2002年1月大学英语六级考试真题

Listening Comprehension (20 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the question will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Example: You will hear:
You will read:
A) 2 hours.
B) 3 hours.
C) 4 hours.
D) 5 hours.
From the conversation we know that the two were talking about some work they will start at 9 o’clock in the morning and have to finish at 2 in the afternoon. Therefore, D) “5 hours” is the correct answer. You should choose [D] on the Answer Sheet and mark it with a single line through the center.
Sample Answer [A] [B] [C] [D]
1. A) All the passengers were killed.
B) The plane crashed in the night.
C) No more survivors have been found.
D) It’s too late to search for survivors.
2. A) Its results were just as expected.
B) It wasn’t very well designed.
C) It fully reflected the students’ ability.
D) Its results fell short of her expectations.
3. A) He believes dancing is enjoyable.
B) He definitely does not like dancing.
C) He admires those who dance.
D) He won’t dance until he had done his work.
4. A) His computer doesn’t work well.
B) He isn’t getting along with his staff.
C) He didn’t register for a proper course.
D) He can’t apply the theory to his program.
5. A) Reading on the campus lawn.
B) Depositing money in the bank.
C) Applying for financial aid.
D) Reviewing a student’s application.
6. A) A new shuttle bus.
B) A scheduled space flight.
C) An airplane flight.
D) The first space flight.
7. A) The deadline is drawing near.
B) She can’t meet the deadline.
C) She turned in the proposals today.
D) They are tow days ahead of time.
8. A) By going on a diet.
B) By having fewer meals.
C) By doing physical exercise.
D) By eating fruit and vegetables.
9. A) He enjoyed it as a whole.
B) He didn’t think much of it.
C) He didn’t like it at all.
D) He liked some parts of it.
10. A) It looks quite new.
B) it looks old, but it runs well.
C) It needs to be repaired.
D) Its engine needs to be painted.

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

Passage one
Question 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.

11. A) Experience in negotiating.
B) A high level of intelligence.
C) The time they spend on preparation.
D) The amount of pay they receive.
12. A) Study the case carefully beforehand.
B) Stick to a set target.
C) Appear friendly to the other party.
D) Try to be flexible about their terms.
13. A) Make sure there is no misunderstanding.
B) Try to persuade by giving various reasons.
C) Repeat the same reasons.
D) Listen carefully and patiently to the other party.

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

14. A) They eat huge amounts of food.
B) They usually eat twice a day.
C) They usually eat to their hearts’ content.
D) They eat much less than people assume.
15. A) When it is breeding.
B) When it feels threatened by humans in its territory.
C) When its offspring is threatened.
D) When it is suffering from illness.
16. A) They are not as dangerous as people think.
B) They can be as friendly to humans as dogs
C) They attack human beings by nature.
D) They are really tame sea animals.

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

17. A) Because people might have to migrate there someday.
B) Because it is very much like the earth.
C) Because it is easier to explore than other planets.
D) Because its atmosphere is different from that of the earth.
18. A) Its chemical elements must be studied.
B) Its temperature must be lowered.
C) Big spaceships must be built.
D) Its atmosphere must be changed.
19. A) It influences the surface temperature of Mars.
B) It protects living beings from harmful rays.
C) It keeps a planet from overheating.
D) It is the main component of the air people breathe.
20. A) Man will probably be able to live there in 200 years.
B) Scientists are rather pessimistic about it.
C) Man will probably be able to live there in 100,000 years’ time.
D) Scientists are optimistic about overcoming the difficulties soon.

Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Direction: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B) C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

Navigation computers, now sold by most car-makers, cost $2,000 and up. No surprise, then, that they are most often found in luxury cars, like Lexus, BMW and Audi. But it is a developing technology — meaning prices should eventually drop — and the market does seem to be growing.
Even at current prices, a navigation computer is impressive. It can guide you from point to point in most major cities with precise turn-by-turn directions — spoken by a clear human- sounding voice, and written on a screen in front of the driver.
The computer works with an antenna (天线) that takes signals from no fewer than three of the 24 global positioning system (GPS) satellites. By measuring the time required for a signal to travel between the satellites and the antenna, the car’s location can be pinned down within 100 meters.
The satellite signals, along with inputs on speed from a wheel-speed sensor and direction from a meter, determine the car’s position even as it moves. This information is combined with a map database. Streets, landmarks and points of interest are included.
Most systems are basically identical. The differences come in hardware — the way the computer accepts the driver’s request for directions and the way it presents the driving instructions. On most systems, a driver enters a desired address, motorway junction or point of interest via a touch screen or disc. But the Lexus screen goes a step further: you can point to any spot on the map screen and get directions to it.
BMW’s system offers a set of cross hairs (瞄准器上的十字纹) that can be moved across the map (you have several choices of map scale) to pick a point you’d like to get to. Audi’s screen can be switched to TV reception.
Even the voices that recite the directions can differ, with better systems like BMW’s and Lexus’s having a wider vocabulary. The instructions are available in French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, as well as English. The driver can also choose parameters for determining the route: fastest, shortest or no freeways (高速公路), for example.
21. We learn from the passage that navigation computers ________.
A) will greatly promote sales of automobiles
B) may help solve potential traffic problems
C) are likely to be accepted by more drivers
D) wills soon be viewed as a symbol of luxury
22. With a navigation computer, a driver will easily find the best route to his destination ________.
A) by inputting the exact address
B) by indicating the location of his car
C) by checking his computer database
D) by giving vocal orders to the computer
23. Despite their varied designs, navigation computers used in cars ________.
A) are more or less the same price
B) provide directions in much the same way
C) work on more or less the same principles
D) receive instructions from the same satellites
24. The navigation computer functions ________.
A) by means of a direction finder and a speed detector
B) basically on satellite signals and a map database
C) mainly through the reception of turn-by-turn directions
D) by using a screen to display satellite signals
25. The navigation systems in cars like Lexus, BMW and Audi are mentioned to show ________.
A) the immaturity of the new technology
B) the superiority of the global positioning system
C) the cause of price fluctuations in car equipment
D) the different ways of providing guidance to the driver

Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
“The world’s environment is surprisingly healthy. Discuss.” If that were an examination topic, most students would tear it apart, offering a long list of complaints: from local smog (烟雾) to global climate change, from the felling (砍伐) of forests to the extinction of species. The list would largely be accurate, the concern legitimate. Yet the students who should be given the highest marks would actually be those who agreed with the statement. The surprise is how good things are, not how bad.
After all, the world’s population has more than tripled during this century, and world output has risen hugely, so you would expect the earth itself to have been affected. Indeed, if people lived, consumed and produced things in the same way as they did in 1900 (or 1950, or indeed 1980), the world by now would be a pretty disgusting place: smelly, dirty, toxic and dangerous.
But they don’t. The reasons why they don’t, and why the environment has not been ruined, have to do with prices, technological innovation, social change and government regulation in response to popular pressure. That is why today’s environmental problems in the poor countries ought, in principle, to be solvable.
Raw materials have not run out, and show no sign of doing so. Logically, one day they must: the planet is a finite place. Yet it is also very big, and man is very ingenious. What has happened is that every time a material seems to be running short, the price has risen and, in response, people have looked for new sources of supply, tried to find ways to use less of the material, or looked for a new substitute. For this reason prices for energy and for minerals have fallen in real terms during the century. The same is true for food. Prices fluctuate, in response to harvests, natural disasters and political instability; and when they rise, it takes some time before new sources of supply become available. But they always do, assisted by new farming and crop technology. The long- term trend has been downwards.
It is where prices and markets do not operate properly that this benign (良性的) trend begins to stumble, and the genuine problems arise. Markets cannot always keep the environment healthy. If no one owns the resource concerned, no one has an interest in conserving it or fostering it: fish is the best example of this.

26. According to the author, most students ________.
A) believe the world’s environment is in an undesirable condition
B) agree that the environment of the world is not as bad as it is thought to be
C) get high marks for their good knowledge of the world’s environment
D) appear somewhat unconcerned about the state of the world’s environment
27. The huge increase in world production and population ________.
A) has made the world a worse place to live in
B) has had a positive influence on the environment
C) has not significantly affected the environment
D) has made the world a dangerous place to live in
28. One of the reasons why the long-term trend of prices has been downwards is that ________.
A) technological innovation can promote social stability
B) political instability will cause consumption to drop
C) new farming and crop technology can lead to overproduction
D) new sources are always becoming available
29. Fish resources are diminishing because ________.
A) no new substitutes can be found in large quantities
B) they are not owned by any particular entity
C) improper methods of fishing have ruined the fishing grounds
D) water pollution is extremely serious
30. The primary solution to environmental problems is ________.
A) to allow market forces to operate properly
B) to curb consumption of natural resources
C) to limit the growth of the world population
D) to avoid fluctuations in prices

Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

About the time that schools and others quite reasonably became interested in seeing to it that all children, whatever their background, were fairly treated, intelligence testing became unpopular.
Some thought it was unfair to minority children. Through the past few decades such testing has gone out of fashion and many communities have indeed forbidden it.
However, paradoxically, just recently a group of black parents filed a lawsuit (诉讼) in California claiming that the state’s ban on IQ testing discriminates against their children by denying them the opportunity to take the test. (They believed, correctly, that IQ tests are a valid method of evaluating children for special education classes.) The judge, therefore, reversed, at least partially, his original decision.
And so the argument goes on and on. Does it benefit or harm children from minority groups to have their intelligence tested? We have always been on the side of permitting, even facilitating, such testing. If a child of any color or group is doing poorly in school it seems to us very important to know whether it is because he or she is of low intelligence, or whether some other factor is the cause.
What school and family can do to improve poor performance is influenced by its cause. It is not discriminative to evaluate either a child’s physical condition or his intellectual level.
Unfortunately, intellectual level seems to be a sensitive subject, and what the law allows us to do varies from time to time. The same fluctuation back and forth occurs in areas other than intelligence. Thirty years or so ago, for instance, white families were encouraged to adopt black children. It was considered discriminative not to do so.
And then the style changed and this cross-racial adopting became generally unpopular, and social agencies felt that black children should go to black families only. It is hard to say what are the best procedures. But surely good will on the part of all of us is needed.
As to intelligence, in our opinion, the more we know about any child’s intellectual level, the better for the child in question.

31. Why did the intelligence test become unpopular in the past few decades?
A) Its validity was challenged by many communities.
B) It was considered discriminative against minority children.
C) It met with strong opposition from the majority of black parents.
D) It deprived the black children of their rights to a good education.
32. The recent legal action taken by some black parents in California aimed to ________.
A) draw public attention to IQ testing
B) put an end to special education
C) remove the state’s ban on intelligence tests
D) have their children enter white schools
33. The author believes that intelligence testing ________.
A) may ease racial confrontation in the United States
B) can encourage black children to keep up with white children
C) may seriously aggravate racial discrimination in the United States
D) can help black parents make decisions abut their children’s education
34. The author’s opinion of child adoption seems to be that ________.
A) no rules whatsoever can be prescribed
B) white families should adopt black children
C) adoption should be based on IQ test results
D) cross-racial adoption is to be advocated
35. Child adoption is mentioned in the passage to show that ________.
A) good will may sometimes complicate racial problems
B) social surroundings are vital to the healthy growth of children
C) intelligence testing also applies to non-academic areas
D) American opinion can shift when it comes to sensitive issues

Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:

Not too many decades ago it seemed “obvious” both to the general public and to sociologists that modern society has changed people’s natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to kin (亲戚) and neighbors, and substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances. However, in recent years a growing body of research has revealed that the “obvious” is not true. It seems that if you are a city resident, you typically know a smaller proportion of your neighbors than you do if you are a resident of a smaller community. But, for the most part, this fact has few significant consequences. It does not necessarily follow that if you know few of your neighbors you will know no one else.
Even in very large cities, people maintain close social ties within small, private social worlds. Indeed, the number and quality of meaningful relationships do not differ between more and less urban people. Small-town residents are more involved with kin than are big-city residents. Yet city dwellers compensate by developing friendships with people who share similar interests and activities. Urbanism may produce a different style of life, but the quality of life does not differ between town and city. Nor are residents of large communities any likelier to display psychological symptoms of stress or alienation, a feeling of not belonging, than are residents of smaller communities. However, city dwellers do worry more about crime, and this leads them to a distrust of strangers.
These findings do not imply that urbanism makes little or no difference. If neighbors are strangers to one another, they are less likely to sweep the sidewalk of an elderly couple living next door or keep an eye out for young trouble makers. Moreover, as Wirth suggested, there may be a link between a community’s population size and its social heterogeneity (多样性). For instance, sociologists have found much evidence that the size of a community is associated with bad behavior including gambling, drugs, etc. Large-city urbanites are also more likely than their small-town counterparts to have a cosmopolitan (见多识广者的) outlook, to display less responsibility to traditional kinship roles, to vote for leftist political candidates, and to be tolerant of nontraditional religious groups, unpopular political groups, and so-called undesirables. Everything considered, heterogeneity and unusual behavior seem to be outcomes of large population size.

36. Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the first paragraph?
A) Two contrasting views are presented.
B) An argument is examined and possible solutions given.
C) Research results concerning the quality of urban life are presented in order of time.
D) A detailed description of the difference between urban and small-town life is given.
37. According to the passage, it was once a common belief that urban residents ________.
A) did not have the same interests as their neighbors
B) could not develop long-standing relationships
C) tended to be associated with bad behavior
D) usually had more friends
38. One of the consequences of urban life is that impersonal relationships among neighbors ________.
A) disrupt people’s natural relations
B) make them worry about crime
C) cause them not to show concern for one another
D) cause them to be suspicious of each other
39. It can be inferred from the passage that the bigger a community is, ________.
A) the better its quality of life
B) the more similar its interests
C) the more tolerant and open-minded it is
D) the likelier it is to display psychological symptoms of stress
40. What is the passage mainly about?
A) Similarities in the interpersonal relationships between urbanites and small-town dwellers.
B) Advantages of living in big cities as compared with living in small town.
C) The positive role that urbanism plays in modern life.
D) The strong feeling of alienation of city inhabitants.

Vocabulary and Structure (20 minutes)
Directions: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Choose the ONE that best completes the sentence. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

41. The lady in this strange tale very obviously suffers from a serious mental illness. Her plot against a completely innocent old man is a clear sign of ______.
A) impulse B) insanity
C) inspiration D) disposition
42. The Prime Minister was followed by five or six ______ when he got off the plane.
A) laymen B) servants
C) directors D) attendants
43. There is no doubt that the ______ of these goods to the others is easy to see.
A) prestige B) superiority
C) priority D) publicity
44. All the guests were invited to attend the wedding ______ and had a very good time.
A) feast B) congratulations
C) festival D) recreation
45. The price of the coal will vary according to how far it has to be transported and how expensive the freight ______ are.
A) payments B) charges
C) funds D) prices
46. The manager gave her his ______ that her complaint would be investigated.
A) assurance B) assumption
C) sanction D) insurance
47. Although the model looks good on the surface, it will not bear close ______.
A) temperament B) contamination
C) scrutiny D) symmetry
48. We are doing this work in the ___ of reforms in the economic, social and cultural spheres.
A) context B) contest
C) pretext D) texture
49. While a full understanding of what causes the disease may be several years away, ________ leading to a successful treatment could come much sooner.
A) a distinction B) a breakthrough
C) an identification D) an interpretation
50. Doctors are often caught in a ________ because they have to decide whether they should tell their patients the truth or not.
A) puzzle B) perplexity
C) dilemma D) bewilderment
51. To ________ important dates in history, countries create special holidays.
A) commend B) memorize
C) propagate D) commemorate
52. His successful negotiations with the Americans helped him to ________ his position in the government.
A) contrive B) consolidate
C) heave D) intensify
53. Please do not be ________ by his offensive remarks since he is merely trying to attract attention.
A) distracted B) disregarded
C) irritated D) intervened
54. Once you get to know your mistakes, you should ________ them as soon as possible.
A) rectify B) reclaim
C) refrain D) reckon
55. He wouldn’t answer the reporters’ questions, nor would he ________ for a photograph.
A) summon B) highlight
C) pose D) marshal
56. The club will ________ new members the first week in September.
A) enroll B) subscribe
C) absorb D) register
57. If you don’t ________ the children properly, Mr. Chiver, they’ll just run riot.
A) mobilize B) warrant
C) manipulate D) supervise
58. Already the class is ________ about who our new teacher will be.
A) foreseeing B) speculating
C) fabricating D) contemplating
59. We should ________ our energy and youth to the development of our country.
A) dedicate B) cater
C) ascribe D) cling
60. Just because I’m ________ to him, my boss thinks he can order me around without showing me any respect.
A) redundant B) trivial
C) versatile D) subordinate
61. Many scientists remain ________ about the value of this research program.
A) sceptical B) stationary
C) spacious D) specific
62. Depression is often cause by the ________ effects of stress and overwork.
A) total B) increased
C) terrific D) cumulative
63. A human’s eyesight is not as ________ as that of an eagle.
A) eccentric B) acute
C) sensible D) sensitive
64. It is ________ that women should be paid less than men for doing the same kind of work.
A) abrupt B) absurd
C) adverse D) addictive
65. Shoes of this kind are ________ to slip on wet ground.
A) feasible B) appropriate
C) apt D) fitting
66. We’ll be very careful and keep what you’ve told us strictly ________.
A) rigorous B) confidential
C) private D) mysterious
67. The members of Parliament were ________ that the government had not consulted them.
A) impatient B) tolerant
C) crude D) indignant
68. Some American colleges are state-supported, others are privately ________, and still others are supported by religious organizations.
A) ensured B) attributed
C) authorized D) endowed
69. The prison guards were armed and ready to shoot if ________ in any way.
A) intervened B) incurred
C) provoked D) poked
70. Many pure metals have little use because they are too soft, rust too easily, or have some other ________.
A) drawbacks B) handicaps
C) bruises D) blunders

Error Correction (15 minutes)
Directions: This part consists of a short passage. In this passage, there are altogether 10 mistakes, one in each numbered line. You may have to change a word, add a word or delete a word. Mark out the mistakes and put the corrections in the blanks provided. If you change a word, cross it out and write the correct word in the corresponding blank. If you add a word, put an insertion mark (∧) in the right place and write the missing word in the blank. If you delete a word, cross it out and put a slash (／) in the blank.
Example:

Television is rapidly becoming the literatures of our periods.
1. time/times/period
Many of the arguments having used for the study of literature.
2. ／___________
As a school subject are valid for ∧ study of television. 3. the___________

Sporting activities are essentially modified forms of
hunting behavior. Viewing biologically, the modern S1. __________
footballer is revealed as a member of a disguised hunting
pack. His killing weapon has turned into a harmless football
and his prey into a goal-mouth. If his aim is inaccurate and he S2. __________
scores a goal, enjoys the hunter’s triumph of killing his prey.
To understand how this transformation has taken place we S3. __________
must briefly look up at our ancient ancestors. They spent over a S4. __________
million year evolving as co-operative hunters. Their very survival S5. __________
depended on success in the hunting-field. Under this pressure
their whole way of life, even if their bodies, became radicaily S6. __________
changed. They became chasers, runners, jumpers, aimers,
throwers and prey-killers. They co-operate as skillful male-group S7. __________
attackers.
Then, about ten thousand years ago, when this immensely S8. __________
long formative period of hunting for food, they became
farmers. Their improved intelligence, so vital to their old
hunting life, were put to a new use—that of penning (把 S9. __________
……关在圈中), controlling and domesticating their prey. The
food was there on the farms, awaiting their needs. The risks and
uncertainties of farming were no longer essential for survival. S10.__________

Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic: A Letter to the University President about the Canteen Service on Campus You should write at least 120 words, and base your composition on the outline given in Chinese below:
假设你是李明，请你就本校食堂的状况给校长写一封信，内容应涉及食堂的饭菜质量、价格、环境、服务等，可以是表扬，可以是批评建议，也可以兼而有之。

January 12th, 2002
Dear Mr. President,

Part I

1. C 2. D 3. B 4. D 5. C 6. B 7. A 8. C 9. A 10. C
11. C 12. D 13. B 14. D 15. B 16. A 17. A 18. D 19. D 20. C

Part II

21. C 22. A 23. C 24. B 25. D 26. A 27. C 28. D 29. B 30. A
31. B 32. C 33. D 34. A 35. D 36. A 37. B 38. C 39. C 40. A

Part III

41. B 42. D 43. B 44. A 45. B 46. A 47. C 48. A 49. B 50. C
51. D 52. B 53. C 54. A 55. C 56. A 57. D 58. B 59. A 60. D
61. A 62. D 63. B 64. B 65. C 66. B 67. D 68. D 69. C 70. A

Part IV

S1. Viewing  Viewed S2. inaccurate  accurate
S3. (enjoys)  he (enjoys) S4. up  back
S5. year  years S6. (even) if  (even) /
S7. co-operate  co-operated S8. when  after
S9. were  was S10.. farming  hunting