2001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) The woman never travels by plane.
B) Both speakers feel nervous when flying.
C) The man thinks travelling by air is quite safe.
D) The speakers feel sad about the serious loss of life.
2. A) In an office.
B) In a restaurant.
C) At a railway station.
D) At the information desk.
3. A) Fix the shelf.
B) Paint the shelf.
C) Write the letter.
D) Look for the pen.
4. A) It is run by Mrs. Winter’s husband.
B) It hires Mrs. Winter as an adviser.
C) It gives a 30% discount to all customers.
D) It encourages husbands to shop on their own.
5. A) Too tight a hat.
B) Lack of sleep.
C) Long working hours.
D) Long exposure to the sun.
6. A) He doesn’t like the way Americans speak.
B) He speaks English as if he were a native speaker.
C) His English is still poor after ten years in America.
D) He doesn’t mind speaking English with an accent.
7. A) An electrician.
B) A carpenter.
C) An auto mechanic.
D) A telephone repairman.
8. A) They both enjoyed watching the game.
B) They both felt good about the results of the game.
C) People were surprised at their winning the game.
D) The man thought the results were beyond their expectations.
9. A) Salesman and customer.
B) Manager and employee.
C) Professor and student.
D) Guide and tourist.
10. A) Tom will keep the surprise party a secret.
B) Tom didn’t make any promise to Lucy.
C) Tom has arranged a surprise party for Lucy.
D) Tom and Lucy have no secrets from each other.

Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered form S1 to S7 with the exact words you have just heard: For blanks numbered from S8 to S10 you are required to fill in the missing information. You can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

Compound Dictation
The human body is a remarkable food processor. As an adult, you may consumer (S1) ___________ a ton of food per year and still not gain or lose a pound of body weight. You are (S2) ______________ harnessing and consuming energy through the intricate (S3) ______________ of your body in order to remain in energy balance. to (S4) ________________ a given body weight, your energy input must balance your energy output. However, sometimes the (S5) _____________ energy balance is upset, and your (S6) ___________________ body weight will either fall or (S7) ______________.
The term body image refers to the mental image we have of our won physical appearance, and (S8) _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Research has revealed that about 40 percent of adult men and 55 percent of adult women are dissatisfied with their current body weight (S9) _______________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
At the college level, a study found that 85 percent of both male and female first-year students desired to change their body weight. (S10) ______________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Thinness is currently an attribute that females desire highly. Males generally desire muscularity. The vast majority of individuals who want to change their body weight do it for the sake of appearance; most want to lose excess body fat while a smaller percentage of individuals actually want to gain weight.

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 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:

Birds that are literally half-asleep—with one brain hemisphere alert and the other sleeping—control which side of the brain remains awake, according to a new study of sleeping ducks.
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert. Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert. Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Decades of studies of bird flocks led researchers to predict extra alertness in the more vulnerable, end-of-the-row sleepers, Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully on the side away from their companions. Ducks in the inner spots showed no preference for gaze direction.
Also, birds dozing（打盹）at the end of the line resorted to single-hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more often than inner ducks did. Rotating 16 birds through the positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found outer birds half-asleep during some 32 percent of dozing time versus about 12 percent for birds in internal spots.
“We believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness simultaneously in different regions of the brain,” the researchers say.
The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing supposition that single-hemisphere sleep evolved as creatures scanned for enemies. The preference for opening an eye on the lookout side could be widespread, he predicts. He’s seen it in a pair of birds dozing side-by-side in the zoo and in a single pet bird sleeping by mirror. The mirror-side eye closed as if the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed open.
Useful as half-sleeping might be, it’s only been found in birds and such water mammals（哺乳动物）as dolphins, whales, and seals. Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning.
Studies of birds may offer unique insights into sleep. Jerome M. Siegel of the UGLA says he wonders if birds’ half-brain sleep “is just the tip of the iceberg（冰山）”. He speculates that more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other species.
11. A new study on birds’ sleep has revealed that ____________.
A) birds can control their half-brain sleep consciously
B) birds seldom sleep with the whole of their brain at rest
C) half-brain sleep is found in a wide variety of birds
D) half-brain sleep is characterized by slow brain waves
12. According to the passage, birds often half sleep because ______________.
A) they have to constantly keep an eye on their companions
B) the two halves of their brain are differently structured
C) they have to watch out for possible attacks
D) their brain hemisphere take turns to rest
13. The example of a bird sleeping in front of a mirror indicates that _____________.
A) birds prefer to sleep in pairs for the sake of security
B) the phenomenon of birds dozing in pairs is widespread
C) a single pet bird enjoys seeing its own reflection in the mirror
D) even an imagined companion gives the bird a sense of security
14. While sleeping, some water mammals tend to keep half awake in order to __________.
A) avoid being swept away by rapid currents
B) emerge from water now and then to breathe
C) alert themselves to the approaching enemy
D) be sensitive to the ever-changing environment
15. By “just the tip of the iceberg” (Line 2, Para.8), Siegel suggests that ____________.
A) half-brain sleep is a phenomenon that could exist among other species
B) most birds living in cold regions tend to be half sleepers
C) the mystery of half-brain sleep is close to being solved
D) half-brain sleep has something to do with icy weather

Passage Two
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:

A nine-year-old schoolgirl single-handedly cooks up a science-fair experiment that ends up debunking（揭穿．．．的真相）a widely practiced medical treatment. Emily Rosa’s target was a practice known as therapeutic（治疗）touch (TT for short), whose advocates manipulate patients’ “energy field” to make them feel better and even, say some, to cure them of various ills. Yet Emily’s test shows that these energy fields can’t be detected, even by trained TT practitioners（行医者）. Obviously mindful of the publicity value of the situation, Journal editor George Lundberg appeared on TV to declare, “Age doesn’t matter. It’s good science that matters, and this is good science.”
Emily’s mother Linda Rosa, a registered nurse, has been campaigning against TT for nearly a decade. Linda first thought about TT in the late ’80s, when she learned it was on the approved list for continuing nursing education in Colorado. Its 100,000 trained practitioners (48,000 in the U.S.) don’t even touch their patients. Instead, they waved their hands a few inches from the patient’s body, pushing energy fields around until they’re in “balance.” TT advocates say these manipulations can help heal wounds, relieve pain and reduce fever. The claims are taken seriously enough that TT therapists are frequently hired by leading hospitals, at up to $70 an hour, the smooth patients’ energy, sometimes during surgery.
Yet Rosa could not find any evidence that it works. To provide such proof, TT therapists would have to sit down for independent testing—something they haven’t been eager to do, even though James Randi has offered more than $1 million to anyone who can demonstrate the existence of a human energy field. (He’s had one taker so far. She failed.) A skeptic might conclude that TT practitioners are afraid to lay their beliefs on the line. But who could turn down an innocent fourth-grader? Says Emily: “I think they didn’t take me very seriously because I’m a kid.”
The experiment was straightforward: 21 TT therapists stuck their hands, palms up, through a screen. Emily held her own hand over one of theirs—left or right—and the practitioners had to say which hand it was. When the results were recorded, they’d done no better than they would have by simply guessing. if there was an energy field, they couldn’t feel it.
16. Which of the following is evidence that TT is widely practiced?
A) TT has been in existence for decades.
B) Many patients were cured by therapeutic touch.
C) TT therapists are often employed by leading hospitals.
D) More than 100,000 people are undergoing TT treatment.
17. Very few TT practitioners responded to the $1 million offer because ____________.
A) they didn’t take the offer seriously
B) they didn’t want to risk their career
C) they were unwilling to reveal their secret
D) they thought it was not in line with their practice
18. The purpose of Emily Rosa’s experiment was ____________.
A) to see why TT could work the way it did
B) to find out how TT cured patient’s illness
C) to test whether she could sense the human energy field
D) to test whether a human energy field really existed
19. Why did some TT practitioners agree to be the subjects of Emily’s experiment?
A) It involved nothing more than mere guessing.
B) They thought it was going to be a lot of fun.
C) It was more straightforward than other experiments.
D) They sensed no harm in a little girl’s experiment.
20. What can we learn from the passage?
A) Some widely accepted beliefs can be deceiving.
B) Solid evidence weighs more than pure theories.
C) Little children can be as clever as trained TT practitioners.
D) The principle of TT is too profound to understand.

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

What might driving on an automated highway be like? The answer depends on what kind of system is ultimately adopted. Two distinct types are on the drawing board. The first is a special—purpose lane system, in which certain lanes are reserved for automated vehicles. The second is a mixed traffic system: fully automated vehicles would share the road with partially automated or manually driven cars. A special-purpose land system would require more extensive physical modifications to existing highways, but it promises the greatest gains in freeway（高速公路）capacity.
Under either scheme, the driver would specify the desired destination, furnishing this information to a computer in the car at the beginning of the trip or perhaps just before reaching the automated highway. If a mixed traffic system was in place, automated driving could begin whenever the driver was on suitably equipped roads. If special-purpose lanes were available, the car could enter them and join existing traffic in two different ways. One method would use a special onramp（入口引道）. As the driver approached the point of entry for the highway, devices installed on the roadside would electronically check the vehicle to determine its destination and to ascertain that it had the proper automation equipment in good working order. Assuming it passed such tests, the driver would then be guided through a gate and toward an automated lane. In this case, the transition from manual to automated control would take place on the entrance ramp. An alternative technique could employ conventional lanes, which would be shared by automated and regular vehicles. The driver would steer onto the highway and move in normal fashion to a “transition” lane. The vehicle would then shift under computer control onto a lane reserved for automated traffic. (The limitation of these lanes to automated traffic would, presumably, be well respected, because all trespassers（非法进入者）could be swiftly identified by authorities.)
Either approach to joining, a lane of automated traffic would harmonize the movement of newly entering vehicles with those already traveling. Automatic control here should allow for smooth merging, without the usual uncertainties and potential for accidents. and once a vehicle had settled into automated travel, the drive would be free to release the wheel, open the morning paper or just relax.
21. We learn from the first paragraph that two systems of automated highways __________.
A) are being planned
B) are being modified
C) are now in wide use
D) are under construction
22. A special-purpose lane system is probably advantageous in that ________________.
A) it would require only minor changes to existing highways
B) it would achieve the greatest highway traffic efficiency
C) it has a lane for both automated and partially automated vehicles
D) it offers more lanes for automated vehicles
23. Which of the following is true about driving on an automated highway?
A) Vehicles traveling on it are assigned different lanes according to their destinations.
B) A car can join existing traffic any time in a mixed lane system.
C) The driver should inform his car computer of his destination before driving onto it.
D) The driver should share the automated lane with those of regular vehicles.
24. We know form the passage that a car can enter a special-purpose lane __________.
A) by smoothly merging with cars on the conventional lane
B) by way of a ramp with electronic control devices
C) through a specially guarded gate
D) after all trespassers are identified and removed
25. When driving in an automated lane, the driver ___________.
A) should harmonize with newly entering cars
B) doesn’t have to rely on his computer system
C) should watch out for potential accidents
D) doesn’t have to hold not to the steering wheel

Passage Four
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

Taking charge of yourself involves putting to rest some very prevalent myths. At the top of the list is the notion that intelligence is measured by your ability to solve complex problems; to read, write and compute at certain levels, and to resolve abstract equations quickly. This vision of intelligence asserts formal education and bookish excellence as the true measures of self-fulfillment. It encourages a kind of intellectual prejudice that has brought with it some discouraging results. We have come to believe that someone who has more educational merit badges, who is very good at some form of school discipline is “intelligent.” Yet mental hospitals are filled with patients who have all of the properly lettered certificates. A truer indicator of intelligence is an effective, happy life lived each day and each present moment of every day.
If you are happy, if you live each moment for everything it’s worth, then you are an intelligent person. Problem solving is a useful help to your happiness, but if you know that given your inability to resolve a particular concern you can still choose happiness for yourself, or at a minimum refuse to choose unhappiness, then you are intelligent. You are intelligent because you have the ultimate weapon against the big N. B. D—Nervous Break Down.
“Intelligent” people do not have N. B. D.’s because they are in charge of themselves. They know how to choose happiness over depression, because they know how to deal with the problems of their lives. You can begin to think of yourself as truly intelligent on the basis of how you choose to feel in the face of trying circumstances. The life struggles are pretty much the same for each of us. Everyone who is involved with other human beings in any social context has similar difficulties. Disagreements, conflicts and compromises are a part of what it means to be human. Similarly, money, growing old, sickness, deaths, natural disasters and accidents are all events which present problems to virtually all human beings. But some people are able to make it, to avoid immobilizing depression and unhappiness despite such occurrences, while others collapse or have an N. B. D. Those who recognize problems as a human condition and don’t measure happiness by an absence of problems are the most intelligent kind of humans we know; also, the most rare.
26. According to the author, the conventional notion of intelligence measured in terms of one’s ability to read, write and compute _____________.
A) is a widely held but wrong concept
B) will help eliminate intellectual prejudice
C) is the root of all mental distress
D) will contribute to one’s self-fulfillment
27. It is implied in the passage that holding a university degree _____________.
A) may result in one’s inability to solve complex real-life problems
B) does not indicate one’s ability to write properly worded documents
C) may make one mentally sick and physically weak
D) does not mean that one is highly intelligent
28. The author thinks that an intelligent person knows _____________.
A) how to put up with some very prevalent myths
B) how to find the best way to achieve success in life
C) how to avoid depression and make his life worthwhile
D) how to persuade others to compromise
29. In the last paragraph, the author tells us that _____________.
A) difficulties are but part of everyone’s life
B) depression and unhappiness are unavoidable in life
C) everybody should learn to avoid trying circumstances
D) good feelings can contribute to eventual academic excellence
30. According to the passage, what kind of people are rare?
A) Those who don’t emphasize bookish excellence in their pursuit of happiness.
B) Those who are aware of difficulties in life but know how to avoid unhappiness.
C) Those who measure happiness by an absence of problems but seldom suffer form N. B. D.’s.
D) Those who are able to secure happiness though having to struggle against trying circumstances.

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.

31. Starting with the ______________ that there is life on the planet Mars, the scientist went on to develop his argument.
A) premise B) pretext
C) foundation D) presentation
32. After several nuclear disasters, a __________ has raged over the safety of nuclear energy.
A) quarrel B) suspicion
C) verdict D) controversy
33. Their diplomatic principles completely laid bare their ____________ for world conquest.
A) admiration B) ambition
C) administration D) orientation
34. The director gave me his ___________ that he would double my pay if I did my job well.
A) warrant B) obligation
C) assurance D) certainty
35. The Christmas tree was decorated with shining _____________ such as colored lights and glass balls.
A) ornaments B) luxuries
C) exhibits D) complements
36. The two most important ______________ in making a cake are flour and sugar.
A) elements B) components
C) ingredients D) constituents
37. Cultural _______________ indicates that human beings hand their languages down form one generation to another.
A) translation B) transition
C) transmission D) transaction
38. We must look beyond ___________ and assumptions and try to discover what is missing.
A) justifications B) illusions
C) manifestations D) specifications
39. No one imagined that the apparently _____________ businessman was really a criminal.
A) respective B) respectable
C) respectful D) realistic
40. If nothing is done to protect the environment, millions of species that are alive today will have become _______________.
A) deteriorated B) degenerated
C) suppressed D) extinct
41. The _________of the scientific attitude is that the human mind can succeed in understanding the universe.
A) essence B) content
C) texture D) threshold
42. The old lady has developed a ______________ cough which cannot be cured completely in a short time.
A) perpetual B) permanent
C) chronic D) sustained
43. What the correspondent sent us is an _____________ news report. We can depend on it.
A) evident B) authentic
C) ultimate D) immediate
44. Having had her as a professor and adviser, I can tell you that she is an __________ force who pushes her students to excel far beyond their own expectations.
A) inspirational B) educational
C) excessive D) instantaneous
45. Some researchers feel that certain people have nervous systems particularly ___________ to hot, dry winds. They are what we call weather-sensitive people.
A) subjective B) subordinate
C) liable D) vulnerable
46. Hurricanes are killer winds, and their ____________ power lies in the physical damage they can do.
A) cumulative B) destructive
C) turbulent D) prevalent
47. In some countries, students are expected to be quiet and ___________ in the classroom.
A) skeptical B) faithful
C) obedient D) subsidiary
48. In spite of the ___________ economic forecasts, manufacturing output has risen slightly.
A) gloomy B) miserable
C) shadowy D) obscure
49. Body paint or face paint is used mostly by men in pre-literate societies in order to attract good health or to ___________ disease.
A) set aside B) ward off
C) shrug off D) give away
50. The international situation has been growing __________ difficult for the last few years.
A) invariably B) presumably
C) increasingly D) dominantly
51. The prisoner was ________________ of his civil liberty for three years.
A) discharged B) derived
C) deprived D) dispatched
52. Small farms and the lack of modern technology have __________ agricultural production.
A) blundered B) tangled
C) bewildered D) hampered
53. The Japanese scientists have found that scents ______________ efficiency and reduce stress among office workers.
A) enhance B) amplify
C) foster D) magnify
54. All the students have to _____________ to the rules and regulations of the school.
A) confirm B) confront
C) confine D) conform
55. He ____________ his head, wondering how to solve the problem.
A) scrapped B) screwed
C) scraped D) scratched
56. As soon as the boy was able to earn his own living he _________ his parents’ strict rules.
A) defied B) refuted
C) excluded D) vetoed
57. The helicopter _____________ a light plane and both pilots were killed.
A) coincided with B) stumbled on
C) tumbled to D) collided with
58. To ______________ is to save and protect, to leave what we ourselves enjoy in such good condition that others may also share the enjoyment.
A) conserve B) conceive
C) convert D) contrive
59. Put on dark glasses or the sun will _____________ you and you won’t be able to see.
A) discern B) distort
C) distract D) dazzle
60. In __________ times human beings did not travel for pleasure but to find a more favorable climate.
A) prime B) primitive
C) primary D) preliminary

Cloze (15 minutes)

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

In the United States, the first day nursery was opened in 1854. Nurseries were established in various areas during the ___61__ half of the 19th century; most of ___62___ were charitable. Both in Europe and in the U.S. the day-nursery movement received great ___63___ during the First World War, when ___64___ of manpower caused the industrial employment of unprecedented（前所未有）numbers of women. In some European countries nurseries were establishes ___65___ in munitions（军火）plants, under direct government sponsorship. ___66___ the number of nurseries in the U.S. also rose ___67___, this rise was accomplished without government aid of any kind. During the years following the First World War, ___68___, Federal, State, and local governments gradually began to exercise a measure of control ___69___ the day nurseries, chiefly by ___70___ them and by inspecting and regulating the conditions within the nurseries.
The ___71___ of the Second World War was quickly followed by an increase in the number of day nurseries in almost all countries, as women were ___72___ called upon to replace men in the factories. On this ___73___ the U.S. government immediately came to the support of the nursery schools. ___74___ $6,000,000 in July, 1942, for a nursery-school program for the children of working mothers. Many States and local communities ___75___ this Federal aid. By the end of the war, in August, 1945, more than 100,000 children were being cared ___76___ in day-care centers receiving Federal ___77___. Soon afterward, the Federal government ___78___ cut down its expenditures for this purpose and later ___79___ them, causing a sharp drop in the number of nursery schools in operation. However, the expectation that most employed mothers would leave their ___80___ at the end of the war was only partly fulfilled.
61. A) latter B) late C) other D) first
62. A) those B) them C) whose D) whom
63. A) impetus B) input C) imitation D) initiative
64. A) sources B) abundance C) shortage D) reduction
65. A) hardly B) entirely C) only D) even
66. A) Because B) As C) Since D) Although
67. A) unanimously B) sharply C) predominantly D) militantly
68. A) therefore B) consequently C) however D) moreover
69. A) over B) in C) at D) about
70. A) formulating B) labeling C) patenting D) licensing
71. A) outset B) outbreak C) breakthrough D) breakdown
72. A) again B) thus C) repeatedly D) yet
73. A) circumstance B) occasion C) case D) situation
74. A) regulating B) summoning C) allocating D) transferring
75. A) expanded B) facilitated C) supplemented D) compensated
76. A) by B) after C) of D) for
77. A) pensions B) subsidies C) revenues D) budgets
78. A) prevalently B) furiously C) statistically D) drastically
79. A) abolished B) diminished C) jeopardized D) precluded
80. A) nurseries B) homes C) jobs D) children

Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic How to Succeed in a Job Interview? You should write at least 120 words, and base your composition on the outline given in Chinese below:
1. 面试在求职过程中的作用。
2. 取得面试成功的因素：仪表、举止谈吐、能力、专业知识、自信、实事求是……

How to Succeed in a Job Interview?

 

Part I

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

Part II

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

Part III

41. D 42. A 43. A 44. C 45. B 46. C 47. A 48. D 49. D 50. B
51. C 52. C 53. B 54. A 55. B 56. D 57. A 58. D 59. B 60. C

Part IV

61. C 62. C 63. D 64. B 65. A 66. D 67. A 68. B 69. D 70. C
71. A 72. C 73. B 74. C 75. B 76. C 77. D 78. B 79. D 80. A
S1. over S2. constantly S3. mechanism S4. maintain
S5. overall S6. normal S7. increase
S8. it can be influenced by a variety of factors including how much we weigh and how that weight is distributed.
S9. Similar findings have also been reported at the high school level mainly with female students.
S10. The primary cause of this concern is the value that American society in general assigns to physical appearance.