大学英语六级考试真题阅读全3套.docx

大学英语六级考试真题阅读全3套.docx

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大学英语六级考试真题阅读全3套

2015年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第一套）

WhytheMonaLisaStandsOut

[A]Haveyoueverfallenforanovelandbeenamazednottofinditonlistsofgreatbooks?

Orwalkedaroundasculpturerenownedasaclassic,strugglingtoseewhatthefussisabout?

Ifso,you’veprobablyponderedthequestionCuttingaskedhimselfthatday:

howdoesaworkofartcometobeconsideredgreat?

[B]Theintuitiveansweristhatsomeworksofartarejustgreat:

ofintrinsicallysuperiorquality.Thepaintingsthatwinprimespotsingalleries,gettaughtinclassesandreproducedinbooksaretheonesthathaveprovedtheirartisticvalueovertime.Ifyoucan’tseethey’resuperior,that’syourproblem.It’sanintimidatinglyneatexplanation.Butsomesocialscientistshavebeenaskingawkwardquestionsofit,raisingthepossibilitythatartisticcanonsarelittlemorethanfossilisedhistoricalaccidents.

[C]Cutting,aprofessoratCornellUniversity,wonderedifapsychologicalmechanismknownasthe“mere-exposureeffect”playedaroleindecidingwhichpaintingsrisetothetopoftheculturalleague.Cuttingdesignedanexperimenttotesthishunch.Overalecturecourseheregularlyshowedundergraduatesworksofimpressionismfortwosecondsatatime.Someofthepaintingswerecanonical,includedinart-historybooks.Otherswerelesserknownbutofcomparablequality.Thesewereexposedfourtimesasoften.Afterwards,thestudentspreferredthemtothecanonicalworks,whileacontrolgroupofstudentslikedthecanonicalonesbest.Cutting’sstudentshadgrowntolikethosepaintingsmoresimplybecausetheyhadseenthemmore.

[D]Cuttingbelieveshisexperimentoffersaclueastohowcanonsareformed.Hepointsoutthatthemostreproducedworksofimpressionismtodaytendtohavebeenboughtbyfiveorsixwealthyandinfluentialcollectorsinthelate19thcentury.Thepreferencesofthesemenbestowedprestigeoncertainworks,whichmadetheworksmorelikelytobehungingalleriesandprintedinanthologies.Thefamepasseddowntheyears,gainingmomentumfrommereexposureasitdidso.Themorepeoplewereexposedto,themoretheylikedit,andthemoretheylikedit,themoreitappearedinbooks,onpostersandinbigexhibitions.Meanwhile,academicsandcriticscreatedsophisticatedjustificationsforitspre-eminence.Afterall,it’snotjustthemasseswhotendtoratewhattheyseemoreoftenmorehighly.AscontemporaryartistslikeWarholandDamienHirsthavegrasped,criticalacclaimisdeeplyentwinedwithpublicity.“Scholars”,Cuttingargues,“arenodifferentfromthepublicintheeffectsofmereexposure.”

[E]TheprocessdescribedbyCuttingevokesaprinciplethatthesociologistDuncanWattscalls“cumulativeadvantage”:

onceathingbecomespopular,itwilltendtobecomemorepopularstill.Afewyearsago,Watts,whoisemployedbyMicrosofttostudythedynamicsofsocialnetworks,hadasimilarexperiencetoCuttinginanotherParismuseum.Afterqueuingtoseethe“MonaLisa”initsclimate-controlledbulletproofboxattheLouvre,hecameawaypuzzled:

whywasitconsideredsosuperiortothethreeotherLeonardosinthepreviouschamber,towhichnobodyseemedtobepayingtheslightestattention?

[F]WhenWattslookedintothehistoryof“thegreatestpaintingofalltime”,hediscoveredthat,formostofitslife,the“MonaLisa”remainedinrelativeobscurity.Inthe1850s,LeonardodaVinciwasconsiderednomatchforgiantsofRenaissanceartlikeTitianandRaphael,whoseworkswereworthalmosttentimesasmuchasthe“MonaLisa”.Itwasonlyinthe20thcenturythatLeonardo’sportraitofhispatron’swiferocketedtothenumber-onespot.Whatpropelledittherewasn’tascholarlyre-evaluation,butatheft.

[G]In1911amaintenanceworkerattheLouvrewalkedoutofthemuseumwiththe“MonaLisa”hiddenunderhissmock.Parisianswereaghastatthetheftofapaintingtowhich,untilthen,theyhadpaidlittleattention.Whenthemuseumreopened,peoplequeuedtoseethegapwherethe“MonaLisa”hadoncehunginawaytheyhadneverdoneforthepaintingitself.Fromthenon,the“MonaLisa”cametorepresentWesterncultureitself.

[H]Althoughmanyhavetried,itdoesseemimprobablethatthepainting’suniquestatuscanbeattributedentirelytothequalityofitsbrushstrokes.Ithasbeensaidthatthesubject’seyesfollowthevieweraroundtheroom.Butasthepainting’sbiographer,DonaldSassoon,drylynotes,“Inrealitytheeffectcanbeobtainedfromanyportrait.”DuncanWattsproposesthatthe“MonaLisa”ismerelyanextremeexampleofageneralrule.Paintings,poemsandpopsongsarebuoyedorsunkbyrandomeventsorpreferencesthatturnintowavesofinfluence,ripplingdownthegenerations.

[I]“Sayingthatculturalobjectshavevalue,”BrianEnooncewrote,“islikesayingthattelephoneshaveconversations.”Nearlyalltheculturalobjectsweconsumearrivewrappedininheritedopinion;ourpreferencesarealways,tosomeextent,someoneelse’s.Visitorstothe“MonaLisa”knowtheyareabouttovisitthegreatestworkofarteverandcomeawayappropriatelyimpressed—orletdown.Anaudienceataperformanceof“Hamlet”knowitisregardedasaworkofgenius,sothatiswhattheymostlysee.Wattsevencallsthepre-eminenceofShakespearea“historicalaccident”.

[J]Althoughtherigidhigh-lowdistinctionfellapartinthe1960s,westillusecultureasabadgeofidentity.Today’sfashionforeclecticism—“IloveBach,AbbaandJayZ”—is,ShamusKhan,aColumbiaUniversitypsychologist,argues,anewwayforthemiddleclasstodistinguishthemselvesfromwhattheyperceivetobethenarrowtastesofthosebeneaththeminthesocialhierarchy.

[K]Theintrinsicqualityofaworkofartisstartingtoseemlikeitsleastimportantattribute.Butperhapsit’smoresignificantthanoursocialscientistsallow.Firstofall,aworkneedsacertainqualitytobeeligibletobeswepttothetopofthepile.The“MonaLisa”maynotbeaworthyworldchampion,butitwasintheLouvreinthefirstplace,andnotbyaccident.Secondly,somestuffissimplybetterthanotherstuff.Read“Hamlet”afterreadingeventhegreatestofShakespeare’scontemporaries,andthedifferencemaystrikeyouasunarguable.

[L]Astudyinthe BritishJournalofAesthetics suggeststhattheexposureeffectdoesn’tworkthesamewayoneverything,andpointstoadifferentconclusionabouthowcanonsareformed.Thesocialscientistsarerighttosaythatweshouldbealittleskepticalofgreatness,andthatweshould alwayslookinthenextroom.Greatartandmediocritycangetconfused,evenbyexperts.Butthat’swhyweneedtosee,andread,asmuchaswecan.Themorewe’reexposedtothegoodandthebad,thebetterweareattellingthedifference.Theeclecticistshaveit.

46.AccordingtoDuncanWatts,thesuperiorityofthe"MonaLisa"toLeonardo'sotherworksresultedfromthecumulativeadvantage.

47.Somesocialscientistshaveraiseddoubtsabouttheintrinsicvalueofcertainworksofart.

48.Itisoftenrandomeventsorpreferencesthatdeterminethefateofapieceofart.

49.Inhisexperiment,Cuttingfoundthathissubjectslikedlesserknownworksbetterthancanonicalworksbecauseofmoreexposure.

50.Theauthorthinksthegreatnessofanartworkstillliesinitsintrinsicvalue.

51.Itistrueofcriticsaswellasordinarypeoplethatthepopularityofartisticworksiscloselyassociatedwithpublicity.

52.Weneedtoexposeourselvestomoreartandliteratureinordertotellthesuperiorfromtheinferior.

53.Astudyofthehistoryofthegreatestpaintingssuggestsevenagreatworkofartcouldexperienceyearsofneglect.

54.Cultureisstillusedasamarktodistinguishonesocialclassfromanother.

55.Opinionsaboutandpreferencesforculturalobjectsareofteninheritable.

SectionC

PassageOne

Questions56to60arebasedonthefollowingpassage.

Whentherightpersonisholdingtherightjobattherightmoment,thatperson'sinfluenceisgreatlyexpanded.ThatisthepositioninwhichJanetYellen,whoisexpectedtobeconfirmedasthenextchairoftheFederalReserveBank（Fed）inJanuary,nowfindsherself.Ifyoubelieve,asmanydo,thatunemploymentisthemajoreconomicandsocialconcernofourday,thenitisnostretchtothinkYellenisthemostpowerfulpersonintheworldrightnow.

Throughoutthe2008financialcrisisandtherecessionandrecoverythatfollowed,centralbankshavetakenontheroleofstimulatorsoflastresort,holdinguptheglobaleconomywithvastamountsofmoneyintheformofassetbuying.Yellen,previouslyaFedvicechair,wasoneoftheprincipalarchitectsoftheFed's$3.8trillionmoneydump.Astareconomistknownforhergroundbreakingworkonlabormarkets,Yeilenwasakindofprophetessearlyoninthecrisisforherwarningsaboutthesubprime（次级债）meltdown.NowitwillbeherjobtogettheFedandthemarketsoutofthebiggestandmostunconventionalmonetaryprograminhistorywithoutderailingthefragilerecovery.

ThegoodnewsisthatYellen,67,isparticularlywellsuitedtomeetthesechallenges.Shehasakeenunderstandingoffinancialmarkets,anappreciationfortheirimperfectionsandastrongbeliefthathumansufferingwasmorerelatedtounemploymentthananythingelse.

SomeexpertsworrythatYellenwillbeinclinedtochaseunemploymenttotheneglectofinflation.Butwithwagesstillrelativelyflatandtheeconomyincreasinglydividedbetweenthewell-offandthelong-termunemployed'morepeopleworryabouttheopposite,deflation（通货紧缩）thatwouldaggravatetheeconomy'sproblems.

Eitherway,theincomingFedchiefwillhavetowalkafinelineinslowlyendingthestimulus.Itmustbesteadyenough