六级试题2018年6月第1套含答案

2018 年 6 月大学英语六级考试真题 (第 1 套）

Part I Writing (30minutes)

Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the importance of

building trust between employer and employees. You can cite examples to illustrate your views. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

Part II Section A

Listening Comprehension (30minutes)

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.

Questions1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

1. A). She is the owner of a special cafe. C). She advocates animal protection. 2. A). They help take care of customers' pets. C). They cater to different customers.

3. A). By selecting breeds that are tame and peaceful.

B). By giving them regular cleaning and injections. C). By placing them at a safe distance from customers.

B). She sells a special kind of coffee. D). She is going to start a cafe chain. B). They are a profitable business sector. D). They bear a lot of similarities.

D). By briefing customers on how to get along with them.

4. A). They give her cafe favorite reviews.

B). They like to bring in their children. D). They want to learn about rabbits.

C). They love the animals in her cafe.

Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

B). It is mostly garbage. 5. A). It can cause obesity.

C). It contains too many additives. D). It lacks the essential vitamins. B). Its fancy design. D). Peer influence.

6. A). TV commercials.

C). Its taste and texture.

7. A). Offering children more variable to choose from.

B). Trying to trick children into buying their products. C). Marketing their products with ordinary ingredients. D). Investing heavily in the production of sweet foods.

8. A). They favored chocolate-coated sweets.

C). They hardly had food.

B). They like the food advertised on TV. D). They seldom had junk food.

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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). Tombs of ancient rulers. B). Typical Egyptian animal farms.

C). Ruins left by devastating floods.

10. A). It provides habitats for more primitive tribes.

B). It is hardly associated with great civilizations. C). It gathers water from many tropical rain forests. D). It has not yet been fully explored and exploited. 11. A). It has numerous human settlements along its banks.

D). Stretches of farmland.

B). It is second only to the Mississippi River in width. C). It is as long as the Nile and the Yangtze combined. D). It carries about one fifth of the word' fresh water.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard. 12. A). All of us actually yearn for a slow and calm life.

B). The search for tranquility has become a trend. C). We are always in a rush to do various things. D). Living a life in the fast lane leads to success. 13. A). She enjoyed the various social events. C). She had trouble balancing family and work. 14. A). The fatigue from living a fast-paced life. C). Reading a book about slowing down. 15. A). She came to enjoy doing everyday tasks. C). She learn to use more polite expressions.

B). She was accustomed to tight schedules. D). She spent all her leisure time writing books. B). Becoming aware of her declining health. D). The possibility of ruining her family. B). She started to follow the cultural norms.. D). She stopped using to-do lists and calendars.

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). They will root out native species altogether.

C). They pose a threat to the local ecosystem.

B). They will crossbreed with native species. D). They contribute to a region's biodiversity. B). Their definitions are changeable. D). Their classifications are meaningful.

17. A). Their distinctions are artificial.

C). Their interactions are hard to define.

18. A). Only 10 percent of them can be naturalized. B). Few of them can survive in their new habitats.

C). They may turn to benefit the local environment.

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D). Only a few of them cause problems to native species.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.

B). Attend their business seminars. 19. A). Adopt the right business strategies.

C). Respect their traditional culture. D). Research their specific demands.

20. A). Clicking your fingers loudly in their presence.

B). Drinking alcohol on certain days of a month.

C). Giving gifts a great value. D). Showing them your palm.

B). They trend to friendly and enthusiastic. D). They are very easy to satisfy.

21. A). They have a break from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m.

C). They have a strong sense of worth.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard. 22. A). He had the company's boardroom extensively renovated.

B). He completely changed the company's culture. C). He took over the sales department of Reader's Digest. D). He collected paintings by world-famous artists. 23. A). Its articles should entertain blue-and pink-collar workers.

B). Its articles should be short and inspiring. C). It should be sold at a reasonable price.

D). Its articles should be published in the world's leading languages. 24. A). He served as a church minster for many years.

B). He knew how to make the magazine profitable. C). He treated the employees like members of his family. D). He suffered many setbacks and misfortunes in his life. 25. A). It carried many more advertisements.

B). Its subscriptions increased considerably. D). Several hundred of its employees got fired.

C). George Grune joined it as an ad salesman.

Part III

Section A

Reading Comprehension (40minutes)

Directions:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Did Sarah Josepha Hale write “Mary 's Little Lamb,” the eternal nursery rhyme (儿歌) about a girl named Mary with a stubborn lamb? This is still dispute , but it’s clear that the woman 26 for writing it was one of America 's most fascinating 27 _. In honor of the poem 's publication on May 24，1830， here’s more about the

28 author 's life.

Hale wasn’t just a writer, she was also a 29 social advocate, and she was particularly 30_ with an ideal New England, which she associated with abundant Thanksgiving meals that she claimed had “a deep moral influence.” she began a nationwide 31 to have a national holiday declared that would bring families together while

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celebrating the 32 festivals. In 1863, after 17 years of advocacy including letters to five presidents， Hale got it. President Abraham Lincoln, during the Civil War, issued a 33 setting aside the last Thursday in November for the holiday.

The true authorship of “Mary’s Little Lamb” is disputed.. According to New England Historical Society, Hale wrote only one part of the poem, but claimed authorship. Regardless of the author, it seems that the poem was 34 by a real event. When young Mary Sawyer was followed to school by a lamb in 1816, it caused some problems. A bystander named John Roulstone wrote a poem about the event, then, at some point, Hale herself seems to have helped write it. However, if a 1916 piece by her great-niece is to be trusted, Hale claimed for the 35 of her life that “Some other people pretended that someone else wrote the poem”.

A). campaign B). career D). features F). inspired H). obsessed J). rectified C). characters E). fierce G). latter I). proclamation K). reputed M). supposed O). versatile

L). rest N). traditional 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 Sheet2.

Grow Plants Without Water

[A]. Ever since humanity began to farm our own food, we've faced the unpredictable rain that is both

friend and enemy. It comes and goes without much warning, and a field of lush (茂盛的) leafy greens one year can dry up and blow away the next. Food security and fortunes depend on sufficient rain, and nowhere more so than in Africa, where 96% of farmland depends on rain instead of the irrigation common in more developed places. It has consequences : South Africa's ongoing drought—the worst in three decades— will cost at least a quarter of its com crop this year.

[B]. Biologist Jill Farrant of the University of Cape Town in South Africa says that nature has plenty of

answers for people who want to grow crops in places with unpredictable rainfall. She is hard at work finding a way to take traits from rare wild plants that adapt to extreme dry weather and use them in food crops. As the earth's climate changes and rainfall becomes even less predictable in

some places, those answers will grow even more valuable.\"The type of farming I'm aiming for is literally so that people can survive as it's going to get more and more dry,\"Farrant says.

[C]. Extreme conditions produce extremely tough plants. In the rusty red deserts of South Africa, steep-

sided rocky hills called inselbergs rear up from the plains like the bones of the earth. The hills are remnants of an earlier geological era, scraped bare of most soil and exposed to the elements. Yet on these and similar formations in deserts around the world, a few fierce plants have adapted to endure under ever-changing conditions.

[D]. Farrant calls them resurrection plants (复苏植物) . During months without water under a harsh sun.

They wither, shrink and contract until they look like a pile of dead gray leaves. But rainfall can revive them in a matter of hours. Her time-lapse (间歇性拍摄的) videos of the revivals look like someone playing a tape of the plant's death in reverse.

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[E]. The big difference between\"drought-tolerant\" plants and these tough plants: metabolism. Many

different kinds of plants have developed tactics to weather dry spells. Some plants store reserves of water to see them through a drought ; others send roots deep down to subsurface water supplies. But once these plants use up their stored reserve or tap out the underground supply, they cease growing and start to die. They may be able to handle a drought of some length, and many people use the term \"drought tolerant\" to describe such plants, but they never actually stop needing to consume water, so Farrant prefers to call them drought resistant. [F]. Resurrection plants, defined as those capable of recovering from holding less than 0.1 grams of water

per gram of dry mass, are different. They lack water-storing structures, and their existence on rock faces prevents them from tapping groundwater, so they have instead developed the ability to change their metabolism .When they detect an extended dry period, they divert their metabolisms, producing sugars and certain stress-associated proteins and other materials in their tissues. As the plant dries, these resources take on first the properties of honey, then rubber, and finally enter a glass-like state that is\"the most stable state that the plant can maintain,\"Farrant says. That slows the plant's metabolism and protects its dried-out tissues. The plants also change shape, shrinking to minimize the surface area through which their remaining water might evaporate. They can recover from months and years without water, depending on the species. [G]. What else can do this dry-out-and-revive trick? Seeds-almost all of them. At the start of her career,

Farrant studied . recalcitrant seeds (执拗性种子) ,\" such as avocados, coffee and lychee. While tasty, such seeds are delicate--they cannot bud and grow if they dry out (as you may know if you've ever tried to grow a tree from an avocado pit). In the seed world, that makes them rare, because most seeds from flowering plants are quite robust. Most seeds can wait out the dry, unwelcoming seasons until conditions are right and they sprout (发芽 ). Yet once they start growing, such plants seem not to retain the ability to hit the pause button on metabolism in their stems or leaves. [H]. After completing her Ph. D. on seeds, Farrant began investigating whether it might be possible to

isolate the properties that make most seeds so resilient (迅速恢复活力的) and transfer them to other plant tissues. What Farrant and others have found over the past two decades is that there are many genes involved in resurrection plants' response to dryness. Many of them are the same that regulate how seeds become dryness-tolerant while still attached to their parent plants. Now they are trying to figure out what molecular signaling processes activate those seed-building genes in resurrection plants—and how to reproduce them in crops.\"Most genes are regulated by a master set of genes,\"Farrant says.\"We're looking at gene promoters and what would be their master switch.\" [I]. Once Farrant and her colleagues feel they have a better sense of which switches to throw, they will

have to find the best way to do so in useful crops.\"I'm trying three methods of breeding,\"Farrant says : conventional, genetic modification arid gene editing. She says she is aware that plenty of people do not want to eat genetically modified crops, but she is pushing ahead with every available tool until one works. Farmers and consumers alike can choose whether or not to use whichever version prevails :\"I'm giving people an option. \"

[J]. Farrant and others in the resurrection business got together last year to discuss the best species of

resurrection plant to use as a lab model. Just like medical researchers use rats to test ideas for human medical treatments, botanists use plants that are relatively easy to grow in a lab or greenhouse setting to test their ideas for related species. The Queensland rock violet is one of the best studied resurrection plants so far, with a draft genome (基因图谱) published last year by a Chinese team. Also last year, Farrant and colleagues published a detailed molecular study of another candidate, Xerophyta viscosa, a tough-as-nail south African plant with lily-like flowers, and she says that a genome is on the way. one or both of these models will help researchers test their ideas — so far mostly done in the lab— on test plots.

[K]. Understanding the basic science first is key. There are good reasons why crop plants do not use

dryness defenses already. For instance, there's a high energy cost in switching from a regular metabolism to an almost-no-water metabolism. It will also be necessary to understand what sort of yield farmers might expect and to establish the plant's safety.\"The yield is never going to be high,\"Farrant says, so these plants will be targeted not at Iowa farmers trying to squeeze more cash

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out of high-yield fields, but subsistence farmers who need help to survive a drought like the present one in South Africa.\"My vision is for the subsistence farmer,\"Farrant says.\"I'm targeting crops that are of African value. \".

36. There are a couple of plants tough and adaptable enough to survive on bare rocky hills and in deserts. 37. Farrant is trying to isolate genes in resurrection plants and reproduce them in crops. 38. Farmers in South Africa are more at the mercy of nature, especially inconsistent rainfall. 39. Resurrection crops are most likely to be the choice of subsistence farmers.

40. Even though many plants have developed various tactics to cope with dry weather, they cannot survive a prolonged drought. 41. Despite consumer resistance, researchers are pushing ahead with genetic modification of crops. 42. Most seeds can pull through dry spells and begin growing when conditions are ripe, but once this process starts, it cannot be held back. 43. Farrant is working hard to cultivate food crops that call survive extreme dryness by studying the traits of rare wild plants. 44. By adjusting their metabolism, resurrection plants can recover from an extended period of drought. 45. Resurrection plants can come back to life in a short time after a rainfall. 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.

Human memory is notoriously unreliable. Even people with the sharpest facial-recognition skills can only remember so much.

It's tough to quantify how good a person is at remembering. No one really knows how many different faces someone can recall, for example, but various estimates tend to hover in the thousands-based on the number of acquaintances a person might have.

Machines aren't limited this way, Give the right computer a massive database of faces, and it can process what it sees-then recognize a face it's told to find-with remarkable speed and precision. This skill is what supports the enormous promise of facial-recognition software in the 2lst century. It's also what makes contemporary surveillance systems so scary.

The thing is, machines still have limitations when it comes to facial recognition. And scientists are only just beginning to understand what those constraints are. To begin to figure out how computers are struggling, researchers at the University of Washington created a massive database of faces- they call it MegaFace- and tested a variety of facial-recognition algorithms (算法) as they scaled up in complexity. The idea was to test the machines on a database that included up to 1 million different images of nearly 700,000 different people-and not just a large database featuring a relatively small number of different faces, more consistent with what's been used in other research.

As the databases grew, machine accuracy dipped across the board. Algorithms that were right 95% of the time when they were dealing with a 13, 000-image database, for example, were accurate about 70% of the time when confronted with 1 million images. That's still pretty good, says one of the researchers, Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman.\"Much better than we expected, \"she said.

Machines also had difficulty adjusting for people who look a lot alike-either doppelgangers(长 相极相似的人),whom the machine would have trouble identifying as two separate people, or the same person who appeared in different photos at different ages or in different lighting, whom the

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machine would incorrectly view as separate people.

\"Once we scale up, algorithms must be sensitive to tiny changes in identities and at the same time invariant to lighting, pose, age, \"Kemelmacher-Shlizerman said.

The trouble is, for many of the researchers who'd like to design systems to address these challenges, massive datasets for experimentation just don't exist--at least, not in formats that are accessible to academic researchers.Training sets like the ones Google and Facebook have are private. There are no public databases that contain millions of faces. MegaFace's creators say it's the largest publicly available facial-recognition dataset out there.

“An ultimate face recognition algorithm should perform with billions of people in a dataset, ”the researchers wrote.

46. Compared with human memory, machines can .

A) identify human faces more efficiently

C) store an unlimited number of human faces

B) tell a friend from a mere acquaintance

D) perceive images invisible to the human eye

47. Why did researchers create MegaFace?

A) To enlarge the volume of the facial-recognition database

B) To increase the variety of facial-recognition software C)To understand computers' problems with facial recognition D) To reduce the complexity of facial-recognition algorithms 48.What does the passage say about machine accuracy? A)It falls short of researchers' expectations.

C) It varies greatly with different algorithms.

B) It improves with added computing power.

D) It decreases as the database size increases.

49. What is said to be a shortcoming of facial-recognition machines?

A) They cannot easily tell apart people with near-identical appearances.

B) They have difficulty identifying changes in facial expressions

C) They are not sensitive to minute changes in people's mood

D) They have problems distinguishing people of the same age

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50. What is the difficulty confronting researchers of facial-recognition machines?

A)No computer is yet able to handle huge datasets of human faces

B) There do not exist public databases with sufficient face sampler C)There are no appropriate algorithms to process the face samples D) They have trouble converting face datasets into the right format.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Therere currently 21.5 million students in America, and many will be funding their college on borrowed money. Given that there's now over $1.3 trillion in student loans on the books, it's pretty clear that many students are far from sensible. The average student's debt upon graduation now approaches $40, 000, and as college becomes ever more expensive, calls to make it \"free\" are multiplying. Even Hillary Clinton says that when it comes to college,\"Costs won't be a barrier. \"

But the only way college could be free is if the faculty and staff donated their time, the buildings required no maintenance, and campuses required no utilities. As long as it's impossible to produce something from nothing costs are absolutely a barrier.

The actual question we debate is who should pay for people to go to college. If taxpayers are to bear the cost of forgiving student loans, shouldn't they have a say in how their money is used?

At least taxpayers should be able to decide what students will study on the public dime. If we're going to force taxpayers to foot the bill for college degrees, students should only study those subjects that're of greatest benefit to taxpayers. After all, students making their own choices in this respect is what caused the problem in the first place. We simply don't need more poetry, gender studies, or sociology majors. How do we know which subjects benefit society? Easy.

Average starting salaries give a clear indication of what type of training society needs its new workers to have. Certainly, there're benefits to a college major beyond the job a student can perform. But if we're talking about the benefits to society, the only thing that matters is what the major enables the student to produce for society. And the value of what the student can produce is reflected in the wage employers are willing to pay the student to produce it.

A low wage for elementary school teachers, however, doesn't mean elementary education isn’t important. It simply means there're too many elementary school teachers already.

Meanwhile, there're few who're willing and able to perform jobs requiring a petroleum engineering major, so the value of one more of those people is very high

So we can have taxpayers pick up students' tuition in exchange for dictating what those students will study. Or we can allow students both to choose their majors and pay for their education themselves. But in the end ,one of two things is true:

Either a college major is worth its cost or it isn't. If yes, taxpayer financing isn't needed If not taxpayer financing isn't desirable. Either way, taxpayers have no business paying for students' college education.

51. What does the author think of college students funding their education through loans?

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A)They only expect to get huge returns.

C) They benefit at taxpayers expense.

B)They are acting in an irrational way.

D) They will regret doing so someday.

52. In the author's opinion, free college education is .

A) impractical B)unsustainable C)a goal to strive for

D) a way to social equality

53. What should students do if taxpayers are to bear their college costs?

A) Work even harder to repay society.

B) Choose their subjects more carefully.

C) Choose majors that will serve society's practical need.

D) Allow taxpayers to participate in college administration.

. What does the author say about the value of a student's college education?

A) It is underestimated by profit-seeking employers.

C) It is well reflected in their average starting salary.

B) It is to be proved by what they can do on the job.

D) It is embodied in how they remove social barriers.

55. What message does the author want to convey in the passage?

A)Students should think care fully whether to go to college

B) Taxpayers should only finance the most gifted students.

C)The worth of a college education is open to debate.

D) College students should fund their own education..

Part I Translation

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(30minutes)

Directions：For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to transate a passage from Chinese into Engtish. You

should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

过去，拥有一辆私家车对大部分中国人而言是件奢侈的事。如今，私家车在中国随处可见。汽 车成了人们生活中不可或缺的一部分，他们不仅开车上下班，还经常驾车出游。有些城市的汽车增长 速度过快，以至于交通拥堵和停车位不足的问题日益严峻，这些城市的市不得不出台新规， 上路汽车的数量。由于空气污染日益严重，现在越来越多的人选择购买新能源汽车，中国也采取 了

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第一套参：

写作

Trust Between Employers and Employees

Trust is the most frequently used word when we are talking about interpersonal relationships. With the development of social economy， people gradually have less and less trust in each other， especially among employers and employees. Therefore， building and maintaining trust between them is of great importance for a company.

First of all， mutual trust between employers and employees can improve the work efficiency. Once they build trust between each other， they„ll work towards a common goal and all will devote themselves in realizing it. Secondly，employers will lose their employees if they lack trust in them. To avoid losing talents， employers should show their good faith and give employees more care and love. Thirdly， having faith in each other in a company can definitely create a harmonious working atmosphere and create great value for the company.

To sum up， employers and employees should raise the awareness of mutual trust and put their faith in each other， which is a foundation of the well development of a company.

Section A Conversation 1

A Tonight we have a special guest from the local establishment the Prage Café。 Welcome. B：Hi， thanks for have a meal on your show.

A：Thank you for joining us. So please tell us why do decide to open a café。

B：Well，we saw the opportunity to offer something a little special and different from other establishments. Cafe certainly is a very competitive market sector. There are more than plenty in our city， and we thought they are all rather similar to each other. Wouldn„t you agree？

A：Certainly yes. So how is your establishment any different？

B：Well， since people we have rabbits wandering freely on the place； our customers come

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in and enjoy their food and drinks， while a little rabbit playing on their legs. There is no other place like it.

A：That„s amazing. How do you come up with the idea？

B：So we thought why not rabbit？ People love the rabbits， they are very cute animals.

A：But it is safe？ Do the rabbit ever bite people or do any customer ever hurt the rabbits？ B：

It is perfectly safe both for rabbits and our customers. Rabbits are very peaceful and safe. They don„t bite. Our rabbits are regularly cleaned. So there is no risks ever. And as for our customers，they are all animals lovers. We will never try to hurt the rabbits. Sometimes some young child may get over excited and be a little too rough. But is never a serious matter. On the contrary， the café is a great experience for children. A chance they learn how to take care of the animals.

A：Well it is certainly the first time I heard of a café like that.

1. What do we learn about the woman？

2. What does the woman say about the café in her city？

3. How did Prage café guarantee the rabbit does not post a harmful threat？

4. What did the woman say about their customers？

Conversation 2

M：Hey， there. How are you？

W：Oh，hi. I„m great，thanks. And you look great too.

M： Thank you. It„s good to see you shopping in the organic section. I see you got a lot of healthy stuff. I wish I could buy more organic produce from here. But I find that kids don‟t like it. I don„t know about yours， but mine are all about junk food.

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W：Oh，trust me. I know exactly how you feel. My children are the same. What is it with kids these days that all like junk food they eat. I think it„s all that advertising on TV. That‟s where they get it.

M：Yes，it must be. My children see something on TV and they immediately want it. It„s like they don‟t realize it„s just an advertisement.

W：Right，and practically everything that advertises for children is unhealthy processed food. No surprise then，it becomes a battle for us parents to feed our children ordinary food and vegetables.

M： That„s just the thing. One never sees ordinary ingredients being advertised on TV. It‟s never a carrot or a peach，it„s always some garbage like chocolate covered sweets. So unhealthy.

W：Exactly. And these big food cooperations have so much money to spend on clever tactic design to make young people want to buy their products. Children never stand the chance，it„s really not fair.

M：You are so right. When we were children，we barely had any junk food available and we turned out just fine.

W： Yes， my parents don„t understand any of it. Both TV commercials and the supermarkets are alien to them. Their worlds were so different back to when they are young.

M： I don„t know what will happen to the next generation. W： The world is going crazy.

M： You bet.

Q5. What do the speakers say about the food their children like？

Q6. According to the speakers， what affects children„s choice of food most？

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Q7. What do the speakers believe big food cooperations are doing？

Q8. What do we know about the speakers when they were children？

Passage 1

At some 2300 miles in length，the Mississippi is the longest river in the United States. At some 1000 miles，the Mackenzie is the longest river in Canada. But these waterways seem mute in comparison to the world„s two longest rivers —— the Nile and the Amazon. The Nile，which begins in central Africa and flows over 4100 miles north into the Mediterranean. Host to one of the world‟s great ancient civilizations along its shores，Calm and peaceful for most of the year， the Nile used to flood annually. Their by creating，irrigating and caring new top soil to the nearby farmland on which ancient Egypt depended for a livelihood. As a means of transportation，the river carried various vessels up and down its length. A journey through the unconstructed part of this waterway today would pass by the splendid valley of the kings with tombs of many of these ancient monarchs，having stood for over 3000 years. Great civilizations and intensive settlements are hardly associated with the Amazon. Yet this 4000 mile-long south American river carries about 20% of the world„s fresh water，more than the Mississippi，Nile and the Mackenzie combined. Other statistics are equally astonishing. the Amazon is so wide at some points that from its center neither shore can be seen. Each second the Amazon pours some 55 million gallons of water into the Atlantic. There， at it‟s mouth stands one island larger than Switzland. Most important of all，the Amazon irrigates the largest tropical rainforest on earth.

9. What can be found in the valley of the kings？

10. In what way is the Amazon different from other big rivers？

11. What does the speaker say about the Amazon？

Passage Two

How often do you say to people “I„m busy” or “I haven‟t got time for that.” It„s inevitable true that all of us live a life in the far slain，even though we know that being busy is not always particular

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healthy. Growing-up in New Zealand，everything was always calm and slow，people enjoy the tranquility of a slower pace of life. After I moved to the Tokyo and lived there in a number of years， I got used to having a pilot to do lists. And my calendar always looks like a mass with lots of things to do. Return across it，I found myself feeling my timer with endless work meetings in social events. Russian along as busy as it be. Then，one day，I came across a book， called in praise of slowness and realized that being busy is not only detrimental， but also has the danger of turning life into endless race. So I started practicing various practical steps， mentioned by the author of the book， and began to revolt against every idea of being too busy. It doesn‟t mean that to do lists no longer exist，but I become more aware of the important of slowing down and making sure that I enjoy the daily activities as I care about. From now on，when someone asked how your life is，try your responding with the words like “exciting and fun”，instead of the culture norm that says busy. Say if your experience that tranquility that follows.

12. What does the speaker think is inevitable truth？

13. What does the speaker about her life in Tokyo？

14. What makes the speaker change her life style？

15. What happened after the speaker changed her life style？

Lecture 1

Government„s private groups and indivisuals spend billions of dollars a year trying to route out non-native organisms that are considered dangerous to ecosystems and to prevent the introduction of new intruders.

But a number of scientists question the assumption that the presence of alien species can nevr be acceptable in a natural ecosystem.

They say that portraying introduced species as inherently bad is an unscientific approach. “Distinctions between exotic and native species are artificial”，said Dr. Michael Rosenspeek， a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona.

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“Because they depend on pegging a date and calling the plans on animals that show up after the date， exotic.”

Ecosystems free of species to find as exotic are by default consider the most natural.

“You can„t roll back the clock and remove all the exotics or fix habitats，” Dr. Rosenspeek said， “Both native and exotic species can become invasive，and so they all have to be monitored and controlled when they begin to get out of the hand ”

At its core， the debate is about how to manage the world„s remaining natural ecosystems and how and how much to restore other habitats.

Species that invade a territory can harm ecosystems，agriculture and human health.

They can threaten some native species or even destroy and replace others.

Next habitat loss，these evasive species represents the greatest threat to bio-diversity worldwide， many ecologists say.

Ecologists generally define an alien species as one that people accidentally or deliberately carried to its new location.

Across the American continents，exotic species are those introduced after the first European contact.

That date rounded of to 15 AD， represents what ecologist considered to have been a major shift in the spread of species including crops and life stock as they began to migrate with humans from continent to continent.

“Only a small percentage of alien species calls problems in their new habitats，”said Don Smith， professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the Univiersity of Tenacy.

“Of the 7000 alien species in the United States，out of a total of 150 species，only about 10% are invasive，”he pointed out，“The other 90% have fit into their environments and are considered

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naturalized. ”

“Yet appearances can deceive，”ecologiest caution，“and many these exotics may be considered acceptable only because no one has documented their harmful affects .What is more， non native species can appear harmless then turn invasive.”

16. What assumption about introduced species is challenged by a number of scientists？ 17.What does Dr. Michael Rosenspeek think of exotic native species ？

18. What does Professor Don Smith say about alien species？

Lecture 2

Good morning，ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to the third in our cities of business seminars in the program doing business abroad. 19.Today we are going to look for different culture awareness. That is the fact that not everyone is in British. Not everyone speaks in English and not everyone does business in the British way. And why should they？If overseas business people are selling to us and they will make every effort to speak English and to expect our tradition methods. It is only polite for us to do the same when we visit them. It is not only polite but it is central if we want to sell British projects overseas.

First， a short quiz. Let„s see how to in cultivate where we are. Question one ： where must you not drink alcohol in the first and second of every month. Question two： Where should you never admire your host positions？Question three：how should you attract the waiter during the business lunch in banquet. And question four：Where should you try to make all your appointments either before 2 or after 5：30 pm ？

Okay，everyone has the chance to make some notes. Right，here are the answers. Although I„m sure the information could equally well apply to countries other than your chosen. So No.1 ， you must long drink alcohol in the first and second in Indian. 20.And in that hotels you may find that served but if you had a meal with an Indian colleague. Remember to avoid asking for a beer. No.2 ， In other countries，the politeness in general society is that people without power all. If you admire your colleague beautiful golden bowls you may well find yourself being present with them .This is

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not the cheat yourself way，however，as your host will find the equal words and beauty. In Thailand， keeping the fingers clapping your hands or shouting at the waiter will embarrass your hosts，fellow diners，waiter himself most of all-you.Place you palm down to make an implicit gesture and sacrificing the results，21.And finally，in Spain， some businesses may stay working until 2 o‟clock and returning to the office from 5：30 to 8 or 9 in the evening.

19. What should you do when you do business with foreigners？ 20.What you must avoid doing with your Indian colleague？ 21.What do we learn about some Spanish people？

Recording Three

Shortly after he took over the Reader„s Digest Association in 1984， George Grune unlocked the company‟s boardroom and announced that the room was now open to the employees. It was a symbolic act，indicating that under Grune„s leadership，Reader‟s Digest was going to be different. True to his word，Grune has shaken up the culture here. To get an idea of the culture we„re talking about，consider the boardroom Grune opened up，it has artworks that any museum in the world would want to collect，paintings by many world famous artists like Monet and Picasso.

Its headquarters„houses sum 3，000 works of art.The Main building is topped with a Georgian Tower with four sculptures of the mythical winged horse， the magazine corporate logo. It sits on 127 acres of well trimmed lawns. The editor‟s office used to be occupied by founder Dewitt Wallace， who along with his wife Lila Acheson Wallace， launched Reader„s Digest in 1922 with condensed articles from other publications.It has become the world‟s most widely read magazine， selling 28 million copies each month in 17 languages and 41 different editions. The Wallaces，both children of church ministers，had a clearly defined formula for their little magazine. As Reader„s Digest was originally subtitled，articles were to be short，readable and uplifting. Subjects were picked to inspire or entertain. The Wallaces didn‟t accept advertising in the US edition until 1955 and even then they didn„t allow any ads for cigarettes，liquor or drugs. The Wallaces also had a clear sense of the kind of workplace they wanted. It started as a mama and papa operation and the childless Wallaces always considered employees to be part of their family.Employees still tell stories of how the Wallaces would take care of their employees who had met with misfortunes and

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they showered their employees with unusual benefits like a turkey on Thanksgiving and Fridays off in May. This cozy workplace is no longer exists here.The Wallaces both died in their nineties in the early 1981s. George Grune，a former ad salesman who joined Reader‟s Digest in 1960 has his eyes focused on the bottom line. In a few short years， he turned the magazine on its head， he laid off several hundred workers，especially hard hit where the blue and paint color departments such as subscription fulfillment.

Question22. What did George Grune do in 1984？

Question23. How did the Wallaces find the formula for Reader„s Digest？

Question24. What do we learn about the founder of Reader„s Digest Dewitt Wallace？ Question25. What change took place in Reader„s Digest after the Wallaces death？

参：

Conversation One

1. A) She is the owner of a special cafe.

2. D) They bear a lot of similarities.

3. B) By giving them regular cleaning and injections.

4. C) They love the animal in her cafe.

Conversation Two

5. B) It is mostly garbage.

6. A) TV commercials.

7. B) Trying to trick children into buying their products.

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8. D) They seldom had junk food

Section B

Passage One

9. A）Tombs of ancient rulers.

10. B) It‟s hardly associated with great civilizations.

11. D ) It carries about one fifth of the world‟s fresh water.

Passage Two

12. C) We are always in a rush to do various things.

13. B) She was accustomed to tight schedules.

14. C) Reading a book about slowing down.

15. A) She came to enjoy everyday tasks.

Section C

Recording One

16. C) They pose a threat to the local ecosystem.

17. A) Their distinctions are artificial.

18. D) Only a few of them cause problems to native species.

Recording Two

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19. C）Respect their traditional culture.

20. B) Drinking alcohol on certain days of a month.

21. A) They have a break from 2:00 to 5:30.

Recording Three

22. B) He had the company‟s bedroom extensively renovated.

23. D) Its articles should be short and inspiring.

24 C) He treated the employees like members of his family.

25 D) Several hundred of its employees got fired. 26 K reputed

27 C characters 28 M supposed

29 E fierce 30 H obsessed 31 A campaign 32 N traditional 33 I proclamation

34 F inspired

35 L rest

匹配题：

36. There are a couple of plants tough and adaptable enough to survive on bare rocky hills and in deserts.

答案：【C】段

C) Extreme conditions produce extremely tough plants. In the rusty red deserts of South Africa, … 37. Farrant is trying to isolate genes in resurrection plants and reproduce them in crops. 答案：【H】段

H) After completing her Ph.D. on seeds, Farrant began investigating whether it might be possible to isolate her properties that make most seeds so…

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38. Farmers in South Africa are more at the mercy of nature, especially inconsistent rainfall. 答案：【A】段

A)Farmers in South Africa are more at the mercy of nature.…

39. Resurrection crops are most likely to be the choice of subsistence farmers. 答案：【K】段

40. Even though many plants have developed carious tactics to cope with dry weather, they can‟t survive a prolonged drought. 答案：【E】段

E) The big difference between “drought-tolerant”plants and these tough plants: metabolism. Many different kinds of plants have…

41. Despite consumer resistance, researchers are pushing ahead with genetic modification of crops. 答案：【I】段

I) Once Farrant and her colleagues feel they have a better sense of which switches to throw,… 42. Most seeds can pull through dry spells and begin growing when conditions are ripe, but once this process starts, it cannot be held back. 答案：【G】段

G) What else can do this dry-out-and-revive trick? Seeds-almost all of them. At the start of… 43. Farrant is working hard to cultivate food crops that can survive extreme dryness by studying the traits of rare wild plants. 答案：【B】段

B) Biologist Jill Farrant of the University of Cape Town in South Africa says that nature has plenty of answers for people who want to grow crops in

44. By adjusting their metabolism, resurrection plants can recover from an extended period of drought. 答案：【F】段

F) Resurrection plants, defined as those capable of recovering from holding less than 0.1 grams of water per gram of dry mass, are different. They lack…

45. Resurrection plants can come back to life in a short time after a rainfall. 答案：【D】段

D) Farrant calls them resurrection plants. During months without water under a harsh sun,… Passage one

46. Compared with human memory, machines can C） store an unlimited number of human faces

47. Why did researchers create Mega Face? C）To understand computers‟ problems with facial recognition

48. What dose the passage say about machine accuracy?

.

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D）It decreases as the database size increases.

49. What is said to be a shortcoming of facial-recognition machines? A）They cannot easily tell apart people with near-identical appearances .

50. What is the difficulty confronting researchers of the facial- recognition machines？ B）There do not exist public databases with sufficient face samples. Passage two

51. What does the author think of college students funding their education through loans? B) They are acting in an irrational way. 52. In the author‟ s opinion, free college education is impractical

53. What should students do if taxpayers are to bear their college costs? C) Choose majors that will serve society‟s practical needs.

. What does the author say about the value of a student‟s college education? C) It is well reflected in their average starting salary.

55. What message does the author want to convey in the passage? D) College students should fund their own education. 翻译答案：

. A）

In the past, having a private car at hand is a luxury for most Chinese.Nowadays, private cars can be seen here and there in China. Cars have become an indispensable part of Chinese life. They not only drive to commute from work but also frequently to travel. In some cities, the growth ratio of cars is so rapid that the problems of traffic congestion and inadequate parking lots are getting increasingly serious, prompting the local government to issue new regulations in order to restrict the number of cars on the road. Considering the worsening condition of air pollution, at present a growing number of people choose to buy alternative energy powered vehicles and China‟s government adopt some measures to support the development of new energy automobile industry as well.

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