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2012 年 12 月大学英语六级阅读真题试卷
Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension （Reading in Depth） （25 minutes）
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read
the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the
fewest possiblewords. Pleasewriteyour answers onAnswer Sheet 2.
Questions 47to54are basedon thefollowing passage.
A key process in interpersonal interaction is that ofsocial comparison, in that weevaluate
ourselves interms ofhowwe compare to others. In particular, we engage intwo types of
comparison. First, we decide whether weare superior or inferiorto others oncertain dimensions,
such as attractiveness, intelligence, popularity, etc. Here, the importantaspect is to compare with an
appropriatereference group. For example,modest joggers shouldnot compare theirperformance
with Olympic standard marathon (马拉松)runners. Second, wejudge the extent to which weare
the sameas or different from others. At certain stages oflife, especially adolescence, thepressure to
be seen as similartopeers is immense. Thus, wearing theright brand of clothes orshoes may beof
the utmostimportance. Wealso need toknowwhether ourthoughts, beliefs andideas are in line
with thoseof otherpeople. Thisis part of theprocess ofself-validationwhereby we employ
self-disclosures to seek support forour self-concept.
People who donot haveaccess toa good listenermay not onlybedenied theopportunityto
heighten theirself-awareness, but theyare also denied valuable feedback as to thevalidityand
acceptability oftheir innerthoughts and feelings. By discussing these withothers, wereceive
feedback as to whether these are experiences which others haveas well, orwhether they are less
common. Furthermore, bygauging thereactions to ourself-disclosures we learn what types are
acceptable orunacceptable with particular people and in specific situations.On occasions it is the
fearthat certain disclosures may beunacceptable to family or friends that motivates an individual to
seek professional help. Counsellors willbe familiarwith client statements such as: “Ijust couldn’t
talk about thisto my husband.”,“Ireallycan’tlet my motherknowmytrue feelings.” Another
aspect ofsocial comparison inthecounselling contextrelates toa techniqueknown as normalising.
This is theprocess whereby helpers providereassurance to clientsthat what they are experiencing is
not abnormal oratypical (非典型的), butis a normal reaction shared byothers when facing such
circumstances. Patientdisclosure, facilitated bythetherapist, seems also tofacilitatetheprocess of
normalising.
47.Toevaluate ourselves, theauthor thinksit important forus to compare ourselves with _______.
48.During adolescence, peoplegenerally feel an immensepressure toappear _______.
49.It is often difficult for people to heighten theirself-awareness without_______.
50.What can people doifthey find what they thinkor say unacceptable to family orfriends?
51.Counsellors often assure their clients that what they experience themselves isonly_______.
Section B
淘宝店铺：https://shop499712503.taobao.com/ 店主旺旺：慧园文化Directions: 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
onAnswerSheet 2with asinglelinethroughthecentre.
PassageOne
Questions 52to56are basedon thefollowing passage.
Amid all thejob losses, there’s onecategory ofworker that theeconomic disruptionhas been
good for: nonhumans.
From self-service checkout lines at thesupermarket to industrial robots armed withsaws and
taught to carve upanimal bodies inslaughter-houses, theseever-more-intelligent machines are now
not just assistingworkers but actually kicking them out oftheir jobs.
Automation isn’t justaffecting factory workers, either. Somelawfirms nowuseartificial
intelligence software to scanand read mountains oflegal documents, work that previously was
performed byhighly-paid human lawyers.
“Robotscontinue tohave an impact onblue-collar jobs,and white-collar jobs are underattack
bymicroprocessors,” says economics professor Edward Leamer. The recession permanentlywiped
out 2.5million jobs. U.S.gross domesticproduct has climbed back topre-recession levels, meaning
we’re producing as much as before, onlywith 6%fewer workers. To besure, robotics are not the
only jobkillers outthere, with outsourcing (外包)stealing far morejobs than automation.
Jeff Burnstein, president of theRobotics Industry Association, argues that robots actually save
U.S. jobs. His logic: companies that embrace automation might usefewer workers, but that’s still
better than firing everyone and moving thework overseas.
It’snot that robots are cheaper thanhumans, though often they are. It’s that they’rebetter. “In
somecases the qualityrequirements are so exacting that even ifyou wanted tohave ahuman dothe
job, you couldn’t,” Burnstein says.
Same goes forsurgeons, who’re using roboticsystems toperform an ever-growing list of
operations—not because themachines savemoney butbecause, thanks to thegreaterprecision of
robots, the patientsrecover inless timeand have fewer complications,says Dr. Myriam Curet.
Surgeons may survivetherobot invasion, but others at the hospitalmight notbe solucky, as
iRobot, maker oftheRoomba, arobot vacuum cleaner, hasbeen showingoff Ava, which could be
used as amessenger inahospital. And once you’re home,recovering, Avacould let you talk to
your doctor, so there’s noneed to send someoneto your house. That “mobiletelepresence”could be
useful at theoffice. If you’re away onatrip, you can still attend ameeting. Justconnect via
videoconferencing software, so your face appears onAva’sscreen.
Is any job safe? Iwas hoping tosay “journalist,”but researchers are already developing software
that can gather facts and write anews story. Which means that a few years from now,arobot could
be writingthis column. And who willread it?Well,there might bealot ofus hanging around with
lots offree timeonour hands.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 2上作答。
淘宝店铺：https://shop499712503.taobao.com/ 店主旺旺：慧园文化52.What dowelearn from thefirst few paragraphs?
A)The over-use ofrobots has donedamage to American economy.
B) It ishard for robots to replace humans in highly professional work.
C)Artificial intelligence is key to futuretechnological innovations.
D)The roboticindustry has benefited from theeconomicrecession.
53.What caused thegreatest loss ofjobs inAmerica?
A)Using microprocessors extensively. B) Moving production to othercountries.
C)Thebankruptcy ofmany companies. D) Theinvasion ofmigrant workers.
54.What does Jeff Burnstein say about robots?
A)They helpcompanies torevive. B) They are cheaper thanhumans.
C)They prevent joblosses in away. D) They compete with human workers.
55.Whyare roboticsystems replacing surgeons in more and moreoperations according toDr.
Myriam Curet?
A)They savelots ofmoneyfor thepatients. B) They beat humans inprecision.
C)They take less timetoperform asurgery. D) They make operationsless painful.
56.What does theauthor imply about robotics?
A)It will greatly enrich literary creation. B) It will start anew technological revolution.
C)It willrevolutionizescientificresearch. D) It will beapplied in any field imaginable.
PassageTwo
Questions 57to61are basedon thefollowing passage.
You’venow heard itso manytimes, you can probably repeat it in your sleep. President Obama
will nodoubt makethepoint publiclywhen he gets toBeijing: theChineseneed toconsume more;
they need—believe itor not—tobecome more likeAmericans, forthe sakeof theglobal economy.
And it’s all true. But theother sideofthat equation is that theU.S. needs tosave more. Forthe
moment, American households actually are doingso. Afterthepersonal-savings rate dipped to zero
in 2005,theshock of theeconomic crisis last year prompted people tosnap shut theirwallets.
In China, thehousehold-savings rate exceeds 20%. It ispartly forpolicy reasons. As we’ve
seen, wage earners are expected to carefor not onlytheir children but theiraging parents. Andthere
is, to date, only theflimsiest (脆弱的)of publicly-funded health care and pension systems, which
increases incentives for individualstosave whilethey are working. But Chinaisa society that has
long esteemed personal financial prudence (谨慎). There is nochance that willchange anytime
soon, even ifthegovernment creates a bettersocial safety net and successfully encourages greater
consumer spending.
Whydoes theU.S. need to learn a littlefrugality(节俭)？Because healthy savings rates are one
ofthe surest indicators of acountry’s long-term financial health. High savings lead, overtime, to
淘宝店铺：https://shop499712503.taobao.com/ 店主旺旺：慧园文化increased investment, which in turn generates productivitygains, innovation and jobgrowth. In
short, savings are the seed corn ofa good economicharvest.
The U.S.government thus needs to act as well. By running constant deficits, itis dis-saving,
even as households save more. Peter Orszag, Obama’s Budget Director, recently called theU.S.
budget deficits unsustainableand he’s right. To date, the U.S.has seemed unabletosee the
consequences ofspending so much more than is taken in. That needs to change.And though Hu
Jintao and the rest oftheChinese leadership aren’t inclined to lecture visiting Presidents, hemight
gently hint that Beijingis getting alittlenervous about thevalue ofthedollar—which has fallen
15%since March, in large part because ofincreasing fears that America’s debt load isbecoming
unmanageable.
That’s what happens when you’rethe world’s biggest creditor:you get todrop hintslikethat,
which would beenough bythemselves tocreate international economicchaos ifthey were ever
leaked. (Every timeany official in Beijing deliberates publiclyabout seeking an alternativeto the
U.S. dollarfor the$2.1trillionChinaholds inreserve, currency traders have aheart attack.) If
Americans saved more andspent less, consistently over time, they wouldn’t have to worry about all
that.
57.How did theeconomiccrisis affect Americans?
A)They had totighten theirbelts.
B) Theirbank savings ratedropped to zero.
C)Theirleadership in theglobal economy was shaken.
D)They became concerned about China’s financial policy.
58.What shouldbe doneto encourage Chinesepeople to consume?
A)Changing theirtraditional way oflife.
B) Providingfewer incentives for saving.
C)Improving China’s social security system.
D)Cuttingdown the expenses onchild-rearing.
59.What does theauthor mean bysaying “savings are theseed corn of agood economic harvest”
(Line 4,Para. 4)?
A)The moreone saves, the morereturns one willreap.
B) Acountry’s economy hinges onits savings policy.
C)Thosewho keep saving will livean easy lifein theend.
D)Ahealthy savings rate promotes economicprosperity.
60.In what circumstances docurrency traders become scared?
A)When Beijingallows itscurrency exchange rates tofloat.
B) When Chinastarts to reduce itscurrent foreign reserves.
C)When Chinatalks about switching its dollarreserves to other currencies.
淘宝店铺：https://shop499712503.taobao.com/ 店主旺旺：慧园文化D)When Beijingmentions inpublicthehuge debtsAmerica owes China.
61.What isthe author’spurpose ofwriting thepassage?
A)To urge theAmerican government to cut deficits.
B) To encourage Chinesepeopletospend more.
C)To tell Americans not toworry about their economy.
D)To promote understanding between Chinaand America.
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