2013年12月六级阅读真题（三）_六级_六级仔细阅读_六级阅读（2010-2014）_2013.12六级

2013 年 12 月六级考试阅读真题（第三套） Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension SectionA Directions：Inthissection, thereisapassagewithtenblanks. Youarerequired toselect oneword fareach blankfromalistof choices given inawordbankfollowing thepassage. Read thepassage throughcarefully beforemaking your choices. Each choice in thebankis identified byaletter. PleasemarkthecorrespondingletterforeachitemonAnswerSheet2withasinglelinethroughthe centre. You maynot use anyof thewordsin thebank morethan once. Questions36to 45are basedon thefollowing passage. Someperformance evaluations require supervisors totake action. Employees who receivea very favorable evaluation may deserve sometype ofrecognitionor even apromotion. If supervisors do notacknowledge such outstanding performance, employees may either losetheir 36 andreduce theireffort orsearch for anew job at afirm that will 37 them for high performance. Supervisors shouldacknowledge highperformance sothat the employee will continueto perform well inthe future. Employeeswhoreceiveunfavorableevaluationsmustalsobegivenattention.Supervisorsmust 38 thereasonsforpoorperformance.Somereasons,suchasafamilyillness,may haveatemporary adverse 39 onperformanceandcanbecorrected.Otherreasons,suchasabadattitude,maynotbe temporary. When supervisors give employees an unfavorableevaluation, they must decidewhether totake any 40 actions. If theemployees were unaware oftheirown deficiencies, theunfavorable evaluation can pinpoint（指出）thedeficiencies that employees must correct. In this case, the supervisormay simplyneed to monitortheemployees 41 and ensure that thedeficiencies are corrected. Iftheemployeeswerealreadyawareoftheirdeficienciesbeforetheevaluationperiod,however, they may beunable orunwillingto correct them. Thissituation ismore serious, and thesupervisor may need to take action. The action shouldbe 42 with thefirm’s guidelines and may include reassigningtheemployees tonewjobs, 43 them temporarily, orfiringthem.Asupervisor’saction towardapoorlyperformingworkercan 44 theattitudesofotheremployees.If no 45 isimposed on an employee forpoor performance, otheremployees may react byreducing theirproductivity as well. A)additional I) identify B) affect J) impact C)aptly K)penalty D)assimilate L) reward E)circulation M)simplifying F) closely N)suspending G)consistent O) vulnerable H)enthusiasm SectionB Directions:In thissection, you aregoing toread apassagewithten statements attached to it.Each statement contains informationgiven in one ofthe paragraphs.Identify theparagraph fromwhich theinformationisderived.Youmaychooseaparagraphmorethanonce.Eachparagraphismarked with aletter. Answer thequestions bymarking the corresponding letter onAnswer Sheet 2. TheCollege Essay: WhyThose500Words DriveUs Crazy [A]Meg isa lawyer-mom insuburban Washington, D.C., where lawyer-moms are thick onthe ground.HersonDougisoneofseveralhundredthousandhigh-schoolseniorswhohadapainful fall. Thedeadline forapplying tohis favorite college was Nov. 1,and byearly October hehad yettofillouttheapplication.Moretothepoint,hehadyet tosettleonasubjectforthepersonal essay accompanying theapplication. According tocollege folklore, awell-turned essay has the powertoseduce(诱惑）anadmissionscommittee.“Hewantedtodoonethingatatime,”Meg 1 淘宝店铺：https://shop499712503.taobao.com/ 店主旺旺：慧园文化says, explaining herson’s delay. “But really, my son is ahuge procrastinator (拖延者).The essay is thehardest thingto do,sohe’s putit offthe longest.” Friends and other veterans of the processhavewarnedMegthatthebackandforthbetweeneditingparentandwritingstudentcan betraumatic（痛苦的）. [B]Backinthegoodolddays—say,twoyearsago,whenthelastofmychildrensufferedtheordeal (折磨)—ahigh-school student applying to college could procrastinate all theway toNew Year’sDayoftheirsenioryear, assumingthey couldwithstandtheparentalpestering (烦扰). But things change fast in thenail-biting world ofcollege admissions.The recent trend toward early decision and early action among selective colleges and universities has pushed the traditionaldeadline of January uptoNov. 1or early December formanystudents. [C]Ifthetimeforheel-dragginghasbeenshortened,thetruesourceoftheanxietyandpanicremains what ithas always been. Andifs not theapplication itself. A college application is arelatively straightforwardquestionnaireasking forthebasics:name, address,family history, employment history.Itwouldallbeinnocentenough—20minutesofbusywork—exceptitcomesattached toa personal essay. [D]“Therearegoodreasonsitcausessuchanxiety,”saysLisaSohmer,directorofcollegecounseling at theGarden School in Jackson Heights, N.Y. “It’snot just theactual writing. By now everythingelseisalreadyset.Yourcourseloadisset,yourgradesareset,yourtestscoresareset. But theessay issomething you can still control, and it’s open-ended. Sothe temptationis to writeand rewrite and rewrite.”Or stall andstall and stall. [E]The application essay, along with its mythical importance, isa recent invention.In the1930s, whenonlyonein10Americanshadadegreefromafour-yearcollege,anadmissionscommittee was content to ask for asample ofapplicants’ school papers toassess theirwriting ability. By the1950s,most schools required a briefpersonal statement of whythestudent had chosen to apply toone school over another. [F]Todaynearly70percentofgraduatingseniorsgoofftocollege,includingtwo-yearandfour-year institutions.Even apart from theincreased competition, thekids enter aprocess that has been utterlytransformed from theone baby boomers knew. Nearly all application materials are submittedonline,andtheCommonApplicationprovides aone-size-fitsform accepted bymore than 400schools, includingthenation’s mostselective. [G]Thoseschoolsusuallyrequireessaysoftheirown,butthelongestessay,500wordsmaximum,is generallyattached tothe Common Application. Studentschoose oneof sixquestions. Applicants are asked todescribe an ethical dilemmathey’vefaced and itsimpact onthem, or discussapublicissueofspecialconcerntothem,ortellofafictionalcharacterorcreativework thathas profoundly influenced them. Another questioninvites them to writeabout the importance(to them, again) ofdiversity —a word that has assumed magicpower in American higher education. Themostpopular option: writeonatopicofyour choice. [H]“Boys inparticular look at theother questions and say, ‘Oh, that’s too much work,’” says John Boshoven,acounselorintheAnnArbor,Mich.,publicschools.“Theythinkiftheydoatopicof theirchoice, ‘I’ll justgo get that historypaper I did lastyear ontheRoman Empireand turn it intoafirst-personapplicationessay!’Andtheyendupproducingsomethingutterlyridiculous.” [I] Talking to admissions professionals likeBoshoven, you realizethat thelistof“don’ts”inessay writingis much longer than the“dos.” “Nobookreports, nohistory papers, nocharacter studies,” says Sohmer. [J] ‘‘It drives you crazy, how easily kidsslip into cliches(老生常谈)says Boshoven.“They don’t realizehowtypical theirexperiences are. ‘Iscored thewinning goal in socceragainst our arch- rival’‘My grandfather served in WorldWarII, andI hopeto bejustlikehim someday.’That may mean a lottothat particular kid. But in theworld oftheapplication essay, it’s nothing. You’lllose thereaderinthefirst paragraph.” [K]“Thegreatest strength you bring to this essay,”says theCollege Board’s how-to book,“is 17 yearsorsooffamiliaritywiththetopic:YOU. Theformand styleare veryfamiliar, andbestof all,youaretheworld-classexpertonthesubjectofYOU...Ithasbeenthesubjectofyourclose scrutiny every morning sinceyou were tall enough to see intothe bathroom mirror. The key 2word in theCommonApplication prompts is “you.” [L] The college admission essay contains thegrandest American themes —status anxiety, parental piet（y 孝顺）intellectualstandards—andsoitisonlyamatteroftimebeforeitbecomesinfected bythecountry’scultureofexcessiveconcernwithself-esteem.Evenifthequestionisostensibly （表面上)aboutsomethingoutsidetheself(describeafictionalcharacterorsolveaproblemof geopolitics), theessay invariably returns tothefavorite topic: what is its impact onYOU? [M]“For all theanxiety theessay causes,”says Bill McClintick ofMercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, “it’s avery smallpiece ofthepuzzle. Iwas in college admissions for10years. I sawkidsandparentsbeatthemselvesupoverthis.Andatthevastmajorityofplaces,itissimply nota bigvariable in thecollege’s decision-making process.” [N]Many admissionsofficers say they spend less than a coupleof minutesoneachapplication, includingtheessay.Accordingtoarecentsurveyofadmissionsofficers,onlyoneinfourprivate collegessaytheessay isof“considerableimportance”injudging anapplication.Amongpublic colleges anduniversities, thenumberdrops to roughly onein 10.By contrast, 86percent place “considerable importance”onan applicant’sgrades, 70percent on“strength ofcurriculum.” [O]Still, at themost selective schools, where thousands ofcandidates may submit identically high grades and test scores, a marginal item liketheessay may serve as atie-breaker between two equally qualified candidates. The thought is certainly enough tokeep thepot boilingunder parents likeMeg,the lawyer-mom, as shetries tohelp her son choose an essay topic. For a momenttheother day, she thought shemight havehit onagood one. “His father’sfrom France,” shesays.“Isaid maybe you could writeabout that,as somethingthat makes you different. Youknow: halfFrench, half American. Isaid, “You could write about your identity issues.’Hesaid,‘Idon’thaveanyidentityissues!’Andhe’sright.He’sawell-adjusted,normal kid.But that doesn’t make foragood essay, does it?” 46.Today many universities require their applicants to writean essay of uptofive hundred words. 47.Onerecentchangeincollegeadmissionsisthatselectivecollegesanduniversitieshavemovedthe traditionaldeadline to earlier dates. 48.Applicants and theirparents are said to believe that thepersonal essay can sway the admissions committee. 49.Applicants are usually betteroff iftheycan writean essay that distinguishes them from therest. 50.Not onlyis thecompetition gettingmore intense, the application process todayisalso totally different from what baby boomers knew. 51.Inwritingabouttheirownexperiencesmanyapplicantsslipintocliches,thusfailingtoengagethe reader. 52.Accordingtoarecentsurvey,mostpubliccollegesanduniversitiesconsideranapplicant’sgrades highly important. 53.Although theapplication essay causes lots ofanxiety, it does not play soimportant arole in the college’s decision-making process. 54.Thequestion you are supposed towriteabout may seem outsidetheself, butthetheme ofthe essay should center around itsimpact on you. 55.In theold days, applicants only had tosubmit asampleof theirschool papers to showtheir writingability. SectionC Directions:There are2passages in thissection. Each passage isfollowedby somequestions or unfinishedstatements.ForeachofthemtherearefourchoicesmarkedA),B),C)andD).Youshould decideonthe best choice andmarkthecorresponding letter onAnswer Sheet2with asingleline throughthecentre. Passage One Questions56to 60are basedon thefollowing passage. Among thegovernment’smost interesting reports is onethat estimates what parents spend on theirchildren. Not surprisingly, thecosts are steep. For amiddle-class, husband-and-wifefamily (averagepretaxincomein2009:$76,250),spendingperchildisabout$12,000ayear.Withinflation thefamily’s spending onachild will total$286,050byage 17. 3 淘宝店铺：https://shop499712503.taobao.com/ 店主旺旺：慧园文化Thedry statistics ought to inform the ongoing deficit debate, because a budget isnot just a catalog ofprograms and taxes. It reflects a society’s priorities and values. Oursociety does not 一 despiterhetoric(说辞) to thecontrary —put much value onraising children. Present budget policiestax parents heavily tosupport the elderly. Meanwhile, tax breaks for children are modest.If deficitreductionaggravatesthesebiases,moreAmericansmaychoosenottohavechildrenortohave fewer children. Down that pathlies economic decline. Societiesthatcannotreplacetheirpopulationsdiscourageinvestmentandinnovation.Theyhave stagnant（萧条的）orshrinkingmarketsforgoodsandservices.Witholderpopulations,theyresist change. To stabilizeitspopulation —discounting immigration —women musthave an average of twochildren. That’safertilityrateof2.0.Many countries withstruggling economies are well below that. Thoughhavingachildisadeeplypersonaldecision,it’sshapedbyculture,religion,economics, andgovernmentpolicy. “Noonehasagoodanswer”astowhyfertilityvaries amongcountries, says sociologist Andrew Cherlin ofThe JohnsHopkins University. Eroding religious beliefin Europe may partly explainlowered birthrates. In Japan young women maybe rebelling against their mothers’isolatedlives ofchild rearing. General optimismand pessimismcount. Hopefulness fueled America’s baby boom. After theSoviet Union’s collapse, says Cherlin, “anxiety forthefuture” depressed birthrates in Russiaand Eastern Europe. In poorsocieties, people have children toimprovetheir economicwell-being byincreasing the numberoffamilyworkersandprovidingsupportforparentsintheiroldage.Inwealthysocieties,the logicoften reverses. Government now supportstheelderly, diminishing theneed for children. By somestudies, thesafety nets for retirees have reduced fertility rates by0.5children inthe United Statesand almost1.0in Western Europe, reports economist Robert Steinin thejournal National Affairs. Similarly, somecouples don’t havechildren because they don’t want tosacrificetheir own lifestyles to thetimeand expense ofafamily. YoungAmericans already faceableak labormarket that cannot instill(注入)confidenceabout having children. Piling onhigher taxeswon’t help. “If higher taxes makeit moreexpensiveto raise children,saysNicholasEberstadtoftheAmericanEnterpriseInstitute,“peoplewillthinktwiceabout having anotherchild.” That seems likecommon sense, despitethemultiple influences onbecoming parents. 56.Whatdowe learn from thegovernment report? A)Inflation increases families’expenses. B) Raisingchildren isgetting expensive. C)Budget reduction is around the comer. D)Average family expenditureisincreasing. 57.Whatis said to betheconsequence ofa shrinkingpopulation? A)Weakened national strength. C)Economicdownturn. B) Increased immigration. D)Social instability. 58.Whataccounted for America’s baby boom? A)Optimismfor thefuture. C)Religious beliefs. B) Improved living conditions. D)Economicprosperity. 59.Whydopeoplein wealthy countries prefer to havefewer children? A)They want to further improvetheireconomic well-being. B) They cannot afford thetimeand expenses ofrearing children. C)They are concerned about thefuture ofthecoming generation. D)They don’trely ontheirchildren tosupport them in oldage. 60.Whatis theauthor’s purposein writing thepassage? A)Toinstill confidence inthe young about raising children. B) Toadvise couples to think twicebefore having children. C)Toencourage theyoung totake careof theelderly. . D)Toappeal fortax reduction for raising children. Passage Two Questions61to 65are basedon thefollowing passage. 4Spaceexploration has always been theprovince of dreamers: Thehuman imagination readily soarswherehumaningenuity(创造力）strugglestofollow,AVoyagetotheMoon,oftencitedasthe firstscience fiction story, was written byCyrano deBergerac in 1649.Cyrano was dead and buried foragood three centuries before thefirst manned rockets started to fly. In 1961,when President Kennedy declared that America would send aman to themoon bythe decade’send,thosewords,too,hadadreamlikequality.Theyresonated（共鸣）withoptimismand ambitioninmuchthesamewayas themostfamousdream speech ofall,delivered byMartin Luther King Jr. two years later. By theend of thedecade, bothvisions had yielded concrete results and transformed American society. And yet inmany ways thetwo dreams ended upat odds witheach other. Thefight for racial and economic equality is intensely pragmatic(讲求实用的）and immediatein its impact. Theurge to explore space isjust theopposite. It is figuratively and literally otherworldly in itsaims. Whenthedustsettled, thespacedreamers lostout.There was nogrand follow-up to theApollo missions. Thetechnologically compromised space shuttleprogram has justcome toan end, with no successor. Theperpetual argument is thatfunds are tight, that we have morepressing problems here on Earth. Amid thecurrent concerns about thefederal deficit, reaching toward thestars seems a dispensableluxury —as ifsaving one-thousandth of asingleyear’s budget would solveour problems. But humaningenuity struggles on.NASAis developing a series ofrobotic probes that will get themostbang from abuck. They will serveas modem Magellans, mapping out thesolar system for whateverexplorersfollow,whethermanormachine.Ontheflipside,companieslikeVirginGalactic areplotting abottom-up assault onthespace dream bymaking ita reality to thepublic. Private spaceflightcouldliewithinreachofrichciviliansinafewyears.Anotherdecadeortwoanditcould go mainstream. Thespace dreamers end upbenefitingall ofus —not just because of thewaythey expand humanknowledge,orbecauseofthespin-offtechnologiestheyproduce,butbecausethetwotypesof dreams feed off each other. Both Martin Luther King and John Kennedy appealed totheidea that humanscan transcend what were once considered inherent limitations. Today weface seeming challenges in energy, theenvironment, health care. Tomorrow wewill transcend theseas well, and thedreamerswilldeservealotofthecredit.Themoreevidencewecollectthatourspeciesiscapable ofgreatness, themore wewill actually achieve it. 61.Theauthormentions Cyrano de Bergerac inorder to showthat . A)imagination isthemother ofinvention B) ingenuity is essential for science fiction writers C)ittakes patience for humans to realizetheir dreams D)dreamers have always been interested in science fiction 62.Howdid thegeneral publicview Kennedy’sspace exploration plan? A)It symbolized theAmerican spirit. C)It sounded verymuch likeadream. B) It was as urgent as racial equality. D)It made an ancient dream come true. 63.Whatdoes theauthor say about America’s aim to explorespace? A)It may not bring about immediateeconomic gains. B) It cannot berealized withouttechnological innovation. C)It will not helptherealization ofracial and economic equality. D) It cannot beachieved without agood knowledge oftheother worlds. 64.Whatis theauthor’s attitudetoward space programs? A)Critical. C)Unbiased. B) Reserved. D)Supportive. 65.Whatdoes theauthor think oftheproblems facing human beings? A)They pose aserious challenge tofuture human existence. B) They can besolved sooner orlater with human ingenuity. C)Theirsolutionsneed jointefforts ofthe publicand private sectors. D)They can only besolved bypeoplewith optimism and ambition. 5 淘宝店铺：https://shop499712503.taobao.com/ 店主旺旺：慧园文化