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大学英语六级考试 2015 年 12 月真题(第二套)
Part I Writing (30
minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay based on the
picture below. You should focus on the impact of social networking websites on reading.
You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
My favorite book is Facebook *.”
*Facebook is the name of a social networking website.
Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (30
minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of
each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
Conversation One
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
1. A) He cooks dinner for the family occasionally.
B) He dines out from time to time with friends.
C) He shares some of the household duties.
D) He often goes back home late for dinner.
2. A) To take him to dinner. C) To talk about a budget plan.
B) To discuss an urgent problem. D) To pass on an important
message.
3. A) Foreign investors are losing confidence in India’s economy.
B) Many multinational enterprises are withdrawing from India.
C) There is a sharp increase in India’s balance of payment deficit.
D) There are wild fluctuations in the international money market.
4. A) JL Motors is a company with the business of bicycle sales.
B) The Indian rupee has been steady on the foreign exchange market.
C) JL Motors is an Indian company with a promising prospect.
D) The man doesn’t agree to the woman’s proposal.
Conversation Two
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
15. A) They try to adapt to their changing roles.
B) They form a more realistic picture of life.
C) They may not be prepared for a lifelong relationship.
D) They have unrealistic expectations about the other half.
6. A) He is lucky to be able to do what he loves.
B) He is able to meet many interesting people.
C) He is able to forget all the troubles in his life.
D)He is lucky to have visited many exotic places.
7. A) It is stressful. C) it is full of fun.
B) It is all glamour. D) It is challenging.
8. A) Amazed. C) Puzzled.
B) Bothered. D) Excited.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each
passage, you will hear three or four 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A) Learn to be respectful in a hierarchical organization.
B) Follow closely the fast development of technology.
C) Learn new ways of relating and working together.
D) Maintain the traditional organizational culture.
10.A) How the team is built to keep improving its performance.
B) What type of personnel the team should be composed of.
C) How the team integrates with what it is supposed to serve.
D) What qualifications team members should be equipped with.
11.A) A team manager must set very clear and high objectives.
B) Teams must consist of members from different cultures.
C) Team members should be knowledgeable and creative.
D) A team manager should develop a certain set of skills.
Passage Two
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12.A) Word-of-mouth advertising. C) Prestige advertising.
B) Distributing free trial products. D) Institutional advertising.
13.A) To sell a particular product. C) To promote a specific service.
B) To attract high-end consumers. D) To build up their reputation.
14.A) By creating their own ads and commercials.
B) By buying media space in leading newspapers.
C) By hiring their own professional advertising staff.
D) By using the services of large advertising agencies.
15.A) Conduct a large-scale survey on customer needs.
B) Specify the objectives of the campaign in detail.
C) Pre-test alternative ads or commercials in certain regions.
D) Decide on what specific means of communication to employ.
2Section C
Directions:In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks
followed by three or four questions.The recordings will be played 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 Answer Sheet 1
with a single line through the centre.
Questions 16 to 19 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16.A) The effective communication among family members.
B) The principle of “avoid adding trouble to others”.
C) The mutual love and caring between parents and children.
D)Everyone’s commitment to support each other.
17.A) Thinking before speaking. C) Focusing on the present.
B)Adopting empathy during communication.D) Listening attentively.
18.A)Adopting nonverbal signals.
B) Being aggressive or overly stressed.
C) Maintaining eye contact to show attentiveness.
D)Keeping a suitable distance and respecting personal space.
19.A) To make sure you turn off your cell phones.
B) To respect people involved in the conversation.
C) To show you are an easy-going person.
D)To offer suggestions actively.
Questions 20 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.
20.A) The ability of speaking a certain kind of language.
B) The ability of mending things.
C)The ability of building a good relationship.
D)The ability of healing physical wounds.
21.A)Always feeling miserable when encountering difficulties.
B) Keeping calm though the child has made the house a mess.
C)Unwilling to offer a hand to those in troubles.
D)Feeling superior to everybody else.
22.A) Mental Health: Tool Case of the Mind
C) Mental Health: The Key to Success
B)How to Gain Mental Health
D) Be Careful of Mental Problems
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
23.A) Studying hard for a relatively high degree.
C)Understanding the new trend of career planning.
B)Having enough knowledge about different careers.
D)Knowing more about yourself.
24.A)Ask for professional advice from experienced people.
B) Bring it down to a practical level.
C)Divide it into smaller and achievable goals.
D) Find an objective standard to reevaluate your ability.
25.A) To help you to deal with new problems you may meet with in your career
better.
B) To ensure that you achieve something big sometime in the future.
C) To shorten the time you are tangled up with tricky situations.
3D) To accelerate the process of climbing up the social ladder.
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40
minutes)
Section A
Directions: 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 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.
It seems to be a law in the technology industry that leading companies eventually
lose their positions, often quickly and brutally. Mobile phone champion Nokia, one of
Europe’s biggest technology success stories, was no __26__ , losing its market share in
just a few years.
In 2007, Nokia accounted for more than 40% of mobile phone sales __27__. But
consumers’ preferences were already __28__ toward touch-screen smartphones. With
the introduction of Apple’s iPhone in the middle of that year, Nokia’s market share
__29__ rapidly and revenue plunged. By the end of 2013, Nokia had sold its phone
business to Microsoft.
What sealed Nokia’s fate was a series of decisions made by Stephen Elop in his
position as CEO, which he __30__ in October 2010. Each day that Elop spent in charge
of Nokia, the company’s market value declined by $ 23 million, making him, by the
numbers, one of the worst CEOs in history.
But Elop was not the only person at __31__. Nokia’s board resisted change, making
it impossible for the company to adapt to rapid shifts in the industry. Most __32__, Jorma
Ollila, who had led Nokia’s transition from an industrial company to a technology giant,
was too fascinated by the company’s __33__ success to recognize the change that was
needed to sustain its competitiveness.
The company also embarked on a __34__ cost-cutting program, which included the
elimination of thousands of jobs. This contributed to the __35__ of the company’s once-
spirited culture, which had motivated employees to take risks and make miracles. Good
leaders left the company, taking Nokia’s sense of vision and direction with them. Not
surprisingly, much of Nokia’s most valuable design and programming talent left as well.
4A)assumed K)shifting
B)bias L) shrank
C) desperate M)subtle
D)deterioration N)transmitting
E) exception O)worldwide
F) fault
G)incidentally
H)notably
I) previous
J) relayed
Section B
Directions: 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.
First-Generation College-Goers: Unprepared and Behind
Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on
campus with little academic know-how and are much more likely than their peers to drop
out before graduation.
[A] When Nijay Williams entered college last fall as a first-generation student and
Jamaican immigrant, he was academically unprepared for the rigors of higher
education. Like many first-generation students, he enrolled in a medium-sized state
university many of his high school peers were also attending, received a Pell Grant,
and took out some small federal loans to cover other costs. Given the high price of
room and board and the closeness of the school to his family, he chose to live at home
and worked between 30 and 40 hours a week while taking a full class schedule.
[B] What Nijay didn’t realize about his school—Tennessee State University—was its
frighteningly low graduation rate a mere 29 percent for its first-generation students. At
the end of his first year, Nijay lost his Pell Grant of over $ 5,000 after narrowly
missing the 2.0 GPA cut-off, making it impossible for him to continue paying for
school.
[C] Nijay represents a large and growing group of Americans: first-generation college
students who enter school unprepared or behind. To make matters worse, these
schools are ill-equipped to graduate these students—young adults who face specific
challenges and obstacles. They typically carry financial burdens that outweigh those
of their peers, are more likely to work while attending school, and often require
significant academic remediation（补习）.
[D] Matt Rubinoff directs I’m First, a nonprofit organization launched last October to
reach out to this specific population of students. He hopes to distribute this
information and help prospective college- goers find the best post-secondary fit. And
5while Rubinoff believes there are a good number of four-year schools that truly care
about these students and set aside significant resources and programs for them, he says
that number isn’t high enough.
[E] “It’s not only the selective and elite institutions that provide those opportunities for a
small subset of this population,” Rubinoff said, adding that a majority of first-
generation undergraduates tend toward options such as online programs, two-year
colleges, and commuter state schools. “Unfortunately, there tends to be a lack of
information and support to help students think bigger and broader.”
[F] Despite this problem, many students are still drawn to these institutions—and two-
year schools in particular. As a former high school teacher, I saw students choose
familiar, cheaper options year after year. Instead of skipping out on higher education
altogether, they chose community colleges or state schools with low bars for
admittance.
[G] “They underestimate themselves when selecting a university,” said Dave Jarrat, a
marketing executive for Inside Track, a for-profit organization that specializes in
coaching low-income students and supporting colleges in order to help students thrive.
“The reality of it is that a lot of low-income kids could be going to elite universities on
a full ride scholarship and don’t even realize it.”
[H] “Many students are coming from a situation where no one around them has the
experience of successfully completing higher education, so they are coming in
questioning themselves and their college worthiness,” Jarrat continued. That helps
explain why, as I’m First’s Rubinoff indicated, the schools to which these students
end up resorting can end up being some of the poorest matches for them. The
University of Tennessee in Knoxville offers one example of this dilemma. A flagship
university in the South, the school graduates just 16 percent of its first-generation
students, despite its overall graduation rate of 71 percent. Located only a few hours
apart, The University of Tennessee and Tennessee State are worth comparing.
Tennessee State’s overall graduation rate is a tiny 39 percent, but at least it has a
smaller gap between the outcomes for first-generation students and those of their
peers.
[I] Still, the University of Tennessee deserves credit for being transparent. Many large
institutions keep this kind of data secret—or at least make it incredibly difficult to
find. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for instance, admits only that
the graduation rate for its first-generation pupils is “much lower” than the percentage
of all students who graduate within four years (81 percent).
[J] It is actually quite difficult to find reliable statistics on the issue for many schools.
Higher education institutions are, under federal law, required to report graduation
rates, but these reports typically only include Pell recipient numbers—not necessarily
rates specific to first-generation students. Other initiatives fail to break down the data,
too. Imagine how intimidating it can be for prospective students unfamiliar with the
complexities of higher education to navigate this kind of information and then identify
which schools are the best fit.
[K] It was this lack of information that prompted the launch of I’m First in 2013,
originally as an arm of its umbrella organization, the Center For Student Opportunity.
“If we can help to direct students to more of these types of campuses and help students
to understand them to be realistic and accessible places, have them apply to these
schools at greater frequency and ultimately get in and enroll, we are going to raise the
success rate,” Rubinoff said, citing a variety of colleges ranging from large state
institutions to smaller private schools.
6[L] Chelsea Jones, who now directs student programming at I’m First, was a first-
generation college student at Howard. Like other students new to the intimidating
higher-education world, she often struggled on her path to college, “There wasn’t
really a college-bound culture at my high school,” she said. “I wanted to go to college
but I didn’t really know the process.” Jones became involved with a college-access
program through Princeton University in high school. Now, she attributes much of her
understanding of college to that: “But once I got to campus, it was a completely
different ball game that no one really prepared me for.”
[M] She was fortunate, though. Howard, a well-regarded historically black college, had an
array of resources for its first-generation students, including matching kids with
counselors, connecting first-generation students to one another, and TRIO, a national
program that supported 200 students on Howard’s campus. Still, Jones represents a
small percentage of first-generation students who are able to gain entry into more elite
universities, which are often known for robust financial aid packages and remarkably
high graduation rates for first-generation students. (Harvard, for example, boasts a six-
year graduation rate for underrepresented minority groups of 98 percent.
[N] Christian Vazquez, a first-generation Yale graduate, is another exception, his success
story setting him far apart from students such as Nijay. “There is a lot of support at
Yale, to an extent, after a while, there is too much support,” he said, half-joking about
the countless resources available at the school. Students are placed in small groups
with counselors (trained seniors on campus); they have access to cultural and ethnic
affinity （ 联 系 ） groups, tutoring centers and also have a summer orientation
specifically for first-generation students (the latter being one of the most common
programs for students).
[O] “Our support structure was more like: ‘You are going to get through Yale; you are
going to do well,’” he said, hinting at mentors（导师）, staff, and professors who all
provided significant support for students who lacked confidence about “belonging” at
such a top institution.
36. Many first-generation college-goers have doubts about their abilities to get a college
degree.
37. First-generation college students tend to have much heavier financial burdens than
their peers.
38. The graduation rate of first-generation students at Nijay’s university was incredibly
low.
39. Some top institutions like Yale seem to provide first-generation students with more
support than they actually need.
40. On entering college, Nijay Williams had no idea how challenging college education
was.
41. Many universities simply refuse to release their exact graduation rates for first-
generation students.
42. According to a marketing executive, many students from low-income families don’t
know they could have a chance of going to an elite university.
43. Some elite universities attach great importance to building up the first-generation
students, self-confidence.
44. I’m First distributes information to help first-generation college-goers find schools
that are most suitable for them.
745. Elite universities tend to graduate first-generation students at a higher rate.
Section C
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 on
Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Saying they can no longer ignore the rising price of health care, some of the most
influential medical groups in the nation are recommending that doctors weigh the costs,
not just the effectiveness of treatments, as they make decisions about patient care.
The shift, little noticed outside the medical establishment but already controversial
inside it, suggests that doctors are starting to redefine their roles, from being concerned
exclusively about individual patients to exerting influence on how healthcare dollars are
spent.
In practical terms, the new guidelines being developed could result in doctors
choosing one drug over another for cost reasons or even deciding that a particular
treatment—at the end of life, for example—is too expensive. In the extreme, some critics
have said that making treatment decisions based on cost is a form of rationing.
Traditionally, guidelines have heavily influenced the practice of medicine, and the
latest ones are expected to make doctors more conscious of the economic consequences of
their decisions, even though there’s no obligation to follow them. Medical society
guidelines are also used by insurance companies to help determine reimbursement（报
销）policies.
Some doctors see a potential conflict in trying to be both providers of patient care
and financial overseers. “There should be forces in society who should be concerned
about the budget, but they shouldn’t be functioning simultaneously as doctors,” said Dr.
Martin Samuels at a Boston hospital. He said doctors risked losing the trust of patients if
they told patients, “I’m not going to do what I think is best for you because I think it’s bad
for the healthcare budget in Massachusetts.”
Doctors can face some grim trade-offs. Studies have shown, for example, that two
drugs are about equally effective in treating macular degeneration, an eye disease. But one
costs $50 a dose and the other close to $2,000. Medicare could save hundreds of millions
of dollars a year if everyone used the cheaper drug, Avastin, instead of the costlier one,
Lucentis.
But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved Avastin for use in the eye,
and using it rather than the alternative, Lucentis, might carry an additional, although
slight, safety risk. Should doctors consider Medicare’s budget in deciding what to use?
“I think ethically（在道德层面上）we are just worried about the patient in front of
us and not trying to save money for the insurance industry or society as a whole,” said Dr.
Donald Jensen.
Still, some analysts say that there’s a role for doctors to play in cost analysis because
not many others are doing so. “In some ways,” said Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, “it represents a
failure of wider society to take up the issue.”
46. What do some most influential medical groups recommend doctors do?
A) Reflect on the responsibilities they are supposed to take.
B) Pay more attention to the effectiveness of their treatments.
C) Take costs into account when making treatment decisions.
D) Readjust their practice in view of the cuts in health care.
47. What were doctors mainly concerned about in the past?
8A) Specific medicines to be used. C) Professional advancement.
B) Effects of medical treatment. D) Patients’ trust.
48. What may the new guidelines being developed lead to?
A) The redefining of doctors’ roles. C) Conflicts between doctors and
patients.
B) Overuse of less effective medicines. D) The prolonging of patients’ suffering.
49. What risk do doctors see in their dual role as patient care providers and financial
overseers?
A) They may be involved in a conflict of interest.
B) They may be forced to divide their attention.
C) They may have to use less effective drugs.
D) They may lose the respect of patients.
50. What do some experts say about doctors’ involvement in medical cost analysis?
A) It may add to doctors’ already heavy workloads.
B) It will help to save money for society as a whole.
C) It results from society’s failure to tackle the problem.
D) It raises doctors’ awareness of their social responsibilities.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Economic inequality is the “defining challenge of our time,” President Barack
Obama declared in a speech last month to the Center for American Progress. Inequality is
dangerous, he argued, not merely because it doesn’t look good to have a large gap
between the rich and the poor, but because inequality itself destroys upward mobility,
making it harder for the poor to escape from poverty. “Increased inequality and
decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American Dream,” he said.
Obama is only the most prominent public figure to declare inequality Public Enemy
No.1 and the greatest threat to reducing poverty in America. A number of prominent
economists have also argued that it’s harder for the poor to climb the economic ladder
today because the rungs（横档）in that ladder have grown farther apart.
For all the new attention devoted to the 1 percent, a new dataset from the Equality of
Opportunity Project at Harvard and Berkeley suggests that, if we care about upward
mobility overall, we’re vastly exaggerating the dangers of the rich-poor gap. Inequality
itself is not a particularly strong predictor of economic mobility, as sociologist Scott
Winship noted in a recent article based on his analysis of this data.
So what factors, at the community level, do predict if poor children will move up the
economic ladder as adults? What explains, for instance, why the Salt Lake City metro area
is one of the 100 largest metropolitan areas most likely to lift the fortunes of the poor and
the Atlanta metro area is one of the least likely?
Harvard economist Raj Chetty has pointed to economic and racial segregation,
community density, the size of a community’s middle class, the quality of schools,
community religiosity, and family structure, which he calls the “single strongest correlate
of upward mobility.” Chetty finds that communities like Salt Lake City, with high levels
of two-parent families and religiosity, are much more likely to see poor children get ahead
than communities like Atlanta, with high levels of racial and economic segregation.
Chetty has not yet issued a comprehensive analysis of the relative predictive power
of each of these factors. Based on my analyses of the data, of the factors that Chetty has
highlighted, the following three seem to be most predictive of upward mobility in a given
community:
91. Per-capita（人均）income growth
2. Prevalence of single mothers (where correlation is strong, but negative
3. Per-capita local government spending
In other words, communities with high levels of per-capita income growth, high
percentages of two-parent families, and high local government spending—which may
stand for good schools—are the most likely to help poor children relive the Horatio
Alger’s rags-to-riches story.
51. How does Obama view economic inequality?
A) It is the biggest obstacle to social mobility.
B) It is the greatest threat to social stability.
C) It is the No. 1 enemy of income growth.
D) It is the most malicious social evil of our time.
52. What do we learn about the inequality gap from Scott Winship’s data analysis?
A) It is fast widening across most parts of America.
B) It is not a reliable indicator of economic mobility.
C) It is not correctly interpreted.
D) It is overwhelmingly ignored.
53. Compared with Atlanta, metropolitan Salt Lake City is said to _______.
A) have placed religious beliefs above party politics
B) have bridged the gap between the rich and the poor
C) offer poor children more chances to climb the social ladder
D) suffer from higher levels of racial and economic segregation
54. What is strongly correlated with social mobility according to economist Raj Chetty?
A) Family structure. C) School education.
B) Racial equality. D) Community density.
55. What does the author seem to suggest?
A) It is important to increase the size of the middle class.
B) It is highly important to expand the metropolitan areas.
C) It is most imperative to focus our efforts on the elimination of income inequality.
D) It is better to start from the community to help poor children move up the social ladder.
Part Ⅳ Translation (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from
Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
在帮助国际社会于2030年前消除极端贫困过程中，中国正扮演着越来越重
要的角色。
自20世纪70年代末实施改革开放以来,中国已使多达四亿人摆脱了贫困。
在未来五年中，中国将向其他发展中国家在减少贫困、发展教育、农业现代化、
环境保护和医疗保健等方面提供援助。
中国在减少贫困方面取得了显著进步,并在促进经济增长方面做出了不懈努
力,这将鼓励其他贫困国家应对自身发展中的挑战。在寻求具有自身特色的发展
道路时,这些国家可以借鉴中国的经验。
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