六级真题（A卷）（2）

Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Throughout the nation's more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged. Though there can be strength in diversity, a new international analysis suggests that this variability has instead contributed to lackluster (平淡的) achievement scores by U.S. children relative to their peers in other developed countries.

   Indeed, concludes William H. Schmidt of Michigan State University, who led the new analysis, "no single intellectually coherent vision dominates U.S. educational practice in math or science.'' The reason, he said, "is because the system is deeply and fundamentally flawed."

   The new analysis, released this week by the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., is based on data collected from about 50 nations as part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study.

   Not only do approaches to teaching science and math vary among individual U.S. communities, the report finds, but there appears to be little strategic focus within a school district’s curricula, its textbooks, or its teachers' activities. This contrasts sharply with the coordinated national programs of most other countries.

   On average, U.S. students study more topics within science and math than their international counterparts do. This creates an educational environment that "is a mile wide and an inch deep," Schmidt notes.

   For instance, eighth graders in the United States cover about 33 topics in math versus just 19 in Japan. Among science courses, the international gap is even wider. U.S. curricula for this age level resemble those of a small group of countries including Australia, Thailand, Iceland, and Bulgaria. Schmidt asks whether the United States wants to be classed with these nations, whose educational systems "share our pattern of splintered (支离破碎的) visions" but which are not economic leaders.

   The new report "couldn't come at a better time," says Gerald Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association in Arlington. "The new National Science Education Standards provide that focused vision," including the call "to do less, but in greater depth."

   Implementing the new science standards and their math counterparts will be the challenge, he and Schmidt agree, because the decentralized responsibility for education in the United States requires that any reforms be tailored and instituted one community at a time.

   In fact, Schmidt argues, reforms such as these proposed national standards "face an almost impossible task, because even though they are intellectually coherent, each becomes only one more voice in the babble ( 嘈杂声)."

31. According to the passage, the teaching of science and math in America is______.

       A) focused on tapping students' potential

       B) characterized by its diversity

       C) losing its vitality gradually

D) going downhill in recent years

32. The fundamental flaw of American school education is that ________.

       A) it lacks a coordinated national program

       B) it sets a very low academic standard for students

       C) it relies heavily on the initiative of individual teachers

D) it attaches too much importance to intensive study of school subjects

33. By saying that the U.S. educational environment is "a mile wide and an inch deep" (Line 2, Para. 5), the author means U.S. educational practice ________.

       A) lays stress on quality at the expense of quantity

       B) offers an environment for comprehensive education

       C) encourages learning both in depth and in scope

D) scratches the surface of a wide range of topics

34. The new National Science Education Standards are good news in that they will______.

       A) provide depth to school science education

       B) solve most of the problems in school teaching

       C) be able to meet the demands of the community

D) quickly dominate U.S. educational practice

35. Putting the new science and math standards into practice will prove difficult because ________.

       A) there is always controversy in educational circles

       B) not enough educators have realized the necessity for doing so

       C) school districts are responsible for making their own decisions

D) many schoolteachers challenge the acceptability of these standards.

Passage Four

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

    "I've never met a human worth cloning," says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from his lab at Texas A&M University. "It's a stupid endeavor." That's an interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two cows and expect to clone a cat soon. They just might succeed in cloning Missy this spring - or perhaps not for another 5 years. It seems the reproductive system of man's best friend is one of the mysteries of modern science.

Westhusin's experience with cloning animals leaves him upset by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missy project, using hundreds upon hundreds of dog's eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos (胚胎) carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate (代孕的) mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted fetuses (胎) may be acceptable when you're dealing with cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. "Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous," he says.

Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, Westhusin's phone has been ringing with people calling in hopes of duplicating their cats and dogs, cattle and horses. "A lot of people want to clone pets, especially if the price is right," says Westhusin. Cost is no obstacle for Missy's mysterious billionaire owner; he's put up $3.7 million so far to fund A&M's research.

Contrary to some media reports, Missy is not dead. The owner wants a twin to carry on Missy's fine qualities after she does die. The prototype is, by all accounts, athletic, good-natured and supersmart. Missy's master does not expect an exact copy of her. He knows her clone may not have her temperament. In a statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the A&M team say they are "both looking forward to studying the ways that her clones differ from Missy."

Besides cloning a great dog, the project may contribute insight into the old question of nature vs. nurture. It could also lead to the cloning of special rescue dogs and many endangered animals.

However, Westhusin is cautious about his work. He knows that even if he gets a dog pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight problems~ "Why would you ever want to clone humans," Westhusin asks, "when we're not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?"

36. By "stupid endeavor" (Line 2, Para. 1), Westhusin means to say that ________.

A) animal cloning is not worth the effort at all

  B) animal cloning is absolutely impractical

  C) human cloning should be done selectively

  D) human cloning is a foolish undertaking

37. What does the first paragraph tell us about Westhusin's dog cloning project?

  A) Its success is already in sight.

  B) Its outcome remains uncertain.

  C) It is doomed to utter failure.

  D) It is progressing smoothly.

38. By cloning Missy, Mark Westhusin hopes to ________.

  A) study the possibility of cloning humans

  B) search for ways to modify .its temperament

  C) examine the reproductive system of the dog species

  D) find out the differences between Missy and its clones

39. We learn from the passage that animal clones are likely to have ________.

  A) a bad temper             B) immune deficiency          

  C) defective organs          D) an abnormal shape

40. It can be seen that present cloning techniques ________.

   A) still have a long way to go before reaching maturity

   B) have been widely used in saving endangered species

   C) provide insight into the question of nature vs. nurture

   D) have proved quite adequate for the cloning of humans

Part III                Vocabulary               (20 minutes)

41. My grandfather, a retired worker, often ________ the past with a feeling of longing and respect.

        A) considers    B) contemplates   C) contrives   D) contacts

42. Medical students are advised that the wearing of a white coat ________ the acceptance of a professional code of conduct expected of the medical profession.

        A) supplements     B) simulates   C) signifies    D) swears

43. The doctors ________ the newly approved drug into the patient when he was critically ill.

        A) injected     B) ejected       C)projected    D) subjected

44. Apart from philosophical and legal reasons for respecting patients' wishes, there are several practical reasons why doctors should ________ to involve patients in their own medical care decisions.

        A) enforce    B) endow      C) endeavor    D) enhance

45. This is a long ________ roughly 13 miles down a beautiful valley to the little church below.

        A) terrain      B) descent     C) degeneration    D) tumble

46. She was deeply ________ by the amount of criticism her play received.

        A) deported     B) deprived     C) involved     D) frustrated

47. Some scientists are dubious of the claim that organisms ________ with age as an inevitable outcome of living.

        A) depress     B) default     C) deteriorate     D) degrade

48. Many manufacturers were accused of concentrating too heavily on cost reduction, often at the ________ of the quality of their products.

        A) expense   B) exposure   C)expansion     D) expectation          

49. One witness ________ that he'd seen the suspect run out of the bank after it had been robbed.

        A) convicted   B) conformed   C) retorted    D) testified

50. Nothing Helen says is ever ________. She always thinks carefully before she speaks.

        A) simultaneous   B) homogenous   C) spontaneous   D) rigorous

51. She gave ________ directions about the way the rug should be cleaned.

         A) explicit    B) brisk     C) transient   D) opaque

52. It took a lot of imagination to come up with such a(n) ________ plan.

         A) inherent    B) ingenious   C) vigorous   D) exotic

53. A ________ official is one who is irresponsible in his work.

         A) timid     B) tedious     C) suspicious     D) slack

54. Most mathematicians trust their ________ in solving problems and readily admit they would not be able to function without it.

         A) conception    B) perception    C) intuition    D) cognition

55. He had an almost irresistible ________ to talk to the crowd when he entered Hyde Park.

         A) impulse    B) instinct      C) stimulation     D) surge

56. Encouraged by their culture to voice their opinions freely, the Canadians are not afraid to go against the group ________, and will argue their viewpoints enthusiastically, though rarely aggressively.

         A) consent     B) conscience    C) consensus   D) consciousness

57. He still ________ the memory of his carefree childhood spent in that small wooden house of his grandparents'.

         A) nourishes   B) cherishes   C) fancies     D) scans

58. She expressed her strong determination that nothing could ________ her to give up her career as a teacher.

         A) induce     B) deduce     C) reduce    D) attract

59. The microscope and telescope, with their capacity to enlarge, isolate and probe, demonstrate how details can be ________ and separated from the whole.

          A) radiated    B) extended    C) prolonged  D) magnified

60. Lighting can be used not only to create an atmosphere, but also to________ features of the house, such as ornaments or pictures.

          A) highlight    B) underline     C) activate     D) upgrade

61. By turning this knob to the right you can ________ the sound from the radio.

          A) intensify     B) amplify      C) enlarge     D) reinforce

62. One of the attractive features of the course was the way the practical work had been ________ with the theoretical aspects of the subject.

          A) embedded     B) embraced     C) integrated     D)synthesized

63. They couldn't see a ________ of hope that they would be saved by a passing ship.

          A) grain      B) span        C) slice     D) gleam

64. The traditional markets retain their ________ for the many Chinese who still prefer fresh food like live fish, ducks, chickens over packaged or frozen goods.

         A) appeal        B) pledge        C) image      D) survival

65. ________ efforts are needed in order to finish important but unpleasant tasks.

         A) Consecutive    B) Condensed     C) Perpetual    D) Persistent

66. A number of students ________ in flats, and others live in the nearby holiday resorts, where there is a reasonable supply of competitively priced accommodation.

         A) revive      B) inhabit     C) gather      D) reside

67. He bought his house on the________ plan, paying a certain amount of money each month.

         A) division     B) premium   C) installment   D) fluctuation

68. He could not ________ ignorance as his excuse; he should have known what was happening in  his department.

         A) petition   B) plead      C) resort     D) reproach

69. Many ecologists believe that lots of major species in the world are on the________ of extinction.

         A) margin    B) border       C) verge       D) fringe

70. Any salesperson who sells more than the weekly ________ will receive a bonus.

          A) ratio      B) quota       C) allocation    D) portion

Part IV                Error Correction           (15 minutes)

The World Health Organization (WHO) says its ten-year

campaign to remove leprosy ( 麻风病) as a world health

problem has been successful. Doctor Brundtland, head of the

WHO, says a number of leprosy cases around the world has         S1.

been cut of ninety percent during the past ten years. She says      S2.

efforts are continuing to complete end the disease.                  S3.

Leprosy is caused by bacteria spread through liquid from

the nose and mouth. The disease mainly effects the skin and       S4.

nerves. However, if leprosy is not treated it can cause permanent

damage for the skin, nerves, eyes, arms or legs.                    S5.

In 1999, an international campaign began to end leprosy.

The WHO, governments of countries most affected by the

disease, and several other groups are part of the campaign.

This alliance guarantees that all leprosy patients, even they      S6.

are poor, have a right to the most modern treatment.

Doctor Brundtland says leprosy is no longer a disease

that requires life-long treatments by medical experts. Instead,

patients can take that is called a multi-drug therapy. This         S7.

modern treatment will cure leprosy in 6 to 12 months,

depend on the form of the disease. The treatment combines         S8.

several drugs taken daily or once a month. The WHO has

given multi-drug therapy to patients freely for the last five                S9.

years. The members of the alliance against leprosy plan to

target the countries which still threatened by leprosy. Among         S10

the estimated 600,000 victims around the world, the WHO

believes about 70% are in India. The disease also remains a

problem in Africa and South America.

Part V         Writing       (30minutes)                                   

Directions:  For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an open letter  on behalf of the student union asking people to give help to a student who is seriously ill. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below:                                                                  

1，对病人的简单介绍：目前的病情和家庭情况

2，目前的困难：无法继续承担医疗费用，需要护理

3，希望捐助，联系方式