2016年12月大学英语六级真题试卷(二)(题后含答案及解析)

2016年12月大学英语六级真题试卷（二） (题后含答案及解析)

题型有：1. Writing 2. Listening Comprehension 3. Reading Comprehension 4. Translation

Part I Writing 1． For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on innovation. Your essay should include the importance of innovation and measures to be taken to encourage innovation. You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

正确答案： My View on Innovation I’m not sure if you have heard one of Steve Jobs’ famous remarks, “ Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”, which stresses the significance of innovation. It goes without saying that innovation can promote the advancement of society and is the most essential quality for anyone who wants to achieve success. With innovation, any progress will be possible: however, once indulged in conservatism, everything will remain stagnant. Therefore, by some means or other we must come to know how to be innovative. On the one hand, from the standpoint of a nation, the government should encourage innovation and foster the mindset of continuous learning. Only by doing this can our nation achieve new breakthroughs in all walks of life. On the other hand, from the perspective of individuals, we should enrich our knowledge reserves and arm ourselves with up-to-date knowledge. Only when we are equipped with vast stores of knowledge can we think out different methods when solving a problem. We should always commit it to our memory that innovation is of great significance to us all. In our daily life, we need to cultivate the habit of applying new thoughts and methods into practice.

Part II Listening Comprehension

Section A

听力原文：M: Guess what? The worst food I’ve ever had was in France.W: Really? That’s odd.(1)I thought the French were all good cooks.M: Yes. That’s right. I suppose it’s really like anywhere else, though. You know, some places are good. Some bad. But it’s really all our own fault. W: What do you mean? M: Well, it was the first time I’d been to France. This was years ago when I was at school.(2)I went there with my parents’ friends, from my father’s school. They’d hired a coach to take them to Switzerland. W: A school trip? M: Right. Most of them had never been abroad before. We’d crossed the English Channel at night, and we set off through France, and breakfast time arrived, and the coach driver had arranged for us to stop at this little cafe. There we all were, tired and hungry, and then we made the great discovery. W:

What was that? M: Bacon and eggs.W: Fantastic! The real English breakfast.M: Yes. Anyway, we didn’t know any better—so we had it, and ugh...! W: What was it like? Disgusting? M: Oh, it was incredible! They just got a bowl and put some fat in it. And then they put some bacon in the fat, broke an egg over the top and put the whole lot in the oven for about ten minutes. W: In the oven! You’re joking. You can’t cook bacon and eggs in the oven! M: Well. They must have done it that way. It was hot, but it wasn’t cooked. There was just this egg floating about in gallons of fat and raw bacon. W:(3-1)Did you actually eat it? M:(3-2)No! Nobody did. They all wanted to turn round and go home. You know, back to teabags and fish and chips. You can’t blame them really. Anyway, the next night we were all given another foreign speciality. W: What was that? M:(4)Snails. That really finished them off. Lovely holiday that was!Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.1. What did the woman think of the French?2. Who did the man travel with on his first trip to Switzerland?3. What does the man say about the breakfast at the little French cafe?4. What did the man think of his holiday in France?

2．

A．They were all good at cooking. B．They were particular about food. C．They were proud of their cuisine. D．They were fond of bacon and eggs.

正确答案：A

解析：对话中，当男士说他在法国吃到了自己吃过的最糟糕的食物时，女士表示这很奇怪，并且说她原本以为所有的法国人都是好厨师。由此可知，女士认为所有的法国人都擅长烹饪，故答案为A)。

3．

A．His parents. B．His friends.

C．His schoolmates. D．His parents’ friends.

正确答案：D

解析：对话中，男士提到他当时是和父母亲的朋友一起去的瑞士，故答案为D)。

4．

A．No tea was served with the meal. B．It was the real English breakfast. C．No one of the group ate it. D．It was a little overcooked.

正确答案：C 解析：对话中，男士详细描述了他在一个法国小餐馆吃到的咸猪肉煎蛋是什

么样子，女士问这样的食物他们是否真的吃了，男士明确表示他们没有一个人吃，故答案为C)。

5．

A．It was full of excitement. B．It was really extraordinary. C．It was a risky experience. D．It was rather disappointing.

正确答案：D 解析：男士说经历了第一次难以下咽的早餐后，第二天晚上餐馆又提供了另一道特色菜——蜗牛，这道菜让与他同去的人们都彻底崩溃了，所以最后他说“那可真是一个糟糕的假期!”lovely在这里的意思是“令人败兴的；糟透了的”，故答案为D)。

听力原文：M:(5)You say your shop has been doing well. Could you give me some idea of what “doing well” means in facts and figures?W: Well, “doing well” means averaging ￡1,200 or more a week for about 7 years, making almost a quarter of a million pounds. And “doing well” means your earnings are rising. Last year, we did slightly over 50,000 and this year, we hope to do more than 60,000. So, that’s good if we continue to rise.M: Now, that’s gross earnings, I assume. What about your expenses?W: Yes, that’s gross. The expenses, of course, go up steadily. And since we’ve moved to this new shop, the expenses have increased greatly, because it’s a much bigger shop. So I couldn’t say exactly what our expenses are. They are something in the region of six or seven thousand pounds a year, which is not high.(6)Commercially speaking, it’s fairly low, and we try to keep our expenses as low as we can.M:(7)And your prices are much lower than the same goods in shops round about. How do the local shopkeepers feel about having a shop doing so well in their midst?W: Perhaps a lot of them don’t realize how well we are doing, because we don’t make a point of publicizing. That was a lesson we learned very early on.(8)We were very friendly with all local shopkeepers and we happened to mention to a local shopkeeper how much we had made that week. He was very unhappy and never as friendly again. So we make a point of never publicizing the amount of money we make. But we are on very good terms with all the shops. None of them have ever complained that we are putting them out of business or anything like that. I think it’s a nice friendly relationship. Maybe if they did know what we made, perhaps they wouldn’t be so friendly.Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5. What are the speakers mainly talking about?6. What does the woman say her shop tries to do?7. What do we learn about the goods sold at the woman’s shop?8. Why doesn’t the woman want to make known their earnings anymore?

6．

A．The woman’s relationship with other shops. B．The business success of the woman’s shop. C．The key to running a shop at a low cost.

D．The woman’s earnings over the years.

正确答案：B 解析：对话开头男士就询问女士她所说的商店运营良好是什么意思，并要求女士用事实和数据解释一下，而在接下来的对话中，女士说明了自己的毛收入以及大概支出，并且说她们的商店在当地运转得的确很好。因此，对话中两人所谈论的主要内容是围绕女士的商店的良好运营展开的，故答案为B)。

7．

A．Improve its customer service. B．Expand its business scale. C．Keep down its expenses. D．Upgrade the goods it sells.

正确答案：C

解析：对话中，当男士问到女士商店的支出情况时，女士说商店的支出是稳步增长的，但从商业的角度来看，商店的支出还是相当低的，而且她们努力让支出保持在尽可能低的水平，故答案为C)。

8．

A．They are sold at lower prices than in other shops. B．They are very popular with the local residents. C．They are delivered free of charge. D．They are in great demand.

正确答案：A 解析：对话中男士提到，女士的商店里的货物价格要比附近其他商店的同类商品价格低得多，故答案为A)。

9．

A．To follow the custom of the local shopkeepers. B．To attract more customers in the neighborhood. C．To avoid being put out of business in competition. D．To maintain friendly relationships with other shops.

正确答案：D

解析：对话中女士提到，以前她们和当地的其他店主关系都非常好，但当她不经意间向一位店主提到她们那一周的收入之后，那位店主表现得非常不快，对她们不再像以前那样友好了，所以女士再也不将自己的收人情况告诉别人了。即，她不想把自己的收入情况告诉别人，是为了与当地其他店主维持友好关系，故答案为D)。

Section B

听力原文： Birds are famous for carrying things around. Some, like homing pigeons, can be trained to deliver messages and packages. Other birds unknowingly carry seeds that cling to them for the ride.(9)Canadian scientists have found a worrisome, new example of the power that birds have to spread stuff around. Way up north in the Canadian Arctic, seabirds are picking up dangerous chemicals in the ocean and delivering them to ponds near where the birds live. Some 10,000 pairs of the birds, called fulmars, a kind of Arctic seabird, make their nests on Devon Island, north of the Arctic Circle.(10)The fulmars travel some 400 kilometers over the sea to find food. When they return home, their droppings end up all around their nesting sites, including in nearby ponds. (11)Previously, scientists noticed pollutants arriving in the Arctic with the wind. Salmon also carry dangerous chemicals as the fish migrate between rivers and the sea. The bodies of fish and other meat-eaters can build up high levels of the chemicals. To test the polluting power of fulmars, researchers collected samples of deposit from 11 ponds on Devon Island. In ponds closest to the colony, the results showed there were far more pollutants than in ponds less affected by the birds. The pollutants in the ponds appear to come from fish that fulmars eat when they’re out on the ocean.(12)People who live, hunt, or fish near bird colonies need to be careful, the researchers say. The birds don’t mean to cause harm, but the chemicals they carry can cause major problems.Questions 9 to 12 are based on the passage you have just heard.9. What have Canadian scientists found about some seabirds?10. What does the speaker say about the seabirds called fulmars?11. What did scientists previously notice about pollutants in the Arctic?12. What does the speaker warn about at the end of the talk?

10．

A．They can be used to deliver messages in times of emergency. B．They deliver pollutants from the ocean to their nesting sites. C．They carry plant seeds and spread them to faraway places. D．They are on the verge of extinction because of pollution.

正确答案：B

解析：短文开头提到，鸟类以传送物品而闻名，而加拿大科学家发现了一个令人担忧的说明鸟类具有散播物品能力的新例子。在加拿大极地的北部，海鸟们捡起海水中的危险化学品，带回到它们的栖息地附近的池塘中，故答案为B)。

11．

A．They migrate to the Arctic Circle during the summer. B．They originate from Devon Island in the Arctic area. C．They travel as far as 400 kilometers in search of food. D．They have the ability to survive in extreme weathers.

正确答案：C

解析：短文中提到，管鼻藿(fulmar)这种海鸟在海上飞行大约400公里去觅食，故答案为C)。

12．

A．They were carried by the wind. B．They had become more poisonous. C．They were less than on the continent. D．They poisoned some of the fulmars.

正确答案：A

解析：短文中提到，以前科学家们就注意到，风可以将污染物带至北极，故答案为A)。

13．

A．The threats humans pose to Arctic seabirds. B．The diminishing colonies for Arctic seabirds. C．The harm Arctic seabirds may cause to humans.

D．The effects of the changing climate on Arctic seabirds.

正确答案：C

解析：短文最后提到，研究者说，在海鸟聚居地附近生活、狩猎或捕鱼的人们需要小心，虽然这些海鸟不是有意造成伤害的，但它们带来的化学品会引起大麻烦，故答案为C)。

听力原文： (13)In recent years, the death rate among American centenarians—people who have lived to age 100 or older—has decreased, dropping 14 percent for women and 20 percent for men from 2008 to 2014. The leading causes of death in this age group are also changing. In 2000, the top five causes of death for centenarians were heart disease, stroke, flu, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.(14)But by 2014, the death rate from Alzheimer’s disease for this age group had more than doubled—increasing from 3. 8 percent to 8. 5 percent—making the progressive brain disease the second leading cause of death for centenarians. One reason for the rise in deaths from Alzheimer’s disease in this group may be that developing this condition remains possible even after people beat the odds of dying from other diseases such as cancer. (15)People physically fit enough to survive over 100 years ultimately give in to diseases such as Alzheimer’s which affects the mind and cognitive function. In other words, it appears that their minds give out before their bodies do. On the other hand, the death rate from flu dropped from 7. 4 percent in 2000 to 4.1 percent in 2014. That pushed flu from the third leading cause of death to the fifth. Overall, the total number of centenarians is going up. In 2014, there were 72,197 centenarians, compared to 50,281 in 2000. But because this population is getting larger, the number of deaths in this group is also increasing—18,434 centenarians died in 2000, whereas 25,914 died in 2014.Questions 13 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.13. What does the speaker say about the risk of dying for American centenarians in recent years?14. What does the speaker say about Alzheimer’s disease?15. What is characteristic of people who live up to 100 years and beyond?

14．

A．It has decreased.

B．It has been exaggerated.

C．It has become better understood. D．It has remained basically the same.

正确答案：A

解析：短文开头提到，近几年美国百岁老人的死亡率有所下降——从2008年到2014年，女性的死亡率降低了14％，男性的死亡率降低了20％，故答案为A)。

15．

A．It develops more easily in centenarians not actively engaged. B．It is now the second leading cause of death for centenarians. C．It has had no effective cure so far. D．It calls for more intensive research.

正确答案：B

解析：短文中提到，到2014年，美国百岁老人这一群体中，老年痴呆症引起的死亡率增加了两倍多——由3．8％上升到8．5％，这使得这一逐渐严重的大脑疾病成为导致百岁老人死亡的第二大病因，故答案为B)。

16．

A．They care more about their physical health. B．Their quality of life deteriorates rapidly. C．Their minds fail before their bodies do. D．They cherish their life more than ever.

正确答案：C

解析：短文中提到，那些能够身体健康地活到百岁以上的老人们，最终向诸如老年痴呆症这样影响精神与认知功能的疾病屈服了，换言之，他们的精神似乎在他们的身体出问题前就先出问题了，故答案为C)。

Section C

听力原文： Okay. So let’s get started. And to start things off I think what we need to do is consider a definition.(16)I’m going to define what love is but then most of the experiments I’m going to talk about are really focused more on attraction than love. And I’m going to pick a definition from a former colleague, Robert Sternberg, who is now the dean at Tufts University but was here on our faculty at Yale for nearly thirty years. And he has a theory of love that argues that it’s made up of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment, or what is sometimes called decision commitment. And these are relatively straightforward. He argued that you don’t have love if you don’t have all three of these elements. Intimacy is the feeling of closeness, of connectedness with someone, of bonding. Operationally, you

could think of intimacy as you share secrets, you share information with this person that you don’t share with anybody else. Okay. That’s really what intimacy is, the bond that comes from sharing information that isn’t shared with other people. The second element is passion. Passion is the drive that leads to romance. You can think of it as physical attraction. And Sternberg argues that this is a required component of a love relationship. The third element of love in Sternberg’s theory is what he calls decision commitment, the decision that one is in a love relationship, the willingness to label it as such, and a commitment to maintain that relationship at least for some period of time.(17)Sternberg would argue it’s not love if you don’t call it love and if you don’t have some desire to maintain the relationship. So if you have all three of these, intimacy, passion and commitment, in Sternberg’s theory you have love.(18)Now what’s interesting about the theory is what do you have, if you only have one out of three or two out of three. What do you have and how is it different if you have a different two out of three? What’s interesting about this kind of theorizing is it gives rise to many different combinations that can be quite interesting when you break them down and start to look them carefully. So what I’ve done is I’ve taken Sternberg’s three elements of love, intimacy, passion and commitment, and I’ve listed out the different kinds of relationships you would have if you had zero, one, two or three out of the three elements.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.16. What does the speaker say about most of the experiments mentioned in his talk?17. What does Robert Sternberg argue about love?18. What question does the speaker think is interesting about Sternberg’s three elements of love?

17．

A．They are focused more on attraction than love. B．They were done by his former colleague at Yale.

C．They were carried out over a period of some thirty years. D．They form the basis on which he builds his theory of love.

正确答案：A

解析：讲座开头部分，讲话者说，他会对“爱”进行定义，但他接下来要讲的大多数实验的真正关注点是“爱慕”而非“爱情”，故答案为A)。

18．

A．The relationship cannot last long if ho passion is involved. B．Intimacy is essential but not absolutely indispensable to love. C．It is not love if you don’t wish to maintain the relationship. D．Romance is just impossible without mutual understanding.

正确答案：C

解析：讲话者在解释罗伯特·史坦伯格的爱情理论的第三个要素decision commitment时提到，史坦伯格认为，如果你不把某种感情称之为爱，如果你没有将这段感情持续下去的想法，那么，这就不是爱，故答案为C)。

19．

A．Which of them is considered most important. B．Whether it is true love without commitment.

C．When the absence of any one doesn’t affect the relationship. D．How the relationship is to be defined if any one is missing.

正确答案：D

解析：讲解完史坦伯格的爱情理论三要素之后，讲话者说，最有意思的是如果这三要素不全，缺少一两个，那么该怎样定义，而这三要素在不齐全的时候又会出现多个组合，这正是该理论很有意思的地方，故答案为D)。

听力原文： Hi! I am Elizabeth Hoffler, Master of Social Work. I am a social worker, a lobbyist, and a special assistant to the executive director at the National Association of Social Workers.(19)Today we are going to be talking about becoming a social worker. Social work is the helping profession.(20)Its primary mission is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people, with a particular focus on those who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. We often deal with complex human needs. Social work is different from other professions, because we focus on the person and environment. We deal with the external factors that impact a person’s situation and outlook. And we create opportunity for assessment and intervention, to help clients and communities cope effectively with their reality and change that reality when necessary. In thousands of ways social workers help other people, people from every age, every background, across the country. Wherever needed, social workers come to help. The most well-known aspect of the profession is that of a social safety net. We help guide people to critical resources and counsel them on life-changing decisions.(21)There are more than 600,000 professional social workers in the country, and we all either have a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, or a PhD in Social Work. There are more clinically trained social workers than clinically trained psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric nurses combined. Throughout this series you will learn more about the profession, the necessary steps to get a social work degree, the rich history of social work, and the many ways that social workers help others. Later in this series, you will hear from Stacy Collins and Mel Wilson, fellow social workers at the National Association of Social Workers. Stacy is going to walk you through the step-by-step process of becoming a social worker, and(22)Mel will tell you about the range of options you have once you get your social work degree, as well as the high standards of responsibility the social workers must adhere to. The National Association of Social Workers represents nearly 145,000 social workers across the country. Our mission is to promote, protect, and advance the social work profession. We hope you enjoy this series about how you can make a difference by becoming a social worker. Next, we are going to talk about choosing social work.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.19. What does the speaker mainly talk about?20. What do social workers mainly do?21. What do professional social workers have in common, according to the speaker?22. What is Mel Wilson going to talk about in the series?

20．

A．Social work as a profession. B．The history of social work.

C．Academic degrees required of social work applicants. D．The aim of the National Association of Social Workers.

正确答案：A 解析：讲话者在讲座开头就指出，今天要讨论的内容是成为一名社会福利工作者，社会福利工作是一种为他人提供帮助的职业。因此答案为A)。

21．

A．They try to change people’s social behavior.

B．They help enhance the well-being of the underprivileged. C．They raise people’s awareness of the environment. D．They create a lot of opportunities for the unemployed.

正确答案：B

解析：讲座中提到，社会福利工作的主要使命是提高人类的幸福感，帮助所有人满足基本的需求，特别是为弱者、受压迫者和贫困人群提供帮助，故答案为B)。

22．

A．They have all received strict clinical training. B．They all have an academic degree in social work. C．They are all members of the National Association. D．They have all made a difference through their work.

正确答案：B

解析：讲座中提到，这个国家目前有60多万职业社会福利工作者，他们每人都有社会福利工作学位，学士、硕士、博士各个层次的都有，故答案为B)。

23．

A．The promotion of social workers’ social status. B．The importance of training for social workers. C．Ways for social workers to meet people’s needs. D．Social workers’ job options and responsibilities.

正确答案：D

解析：讲话者说，在接下来的讲座中，史黛西·柯林斯和梅尔·威尔逊会分别对社会福利工作的不同方面进行详细讲述，梅尔·威尔逊主要讲述取得社会福利工作学位后的工作选择范围以及社会福利工作者所需要严格遵守的对责任要求很高的标准规范，故答案为D)。

听力原文： Today, I’d like to talk about what happens when celebrity role

models get behind healthy habits, but at the same time, promote junk food.(23)Currently, there’s mounting criticism of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign, which fights childhood obesity by encouraging youngsters to become more physically active, and has signed on singer Beyonce and basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, both of whom also endorse sodas, which are a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Now there’s a lot more evidence of how powerful a celebrity— especially a professional athlete—can be in influencing children’s behavior. In a report published by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, researchers studied 100 professional athletes and their endorsement contracts. The team focused on athletes since they are theoretically the best role models for active, healthy lifestyles for children. After sorting the deals by category, they determined that among the 512 brands associated with the athletes, most involved sporting goods, followed closely by food and beverage brands. Sports drinks, which are often high in sugar and calories made up most of the food and drink deals, with soft drinks and fast food filling out the remainder. Of the 46 beverages endorsed by professional athletes, 93% relied exclusively on sugar for all of their calories. It’s no surprise that high-profile athletes can influence children’s eating behaviors, but the scientists were able to quantify how prevalent these endorsements are in the children’s environment. Advertisements featuring professional athletes and their endorsed products tend to get impressive exposure on TV, radio, in print and online.(24)And in 2010, the researchers reported that children ages 12 to 17 saw more athlete-endorsed food and beverage brand commercials than adults. One reason any campaign wants a popular celebrity spokesperson is because kids are attracted to them no matter what they are doing. We can’t expect kids to turn off that admiration when the same person is selling sugar. At best, kids might be confused. At worst, they’ll think the messages about soda are the same as the messages about water, but those two beverages aren’t the same. (25)If children are turning to athletes as role models, it’s in their best interest if their idols are consistent. Consistent messaging of positive behaviors will show healthier lifestyles for kids to follow.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.23. What is the aim of Michelle Obama’s campaign?24. What does research find about advertisements featuring professional athletes?25. What does the speaker think kids’ idols should do?

24．

A．To fight childhood obesity. B．To help disadvantaged kids.

C．To encourage kids to play more sports. D．To urge kids to follow their role models.

正确答案：A

解析：讲座开头提到，米歇尔·奥巴马的“Let’s Move!”是通过鼓励孩子们多做体育运动以减少儿童期肥胖现象的活动。因此，该活动的目的在于对抗儿童肥胖，故答案为A)。

25．

A．They best boost product sales when put online. B．They are most effective when appearing on TV. C．They are becoming more and more prevalent. D．They impress kids more than they do adults.

正确答案：D

解析：讲座中提到，2010年，研究人员在报告中说，12至17岁的青少年看运动员所宣传的食品和饮料类商业广告比成年人多。因此，由职业运动员代言的广告给儿童留下的印象甚于给成年人留下的印象，故答案为D)。

26．

A．Always place kids’ interest first. B．Do what they advocate in public.

C．Message positive behaviors at all times. D．Pay attention to their image before children.

正确答案：C

解析：讲座最后提到，如果儿童以运动员为偶像，那么偶像言行一致对他们才最有利。偶像们言行一致地传达积极的行为，才能给孩子们提供可以效仿的更加健康的生活方式，故答案为C)。

Part III Reading Comprehension

Section A

The tree people in the Lord of the Rings—the Ents—can get around by walking. But for real trees, it’s harder to uproot. Because they’re literally rooted into the ground, they are unable to leave and go【C1】______. When a tree first starts growing in a certain area, it’s likely that the【C2】______envelope—:the temperature, humidity, rainfall patterns and so on—suits it. Otherwise, it would be unable to grow from a seedling. But as it【C3】______, these conditions may change and the area around it may no longer be suitable for its【C4】______. When that happens, many trees like walnuts, oaks and pines, rely【C5】______on so-called “scatter hoarders,” such as birds, to move their seeds to new localities. Many birds like to store food for the winter, which they【C6】______retrieve. When the birds forget to retrieve their food—and they do sometimes—a seedling has a chance to grow. The bird Clark’s nutcracker, for example, hides up to 100,000 seeds per year, up to 30 kilometers away from the seed source, and has a very close symbiotic(共生的)relationship with several pine species, most【C7】______the whitebark pine. As trees outgrow their ideal【C8】______in the face of climate change, these flying ecosystem engineers could be a big help in【C9】______trees. It’s a solution for us—getting birds to do the work is cheap and effective—and it could give【C10】______oaks and pines the option to truly “make like a tree and leave. “A)ages I)legacyB)breathing J)notablyC)climatic K)offspringD)elsewhere L)replantingE)exclusively M)subsequentlyF)forever

N)vulnerableG)fruitful O)withdraws H)habitats

27． 【C1】

正确答案：D 解析：空格位于动词原形go之后，据此判断可填入副词，由and可知，leave“离开”和go——是递进关系。根据句意“树不能离开去——”可知，答案为D)elsewhere“其他地方，别处”。备选项中，exclusively意为“专有地，排外地，唯一地”，forever意为“永远”，notably意为“显著地，尤其”，subsequently意为“随后，后来”，均不符合句意，故排除。

28． 【C2】

正确答案：C

解析：空格位于名词envelope之前，据此判断可填入形容词，构成固定搭配。envelope意为“信封”，信封中放有信件，按照常识判断，此处应为比喻的用法，表示包含了一整套具体指标，如温度、湿度、降雨模式等，又因为这些因素都隶属于气候的大范畴，由此判断，答案为C)climatic“气候的”。备选项中，fruitful意为“果实累累的，富有成效的”，vulnerable意为“脆弱的，易受伤害的”，均不符合句意，故排除。

29． 【C3】

正确答案：A

解析：空格位于以as引导的时间状语从句中，并且在主语it之后，据此判断应填入谓语动词，整个句子为一般现在时，因此谓语动词应进行单数第三人称变形。根据句意“随着树——，这些条件可能会发生改变”可知，答案为A)ages“长大，变老”。备选项中，breathing和replanting不满足语法要求，withdraws意为“撤退，移开”，不符合句意，故均排除。

30． 【C4】

正确答案：K

解析：空格位于物主代词its之后，据此判断可填入名词。根据句意“随着树长大，这些条件可能会发生改变，这一地区可能不再适应树的——的生长”可知，答案为K)offspring“子孙，后代”。备选项中，habitats意为“栖息地，生长环境”，legacy意为“遗产”，不符合句意，故均排除。

31． 【C5】

正确答案：E

解析：空格位于主句的谓语动词rely——on之间，据此判断可填入副词。又根据句意“当这种情况发生的时候，很多树，比如核桃树、橡树和松树，就会—

—依靠所谓的‘会播种的寄宿伙伴’，比如鸟的帮助，鸟会把树种带到新的地点”可知，答案为E)exclusively“专有地，排外地，唯一地”。备选项中，forever意为“永远”，notably意为“显著地，尤其”，subsequently意为“随后，后来”，均无法体现出原文中的逻辑关系，故排除。

32． 【C6】

正确答案：M

解析：空格位于以which引导的定语从句中，此从句主语谓语俱全，据此判断可填入副词，作状语修饰谓语动词。本句意为“很多鸟喜欢为过冬储存食物，这些食物它们——会取用”。结合上下文分析，答案为M)subsequently“随后，后来”。备选项中，forever意为“永远”，由于储存的食物不能永远取用，故排除；notably意为“显著地，尤其”不符合语境，故排除。

33． 【C7】

正确答案：J

解析：空格位于most之后，据此判断可填入副词或形容词，需结合语义推断出答案。本句意为“北美星鸦与一些种类的松树存在着密切的共生关系，这些松树中——白皮松居多”。由此可知，答案为J)notably“显著地，尤其”。在备选项中，forever意为“永远”，不能与most连用，故排除。

34． 【C8】

正确答案：H 解析：空格位于形容词ideal之后，处在以As引导的时间状语从句的宾语部分，据此判断可填入名词，又因为主语为trees，因而此处应为名词的复数形式。备选项中，只有H)habitats“栖息地，生长环境”符合此处语法要求。本句意为“随着树的生长超出其理想的生长环境的适应限度”。备选项中，legacy意为“遗产”，与本句句意不符，故排除。

35． 【C9】

正确答案：L

解析：空格位于be a big help in doing something的结构中，据此判断应填入动词的现在分词形式。根据句意“这些会飞的生态工程师们在——方面帮了大忙”可知，答案为L)replanting“重新种植”。备选项中，breathing意为“呼吸”，从文章中可以看出，鸟类工程师不是在呼吸方面帮了大忙，而是在重新种植方面，故排除。

36． 【C10】

正确答案：N

解析：空格位于give somebody something的结构之中，又处于名词oaks and

pines之前，据此判断可填入形容词，此处形容词作定语修饰名词。根据句意“这也给了——橡树和松树一个选择”可知，N)vulnerable“脆弱的，易受伤害的”符合此处语意，故为答案。备选项中，fruitful意为“果实累累的，富有成效的”，不符合文意，故排除。

Section B

The American Workplace Is Broken. Here’s How We Can Start Fixing It.[A]Americans are working longer and harder hours than ever before. 83% of workers say they’re stressed about their jobs, nearly 50% say work-related stress is interfering with their sleep, and 60% use their smartphones to check in with work outside of normal working hours. No wonder only 13% of employees worldwide feel engaged in their occupation.[B]Glimmers(少许)of hope, however, are beginning to emerge in this bruising environment: Americans are becoming aware of the toll their jobs take on them, and employers are exploring ways to alleviate the harmful effects of stress and overwork. Yet much more work remains to be done. To call stress an epidemic isn’t exaggeration. The 83% of American employees who are stressed about their jobs—up from 73% just a year before—say that poor compensation and an unreasonable workload are their number-one sources of stress. And if you suspected that the workplace had gotten more stressful than it was just a few decades ago, you’re right. Stress levels increased 18% for women and 24% for men from 1983 to 2009. Stress is also starting earlier in life, with some data suggesting that today’s teens are even more stressed than adults.[C]Stress is taking a significant toll on our health, and the collective public health cost may be enormous. Occupational stress increases the risk of heart attack and diabetes, accelerates the aging process, decreases longevity, and contributes to depression and anxiety, among numerous other negative health outcomes. Overall, stress-related health problems account for up to 90% of hospital visits, many of them preventable. Your job is “literally killing you,” as The Washington Post put it. It’s also hurting our relationships. Working parents say they feel stressed, tired, rushed and short on quality time with their children, friends and partners.[D]Seven in 10 workers say they struggle to maintain work-life balance. As technology(and with it, work emails)seeps(渗入)into every aspect of our lives, work-life balance has become an almost meaningless term. Add a rapidly changing economy and an uncertain future to this 24/7 connectivity, and you’ve got a recipe for overwork, according to Phyllis Moen. “ There’s rising work demand coupled with the insecurity of mergers, takeovers, downsizing and other factors,” Moen said. “ Part of the work-life issue has to talk about uncertainty about the future. “[E]These factors have converged to create an increasingly impossible situation with many employees overworking to the point of burnout. It’s not only unsustainable for workers, but also for the companies that employ them. Science has shown a clear correlation between high stress levels in workers and absenteeism(旷工), reduced productivity, disengagement and high turnover. Too many workplace policies effectively prohibit employees from developing a healthy work-life balance by barring them from taking time off, even when they need it most.[F]The U. S. trails far behind every wealthy

nation and many developing ones that have family-friendly work policies including paid parental leave, paid sick days and breast-feeding support, according to a 2007 study. The U. S. is also the only advanced economy that does not guarantee workers paid vacation time, and it’s one of only two countries in the world that does not offer guaranteed paid maternity leave. But even when employees are given paid time off, workplace norms and expectations that pressure them to overwork often prevent them from taking it. Fulltime employees who do have paid vacation days only use half of them on average.[G]Our modern workplaces also operate based on outdated time constraints. The practice of clocking in for an eight-hour workday is a leftover from the days of the Industrial Revolution, as reflected in the then-popular saying, “ Eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest. “[H]We’ve held on to this workday structure—but thanks to our digital devices, many employees never really clock out. Today, the average American spends 8.8 hours at work daily, and the majority of working professionals spend additional hours checking in with work during evenings, weekends and even vacations. The problem isn’t the technology itself, but that the technology is being used to create more flexibility for the employer rather than the employee. In a competitive work environment, employers are able to use technology to demand more from their employees rather than motivating workers with flexibility that benefits them.[I]In a study published last year, psychologists coined the term “workplace telepressure” to describe an employee’s urge to immediately respond to emails and engage in obsessive thoughts about returning an email to one’s boss, colleagues or clients. The researchers found that telepressure is a major cause of stress at work, which over time contributes to physical and mental burnout. Of the 300 employees participating in the study, those who experienced high levels of telepressure were more likely to agree with statements assessing burnout, like “ I’ve no energy for going to work in the morning,” and to report feeling fatigued and unfocused. Telepressure was also correlated with sleeping poorly and missing work.[J]Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow explains that when people feel the pressure to be always “on,” they find ways to accommodate that pressure, including altering their schedules, work habits and interactions with family and friends. Perlow calls this vicious cycle the “ cycle of responsiveness” : Once bosses and colleagues experience an employee’s increased responsiveness, they increase their demands on the employee’s time. And because a failure to accept these increased demands indicates a lack of commitment to one’s work, the employee complies.[K]To address skyrocketing employee stress levels, many companies have implemented workplace wellness programs, partnering with health care providers that have created programs to promote employee health and well-being. Some research does suggest that these programs hold promise. A study of employees at health insurance provider Aetna revealed that roughly one quarter of those taking in-office yoga and mindfulness classes reported a 28% reduction in their stress levels and a 20% improvement in sleep quality. These less-stressed workers gained an average of 62 minutes per week of productivity. While yoga and meditation(静思)are scientifically proven to reduce stress levels, these programs do little to target the root causes of burnout and disengagement. The conditions creating the stress are long hours,

unrealistic demands and deadlines, and work-life conflict.[L]Moen and her colleagues may have found the solution. In a 2011 study, she investigated the effects of implementing a Results Only Work Environment(ROWE)on the productivity and well-being of employees at Best Buy’s corporate headquarters.[M]For the study, 325 employees spent six months taking part in ROWE, while a control group of 334 employees continued with their normal workflow. The ROWE participants were allowed to freely determine when, where and how they worked—the only thing that mattered was that they got the job done. The results were striking. After six months, the employees who participated in ROWE reported reduced work-family conflict and a better sense of control of their time, and they were getting a full hour of extra sleep each night. The employees were less likely to leave their jobs, resulting in reduced turnover. It’s important to note that the increased flexibility didn’t encourage them to work around the clock. “ They didn’t work anywhere and all the time—they were better able to manage their work,” Moen said. “Flexibility and control is key,” she continued.

37． Workplace norms pressure employees to overwork, deterring them from taking paid time off.

正确答案：F

38． The overwhelming majority of employees attribute their stress mainly to low pay and an excessive workload.

正确答案：B

39． According to Moen, flexibility gives employees better control over their work and time.

正确答案：M

40． Flexibility resulting from the use of digital devices benefits employers instead of employees.

正确答案：H

41． Research finds that if employees suffer from high stress, they will be less motivated, less productive and more likely to quit.

正确答案：E

42． In-office wellness programs may help reduce stress levels, but they are hardly an ultimate solution to the problem.

正确答案：K

43． Health problems caused by stress in the workplace result in huge public health expenses.

正确答案：C

44． If employees respond quickly to their job assignments, the employer is likely to demand more from them.

正确答案：J

45． With technology everywhere in our life, it has become virtually impossible for most workers to keep a balance between work and life.

正确答案：D

46． In America today, even teenagers suffer from stress, and their problem is even more serious than grown-ups’.

正确答案：B

Section C

Dr. Donald Sadoway at MIT started his own battery company with the hope of changing the world s energy future. It’s a dramatic endorsement for a technology most people think about only when their smartphone goes dark. But Sadoway isn’t alone in trumpeting energy storage as a missing link to a cleaner, more efficient, and more equitable energy future. Scientists and engineers have long believed in the promise of batteries to change the world. Advanced batteries are moving out of specialized markets and creeping into the mainstream, signaling a tipping point for forward-looking technologies such as electric cars and rooftop solar panels. The ubiquitous(无所不在的)battery has already come a long way, of course. For better or worse, batteries make possible our mobile-first lifestyles, our screen culture, our increasingly globalized world. Still, as impressive as all this is, it may be trivial compared with what comes next. Having already enabled a communications revolution, the battery is now poised to transform just about everything else. The wireless age is expanding to include not just our phones, tablets, and laptops, but also our cars, homes, and even whole communities. In emerging economies, rural communities are bypassing the wires and wooden poles that spread power. Instead, some in Africa and Asia are seeing their first lightbulbs illuminated by the power of sunlight stored in batteries. Today, energy storage is a $33 billion global industry that generates nearly 100 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year. By the end of the

decade, it’s expected to be worth over $ 50 billion and generate 160 gigawatt-hours, enough to attract the attention of major companies that might not otherwise be interested in a decidedly pedestrian technology. Even utility companies, which have long viewed batteries and alternative forms of energy as a threat, are learning to embrace the technologies as enabling rather than disrupting. Today’s battery breakthroughs come as the world looks to expand modern energy access to the billion or so people without it, while also cutting back on fuels that warm the planet. Those simultaneous challenges appear less overwhelming with increasingly better answers to a centuries-old question: how to make power portable. To be sure, the battery still has a long way to go before the nightly recharge completely replaces the weekly trip to the gas station. A battery-powered world comes with its own risks, too. What happens to the centralized electric grid, which took decades and billions of dollars to build, as more and more people become “prosumers,” who produce and consume their own energy onsite? No one knows which—if any—battery technology will ultimately dominate, but one thing remains clear. The future of energy is in how we store it.

47． What does Dr. Sadoway think of energy storage? A．It involves the application of sophisticated technology. B．It is the direction energy development should follow. C．It will prove to be a profitable business. D．It is a technology benefiting everyone.

正确答案：B

解析：事实细节题。定位句明确指出，萨杜威博士认为电池的能源存储技术关乎更加清洁、有效和合理的能源前景，故答案为B)。

48． What is most likely to happen when advanced batteries become widely used?

A．Mobile-first lifestyles will become popular. B．The globalization process will be accelerated. C．Communications will take more diverse forms. D．The world will undergo revolutionary changes.

正确答案：D

解析：推理判断题。由文章第二段可知，科学家和工程师认为电池的广泛应用能够改变世界，第三段最后一句也强调，电池在带来通讯革命的同时，蓄势待发，将要改变几乎所有的一切。综合可知，先进电池的广泛应用将会让世界经历革命性的变化，故答案为D)。

49． In some rural communities of emerging economies, people have begun to______.

A．find digital devices simply indispensable

B．communicate primarily by mobile phone C．light their homes with stored solar energy D．distribute power with wires and wooden poles

正确答案：C

解析：事实细节题。定位句指出，在新兴经济体中，乡村社区直接绕开了传输电力的电线和木质电线杆，取而代之的是，一些非洲和亚洲的乡村社区见证了他们的第一批电灯由储存在电池里的太阳能点亮。故答案为C)。

50． Utility companies have begun to realize that battery technologies______. A．benefit their business B．transmit power faster C．promote innovation D．encourage competition

正确答案：A

解析：事实细节题。定位句指出，即使是那些曾长期将电池和其他能源替代形式视为威胁的公共事业公司，也在学着接受这些技术，看到他们的使用性，而不是侵扰性，说明这些企业开始认识到新的电池技术也会令他们受益，故答案为A)。

51． What does the author imply about the centralized electric grid? A．It might become a thing of the past. B．It might turn out to be a “prosumer”. C．It will be easier to operate and maintain. D．It will have to be completely transformed.

正确答案：A

解析：推理判断题。定位句指出，如果越来越多的人成为“产消合一者”，自己随时产出并消费能源，那些曾花费数十年和上百亿美金建造的中央电网该怎么办呢，由此可推测，由中央电网输送电力的时代可能会成为过去，故答案为A)。

More than 100 years ago, American sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois was concerned that race was being used as a biological explanation for what he understood to be social and cultural differences between different populations of people. He spoke out against the idea of “white” and “black” as distinct groups, claiming that these distinctions ignored the scope of human diversity. Science would favor Du Bois. Today, the mainstream belief among scientists is that race is a social construct without biological meaning. In an article published in the journal Science, four scholars say racial categories need to be phased out. “Essentially, I could not agree more with the authors,” said Svante Paabo, a biologist and director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. In one example that demonstrated genetic differences were not fixed along racial lines, the full

genomes(基因组)of James Watson and Craig Venter, two famous American scientists of European ancestry, were compared to that of a Korean scientist, Seong-Jin Kim. It turned out that Watson and Venter shared fewer variations in their genetic sequences than they each shared with Kim. Michael Yudell, a professor of public health at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said that modern genetics research is operating in a paradox: on the one hand, race is understood to be a useful tool to illuminate human genetic diversity, but on the other hand, race is also understood to be a poorly defined marker of that diversity. Assumptions about genetic differences between people of different races could be particularly dangerous in a medical setting. “ If you make clinical predictions based on somebody’s race, you’re going to be wrong a good chunk of the time,” Yudell told Live Science. In the paper, he and his colleagues used the example of cystic fibrosis, which is underdiagnosed in people of African ancestry because it is thought of as a “white” disease. So what other variables could be used if the racial concept is thrown out? Yudell said scientists need to get more specific with their language, perhaps using terms like “ancestry” or “population” that might more precisely reflect the relationship between humans and their genes, on both the individual and population level. The researchers also acknowledged that there are a few areas where race as a construct might still be useful in scientific research: as a political and social, but not biological, variable. “ While we argue phasing out racial terminology(术语)in the biological sciences, we also acknowledge that using race as a political or social category to study racism, although filled with lots of challenges, remains necessary given our need to understand how structural inequities and discrimination produce health disparities(差异)between groups. “ Yudell said.

52． Du Bois was opposed to the use of race as______. A．a basis for explaining human genetic diversity B．an aid to understanding different populations C．an explanation for social and cultural differences D．a term to describe individual human characteristics

正确答案：A

解析：推理判断题。定位句指出，杜波依斯担心种族正在被用来从生物学层面解释他所理解的不同人群之间的社会和文化差异。也就是说，杜波依斯认为不同人群之间的差异是社会文化差异，而他担心其他人会从种族的层面理解社会文化差异，故答案为C)。

53． The study by Svante Paabo served as an example to show______. A．modern genetics research is likely to fuel racial conflicts B．race is a poorly defined marker of human genetic diversity C．race as a biological term can explain human genetic diversity D．genetics research should consider social and cultural variables

正确答案：B

解析：推理判断题。第三段第一句提到斯万特·帕博认为种族类别需要逐步淘汰，接着第四段又提到现代遗传学研究的操作自相矛盾：一方面，种族被认为是用来说明人类遗传多样性的有用工具，但另一方面，种族又被认为是该多样性界定不清的标志。斯万特·帕博的研究也属于现代遗传学的研究，由此可知，他的研究作为示例表明种族是人类遗传多样性界定不清的标记，故答案为B)。

54． The example of the disease cystic fibrosis underdiagnosed in people of African ancestry demonstrates that______.

A．it is absolutely necessary to put race aside in making diagnosis B．it is important to include social variables in genetics research

C．racial categories for genetic diversity could lead to wrong clinical predictions D．discrimination against black people may cause negligence in clinical treatment

正确答案：C

解析：推理判断题。定位句的第一句指出，亚戴尔认为如果临床预测是基于病人的种族做出的，那么大部分时候结果都是错的，紧接着在下一句里亚戴尔举出囊性纤维化的例子，该疾病被认为是“白种人”的疾病，因此很容易在非裔人身上漏诊，由此可以推出，亚戴尔以囊性纤维化为例是想说明上一句话里的观点，即对遗传多样性进行种族分类可能导致错误的临床预测，故答案为C)。

55． What is Yudell’s suggestion to scientists?

A．They be more precise with the language they use. B．They refrain from using politically sensitive terms. C．They throw out irrelevant concepts in their research. D．They examine all possible variables in their research.

正确答案：A 解析：事实细节题。定位句指出，亚戴尔说道，科学家们需要更具体的语言，或许可以使用像“血统”或“人群”这样的术语，它们也许能更准确地在个体和群体层面上反映出人类与其基因之间的关系。故答案为A)。

56． What can be inferred from Yudell’s remark in the last paragraph? A．Clinging to racism prolongs inequity and discrimination. B．Physiological disparities are quite striking among races. C．Doing away with racial discrimination is challenging. D．Racial terms are still useful in certain fields of study.

正确答案：D

解析：推理判断题。定位句指出，亚戴尔说道：“……我们也承认，考虑到我们需要了解结构性的不平等和歧视是如何使群体之间产生健康差异的，将种族用作研究种族主义的政治或社会范畴仍有必要，尽管这充满了挑战。”由此可知，在研究种族歧视的这些领域里，种族术语仍有用，故答案为D)。

Part Ⅳ Translation

57． 随着中国经济的蓬勃发展，学汉语的人数迅速增加，使汉语成了世界上人们最爱学的语言之一。近年来，中国大学在国际上的排名也有了明显的提高。由于中国教育的巨大进步，中国成为最受海外学生欢迎的留学目的地之一就不足为奇了。2015年，近四十万国际学生蜂拥来到中国学习。他们学习的科目已不再限于中国语言和文化，而包括科学与工程。在全球教育市场上，美国和英国仍占主导地位，但中国正在迅速赶上。

正确答案： As China’s economy surges, so does the number of people learning Chinese, which makes it become one of the favorite languages to be learned in the world. In recent years, Chinese universities have also made notable gains in the international university league table. Owing to the great progress of China’s education, it’s no wonder that China has become one of the most popular destinations for overseas students to study abroad. In 2015, nearly four hundred thousand international students flocked into China to study. Their courses of study are no longer confined to the Chinese language and culture, but include Science and Engineering. In the global education market, America and Britain still play a leading role, but China is rapidly catching up.

解析：1．翻译第一句时，“随着……发展”可以像参考译文那样译为从句形式，也可译为短语结构，即With the vigorous development of Chinese economy…。“蓬勃发展”的其他翻译形式还包括boom，mushroom，thrive，flourish等。“……迅速增加”可直译为there is a dramatic increase in…，也可以像参考译文那样使用so引导的倒装句式。2．翻译第二句时，可用直译法，以“中国大学在国际上的排名”为主语，即the international rankings of Chinese universities have also been significantly improved，也可以“中国的大学”为主语，即译为“中国的大学在国际排名方面取得了显著进步”。“国际排名”的其他译法包括global ranking，international position等。“提高”除了译为improve以外，还可译为enhance，boost等。3．翻译第三句时，关键点在于对“……就不足为奇了”的翻译，该短语最常见的译法是it’s no wonder that…，除此之外，其他译法包括it is not odd that…，it’s not surprising that…等。其次是句首的介词短语“由于”的译法，除了可译为owing to外，还可译为due to，because of等形式。4．翻译第四句时，首先需要特别注意的是数字“四十万”的表达方法，一般译为four hundred thousand，也可使用数字表达方式译出。“蜂拥”除了译为短语flock into以外，还可译为swarm into，stampede into，pile into等。5．翻译第五句时，“限于……”除了译为短语的be confined to外，还可译为be limited to，be restricted to等。6．最后一句翻译的关键词是“占主导地位”，参考译文中的play a leading role是比较通俗且相对简单的译法，除此之外，occupy a leading position，occupy the leading status，hold a dominant position，play a dominant role等也是不错的表达。