the paren tal pestering (烦扰).But things change fast in the nail-biting world of college admissions.The recent trend toward early decision and early action among selective colleges and universities has pushed the traditional deadline of January up to Nov. 1 or early December for many students.C) If the time for heel-dragging has been shortened, the true source of the anxiety and panicremains what it has always been. And it‟s not the application itself. A college application is a relatively straightforward questionnaire asking for the basics: name, address, family history employment history. It would all be innocent enough—20 minutes of busy work—except it comes attached to a personal essay.D) “There are good reasons it causes such anxiety,” says Lisa Sohmer, directo r of collegecounseling at the Garden School in Jackson Heights, N.Y. “It‟s not just the actual writing. By noweverything else is already set. Your course load is set, your grades are set, your test scores are set. But the essay is something you can still control, and it‟s open-ended. So the temptation is to write and rewrite and rewrite.” Or stall and stall and stall.E) The application essay, along with its mythical importance, is a recent invention. In the1930s,when only one in 10 Americans had a degree from a four-year college, an admissionscommit tee was content to ask for a sample of applicants‟ school papers to assess their writing ability. By the 1950s, most schools required a brief personal statement of why the student had chosen to apply to one school over another.F) Today nearly 70 percent of graduating seniors go off to college, including two-year andfour-year institutions. Even apart from the increased competition, the kids enter a process that has been utterly transformed from the one baby boomers knew. Nearly all application materials are submitted online, and the Common Application provides a one-size-fits form accepted by more than 400 schools, including the nation‟s most selective.G) Those schools usually require essays of their own, but the longest essay, 500 words maximum,is generally attached to the Common Application. Students choose one of six questions.Applicants are asked to describe an ethical dilemma they‟ve faced and its impact on them, or discuss a public issue of special concern to them, or tell of a fictional character or creative work that has profoundly influenced them. Another question invites them to write about the importance (to them, again) of diversity―a word that has assumed magic power in American higher education. The most popular option: write on a topic of your choice.H) “Boys in particular look at the other questions and say, …Oh, that‟s too much work,‟” says JohnBoshoven, a counselor in the Ann Arbor, Mich., public schools. “They think if they do a topic of their choice, “I‟ll just go get that history paper I did last year on the Roman Empire and turn it into a first-person application essay!‟ And they end up producing something utterly ridiculous.”I) Talking to admissions professionals like Boshoven, you realize that the list of “don‟ts” in essaywriting is much longer than the “dos.”“No book reports, no history papers, no character studies,”says Sohmer.J) “It drives you cra zy, how easily kids slip into clichés(老生常谈),”says Boshoven. “They don‟t realize how typical their experiences arc. …I scored the winning goal in soccer against our arch-rival.‟…My grandfather served in World War II, and I hope to be just like him someday.‟That may mean a lot to that particular kid. But in the world of the application e ssay, it‟s nothing. You‟ll lose the reader in the first paragraph.”K) “The greatest strength you bring to this essay,” says the College Board‟s how-to book, “is 17 years or so of familiarity with the topic: YOU. The form and style are very familiar, and best of all, you are the world-class expert on the subject of YOU ... It has been the subject of your close scrutiny every morning since you were tall enough to see into the bathroom mirror.”Thekey word in the Common Application prompts is “you.”L) The college admission essay contains the grandest American themes―status anxiety, parental piety (孝顺), intellectual standards—and so it is only a matter of time before it becomes infected by the country‟s culture of excessive concern with self-esteem. Even if the question is ostensibly (表面上) about something outside the self (describe a fictional character or solve a problem of geopolitics), the essay invariably returns to the favorite topic: what is its impact on YOU?M)“For all the anxiety the essay causes,”says Bill McClintick of Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, “it‟s a very small piece of the puzzle. I was in college admissions for 10 years. I saw kids and parents beat themselves up over this. And at the vast majority of places, it is simply not a big variable in the college‟s decision-making process.”N) Many admissions officers say they spend less than a couple of minutes on each application, including the essay. According to a recent survey of admissions officers, only one in four private colleges sa y the essay is of “considerable importance” in judging an application.Among public colleges and universities, the number drops to roughly one in 10. By contrast,86 percent place “considerable importance” on an applicant‟s grades, 70 percent on “strengthof curriculum.”O) Still, at the most selective schools, where thousands of candidates may submit identically high grades and test scores, a marginal item like the essay may serve as a tie-breaker between two equally qualified candidates. The thought is certainly enough to keep the pot boiling under parents like Meg, the lawyer-mom, as she tries to help her son choose an essay topic. For a moment the other day, she thought she might have hit on a good one. “His father‟s fromFrance,” she says. “I said maybe you could write about that, as something that makes you different. You know: half French, half American. I said, …You could write about your identity issues.‟He said, …I don‟t have any identity issues!‟And he‟s right. He‟s a well-adjusted, normal kid. B ut that doesn‟t make for a good essay, does it?”注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
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。
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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 blanket
B. to be sure of an answer
C. to be unable to think clearly
D. to show knowledge to the teacher
27. Poor grades are usually the result of______.
A. poor sleeping habit
B. laziness
C. lack of sleep
D. inability to form good study habits
28. Test anxiety has been recognized as______.
A. an excuse for laziness
B. the result of poor study habits
C. a real problem
D. something that cannot be changed
29. To deal with this problem, students say they want to______.
A. take a short course on anxiety
B. read about anxiety
C. be able to manage or understand their anxiety
D. take tests to prove they are not anxious
30. A University of California advisor said______.
A. all students could overcome the anxiety after taking a special test anxiety program
B. almost all students felt less stress after taking a University of California advising course
C. students found it difficult to improve even though they had taken a special test anxiety course
D. students found it easy to relax as soon as they entered a University of California advising course
26. C 27. D 28. C 29. A 30. B。