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2024年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第1套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence
“College provides a great opportunity for students to explore various possibilities and find
the right path for themselves.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal
experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200
words.
You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.
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.
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
1. A) Preparing for a job interview.
B) Writing a work report together.
C) Going through a couple of issues the company faces.
D) Discussing the woman’s annual performance review.
2. A) The overall culture of the company.
B) The instruction from her supervisor.
C) The honesty of the manager.
D) The recognition of her merits.
3. A) Her inadequate language proficiency.
B) Her inability to interact with colleagues properly.
C) Her inappropriate behavior at company meetings.
D) Her simplistic approach to dealing with others.
4. A) To avoid offending the recipients.
B) To show her unique writing style.
C) To save time.
D) To be frank.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A) Provide medical service to the community.
B) Make healthcare in her hometown the best.
C) Obtain a doctoral degree in internal medicine.
D) Have a profound impact on people around her.
6. A) They have constantly urged her to study hard.
B) They have worked hard to finance her education.
C) They have tried to create a positive learning environment.
D) They have pursued the family’s dreams together with her.
7. A) It is a key medical branch conducive to realizing her dreams.
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 1 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研B) It connects many other specialties with its broad coverage.
C) It has a long history in the man’s prestigious institution.
D) It is a medical branch both of her parents specialize in.
8. A) Problematic.
B) Competitive.
C) Inconsistent.
D) Trustworthy.
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.
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A) To prevent hackers from cracking our secret codes.
B) To show that all the guidelines are being followed.
C) To provide evidence that passwords are forgotten.
D) To convince our computer that we are human.
10. A) Put an end to the hacking phenomenon.
B) Help people remember their passwords.
C) Reduce the intricacy of the password itself.
D) Explain the need for different email accounts.
11. A) Innovate technologies to ensure the safety of users’ accounts.
B) Provide incentives for the application of creative passwords.
C) Explore the possibility of using simpler secret codes.
D) Take steps to encourage users to log in more often.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A) Her work no longer interested her.
B) Her training app did not fit her.
C) Her fitness fell into a slump.
D) Her business deteriorated.
13. A) Help users keep track of their fitness levels.
B) Design personalised training programmes.
C) Strengthen ties among users worldwide.
D) Select well-qualified human coaches.
14. A) They are never repeated.
B) They help enrich her life.
C) They are of no extreme intensity.
D) They keep her focused on her goal.
15. A) They will not be able to take the place of human personal trainers.
B) They will not be able to comprehend some of the profiles users put in.
C) They cannot lead to optimal results with their mathematical approach.
D) They cannot match humans in arranging meticulous workout schedules.
Section C
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 2 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研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 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A) All societies are built upon the cornerstones of basic values.
B) Everyone everywhere demonstrates seven character traits.
C) All societies are kept together by seven basic moral rules.
D) Everyone everywhere shares a universal moral standard.
17. A) Ascertain whether deferring to authority was confined to right-wing people.
B) Find out whether different societies had different versions of morality.
C) Make clear whether all societies faced the same moral issues.
D) Find out whether left-wing people still had a group loyalty.
18. A) Make independent descriptions of cultures around the world.
B) Strive to understand the basic differences between peoples.
C) Appreciate the foundational value of the existing data.
D) Carry out systematic field studies to gather new data.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A) They might be the most important part of our eating experience.
B) They can activate our brain functions in a most direct fashion.
C) They can be viewed as the windows to our soul.
D) They could mislead us in more ways than one.
20. A) It attracts food companies’ growing attention.
B) It adversely impacts one’s eating experience.
C) It invariably determines how food sells.
D) It changes the way people taste food.
21. A) Enhance the taste.
B) Make predictions.
C) Identify distinct flavors.
D) Enrich the eating experience.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
22. A) Social status.
B) Financial resources.
C) Meaning.
D) Happiness.
23. A) Their effect on people’s happiness has long been overstated.
B) Their influence on people’s life varies with social contexts.
C) They can affect people’s experience of meaning.
D) They can ensure people’s overall well-being.
24. A) It used questions totally different from those in their first study.
B) It focused on the sense of meaning of French participants.
C) It analysed cases from a daily poll of US residents.
D) It examined data collected from multiple countries.
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 3 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研25. A) They might have more access to external sources of happiness.
B) They might focus on an individual sense of satisfaction or meaning,
C) They might be less easily affected by a community’s overall feeling.
D) They might be less adversely impacted by failure to achieve a purpose.
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.
About 23% of the global population lives in absolute poverty. In developing countries
there is a low life expectancy, a high infant 26 rate, high levels of unemployment and
illiteracy, nutritional levels below acceptable standards and widespread disease with very
little or poor quality medical assistance. Others live 2 7 wealthy and luxurious lives
and so the wealth is distributed in a very 2 8 manner. These are the central problems
to questions of charity though charity also includes many other areas such as assisting the
elderly.
We all 2 9 when very rich people pledge to give away most of their billions, but
they are usually left with millions to pass on, still much more than most people would
expect to earn in their lifetime. Even comparatively 30 salaries in the west are very
high when compared globally. Someone on £20,000 could easily afford to give away
£2,000 per year and still have plenty to live on plus some luxuries.
Most people agree that giving to charity is morally 31 but charitable behaviour
tends to be regarded as above and beyond the call of duty. Some argue, however, that
charitable behaviour is morally required. This means that to fail to behave charitably would
be wrong. The majority of arguments in this vein refer to giving aid to poorer nations but
they may also refer to giving time within one’s 32 community. Arguments tend to
place different requirements on people in different income brackets and 33 entirely
people who are merely making ends meet. Some argue that people should all contribute a
certain percentage of their earnings. I will 3 4 together all those arguments that place a
moral requirement on people to give to charity, despite the fact that there is wide
disagreement as to the 3 5 of that moral requirement.
A) applaud I) moderate
B) casualty J) mortality
C) exclude K) overt
D) extent L) praiseworthy
E) group M) probe
F) hierarchical N) sceptically
G) immediate O) unequal
H) incredibly
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
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 4 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研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.
The Free-Trade Paradox
A) Trade is one of the policy areas where the hostility that exists between populists (民粹
主义者) and classical liberals is most visible. Free-traders point to the undeniable good
that tariff-free trade has done for consumers across the world and to the observable
alleviation of poverty in corners of the world where previously closed markets have
been opened up. Protectionists point to the domestic producers who’ve paid the price
for this globalized economy in the form of lost livelihoods and hollowed-out
communities.
B) The ongoing conservative civil war often degenerates into content-free tribal warfare,
but trade is a rare exception. There are substantial, thought-out policy proposals on both
sides of the argument.
C) Consequently, trade as a topic of discussion provides an opportunity for liberals
and populists to have a real meeting of minds. Fruitful debates might actually take
place in this area, as opposed to the familiar ritual we’ve become accustomed to of
condemnation met with counter-condemnation.
D) Strange as it might sound, the problem with trade in the modern world isn’t a matter of
dollars and cents. It’s a matter of false consciousness. This observation is bound to set
Marxist alarm bells ringing in the minds of some readers, but it was first made by Alexis
de Tocqueville in 1840.
E) Tracking the economic development of mankind from primitive to modern societies,
Tocqueville observed a paradox unfolding over the centuries as economic realities and
human experience of those realities strayed further and further from each other. In
primitive societies, he notes, the division of labor was as yet undeveloped for the most
part, requiring each person, family, or tribe to be relatively independent when it came to
meeting their own basic material needs. Men built their own dwellings, farmed their
own land, tended to their own livestock. This is not to deny that basic forms of trade
took place, but, for the most part, our primitive ancestors lived fairly self-reliant, if
crushingly poor, lives.
F) However, the exclusively local and face-to-face nature of economic and political
organization in the ancient and prehistoric worlds constantly impressed upon these
primitive peoples the uncontrollable reality of others and their needs. As Tocqueville
notes, “as soon as a man begins to deal with common affairs in public, he begins to
perceive that he is not so independent of his fellow men as he had first imagined, and
that in order to obtain their support he must often lend them his cooperation.”
G) At the advent of the modern world, the division of labor spread further and further
throughout society. Each person became more and more dependent on others for their
basic needs. And yet, robbed of the engagement with our neighbors and with our local
communities that our ancestors were forced into by circumstance, we feel ourselves to
be more and more independent of one another. As we become more and more dependent
on others, we become less and less conscious of our dependence on others. This is the
paradox of trade in the modern world.
H) The false consciousness that this paradox generates causes havoc on the debates we
have about free trade. There is scarcely a single commodity in any American household
that isn’t dependent for its manufacture and sale, through one supply chain or another,
on scores of different people spread out across the entire globe. But as Tocqueville
already foresaw in 1840, we do not feel dependent on these strangers for our way of life.
No sense of the dependence of our own material welfare on their work ever strikes our
national consciousness. We rarely contemplate the globalized avenues of free trade with
gratitude.
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 5 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研I) There are two reasons for this. The first, to put it bluntly, is money. Money allows us to
purchase the work of others without giving any thought to them as human beings.
Unlike our ancestors in their primitive townships, we rarely have to meet face-to-face
the people who’ve invented, built, shipped, or supplied our goods. No relationship has to
be built before an exchange can take place. Simply agree on a price, and you can have
any goods you wish without taking a second thought for the human being involved on
the other side of the transaction. In this way, money makes us feel more independent
than we actually are. Each of us senses the hold that it has over our fellows. We know
that if we bid highly enough we can buy ourselves out of the time-consuming labor of
building relationships. Money is kind of like magic in that way. It gives us a set of
rituals to perform and promises that if we do so we’ll be able to wield power over
others. The illusion is created that having enough money to buy something is the
equivalent of knowing how to make it yourself. Gratitude for the anonymous men and
women who make up the supply chain rarely makes its way into our consciousness.
J) Anonymity, in fact, is the second root cause of the free-trade paradox. Modernity has
emancipated everyone from the limits of location and community. By and large, when
we trade, we trade with strangers; when we vote, we vote for strangers; when we watch,
read, or listen to stories, the tellers of the tales are strangers. As opposed to the ancestors
Tocqueville compares us to, we do not know the people with whom we have to do, in
either the economic or the political sphere. This is simply the shadow side of the miracle
of markets, which, for the first time in history, have allowed strangers to look after each
other. They’ve also allowed each of us to live more and more of our lives exclusively as
strangers to other people. This is how Tocqueville—rather pessimistically—describes
us: Each, standing apart, is like a stranger to the destiny of others; his children and
personal friends forming for him the entire human race. As for the remainder of his
fellow citizens, he is beside them, but he does not see them. He touches them, but he
does not feel them. He exists only in and for himself.
K) The last sentence but one is as apt a summary as one could hope to come by of how each
of us functions in the modern economy: “He touches them, but he does not feel them.”
L) This is the greatest challenge facing defenders of free trade. It’s exceedingly difficult for
human beings to feel gratitude toward strangers, and the global marketplace that has
made us so rich has also made us strangers to one another. Our brains are hardwired for
tribal life, and tribes do not take kindly to strangers. Impressing a sense of dependence
upon and gratitude toward foreign strangers is therefore an uphill task.
M)If free-traders are going to win policy arguments in the future, they’ll have to find a way
of forging bonds of affection between American consumers and foreign producers. Only
by de-anonymizing the men and women who supply us with the goods and services we
enjoy from overseas and by creating a sense of solidarity and relationship across borders
that transcends economic interest can free trade win the day. Otherwise, the inborn
biological upper hand that protectionists have in the form of nationalist solidarity is
bound to win the day at the ballot box.
36. People became more and more reliant on others for basic needs as they entered the
modern world even though they might feel less so.
37. On the topic of trade, productive debates might be possible, in contrast to the familiar
mutual condemnation in discussing other issues.
38. We feel greater independence than we actually possess because money allows us to buy
things without building any relationships.
39. The trouble with today’s trade stems from misconceptions rather than money.
40. For their arguments to prevail, advocates of free trade must try to forge bonds of
affection between consumers at home and producers overseas.
41.According to Tocqueville, unlike our ancestors, we and the people we do trade with are
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 6 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研strangers to each other.
42.In primitive societies, people had to rely mostly on themselves to meet their personal
needs.
43.Few commodities in American homes are not reliant on people abroad in the process of
manufacture and sale.
44.Protectionists argue against free trade by referring to the losses suffered by domestic
producers and communities.
45.It is extremely hard to make people feel dependent on and grateful to strangers overseas.
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.
There are hundreds of personality quizzes online that assert they can ascertain whether
the right or left half of your brain is dominant. Left-brained people are suppdsedly logical
and excel at language and math while right-brained people are more imaginative,
emotionally intelligent and skilled with spatial reasoning. There’s just one problem: That’s
not how brains work.
Popular science enthusiasts sort of took this idea and ran with it, and it’s become
woven in popular culture now, and it’s not going away.
Despite this enduring belief, there’s no such thing as being “right-brained” or “left-
brained”. Whether you’re someone who tends more towards creativity or logic has nothing
to do with one hemisphere of your brain being dominant over the other. But the actual
science of how the two halves of our brains work together is sometimes stranger than
fiction.
The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left and right. In all vertebrate
(脊椎的) animals, the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and vice versa.
And scientists have long known, thanks to the behaviors of patients who suffered brain
injuries, that different areas of the brain do different things.
But many scientists struggled with this idea, because the very suggestion that the left
and right halves of the brain operate differently disrupted the idea that nature tends toward
perfect symmetry.
Work by neuroscientists (神经科学家) has revealed the importance of different
hemispheres of the brain for different activities. However, their research quickly saw some
misinterpretations in the general public: Some presumed creative people must be right-
brained and logical people left-brained. It is proven that not only is personality unrelated to
the different halves of the brain, but people aren’t really right- or left-brained to begin with.
The idea that we have left-dominant people and right-dominant people, and that this is
related to personality, is categorically false. That’s never been supported in the neuroscience
community. Neuroscientists don’t believe that and never have.
What scientists learned is that there are really important differences between the left
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 7 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研hemisphere and the right hemisphere. It’s just that they have nothing to do with personality
or whether cognitive strategy is more logical or free spirited or creative. While researchers
have shown the limitations of how the hemispheres of our brains influence our lives, it’s not
difficult to understand the appeal of such ideas. People are endlessly fascinated by
themselves and their friends, and the subtle differences in how people think about the
world are really meaningful to them. When you come up with an online quiz that tells us
something about ourselves, we’re drawn to that. It’s irresistible. But you have to take it with
an enormous grain of salt.
46. What do numerous personality quizzes online claim they are able to do?
A) Distinguish between the two hemispheres of one’s brain.
B) Determine whether one is left-brained or right-brained.
C) Tell if one is more of a linguist or of a mathematician.
D) Ascertain how one’s brain performs different tasks.
47. What does the author say is sometimes stranger than fiction?
A) How one hemisphere of the brain impacts creativity.
B) How the two halves of our brains work alternately.
C) How the two hemispheres of our brains cooperate.
D) How one half of the brain dominates the other.
48. Why did many scientists have difficulty endorsing the idea that different areas of the brain
do different things?
A) It contradicts the assumption that the two hemispheres of the brain are symmetrical.
B) It dismisses the view that the universe has been evolving in a consistent manner.
C) It is in conflict with the suggestion that the left and right halves of the brain work together.
D) It disrupts the idea that the right hemisphere of the brain controls the left side of the body.
49. What belief have neuroscientists long rejected according to the passage?
A) There are left-dominant people and right-dominant people with different personalities.
B) There are noticeable differences between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
C) One’s personality is hardly related to the different halves of the brain.
D) Different areas of the brain are responsible for different activities.
50. What are we advised to do with an online quiz that tells us something about ourselves?
A) Challenge its authority.
B) Scrutinize its originality.
C) Evaluate its popularity.
D) Question its reliability.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
One hundred thirty-five students, four teachers, one giant classroom: This is what 9th
grade looks like at Westwood High School, in Mesa, Arizona’s largest school system.
There, an innovative teaching model has taken hold, and is spreading to other schools in the
district and beyond.
Five years ago, faced with high teacher turnover and declining student enrollment,
Westwood’s leaders decided to try something different. Working with professors at Arizona
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 8 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研State University’s teachers college, they piloted a classroom model known as team
teaching, which allows teachers to dissolve the walls that separate their classes across
physical or grade divides.
The teachers share large groups of students—sometimes 100 or more—and rotate
between group instruction, one-on-one interventions, small study groups, or whatever the
teachers as a team agree is a priority that day. What looks at times like chaos is in fact a
carefully orchestrated plan: Each morning, the Westwood teams meet to hammer out a
personalized program for every student the team will focus on that day.
By giving teachers more opportunity to collaborate, Mesa’s administrators hoped to fill
staffing gaps and boost teacher morale and retention. Initial research suggests the gamble
could pay off.
“Teachers are doing fantastic things, but it’s very rare a teacher walks into another
room to see what’s happening,” said Andi Fourlis, superintendent of Mesa Public Schools.
“Our profession is so slow to advance because we are working in isolation.”
Of course, overhauling teaching approaches can’t fix all the frustrations teachers have,
such as low pay, but early results from Mesa show team teaching may be helping to reverse
low morale. In a survey of hundreds of the district’s teachers, researchers found those who
worked on teams reported greater job satisfaction, more frequent collaborations with
colleagues, and more positive interactions with students.
Another benefit of teams, teachers say, is that they can help each other improve their
instruction. During one planning session, English teacher Jeff Hall shared a performance
appraisal with a science teacher: Her recent lecture on something she called “the central
dogma of biology” had bewildered him and their other teammates.
“If the science is too confusing for me, can you imagine the frustration you feel as
kids?” Hall said. But the science teacher, he said, wouldn’t have known about the confusion
on her own.
The model is not for everyone. Some teachers approached about volunteering for a
team have said they prefer to work alone. Team teaching can also be a scheduling
nightmare, especially at schools like Westwood where only some staff work in teams. There
are also thorny questions like how to evaluate four teachers on the performance of 135
students. But for the time being, it seems to be working.
51. What do we learn about team teaching from the passage?
A) It is generally conducted in classrooms without walls.
B) It allows students to choose teachers they favor most.
C) It prioritizes peer work over classroom instruction.
D) It is closely coordinated despite seeming confusion.
52. What does initial research suggest regarding Westwood’s innovative teaching model?
A) It could help raise teachers’ pay.
B) It could turn out to be a success.
C) It could cut down overall costs.
D) It could end up like a gamble.
53. What did superintendent Andi Fourlis say about the teaching profession?
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 9 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研A) Morale cannot be boosted until teaching models are overhauled.
B) Teachers are simply too busy to visit classes of their colleagues.
C) Progress is slow due to lack of collaboration among teachers.
D) Teachers often do fantastic things without being noticed.
54. What does the author want to show by citing English teacher Jeff Hall’s experience?
A) English teachers and science teachers are complementary in performing their tasks.
B) A teacher of arts and letters is completely puzzled by what a science teacher teaches.
C) The new teaching model helps inform the teacher how their instruction is received.
D) Science teachers will hardly know the confusion they create without a performance
appraisal.
55. What does the author think is one of the difficult problems in implementing the new
teaching model?
A) What to do with teachers working alone.
B) What to include in teaching schedules.
C) How to recruit volunteers for a team.
D) How to assess each teacher’s performance.
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.
洋山港 (Yangshan Port) 是上海航运中心的重要组成部分，是中国第一个深水港，也是
世界上规模最大的深水港之一｡ 经过近20年的发展，洋山港已实现高度自动化｡ 数字技术
和人工智能的使用大大减少了用工成本和碳排放｡自主研发的码头管理系统可以在百公里之
外对大型设备进行远程操控｡ 洋山港看上去一片繁忙, 现场却见不到人工操作, 而且能够24
小时不间断运作｡ 洋山港将不断发展, 为把上海建成一个全球航运中心做出更大贡献｡
2024年12月英语六级真题第1套 第 10 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研2024年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第2套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence
“Nowadays, more and more students have realized the importance of self-discipline in
their personal growth.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal
experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200
words.
You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.
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.
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
1. A) Changing his major. C) Revising his graduation thesis.
B) His family situation. D) His passion for Art History.
2. A) He doesn’t think it legitimate to depend on his father.
B) He thinks his financial situation has now changed.
C) He doesn’t think it will provide him with a living.
D) He thinks it nourishes the financially secure only.
3. A) Try his best to socialize and build a network in the art industry.
B) Seek financially viable employment opportunities after graduation.
C) Investigate all possible ways to become a celebrity in the art world.
D) Strike a balance between intellectual pursuits and financial security.
4. A) Money.
B) Time.
C) Determination.
D) Optimism.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A) Their decision on investigating beef consumption.
B) Their original ideas about the domestic market.
C) Their different approaches to a case study.
D) Their end-of-semester business projects.
6. A) Expanding farmland out west.
B) Importing most of the beef.
C) Raising cattle domestically.
D) Continuing to boost economic growth.
7. A) Technical equipment. C) Beef.
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 1 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研B) Business consultancy. D) Carwashing.
8. A) Car owners of all walks of life.
B) High-end customers in big cities.
C) Consumers craving for professional service.
D) Well-off dealers seeking a profitable markup.
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.
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A) Parents’ talking with them during TV time raises their curiosity levels.
B) Their daily television exposure cuts parent-child conversation time.
C) The more TV they watch the poorer their progress in development.
D) Their socioeconomic levels impact their academic achievement.
10. A) Kids’ enhanced learning.C) Kids’ reading and math.
B) Kids’ curiosity levels. D) Kids’ behavioral development.
11. A) It can hinder kids from getting on with their peers.
B) It can cut into kids’ time on exploratory activities.
C) It can arouse kids’ interest in how people interact in real life.
D) It can widen the gap between kids from different economic statuses.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A) Exerting ourselves too hard in order to attain our life’s goals.
B) Being possessed with a single thought of professional success.
C) Trying every means to beat others in terms of personal aspirations.
D) Being mindlessly driven to possess more and more material things.
13. A) We might isolate ourselves from our fellow beings.
B) We might acquire an incorrect sense of well-being.
C) We might end up pursuing all the wrong things.
D) We might make a mess of our personal lives.
14. A) They should be based on solid theoretical concepts.
B) They should take personal interests into account.
C) They should include goals to help other people.
D) They should increase our sense of worthiness.
15. A) Drifting through life aimlessly.
B) Giving up the chance to fulfill yourself.
C) Abandoning all that life has to offer.
D) Spoiling your character and integrity.
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 2 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研Section 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 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A) Grade-raising ways and means.
B) Pressure-alleviating exercise.
C) Revision-conducting approaches.
D) Brain-boosting food and drink.
17. A) Buying it from coffee shops.
B) Building up a tolerance of it.
C) Drinking it after 2 pm.
D) Consuming it with sugar.
18. A) By taking varied vitamin supplements.
B) By consuming a rich variety of foods.
C) By eating both oranges and frozen berries.
D) By getting components packaged in tablets.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A) Many people across advanced economies think the world is going from bad
to worse.
B) The news focuses on reporting catastrophes that occur across the world.
C) A significant part of the world is experiencing another great recession.
D) Many people have no idea of those living under miserable conditions.
20. A) It has experienced ups and downs like any other historical trend.
B) It is hailed as a miracle by both economists and ordinary people.
C) It is the only way for all countries to share economic prosperity.
D) It has given more and more countries a rare chance to thrive.
21. A) Their fortunes may take a downturn.
B) They can be classified as middle class.
C) Their living standards have been deteriorating.
D) They are experiencing a radical transformation.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
22. A) Why smells can activate emotional memories.
B) How powerful the sense of smell can become.
C) How scent particles revive memories forgotten.
D) Why the scent of bread has a strong mental impact.
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 3 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研23. A) The brain cells’ processing of memories experienced as strongly emotional.
B) The activation of the brain’s emotion processing area by chemical particles.
C) The interaction between chemical particles and the brain cells responsible for smell.
D) The sensations of scents going directly to the brain’s emotional and memory centers.
24. A) Imagination.
B) Association.
C) Experience.
D) Context.
25. A) Inaccuracy and alterability.
B) Susceptibility to polar interpretations.
C) Being personal and individualistic.
D) Being dependent on relevant scenarios.
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.
Ever been talking about something important with someone you care about and found
the discussion frustrating instead of fruitful? Negative energy can then cast a 2 6 over
your efforts to build a shared understanding.
In fact, collaborative problem-solving conversations require skills. Strong listening
skills are essential. Sprinkling in positivity via appreciation, 2 7 smiles, and warm
comments helps. So does the essential ability to keep your emotional tone in the calm zone.
If the tone of a dialogue heats up and anger erupts, the dialogue 2 8 from collaborative
to adversarial, and progress is likely to come to an immediate 2 9 .
In addition, effective dialogue generally has another important characteristic: symmetry.
Symmetry in dialogue refers to the balance of how much each partner talks. Are you
each getting equal airtime? When one participant does most of the talking, this asymmetry
or lack of balance tends to become annoying to one or both of you. The silent partner
30 tires of only listening, while the talker can feel 3 1 . Usually, both would prefer
more equal give and take.
Different rates of speech and levels of voice volume can 32 symmetry as well.
The faster or louder partner can easily begin taking up more airtime. The slower-talking or
softer-voiced one can have trouble getting the floor.
Conversations also lose balance when one partner’s opinions count more than the
other,s. One person’s input may carry more sway because their style of expression is more
33 . One viewpoint may tend to get lost because it is expressed more 3 4 .
If either partner fairly consistently 35 or evaporates, modifying the pattern will
be helpful. The dialogue will feel more productive, and at the same time, the relationship
overall is likely to feel more positive.
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 4 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研A) affectionate I) predominates
B) approximately J) propagate
C) elapses K) scenario
D) erode L) shadow
E) flattered M) tentatively
F) flips N) typically
G) halt O) vigorous
H) overburdened
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.
What Is a Super Blood Wolf Moon?
A) Blue moons, rose moons, supermoons. For some reason all the websites seem to think
you really want to know all about these moons. “Catch This Weekend’s AMAZING
SUPERMOON,” one headline will announce. “The Supermoon Isn’t Actually A Big
Deal And You’re All Ruining Astronomy,” another will complain.
B) The latest example is the super blood wolf moon eclipse which sounds like the name of
an emotional song I would have performed a modern dance routine to in 9th grade, but
is, in fact, an astronomical event set to occur on January 20. As we’ll explain below,
there is nothing truly mysterious or otherwise special about this moon, and it will not
look like a bloody wolf head in the sky or anything wild like that. We get these super
lunar events by smashing together all the qualifiers we’ve historically used to keep track
of full moons throughout the year, and in the age of the internet we can get a little too
enthusiastic.
C) Consider this your go-to resource for all moon-gazing news. Here’s what you need to
know about the latest lunar event.
D) Look, it’s okay if you don’t know. There are probably loads of folks who walk around
pretending they totally know why that thing in the sky seems to get bigger and smaller
at regular intervals but who totally do not.
E) The moon orbits Earth, and it’s tidally locked—that means it always shows us the same
face, instead of spinning around like our planet does. That’s why you can always see the
man on the moon (or the moon rabbit, depending on your cultural preferences) even as it
spins around us. But while the moon is big and bright in the sky when it’s full, that’s
only because it’s reflecting light from the sun. But the moon is always moving, so it’s
getting hit with sunlight at different angles. It’s invisible to us during the new moon,
because our satellite is parked right between us and the sun; the so-called dark side of
the moon is lit up like Las Vegas, but the side we can see is in shadow. A full moon
happens when the earth is right between the sun and the moon, so sunlight hits the part
we can see. And all the other phases are just the transition from one of those extremes to
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 5 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研the other.
F) The moon isn’t always exactly the same distance from Earth, because its orbit isn’t
perfectly circular. We call the closest point perigee (近地点), and the most distant point
is apogee (远地点). 2018’s closest perigee and most distant apogee both happened in
January, and the difference was about 30,000 miles.
G) The reason you care about this ordinary change in distance is that it turns a moon super.
When a full moon happens close to perigee, it’s going to look a bit bigger. Honestly, the
difference is not that profound, but if you’re in a position to photograph the supermoon
next to something that shows the slight increase in scale, it can look pretty cool.
January’s super blood wolf moon eclipse is super because the date lines up with the
closest the moon will get to us during January, but the moon won’t actually be at its
closest for the year until February’s supermoon, which you can expect plenty of undue
excitement over.
H) Blood moons only occur during total lunar eclipses (which can happen a few times a
year in any given location). When the moon slips through our shadow, we give it a
reddish coloring. The moon can also look orange whenever it’s rising or setting, or if it
hangs low in the horizon all night—the light bouncing off of it has to travel through a
thicker atmosphere there, which scatters more blue light away. But you’ll probably only
see that deep, sinister red during an eclipse.
I) A lot of headlines about moons are just ridiculous (you do not need to be particularly
excited about a blue moon, it just looks like a regular full moon), but you should
definitely roll out of bed to look at a blood moon if one is going to be visible in your
region, even though they’re just lunar eclipses and not evidence of bloody battles
between the sky gods.
J) In March of 2018, we had our second “blue moon” of the year, to much acclaim. And
while that’s not necessarily special in an oh-gosh-get-out-and-look-at-it way, it’s
certainly special: a blue moon is a nickname for when two full moons fall in the same
calendar month, and we hadn’t previously had two in one year since 1999. We won’t
have it happen again until 2037. Astronomer David Chapman explained that this is
merely a peculiarity of our calendar; once we stopped doing things based on the moon
and started trying to follow the sun and the seasons, we stopped having one reliable full
moon per month. The moon cycle is 29.53 days long on average, so in most months we
still end up with a single new moon and a single full one. But every once in a while, one
month steals a full moon from another. In 2018 (and in 1999, and again in 2037) both
January and March stacked full moons on the first and last nights of the month, leaving
February in the dark.
K) Getting two blue moons a year is rare, but we have individual blue moons every few
years. Also, fun fact: not actually blue. A moon can indeed take on a moody blue color,
but this only happens when particles of just the right size disperse through the sky—and
it has nothing to do with the moon’s status as “blue”. Big clouds of ash from volcanic
eruptions or fires can do the trick, but it doesn’t happen often, and the stars would
certainly have to align for two such rare instances to occur at once.
L) You may have heard that the super special second blue moon of 2018 was also a Paschal
moon. This is true! That just means it was the first full moon of spring, which is often
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 6 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研used to determine the date of Easter Sunday. All of this is just calendar nonsense and we
refuse to go into it further.
M)Sometimes you’ll see a headline that promises a moon with so many qualifiers it makes
your head spin. A super blue blood worm moon, perhaps? Or a super blood wolf moon?
Lots of websites will tell you that “wolf moon” is the traditional name of the first full
moon of the year in “Native American” cultures, which is kind of a weird thing to claim
given that there are 573 registered Tribal Nations in the U.S. alone today, not to mention
historically. The idea that hungry, howling wolves were such a universal constant in
January that all of North America with its different cultures, geographies, and languages
spontaneously came up with the same nickname is illogical.
N) Many cultures have traditional names for the full moon in a given month or season, so
there’s quite a list to draw from if you’re trying to really juice up a story on a slightly-
bigger-than-average view of the moon. But these are all based on human calendars and
activities and folklore; you will not go outside and see a pink moon in April, though I
wish it were so.
36. We cannot see the moon at times when it is positioned right between the earth and the
sun.
37. Volcanic eruptions may cause the moon to assume a moody blue color.
38. The moon will be closest to the earth when the supermoon occurs in February.
39. There is nothing unusual about the super blood wolf moon, which will bear no
resemblance to a bloody wolf head.
40. The moon will appear orange when the light reflecting from it travels through an
atmosphere thicker than usual.
41. It is contrary to logic to claim the name of wolf moon originates from the cultures of
American Indians.
42. As the moon’s orbit is not a hundred-percent circle, its distance from the earth changes.
43. A full moon in a given month or season gets a specific name in different cultures.
44. There are likely lots of people who know absolutely nothing about why the moon
appears to change its size regularly but act like they know.
45. When a full moon appears twice in the same month, it is nicknamed a blue moon.
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.
With population increases and global urbanisation ever accelerating, much attention is
focused on the sustainability of our cities and scarce attention is paid to the countryside.
Rural life is associated with closely-knit communities, sense of belonging, and a
simple, tranquil life. Yet whilst some or all of these elements exist in the countryside, so do
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 7 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研conservatism and a lack of employment opportunities. And it is mostly due to the latter that
rural communities are suffering. Attracted by the improved economics of urban areas,
country-dwellers across the world are moving out, contributing to the excessive
crowdedness of densely populated cities, and leaving the countryside in desolation.
So how can the countryside ensure its survival among these changes, or should it at all?
Due to both the distance between residences and facilities and often intermittent public
transport, those living in the countryside are heavier automobile users. Rural dwellers also
use more energy maintaining their mostly detached buildings. We may be piled up like
boxes in the city, but this brings energy efficiency that the countryside cannot match. Rural
energy requirements result in higher carbon emissions per person than in the city, so it is
actually irresponsible to endorse such a lifestyle choice.
Protecting the countryside is a hot topic. Those who have made their fortunes in the
city often buy second homes in the countryside, visiting intermittently for a sample of a
supposedly simple life. The side-effect of this is that house prices are pushed up due to
increased demand, leaving them unaffordable for local people. A solution has yet to be
found for this challenge, for market forces are further forcing residents out of the
countryside. For those who believe in rural preservation, this is deplorable.
Whilst an idealised view of the countryside is common, the reality is that rural life has
continuously evolved. Industrialisation brought an increase in divisions of labour, changing
social links between rural people. The internet has introduced once foreign cultures into the
countryside. Improved travel connections and affordability have made the world more
accessible, creating a “global village”. Considering these changes, surely an evolving
countryside is inevitable.
Perhaps the countryside should also prepare itself for massive population increases in
the future. With cities across the world growing rapidly, how will the current urban
generation respond to the inevitable social changes of mass urbanisation? Will the longing
for a simpler life become stronger, fueling a rural renaissance?
As the world continues to urbanise, the voices calling for rural preservation may well
grow louder, But change is inevitable. We know that the world is going to see new cities
emerging from the dust and current cities growing into megacities, but the future of the
countryside is less clear.
46. What has become of the rural areas nowadays?
A) They are becoming somewhat deserted.
B) They are being increasingly urbanised.
C) They are closely-knit communities.
D) They are haunted by conservatism.
47. What does the author think of the rural lifestyle?
A) It is unlikely to survive given the on-going changes.
B) It is less energy-efficient compared to that in cities.
C) It is highly dependent upon heavy automobiles.
D) It is a choice more affluent people will endorse.
48. What does the author think of rich urban residents buying a second home in the countryside?
A) It is bound to mar the traditional rural life.
B) It adversely impacts rural social stability.
C) It hinders rural economies’ revitalisation.
D) It is detrimental to rural preservation.
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 8 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研49. What do we learn about the countryside with industrialisation and technological advances?
A) It is destined to change gradually.
B) It will present an idealised way of life.
C) It is likely to embrace foreign cultures.
D) It will become increasingly diversified.
50. What does the author think of the future of the countryside compared with cities?
A) It is going to be harder for the locals.
B) It is going to resemble that of cities.
C) It is less likely to stay static.
D) It is less easy to envisage.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Statements, like “beauty is in the eye of the beholder ( 观 看 者 )”, are rarely
questioned. They’ve become so embedded in our consciousness that people think it’s
absurd to think otherwise. It might be useful, however, to at least push back on this
assumption because people evaluate environment, situations, and people aesthetically. We
may find that we still believe it is correct, but we may also find that there is a lot more to
the situation than you suppose.
A recent study exploring aesthetic taste was published in Cognition. The results from
this study show that people agree very much in their aesthetic evaluation of natural objects,
but they disagree more about artifacts, or human-made objects.
The study found that shared taste was most common for faces and natural landscapes,
but least common among works of architecture and art. The hypothesis is the commonly
pleasing features, like proportion or symmetry, are at work.
Preferences for natural scenes might be learned through life experiences. Factors like
habitability, safety, and openness might be preferred as people develop. Some of the details
of landscapes change, but the basics are more common, e.g., water, open spaces, and signs
of care.
Art and architecture, unlike natural spaces, do not have the same level of exposure. So,
people do not have the same level of shared taste.
It’s possible that the lower amount of agreement in the shared taste of artifacts has to
do more with elements of style, rather than “behavioral consequences”.
All of the consequences seem reasonable (or at least possible), but I think there might
be an interesting philosophical conclusion that they did not draw. It seems that there is an
objective ground to our aesthetic preferences or evaluations. I am not saying this would
mean beauty is completely objective, just that there could possibly be general objective
principles at work, i.e., beauty is not simply in the eye of the beholder.
Nature exhibits some of the universal aesthetic features, such as radiance, in a common
way throughout the world. It’s not exactly the same everywhere, but it is common. For
example, a sunset is similar enough in different places to warrant almost universal appeal.
Possible universal principles of beauty—such as proportion, fittingness, radiance, and
others—are general categories, which allow for a wide array of embodiments. When people
get involved in making artifacts in architecture or art, they apply these very general
concepts in unique ways. But the way they applied the principle may not have universal
appeal.
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 9 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研This is why it’s important to experience diverse cultures and their artifacts because it
opens us up to different ways of approaching or constructing beauty. And it is always good
to question our assumptions.
51. What does the passage say about the statement “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”?
A) It has hardly ever been disputed.
B) It can be interpreted aesthetically.
C) Many people have found it absurd.
D) People have long been misled by it.
52. What does a recent study exploring aesthetic taste show?
A) Aesthetic tastes tend to differ from person to person.
B) Natural beauty is rarely surpassed by artificial beauty.
C) There is less consensus on objects shaped by human craft.
D) There is general agreement on what is pleasing to the eye.
53. Why do people differ in their aesthetic appraisal of artifacts?
A) They come out in a great variety of designs.
B) They lead to varying behavioral consequences.
C) They take up much less natural space than landscapes.
D) They come into people’s view less often than natural spaces.
54. What does the example of sunset tell about nature?
A) It creates a powerful appeal through its brilliant radiance.
B) It displays aesthetic traits in a similar way the world over.
C) It embodies beauty with a wide array of aesthetic features.
D) It establishes the principles of beauty in a number of ways.
55. Why do artifacts not always hold universal appeal?
A) The appreciation of their beauty is not subject to objective standards.
B) The universal principle of beauty prevents a wide array of embodiments.
C) The way their creators apply the principle of beauty may not be pleasing to everybody.
D) Their creators interpret the universal principle of beauty each in their preferred way.
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.
遨游太空历来是中华民族的梦想｡ 2003年, 神舟五号飞船发射成功, 杨利伟成为第一个
飞入太空的中国宇航员｡ 2008年, 神舟七号升空, 翟志刚成为中国历史上首位进行太空行走
的宇航员｡ 近年来, 中国航天进入创新发展 “快车道”, 太空基础设施建设稳步推进, 中国
空间站于2022年全面建成｡中国航天事业的迅速发展在中华民族的历史上写下了辉煌一页,
也为人类文明进步做出了巨大贡献｡ 未来, 中国探索太空的脚步将迈得更稳、更远｡
2024年12月英语六级真题第2套 第 10 页 共 10 页 by：光速考研2024年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第3套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the
sentence “To increase the likelihood of success, one should set realistic goals and work
persistently towards them.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal
experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200
words.
You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.
Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)
淘宝店铺【光速考研工作室】温馨提示：2024年12月大学英语六级考试全国共考了两套听力, 本套
的听力内容与第二套相同，因此本套听力部分不再重复给出。
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.
With the rapid progress in the economy, it is natural that people’s ideology is bound for
change. Being 26 is no longer a virtue to some people, and they are not alone in
holding this view. Each might have different viewpoints on how to lead one’s lifestyle:
some prefer simplicity, some love luxuries, some spend 2 7 , some accumulate as much
as they can like a country mouse. As I was born poor and in the countryside, the simple
rural life seldom loses its 2 8 to me, but as my station changes, I have an opportunity
to 2 9 with the newly rich, an experience which has revolutionized my view of
lifestyle.
It is evil or sinful to spend little and to save much, an idea only recently being revealed
to me. Actually the whole world is in a 30 to borrow and to spend, with the USA
leading the trend. The USA is still the richest and most powerful country in the world, but
the 3 1 is that they borrow money from us. Though a 3 2 of economics, at least
I know that investing with borrowed money will turn the borrower into the 33 rather
than the decent and kind lender. An apparent case is real estate. Those who are 3 4 and
have got loans from the bank become relatively rich by selling their purchased home at a
price several folds higher. Even education is not immune from this theory. Many of those
poor parents who have the vision to send their children to college have benefited from this
investment, even though they have to 35 a living. It is reasonable to conclude that
spending is praiseworthy, supposing it is not beyond your means.
A) appeal I) meadow
B) extravagantly J) mingle
C) intrinsically K) predator
D) irony L) rage
E) layman M) scrape
F) literally N) shrewd
G) majestic O) thrifty
2024年12月英语六级真题第3套 第 1 页 共 7 页 by：光速考研H) malicious
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.
Are forgotten crops the future of food?
A) On a small fruit farm near the Straits of Malacca, Lim Kok Ann is down to just one tree
growing kedondong, a crunchy, sour berry that Malaysians mostly use in pickles (腌
菜 ) and salads. “It’s not very well-known,” says the 45-year-old, who is instead
focusing on longan (龙眼) berries and pineapples, which have bigger markets. “We
have to grow what is profitable,” he says.
B) But less than an hour away in the Malaysian countryside, inside three giant, silver
domes, scientists are trying to change the future of food. They’re pushing the
boundaries of what humans eat by growing and processing so-called “alternative”
crops —such as kedondong. At the headquarters of global research centre Crops For
the Future (CFF) this particular under-used fruit has been turned into a sugar-free juice,
high in vitamin C and getting top marks in sensory evaluations. “Anything you see here
is a forgotten crop,” says Sayed Azam-Ali of the abundant plants weaving through the
gardens of CFF outside Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.
C) Prof Azam-Ali explains that just four crops—wheat, maize, rice and soybean—provide
two-thirds of the world’s food supply. “We’re dependent on these four,” he says. “But
actually there’re 7,000 crops we’ve been farming for thousands of years. We ignore all
of those.” Researchers are trying to unlock the potential of these ignored crops—plants
they describe as forgotten, under-used or “alternative” as they are displaced by
increasingly uniform diets fuelled by processed ingredients from the major crops.
D) It’s a timely quest. The food sector is already responsible for nearly a third of global
greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050 it estimates the world must produce 50% more
food to feed the projected global population of 10 billion. Meeting this demand without
contributing to climate change calls for urgent solutions.
E) Forgotten crops hold key answers. By investing in neglected local plants, countries can
reduce their reliance on imported crops and their carbon-heavy supply chains. Bringing
back the variety of crops humans once ate also boosts food security at a time warming
climates threaten existing crops. On top of that forgotten crops are among the most
climate-resilient (具有气候韧性的) and nutritious, argues Azam-Ali. His summary is
plain: “Dietary diversification is critical to the future of humanity.”
F) Food security experts agree. “There is no food insecurity in the world, there is food
ignorance,” says Cecilia Tortajada, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Water
Policy at the National University of Singapore. “Whenever we have native crops we
tend to disregard them as if they were not valuable but they are,” she adds.
G) Azam-Ali knows that scepticism firsthand. He came across alternative crops in the
1980s through the work of women farmers he met in Niger. The then-PhD student
remembers marvelling at the crops they grew in their backyards, without the benefits of
technology, to feed their families when the big crops failed. He saw a tremendous
opportunity to build alternative food systems. But “the resistance was enormous,” he
2024年12月英语六级真题第3套 第 2 页 共 7 页 by：光速考研recalls.
H) Undeterred, he ploughed on. Project after project helped prove these crops were viable
in different environments as alternatives to the staple ones. But the question of whether
these crops would be marketable remained. “That’s the critical thing,” he says. In one
of the centre’s domes, food technologist Tan Xinlin uses powdered moringa (辣木)
leaves in place of some wheat flour to bake a cake lower in gluten (谷胶) and higher
in nutrients. Tan’s job is to create recipes with these still-unfamiliar ingredients that
will appeal to both local and international tastes. In recent years she has used some of
the forgotten crops grown at CFF, such as moringa and bambara groundnut, to make
everything from instant soup to Indian snacks. “I try to modernise forgotten crops
instead of using old recipes. says Tan, who is also a trained chef. It’s a strategy to
appeal to the world’s growing middle classes who are increasingly turning to the fast
and processed food industries. It’s also a way to help counter perceptions of local crops
as “old or poor people’s food “or as inferior “women’s crops”, adds Tan.
I) The roots of these connotations about local foods can run deep. The bambara
groundnut, a protein-rich native crop of sub-Saharan Africa that is also grown in parts
of southeast Asia, can trace its marginalisation to colonial rule. “African women who
grew bambara groundnut were actually punished for growing it,” says Azam-Ali.
“Colonial powers said you can’t grow that because there’s no oil. We can’t get a market
for it.” But today the bambara murukku is one of CFF’s best-reviewed foods and they
are aiming to get it into grocery stores, pointing to the success of crops like quinoa to
potential investors. Some 30 years ago, quinoa was virtually unheard of outside its
native mountains in Bolivia and Peru. Today the nutritious grain is found on the menus
of lavish restaurants across the world.
J) Measuring crops by nutrition instead of yield is at the heart of the forgotten foods
enterprise. Ever since the “green revolution” of the 1960s, high-yielding crops have
dominated modern agriculture. That was in part a crucial response to devastating
famines at a time when the world needed to increase its food supply. Today “nutrition
is becoming a time bomb”, says Azam-Ali, as growing carbon dioxide levels strip
crops of their minerals. Instead of bio-fortifying major crops we should be investing in
those forgotten crops that are already more nutritious, he asserts.
K) In the bowels of CFF’s third dome, lab manager Gomathy Sethuraman opens a window
into the centre’s “crown jewels”, revealing vines of winged beans growing under a
bright yellow light. It’s one of multiple chambers where scientists are studying the
impact of higher temperatures and carbon dioxide levels on the nutritional make-up of
alternative crops. This research is “the game changer”, says Azam-Ali, ensuring that
“future crops” are also the healthiest ones in warmer climates.
L) There is a growing global momentum around forgotten foods, says Danielle Nierenberg,
president of Food Tank, a US-based think tank. Other than CFF, which bills itself as the
world’s first research centre dedicated solely to under-utilised crops, there are other key
groups championing agricultural diversity including Crop Trust, Slow Food, Icrisat and
Bioversity International. Add to that more middle-income consumers searching for
nutritious foods and others eager to try the unprocessed foods their grandparents once
ate, she says.
M) But the rising interest in forgotten foods in some quarters is overtaken by the global
spread of Westernstyle diets heavy in sugar, fat and processed foods in others.
N) A key obstacle to promoting fading local crops in Malaysia, for example, is “the
2024年12月英语六级真题第3套 第 3 页 共 7 页 by：光速考研obsession with imported products”, says Jenifer Kuah, co-founder of a restaurant that
champions locally-sourced food in an affluent suburb of Kuala Lumpur. Customers at
Sitka, regarded as a pioneer in the country’s small farm-to-table dining scene, still seek
foreign ingredients as a “status symbol”, she says.
O) The argument for forgotten foods feels intuitive. Some analysts say it is in fact
inevitable. “Climate change is going to mean almost certainly tastes are going to be
forced to change,” says Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City, University of
London. We “have to get used to eating other crops” as yields of staple crops fall, he
says.
36. According to a senior researcher, we will have secure food supply if we rid ourselves
of ignorance about native crops.
37. Most of the world’s food supply comes from a tiny number out of thousands of crops
that have been grown for centuries.
38. To provide their family with food when the staple crops failed, some African women
farmers grew local crops in their backyards.
39. High-yielding crops have occupied a dominant position in modern agriculture since the
green revolution in the last century.
40. Growing alternative crops proved feasible in a variety of environments, but the critical
question was whether they would be marketable.
41. According to a professor, when the yields of staple crops fall, we will have to adapt to
eating foods from alternative crops.
42. Urgent measures have to be taken to provide food for the projected world population
without aggravating the climate.
43. Colonial rule marginalised local crops by punishing Africans who grew them.
44. As existing crops are endangered by global warming, we can increase food security by
bringing back the many forgotten food crops.
45. Researchers are trying to find out how higher temperatures and CO₂ levels affect the
nutritional composition of alternative crops.
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.
Imagine you’re an alien sent to Earth to document the behaviour of the mammals
inhabiting the planet. You stumble into a movie theatre that’s showing the latest Hollywood
horror film.
Several dozen humans are gathered together in a dark, undecorated room. They’re all
staring at a rectangular area on which patterns of light change rapidly.
They are clearly in a state of high arousal. Their heart rate is elevated, they
occasionally glance around nervously, and they sometimes jump collectively in their seats,
2024年12月英语六级真题第3套 第 4 页 共 7 页 by：光速考研and emit high-pitched warning calls.
Eventually, the lights come up and the rectangular screen goes black. The humans
stand up and leave the room, chatting and laughing, and showing signs of pleasure.
Why do these humans voluntarily expose themselves to what appears to be a deeply
unpleasant experience? And why do they react so strongly to those patterns of light on a
screen?
I am fascinated with the paradox of horror—the strange fact that many people seek out
scary entertainment.
I think the answer to the puzzle lies in human nature.
My research suggests that we humans evolved to find pleasure in situations that allow
us to experience negative emotions in a safe context. You can see these elements of
horror in children’s games. Take hide-and-seek for example, which is a simulation of a
predator-prey interaction. The kid hides and the adult pretends to be a predator, searching
for the child while howling like a dangerous beast.
This simulation gives the child crucial information about how to avoid becoming prey,
and children tend to find that kind of activity deeply satisfying, presumably because it gives
them a safe experience of a potentially catastrophic scenario.
They find it pleasurable, and pleasure is evolution’s way of motivating us toward
adaptive behaviour.
Horror is pleasurable to many people because it lets us play with negative emotions
and develop coping strategies. We learn what it feels like to be truly afraid, and we learn
how to handle negative emotion.
How, then, does horror work? My research suggests that horror works by exploiting an
ancient set of biological defence mechanisms—an evolved fear system, which we share
with other animals. But humans are uniquely imaginative, and we use our evolved
imagination to travel into virtual worlds that are full of danger.
There are good reasons for watching a horror film, even if you’re not a loyal horror fan.
If you make it through the film in one piece, you’ll probably experience a strong sense of
mastery, a sense that you were able to make it through an appalling experience. Anyway,
watching a horror film makes you better at handling your own fear, and who knows when
that will become critically relevant?
46. The alien finds the audience in the movie theatre clearly in a state of
.
A) total mindfulness
B) extreme excitement
C) spiritual elevation
D) intense curiosity
47. Why do many people seek out scary entertainment, according to the author’s research?
A) They gain experience in overcoming horror in real life.
B) They find joy in going through simulated horrible experiences.
C) They have learned from hide-and-seek as kids the thrill involved.
D) They have evolved to gain pleasure in escaping life-threatening situations.
48. What do children learn from hide-and-seek?
A) How to avoid falling prey to an attacker.
2024年12月英语六级真题第3套 第 5 页 共 7 页 by：光速考研B) How to simulate a predator-prey interaction.
C) How to keep themselves from catastrophic errors.
D) How to turn a dangerous scenario into a safe one.
49. Why is horror gratifying to many people?
A) It reminds them of an ancient set of biological defence mechanisms.
B) It triggers their imagination to travel into dangerous virtual worlds.
C) It allows them to learn what fear feels like and how to tackle it.
D) It activates their evolved fear system and their unique fantasy.
50. What will one experience if they watch a horror film through without being hurt?
A) A strong sense of clear relevance.
B) A profound sense of good fortune.
C) A profound sense of intense relief.
D) A strong sense of being in control.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
An awakening has been taking place in the physical world against the beauty model
that has been dictated to us for years. But in the digital arena, social media determines what
is considered beautiful.
The two opposing struggles are taking place in parallel. In the physical world, the
struggle goes against the underlying pressure exerted on women to conform to an
unrealistic beauty ideal. As part of the struggle, various media outlets have presented
women whose bodies don’t correspond to the so-called ideal. All those women who had
previously been excluded from the covers of magazines, television series and the public
agenda, have become “legitimate”. At the same time, a group of influencers have begun to
upload to social media photos of themselves without makeup, and even photos in which
they highlight supposed flaws.
Technology has reshaped our beauty ideal and is doing a great job communicating that
message to the masses. One of the bizarre legacies of the past decade is the popularity of
the “cyborg look”, which illustrates what Americans will look like in 2050.
The cyborg look spread rapidly. Today, however, the Instagram face has become the
new beauty ideal. The internalization of accepted beauty norms is much more effective
when there is active involvement in the learning process. The active involvement of users is
reflected in the gamified (游戏化的) interaction offered by the social media platforms—
the ability to like, write a comment, compare, share.
Once the desired beauty ideal has been internalized, users are given tools or features to
change their appearance to suit the accepted beauty ideal such as editing the image,
choosing the ideal filter, the right background.
A survey conducted in the United States revealed that more than 50% filter the images
before posting them. And you will not be surprised to hear that the majority of them are
women. One of the significant consequences of obsessive filtering is the emerging tendency
to treat oneself as an object to be observed and valued, in the same way another person
observes and judges from the side.
The effect of the filters is already far beyond amiable amusement. The filters and the
entire game played on the networks affect the mental health of the users. According to a
2024年12月英语六级真题第3套 第 6 页 共 7 页 by：光速考研study, apps like Instagram, Snapchat and FaceTune allow users to achieve a level of
perfection that was previously only observed in beauty magazines.
Even though humanity has always cherished beauty, in the last decade our obsession
with looks has reached an unprecedented peak. The time spent on social media creates an
urge to achieve an impossible beauty ideal so powerful that the only thing that can fix it is
not cosmetic intervention, but mental health care.
51. What do we learn about beauty in the digital arena?
A) It dictates the taste of digital media.
B) It has been in the making for years.
C) It has ushered in a new awakening.
D) It is defined by social media.
52. What does the passage say about beauty in the physical world?
A) Women are under constant pressure to keep up with beauty models.
B) Women are encouraged to pursue a beauty ideal that has never existed.
C) A fight is going on to remove pressure on women to conform to an absurd beauty ideal.
D) Media outlets have begun to present as beauty models trendy women without any makeup.
53. What do we learn from the passage about the Instagram face?
A) It is now regarded as the new beauty ideal.
B) It is what most women will go after in 2050.
C) It is being much talked about on social media.
D) It is a perfect illustration of the ultimate beauty.
54. What has obsessive filtering resulted in?
A) A good many women striving to reach an impossible level of perfection.
B) An urge to turn the entire game played on the network to one’s advantage.
C) A tendency to regard one’s body as an object of observation and judgment.
D) An increasing number of women filtering their images before uploading them.
55. What does the author want to emphasize at the end of the passage regarding
Americans’ obsession with looks?
A) Cosmetic surgery should be made more accessible to the masses.
B) Psychological intervention should be introduced to alleviate it.
C) Their time spent on social media should be strictly controlled.
D) Its root cause should be meticulously examined and analyzed.
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.
北斗 (Beidou) 卫星导航系统的成功研制是中国自改革开放以来取得的一项重大科技成
就｡研发人员经过不懈努力, 攻克了一系列技术难题, 北斗系统最终实现了全球覆盖和高精度
定位, 使中国成为世界上少数几个独立拥有全球卫星导航系统的国家之一｡ 北斗系统已广泛
应用于交通运输、灾害救援、天气预报、公共安全等诸多领域｡ 北斗系统现在已经在国际上
得到广泛认可, 开始为越来越多的国家和地区提供优质服务。
2024年12月英语六级真题第3套 第 7 页 共 7 页 by：光速考研
