英语六级的阅读材料doc.docx

英语六级的阅读材料doc.docx

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英语六级的阅读材料doc

　六级阅读材料（流利阅读2分钟）

短文1

Nooneknowsforsurejusthowoldkitesare.Infact,theyhavebeeninuseforcenturies.25centuriesago,kiteswerewell-knowninChina.Thesefirstkiteswereprobablymadeofwood.Theymayevenhavebeencoveredwithsilk,becausesilkwereusedalotatthattime.Earlykiteswerebuiltforcertainuses.InancientChina,theywillusetocarryropestocrossrivers.Onceacross,theropeswereteardownandwoodenbridgeswouldhangforthem.LegendtellsofoneGeneralwhoflewmusicalkitesovertheenemies’camp.Theenemyfled,believingthesoundstobethewarmingvoicesofangels.Bythe15thcentury,manypeopleflewkitesinEurope.MarcoPolomayhavebroughtthekitebackfromhisvisittoChina.Thekitehasbeenlinkedtogreatnamesandevents.Forinstance,BenjaminFranklinusedkitetoprovethelighteningelectricity.Heflewthekiteinthestorm.Hedidthisinordertodrawlighteningfromtheclouds.Hetiedametalkeyandastripofsilktothekiteline.Thesilkribbonwouldstopthelighteningfrompassingthroughhisbody.Benjamin’sideawasfirstlaughedat.Butlateron,itenlightenedtheinventionofthelighteningrod.Withsuchgrandhistory,kiteflyingisshortremainanentertainingandpopularsport.

　　短文2

　　Ihavelearntmanylanguages,butI’mnotmasteredthemthewaytheprofessionalinterpreterortranslatorhas.Still,theyhaveopendoorsforme.Theyhaveallowedmetheopportunitytoseekjobsininternationalcontextsandhelpmegetthosejobs.Likemanypeoplewhohavelivedoverseasforawhile,Isimplygotcrazyaboutit.Ican’timagelivingmyprofessionalorsociallifewithoutinternationalinteractions.Since1977,IhavespentmuchmoretimeabroadthanintheUnitedStates.Ilikegoingtonewplaces,eatingnewfoodsandexperiencingnewcultures.Ifyoucanspeakthelanguage,it’seasiertogettoknowthecountryanditspeople.IfIhadthetimeandmoney.Iwouldliveforayearinasmanycountriesaspossible.Beyondmycareer,myfacilitywithlanguageshasgivenmeafewrareopportunities.Once,justafterIreturnedmyyearinVienna.IwasaskedtotranslateforaGermanjudgeatOlympiclevelhorseeventandlearnedalotaboutthesport.

　　InJapan,oncewhenIwasinthestudioaudienceofaTVcookingshow,IwasaskedtogouponthestageandtastethebeefdishthatwasbeingpreparedandtellwhatIthought.Theyasked”WasitasgoodasAmericanbeef?

”ItwasveryexcitingformetobeonJapaneseTV,speakinginJapaneseabouthowdeliciousthebeefwas.

　　短文3

　　Dr.BenCarsengrewupinapoorsingleparenthouse-holdinDetroit.Hismother,whohadonlya3rdgradeeducationheldstwojobscleaningbathrooms.Tohisclassmatesandeventohisteachershewasthoughtofasthedummestkidinhisclass.Accordingtohisownnotsofondmemories.

　　Hehadaterribletemper,andoncethreatenedtokillanotherchild.Dr.Carsenwasheadeddownpartofselddistractionuntilacriticalmomentinhisyouth.Hismotherconvincedthathehadtodosomethingdramaticpreventingleadingalifeoffailurelaiddownsomerules.Hecouldnotwatchtelevisionexceptfortwoprogramsaweek,couldnotplaywithhisfriendsafterschooluntilhefinishedhishomework.Andhadtoreadtwobooksaweek,andwritebookreportsaboutthem.Hismother’sstrategyworked.“Ofcourse,Ididn’tknowshecouldn’tread.SothereIwassubmittingthesereports.”hesaid.Shewouldputcheckmarksonthemlikeshehadbeenreadingthem.AsIbegantoreadaboutscientists，economistsandphilosophers.Istartedimagingmyselfintheirshoes.Ashegotintothehobbitofhardwork,hisgradebegantosoar.UltimatelyhereceivedascholarshiptoattendingYaleUniversity,andlaterhewasadmittedtotheUniversityofMichiganMedicalSchool.HeisnowaleadingsurgeonatJohnsHopkinsMedicalSchoolandheisalsotheauthorofthethreebooks.

短文4

Inearly1994,whenMarkAndreessenwasjust23yearsold,hearrivedinSiliconValleywithanideathatwouldchangetheworld.AsastudentattheUniversityofIllinois,heandhisfriendshaddevelopedaprogramcalledMosaic,whichallowedpeopletoshareinformationontheworldwideweb.BeforeMosaic,thewebhadbeenusedmainlybyscientistsandothertechnicalpeople,whowerehappyjusttosendandreceivetext.ButwithMosaic,Andreessenandhisfriendshaddevelopedaprogram,whichcouldsendimagesoverthewebaswell.Mosaicwasanovernightsuccess.Itwasputontheuniversity’snetworkatthebeginningof1993.Andbytheendoftheyear,ithadoveramillionusers.Soonafter,AndreessenwenttoseekhisfortuneinSiliconValley.Oncehegotthere,hestartedtohavemeetingswithamancalledJimClark,whowasoneoftheValley’smostfamousentrepreneurs.In1994,nobodywasmakinganyrealmoneyfromtheInternet,whichwasstillveryslowandhardtouse.ButAndreessenhadseenanopportunitythatwouldmakehimandClarkrichwithintwoyears.HesuggestedtheyshouldcreateanewcomputerprogramthatwoulddothesamejobasMosaicbutwouldbemucheasiertouse.ClarklistenedcarefullytoAndreessen,whoseideasandenthusiasmimpressedhimgreatly.Eventually,Clarkagreedtoinvestthreemilliondollarsofhisownmoneyintheproject,andtoraiseanextrafifteenmillionfromventurecapitalists,whowerealwayskeentolistentoClark’snewideas.

短文5

Themainpartofthischapterwilldealdirectlywiththetechnicalandartisticlimitationsandresourcesthatmaketelevisionunique.Butsomeimportantdifferencesbetweentelevisionandotherformsofliteratureneedmentioningbeforewebegin.

　　Inthefirstplace,sincetheliteratureoftelevisionistransmittedsimultaneouslytomillionsofpeople,itscreatorsaresubjecttolimitationsoftheme,language,andstyle.Ingeneral,thewiderthebaseoftheaudience,thegreaterthedegreeofrestrictionimposedonthecreator,andnocontemporaryliteraryformhasamoremassiveaudiencethantelevision.

　　Inthesecondplace,thelinethatseparatescommercialinterestsfromliteraryinterestsintelevisionislessdistinctthaninmostotherliteraryforms.Tobesure,thepublisherofnovelsandtheproducerofstageplaysareconcernedwithmakingmoney.Butintelevisiontheadvertiser,themanwhopaysthebill,isprimarilyconcernedwiththesaleofacommercialproductratherthananartisticone.Atthesametime,sellingproductsandpresentinghighqualityprogramsarenotnecessarilyincompatiblemotives.Thereare,infact,numerousexamplesofsponsorswhohavedonebothsimultaneously.

　　Wemustremember,too,thattheliteratureoftelevision,unlikemosttypesofliterature,ishighlyephemeral（短暂的）incharacter.Atthemoment,thelibrariesoftelevisionareits"reruns",butevenso,aparticularshowmustbeseenataspecifictimeoritcannotbeseenatall.Asaresult,studyingorteachingabouttelevisionpresentscertainproblemsnotfoundinthestudyofothertypesofliterature,exceptthelegitimatestage.

　短文6

Itisdoingsomethingbetterthanotherpeoplethatmakesusunique.Yetasurprisingnumberofpeoplestillseeindividualityasasurfacething.Theywearbrightclothes,dyetheirhairstrangecolorsanddecoratetheirskinwithtattoos（文身）tomakesomekindofsocialstatement.

　　Thewholepurposeofindividualityisexcellence.Thepeoplewhocomprehendthesimpleprincipleofbeinguniquethroughperformancemakeourentirepoliticalandeconomicsystemwork.Thosewhoinvent,whoimprove,whoknowmoreaboutasubjectthanotherpeopledo,andwhotakesomethingthatdoesn'tworkandmakeitwork—thesepeoplearetheverysoulofcapitalism.

　　CharlesKetteringdidn'tliketheideaofcrankingacartomakeitstart,soheinventedtheelectricstarter.HenryFordfiguredouttheassembly-linetechniqueandmadeitpossibletomass-produceautomobiles.LewisWatermansawnoneedtogoondippingapenintoaninkwell,soheputtheinkintothepen.GeorgeWestinghousetoldtheworldhowtostopatrain,andElishaOtis,inventoroftheelevator,indirectlycreatedthecityskyline.Thesepeopleunderstoodthatindividualismmeansworkingatthetopofone'scapacity.

　　Fortunately,enoughAmericanshavebeeninspiredtodosomethingwiththeiruniquenessthatwehavedevelopedinlessthanthreecenturiesfromafrontieroutpostintonotonlyacountryoffreedombutacountrystrongenoughtoprotectthatfreedom.Thesepeopleprizedthenotionsofindividualityandexcellenceaboveallthingsandthuskeptthegreatmachinefunctioning.Theoneswiththepurplehairandthehorrorablejewelryarejustalongfortheride,tryingtobe"different"andnotknowinghowtogoaboutit.

短文7

Lazinessisasin（罪）,everyoneknowsthat.Wehaveprobablyallhadlecturespointingoutthatlazinessisimmoral,thatitiswasteful,andthatlazypeoplewillneveramounttoanythinginlife.Butlazinesscanbemoreharmfulthanthat,anditisoftencausedbymorecomplexreasonsratherthansimplewishtoavoidwork.Somepeoplewhoappeartobelazyaresufferingfrommuchmoreseriousproblems.Theymaybesodistrustfuloftheirfellowworkersthattheyareunabletojoininanygrouptaskforfearofridiculeorofhavingtheirideastolen.Thesepeoplewhoseemlazymayberuinedbyafearoffailurethatpreventsfruitfulwork.Orothersortsoffantasies（幻想）maypreventwork;somepeoplearesobusyplanning,sometimesplanninggreatdealsoffantasticachievementsthattheyareunabletodealwithwhatever"lesser"workisonhand.Stillotherpeoplearenotavoidingwork;strictlyspeaking,theyaremerelyprocrastinatingreschedulingtheirday.

　　Lazinesscanactuallybehelpful.Likeprocrasti