大学英语六级考试2015年6月真题(第一套)

Part I Writing (30minutes)

Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each
conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will
be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the
four choices marked A ),B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer
Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
Conversation One
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
1. A) Persuade the man to join her company. C) Export bikes to foreign markets.
B) Employ the most up-to-date technology. D) Expand their domestic business.
2. A) The state subsidizes small and medium enterprises.
B) The government has control over bicycle imports.
C) They can compete with the best domestic manufacturers.
D) They have a cost advantage and can charge higher prices.
3. A) Extra costs might eat up their profits abroad.
B) More workers will be needed to do packaging.
C) They might lose to foreign bike manufacturers.
D) It is very difficult to find suitable local agents.
4. A) Report to the management. C)Conduct a feasibility study.
B) Attract foreign investments. D) Consult financial experts.
Conversation Two
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A) Coal burnt daily for the comfort of our homes.
B) Anything that can be used to produce power.
C) Fuel refined from oil extracted from underground.
D) Electricity that keeps all kinds of machines running.
6. A) Oil will soon be replaced by alternative energy sources.
B) Oil reserves in the world will be exhausted in a decade.
C) Oil consumption has given rise to many global problems.
D) Oil production will begin to decline worldwide by 2025.
7. A) Minimize the use of fossil fuels.
B) Start developing alternative fuels.
C) Find the real cause for global warming.
D) Take steps to reduce the greenhouse effect.
8. A) They release harmful substances when they are burned.
B) They dissolve in the water and cause a waste of water.
C) They release poisonous gas and lead to pollution.
D) They are burned inefficiently resulting in a waste of resources.

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.
Passage One
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A) The ability to predict fashion trends. C) Years of practical experience.
B) A refined taste for artistic works. D) Strict professional training.
10. A) Promoting all kinds of American hand-made specialties.
B) Strengthening cooperation with foreign governments.
C) Conducting trade in art works with dealers overseas.
D) Purchasing handicrafts from all over the world.
11. A) She has access to fashionable things.
B) She is doing what she enjoys doing.
C) She can enjoy life on a modest salary.
D) She is free to do whatever she wants.
Passage Two
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A) Join in neighborhood patrols.
B) Get involved in his community.
C) Voice his complaints to the city council.
D) Make suggestions to the local authorities.
13. A) Deterioration in the quality of life.
B) Increase of police patrols at night.
C) Renovation of the vacant buildings.
D) Violation of community regulations.
14. A) They may take a long time to solve.
B) They need assistance from the city.
C) They have to be dealt with one by one.
D) They are too big for individual efforts.
15. A) He had got some groceries at a big discount.
B) He had read a funny poster near his seat.
C) He had done a small deed of kindness.
D) He had caught the bus just in time.
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 19 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A) The difficulties of industrialization in North America.
B) The influence of industrialization on people’s life.
C) The negative effect of industrialization in North America.
D) Improved ways of organizing the manufacturing of goods.
17. A) To provide an example of how entrepreneurs increased output by using an extended work system.
B) To provide an example of how entrepreneurs used technological improvements to increase output.
C) To provide an example of how rural workers responded to shoe bosses.
D) To provide an example of how changes in the work system improved the quality of shoes.
18. A)They were located away from large cities.
B)They used new technology to produce power.
C)They did not allow flour to cool before it was placed in barrels.
D) They combined technology with the work system.
19. A) It became easier for factory owners to find workers and customers.
B)Manufacturers had to employ more highly skilled workers.
C) The amount of power required for factories’ operation was reduced.
D)Factories could operate more than one engine at a time.
Questions 20 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.
20. A) The Civil War.
B) An economic depression.
C) A recognition that romanticism was unpopular.
D) An increased interest in the study of common speech.
21. A) Because he wrote humorous stories and novels.
B) Because he rejected romanticism as a literary approach.
C) Because he was the first realist writer in the United States.
D) Because he influenced American prose style through his use of common speech.
22. A) He mainly wrote about historical subjects such as the Civil War.
B) His novels often contained elements of humor.
C) He viewed himself more as a social observer than as a literary artist.
D) He believed writers should emphasize the positive aspects of life.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
23. A) They have remained basically unchanged from their original forms.
B) They have been able to adapt to ecological changes.
C) They have caused rapid change in the environment.
D) They are no longer in existence.
24. A) Extinction of species has occurred from time to time throughout Earth’s history.
B) Extinctions on Earth have generally been massive.
C) There has been only one mass extinction in Earth’s history.
D) Dinosaurs became extinct much earlier than scientists originally believed.

25. A) Extinctions during the past 25 million years have tended to be more intense every 2.6 million years.
B) The theory that the periodic extinction had something to do with the Earth’s movement is only a speculation.
C) This finding was already confirmed by the most prestigious scientists in the world.
D) A species’ survival totally depends on its ability or inability to adapt.
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A.
Directions：In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select
one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage.
Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank
is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer
Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the
bank more than once.
Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Innovation, the elixir (灵丹妙药) of progress, has always cost people their jobs.
In the Industrial Revolution hand weavers were __26__ aside by the mechanical loom.
Over the past 30 years the digital revolution has __27__ many of the mid-skill jobs
that supported 20th-century middle-class life. Typists, ticket agents, bank tellers and
many production-line jobs have been dispensed with, just as the weavers were.
For those who believe that technological progress has made the world a better place,
such disruption is a natural part of rising __28__ . Although innovation kills some jobs, it
creates new and better ones, as a more __29__ society becomes richer and its
wealthier inhabitants demand more goods and services. A hundred years ago one in three
American workers was __30__ on a farm. Today less than 2% of them produce far more
food. The millions freed from the land were not rendered __31__, but found better-paid
work as the economy grew more sophisticated. Today the pool of secretaries has __32__,
but there are ever more computer programmers and web designers.
Optimism remains the right starting-point, but for workers the dislocating effects of
technology may make themselves evident faster than its __33__ Even if new jobs and
wonderful products emerge, in the short term income gaps will widen, causing huge
social dislocation and perhaps even changing politics. Technology’s __34__ will feel
like a tornado (旋风)，hitting the rich world first, but __35__ sweeping through poorer
countries too. No government is prepared for it.

A) benefits K) rhythm
B) displaced L) sentiments
C) employed M) shrunk
D) eventually N) swept
E) impact O) withdrawn
F) jobless
G) primarily
H) productive
I) prosperity
J) responsive

Section B
Directions：In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached
to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify, the
paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more
than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the
corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
 Why the Mona Lisa Stands Out

[A] Have you ever fallen for a novel and been amazed not to find it on lists of great books?
Or walked around a sculpture renowned as a classic, struggling to see what the fuss is
about? If so, you’ve probably pondered the question a psychologist, James Cutting,
asked himself: How does a work of art come to be considered great?
[B] The intuitive answer is that some works of art are just great: of intrinsically superior
quality. The paintings that win prime spots in galleries, get taught in classes and
reproduced in books are the ones that have proved their artistic value over time. If you
can’t see they’re superior, that’s your problem. It’s an intimidatingly neat explanation.
But some social scientists have been asking awkward questions of it, raising the
possibility that artistic canons ( 名 作 目 录 ) are little more than fossilised historical
accidents.
[C] Cutting, a professor at Cornell University, wondered if a psychological mechanism
known as the “mere-exposure effect” played a role in deciding which paintings rise to
the top of the cultural league. Cutting designed an experiment to test his hunch (直觉).
Over a lecture course he regularly showed undergraduates works of impressionism for
two seconds at a time. Some of the paintings were canonical, included in art-history
books. Others were lesser known but of comparable quality. These were exposed four
times as often. Afterwards, the students preferred them to the canonical works, while a
control group of students liked the canonical ones best. Cutting’s students had grown
to like those paintings more simply because they had seen them more.
[D] Cutting believes his experiment offers a clue as to how canons are formed. He points
out that the most reproduced works of impressionism today tend to have been bought
by five or six wealthy and influential collectors in the late 19th century. The
preferences of these men bestowed (给予) prestige on certain works, which made the
works more likely to be hung in galleries and printed in collections. The fame passed
down the years, gaining momentum from mere exposure as it did so. The more people
were exposed to, the more they liked it, and the more they liked it, the more it
appeared in books, on posters and in big exhibitions. Meanwhile, academics and
critics created sophisticated justifications for its preeminence (卓越). After all, it’s not
just the masses who tend to rate what they see more often more highly. As
contemporary artists like Warhol and Damien Hirst have grasped, critics’ praise is
deeply entwined (交织 ) with publicity. “Scholars”, Cutting argues, “are no different
from the public in the effects of mere exposure.”
[E] The process described by Cutting evokes a principle that the sociologist Duncan
Watts calls “cumulative advantage”: once a thing becomes popular, it will tend to
become more popular still. A few years ago, Watts, who is employed by Microsoft to
study the dynamics of social networks, had a similar experience to Cutting‘s in
another Paris museum. After queuing to see the “Mona Lisa” in its climate- controlled
bulletproof box at the Louvre, he came away puzzled: why was it considered so
superior to the three other Leonardos in the previous chamber, to which nobody
seemed to be paying the slightest attention?
[F] When Watts looked into the history of “the greatest painting of all time”, he
discovered that, for most of its life, the “Mona Lisa” remained in relative obscurity. In
the 1850s, Leonardo da Vinci was considered no match for giants of Renaissance art
like Titian and Raphael, whose works were worth almost ten times as much as the
“Mona Lisa”. It was only in the 20th century that Leonardo’s portrait of his patron’s
wife rocketed to the number-one spot. What propelled it there wasn’t a scholarly re-
evaluation, but a theft.
 [G] In 1911 a maintenance worker at the Louvre walked out of the museum with the
“Mona Lisa” hidden under his smock (工作服). Parisians were shocked at the theft of
a painting to which, until then, they had paid little attention. When the museum
reopened, people queued to see the gap where the “Mona Lisa” had once hung in a
way they had never done for the painting itself. From then on, the “Mona Lisa” came
to represent Western culture itself.
[H] Although many have tried, it does seem improbable that the painting’s unique status
can be attributed entirely to the quality of its brushstrokes. It has been said that the
subject’s eyes follow the viewer around the room. But as the painting’s biographer,
Donald Sassoon, dryly notes, “In reality the effect can be obtained from any portrait.”
Duncan Watts proposes that the “Mona Lisa” is merely an extreme example of a
general rule. Paintings, poems and pop songs are buoyed (使浮起) or sunk by random
events or preferences that turn into waves of influence, passing down the generations.
[I] “Saying that cultural objects have value,” Brian Eno once wrote, “is like saying that
telephones have conversations.” Nearly all the cultural objects we consume arrive
wrapped in inherited opinion; our preferences are always, to some extent, someone
else’s. Visitors to the “Mona Lisa” know they are about to visit the greatest work of
art ever and come away appropriately impressed—or let down. An audience at a
performance of “Hamlet” know it is regarded as a work of genius, so that is what they
mostly see. Watts even calls the preeminence of Shakespeare a “historical accident”.
[J] Although the rigid high-low distinction fell apart in the 1960s, we still use culture as a
badge of identity. Today’s fashion for eclecticism ( 折 衷 主 义 )—“I love Bach, Abba
and Jay Z” — is, Shamus Khan, a Columbia University psychologist, argues, a new
way for the middle class to distinguish themselves from what they perceive to be the
narrow tastes of those beneath them in the social hierarchy.
[K] The intrinsic quality of a work of art is starting to seem like its least important attribute.
But perhaps it’s more significant than our social scientists allow. First of all, a work
needs a certain quality to be eligible to be swept to the top of the pile. The “Mona
Lisa” may not be a worthy world champion, but it was in the Louvre in the first
place, and not by accident. Secondly, some stuff is simply better than other stuff. Read
“Hamlet” after reading even the greatest of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, and the
difference may strike you as unarguable.
[L] A study in the British Journal of Aesthetics suggests that the exposure effect doesn’t
work the same way on everything, and points to a different conclusion about how
canons are formed. The social scientists are right to say that we should be a little
sceptical of greatness, and that we should always look in the next room. Great art and
mediocrity (平庸)can get confused, even by experts. But that’s why we need to see,
and read, as much as we can. The more we’re exposed to the good and the bad, the
better we are at telling the difference. The eclecticists have it.

36. According to Duncan Watts, the superiority of the “Mona Lisa” to Leonardo’s other
works resulted from the cumulative advantage.
37. Some social scientists have raised doubts about the intrinsic value of certain works of art.
38. It is often random events or preferences that determine the fate of a piece of art.
39. In his experiment, Cutting found that his subjects liked lesser known works better than
canonical works because of more exposure.
40. The author thinks the greatness of an art work still lies in its intrinsic value.
41. It is true of critics as well as ordinary people that the popularity of artistic works is
closely associated with publicity.
42. We need to expose ourselves to more art and literature in order to tell the superior from
 the inferior.
43. A study of the history of the greatest paintings suggests even a great work of art could
experience years of neglect.
44. Culture is still used as a mark to distinguish one social class from another.
45. Opinions about and preferences for cultural objects are often inheritable.

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.
When the right person is holding the right job at the right moment, that person’s
influence is greatly expanded. That is the position in which Janet Yellen, who is expected
to be confirmed as the next chair of the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) in January, now finds
herself. If you believe, as many do, that unemployment is the major economic and social
concern of our day, then it is no stretch to think Yellen is the most powerful person in the
world right now.
Throughout the 2008 financial crisis and the recession and recovery that followed,
central banks have taken on the role of stimulators of last resort, holding up the global
economy with vast amounts of money in the form of asset buying. Yellen, previously a
Fed vice chair, was one of the principal architects of the Fed’s $3.8 trillion money dump.
A star economist known for her groundbreaking work on labor markets, Yellen was a
kind of prophetess early on in the crisis for her warnings about the subprime ( 次 级 债 )
meltdown. Now it will be her job to get the Fed and the markets out of the biggest and
most unconventional monetary program in history without derailing the fragile recovery.
The good news is that Yellen, 67, is particularly well suited to meet these challenges.
She has a keen understanding of financial markets, an appreciation for their imperfections
and a strong belief that human suffering was more related to unemployment than anything
else.
Some experts worry that Yellen will be inclined to chase unemployment to the
neglect of inflation. But with wages still relatively flat and the economy increasingly
divided between the well-off and the long-term unemployed, more people worry about the
opposite, deflation (通货紧缩) that would aggravate the economy’s problems.
Either way, the incoming Fed chief will have to walk a fine line in slowly ending the
stimulus. It must be steady enough to deflate bubbles ( 去 泡 沫 ) and bring markets back
down to earth but not so quick that it creates another credit crisis.
Unlike many past Fed leaders, Yellen is not one to buy into the finance industry’s
argument that it should be left alone to regulate itself. She knows all along the Fed has
been too slack on regulation of finance.
Yellen is likely to address the issue right after she pushes unemployment below 6%,
stabilizes markets and makes sure that the recovery is more inclusive and robust. As
Princeton Professor Alan Blinder says, “She’s smart as a whip, deeply logical, willing to
argue but also a good listener. She can persuade without creating hostility.” All those
traits will be useful as the global economy’s new power player takes on its most annoying
problems.
56. What do many people think is the biggest problem facing Janet Yellen?
A) Lack of money.
B) Subprime crisis.
C) Unemployment.
D) Social instability.
57. What did Yellen help the Fed do to tackle the 2008 financial crisis?
A) Take effective measures to curb inflation.
B) Deflate the bubbles in the American economy.
C) Formulate policies to help financial institutions.
D) Pour money into the market through asset buying.
58.What is a greater concern of the general public?
A) Recession.
B) Deflation.
C) Inequality.
D) Income.
59. What is Yellen likely to do in her position as the Fed chief?
A) Develop a new monetary program.
B) Restore public confidence.
C) Tighten financial regulation.
D) Reform the credit system.
60. How does Alan Blinder portray Yellen?
A) She possesses strong persuasive power.
B) She has confidence in what she is doing.
C) She is one of the world’s greatest economists.
D) She is the most powerful Fed chief in history.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Air pollution is deteriorating in many places around the world. The fact that public
parks in cities become crowded as soon as the sun shines proves that people long to
breathe in green, open spaces. They do not all know what they are seeking but they flock
there, nevertheless. And, in these surroundings, they are generally both peaceful and
peaceable. It is rare to see people fighting in a garden. Perhaps struggle unfolds first, not
at an economic or social level, but over the appropriation of air, essential to life itself. If
human beings can breathe and share air, they don’t need to struggle with one another.
Unfortunately, in our western tradition, neither materialist nor idealist theoreticians
give enough consideration to this basic condition for life. As for politicians, despite
proposing curbs on environmental pollution, they have not yet called for it to be made a
crime. Wealthy countries are even allowed to pollute if they pay for it.
But is our life worth anything other than money? The plant world shows us in
silence what faithfulness to life consists of. It also helps us to a new beginning, urging us
to care for our breath, not only at a vital but also at a spiritual level. The interdependence
to which we must pay the closest attention is that which exists between ourselves and the
plant world. Often described as “the lungs of the planet”, the woods that cover the earth
offer us the gift of breathable air by releasing oxygen. But their capacity to renew the air
polluted by industry has long reached its limit. If we lack the air necessary for a healthy
life, it is because we have filled it with chemicals and undercut the ability of plants to
regenerate it. As we know, rapid deforestation combined with the massive burning of
fossil fuels is an explosive recipe for an irreversible disaster.
The fight over the appropriation of resources will lead the entire planet to hell unless
humans learn to share life, both with each other and with plants. This task is
simultaneously ethical and political because it can be discharged only when each takes it
upon herself or himself and only when it is accomplished together with others. The lesson
taught by plants is that sharing life expands and enhances the sphere of the living, while
dividing life into so-called natural or human resources diminishes it. We must come to
view the air, the plants and ourselves as the contributors to the preservation of life and
growth, rather than a web of quantifiable objects or productive potentialities at our
disposal. Perhaps then we would finally begin to live, rather than being concerned with
bare survival.
61. What does the author assume might be the primary reason that people would struggle
with each other?
A) To get their share of clean air
B) To pursue a comfortable life.
C) To gain a higher social status.
D) To seek economic benefits.
62. What does the author accuse western politicians of?
A) Depriving common people of the right to clean air.
B) Giving priority to theory rather than practical action.
C) Offering preferential treatment to wealthy countries.
D) Failing to pass laws to curb environmental pollution.
63. What does the author try to draw our closest attention to?
A) The massive burning of fossil fuels.
B) Our relationship to the plant world.
C) The capacity of plants to renew polluted air.
D) Large-scale deforestation across the world.
64. How can human beings accomplish the goal of protecting the plant according to the
author?
A) By showing respect for plants.
B) By preserving all forms of life.
C) By tapping all natural resources.
D) By pooling their efforts together.
65. What does the author suggest we do in order not just to survive?
A) Expand the sphere of living.
B) Develop nature’s potentials.
C) Share life with nature.
D) Allocate the resources.

Part Ⅳ Translation (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from
Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

2011年是中国城市化(urbanization)进程中的历史性时刻,其城市人口首次超
过农村人口。在未来20年里,预计约有3.5亿农村人口将移居到城市。如此规模的
城市发展对城市交通来说既是挑战，也是机遇。中国政府一直提倡“以人为
本”的发展理念,强调人们以公交而不是私家车出行。它还号召建设“资源节约
和环境友好型"社会。有了这个明确的目标,中国城市就可以更好地规划其发
展，并把大量投资转向安全、清洁和经济型交通系统的发展上。