英语六级真题原文与答案.docx

英语六级真题原文与答案.docx

《英语六级真题原文与答案.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《英语六级真题原文与答案.docx（79页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

英语六级真题原文与答案

2014-6-1

Textinghaslongbeenbemoaned（哀叹）asthedownfall01thewrittenword,"penmanshipforilliterates,"asonecriticcalledit.TowhichtheproperresponseisLOL.Textingproperlyisn't,writingatall.It'sa"spoken"languagethatisgettingricherandmorecomplexbytheyear.

First,somehistoricalperspective.Writingwasonlyinvented5,500yearsago,whereaslanguageprobablytracesbackatleast80,000years.Thustalkingcamefirst;writingisjustacraftthatcamealonglater.Assuch,thefirstwritingwasbasedonthewaypeopletalk,withshortsentences.However,whiletalkingislargelysubconsciousandrapid,writingisdeliberateandslow.Overtime,writerstookadvantageofthisandstartedcraftinglong-windedsentencessuchasthisone:

"Thewholeengagementlastedabove12hours,tillthegradualretreatofthePersianswaschangedintoadisorderlyflight,ofwhichtheshamefulexamplewasgivenbytheprincipalleadersand..."

Noonetalkslikethatcasually-orshould.Butitisnaturaltodesiretodosoforspecialoccasions.Intheolddays,wedidn'tmuchwriteliketalkingbecausetherewasnomechanismtoreproducethespeedofconversation.Buttextingandinstantmessagingdo-andarevolutionhasbegun.Itinvolvesthecrudemechanicsofwriting,butinitseconomy,spontaneityandevenvulgarity,textingisactuallyanewkindoftalking,withitsownkindofgrammarandconventions.

TakeLOL.Itdoesn'tactuallymean"laughingoutloud"inaliteralsenseanymore.LOLhasevolvedintosomethingmuchsubtlerandsophisticatedandisusedevenwhennothingisremotelyamusing.Jocelyntexts"Wherehaveyoubeen?

"andAnnabelletextsback"LOLatthelibrarystudyingfortwohours."LOLsignalsbasicempathy（同感）betweentexters,easingtensionandcreatingasenseofequality.Insteadofhavingaliteralmeaning,itdoessomething-conveyinganattitude-justliketheedendingconveyspasttenseratherthan"meaning"anything.LOL,ofallthings,isgrammar.

Ofcoursenoonethinksabout,thatconsciously.Butthenmostofcommunicationoperateswithoutbeingnoticed.Overtime,themeaningofawordoranexpressiondrifts-meatusedtomeananykindoffood,sillyusedtomean,believeitornot,blessed.

Civilization,then,isfine-peoplebangingawayontheirsmartphonesarefluentlyusingacodeseparatefromtheonetheyuseinactualwriting,andthereisnoevidencethattextingisruiningcompositionskills.Worldwidepeoplespeakdifferentlyfromthewaytheywrite,andtexting-quick,casualandonlyintendedtobereadonce-isactuallyawayoftalkingwithyourfingers.

56.Whatdocriticssayabouttexting?

A）Itismainlyconfinedtoyoungsters.

B）Itcompeteswithtraditionalwriting.

C）Itwillruinthewrittenlanguage.

D）Itisoftenhardtounderstand.

57.Inwhatwaydoestheauthorsaywritingisdifferentfromtalking?

A）Itiscraftedwithspecificskills.

B）Itexpressesideasmoreaccurately.

C）Itdoesnothaveaslongahistory.

D）Itisnotaseasytocomprehend.

58.WhyisLOLmuchusedintexting?

A）Itbringstextersclosertoeachother.

B）Itshowsthetexter'ssophistication.

C）Itisatrendywaytocommunicate.

D）Itaddstothehumorofthetext.

59.Exampleslikemeatandsillyarecitedtoshow______.

A）thedifferencebetweenwritingandtalking

B）howdifferentlywordsareusedintexting

C）whypeopleusethewordsthewaytheydo

D）thegradualchangeofwordmeaning

60.Whatdoestheauthorthinkoftexting?

A）Itfacilitatesexchangeofideasamongpeople.

B）Itisanewformofverbalcommunication.

C）Itdeterioratespeople'scompositionskills.

D）Ithastensthedeclineofthewrittenword.

56-60CAADB

PassageTwo

It'spossibletoadmireOprahWinfreyandstillwishHarvardhadn'tawardedheranhonorarydoctoroflawdegreeandthecommencement（毕业典礼）speakerspotatyesterday'sgraduation.There'snoquestionOprah'sachievementsplaceherinthetempleofAmericansuccessstories.Talent,charm,andanexceptionalworkethichaverarelyhurledanyoneasfarastheyhavethisformerabusedteenagemotherfromruralMississippiwhobecameoneoftheworld'smostsuccessfulentertainmenticonsandthefirstAfrican-Americanfemalebillionaire.

Honorarydegreesareoftenconferredonnon-academicleadersinthearts,business,andpolitics.Harvard'slistinrecentyearshasincludedKofiAnnan,BillGates,MerylStreep,andDavidSouter.ButOprah'sparticularbrandofcelebrityisnotagoodfitforthevaluesofauniversitywhosemotto（座右铭）,Veritas,meanstruth.Oprah'spassionateadvocacyextends,unfortunately,toaheartyembraceoffakescience.Mostnotoriously,Oprah'svalidationofJennyMcCarthy'sclaimthatvaccinescauseautism（自闭症）hasnodoubtcontributedtomuchharmthroughthefoolishavoidanceofvaccines.

Famouspeopleareentitledtoafewfailings,liketherestofus,andthechoiceofcommencementspeakersoftenreflectsabalanceofinstitutionalprioritiesandaspirations.Judgingfromourconversationswithmanystudents,Oprahwasawidelypopularchoice.

ButthisvoteofconfidenceinOprahsendsatroublingmessageatpreciselythetimewhenAmericanuniversitiesneedtodomoretoadvancethecauseofreason.AsformerDeanofHarvardCollege,HarryLewis,notedinablogpostabouthisobjections,"ItseemsveryoddforHarvardtohonorsuchahighprofilepopularizeroftheirrational...atatimewhenpoliticalandreligiousnonsensesojeopardizetheruleofreasoninthisallegedlyenlighteneddemocracyandaroundtheworld."

AsAmerica'soldestandmostvisibleuniversity,Harvardhasaspecialopportunitytoconveyitsrespectforsciencenotonlythroughitsresearchandteachingprogramsbutalsoinitspublicaffirmationofevidence-basedinquiry.

Unfortunately,manyAmericanuniversitiesseemawfullybusyprotectingtheirbrandnameandnotnearlybusyenoughprotectingthepursuitofknowledge.ArecentarticleinTheHarvardCrimsonnotedtheshockinggrowthofHarvard'spublicrelationsarminthelastfiveyearsanditquestionedwhetherafocusonriskmanagementandavoidingcontroversywasreallythebestoutward-lookingfaceofthisgreatinstitution.

AsAmericanresearchuniversitiesbegintoresembleprofitcentersandentertainmentcomplexes,it'seasytolosesightoftheirprimarymission:

toproduceandspreadknowledge.Thismissiondependsontraditionsofrationaldiscourseandvigorousdefenseofthescientificmethod.OprahWinfrey'shonorarydoctoratewasastepinthewrongdirection.

61.WhatdowelearnaboutOprahWinfreyfromthepassage?

A）ShewasadistinguishedgraduateofHarvardSchoolofLaw.

B）Sheworkedherwaytosuccessintheentertainmentindustry.

C）Sheusedtoabuseherchildrenwhenshewasayoungmother.

D）Sheachievedherfamethroughpersistentadvocacyoffakescience.

62.WirydoestheauthordeemitinappropriateforHarvardtoconferairhonorarydegreeonOprahWinfrey?

A）Shedidnotspecializeinthestudyoflaw.

B）Shewasknownasssupporteroflakescience.

C）Shewasaniconoftheentertainmentindustry.

D）Shehadnotdistinguishedherselfacademically.

63.HowdidHarryLewisreacttoHarvard'sdecisioninhisblogpost?

A）Hewasstronglyagainstit.

B）Heconsidereditunpopular.

C）HethoughtitwouldhelpenhanceHarvard'sreputation.

D）HethoughtitrepresentedthewilloftheHarvardcommunity.

64.Whatistheauthor'sregretaboutmanyAmericanuniversities?

A）Theyshowinadequaterespectforevidence-basedinquiry.

B）Theyfallshortofexpectationsinteachingandresearch.

C）Theyattachtoomuchimportancetopublicrelations.

D）Theyaretolerantofpoliticalandreligiousnonsense.

65.WhatdoestheauthorthinkaprestigiousuniversitylikeHarvardshouldfocuson?

A）Cultivationofstudentcreativity.

B）Defenseofthescientificmethod.

C）Liberationofthehumanmind.

D）Pursuitofknowledgeandtruth.

61-65BBACD

2014-6-2

Technologycanmakeussmarterorstupider,andweneedtodevelopasetofprinciplestoguideoureverydaybehaviorandmakesurethattechisimprovingandnothinderingourmentalprocesses.Oneofthebigquestionsbeingdebatedtodayis:

Whatkindofinformationdoweneedtohavestoredinourheads,andwhatkindcanweleave"inthecloud,"tobeaccessedasnecessary?

Anincreasinglypowerfulgroupwithineducationarechampioning"digitalliteracy".Intheirview,skillsbeat,knowledge,developing"digitalliteracy"ismoreimportantthanlearningmerecontent,andallfactsarenowGoogle-ableandthereforeunworthyofcommittingtomemory.Buteventhemostsophisticateddigitalliteracyskillswon'thelpstudentsandworkersnavigatetheworldiftheydon'thaveabroadbaseofknowledgeabouthowtheworldactuallyoperates.Ifyoufocusonthedeliverymechanismandnotthecontent,you'redoingkidsadisservice.

Indeed,evidencefromcognitivesciencechallengesthenotionthatskillscanexistindependentoffactualknowledge.Datafromthelastthirtyyearsleadstoaconclusionthatisnotscientificallychallengeable:

thinkingwellrequiresknowingfacts,andthat'struenotonlybecauseyouneedsomethingtothinkabout.Theveryprocessesthatteacherscareaboutmost-criticalthinkingprocesses-areintimatelyintertwined（交织）withfactualknowledgethatisstoredinlong-termmemory.

Inorderwords,justbecauseyoucanGooglethedateofBlackTuesdaydoesn'tmeanyouunderstandwhytheGreatDepressionhappenedorhowitcomparestoourrecenteconomicslump.Thereisnodoubtthatthestudentsoftoday,andtheworkersoftomorrow,willneedtoinnovate,collaborateandevaluate.Butsuchskillscan'tbeseparatedfromtheknowledgethatgivesrisetothem.