2006年6月大学英语六级真题及答案

Part I Listening Comprehension (20 minutes)

Section A

Directions:    In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the question will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

1.    A) She met with Thomas just a few days ago.

B) She can help with the orientation program.

C) She is not sure she can pass on the message.

D) She will certainly try to contact Thomas.

2.    A) Set the dinner table.

B) Change the light bulb.

C) Clean the dining room.

D) Hold the ladder for him.

3.    A) He’d like a piece of pie.

B) He’d like some coffee.

C) He’d rather stay in the warm room.

D) He’s just had dinner with his friends.

4.    A) He has managed to sell a number of cars.

B) He is contented with his current position.

C) He might get fired.

D) He has lost his job.

5.    A) Tony’s secretary.

B) Paul’s girlfriend.

C) Paul’s colleague.

D) Tony’s wife.

6.    A) He was fined for running a red light.

B) He was caught speeding on a fast lane.

C) He had to run quickly to get the ticket.

D) He made a wrong turn at the intersection.

7.    A) He has learned a lot from his own mistakes.

B) He is quite experienced in taming wild dogs.

C) He finds reward more effective than punishment.

D) He thinks it important to master basic training skills.

8.    A) At a bookstore.

B) At the dentist’s.

C) In a restaurant.

D) In the library.

9.    A) He doesn’t want Jenny to get into trouble.

B) He doesn’t agree with the woman’s remark.

C) He thinks Jenny’s workload too heavy at college.

D) He believes most college students are running wild.

10.  A) It was applaudable.

B) It was just terrible.

C) The actors were enthusiastic.

D) The plot was funny enough.

Section B

Directions:    In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.

11.  A) Social work.

B) Medical care.

C) Applied physics.

D) Special education.

12.  A) The timely advice from her friends and relatives.

B) The two-year professional training she received.

C) Her determination to fulfill her dream.

D) Her parents’ consistent moral support.

13.  A) To get the funding for the hospitals.

B) To help the disabled children there.

C) To train therapists for the children there.

D) To set up an institution for the handicapped.

Passage Two

Questions 14 to 17 are based on the passage you have just heard.

14.  A) At a country school in Mexico.

B) In a mountain valley of Spain.

C) At a small American college.

D) In a small village in Chile.

15.  A) By expanding their minds and horizons.

B) By financing their elementary education.

C) By setting up a small primary school.

D) By setting them an inspiring example.

16.  A) She wrote poetry that broke through national barriers.

B) She was a talented designer of original school curriculums.

C) She proved herself to be an active and capable stateswoman.

D) She made outstanding contributions to children’s education.

17.  A) She won the 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature.

B) She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

C) She translated her books into many languages.

D) She advised many statesmen on international affairs.

Passage Three

Questions 18 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.

18.  A) How animals survive harsh conditions in the wild.

B) How animals alter colors to match their surroundings.

C) How animals protect themselves against predators.

D) How animals learn to disguise themselves effectively.

19.  A) Its enormous size.

B) Its plant-like appearance.

C) Its instantaneous response.

D) Its offensive smell.

20.  A) It helps improve their safety.

B) It allows them to swim faster.

C) It helps them fight their predators.

D) It allows them to avoid twists and turns.

Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions:    There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

There are good reasons to be troubled by the violence that spreads throughout the media. Movies, Television and video games are full of gunplay and bloodshed, and one might reasonably ask what’s wrong with a society that presents videos of domestic violence as entertainment.

Most researchers agree that the causes of real-world violence are complex. A 1993 study by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences listed “biological, individual, family, peer, school, and community factors” as all playing their parts.

Viewing abnormally large amounts of violent television and video games may well contribute to violent behavior in certain individuals. The trouble comes when researchers downplay uncertainties in their studies or overstate the case for causality (因果关系). Skeptics were dismayed several years ago when a group of societies including the American Medical Association tried to end the debate by issuing a joint statement: “At this time, well over 1,000 studies... point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children.”

Freedom-of-speech advocates accused the societies of catering to politicians, and even disputed the number of studies (most were review articles and essays, they said). When Jonathan Freedman, a social psychologist at the University of Toronto, reviewed the literature, he found only 200 or so studies of television-watching and aggression. And when he weeded out “the most doubtful measures of aggression”, only 28% supported a connection.

The critical point here is causality. The alarmists say they have proved that violent media cause aggression. But the assumptions behind their observations need to be examined. When labeling games as violent or non-violent, should a hero eating a ghost really be counted as a violent event? And when experimenters record the time it takes game players to read ‘aggressive’ or ‘non-aggressive’ words from a list, can we be sure what they are actually measuring? The intent of the new Harvard Center on Media and Child Health to collect and standardize studies of media violence in order to compare their methodologies, assumptions and conclusions is an important step in the right direction.

Another appropriate step would be to tone down the criticism until we know more. Several researchers write, speak and testify quite a lot on the threat posed by violence in the media. That is, of course, their privilege. But when doing so, they often come out with statements that the matter has now been settled, drawing criticism from colleagues. In response, the alarmists accuse critics and news reporters of being deceived by the entertainment industry. Such clashes help neither science nor society.

21.  Why is there so much violence shown in movies, TV and video games?

A) There is a lot of violence in the real world today.

B) Something has gone wrong with today’s society.

C) Many people are fond of gunplay and bloodshed.

D) Showing violence is thought to be entertaining.

22.  What is the skeptics (Line 3. Para. 3) view of media violence?

A) Violence on television is a fairly accurate reflection of real-world life.

B) Most studies exaggerate the effect of media violence on the viewers.

C) A causal relationship exists between media and real-world violence.

D) The influence of media violence on children has been underestimated.

23.  The author uses the term “alarmists” (Line 1. Para. 5) to refer to those who ________.

A) use standardized measurements in the studies of media violence

B) initiated the debate over the influence of violent media on reality

C) assert a direct link between violent media and aggressive behavior

D) use appropriate methodology in examining aggressive behavior

24.  In refuting the alarmists, the author advances his argument by first challenging ________.

A) the source and amount of their data

B) the targets of their observation

C) their system of measurement

D) their definition of violence

25.  What does the author think of the debate concerning the relationship between the media and violence?

A) More studies should be conducted before conclusions are drawn.

B) It should come to an end since the matter has now been settled.

C) The past studies in this field have proved to be misleading.

D) He more than agrees with the views held by the alarmists.

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

You’re in trouble if you have to buy your own brand-name prescription drugs. Over the past decade, prices leaped by more than double the inflation rate. Treatments for chronic conditions can easily top $2,000 a month-no wonder that one in four Americans can’s afford to fill their prescriptions. The solution? A hearty chorus of “O Canada.” North of the border, where price controls reign, those same brand-name drugs cost 50% to 80% less.

The Canadian option is fast becoming a political wake-up call, “If our neighbors can buy drugs at reasonable prices, why can’t we? Even to whisper that thought provokes anger. “Un-American!” And-the propagandists’ trump card (王牌)—“Wreck our brilliant health-care system.” Supersize drug prices, they claim, fund the research that sparks the next generation of wonder drugs. No sky-high drug price today, no cure for cancer tomorrow. So shut up and pay up.

Common sense tells you that’s a false alternative. The reward for finding, say, a cancer cure is so huge that no one’s going to hang it up. Nevertheless, if Canada-level pricing came to the United States, the industry’s profit margins would drop and the pace of new-drug development would slow. Here lies the American dilemma. Who is all this splendid medicine for? Should our health-care system continue its drive toward the best of the best, even though rising numbers of patients can’t afford it? Or should we direct our wealth toward letting everyone in on today’s level of care? Measured by saved lives, the latter is almost certainly the better course.

To defend their profits, the drug companies have warned Canadian wholesalers and pharmacies (药房) not to sell to Americans by mail, and are cutting back supplies to those who dare.

Meanwhile, the administration is playing the fear card. Officials from the Food and Drug Administration will argue that Canadian drugs might be fake, mishandled, or even a potential threat to life.

Do bad drugs fly around the Internet? Sure-and the more we look, the more we’ll find, But I haven’t heard of any raging epidemics among the hundreds of thousands of people buying crossborder.

Most users of prescription drugs don’t worry about costs a lot. They’re sheltered by employee insurance, owing just a $20 co-pay. The financial blows rain, instead, on the uninsured, especially the chronically ill who need expensive drugs to live, This group will still include middle-income seniors on Medicare, who’ll have to dig deeply into their pockets before getting much from the new drug benefit that starts in 2006.

26.  What is said about the consequence of the rocketing drug prices in the U.S.?

A) A quarter of Americans can’t afford their prescription drugs.

B) Many Americans can’t afford to see a doctor when they fall ill.

C) Many Americans have to go to Canada to get medical treatment.

D) The inflation rate has been more than doubled over the years.

27.  It can be inferred that America can follow the Canadian model and curb its soaring drug prices by ________.

A) encouraging people to buy prescription drugs online

B) extending medical insurance to all its citizens

C) importing low-price prescription drugs from Canada

D) exercising price control on brand-name drugs

28.  How do propagandists argue for the U.S. drug pricing policy?

A) Low prices will affect the quality of medicines in America.

B) High prices are essential to funding research on new drugs.

C) Low prices will bring about the anger of drug manufacturers.

D) High-price drugs are indispensable in curing chronic diseases.

29.  What should be the priority of America’s health-care system according to the author?

A) To resolve the dilemma in the health-care system.

B) To maintain America’s lead in the drug industry.

C) To allow the vast majority to enjoy its benefits.

D) To quicken the pace of new drug development.

30.  What are American drug companies doing to protect their high profits?

A) Labeling drugs bought from Canada as being fakes.

B) Threatening to cut back funding for new drug research.

C) Reducing supplies to uncooperative Canadian pharmacies.

D) Attributing the raging epidemics to the ineffectiveness of Canadian drugs.