近年六级真题

2023年6月大学英语六级考试真题(第1套)

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “It is widely accepted that an important goal of education is to help students learn how to learn.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

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.

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

A. It was spacious and tranquil.
B. It was warm and comfortable.
C. It was shabby and solitary.
D. It was tiny and noisy.
A. She no longer hates people talking loudly in the dorm.
B. She misses her roommates she used to complain about.
C. She begins to enjoy the movies she once found irritating.
D. She finds the crowded dorm as cozy as her new apartment.
A. He found the apartment perfectly furnished.
B. He had a feeling of despair and frustration.
C. He had a similar feeling to the woman’s.
D. He felt the new place was like paradise.
A. Go to see the woman’s apartment.
B. Make a phone call to his parents.
C. Buy some furniture for the woman.
D. Decorate the woman’s apartment.

Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A. He works as a literary critic.
B. He hosts an educational program.
C. He has initiated a university reform.
D. He has published a book recently.
6. A. It fails to keep up with the radical changes of society.
B. It fails to ensure universities get sufficient resources.
C. It has not prepared young people for the job market.
D. It has not fostered the growth of the arts disciplines.
7. A. More of the budget should go to science and technology.
B. The underfunded music discipline should be prioritized.
C. Subdisciplines like sculpture should get more funding.
D. Literature should get as much funding as engineering.
8. A. Build a prosperous nation.
B. Make skilled professionals.
C. Create ingenious artists.
D. Cultivate better citizens.

Section B

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A. It is quite common.
B. It is rarely noticed.
C. It seldom annoys people.
D. It occurs when one is alone.
10. A. Seeing things in black and white.
B. Engaging in regular contemplation.
C. Having a special understanding of creativity.
D. Knowing how to make their mental batteries work.
11. A. Engaging in intense activity.
B. Fantasizing in one’s down time.
C. Working on a particular project.
D. Reflecting during one’s relaxation.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A. Farmers helped Native Americans grow crops.
B. There were expansive university campuses.
C. There existed post offices.
D. Migrants found gold there.
13. A. It helped to boost the economy in the American West.
B. It provided job opportunities for many gold seekers.
C. It extended the influence of the federal government.
D. It kept people in the deserts and plains connected.
14. A. It employed Native Americans to work as postmen.
B. It commissioned private wagons to carry the mail.
C. It subsidized the locals who acted as postmasters.
D. It centralized postal services in its remote areas.
15. A. He analyzed interactive maps of mail routes.
B. He read a large collection of books on the topic.
C. He examined its historical trends with data science.
D. He collected data about its impact on local business.

Section C

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A. Higher levels of anxiety may improve people’s memory.
B. Some experiences are easier to remember than others.
C. Most people tend to remember things selectively.
D. Simple thing may leave a deep impression on one’s memory.
17. A. They classified the participants’ mindset.
B. They showed some photos to the participants.
C. They measured the participants’ anxiety levels.
D. They tested the size of the participants’ vocabulary.
18. A. Anxiety has become a serious problem for an increasing number of people.
B. Extreme levels of anxiety can adversely affect cognitive performance.
C. People diagnosed with anxiety disorder may forget things selectively.
D. There is no direct correlation between memory and levels of anxiety.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A. They compare products from different companies before making a choice.
B. They get information from other consumers’ postings and comments.
C. They lose patience when their phone call is not promptly answered.
D. They expect to get instantaneous responses to their inquiry.
20. A. Giving them rewards on the spot.
B. Broadening their scope of interest.
C. Speaking directly to their emotions.
D. Focusing on the details of the product.
21. A. Change the rules of the game in the market every year.
B. Keep up with the latest technological developments.
C. Learn from technological innovators to do business.
D. Make greater efforts to build up consumers’ confidence.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
22. A. People have only one social engagement per week.
B. Working together enhances friendship.
C. Few people have devoted friends.
D. Friendships benefit work.
23. A. The impact of friends on people’s self-esteem.
B. How supportive friends can be in the workplace.
C. How to boost one’s sense of value and worthiness.
D. The role of family ties in people’s mental well-being.
24. A. They show little interest in their friends’ work.
B. They tend to be much more difficult to make.
C. They are more trustworthy and reliable.
D. They increase people’s job satisfaction.
25. A. Allow employees to have a flexible work schedule.
B. Encourage employees to be friends with colleagues.
C. Help employees balance work and family responsibilities.
D. Organize activities to nourish friendships outside of work.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Scientists recently examined studies on dog intelligence and compared them with research into the minds of other intelligent animals. The researchers found that dogs are among the more intelligent carnivores (食肉动物), social hunters and domestic animals, but that their intelligence does not 26 N other intelligent animals in any of those categories. Though a significant body of research has examined dog cognition 27 K, the authors of this new study found little to warrant the 28 O of work that has been devoted to the topic.

Stephen Lea, lead author of the new study, argues that many researchers seem to have designed their studies to 29 M how clever dogs are, rather than simply to study dogs’ brains. Lea and a colleague examined more than 300 studies of dog cognition, comparing the studies’ results with those from research into other animals. The researchers made specific comparisons between the different species in different categories of intelligence. These comparisons 30 A that dogs are intelligent, but their intelligence is not as 31 G as some researchers might have believed.

In many areas, though, comparisons were not possible. For example, the researchers noted that both dogs and cats are known to be able to recognize and 32 D human voices. But the investigators could not find any data to indicate which species can remember a greater number of 33 E human voices, so it was impossible to compare the two on that front. However, not all researchers agree 34 C with the findings of this study. Zachary Silver, an American researcher, believes the authors of the new study 35 I the idea that an excessive amount of research has been devoted to dogs, as the field of dog cognition is young, and there is much to be learned about how dogs think.

A. affirmed F. domain K. previously
B. approximately G. formidable L. prospective
C. completely H. outperformed M. prove
D. differentiate I. overstated N. surpass
E. distinct J. pledge O. volume

Section B

The Lifesaving Power of Gratitude

A. Gratitude may be more beneficial than we commonly suppose. One recent study asked participants to write a note of thanks to someone and then estimate how surprised and happy the recipient would feel - an impact that they consistently underestimated. Another study assessed the health benefits of writing thank-you notes. The researchers found that writing as few as three weekly thank-you notes over the course of three weeks improved life satisfaction, increased happy feelings and reduced symptoms of depression.

B. While this research into gratitude is relatively new, the principles involved are anything but. Students of mine in a political philosophy course at Indiana University are reading Daniel Defoe’s 300-year-old Robinson Crusoe, often regarded as the first novel published in English. Left alone on an unknown island with no apparent prospect of rescue or escape, Crusoe has much to lament (悲叹). But instead of giving in to despair, he makes a list of things for which he is grateful, including the fact that he is the sole survivor from the shipwreck (海难) and has been able to salvage many useful items from the wreckage.

C. Defoe’s masterpiece, which is often ranked as one of the world’s greatest novels, provides a portrait of gratitude in action that is as timely and relevant today as it has ever been. It is also one with which contemporary psychology and medicine are just beginning to catch up. Simply put, for most of us, it is far more helpful to focus on the things in life for which we can express gratitude than those that incline us toward resentment and lamentation.

D. When we focus on the things we regret, such as failed relationships, family disputes, and setbacks in career and finance, we tend to become more regretful. Conversely, when we focus on the things we are grateful for, a greater sense of happiness tends to spread through our lives. And while no one would argue for cultivating a false sense of blessedness, there is mounting evidence that counting our blessings is one of the best habits we can develop to promote mental and physical health.

E. Gratitude has long enjoyed a privileged position in many of the world’s cultural traditions. For example, some ancient Western philosophers counsel gratitude that is both enduring and complete, and some Eastern thinkers portray it as not merely an attitude but a virtue to be put into practice.

F. Recent scientific studies support these ancient teachings. Individuals who regularly engage in gratitude exercises, such as counting their blessings or expressing gratitude to others, exhibit increased satisfaction with relationships and fewer symptoms of physical illness. And the benefits are not only psychological and physical. They may also be moral - those who practice gratitude also view their lives less materialistically and suffer from less envy.

G. There are multiple explanations for such benefits of gratefulness. One is the fact that expressing gratitude encourages others to continue being generous, thus promoting a virtuous cycle of goodness in relationships. Similarly, grateful people may be more likely to reciprocate (回报) with acts of kindness of their own. Broadly speaking, a community in which people feel grateful to one another is likely to be a more pleasant place to live than one characterized by mutual suspicion and resentment. The beneficial effects of gratitude may extend even further. For example, when many people feel good about what someone else has done for them, they experience a sense of being lifted up, with a corresponding enhancement of their regard for humanity. Some are inspired to attempt to become better people themselves, doing more to help bring out the best in others and bringing more goodness into the world around them.

H. Gratitude also tends to strengthen a sense of connection with others. When people want to do good things that inspire gratitude, the level of dedication in relationships tends to grow and relationships seem to last longer. And when people feel more connected, they are more likely to choose to spend their time with one another and demonstrate their feelings of affection in daily acts.

I. Of course, acts of kindness can also foster discomfort. For example, if people feel they are not worthy of kindness or suspect that some ulterior (别有用心的) motive lies behind it, the benefits of gratitude will not be realized. Likewise, receiving a kindness can give rise to a sense of indebtedness, leaving beneficiaries feeling that they must now pay back whatever good they have received. Gratitude can flourish only if people are secure enough in themselves and sufficiently trusting to allow it to do so. Another obstacle to gratitude is often called a sense of entitlement. Instead of experiencing a benefaction (善行) as a good turn, people sometimes regard it as a mere payment of what they are owed, for which no one deserves any moral credit.

J. There are a number of practical steps anyone can take to promote a sense of gratitude. One is simply spending time on a regular basis thinking about someone who has made a difference, or perhaps writing a thank-you note or expressing such gratitude in person. Others are found in ancient religious disciplines, such as reflecting on benefactions received from another person or actually praying for the health and happiness of a benefactor. In addition to benefactions received, it is also possible to focus on opportunities to do good oneself, whether those acted on in the past or hoped for in the future. Some people are most grateful not for what others have done for them but for chances they enjoyed to help others. In regularly reflecting on the things in his life he is grateful for, Defoe’s Crusoe believes that he becomes a far better person than he would have been had he remained in the society from which he originally set out on his voyage.

K. Reflecting on generosity and gratitude, the great basketball coach John Wooden once offered two counsels to his players and students. First, he said, “It is impossible to have a perfect day unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” In saying this, Wooden sought to promote purely generous acts, as opposed to those performed with an expectation of reward. Second, he said, “Give thanks for your blessings every day.”

L. Some faith traditions incorporate such practices into the rhythm of daily life. For example, adherents of some religions offer prayers of thanksgiving every morning before rising and every night before lying down to sleep. Others offer thanks throughout the day, such as before meals. Other less frequent special events, such as births, deaths and marriages, may also be heralded by such prayers.

M. When Defoe depicted Robinson Crusoe making thanksgiving a daily part of his island life, he was anticipating findings in social science and medicine that would not appear for hundreds of years. Yet he was also reflecting the wisdom of religious and philosophical traditions that extend back thousands of years. Gratitude is one of the healthiest and most nourishing of all states of mind, and those who adopt it as a habit are enriching not only their own lives but also the lives of those around them.

It does us far more good to focus on things we can be grateful for than what makes us sad and resentful. C
The beneficial impacts of gratitude can extend from individuals to their community and to the wider society. G
The participants in a recent study repeatedly underestimated the positive effect on those who received thank-you notes. A
Good deeds can sometimes make people feel uncomfortable. I
People who regularly express gratitude can benefit in moral terms. F
A basketball coach advocated performing generous acts without expecting anything in return. K
More and more evidence shows it makes us mentally and physically healthier to routinely count our blessings. D
Of all states of mind, feeling grateful is considered one of the most healthy and beneficial. M
The principles underlying the research into gratitude are nothing new at all. B
Gratitude is likely to enhance one’s sense of being connected with other people. H

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.

Technology is never a neutral tool for achieving human ends. Technological innovations reshape people as they use these innovations to control their environment. Artificial intelligence, for example, is altering humanity.

While the term AI conjures up anxieties about killer robots or catastrophic levels of unemployment, there are other, deeper implications. As AI increasingly shapes the human experience, how does this change what it means to be human? Central to the problem is a person’s capacity to make choices, particularly judgments that have moral implications.

Aristotle argued that the capacity for making practical judgments depends on regularly making them - on habit and practice. We see the emergence of machines as substitute judges in a variety of everyday contexts as a potential threat to people learning how to effectively exercise judgment themselves.

In the workplace, managers routinely make decisions about who to hire or fire and which loan to approve, to name a few. These are areas where algorithmic (算法的) prescription is replacing human judgment, and so people who might have had the chance to develop practical judgment in these areas no longer will.

Recommendation engines, which are increasingly prevalent intermediaries in people’s consumption of culture, may serve to constrain choice and minimize luck. By presenting consumers with algorithmically selected choices of what to watch, read, stream and visit next, companies are replacing human taste with machine taste. In one sense, this is helpful. After all, machines can survey a wider range of choices than any individual is likely to have the time or energy to do on their own.

At the same time, though, this selection is optimizing for what people are likely to prefer based on what they’ve preferred in the past. We think there is some risk that people’s options will be constrained by their past in a new and unanticipated way.

As machine learning algorithms improve and as they train on more extensive data sets, larger parts of everyday life are likely to become utterly predictable. The predictions are going to get better and better, and they will ultimately make common experiences more efficient and pleasant.

Algorithms could soon - if they don’t already - have a better idea about which show you’d like to watch next and which job candidate you should hire than you do. One day, humans may even find a way for machines to make these decisions without some of the biases that humans typically display.

But to the extent that unpredictability is part of how people understand themselves and part of what people like about themselves, humanity is in the process of losing something significant. As they become more and more predictable, the creatures inhabiting the increasingly AI-mediated world will become less and less like us.

What do we learn about the deeper implications of Al?
A. It is causing catastrophic levels of unemployment.
B. It is doing physical harm to human operators.
C. It is altering moral judgments.
D. It is reshaping humanity.
What is the consequence of algorithmic prescription replacing human judgment?
A. People lose the chance to cultivate the ability to make practical judgments.
B. People are prevented from participating in making major decisions in the workplace.
C. Managers no longer have the chance to decide which loan to approve.
D. Managers do not need to take the trouble to determine who to hire or fire.
What may result from increasing application of recommendation engines in our consumption of culture?
A. Consumers will have much limited choice.
B. Consumers will actually enjoy better luck.
C. It will be easier to decide on what to enjoy.
D. Humans will develop tastes similar to machines’.
What is likely to happen to larger parts of our daily life as machine learning algorithms improve?
A. They will turn out to be more pleasant.
B. They will repeat our past experience.
C. They can be completely anticipated.
D. They may become better and better.
Why does the author say the creatures living in the more and more AI-mediated world will become increasingly unlike us?
A. They will have lost the most significant human element of being intelligent.
B. They will no longer possess the human characteristic of being unpredictable.
C. They will not be able to understand themselves as we can do today.
D. They will be deprived of what their predecessors were proud of about themselves.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Phonics, which involves sounding out words syllable (音节) by syllable, is the best way to teach children to read. But in many classrooms, this can be a dirty word. So much so that some teachers have had to sneak phonics teaching materials into the classroom. Most American children are taught to read in a way that study after study has found to be wrong.

The consequences of this are striking. Less than half of all American adults were proficient readers in 2017. American fourth graders rank 15th on the Progress in International Literacy Study, an international exam.

America is stuck in a debate about teaching children to read that has been going on for decades. Some advocate teaching symbol-sound relationships (the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck, or ch), known as phonics. Others support an immersive approach (using pictures of a cat to learn the word cat), known as “whole language”. Most teachers today, almost three out of four according to a survey by the EdWeek Research Centre in 2019, use a mix called “balanced literacy”. This combination of methods is ineffective. “You can’t sprinkle in a little phonics,” says Tenette Smith, executive director of elementary education and reading at Mississippi’s education department. “It has to be systematic and explicitly taught.”

Mississippi, often behind in social policy, has set an example here. In a state once notorious for its low reading scores, the Mississippi state legislature passed new literacy standards in 2013. Since then Mississippi has seen remarkable gains. Its fourth graders have moved from 49th (out of 50 states) to 29th on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a nationwide exam. In 2019 it was the only state to improve its scores. For the first time since measurement began, Mississippi’s pupils are now average readers, a remarkable achievement in such a poor state.

Mississippi’s success is attributed to implementing reading methods supported by a body of research known as the science of reading. In 1997 Congress requested the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Department of Education to convene a National Reading Panel to end the “reading wars” and synthesize the evidence. The panel found that phonics, along with explicit instruction in phonemic (音位的) awareness, fluency and comprehension, worked best.

Yet over two decades on, “balanced literacy” is still being taught in classrooms. But advances in statistics and brain imaging have disproved the whole-language method. To the teacher who is a proficient reader, literacy seems like a natural process that requires educated guessing, rather than the deliberate process emphasized by phonics. Teachers can imagine that they learned to read through osmosis (潜移默化) when they were children. Without proper training, they bring this to classrooms.

What do we learn about phonics in many American classrooms?
A. It is ill reputed.
B. It is mostly misapplied.
C. It is arbitrarily excluded.
D. It is misrepresented.
What has America been witnessing for decades?
A. An obsession with innovating teaching methodologies of reading.
B. An enduring debate over the approach to teaching children to read.
C. An increasing concern with many children’s inadequacy in literacy.
D. An ever-forceful advocacy of a combined method for teaching reading.
Why does Tenette Smith think a combination of teaching methods is ineffective?
A. Elementary school children will be frustrated when taught with several methods combined.
B. Phonics has to be systematically applied and clearly taught to achieve the desired effect.
C. Sprinkling in a little phonics deters the progress of even adequately motivated children.
D. Balanced literacy fails to sustain children’s interest in developing a good reading habit.
What does the author say Mississippi’s success is attributed to?
A. Convening a National Reading Panel to synthesize research evidence.
B. Placing sufficient emphasis upon both fluency and comprehension.
C. Adopting scientifically grounded approaches to teaching reading.
D. Obtaining support from Congress to upgrade teaching methods.
What have advances in statistics and brain imaging proved ineffective?
A. The teaching of symbol-sound relationships.
B. Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness.
C. Efforts to end the reading wars.
D. The immersive approach.

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.

随着中国经济的快速发展和人们生活水平的稳步提高,城市居民对环境和生活品质的要求越来越高｡中国地方政府更加注重公共设施的建设和改进,以更好地满足人们的需求｡通过兴建新的广场､公园和公共绿地或对原有公共场地重新加以规划改造,许多城市为市民提供了更多休闲和社交的场所｡如今,政府出资购置的健身器械和铺设的健身步道在不少城市随处可见,既明显改善了市民户外活动的条件,又使城市更加美丽｡

2023年6月大学英语六级考试真题(第2套)

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “When faced with differing opinions, we should try to reach agreement through friendly discussion and reasonable argument.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

Section A

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

A. She is attracted to the beauty of modern buildings.
B. She is preoccupied with her dream to be an architect.
C. She is influenced by her father who teaches architecture.
D. She is drawn to its integration of design and engineering.
A. Through hard work.
B. With the professor’s help.
C. By studying the subject online.
D. By taking prerequisite courses.
A. It is groundbreaking.
B. It is long-lasting.
C. It is immaterial.
D. It is immortal.
A. Economics.
B. Philosophy.
C. Computer science.
D. Western art.

Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A. He has occasionally been harassed by his fans.
B. He has been guarded by a discreet assistant.
C. He is well known to the public.
D. He is a famous football coach.
6. A. Serve as a personal assistant.
B. Play a key role in Real Madrid.
C. Run common daily chores for the woman.
D. Help promote Mr. Sanchez’s public profile.
7. A. He is honest and always tells the truth.
B. He once worked part-time in university.
C. He cares little about his working hours.
D. He has little previous work experience.
8. A. He has a strong ability to connect with people.
B. He has a high proficiency in several languages.
C. He has a sound knowledge of sports consultancy.
D. He has a natural capacity to cooperate with others.

Section B

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A. They bring more benefits to young people
B. They require less supervision and training.
C. They are more suitable to young people.
D. They have fewer rules and pressures.
10. A. They prevent kids from enjoying adventure sports.
B. They help kids guard against any possible injuries.
C. They rob kids of the chance to cultivate their courage
D. They deprive kids of the opportunity to develop team spirit.
11. A. Help them take up these sports when they are more mature.
B. Let them participate in some less risky outdoor activities.
C. Ask them to try some forms of indoor sports.
D. Introduce them to these sports step by step.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A. Consumers often have a craving for the latest model.
B. Such products tend to comprise parts that are irreplaceable.
C. Tech firms intentionally design products to have short lifespans.
D. Manufacturers use effective strategies to promote fancier products.
13. A. Indicate the competitiveness of their products.
B. List a repairability score of their products.
C. Specify the major parts of their products.
D. Detail the life cycle of their products.
14. A. Take the initiative to reduce electronic waste.
B. Take due caution in upgrading their products.
C. Invest in constructing more recycling facilities.
D. Substitute all toxic substances with non-toxic ones.
15. A. It can be solved.
B. It is certain to worsen.
C. It will be fixed by tech companies.
D. It is unavoidable in the long run.

Section C

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A. How internet monitoring can be implemented.
B. How to encourage productive internet surfing.
C. How cyberloafing affects overall productivity.
D. How to prevent employees from cyberloafing.
17. A. Cyberloafing is a sign of workers’ laziness.
B. Cyberloafing may relieve employees of stress.
C. Employee engagement is closely related to job satisfaction.
D. Overuse of social media may lead to decline in productivity.
18. A. Taking mini-breaks means better job performance.
B. Cyberloafing generally does more harm than good.
C. Worker turnover is linked to the time allowed for cyberloafing.
D. Employees who indulge in internet surfing are most likely to quit.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A. There were no wooden buildings.
B. There were environmental problems.
C. There were no trees.
D. There were few settlers.
20. A. He served as chairman of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture.
B. He urged the state to start the Nebraska State Gardening Society.
C. He engaged himself in a large number of aesthetic projects.
D. He founded a newspaper and used it to promote his ideas.
21. A. A special prize was awarded to Julius Morton.
B. One million trees were planted throughout Nebraska.
C. The state government declared it the official Arbor Day.
D. Nebraska earned the nickname “the Tree Planters State”.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
22. A. They spread across Europe and Asia in a few decades.
B. They lived mostly in Africa for about 200,000 years.
C. They preferred to live in Europe rather than in Asia.
D. They moved out of Africa about 60,000 years ago.
23. A. The discovery of two modern human teeth in China.
B. The traces of human migration out of Africa to Asia.
C. The human fossils discovered most recently in Africa.
D. The Luna cave in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
24. A. There must have been some reason for human migration.
B. There have been changes in animals’ living conditions.
C. Humans adapted themselves to the environment there.
D. Humans had access to abundant food sources there.
25. A. How humans settled down on the Arabian Peninsula.
B. When modern humans started to disperse out of Africa.
C. What path modern humans took to migrate out of Africa.
D. Why fresh water is so important for human survival.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

You might not know yourself as well as you think. According to a new study, people are 26 L accurate judges of only some of their behaviors. While most previous studies on how well people know themselves have been done on long-term personality traits, this new study 27 I how well people understand how they are acting from one moment to the next. Researchers asked participants to wear audio recorders that automatically 28 A every 9.5 minutes between 7 a.m. and 2 a.m. to record 30 seconds of audio. These participants were then emailed surveys four times a day asking them to 29 K how outgoing, agreeable, or conscientious they were during a particular hour of the day. The study used data from 248 participants, all of whom answered questions about their behavior for two 30 D weeks and wore the audio device for one of those weeks.

Six laboratory assistants rated each participant’s audio clips to see how their observations compared with people’s 31 C of themselves. The six assistants were generally in agreement with one another about how the people they were observing acted. Further, participants’ ratings of their own behaviors agreed with observers’ for how outgoing and how conscientious they were being. But the agreement between participants and outside observers was much smaller for agreeableness. Some of this 32 G could be because the observers used only audio clips, and thus could not read 33 E like body language, but there are 34 H other explanations, as people should be able to hear when a participant is being kind versus being rude. The weak agreement between how participants thought they were acting and what observers heard could be because people would rather 35 F rude behavior.

A. activated F. deny K. recall
B. articulates G. discrepancy L. relatively
C. assessment H. probably M. saturated
D. consecutive I. probes N. symptoms
E. cues J. random O. terminate

Section B

Why We Need Tiny Colleges

A. We’re experiencing the rebirth of smallness. Farmers markets, tiny homes, and brew pubs all exemplify our love of smallness. So do charter schools, coffee shops, and local bookstores. Small is often (but not always) more affordable, healthier, and sustainable, but its finest characteristic, the one that turns charm into love, is that going small allows us to be more fully who we are.

B. In higher education the trend is mostly in the opposite direction: Universities with 20,000 or 30,000 students are considered “mid-sized”. The nation’s largest university, Arizona State University, has 80,000 students on campus and aims to enroll another 100,000 students online. At the other end of the spectrum is a handful of colleges that have fewer than a hundred students on campus and no online courses: colleges such as Sterling College, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, and Deep Springs College. These colleges are so small that they can only be called “tiny.”

C. Tiny colleges focus not just on a young person’s intellect, but on the young person as a whole. Equally important, tiny colleges ask, “How can education contribute to human flourishing and the well-being of the world?” And they shape a college experience to address that question. They replace concerns about institutional growth with attention to the growth of students as fully developed participants in their communities.

D. I’ve had the privilege of teaching at three different institutions of higher learning during my career - a small liberal arts college and two mid-sized public universities. I’ve also been profoundly disappointed in each of these institutions, and in many of my colleagues, especially when it comes to helping students and preparing them for the many responsibilities of adulthood. Administrators focus on the business of running a university, and most faculty focus on their scholarship and teaching their discipline. Little deliberate attention is given to how students mature as individuals and social beings.

E. Having just retired from teaching at a public university, I’m now returning to my hometown of Flagstaff, Arizona, to establish a tiny college - Flagstaff College. I’m convinced there’s a need for another type of education, one devoted to helping students come into their own and into this beautiful and troubled world. Young people need an education that will provide them with meaning, hope, courage, and passion, as well as information and skills. Large institutions, I believe, are particularly ill-suited to this type of education.

F. There’s no “best of” list when it comes to tiny colleges, at least not yet. But around the country people are creating new colleges that provide an alternative to small liberal arts colleges, large public universities, and online education.

G. With only 26 students, Deep Springs is the smallest college in the country and, quite likely, the most atypical (非典型的). Located on a working cattle ranch on the California-Nevada border, Deep Springs is a private, residential, two-year college for men, committed to educating students for “a life of service to humanity.” Founded by the electricity tycoon (大亨) L. L. Nunn in 1917, Deep Springs’ “curriculum” revolves around academics, labor, and self-governance. In addition to their courses, students are charged with running the 155-acre ranch and overseeing the functioning of the college. Students chair both the admissions and the curriculum committees.

H. “Living in close community with one’s teachers and fellow students, and being forced to take on adult responsibilities, makes for one’s growth as a person,” says William Hunt, who graduated last year. “To exist for very long in a community like that, you have to get over the question of whether you’re sufficiently talented or principled and get started worrying about how you can stretch yourself and your peers, how much you can manage to learn with them.”

I. Sterling College, in Craftsbury Common, Vermont, is also very small - fewer than 100 students. Unlike Deep Springs, Sterling focuses its curriculum on environmental and social justice issues, but like Deep Springs it places a high value on personal responsibility and manual labor. According to its catalog, a college education at Sterling combines “rigorous academics, roll-up-your-sleeves challenges, and good old hard work.”

J. The average tuition at a small liberal-arts college is $30,000 to $40,000 a year, not including the cost of living on campus, as compared to $8,000 to $10,000 a year for tuition alone at a public university. Of the tiny colleges, only Deep Springs doesn’t charge tuition or room and board; students pay only for books and the cost of traveling to and from college. If tiny schools are to become a player on the higher education scene, they will need to find a way to be truly affordable.

K. Doing so may not be that difficult so long as they do not pattern themselves too closely on existing norms. We’ve come to believe that a good college should have many academic programs and excellent facilities, posh (豪华的) dorms, an array of athletic programs, and a world-class student activity center. Imagine a good college without a climbing wall! We also have accepted the idea that college presidents, and their many vice-presidents, should be paid like their counterparts in the business world and that higher education requires an elaborate, up-to-date technology infrastructure. All of this drives up the cost of education.

L. The “trick” to making tiny colleges affordable, if that’s the right word, is simplicity. At its core, education is a human-to-human interaction. Reflecting on his own college education, President Garfield once commented that an ideal college would consist of nothing more than the legendary teacher Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other. The economics of a tiny college, in other words, might be similar to that of a tiny house. Because it is small, a tiny house costs less to build and less to furnish, insure, and maintain. But the economic benefits of a small house don’t end there. Tiny homes discourage homeowners from buying stuff that they really don’t need, because there’s no place to put it.

M. I’m a late convert to the idea of tiny colleges, and I fully understand the need for many diverse types of educational institutions. Academic research and job training are important, but tiny colleges aren’t suited for either. The educational needs of a complex society are themselves complex, and no single model can meet all of these needs. But I’m now convinced there’s an educational need that’s now going almost completely unmet: namely, the need to help young people transition into adulthood. Tiny colleges can do this better than any other type of educational institution.

N. The ultimate justification for a tiny college is the conviction that each of us comes into our full humanity by close interaction with those who know and care for us, and that one of the basic purposes of higher education is social. Although we give lip service to the idea that a college education will make us better people, when all’s said and done, we think of higher education primarily in economic terms. We’ve come to think of higher education as a means to make a living rather than make a life. We’ve also come to see higher education as a private good rather than a public one. Tiny colleges are not the answer to all of our educational requirements, but they’re an answer to one of our most basic educational necessities: the need to produce thoughtful, engaged, and compassionate human beings.

One tiny American college situated on a cattle farm is devoted to educating students to serve mankind throughout their lives. G
Much to the author’s disappointment, the three institutions of higher learning where she taught largely ignore students’ growth as social beings. D
Tiny colleges must be made affordable in order to play a role in higher education. J
According to a recent graduate from a tiny college, living together with faculty and fellow students is conducive to a student’s growth as a person. H
Rather than going small, most American universities are trying to go big. B
In a certain tiny college, rigorous academic work and traditional manual labor are integrated. I
Tiny colleges focus on educating students to become well-rounded citizens instead of seeking their own expansion. C
The essence of education lies in the interaction between people. L
After her retirement, the author has decided to set up a tiny college in her hometown. E
Tiny colleges are justified as it is believed that our growth into full humanity comes through interaction with people near and dear to us. N

Section C

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
If you’re someone who has turned to snacking on junk food more in the pandemic (大流行病), you’re not alone. Investigative reporter Michael Moss says processed food is engineered to hook you, not unlike alcohol, cigarettes, or other harmful substances. His 2013 book, Salt Sugar Fat, explored food companies’ aggressive marketing of those products and their impact on our health. In his new book, Hooked, Moss updates the food giants’ efforts to keep us eating what they serve, and how they’re responding to complaints from consumers and health advocates.

Processed food is inexpensive, it’s legal, and it’s everywhere. Companies’ advertising is cueing us to remember those products and we want those products constantly. So the food environment is one of those key things that makes food even more problematic for so many people. Memory, nostalgia (怀旧) in particular, plays a big role in the foods we crave. Soda companies discovered that if they put a soda in the hands of a child when they’re at a ball game with their parents, that soda will forever be associated with that joyous moment. Later in life, when that child wants to experience a joyous moment, they’re going to think of soda. Many people seek comfort in the snacks they remember from childhood.

Moss examines the way companies capitalize on our memories, cravings and brain chemistry to keep us snacking.

One of the reasons I came to think that some of these food products are even more powerful, more troublesome than drugs can be is memory. What we eat is all about memory. And we begin forming memories for food at a really early age. And we keep those memories for a lifetime. Knowing this, the food industry spends lots of time trying to shape the memories that we have for their products. One of the features of addiction that scientists studying drug addiction discovered back in the 1990s was that the faster a substance hits the brain, the more apt we are as a result to act impulsively. There’s nothing faster than food in its ability to hit the brain. For Moss, this puts the notion of “fast food” in an entirely new light as this isn’t limited to fast food chains - almost 90% of food products in grocery stores are processed foods. Everything in the industry is about speed, from manufacturing to packaging.

Overall, Moss outlines the industry’s dependence on making their products inexpensive, super delicious, and incredibly convenient for consumers. Now that more and more people care about what they put in their bodies and are wanting to eat healthier, these companies are finding it really difficult to meet that new demand because of their own addiction to making these convenience foods.

In what way does Michael Moss think processed food is comparable to alcohol and cigarettes?
A. They are all addictive.
B. They are all necessary evils.
C. They are all engineered to be enjoyed.
D. They are all in increasingly great demand.
What does the author say plays a key role in the foods we crave?
A. The food environment.
B. Aggressive marketing.
C. Convenience
D. Memory.
What do food companies do to capitalize on consumers’ association with their food products?
A. They strive to influence how consumers remember their products.
B. They attempt to use consumers’ long-term memories to promote addiction.
C. They try to exploit consumers’ memories for their products as early as possible.
D. They endeavor to find what consumers remember about their products.
How does the food industry operate from manufacturing to packaging, according to Moss?
A. Placing the idea of fast food in an entirely new light.
B. Setting no limit to the number of fast food chains.
C. Focusing on how quickly the work is done.
D. Prioritizing the quality of their products.
Why are companies finding it difficult to satisfy consumers’ demand for healthier food products?
A. They think speed of production outweighs consumers’ health.
B. They believe their industry would perish without fast foods.
C. They have to strike a balance between taste and nutrition.
D. They are hooked on manufacturing convenience foods.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Chimpanzees (黑猩猩), human beings’ closest animal relatives, share up to 98% of our genes. Yet humans and chimpanzees lead very different lives. Fewer than 300,000 wild chimpanzees live in a few forested corners of Africa today, while humans have colonized every corner of the globe. At more than 7 billion, human population dwarfs that of nearly all other mammals - despite our physical weaknesses.

What could account for our species’ incredible evolutionary successes?

One obvious answer is our big brains. It could be that our raw intelligence gave us an unprecedented ability to think outside the box, innovating solutions to thorny problems as people migrated across the globe.

But a growing number of cognitive scientists and anthropologists (人类学家) are rejecting that explanation. They think that, rather than making our living as innovators, we survive and thrive precisely because we don’t think for ourselves. Instead, people cope with challenging climates and ecological contexts by carefully copying others.

In a famous study, psychologists Victoria Horner and Andrew Whiten showed two groups of test subjects - children and chimpanzees - a mechanical box with a treat inside. In one condition, the box was opaque, while in the other it was transparent. The experimenters demonstrated how to open the box to retrieve the treat, but they also included the irrelevant step of tapping on the box with a stick.

Oddly, the children carefully copied all the steps to open the box, even when they could see that the stick had no practical effect. That is, they copied irrationally: Instead of doing only what was necessary to get their reward, children slavishly imitated every action they’d witnessed.

Of course, that study only included three- and four-year-olds. But additional research has shown that older children and adults are even more likely to mindlessly copy others’ actions, and infants are less likely to over-imitate - that is, to precisely copy even impractical actions.

By contrast, chimpanzees in the study only over-imitated in the opaque condition. In the transparent condition - where they saw that the stick was mechanically useless - they ignored that step entirely. Other research has since supported these findings.

When it comes to copying, chimpanzees are more rational than human children or adults.

Where does the seemingly irrational human preference for over-imitation come from? Anthropologist Joseph Henrich points out that people around the world rely on technologies that are often so complex that no one can learn them rationally. Instead, people must learn them step by step, trusting in the wisdom of more experienced elders and peers.

So the next time you hear someone arguing passionately that everyone should embrace nonconformity and avoid imitating others, you might laugh a little bit. We’re not chimpanzees, after all.

What might explain humans’ having the largest population of almost all mammals?
A. They are equipped with raw strength for solving the most challenging problems.
B. They cope with the outside world more effectively than their animal relatives.
C. They possess the most outstanding ability to think.
D. They know how to survive everywhere on earth.
What accounts for humans’ evolutionary successes according to a growing number of cognitive scientists and anthropologists?
A. They are better at innovating solutions.
B. They thrive through creative strategies.
C. They are naturally adaptive to ecological contexts.
D. They meet challenges by imitating others carefully.
What does the author think is odd about the findings of the study by Victoria Horner and Andrew Whiten?
A. Children irrationally imitated every action of the experimenters.
B. Chimpanzees could tell the transparent box from the opaque one.
C. Chimpanzees could retrieve the treat more quickly than children did.
D. Children omitted the step of tapping on the box with a stick to open it.
What is anthropologist Joseph Henrich’s explanation for the human preference for copying?
A. It originates in the rationality of people around the world.
B. It stems from the way people learn complex technologies.
C. It results from people distrusting their own wisdom.
D. It derives from the desire to acquire knowledge step by step.
What point does the author want to emphasize when he says “We’re not chimpanzees”?
A. It is arguable whether everyone should avoid imitation.
B. It is characteristic of human beings to copy others.
C. It is desirable to trust in more knowledgeable peers.
D. It is naive to laugh at someone embracing nonconformity.

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.

近年来,越来越多的中国文化产品走向全球市场,日益受到海外消费者的青睐｡随着中国对外文化贸易的快速发展,中国文化产品出口额已持续多年位居世界前列,形成了一批具有国际影响力的文化企业､产品和品牌｡数据显示,中国的出版物､影视作品､网络文学与动漫作品等在海外的销售量连年攀升｡中国政府出台了一系列政策鼓励和支持更多具有中国元素的优秀文化产品走出国门,扩大海外市场份额,进一步提升中国文化的世界影响力｡

2023年6月大学英语六级考试真题(第3套)

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “Today there is a growing awareness that mental well-being needs to be given as much attention as physical health.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

提示:2023年6月全国只考两套听力,故本套未重复显示｡

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Imagine sitting down to a big dinner: a massive steak, a large portion of fried potatoes, and cake for dessert. After eating so much, you should be too full to eat another bite. But some people experience a powerful urge to keep eating, even after 26 H in a huge meal, a behavior that makes little sense, as most adults are well-versed in the dangers of obesity, which researchers have shown correlates with 27 I health issues and is even linked to increased 28 J risk. But some people still keep eating long after they should stop, a phenomenon Dr. Susan Thompson calls “insatiable (永不满足的) hunger.” It is characterized by two main 29 A: not being satisfied by eating, and having a desire to stay sedentary (久坐不动的).

This is at 30 K with how humans are biologically programmed. When there was a great deal of food available, ancient people would gorge on calories; this massive calorie intake was accompanied by an urge to get active. Humans were also programmed for something called “compensation,” which is the brain’s 31 M mechanism for preventing the accumulation of excess weight. With compensation, if you eat one large meal in the morning, you are naturally 32 G to eat less for the rest of the day.

But recent studies show that 70% of American adults have lost the ability to naturally compensate for the calories they consume; worse 33 N, a significant number of them report 34 E hunger halfway through an eating session, but, by the end of the meal, they feel the same or higher levels of hunger than when they sat down. Dr. Thompson argues that the main cause of this phenomenon is the modern diet, which is 35 B of food high in sugar, carbohydrates and calories.

A. attributes F. far K. odds
B. comprised G. inclined L. plights
C. conceded H. indulging M. regulatory
D. conservation I. innumerable N. still
E. diminishing J. mortality O. unmatchable

Section B

The Problem with Being Perfect

A. When psychologist Jessica Pryor lived near an internationally renowned university, she once saw a student walking into a library holding a sleeping bag and a coffee maker. She has heard of graduate students spending 12 to 18 hours at a time in the lab. Their schedules are meant to be literally punishing: If they are scientists-in-training, they won’t allow themselves to watch Netflix until their experiments start generating results. “Relationships become estranged (疏远的) - people stop inviting them to social gatherings or dinner parties, which leads them to spend even more time in the lab,” Pryor told me.

B. Along with other therapists, Pryor, who is now with the Family Institute at Northwestern University, is trying to sound the alarm about a tendency among young adults and college students to strive for perfection in their work - sometimes at any cost. Though it is often portrayed as a positive trait, Pryor and others say extreme perfectionism can lead to depression, anxiety, and even suicide.

C. What’s more, perfectionism seems to be on the rise. In a study of thousands of American, Canadian, and British college students published earlier this year, Thomas Curran of the University of Bath and Andrew Hill of York St. John University found that today’s college students report higher levels of perfectionism than college students did during the 1990s or early 2000s. They measured three types of perfectionism: self-oriented, or a desire to be perfect; socially prescribed, or a desire to live up to others’ expectations; and other-oriented, or holding others to unrealistic standards. From 1989 to 2016, they found, self-oriented perfectionism scores increased by 10 percent, socially prescribed scores rose by 33 percent, and other-oriented perfectionism increased by 16 percent.

D. A person living with an other-oriented perfectionist might feel criticized by the perfectionist spouse for not doing household chores exactly the “right” way. “One of the most common things couples argue about is the proper way of loading the dishwasher,” says Amy Bach, a psychologist in Providence, Rhode Island.

E. Curran describes socially prescribed perfectionism as “My self-esteem is contingent on what other people think.” His study didn’t examine the causal reasons for its rise, but he assumes that the rise of both standardized testing and social media might play a role. These days, LinkedIn alerts us when our rival gets a new job, and Instagram can let us know how well “liked” our lives are compared with a friend’s. In an opinion piece earlier this year, Curran and Hill argue that society has also become more dog-eat-dog. “Over the last 50 years, public interest and civic responsibility have been progressively eroded,” they write, “replaced by a focus on self-interest and competition in a supposedly free and open marketplace.” We strive for perfection, it seems, because we feel we must in order to get ahead. Michael Brustein, a clinical psychologist in Manhattan, says when he first began practicing in 2007, he was surprised by how prevalent perfectionism was among his clients, despite how little his graduate training had focused on the phenomenon. He sees perfectionism in, among others, clients who are entrepreneurs, artists, and tech employees. “You’re in New York because you’re ambitious, you have this need to strive,” he says. “But then your whole identity gets wrapped into a goal.”

F. Perfectionism can, of course, be a positive force. Think of professional athletes, who train aggressively for ever-higher levels of competition. In well-adjusted perfectionism, someone who doesn’t get the gold is able to forget the setback and move on. In maladaptive (不当的) perfectionism, meanwhile, people make an archive of all their failures. They revisit these archives constantly, thinking, as Pryor puts it, “I need to make myself feel terrible so I don’t do this again.” Then they double down, “raising the expectation bar even higher, which increases the likelihood of defeat, which makes you self-critical, so you raise the bar higher, work even harder,” she says. Next comes failure, shame, and pushing yourself even harder toward even higher and more impossible goals. Meeting them becomes an “all or nothing” premise. Pryor offered this example: “Even if I’m an incredible attorney, if I don’t make partner in the same pacing as one of my colleagues, clearly that means I’m a failure.”

G. Brustein says his perfectionist clients tend to devalue their accomplishments, so that every time a goal is achieved, the high lasts only a short time, like “a gas tank with a hole in it.” If the boss says you did a great job, it’s because he doesn’t know anything. If the audience likes your work, that’s because it’s too stupid to know what good art actually is. But, therapists say, there are also different ways perfectionism manifests. Some perfectionists are always pushing themselves forward. But others actually fall behind on work, unable to complete assignments unless they are, well, perfect. Or they might handicap their performance ahead of time. They’re the ones partying until 2 a.m. the night before the final, so that when the grade C rolls in, there’s a ready excuse.

H. While educators and parents have successfully convinced students of the need to be high performing and diligent, the experts told me, they haven’t adequately prepared them for the inevitability of failure. Instead of praises like “You’re so smart,” parents and educators should say things like “You really stuck with it,” Pryor says, to emphasize the value of perseverance over intrinsic talent. Pryor notes that many of her clients are wary she’ll “turn them into some degenerate couch potato and teach them to be okay with it.” Instead, she tries to help them think through the parts of their perfectionism they’d like to keep, and to lose the parts that are ruining their lives.

I. Bach, who sees many students from Brown University, says some of them don’t even go out on weekends, let alone weekdays. She tells them, “Aim high, but get comfortable with good enough.” When they don’t get some award, she encourages them to remember that “one outcome is not a basis for a broad conclusion about the person’s intelligence, qualifications, or potential for the future.”

J. The treatment for perfectionism might be as simple as having patients keep logs of things they can be proud of, or having them behave imperfectly in small ways, just to see how it feels. “We might have them hang the towels crooked (不正的) or wear some clothing inside out,” says Martin Antony, a professor in the department of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto.

K. Brustein likes to get his perfectionist clients to create values that are important to them, then try to shift their focus to living according to those values rather than achieving specific goals. It’s a play on the “You really stuck with it” message for kids. In other words, it isn’t about doing a headstand in yoga class; it’s about going to yoga class in the first place, because you like to be the kind of person who takes care of herself. But he warns that some people go into therapy expecting too much - an instant transformation of themselves from a pathological (病态的) perfectionist to a (still high-achieving) non-perfectionist. They try to be perfect, in other words, at no longer being perfect.

Socially prescribed perfectionism is described as one’s self-esteem depending on other people’s opinion. E
Jessica Pryor has learned that some graduate students work such long hours in the lab that they have little time for entertainment or socializing. A
The author believes perfectionism may sometimes be constructive. F
It is found that perfectionism is getting more and more prevalent among college students. C
Some experts suggest parents and educators should prepare students for failures. H
Some therapists warn that young adults tend to pursue perfection in their work. B
Psychologist Amy Bach encourages her students to aim high but be content with something less than perfect. I
A clinical psychologist finds perfectionism is widespread among his clients. E
In trying to overcome perfectionism, some people are still pursuing perfection. K
In pursuing perfection, some perfectionists fail to complete their tasks on time. G

Section C

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
How on earth did we come to this? We protect our children obsessively from every harm; we scrutinize every carer, teacher or doctor with whom they come into contact. Yet despite all this, one group, which in no way has their best interests at heart, has almost unconstrained access.

We seem to take it for granted that advertisers and marketers are allowed to condition even the youngest children. Before children have even developed a proper sense of their own identity, or learned to handle money, they’re encouraged to associate status and self-worth with stuff, and to look to external things such as fame and wealth for validation. We’re turning out little consumers rather than young citizens who will value themselves for what they contribute to the society in which they live.

We’ve reached this point so gradually that many of us have never questioned it. It’s crept up on us in the 60 years since advertisers started to target the young and found that they could recruit them to a commercial assault on their parents. We’ve come to know it as “pester power” or the ability of children to pressure parents to make certain purchases.

Many psychologists, child development experts and educators point to research suggesting that this emerging cradle-to-grave consumerism is contributing to growing rates of low self-esteem, depression and other forms of mental illness.

Not all psychologists agree. There’re plenty working hand in glove with a £12bn-a-year industry that has turned the manipulation of adult emotions and desires into an art form - often literally. It’s also one that’s forever developing new ways to persuade our children to desire material possessions, and because of advertisements’ viral effect they only need to infect a few to reach the many. Advertising and marketing can serve a useful purpose for children. Marketing may help socialize children as consumers, inform them about products, and help them carve out unique identities as they reach adulthood

Then, should we ban all advertising aimed at young children? I say yes.

Of course there’ll be plenty of objections to an outright ban on advertising to the under-11s. There’ll be those who argue that would be a breach of freedom of speech and infringe the rights of corporations to brainwash little children into demanding their products.

Most parents hate what advertising does to their children, but we do have the power to end it and let our children grow up free from many of the pressures of consumerism until they’re old enough to make their own decisions. And though advertising is only part of an all-pervasive (无处不在的) marketing culture we need to make a start somewhere. Let’s ban all advertising targeting children of primary school age and younger now.

Which group of people does the author say has almost unrestricted access to children?
A. Advertisers.
B. Carers.
C. Teachers.
D. Doctors.
What kind of people should we enable children to become according to the author?
A. Those who look to fame and wealth for external and ultimate validation.
B. Those who value themselves because of their contribution to society.
C. Those who associate self-worth with the ability to handle money.
D. Those who have developed a proper sense of their own identity.
Many child development experts and educators call attention to research that suggests
A. life-long consumerism is causing more and more cases of psychological problems.
B. increasing commercialization of education is eroding many children’s self-esteem.
C. the growing desire for wealth is contributing to a rising rate of depression.
D. the craving for purchasing material things is nurtured throughout one’s life.
What does the author imply about the impact of advertising?
A. It is actually infectious to many rather than a few.
B. It is rooted in our desire for material possessions.
C. It is comparable to that of virus.
D. It is literally limited to children.
What is the opponents’ argument against a complete ban on advertising to young children?
A. It would deprive them of the chance to learn about products.
B. It would render them unable to carve out unique identities.
C. It would breach their freedom as would-be consumers.
D. It would violate the rights endowed upon advertisers.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Many oppose workplace surveillance, because of the inherent dehumanizing effect it has and the relentless pressure it brings. But it’s on the rise around the world as firms look to become more efficient by squeezing more productivity from their workers. More than half of companies with over $750m in annual revenue used “non-traditional” monitoring techniques on staff last year.

Monitoring employee performance gives firms the ability to assess how their staff are performing and interacting, which can be good for both the firm and employees themselves. A growing number of analytics companies offer this service. They gather “data exhaust” left by employees’ email and instant messaging apps, and use name badges equipped with radio-frequency identification devices and microphones. These can check how much time you spend talking, your volume and tone of voice, even if you do not dominate conversations. While this may sound intrusive, exponents argue that it can also protect employees against bullying and sexual harassment.

Some of this data analysis can produce unexpected results. For example, it was found that people who sat at 12-person lunch tables tended to interact, share ideas more and outperform those who regularly sat at four-person tables, a fact that would probably have gone undetected without such data analysis.

Over the last few years a Stockholm co-working space called Epicenter has gone much further and holds popular “chipping parties”, where people can have microchips implanted in their hands. They can use the implants to access electronically-controlled doors, or monitor how typing speed correlates with heart rate. Implanted chips may seem extreme, but it is a relatively small step from ID cards and biometrics to such devices.

As long as such schemes are voluntary, there will probably be a growing number of convenience oriented uses so that a substantial number of workers would opt to have a chip inserted. But if implanted chips are used to reduce slack time or rest breaks, that could prove to be detrimental. And if surveillance tools take away autonomy, that’s when they prove most unpopular. A lot depends on how such monitoring initiatives are communicated and this could prevent possible revolts being staged.

If bosses don’t communicate effectively, employees assume the worst. But if they’re open about the information they’re collecting and what they’re doing with it, research suggests 46% of employees are generally okay with it. Although many such monitoring schemes use anonymised data and participation is voluntary, many staffers remain sceptical and fear an erosion of their civil liberties.

So workplace surveillance could be empowering for staff and useful for companies looking to become more efficient and profitable. But implemented in the wrong way, it could also become an unpopular tool of oppression that proves counterproductive.

Why are many people opposed to monitoring employee performance?
A. It puts workers under constant pressure.
B. It is universally deemed anti-human by nature.
C. It does both mental and physical harm to employees monitored.
D. It enables firms to squeeze maximal productivity from employees.
What is the supporters’ argument for workplace surveillance?
A. It enables employees to refrain from dominating conversations.
B. It enhances employees’ identification with firms they work in.
C. It can alert employees to intrusion into their privacy.
D. It can protect employees against aggressive behavior.
What does the author want to show by the example of different numbers of people interacting at lunch tables?
A. Data analysis is key to the successful implementation of workplace surveillance.
B. Analyzing data gathered from workers can yield something unexpected.
C. More workmates sitting at a lunch table tend to facilitate interaction and idea sharing.
D. It is hard to decide on how many people to sit at a lunch table without data analysis.
What does much of the positive effect of monitoring initiatives depend on?
A. How frequently employees are to be monitored.
B. What specific personal information is being excluded.
C. What steps are taken to minimize their detrimental impact.
D. How well bosses make known their purpose of monitoring.
What concern do monitoring initiatives cause among many staffers?
A. They may empower employers excessively.
B. They may erode the workplace environment.
C. They may infringe upon staffers’ entitled freedom.
D. They may become counterproductive in the long run.

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.

近年来,中国城市加快发展,城市人居环境得到显著改善｡许多城市努力探索中国特色的城市高质量发展之路,城市功能不断完善,治理水平明显提高｡中国持续开展城市生态修复和功能修补,全面实施城镇老旧小区改造,大力推进城市园林绿化,消除污染;同时大力推进城市基础设施体系化建设,开展房屋建筑和市政设施普查以及安全隐患排查整治,努力为市民创造高品质的生活环境,让城市更美丽､更安全､更宜居｡

2023 年 12 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 1 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

**Directions: ** For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “As is known to all, gaining a sound knowledge of the basics is of vital importance for students to master an academic subject.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words (not including the sentence given).

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.

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

A. It is clear that he is expected to enjoy a healthy life.
B. There is nothing wrong with his digestive system.
C. There is some indication of an issue with his blood circulation.
D. He doesn’t know he has long been suffering from poor health.
A. Mistaking symptoms of illness for stress.
B. Complaining they are being overworked.
C. Being unaware of the stress they are under.
D. Suffering from illness without recognising it.
A. Prescribe some medication for him.
B. Give him another physical check-up.
C. Explain to him the common consequence of stress.
D. Buy some sleeping pills for him from the drugstore.
A. It calls for responsible management.
B. It proves to be quite profitable.
C. It is remarkably promising.
D. It is full of competition.

Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A. To avoid being in the limelight.
B. To seek medical help for his injury.
C. To pursue a less competitive career.
D. To stay away from his hostile teammates.

A. It has ups and downs.
B. It proves rewarding.
C. It does not last long.
D. It is not so profitable.
A. He was a financial advisor.
B. He suffered from poor health.
C. He became a basketball coach.
D. He was back in the news.
A. Study issues of public health.
B. Alleviate the obesity problem.
C. Raise sufficient public funding.
D. Train young basketball players.

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. When she started teaching at Edinburgh University in Scotland.
B. While she was doing her doctoral studies on American Literature.
C. After publishing her first novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum.
D. After winning the 1986 Woman’s Own Short Story Competition.

A. The themes of love and loss.
B. The code of human behaviour.
C. The sins and flaws of eccentrics.
D. The manners of fashionable circles.
A. They are usually ignorant of complex human relations.
B. They successfully imitate the manners of celebrities.
C. They often get rewarded instead of being punished.
D. They are generally looked down upon in society.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A. It is what members use to alleviate tension in a team.
B. It is what employers are increasingly seeking after.
C. It is conducive to getting over a recession.
D. It is necessary for learning a new task.

A. Make better choices.
B. Follow innovative ideas.
C. Achieve recognition duly.
D. Accumulate work experience.
A. Workers show more emotional intelligence.
B. Workers use brains more than muscles.
C. People usually work flexible hours.
D. People often work in teams.
A. Leave the group as soon as possible.
B. Anticipate setbacks well in advance.
C. Decide on new priorities speedily.
D. Stick to original goals confidently.

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. What differentiates people from animals.
B. Why philosophers disagree with scientists.
C. Where humans’ great cognitive capacity originates.
D. When being creative becomes a biological mandate.

A. It is what tells apart two adjacent generations.
B. It is what sharpens our appetite for novelty.
C. It is something only geniuses can achieve.
D. It is something every human being can do.
A. It seeks inspiration for novel inventions.
B. It constantly absorbs new information.
C. It uses existing ideas to create new ones.
D. It repeats precedent on a regular basis.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A. Dogs know when their owners are not feeling well.
B. Dogs have the cognition for telling right from wrong.
C. Dogs have an aptitude for developing skills to interact with humans.
D. Dogs know when their human companions can no longer stand them.

A. They can readily detect different ill smells of viruses.
B. They can easily tell what bacteria cause odor change.
C. They are particularly sensitive to strange smells.
D. They have an extremely powerful sense of smell.
A. It can ensure owners suffer fewer chronic diseases.
B. It can benefit owners both physically and mentally.
C. It can reduce owners’ risk of getting cancer or diabetes.
D. It can alert owners to the seriousness of their conditions.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
22. A. Crackdown on courses like science, technology, engineering and math.
B. Restrict the ability of creative arts courses to recruit new students.
C. Look at how to reform technical and vocational education.
D. Ensure creative arts students get better value for money.

A. Seemingly reasonable.
B. Clearly well-grounded.
C. Extremely irrational.
D. Apparently simplistic.
A. A high proportion of them haven’t tried to save money.
B. Most of them never hope to buy a house or to retire.
C. Forty percent of them earn less than £25,000 a year.
D. The majority of them have fairly well-paying jobs.
A. The context of a bank balance.
B. Britain’s economy as a whole.
C. The specific degree a student earns.
D. Britain’s defective educational system.

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.

Our brains respond to language expressing facts differently than they do to words conveying possibility, scientists at New York University have recently found. Their work offers new insights into the impact word choice has on how we 26. E. differentiate between statements expressing what is real versus what is merely possible. The researchers assert their findings are important because we are presented with false information all the time. Some of this is 27. D. deliberate, as is the case with deceptive advertisements, but the problem is 28. B. aggravated by individuals who believe they are sharing correct information. Thus, it is more important than ever to separate the factual from the possible or merely 29. M. speculative in how we communicate. This is especially true as the study makes clear that information presented as fact 30. G. evokes special responses in our brains, which are distinct from when we process the same content with clear indicators of 31. O. uncertainty.

In their new study, the scientists intended to 32. C. ascertain how the brain computes possibilities as expressed by words such as “may,” “might,” and “if.” The researchers compared brain responses to statements expressing factual 33. L. scenarios and those expressing possibility. “There is a monster under my bed” exemplifies a factual statement. “I will stay home,” is also factual. This is opposed to statements that express possibility, like “There might be a monster under my bed,” or “If it rains, I will stay home.” The results of the study showed that factual language 34. A. activated a rapid increase in brain activity, with the brain responding more powerfully and showing more engagement with factual phrases compared to those communicating possibility. Thus, facts rule when it comes to the brain. Brain regions involved in processing 35. F. discourse rapidly distinguish facts from possibilities. Further, these regions respond in a much more robust fashion to factual statements.

Word Bank:
A. activated
B. aggravated
C. ascertain
D. deliberate
E. differentiate
F. discourse
G. evokes
H. inhibit
I. manuscript
J. marvels
K. remnants
L. scenarios
M. speculative
N. unanimous
O. uncertainty

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.

African countries must get smarter with their agriculture

A. On the hills of central Kenya, almost lime-green with the sparkle of tea bushes in the sunlight, farmers know all about climate change. “The rainy season is no longer predictable,” says one. “When it is supposed to rain it doesn’t, then it all comes at once.” Climate change is an issue that will affect everyone on the planet. For Africans its consequences will be particularly bitter: whereas other regions were able to grow rich by burning coal and oil, Africa will pay much of the human price without having enjoyed the benefits. “Africa only represents 2% of global greenhouse-gas emissions but it is the continent that is expected to suffer the most from climate impacts,” says Mafalda Duarte, who runs the World Bank’s $8bn Climate Investment Funds.

B. Although there are huge uncertainties as to the precise impacts of climate change, enough is known to say that global warming represents one of the main threats to Africa’s prosperity. Parts of the continent are already warming much more quickly than the average: temperatures in southern Africa have increased by about twice the global rate over the past 50 years. Even if the world were to cut emissions enough to keep global warming below 1.5°C, heat-waves would intensify in Africa and diseases would spread to areas not currently affected. Farming would also be hit hard. About 40% of the land now used to grow maize (玉米) would no longer be suitable for it. Overall, it is estimated that maize yields would fall by 18% - 22%.

C. Africa is particularly vulnerable, in part because it is already struggling to feed itself and it will have to vastly increase yields and productivity if it is to put food on the plates of a fast-growing population, even without climate change. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation reckons that by 2050 global food production would have to rise by about 70% over its level of 2009 to meet demand from a population that is growing in numbers and appetite. Much of this new demand will be in Africa. Yet the continent already imports about $50bn-worth of food a year and that figure is expected to more than double over the next five years. Self-sufficiency is not Africa’s goal, but the fact that it spends more money importing food than it does buying capital goods suggests it has room for improvement.

D. Finding out why is not hard. Most farms are tiny, ploughed by hand and reliant on rain. More than half of Africa’s people make their living from farming. Although its total harvest has climbed over the past few decades, this is mainly because there are more people farming more land. But in many places there is no spare land to farm. Plots in Rwanda are so small that you could fit 250 of them onto the average American farm. And although output per worker has improved by more than half over the past 30 years in Africa, that is still far behind the 2.5 times improvement in Asia. Yields of maize are generally less than two tonnes per hectare, a fifth the level in America.

E. The low productivity of African farmers is reflected in national economic statistics — despite absorbing so much labour, farming generates just 15% of GDP. “They can’t even feed their families,” says Jennifer Blanke, a vice-president of the African Development Bank in charge of agriculture. “Farm productivity hasn’t improved in many parts of Africa for 100 years.”

F. One reason is that in the first few decades of independence, many African governments neglected farming as they focused on industrialising their economies. Others damaged it by pushing down the prices that state monopolies paid for their crops in order to subsidise workers in cities with cheap food. Ghana taxed cocoa (可可粉) exports so heavily that production collapsed by half between the 1960s and 1980s, despite a jump in the global price of cocoa. Yet over the past two decades or so governments and donors have begun to look again at farming as a way of providing jobs for the 13 million young people entering the workforce each year. Much of the focus has been on getting small farmers to use fertiliser and, more important, better seeds. The results can be impressive. Improved varieties of sorghum (高粱), for instance, can produce a crop that is 40% larger than the usual variety. Infrastructure is important. A World Bank irrigation project in Ethiopia helped farmers increase their potato harvest from about 8 tonnes per hectare to 35 tonnes.

G. Better techniques help, too. Small coffee farmers in Kenya are able to increase their incomes by 40% by following a few simple guidelines on caring for their bushes, such as trimming all but three of their stems. Many of their neighbours do not follow the advice, because it seems counter-intuitive. More stems ought to lead to more coffee beans, they say. Yet after seeing those following the advice get bigger harvests for a season or two, many others start doing the same.

H. One way of spreading knowledge is to link farms to big buyers of their harvests. When Diageo, a British drinks giant, built a brewery in western Kenya, it wanted to use local crops to make a beer cheap enough to compete with illicit home brew. It organised farmers into groups, improved supply chains for them to get seeds and fertiliser and then agreed to buy their grain. It now provides a market to about 17,000 farmers. Across the region it has doubled its use of local raw material to about 80% over five years, says John O’Keeffe, who runs its Africa business.

I. An even more important change is the move from traditional farming to building businesses that can profitably bring technology and investment to small farms. Taita Ngetich, a young Kenyan, was studying engineering when he wanted to earn a little money on the side. He scraped together 20,000 Kenyan shillings (about $200) to plant tomatoes. Everything went wrong. The crop was attacked by pests. “Then there was a massive flood that swallowed all our capital,” he says. Mr Ngetich persevered by looking into buying a greenhouse to protect his plants from bugs and rain. The cheapest ones cost more than $2,500 each, so he designed his own for half the price. Soon neighbouring farmers started placing orders with him, and now his firm, Illuminum Greenhouses, has sold more than 1,400 greenhouses that provide livelihoods to about 6,000 people. The business does not stop there; he also supplies fertiliser, high-quality seedlings and smart sensors that increase yields.

J. Illuminum’s success shows how technology can help even small farms become more productive. Because such a large share of Africa’s population earns a living from agriculture, even small improvements in productivity can lift the incomes of millions of people. But over the longer run small-scale farming can go only so far, especially in the face of climate change and population pressure.

K. “If we really want to lift people out of poverty we have to finance projects that will get them an income of at least $100 a month so that they can pay for health care and education,” says Mr Ngetich. “Projects that give them an extra $2 a month from growing beans or maize aren’t going to get them there.” Getting those big jumps will need better jobs in factories and cities.

E It is said that agricultural productivity in many African countries has remained low for a century.
H Building connections between farms and major purchasers of their produce can promote African farmers’ use of advanced farming techniques.
B Parts of Africa are getting warmer much faster than the average, with southern Africa witnessing roughly twice the global warming rate over the last half century.
G Improved farming practices have enabled Kenyan farmers to increase farm produce remarkably.
C Africa is especially susceptible to the effects of global warming partly because it has difficulty feeding its increasing population even without climate change.
F The use of fertiliser and improved seeds can help Africa’s small farmers impressively increase crop yields.
I It has proved even more important to shift from traditional farming to setting up businesses that can bring technology and investment to small farmers in Africa.
A Everyone in the world will have to bear the consequences of climate change, especially Africans.
D Improvement in farm output per worker in Africa falls far short of that in Asia.
J In the long term, the potential for small farms in Africa to increase productivity is quite limited, especially owing to the warming climate and a growing population.

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.

One of the great successes of the Republican Party in recent decades is the relentless propagation of a simple formula for economic growth: tax cuts.

The formula doesn’t work, but that has not affected its popularity. And while the cult of tax cuts has attracted many critics, it lacks for obvious rivals.

Democratic politicians have tended to campaign on helping people left behind by economic growth. When Democrats do talk about encouraging economic growth, they often sound like Republicans.

This is not just a political problem for Democrats; it is an economic problem for the United States. The nation needs a better story about the drivers of economic growth. The painful lessons of recent decades point to a promising candidate: higher wages.

Raising the wages of American workers ought to be the priority of economic policymakers. We’d all be better off paying less attention to quarterly updates on the growth of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and focusing instead on the growth of workers’ paychecks.

Set aside, for the moment, the familiar argument for higher wages: fairness. The argument here is that higher wages can fuel the engine of economic growth.

Perhaps the most famous illustration of the benefits is the story of Henry Ford’s decision in 1914 to pay $5 a day to workers on his Model T assembly lines. He did it to increase production — he was paying a premium to maintain a reliable workforce. The unexpected benefit was that Ford’s factory workers became Ford customers, too.

The same logic still holds: Consumption drives the American economy, and workers who are paid more can spend more.

Mainstream economists insist that it is impossible to order up a sustainable increase in wages because compensation levels reflect the unerring judgment of market forces.

The conventional wisdom held that productivity growth was the only route to higher wages. Through that lens, efforts to negotiate higher wages were counterproductive. Minimum-wage laws would raise unemployment because there was only so much money in the wage pool, and if some people got more, others would get none.

It was in the context of this worldview that it became popular to argue that tax cuts would drive prosperity. Rich people would invest, productivity would increase, wages would rise.

In the real world, things are more complicated. Wages are influenced by a tug of war between employers and workers, and employers have been winning. One clear piece of evidence is the widening gap between productivity growth and wage growth since roughly 1970. Productivity has more than doubled; wages have lagged far behind.

A focus on wage growth would provide an antidote (矫正方法) to the attractive simplicity of the belief in the magical power of tax cuts.

Why does the formula of tax cuts remain popular though ineffective?
A. Its critics’ voice has not been heard throughout the country.
B. There seem to be no other options available to replace it.
C. The cult of tax cuts has been relentlessly propagated by all policymakers.
D. There appears to be a misunderstanding of the formula among the public.
What does the author think is a more effective measure for driving economic growth in the U.S.?
A. Aiding people left behind by economic growth.
B. Prioritizing the growth of the nation’s GDP.
C. Increasing the compensation for labor.
D. Introducing even more extensive tax cuts.
What is the logic underlying the author’s viewpoint?
A. The growth of workers’ paychecks ultimately boosts the nation’s economy.
B. Paying a premium to maintain a reliable workforce attracts more customers.
C. Consumption stimulates the desire for higher wages.
D. Familiar arguments for higher wages are outdated.
What is the basis for higher wages according to the conventional wisdom?
A. Fairness in distribution.
B. Increase in productivity.
C. The priority of economic policymakers.
D. The unerring judgment of market forces.
What do we learn about things in the real world in America for the past 50 years or so?
A. People have failed to see a corresponding increase in wages and in productivity.
B. People have been disheartened by the widening gap between the haves and have-nots.
C. People have witnessed a tug of war between Republicans and Democrats over tax cuts.
D. People have seen the link disappearing between productivity and workers’ well-being.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Journal editors decide what gets published and what doesn’t, affecting the careers of other academics and influencing the direction that a field takes. You’d hope, then, that journals would do everything they can to establish a diverse editorial board, reflecting a variety of voices, experiences, and identities.

Unfortunately a new study in Nature Neuroscience makes for disheartening reading. The team finds that the majority of editors in top psychology and neuroscience journals are male and based in the United States: a situation that may be amplifying existing gender inequalities in the field and influencing the kind of research that gets published.

Men were found to account for 60% of the editors of psychology journals. There were significantly more male than female editors at each level of seniority, and men made up the majority of editors in over three quarters of the journals. Crucially, the proportion of female editors was significantly lower than the overall proportion of women psychology researchers.

The differences were even starker in the neuroscience journals: 70% of editors were male, and men held the majority of editorial positions in 88% of journals. In this case, the proportion of female editors was not significantly lower than the proportion of female researchers working in neuroscience — a finding that reveals enduring gender disparities in the field more broadly.

Based on their results, the team concludes that “the ideas, values and decision-making biases of men are overrepresented in the editorial positions of the most recognized academic journals in psychology and neuroscience.”

Gender inequality in science is often attributed to the fact that senior academics are more likely to be male, because historically science was male-dominated: it’s argued that as time goes on and more women rise to senior roles, the field will become more equal. Yet this study showed that even the junior roles in psychology journals tended to be held disproportionately by men, despite the fact that there are actually more female than male junior psychology faculty.

This implies that a lack of female academics is not the problem. Instead, there are structural reasons that women are disadvantaged in science. Women receive lower salaries and face greater childcare demands, for instance, which can result in fewer publications and grants — the kinds of things that journals look for when deciding who to appoint. Rather than simply blaming the inequality of editorial boards on tradition, we should be actively breaking down these existing barriers.

A lack of diversity among journal editors also likely contributes to psychology’s WEIRD problem. If journal editors are largely men from the United States, then they will probably place higher value on papers that are relevant to Western, male populations, whether consciously or not.

What would we expect an editorial board of an academic journal to exhibit in view of its important responsibilities?
A. Insight.
B. Expertise.
C. Integrity.
D. Diversity.
What do we learn from the findings of a new study in Nature Neuroscience?
A. The majority of top psychology and neuroscience journals reflect a variety of voices, experiences and identities.
B. The editorial boards of most psychology and neuroscience journals do influence the direction their field takes.
C. The editorial boards of the most important journals in psychology and neuroscience are male-dominated.
D. The majority of editors in top psychology and neuroscience journals have relevant backgrounds.
What fact does the author highlight concerning the gender differences in editors of psychology journals?
A. There were quite a few female editors who also distinguished themselves as influential psychology researchers.
B. The number of female editors was simply disproportionate to that of women engaged in psychology research.
C. The proportion of female editors was increasingly lower at senior levels.
D. There were few female editors who could move up to senior positions.
What can we infer from the conclusion drawn by the team of the new study on the basis of their findings?
A. Women’s views are underrepresented in the editorial boards of top psychology and neuroscience journals.
B. Male editors of top psychology and neuroscience journals tend to be biased against their female colleagues.
C. Male researchers have enough representation in the editorial boards to ensure their publications.
D. Female editors have to struggle to get women’s research articles published in academic journals.
What does the author suggest we do instead of simply blaming the inequality of editorial boards on tradition?
A. Strike a balance between male and female editors.
B. Increase women’s employment in senior positions.
C. Enlarge the body of female academics.
D. Implement overall structural reforms.

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.

随着经济与社会的发展，中国人口结构发生了显著变化，逐渐步入老龄化社会。中国老年人口将持续增加，人口老龄化趋势将更加明显。为了应对人口老龄化带来的种种挑战，国家正积极采取措施，加大对养老的支持。通过改革社会保障(social security)制度，政府不断增加社会保障经费，逐步扩大社会保障覆盖范围，使更多老年人受益。政府还鼓励各种社会团体为老年人提供服务。在政府和社会团体的共同努力下，老年人将生活得更加幸福。

2023 年 12 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 2 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

(真题内容保持不变)

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

Section A

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

A. Spending their holidays in a novel way.
B. Exploring more summer holiday resorts.
C. Surfing online to check out the best deals.
D. Renting a car instead of driving their own.
A. He did not like to be locked into one place.
B. He did not find holiday homes appealing.
C. He was well travelled.
D. He once owned a van.
A. Generate their own electricity.
B. Drive under any weather condition.
C. Receive instructions via computers.
D. Ensure the safety of passengers.
A. Riding one’s mountain bike on vacation.
B. Slowing down in one’s increasingly hectic life
C. Enjoying the freedom to choose where to go and work.
D. Having one’s basic needs covered while away from home.

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

A. Her physical health has deteriorated these past few weeks.
B. She has lagged behind most of her co-workers in output.
C. Her job performance has worsened over the past month.
D. She has missed several important appointments lately.
A. Penalty for curtailed output.
B. Some problems at home.
C. Disturbance of her mind.
D. Serious health issues.
A. The woman’s whole-hearted support.
B. The woman’s work proficiency.
C. His management capability.
D. His engaging personality.
A. The man will help the woman get back to her usual self.
B. The man will be back at his 100% in a couple of weeks.
C. The woman will be off work on the next two Mondays.
D. The woman will resume her work in two weeks.

Section B

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.

A. It can have an impact on our moods and emotions.
B. It can improve our financial status significantly.
C. It can help us achieve better work performance.
D. It can enable us to live a healthier and longer life.
A. One’s health tends to differ before and after marriage.
B. The spouse’s level of education can impact one’s health.
C. The wealthier one’s spouse is, the healthier one becomes.
D. One’s health status is related to one’s social background.
A. They had more education than their spouses.
B. They had much in common with their spouses.
C. They benefited a lot from their career achievements.
D. They showed interest in their spouses’ occupations.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.

A. Finding out the changing climate patterns.
B. Identifying the cities’ geological features.
C. Forecasting flood risks accurately.
D. Eliminating their root cause.
A. To validate his hypothesis about the gravity of floods.
B. To determine the frequency of high tides causing floods.
C. To see the feasibility of his project on flooding.
D. To improve his mathematical flooding model.
A. To forecast rapid floods in real time.
B. To classify the flooding data processed.
C. To study the consequences of high tides on flooded areas.
D. To teach local citizens how to collect data of incoming floods.
A. They tracked the rising tides with video-cameras.
B. They set up Internet-connected water-level sensors.
C. They used newly-developed supercomputing facilities.
D. They observed the direction of water flow on the spot.

Section C

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.

A. To debate the validity of current survey data.
B. To argue about the value of a college degree.
C. To account for the drastic decline in employment among men.
D. To compare men without college degrees with those who have.
A. The issue of changing job requirements.
B. The increase in women taking up jobs.
C. The impact of inflation.
D. The factor of wages.
A. The sharp decline in marriage among men with no college degrees.
B. The wage gap between those with college degrees and those without.
C. More jobs requiring their holders to have a college degree nowadays.
D. Men’s unwillingness to accept low wages in times of growing inflation.

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

A. More and more people attach importance to protecting endangered animals.
B. An increasing number of people demand to free animals being kept in cages.
C. More and more people prioritize animal welfare when buying things to wear.
D. An increasing number of people follow the latest trend of becoming vegetarians
A. Utilized a silk substitute made from mushrooms.
B. Refrained from using chemicals in their products.
C. Labelled all their products as vegan.
D. Avoided the use of leather and fur.
A. Whether they can be regarded as ethical.
B. Whether they can be considered sustainable.
C. Whether they actually signify a substantial change.
D. Whether they effectively protect animals at large.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.

A. The belief is less prevalent that the world is going to hell.
B. The environmental welfare has worsened in the world.
C. The world has seen more violence in recent years.
D. The era we live in is the most peaceful in history.
A. They did not wish to live in the previous century.
B. They were convinced by the statistics presented to them.
C. They believed the world was deteriorating.
D. They were actually not in their right mind.
A. Our ancestors’ influence.
B. Our psychological biases.
C. The current state of affairs.
D. The subjectivity of mass media.
A. Paying attention to negative information.
B. Calculating dangerous risks to our survival.
C. Vacuuming up depressing or enraging stories.
D. Spreading exciting news around us far and wide.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

D. flat
H. probably
F. overflowing
C. extremes
B. burning
N. synonymous
L. stimulate
I. sparingly
M. sturdy
O. unique

Section B

Section C

Passage One

A. She has had worsening mental problems.
B. She has won Instagram’s most followers.
C. She has refrained from using social media.
D. She has succeeded in a bid on the internet.
A. Most people find it subtle and complicated to give up using the internet.
B. Most people can hardly ditch the web while avoiding hate and comparisons.
C. Most people can hardly get by without the internet due to growing digitisation.
D. Most people have been seriously addicted to the web without being aware of it.
A. The UK digital divide would further worsen due to the metaverse.
B. The concept of the metaverse is believed to be still quite illusory.
C. Schoolchildren would be drawn farther away from the real world.
D. Most families in the UK do not have stable broadband connections.
A. They are conducive to promoting societal equality.
B. They help many people feel connected with others.
C. They provide a necessary device for a digital detox.
D. They create a virtual community on the internet.
A. Having access to the internet.
B. Edging further towards web 3.0.
C. Getting more educational resources.
D. Opening more social media accounts.

Passage Two

A. The disagreement on the inevitability of competition.
B. The consequence of psychological investigation.
C. The effect of human drives.
D. The impact of competition.
A. Fulfill individual needs without incurring adverse effects of human drives.
B. Indulge in cultural pursuits while keeping their base impulses at bay.
C. Gain extensive recognition without exposing pure indulgence.
D. Satisfy their own desires while observing social conventions.
A. It gets misrepresented by philosophers and anthropologists.
B. It gets distorted in Darwin’s The Origin of Species.
C. It is free from the rational intervention of humans.
D. It is the pre-rational world rarely appreciated nowadays.
A. All species inherently depend on others for survival.
B. Struggles for survival do not exclude mutual support.
C. Competition weighs as much as cooperation as a survival strategy.
D. The strongest species proves to be the fittest in natural selection.
A. It is characteristic of humans to be competitive.
B. Americans are uniquely opposed to cooperation.
C. Competition is relatively more prevalent in Western societies.
D. People’s attitude towards competition is actually culture-bound.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

(真题内容保持不变)

2023 年 12 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 3 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “With their valuable skills and experience, elderly people can continue to make significant contributions to society.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal observations to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words (not including the sentence given).

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

提示：2023年12月六级全国只考两套听力，本套听力内容与第一二套相同，故本套未重复显示。

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Modern U.S. cities were designed to make exercise unnecessary. Cars and elevators once symbolized
urban areas as machines for more efficient living. Now it is clear that these improvements provide great
benefits but also G health costs. Recent studies show that urban M encourages more driving and is associated with heavier weight. This A suggests that the layout and design of cities can hinder or promote healthier lifestyle choices, and it is F that urban planners bear this in mind.
Unfortunately, urban planning still centers in large part on solving the problems of the past. Of course cities still need to E standard public health practices, such as separating toxic facilities from homes and restricting heavy truck traffic through B residential areas. But it’s also important to create healthier cities — and the discussion is already underway. More and more city planners are paying increasing attention to encouraging physical activity by making it easier and safer for people to recreate, walk, bike and take public transportation. Many studies of I show that people live the longest in environments where physical activity is part of everyday life.
Providing more walkable spaces, better protected bike lanes and more K spaces are important steps. But even smaller changes can be effective.
Cities can close off streets on weekends to encourage communities to get out and walk. They also can provide more seating in public places, so that less-fit residents can rest during their journeys. Using public spaces in cities as places where people can exercise promotes D, rather than allowing physical activity to become restricted to private gyms with often-expensive monthly fees that C less wealthy people from joining.

A. correlation F. imperative K. recreational
B. dense G. impose L. rotten
C. deter H. irrespective M. sprawl
D. equity I. longevity N. vibrate
E. foster J. navigate O. vicinity

Section B

Can Learning a Foreign Language Prevent Dementia?

A. You may have heard that learning another language is one method for preventing or at least postponing the onset of dementia. Dementia refers to the loss of cognitive abilities, and one of its most common forms is Alzheimer’s disease (阿尔茨海默氏病). At this time, the causes of the disease are not well understood, and consequently, there are no proven steps that people can take to prevent it. Nonetheless, some researchers have suggested that learning a foreign language might help delay the onset of dementia.

B. To explore this possibility more deeply, let’s look at some of the common misconceptions about dementia and the aging brain. First of all, dementia is not an inevitable part of the normal aging process. Most older adults do not develop Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. It is also important to remember that dementia is not the same thing as normal forgetfulness. At any age, we might experience difficulty finding the exact word we want or have trouble remembering the name of the person we just met. People with dementia have more serious problems, like feeling confused or getting lost in a familiar place. Think of it this way: If you forget where you parked your car at the mall, that’s normal; if you forget how to drive a car, that may be a signal that something more serious is going on.

C. The idea that dementia can be prevented is based on the comparison of the brain to a muscle. When people talk about the brain, they sometimes say things like “It is important to exercise your brain” or “To stay mentally fit, you have to give your brain a workout.” Although these are colorful analogies, in reality the brain is not a muscle. Unlike muscles, the brain is always active and works even during periods of rest and sleep. In addition, although some muscle cells have a lifespan of only a few days, brain cells last a lifetime. Not only that, but it has been shown that new brain cells are being created throughout one’s lifespan.

D. While it makes for a colorful analogy, comparing the brain to a muscle is inaccurate and misleading. So, if the brain is not a muscle, can it still be exercised? Once again, researchers don’t know for sure. There are now many computer, online and mobile device applications that claim to be able to “train your brain,” and they typically tap into a variety of cognitive abilities. However, research suggests that although this type of training may improve one’s abilities at the tasks themselves, they don’t seem to improve other abilities. In other words, practicing a letter-detection task will, over time, improve your letter-detection skills, but it will not necessarily enhance your other perceptual abilities.

E. However, there is some reason to believe that learning languages might be different. The best evidence that foreign language learning confers cognitive benefits comes from research with those who are already bilingual (双语的). Bilingualism most commonly occurs when children are exposed to two languages, either in the home (mom speaks Dutch, dad speaks Spanish) or more formally in early schooling. But bilingualism certainly occurs in adulthood as well.

F. Bilingualism and multilingualism are actually more common than you might think. In fact, it has been estimated that there are fewer monolingual speakers in the world than bilinguals and multilinguals. Although in many countries most inhabitants share just one language, other countries have several official languages. Switzerland, for example, has four official languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Throughout large parts of Africa, Arabic, Swahili, French and English are often known and used by individuals who speak a different, native language in their home than they do in the marketplace. So bilingualism and multilingualism are to be found throughout the world. And with regard to cognitive abilities, the research on those who speak more than one language paints an encouraging picture.

G. For one thing, bilinguals are better at multitasking. One explanation of this superiority is that speakers of two languages are continually inhibiting one of their languages, and this process of inhibition confers general cognitive benefits to other activities. In fact, bilingual individuals outperform their monolingual counterparts on a variety of cognitive tasks, such as following complex instructions, and switching to new instructions. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that the advantages of being bilingual are not universal across all cognitive domains. Bilingual individuals have been shown to have smaller vocabularies and to take longer in retrieving words from memory when compared to monolinguals. In the long run, however, the cognitive and linguistic advantages of being bilingual far outweigh these two drawbacks.

H. If the benefits of being bilingual spill over to other aspects of cognition, then we would expect to see a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in bilinguals than in monolinguals, or at least a later onset of Alzheimer’s for bilinguals. In fact, there is evidence to support this claim. The psychologist Ellen Bialystok and her colleagues obtained the histories of 184 individuals who had made use of a memory clinic in Toronto. For those who showed signs of dementia, the monolinguals in the sample had an average age of 71.4 years at time of onset. The bilinguals, in contrast, received their diagnosis at 75.5 years, on average. In a study of this sort, a difference of four years is highly significant, and could not be explained by other systematic differences between the two groups. For example, the monolinguals reported, on average, a year and a half more schooling than their bilingual counterparts, so the effect was clearly not due to formal education.

I. A separate study, conducted in India, found strikingly similar results: bilingual patients developed symptoms of dementia 4.5 years later than monolinguals, even after other potential factors, such as gender and occupation, were controlled for. In addition, researchers have reported other positive effects of bilingualism for cognitive abilities in later life, even when the person acquired the language in adulthood. Crucially, Bialystok suggested that the positive benefits of being bilingual were only found in those who used both languages all the time.

J. But encouraging as these kinds of studies are, they still have not established exactly how or why differences between bilinguals and monolinguals exist. Because these studies looked back at the histories of people who were already bilingual, the results can only say that a difference between the two groups was found, but not why that difference occurred. Further research is needed to determine what caused the differences in age of onset between the two groups.

K. Other studies of successful aging suggest that being connected to one’s community and having plenty of social interaction is also important in delaying or even preventing the onset of dementia. Once again, however, the results are far less clear than the popular media might lead you to believe. Older individuals who lead active social lives are, almost by definition, healthier than their counterparts who rarely leave their homes or interact with others. So we can’t really say whether being socially active prevents the onset of dementia, or if people who don’t have dementia are more likely to be socially active.

L. But even if studying a foreign language is not a magical cure-all, there is one thing it will do: It will make you a better speaker of a foreign language. Doing that confers a whole host of advantages we do know about.

Research indicates that brain training is likely to boost one’s ability at specific tasks, but not one’s other
cognitiveabilities. D
According to estimates, the number of people who speak two languages or more is greater than those who
speakonelanguageonly. F
For the time being, we donot know what causes people to lose their cognitiveabilities, or what we can do
topreventit. A
It is hard to determine whether people who are free from dementia tend to have more social activities, or
moresocialactivitieskeeppeopleawayfromdementia. K
Thereisevidencethatlearningforeignlanguagesmightbebeneficialtoboostingone’scognitiveabilities. E
Itwassuggestedthatonlythosewhoalwaysspoke twolanguagescouldbenefitfrombilingualism. I
Thebrainisdifferentfrommusclesinthatitkeepsworkingevenwhenthebodyisatrest. C
People who speak two languages do better at a number of cognitive tasks than those who speak only one
language. G
Dementiaisdifferentfrombeingmerelyforgetfulandentailsmoreserioustrouble. B
Itisclaimedthatmoremonolingualssufferfrom Alzheimer’sdiseasethanbilinguals. H

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
choiceandmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

Research is meant to benefit society by raising public awareness and creating products and innovations that enhance development. For research to serve its full purpose, the results must leave the confines of research laboratories and academic journals.
Findings effectively communicated can go a long way to serve the interests of the public. They can help address social injustices or improve treatments offered to patients.
Many researchers seem to be content with sharing the results of their studies in academic journals or at conferences. But few journals allow everybody to read the findings. Even articles freely available are usually written in academic language incomprehensible to the average reader.
For researchers in the tenure-track system, their main goal is winning tenure, which in part can be achieved by getting a number of papers published in prominent journals. Pressures like this mean community-level outreach is not prioritised.
Many researchers lack the writing skills to describe their results to a general audience. They may also
worry about whether the public will understand their findings, or about findings being used to influence
controversial policies.These concernscause some researchers to shyawayfrom communicating their findings
outsidetheacademiccommunity.
Propagating research findings beyond academic publications is particularly crucial for addressing certain
social discrepancies. It can help families, communities, healthcare providers, policymakers, government
agenciesandotherstakeholderstounderstandandrespondtocrisesthatplaguesociety.
The benefits of sharing findings flow both ways.Engagingwith other researchersand the public canlead
tounexpectednewconnectionsandnewideasthatcouldsuggestfruitfulnewdirectionsforresearch.
To benefit both researchers and the communities, the need to find innovative, accessible ways to share
theworkcannotbeoverstated.
Institutions and funding organisations should support more researchers to publish in open access journals
so that the public doesn’t have to pay to read them. Institutions and researchers should invest in partnerships
thatexpandcapacityforsharingresultsmorebroadly.
Furthermore, ethics committees should make it mandatory for researchers to share their results with the
public. Every research participant should opt in or out of receiving results, as part of the process of giving
informedconsent.
There could be misunderstanding of the findings presented by the researcher because of technical terms.
But this can be resolved by researchers engaging the services of professional writers or communication
officers to help with translating their study into more accessible language and share it widely with media
outletsandthepublic.
Sharing results with the people who are most affected by them makes us better researchers and ensures
that our workcanbe used to improve people’slives.Institutions and collaborators must recognise the value of
doingso.

Howcanresearchserveitsfullpurpose accordingtotheauthor?
A.Withresearchersbeingawareofpublic interests.
B.Withitsfindingspublishedinprominentjournals.
C.Withresearcherscreatingproductsthatenhancesocialdevelopment.
D.Withits findingsproperlycommunicatedbeyondtheacademiccircle.
Whydoordinaryreadersfinditdifficulttoaccesstheresultsof researchers’studies?
A.Theycannotunderstandtheacademiclanguageusedfor reportingtheseresults.
B.Theyfeelintimidatedbythejargonresearchersusetodescribetheirfindings.
C.Theydonotattendconferenceswheretheseresultsarefreelyavailable.
D.Theyhavefewchancesto locatethejournalsthatpublishthesefindings.
Whatisoneof thereasonssomeresearcherswon’tprioritisecommunicatingtheirfindingstothepublic?
A.Theycanthriveonthe paperspublished.
B.Theirtopconsiderationisto wintenure.
C.Theirmaingoalisgainingrecognitionintheirfield.
D.Theyhaveto struggletoreachouttothecommunity.
Howcansharingfindingsbenefitresearchersthemselves?
A.Byhelpingthemtoidentifynewresearchdirections.
B.Byenablingthemtounderstandcrisesplaguingsociety.
C.Byenablingthemtoeffectivelyaddresssocialdiscrepancies.
D.Byhelpingthemtoforgetieswithgovernmentagencies.
Whyareresearchersadvisedtoengagetheservicesofprofessionalwritersor communicationofficers?
A.To satisfyethicscommittees’mandatoryrequirementsofresearchers.
B.To translatetheirstudyintolanguagesaccessibletoreadersoverseas.
C.To maketheirpublicationscorrectlyunderstoodbythepublic.
D.To rendertheirfindingsacceptablebyprominentjournals.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55arebasedonthefollowing passage.

Spiders make their presence felt in late August and through early autumn. This is the mating season of
some of the most common varieties, when male house spiderscome out of hidden cornersto look for females,
andgardenspidersreachadultsizeandspintheirmostdazzlingwebs.
Yet while the spider is a familiar fixture of nursery poems or songs and Halloween decorations, its
relationship with humans is complicated. Fear of spiders is common and has serious impacts on the lives of
sufferers. Its prevalence appears unrelated to any rational assessment of risk. Spiders in the UK are almost all
harmless. Farmland species perform valuable ecosystem services, by preying on insects that are our
competitors for crops. But they are a constant source of human anxieties — with a cultural association with
witchesandwickednessdatingbacktothemiddleages.
Does this perhaps explain, in part, the lack of data about how spiders are faring in our age of ecological
crisis? British butterflies are the most studied group of insects in the world, due to the long tradition of
collecting and observing them. But spider conservationists point out that it was only in the 198s that the
classification of house spiders was properly sorted out. And while information about insect populations is
gathered by experiments that measure the numbers hitting windscreens or traps, there have been few attempts
tocountspiders.
The huge reductions in the numbers of flying insects can only mean a reduction in spiders’ food supply.
A recent landmark study identified a 75% fall in insect populations between 1989 and 2016, with pesticide
use thought to be to blame along with the destruction of wild areas for development. This means the overall
picturefor spidersis worrying,asitis for mostcreatures.Butconservationistsare mostconcernedaboutthose
varieties that are threatened due to habitat loss and fragmentation, which makes it impossible for them to
migrate.
Ofaround650spiderspeciesregularlyrecordedintheUK,the majoritythrivein marshesandwasteland.
Conservation efforts, often led by determined individuals, have helped some species to recover by
reintroducing them to new areas. With rewilding now firmly on the environmental policy agenda, the hope is
that in future, spiders will be enabled to migrate by themselves, adapting to climate change by moving along
wildlifecorridors.
It seems unlikely that spiders will ever attract the same level of human enthusiasm as bees, birds or
butterflies, in spite of their unique status as nature’s spinners. But as they reveal themselves in all their
splendour this autumn, it would be a good thing if more animal lovers recognised the ways in which spiders
aresimplyterrific.

WhatdowelearnaboutspidersintheUK sincethemiddleages?
A.Theyhavebeengenerallymisconceived.
B.Theyhaveadverselyimpactedcropgrowth.
C.Theyhavebeenaconstantreminderofbadluck.
D.Theyhavemadetheirpresencefeltwhenspinningwebs.
WhathavespidersbeenassociatedwithintheUKforcenturies?
A.Harm. B.Evil. C.Suffering. D.Aggression.
Whatpartlyaccountsforthereductioninspiders’foodsupply?
A.Thelong traditionofcollectinginsects. C.Chemicalsusedfor killinginsects.
B.Fast reproductionoftheircompetitors. D.Theextinctionofa lot ofwildlife.
Whatdoesthepassagesayisconservationists’biggestworry?
A.Avarietyof spidersarethreatenedduetopollutionof marshesandwasteland.
B.Certainspeciesof spidersareendangereddueto lossof theirnaturalhomes.
C.Anincreasingnumberofspidersarebeingkilledbydeadlypesticides.
D.More andmorespiderspeciesarefoundlosing theirabilitytomigrate.
Whatwishdoestheauthorexpresscloseto theendofthepassage?
A.More peoplewouldrecognisespiders’uniquestatusin theecosystem.
B.Peoplewouldshowgreaterenthusiasmforspidersthanfor butterflies.
C.Therewouldbe sufficientcorridorsforspidersto movealong.
D.Therewouldbe morepeopleappreciatingspiders’splendour.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You
shouldwriteyouransweronAnswer Sheet2.

近年来，中国老龄人口持续增长。中国政府正采取各种措施，推进养老服务体系建设，使老年人晚
年生活健康幸福。全国兴建了各类养老服务机构。为了提升养老机构的服务质量，政府颁布了一系列标
准，加强对养老机构的监管。许多城市为方便老年人用餐，开设了社区食堂，为他们提供价格实惠的饭
菜。行动不便的老年人还能享受上门送餐服务。同时，中国还在积极探索居家和社区养老等其他养老模
式，以确保所有老年人老有所养。

2024 年 12 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 1 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For thispart,youare allowed30 minutestowriteanessaythatbeginswiththe sentence“To increase the
likelihood of success, one should set realistic goals and work persistently towards them.” You can make comments,
cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no
morethan200words.
You shouldcopythesentencegiveninquotesatthe beginningofyouressay.

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 Sheet1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions 1 to 4arebasedontheconversationyouhave justheard.

A.Preparingforajobinterview.
B.Writingaworkreporttogether.
C.Goingthroughacoupleofissuesthecompanyfaces.
D.Discussingthewoman’sannualperformancereview.
A.The overallcultureofthecompany. C.The honestyofthemanager.
B.The instructionfromhersupervisor. D.The recognitionofhermerits.
A.Her inadequatelanguageproficiency. C.Herinappropriatebehavioratcompanymeetings.
B.Herinabilitytointeractwithcolleaguesproperly. D.Her simplisticapproachtodealingwithothers.
A.To avoidoffendingtherecipients. C.To savetime.
B.To showheruniquewritingstyle. D.To befrank.
Questions 5 to 8arebasedontheconversationyouhave justheard.
A.Providemedicalservicetothecommunity. C.Obtainadoctoraldegreeininternalmedicine.
B.Makehealthcareinherhometownthebest. D.Haveaprofoundimpactonpeoplearoundher.
A.Theyhaveconstantlyurgedhertostudyhard.
B.Theyhaveworkedhardtofinancehereducation.
C.Theyhavetriedtocreateapositivelearningenvironment.
D.Theyhavepursuedthefamily’sdreamstogetherwithher.
A.Itisa keymedicalbranchconducivetorealizingherdreams.
B.Itconnectsmanyotherspecialtieswithitsbroadcoverage.
C.Ithasa longhistoryintheman’sprestigiousinstitution.
D.Itisa medicalbranchbothofherparentsspecializein.
A.Problematic. B.Competitive. C.Inconsistent. D.Trustworthy.

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
1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
1 9 to 11are basedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
9. A.To preventhackersfromcrackingoursecretcodes. C.To provideevidencethatpasswordsareforgotten.
B. To show that all the guidelines are being followed. D.To convinceourcomputerthatwearehuman.
10. A.Putanendto thehackingphenomenon. C.Reducetheintricacyofthepassworditself.
B.Helppeopleremembertheirpasswords. D.Explaintheneedfordifferentemailaccounts.
11. A.Innovatetechnologiestoensurethesafetyofusers’accounts.
B.Provideincentivesfortheapplicationofcreativepasswords.
C.Explorethepossibilityofusingsimplersecretcodes.
D.Takestepstoencourageuserstologinmoreoften.
Questions 12 to 15are basedonthe passageyouhavejustheard.
12. A.Her worknolongerinterestedher. C.Herfitnessfellintoaslump.
B.Hertrainingappdidnotfither. D.Her businessdeteriorated.
13. A.Helpuserskeeptrackoftheirfitnesslevels. C.Strengthentiesamongusersworldwide.
B.Designpersonalisedtrainingprogrammes. D.Selectwell-qualifiedhumancoaches.
14. A.Theyareneverrepeated. C.Theyareof noextremeintensity.
B.Theyhelpenrichherlife. D.Theykeepherfocusedonhergoal.
15. A.Theywillnotbeableto taketheplaceofhumanpersonaltrainers.
B.Theywillnotbeableto comprehendsomeoftheprofilesusersputin.
C.Theycannotleadtooptimalresultswiththeirmathematicalapproach.
D.Theycannotmatchhumansinarrangingmeticulousworkoutschedules.

Section C

Directions: In this section, you will hearthree recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The
recordings will be played only once. After you hear aquestion, you must choose the best answer from the four choices
markedA),B),C) andD).ThenmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet 1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions 16 to 18are basedonthe recordingyouhavejustheard.
16. A.Allsocietiesarebuilt uponthecornerstonesofbasicvalues.
B.Everyoneeverywheredemonstratessevencharactertraits.
C.Allsocietiesarekepttogetherbysevenbasicmoralrules.
D.Everyoneeverywheresharesauniversalmoralstandard.
17. A.Ascertainwhetherdeferringtoauthoritywasconfinedtoright-wingpeople.
B.Findout whetherdifferentsocietieshaddifferentversionsofmorality.
C.Makeclearwhetherallsocietiesfacedthesamemoralissues.
D.Findout whetherleft-wingpeoplestill hadagrouployalty.
18. A.Makeindependentdescriptionsofculturesaroundtheworld.
B.Strivetounderstandthebasicdifferencesbetweenpeoples.
C.Appreciatethefoundationalvalueoftheexistingdata.
D.Carryoutsystematicfieldstudiestogathernewdata.
Questions 19 to 21are basedonthe recordingyouhavejustheard.
19. A.Theymightbethemostimportantpartofoureatingexperience.
B.Theycanactivateourbrainfunctionsinamostdirectfashion.
C.Theycanbeviewedasthewindowstooursoul.
D.Theycouldmisleadusinmorewaysthanone.
2 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn20. A.Itattractsfoodcompanies’growingattention. C.Itinvariablydetermineshowfoodsells.
B.Itadverselyimpactsone’seatingexperience. D.Itchangesthewaypeopletastefood.
21. A.Enhancethetaste. C.Identifydistinctflavors.
B.Makepredictions. D.Enrichtheeatingexperience.
Questions 22 to 25are basedonthe recordingyouhavejustheard.
22. A.Socialstatus. C.Meaning.
B.Financialresources. D.Happiness.
23. A.Theireffectonpeople’shappinesshaslongbeenoverstated.
B.Theirinfluenceonpeople’slifevarieswithsocialcontexts.
C.Theycanaffectpeople’sexperienceofmeaning.
D.Theycanensurepeople’soverallwell-being.
24. A.Itusedquestionstotallydifferentfromthoseintheirfirststudy.
B.ItfocusedonthesenseofmeaningofFrenchparticipants.
C.Itanalysedcasesfroma dailypollofUSresidents.
D.Itexamineddatacollectedfrommultiplecountries.
25. A.Theymighthavemoreaccesstoexternalsourcesofhappiness.
B.Theymightfocusonanindividualsenseofsatisfactionormeaning.
C.Theymightbelesseasilyaffectedbya community’soverallfeeling.
D.Theymightbelessadverselyimpactedbyfailuretoachieveapurpose.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

It is evil or sinful to spend little and to save much, an idea only recently being revealed to me. Actually the whole world is in a 30. L. rage to borrow and to spend, with the USA leading the trend. The USA is still the richest and most powerful country in the world, but the 31. D. irony is that they borrow money from us. Though a 32. E. layman of economics, at least I know that investing with borrowed money will turn the borrower into the 33. K. predator rather than the decent and kind lender. An apparent case is real estate. Those who are 34. N. shrewd and have got loans from the bank become relatively rich by selling their purchased home at a price several folds higher. Even education is not immune from this theory. Many of those poor parents who have the vision to send their children to college have benefited from this investment, even though they have to 35. M. scrape a living. It is reasonable to conclude that spending is praiseworthy, supposing it is not beyond your means.
Word Bank:
A. appeal
B. extravagantly
C. intrinsically
D. irony
E. layman
F. literally
G. majestic
H. malicious
I. meadow
J. mingle
K. predator
L. rage
M. scrape
N. shrewd
O. thrifty
26. O
27. B
28. A
29. J
30. L
31. D
32. E
33. K
34. N
35. M

Section B

Are Forgotten Crops the Future of Food?
A. On a small fruit farm near the Straits of Malacca, Lim Kok Ann is down to just one tree growing kedondong, a crunchy, sour berry that Malaysians mostly use in pickles (腌菜) and salads. “It’s not very well-known,” says the 45-year-old, who is instead focusing on longan (龙眼) berries and pineapples, which have bigger markets. “We have to grow what is profitable,” he says.
B. But less than an hour away in the Malaysian countryside, inside three giant, silver domes, scientists are trying to change the future of food. They’re pushing the boundaries of what humans eat by growing and processing so-called “alternative” crops — such as kedondong. At the headquarters of global research centre Crops For the Future (CFF) this particular under-used fruit has been turned into a sugar-free juice, high in vitamin C and getting top marks in sensory evaluations. “Anything you see here is a forgotten crop,” says Sayed Azam-Ali of the abundant plants weaving through the gardens of CFF outside Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.
C. Prof Azam-Ali explains that just four crops — wheat, maize, rice and soybean — provide two-thirds of the world’s food supply. “We’re dependent on these four,” he says. “But actually there’re 7,000 crops we’ve been farming for thousands of years. We ignore all of those.” Researchers are trying to unlock the potential of these ignored crops — plants they describe as forgotten, under-used or “alternative” as they are displaced by increasingly uniform diets fuelled by processed ingredients from the major crops.
D. It’s a timely quest. The food sector is already responsible for nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050 it estimates the world must produce 50% more food to feed the projected global population of 10 billion. Meeting this demand without contributing to climate change calls for urgent solutions.
E. Forgotten crops hold key answers. By investing in neglected local plants, countries can reduce their reliance on imported crops and their carbon-heavy supply chains. Bringing back the variety of crops humans once ate also boosts food security at a time warming climates threaten existing crops. On top of that forgotten crops are among the most climate-resilient (具有气候韧性的) and nutritious, argues Azam-Ali. His summary is plain: “Dietary diversification is critical to the future of humanity.”
F. Food security experts agree. “There is no food insecurity in the world, there is food ignorance,” says Cecilia Tortajada, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Water Policy at the National University of Singapore. “Whenever we have native crops we tend to disregard them as if they were not valuable but they are,” she adds.
G. Azam-Ali knows that scepticism firsthand. He came across alternative crops in the 1980s through the work of women farmers he met in Niger. The then-PhD student remembers marvelling at the crops they grew in their backyards, without the benefits of technology, to feed their families when the big crops failed. He saw a tremendous opportunity to build alternative food systems. But “the resistance was enormous,” he recalls.
H. Undeterred, he ploughed on. Project after project helped prove these crops were viable in different environments as alternatives to the staple ones. But the question of whether these crops would be marketable remained. “That’s the critical thing,” he says. In one of the centre’s domes, food technologist Tan Xinlin uses powdered moringa (辣木粉) leaves in place of some wheat flour to bake a cake lower in gluten (谷胶) and higher in nutrients. Tan’s job is to create recipes with these still-unfamiliar ingredients that will appeal to both local and international tastes. In recent years she has used some of the forgotten crops grown at CFF, such as moringa and bambara groundnut, to make everything from instant soup to Indian snacks. “I try to modernise forgotten crops instead of using old recipes,” says Tan, who is also a trained chef. It’s a strategy to appeal to the world’s growing middle classes who are increasingly turning to the fast and processed food industries. It’s also a way to help counter perceptions of local crops as “old or poor people’s food” or as inferior “women’s crops”, adds Tan.
I. The roots of these connotations about local foods can run deep. The bambara groundnut, a protein-rich native crop of sub-Saharan Africa that is also grown in parts of southeast Asia, can trace its marginalisation to colonial rule. “African women who grew bambara groundnut were actually punished for growing it,” says Azam-Ali. “Colonial powers said you can’t grow that because there’s no oil. We can’t get a market for it.” But today the bambara murukku is one of CFF’s best reviewed foods and they are aiming to get it into grocery stores, pointing to the success of crops like quinoa to potential investors. Some 30 years ago, quinoa was virtually unheard of outside its native mountains in Bolivia and Peru. Today the nutritious grain is found on the menus of lavish restaurants across the world.
J. Measuring crops by nutrition instead of yield is at the heart of the forgotten foods enterprise. Ever since the “green revolution” of the 1960s, high-yielding crops have dominated modern agriculture. That was in part a crucial response to devastating famines at a time when the world needed to increase its food supply. Today “nutrition is becoming a time bomb”, says Azam-Ali, as growing carbon dioxide levels strip crops of their minerals. Instead of bio-fortifying major crops we should be investing in those forgotten crops that are already more nutritious, he asserts.
K. In the bowels of CFF’s third dome, lab manager Gomathy Sethuraman opens a window into the centre’s “crown
jewels”, revealing vines of winged beans growing under a bright yellow light. It’s one of multiple chambers where
scientists are studying the impact of higher temperatures and carbon dioxide levels on the nutritional make-up of
alternative crops. This research is “the game changer”, says Azam-Ali, ensuring that “future crops” are also the
healthiestonesinwarmerclimates.
L. There is a growing global momentum around forgotten foods, says Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank, a
US-based think tank. Other than CFF, which bills itself as the world’s first research centre dedicated solely to
under-utilised crops, there are other key groups championing agricultural diversity including Crop Trust, Slow
Food, Icrisat and Bioversity International. Add to that more middle-income consumers searching for nutritious
foodsandotherseagertotrytheunprocessedfoodstheirgrandparentsonceate,shesays.
M. But the rising interest in forgotten foods in some quarters is overtaken by the global spread of Western-style diets
heavyinsugar,fatandprocessedfoodsinothers.
N. A key obstacle to promoting fading local crops in Malaysia, for example, is “the obsession with imported
products”, says Jenifer Kuah, co-founder of a restaurant that champions locally-sourced food in an affluent suburb
of Kuala Lumpur. Customers at Sitka, regarded as a pioneer in the country’s small farm-to-table dining scene, still
seekforeigningredientsasa“statussymbol”,shesays.
O. Theargumentforforgottenfoodsfeelsintuitive.Someanalystssayitisinfactinevitable.“Climatechangeisgoing
to mean almost certainly tastes are going to be forced to change,” says Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City,
UniversityofLondon.We “havetogetusedtoeatingothercrops”asyieldsofstaplecropsfall,hesays.
36. F According to a senior researcher, we will have secure food supply if we rid ourselves of ignorance about native
crops.
5 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn37. C Most of the world’s food supply comes from a tiny number out of thousands of crops that have been grown for
centuries.
38. G To provide their family with food when the staple crops failed, some African women farmers grew local crops in
theirbackyards.
39. J High-yielding crops haveoccupied a dominant position in modernagriculture since the greenrevolution in the last
century.
40. H Growing alternative crops proved feasible in a variety of environments, but the critical question was whether they
wouldbemarketable.
41. O According to a professor, when the yields of staple crops fall, we will have to adapt to eating foods from
alternativecrops.
42. D Urgent measures have to be taken to provide food for the projected world population without aggravating the
climate.
43. I ColonialrulemarginalisedlocalcropsbypunishingAfricanswhogrewthem.
44. E As existing crops are endangered by global warming, we can increase food security by bringing back the many
forgottenfoodcrops.
45. K Researchers are trying to find out how higher temperatures and CO₂ levels affect the nutritional composition of
alternativecrops.

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
andmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet2 withasinglelinethroughthecentre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50are basedonthe followingpassage.
Imagine you’re an alien sent to Earth to document the behaviour of the mammals inhabiting the planet. You
stumbleintoamovietheatrethat’sshowingthelatestHollywoodhorrorfilm.
Several dozenhumans are gatheredtogether in a dark, undecoratedroom. They’re all staring at a rectangular area
onwhichpatternsoflightchangerapidly.
Theyareclearlyin a stateofhigharousal.Theirheartrateiselevated,theyoccasionallyglancearoundnervously,
andtheysometimesjumpcollectivelyintheirseats,andemithigh-pitchedwarningcalls.
Eventually, the lights come up and the rectangular screen goes black. The humans stand up and leave the room,
chattingandlaughing,andshowingsignsofpleasure.
Why do these humans voluntarily expose themselves to what appears to be a deeply unpleasant experience? And
whydotheyreactsostronglytothosepatternsoflightonascreen?
Iamfascinatedwiththeparadoxofhorror—thestrangefactthatmanypeopleseekoutscaryentertainment.
Ithinktheanswertothepuzzleliesinhumannature.
My research suggests that we humans evolved to find pleasure in situations that allow us to experience negative
emotions in a safe context. You can see these elements of horror in children’s games. Take hide-and-seek for example,
which is a simulation of a predator-prey interaction. The kid hides and the adult pretends to be a predator, searching
forthechildwhilehowlinglikeadangerousbeast.
This simulation gives the child crucial information about how to avoid becoming prey, and children tend to find
that kind of activity deeply satisfying, presumably because it gives them a safe experience of a potentially catastrophic
scenario.
Theyfinditpleasurable,andpleasureisevolution’swayofmotivatingustowardadaptivebehaviour.
Welearnwhatitfeelsliketobetrulyafraid,andwelearnhowtohandlenegativeemotion.
How, then, does horror work? My research suggests that horror works by exploiting an ancient set of biological
defence mechanisms — an evolved fear system, which we share with other animals. But humans are uniquely
imaginative,andweuseourevolvedimaginationtotravelintovirtualworldsthatarefullofdanger.
There are good reasons for watching a horror film, even if you’re not a loyal horror fan. If you make it through
the film in one piece, you’ll probably experience a strong sense of mastery, a sense that you were able to make it
through an appalling experience. Anyway, watching a horror film makes you better at handling your own fear, and
whoknowswhenthatwillbecomecriticallyrelevant?
46. Thealienfindstheaudienceinthemovietheatreclearlyinastateof_____
A.totalmindfulness. C.spiritualelevation.
B.extremeexcitement. D.intensecuriosity.
47. Whydomanypeopleseekoutscaryentertainment,accordingtotheauthor’sresearch?
A.Theygainexperienceinovercominghorrorinreallife.
B.Theyfindjoyin goingthroughsimulatedhorribleexperiences.
C.Theyhavelearnedfromhide-and-seekaskidsthethrillinvolved.
D.Theyhaveevolvedtogainpleasureinescapinglife-threateningsituations.
48. Whatdochildrenlearnfromhide-and-seek?
A.Howto avoidfallingpreytoanattacker. C.Howto keepthemselvesfromcatastrophicerrors.
B.Howto simulateapredator-preyinteraction. D.Howto turnadangerousscenariointoasafeone.
49. Whyishorrorgratifyingtomanypeople?
A.Itremindsthemofanancientsetofbiologicaldefencemechanisms.
B.Ittriggerstheirimaginationtotravelintodangerousvirtualworlds.
C.Itallowsthemtolearnwhatfearfeelslikeandhowto tackleit.
D.Itactivatestheirevolvedfearsystemandtheiruniquefantasy.
50. Whatwilloneexperienceiftheywatchahorrorfilmthroughwithoutbeinghurt?
A.Astrongsenseofclearrelevance. C.Aprofoundsenseofintenserelief.
B.Aprofoundsenseofgoodfortune. D.Astrongsenseofbeingincontrol.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55are basedonthe followingpassage.
An awakening has been taking place in the physical world against the beauty model that has been dictated to us
foryears.Butinthedigitalarena,socialmediadetermineswhatisconsideredbeautiful.
The two opposing struggles are taking place in parallel. In the physical world, the struggle goes against the
underlying pressure exerted on women to conform to an unrealistic beauty ideal. As part of the struggle, various
media outlets have presented women whose bodies don’t correspond to the so-called ideal. All those women who had
previously been excluded from the covers of magazines, television series and the public agenda, have become
“legitimate”. At the same time, a group of influencers have begun to upload to social media photos of themselves
withoutmakeup,andevenphotosinwhichtheyhighlightsupposedflaws.
Technology has reshaped our beauty ideal and is doing a great job communicating that message to the masses.
One of the bizarre legacies of the past decade is the popularity of the “cyborg look”, whichillustrates what Americans
willlooklikein2050.
Thecyborglookspreadrapidly.Today,however,theInstagramfacehasbecomethenewbeautyideal.
The internalization of accepted beauty norms is much more effective when there is active involvement in the
7 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cnlearning process. The active involvement of users is reflected in the gamified (游戏化的) interaction offered by the
socialmediaplatforms—theabilitytolike,writeacomment,compare,share.
Once the desired beauty ideal has been internalized, users are given tools or features to change their appearance
tosuit theacceptedbeautyidealsuchaseditingtheimage,choosingtheidealfilter,therightbackground.
A survey conducted in the United States revealed that more than 50% filter the images before posting them. And
you will not be surprised to hear that the majority of them are women. One of the significant consequences of
obsessive filtering is the emerging tendency to treat oneself as an object to be observed and valued, in the same way
anotherpersonobservesandjudgesfromtheside.
The effect of the filters is already far beyond amiable amusement. The filters and the entire game played on the
networks affect the mental health of the users. According to a study, apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Face Tune
allowuserstoachievealevelofperfectionthatwaspreviouslyonlyobservedinbeautymagazines.
Even though humanity has always cherished beauty, in the last decade our obsession with looks has reached an
unprecedented peak. The timespent onsocial media creates an urge to achievean impossiblebeauty ideal so powerful
thattheonlythingthatcanfixitisnotcosmeticintervention,butmentalhealthcare.
51. Whatdowelearnaboutbeautyinthedigitalarena?
AItdictatesthetasteofdigitalmedia. C.Ithasusheredinanew awakening.
B.Ithasbeenin themakingforyears. D.Itisdefinedbysocialmedia.
52. Whatdoesthepassagesayaboutbeautyinthephysicalworld?
A.Womenareunderconstantpressuretokeepupwithbeautymodels.
B.Womenareencouragedtopursueabeautyidealthathasneverexisted.
C.Afightisgoingontoremovepressureonwomentoconformtoanabsurdbeautyideal.
D.Mediaoutletshavebeguntopresentasbeautymodelstrendywomenwithoutanymakeup.
53. WhatdowelearnfromthepassageabouttheInstagramface?
AItisnowregardedasthenewbeautyideal. C.Itisbeingmuchtalkedaboutonsocialmedia.
B.Itiswhatmostwomenwillgoafterin2050. D.Itisa perfectillustrationoftheultimatebeauty.
54. Whathasobsessivefilteringresultedin?
A.Agoodmanywomenstrivingtoreachanimpossiblelevelofperfection.
B.Anurgeto turntheentiregameplayedonthenetworktoone’sadvantage.
C.Atendencytoregardone’sbodyasanobjectofobservationandjudgment.
D.Anincreasingnumberofwomenfilteringtheirimagesbeforeuploadingthem.
55. WhatdoestheauthorwanttoemphasizeattheendofthepassageregardingAmericans’obsessionwithlooks?
A.Cosmeticsurgeryshouldbemademoreaccessibletothemasses.
B.Psychologicalinterventionshouldbeintroducedtoalleviateit.
C.Theirtimespentonsocialmediashouldbestrictlycontrolled.
D.Itsrootcauseshouldbemeticulouslyexaminedandanalyzed.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should
writeyouransweronAnswer Sheet2.
北斗（Beidou）卫星导航系统的成功研制是中国自改革开放以来取得的一项重大科技成就。研发人员经过
不懈努力，攻克了一系列技术难题，北斗系统最终实现了全球覆盖和高精度定位，使中国成为世界上少数几个
独立拥有全球卫星导航系统的国家之一。北斗系统已广泛应用于交通运输、灾害救援、天气预报、公共安全等
诸多领域。北斗系统现在已经在国际上得到广泛认可，开始为越来越多的国家和地区提供优质服务。

2024 年 12 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 2 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “Nowadays, more and more students have realized the importance of self-discipline in their personal growth.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.

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.

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

A. Changing his major.
B. His family situation.
C. Revising his graduation thesis.
D. His passion for Art History.
A. He doesn’t think it legitimate to depend on his father.
B. He thinks his financial situation has now changed.
C. He doesn’t think it will provide him with a living.
D. He thinks it nourishes the financially secure only.
A. Try his best to socialize and build a network in the art industry.
B. Seek financially viable employment opportunities after graduation.
C. Investigate all possible ways to become a celebrity in the art world.
D. Strike a balance between intellectual pursuits and financial security.
A. Money.
B. Time.
C. Determination.
D. Optimism.

Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A. Their decision on investigating beef consumption.
B. Their original ideas about the domestic market.
C. Their different approaches to a case study.
D. Their end-of-semester business projects.

A. Expanding farmland out west.
B. Importing most of the beef.
C. Raising cattle domestically.
D. Continuing to boost economic growth.
A. Technical equipment.
B. Business consultancy.
C. Beef.
D. Car washing.
A. Car owners of all walks of life.
B. High-end customers in big cities.
C. Consumers craving for professional service.
D. Well-off dealers seeking a profitable markup.

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. Parents’ talking with them during TV time raises their curiosity levels.
B. Their daily television exposure cuts parent-child conversation time.
C. The more TV they watch the poorer their progress in development.
D. Their socioeconomic levels impact their academic achievement.

A. Kids’ enhanced learning.
B. Kids’ curiosity levels.
C. Kids’ reading and math.
D. Kids’ behavioral development.
A. It can hinder kids from getting on with their peers.
B. It can cut into kids’ time on exploratory activities.
C. It can arouse kids’ interest in how people interact in real life.
D. It can widen the gap between kids from different economic statuses.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A. Exerting ourselves too hard in order to attain our life’s goals.
B. Being possessed with a single thought of professional success.
C. Trying every means to beat others in terms of personal aspirations.
D. Being mindlessly driven to possess more and more material things.

A. We might isolate ourselves from our fellow beings.
B. We might acquire an incorrect sense of well-being.
C. We might end up pursuing all the wrong things.
D. We might make a mess of our personal lives.
A. They should be based on solid theoretical concepts.
B. They should take personal interests into account.
C. They should include goals to help other people.
D. They should increase our sense of worthiness.
A. Drifting through life aimlessly.
B. Giving up the chance to fulfill yourself.
C. Abandoning all that life has to offer.
D. Spoiling your character and integrity.

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. Grade-raising ways and means.
B. Pressure-alleviating exercise.
C. Revision-conducting approaches.
D. Brain-boosting food and drink.

A. Buying it from coffee shops.
B. Building up a tolerance of it.
C. Drinking it after 2 pm.
D. Consuming it with sugar.
A. By taking varied vitamin supplements.
B. By consuming a rich variety of foods.
C. By eating both oranges and frozen berries.
D. By getting components packaged in tablets.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A. Many people across advanced economies think the world is going from bad to worse.
B. The news focuses on reporting catastrophes that occur across the world.
C. A significant part of the world is experiencing another great recession.
D. Many people have no idea of those living under miserable conditions.

A. It has experienced ups and downs like any other historical trend.
B. It is hailed as a miracle by both economists and ordinary people.
C. It is the only way for all countries to share economic prosperity.
D. It has given more and more countries a rare chance to thrive.
A. Their fortunes may take a downturn.
B. They can be classified as middle class.
C. Their living standards have been deteriorating.
D. They are experiencing a radical transformation.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
22. A. Why smells can activate emotional memories.
B. How powerful the sense of smell can become.
C. How scent particles revive memories forgotten.
D. Why the scent of bread has a strong mental impact.

A. The brain cells’ processing of memories experienced as strongly emotional.
B. The activation of the brain’s emotion processing area by chemical particles.
C. The interaction between chemical particles and the brain cells responsible for smell.
D. The sensations of scents going directly to the brain’s emotional and memory centers.
A. Imagination.
B. Association.
C. Experience.
D. Context.
A. Inaccuracy and alterability.
B. Susceptibility to polar interpretations.
C. Being personal and individualistic.
D. Being dependent on relevant scenarios.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Ever been talking about something important with someone you care about and found the discussion frustrating instead of fruitful? Negative energy can then cast a L over your efforts to build a shared understanding.

In fact collaborative problem-solving conversations require skills. Strong listening skills are essential. Sprinkling in positivity via appreciation, A smiles, and warm comments helps. So does the essential ability to keep your emotional tone in the calm zone. If the tone of a dialogue heats up and anger erupts, the dialogue F from collaborative to adversarial, and progress is likely to come to an immediate G.

In addition, effective dialogue generally has another important characteristic: symmetry. Symmetry in dialogue refers to the balance of how much each partner talks. Are you each getting equal airtime? When one participant does most of the talking, this asymmetry or lack of balance tends to become annoying to one or both of you. The silent partner N tires of only listening, while the talker can feel H. Usually, both would prefer more equal give and take.

Different rates of speech and levels of voice volume can D symmetry as well. The faster or louder partner can easily begin taking up more airtime. The slower-talking or softer-voiced one can have trouble getting the floor.

Conversations also lose balance when one partner’s opinions count more than the other’s. One person’s input may carry more sway because their style of expression is more O. One viewpoint may tend to get lost because it is expressed more M.

If either partner fairly consistently I or evaporates, modifying the pattern will be helpful. The dialogue will feel more productive, and at the same time, the relationship overall is likely to feel more positive.

Word Bank:
A. affectionate
B. approximately
C. elapses
D. erode
E. flattered
F. flips
G. halt
H. overburdened
I. predominates
J. propagate
K. scenario
L. shadow
M. tentatively
N. typically
O. vigorous

Section B

What Is a Super Blood Wolf Moon?
A. Blue moons, rose moons, supermoons. For some reason all the websites seem to think you really want to know all about these moons. “Catch This Weekend’s AMAZING SUPERMOON,” one headline will announce. “The Supermoon Isn’t Actually A Big Deal And You’re All Ruining Astronomy,” another will complain.

B. The latest example is the super blood wolf moon eclipse which sounds like the name of an emotional song I would have performed a modern dance routine to in 9th grade, but is, in fact, an astronomical event set to occur on January 20. As we’ll explain below, there is nothing truly mysterious or otherwise special about this moon, and it will not look like a bloody wolf head in the sky or anything wild like that. We get these super lunar events by smashing together all the qualifiers we’ve historically used to keep track of full moons throughout the year, and in the age of the internet we can get a little too enthusiastic.

C. Consider this your go-to resource for all moon-gazing news. Here’s what you need to know about the latest lunar event.

D. Look, it’s okay if you don’t know. There are probably loads of folks who walk around pretending they totally know why that thing in the sky seems to get bigger and smaller at regular intervals but who totally do not.

E. The moon orbits Earth, and it’s tidally locked — that means it always shows us the same face, instead of spinning around like our planet does. That’s why you can always see the man on the moon (or the moon rabbit, depending on your cultural preferences) even as it spins around us. But while the moon is big and bright in the sky when it’s full, that’s only because it’s reflecting light from the sun. But the moon is always moving, so it’s getting hit with sunlight at different angles. It’s invisible to us during the new moon, because our satellite is parked right between us and the sun; the so-called dark side of the moon is lit up like Las Vegas, but the side we can see is in shadow. A full moon happens when the earth is right between the sun and the moon, so sunlight hits the part we can see. And all the other phases are just the transition from one of those extremes to the other.

F. The moon isn’t always exactly the same distance from Earth, because its orbit isn’t perfectly circular. We call the closest point perigee (近地点), and the most distant point is apogee (远地点). 2018’s closest perigee and most distant apogee both happened in January, and the difference was about 30,000 miles.

G. The reason you care about this ordinary change in distance is that it turns a moon super. When a full moon happens close to perigee, it’s going to look a bit bigger. Honestly, the difference is not that profound, but if you’re in a position to photograph the supermoon next to something that shows the slight increase in scale, it can look pretty cool. January’s super blood wolf moon eclipse is super because the date lines up with the closest the moon will get to us during January, but the moon won’t actually be at its closest for the year until February’s supermoon, which you can expect plenty of undue excitement over.

H. Blood moons only occur during total lunar eclipses (which can happen a few times a year in any given location). When the moon slips through our shadow, we give it a reddish coloring. The moon can also look orange whenever it’s rising or setting, or if it hangs low in the horizon all night — the light bouncing off of it has to travel through a thicker atmosphere there, which scatters more blue light away. But you’ll probably only see that deep, sinister red during an eclipse.

I. A lot of headlines about moons are just ridiculous (you do not need to be particularly excited about a blue moon, it just looks like a regular full moon), but you should definitely roll out of bed to look at a blood moon if one is going to be visible in your region, even though they’re just lunar eclipses and not evidence of bloody battles between the sky gods.

J. In March of 2018, we had our second “blue moon” of the year, to much acclaim. And while that’s not necessarily special in an oh-gosh-get-out-and-look-at-it way, it’s certainly special: a blue moon is a nickname for when two full moons fall in the same calendar month, and we hadn’t previously had two in one year since 1999. We won’t have it happen again until 2037. Astronomer David Chapman explained that this is merely a peculiarity of our calendar; once we stopped doing things based on the moon and started trying to follow the sun and the seasons, we stopped having one reliable full moon per month. The moon cycle is 29.53 days long on average, so in most months we still end up with a single new moon and a single full one. But every once in a while, one month steals a full moon from another. In 2018 (and in 1999, and again in 2037) both January and March stacked full moons on the first and last nights of the month, leaving February in the dark.

K. Getting two blue moons a year is rare, but we have individual blue moons every few years. Also, fun fact: not actually blue. A moon can indeed take on a moody blue color, but this only happens when particles of just the right size disperse through the sky — and it has nothing to do with the moon’s status as “blue”. Big clouds of ash from volcanic eruptions or fires can do the trick, but it doesn’t happen often, and the stars would certainly have to align for two such rare instances to occur at once.

L. You may have heard that the super special second blue moon of 2018 was also a Paschal moon. This is true! That just means it was the first full moon of spring, which is often used to determine the date of Easter Sunday. All of this is just calendar nonsense and we refuse to go into it further.

M. Sometimes you’ll see a headline that promises a moon with so many qualifiers it makes your head spin. A super blue blood worm moon, perhaps? Or a super blood wolf moon? Lots of websites will tell you that “wolf moon” is the traditional name of the first full moon of the year in “Native American” cultures, which is kind of a weird thing to claim given that there are 573 registered Tribal Nations in the US alone today, not to mention historically. The idea that hungry, howling wolves were such a universal constant in January that all of North America with its different cultures, geographies, and languages spontaneously came up with the same nickname is illogical.

N. Many cultures have traditional names for the full moon in a given month or season, so there’s quite a list to draw from if you’re trying to really juice up a story on a slightly-bigger-than-average view of the moon. But these are all based on human calendars and activities and folklore; you will not go outside and see a pink moon in April, though I wish it were so.

We cannot see the moon at times when it is positioned right between the earth and the sun. E
Volcanic eruptions may cause the moon to assume a moody blue color. K
The moon will be closest to the earth when the supermoon occurs in February. G
There is nothing unusual about the super blood wolf moon, which will bear no resemblance to a bloody wolf head. B
The moon will appear orange when the light reflecting from it travels through an atmosphere thicker than usual. H
It is contrary to logic to claim the name of wolf moon originates from the cultures of American Indians. M
As the moon’s orbit is not a hundred-percent circle, its distance from the earth changes. F
A full moon in a given month or season gets a specific name in different cultures. N
There are likely lots of people who know absolutely nothing about why the moon appears to change its size regularly but act like they know. D
When a full moon appears twice in the same month, it is nicknamed a blue moon. J

Section C

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
With population increases and global urbanisation ever accelerating, much attention is focused on the sustainability of our cities and scarce attention is paid to the countryside.

Rural life is associated with closely-knit communities, sense of belonging, and a simple, tranquil life. Yet whilst some or all of these elements exist in the countryside, so do conservatism and a lack of employment opportunities. And it is mostly due to the latter that rural communities are suffering. Attracted by the improved economics of urban areas, country-dwellers across the world are moving out, contributing to the excessive crowdedness of densely populated cities, and leaving the countryside in desolation.

So how can the countryside ensure its survival among these changes; or should it at all? Due to both the distance between residences and facilities and often intermittent public transport, those living in the countryside are heavier automobile users. Rural dwellers also use more energy maintaining their mostly detached buildings. We may be piled up like boxes in the city, but this brings energy efficiency that the countryside cannot match. Rural energy requirements result in higher carbon emissions per person than in the city, so it is actually irresponsible to endorse such a lifestyle choice.

Protecting the countryside is a hot topic. Those who have made their fortunes in the city often buy second homes in the countryside, visiting intermittently for a sample of a supposedly simple life. The side-effect of this is that house prices are pushed up due to increased demand, leaving them unaffordable for local people. A solution has yet to be found for this challenge, for market forces are further forcing residents out of the countryside. For those who believe in rural preservation, this is deplorable.

Whilst an idealised view of the countryside is common, the reality is that rural life has continuously evolved. Industrialisation brought an increase in divisions of labour, changing social links between rural people. The internet has introduced once foreign cultures into the countryside. Improved travel connections and affordability have made the world more accessible, creating a “global village”. Considering these changes, surely an evolving countryside is inevitable.

Perhaps the countryside should also prepare itself for massive population increases in the future. With cities across the world growing rapidly, how will the current urban generation respond to the inevitable social changes of mass urbanisation? Will the longing for a simpler life become stronger, fueling a rural renaissance?

As the world continues to urbanise, the voices calling for rural preservation may well grow louder. But change is inevitable. We know that the world is going to see new cities emerging from the dust and current cities growing into megacities, but the future of the countryside is less clear.

What has become of the rural areas nowadays?
A. They are becoming somewhat deserted.
B. They are being increasingly urbanised.
C. They are closely-knit communities.
D. They are haunted by conservatism.
What does the author think of the rural lifestyle?
A. It is unlikely to survive given the on-going changes.
B. It is less energy-efficient compared to that in cities.
C. It is highly dependent upon heavy automobiles.
D. It is a choice more affluent people will endorse.
What does the author think of rich urban residents buying a second home in the countryside?
A. It is bound to mar the traditional rural life.
B. It adversely impacts rural social stability.
C. It hinders rural economies’ revitalisation.
D. It is detrimental to rural preservation.
What do we learn about the countryside with industrialisation and technological advances?
A. It is destined to change gradually.
B. It will present an idealised way of life.
C. It is likely to embrace foreign cultures.
D. It will become increasingly diversified.
What does the author think of the future of the countryside compared with cities?
A. It is going to be harder for the locals.
B. It is going to resemble that of cities.
C. It is less likely to stay static.
D. It is less easy to envisage.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Statements, like “beauty is in the eye of the beholder (观看者)”, are rarely questioned. They’ve become so embedded in our consciousness that people think it’s absurd to think otherwise. It might be useful, however, to at least push back on this assumption because people evaluate environment, situations, and people aesthetically. We may find that we still believe it is correct, but we may also find that there is a lot more to the situation than you suppose.

A recent study exploring aesthetic taste was published in Cognition. The results from this study show that people agree very much in their aesthetic evaluation of natural objects, but they disagree more about artifacts, or human-made objects.

The study found that shared taste was most common for faces and natural landscapes, but least common among works of architecture and art. The hypothesis is the commonly pleasing features, like proportion or symmetry, are at work.

Preferences for natural scenes might be learned through life experiences. Factors like habitability, safety, and openness might be preferred as people develop. Some of the details of landscapes change, but the basics are more common, e.g., water, open spaces, and signs of care.

Art and architecture, unlike natural spaces, do not have the same level of exposure. So, people do not have the same level of shared taste.

It’s possible that the lower amount of agreement in the shared taste of artifacts has to do more with elements of style, rather than “behavioral consequences”.

All of the consequences seem reasonable (or at least possible), but I think there might be an interesting philosophical conclusion that they did not draw. It seems that there is an objective ground to our aesthetic preferences or evaluations. I am not saying this would mean beauty is completely objective, just that there could possibly be general objective principles at work, i.e., beauty is not simply in the eye of the beholder.

Nature exhibits some of the universal aesthetic features, such as radiance, in a common way throughout the world. It’s not exactly the same everywhere, but it is common. For example, a sunset is similar enough in different places to warrant almost universal appeal.

Possible universal principles of beauty — such as proportion, fittingness, radiance, and others — are general categories, which allow for a wide array of embodiments. When people get involved in making artifacts in architecture or art, they apply these very general concepts in unique ways. But the way they applied the principle may not have universal appeal.

This is why it’s important to experience diverse cultures and their artifacts because it opens us up to different ways of approaching or constructing beauty. And it is always good to question our assumptions.

What does the passage say about the statement “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”?
A. It has hardly ever been disputed.
B. It can be interpreted aesthetically.
C. Many people have found it absurd.
D. People have long been misled by it.
What does a recent study exploring aesthetic tastes show?
A. Aesthetic tastes tend to differ from person to person.
B. Natural beauty is rarely surpassed by artificial beauty.
C. There is less consensus on objects shaped by human craft.
D. There is general agreement on what is pleasing to the eye.
Why do people differ in their aesthetic appraisal of artifacts?
A. They come out in a great variety of designs.
B. They lead to varying behavioral consequences.
C. They take up much less natural space than landscapes.
D. They come into people’s view less often than natural spaces.
What does the example of sunset tell about nature?
A. It creates a powerful appeal through its brilliant radiance.
B. It displays aesthetic traits in a similar way the world over.
C. It embodies beauty with a wide array of aesthetic features.
D. It establishes the principles of beauty in a number of ways.
Why do artifacts not always hold universal appeal?
A. The appreciation of their beauty is not subject to objective standards.
B. The universal principle of beauty prevents a wide array of embodiments.
C. The way their creators apply the principle of beauty may not be pleasing to everybody.
D. Their creators interpret the universal principle of beauty each in their preferred way.

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.

洋山港 (Yangshan Port) 是上海航运中心的重要组成部分，是中国第一个深水港，也是世界上规模最大的深水港之一。经过近20年的发展，洋山港已实现高度自动化。数字技术和人工智能的使用大大减少了用工成本和碳排放。自主研发的码头管理系统可以在百公里之外对大型设备进行远程操控。洋山港看上去一片繁忙，现场却见不到人工操作，而且能够24小时不间断运作。洋山港将不断发展，为把上海建成一个全球航运中心做出更大贡献。

2024 年 12 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 3 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “College
providesa great opportunity for studentsto explore various possibilities and find the right path for themselves.”
You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write
atleast150words butno morethan200words.
Youshouldcopythesentencegiveninquotesatthe beginningofyouressay.

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

提示：2024年12月六级全国只考两套听力，本套听力内容与第一二套相同，故本套未重复显示。

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
morethanonce.
About 23% of the global population lives in absolute poverty. In developing countries there is a low life
expectancy, a high infant J. mortality rate, high levels of unemployment and illiteracy, nutritional levels below
acceptable standards and widespread disease with very little or poor quality medical assistance. Others
live H. incredibly wealthy and luxurious lives and so the wealth is distributed in a very O. unequal manner. These are the
centralproblemstoquestionsofcharitythoughcharityalsoincludesmanyotherareassuchasassistingtheelderly.
We all A. applaud when very rich people pledge to give away most of their billions, but they are usually left
with millions to pass on, still much more than most people would expect to earn in their lifetime. Even
comparatively I. moderate salaries in the west are very high when compared globally. Someone on £20,000 could
easilyaffordtogiveaway£2,000peryearandstill haveplentytoliveonplussomeluxuries.
Most people agree that giving to charity is morally L. praiseworthy but charitable behaviour tends to be regarded as
above and beyond the call of duty. Some argue, however, that charitable behaviour is morally required. This
means that to fail to behave charitably would be wrong. The majority of arguments in this vein refer to giving
aid to poorer nations but they may also refer to giving time within one’s G. immediate community. Arguments tend
to place different requirements on people in different income brackets and C. exclude entirely people who are
merely making ends meet. Some argue that people should all contribute a certain percentage of their earnings. I
will E. group together all those arguments that place a moral requirement on people to give to charity, despite the
factthatthereiswidedisagreementastothe D. extent ofthatmoralrequirement.
A. applaud F. hierarchical K. overt
B. casualty G. immediate L. praiseworthy
C. exclude H. incredibly M. probe
D. extent I. moderate N. sceptically
E. group J. mortality O. unequal
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 fromwhich the information is derived.
You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by
markingthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet2.
TheFree-TradeParadox
A. Trade is one of the policy areas where the hostility that exists between populists (民粹主义者) and classical
liberals is most visible. Free-traders point to the undeniable good that tariff-free trade has done for consumers
across the world and to the observable alleviation of poverty in corners of the world where previously closed
markets have been opened up. Protectionists point to the domestic producers who’ve paid the price for this
globalizedeconomyintheformoflostlivelihoodsandhollowed-outcommunities.
B. The ongoing conservative civil war often degenerates into content-free tribal warfare, but trade is a rare
exception.Therearesubstantial,thought-outpolicyproposalsonbothsidesoftheargument.
C. Consequently, trade as a topic of discussion provides an opportunity for liberals and populists to have a real
meetingof minds.Fruitful debatesmightactuallytakeplaceinthisarea,asopposedto thefamiliarritualwe’ve
becomeaccustomedtoofcondemnationmetwithcounter-condemnation.
D. Strange as it might sound, the problem with trade in the modern world isn’t a matter of dollars and cents. It’s a
matter of false consciousness. This observation is bound to set Marxist alarm bells ringing in the minds of
somereaders,butitwasfirstmadebyAlexisdeTocquevillein1840.
E. Tracking the economic development of mankind from primitive to modern societies, Tocqueville observed a
paradox unfolding over the centuries as economic realities and human experience of those realities strayed
further and further from each other. In primitive societies, he notes, the division of labor was as yet
undeveloped for the most part, requiring eachperson,family, or tribe to be relatively independent whenit came
to meeting their own basic material needs. Men built their own dwellings, farmed their own land, tended to
their own livestock. This is not to deny that basic forms of trade took place, but, for the most part, our
primitiveancestorslivedfairlyself-reliant,ifcrushinglypoor,lives.
F. However, the exclusively local and face-to-face nature of economic and political organization in the ancient
and prehistoric worlds constantly impressed upon these primitive peoples the uncontrollable reality of others
and their needs. As Tocqueville notes, “as soon as a man begins to deal with common affairs in public, he
begins to perceive that he is not so independent of his fellow men as he had first imagined, and that in order to
obtaintheirsupporthemustoftenlendthemhiscooperation.”
G. At the advent of the modern world, the division of labor spread further and further throughout society. Each
person became more and more dependent on others for their basic needs. And yet, robbed of the engagement
with our neighbors and with our local communities that our ancestors were forced into by circumstance, we
feel ourselves to be more and more independent of one another. As we become more and more dependent on
others, we become less and less conscious of our dependence on others. This is the paradox of trade in the
modernworld.
H. The false consciousness that this paradox generates causes havoc on the debates we have about free trade.
There is scarcely a single commodity in any American household that isn’t dependent for its manufacture and
sale, through one supply chain or another, on scores of different people spread out across the entire globe. But
as Tocqueville already foresaw in 1840, we do not feel dependent on these strangers for our way of life. No
sense of the dependence of our own material welfare on their work ever strikes our national consciousness. We
rarelycontemplatetheglobalizedavenuesoffreetradewithgratitude.
There are two reasons for this. The first, to put it bluntly, is money. Money allows us to purchase the work of
others without giving any thought to them as human beings. Unlike our ancestors in their primitive townships,
we rarely have to meet face-to-face the people who’ve invented, built, shipped, or supplied our goods. No
relationship has to be built before an exchange can take place. Simply agree on a price, and you can have any
goods you wish without taking a second thought for the human being involved on the other side of the
transaction. In this way, money makes us feel more independent than we actually are. Each of us senses the
hold that it has over our fellows. We know that if we bid highly enough we can buy ourselves out of the time-
consuming labor of building relationships. Money is kind of like magic in that way. It gives us a set of rituals
to perform and promises that if we do so we’ll be able to wield power over others. The illusion is created that
havingenoughmoneytobuysomethingistheequivalentofknowinghowto makeityourself.Gratitudeforthe
anonymousmenandwomenwhomakeupthesupplychainrarelymakesitswayintoourconsciousness.
J. Anonymity, in fact, is the second root cause of the free-trade paradox. Modernity has emancipated everyone
from the limits of location and community. By and large, when we trade, we trade with strangers; when we
vote, we vote for strangers; when we watch, read, or listen to stories, the tellers of the tales are strangers. As
opposed to the ancestors Tocqueville compares us to, we do not know the people with whom we have to do, in
either the economic or thepolitical sphere. This is simplythe shadow sideof the miracle of markets, which,for
the first time in history, have allowedstrangers to look after eachother. They’ve also allowed each of us to live
more and more of our lives exclusively as strangers to other people. This is how Tocqueville — rather
pessimistically — describes us: Each, standing apart, is like a stranger to the destiny of others; his children and
personalfriendsformingforhimtheentirehumanrace.Asfortheremainderofhisfellowcitizens,heis beside
them,buthedoesnotseethem.Hetouchesthem,buthedoesnotfeelthem.Heexistsonlyinandforhimself.
K. The last sentence but one is as apt a summary as one could hope to come by of how each of us functions in the
moderneconomy:“Hetouchesthem,buthedoesnotfeelthem.”
L. This is the greatest challenge facing defenders of free trade. It’s exceedingly difficult for human beings to feel
gratitude toward strangers, and the global marketplace that has made us so rich has also made us strangers to
one another. Our brains are hardwired for tribal life, and tribes do not take kindly to strangers. Impressing a
senseofdependenceuponandgratitudetowardforeignstrangersisthereforeanuphill task.
M. If free-traders are going to win policy arguments in the future, they’ll have to find a way of forging bonds of
affection between American consumers and foreign producers. Only by de-anonymizing the men and women
who supply us with the goods and services we enjoy from overseas and by creating a sense of solidarity and
relationship across borders that transcends economic interest can free trade win the day. Otherwise, the inborn
biological upper hand that protectionists havein the form of nationalist solidarity is boundto winthe day at the
ballotbox.

People became more and more reliant on others for basic needs as they enteredthe modern world even though
theymightfeellessso. G
On the topic of trade, productive debates might be possible, in contrast to the familiar mutual condemnation in
discussingotherissues. C
We feel greater independence than we actually possess because money allows us to buy things without
buildinganyrelationships. I
Thetroublewithtoday’stradestemsfrommisconceptionsratherthanmoney. D
For their arguments to prevail, advocates of free trade must try to forge bonds of affection between consumers
athomeandproducersoverseas. M
AccordingtoTocqueville,unlikeourancestors,weandthepeoplewedotradewitharestrangerstoeachother. J
Inprimitivesocieties,peoplehadtorelymostlyonthemselvestomeettheirpersonalneeds. E
FewcommoditiesinAmericanhomesarenotreliantonpeopleabroadintheprocessofmanufactureandsale. H
Protectionists argue against free trade by referring to the losses suffered by domestic producers and
communities. A
Itisextremelyhardtomakepeoplefeeldependentonandgratefultostrangersoverseas. L

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
choiceandmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50are basedonthe followingpassage.
Thereare hundreds of personalityquizzes online thatassert they can ascertain whetherthe right or left half of
your brain is dominant. Left-brained people are supposedly logical and excel at language and math while right-
brained people are more imaginative, emotionally intelligent and skilled with spatial reasoning. There’s just one
problem:That’snothowbrainswork.
Popular science enthusiasts sort of took this idea and ran with it, and it’s become woven in popular culture
now,andit’snotgoingaway.
Despite this enduring belief, there’s no such thing as being “right-brained” or “left-brained”. Whether you’re
someone who tends more towards creativity or logic has nothing to do with one hemisphere of your brain being
dominant over the other. But the actual science of how the two halves of our brains work together is sometimes
strangerthanfiction.
The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left and right. In all vertebrate (脊椎的) animals，the
right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and vice versa. And scientists have long known, thanks to the
behaviorsofpatientswhosufferedbraininjuries,thatdifferentareasofthebraindodifferentthings.
But many scientists struggled with this idea, because the very suggestion that the left and right halves of the
brainoperatedifferentlydisruptedtheideathatnaturetendstowardperfectsymmetry.
Work by neuroscientists (神经科学家) has revealed the importance of different hemispheres of the brain for
different activities. However, their research quickly saw some misinterpretations in the general public: Some
presumed creative people must be right-brained and logical people left-brained. It is proven that not only is
personality unrelated to the different halves of the brain, but people aren’t really right- or left-brained to begin
with. The idea that we have left-dominant people and right-dominant people, andthat this is related to personality,
is categorically false. That’s never been supported in the neuroscience community. Neuroscientists don’t believe
thatandneverhave.
What scientists learned is that there are really important differences betweenthe left hemisphere andthe right
hemisphere. It’s just that they have nothing to do with personality or whether cognitive strategy is more logical or
free spirited or creative. While researchers have shown the limitations of how the hemispheres of our brains
influence our lives, it’s not difficult to understand the appeal of such ideas. People are endlessly fascinated by
themselves and their friends, and the subtle differences in how people think about the world are really meaningful
to them. When you come up with an online quiz that tells us something about ourselves, we’re drawn to that. It’s
irresistible.Butyouhavetotakeitwithanenormousgrainofsalt.
Whatdonumerouspersonalityquizzesonlineclaimtheyareabletodo?
A.Distinguishbetweenthetwohemispheresofone’sbrain.
B.Determinewhetherone isleft-brainedorright-brained.
C.Tellifoneismoreofalinguistorofamathematician.
D.Ascertainhowone’sbrainperformsdifferenttasks.
47. Whatdoestheauthorsayissometimesstrangerthanfiction?
A.Howone hemisphereofthebrainimpactscreativity.
B.Howthetwohalvesofourbrainsworkalternately.
C.Howthetwohemispheresofourbrainscooperate.
D.Howone halfofthebraindominatestheother.
48. Whydidmanyscientistshavedifficultyendorsingtheideathatdifferentareasofthebraindodifferentthings?
A.Itcontradictstheassumptionthatthetwohemispheresofthebrainaresymmetrical.
B.Itdismissestheviewthattheuniversehasbeenevolvinginaconsistentmanner.
C.Itisin conflictwiththesuggestionthattheleftandrighthalvesofthebrainworktogether.
D.Itdisruptstheideathattherighthemisphereofthe braincontrolstheleftsideofthebody.
49. Whatbeliefhaveneuroscientistslongrejectedaccordingtothepassage?
A.Thereareleft-dominantpeopleandright-dominantpeoplewithdifferentpersonalities.
B.Therearenoticeabledifferencesbetweentheleftandrighthemispheresofthe brain.
C.One’spersonalityishardlyrelatedtothedifferenthalvesofthebrain.
D.Differentareasofthebrainareresponsiblefordifferentactivities.
50. Whatareweadvisedtodowithanonlinequizthattellsussomethingaboutourselves?
A.Challengeitsauthority. C.Evaluateitspopularity.
B.Scrutinizeitsoriginality. D.Questionitsreliability.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55are basedonthe followingpassage.
One hundred thirty-five students, four teachers, one giant classroom: This is what 9th grade looks like at
Westwood High School, in Mesa, Arizona’s largest school system. There, an innovative teaching model has taken
hold,andisspreadingtootherschoolsinthedistrictandbeyond.
Five years ago, faced with high teacher turnover and declining student enrollment, Westwood’s leaders
decided to try something different. Working with professors at Arizona State University’s teachers college, they
piloted a classroom model known as team teaching, which allows teachers to dissolve the walls that separate their
classesacrossphysicalorgradedivides.
The teachers share large groups of students — sometimes 100 or more — and rotate between group
instruction, one-on-one interventions, small study groups, or whatever the teachers as a team agree is a priority
that day. What looks at times like chaos is in fact a carefully orchestrated plan: Each morning, the Westwood
teamsmeettohammeroutapersonalizedprogramforeverystudenttheteamwillfocusonthatday.
By giving teachers more opportunity to collaborate, Mesa’s administrators hoped to fill staffing gaps and
boostteachermoraleandretention.Initialresearchsuggeststhegamblecouldpayoff.
“Teachers are doing fantastic things, but it’s very rare a teacher walks into another room to see what’s
happening,” said Andi Fourlis, superintendent of Mesa Public Schools. “Our profession is so slow to advance
becauseweareworkingin isolation.”
Of course, overhauling teaching approaches can’t fix all the frustrations teachers have, such as low pay, but
5 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cnearly results from Mesa show team teaching may be helping to reverse low morale. In a survey of hundreds of the
district’s teachers, researchers found those who worked on teams reported greater job satisfaction, more frequent
collaborationswithcolleagues,andmorepositiveinteractionswithstudents.
Another benefit of teams, teachers say, is that they can help each other improve their instruction. During one
planning session, English teacher Jeff Hall shared a performance appraisal with a science teacher: Her recent
lectureonsomethingshecalled“thecentraldogmaofbiology”hadbewilderedhimandtheirotherteammates.
“If the science is too confusing for me, can you imagine the frustration you feel as kids?” Hall said. But the
scienceteacher,hesaid,wouldn’thaveknownabouttheconfusiononherown.
Themodelisnotfor everyone.Someteachersapproachedaboutvolunteeringfora teamhavesaidthey prefer
to work alone. Team teaching can also be a schedulingnightmare, especially at schoolslike Westwood where only
some staff work in teams. There are also thorny questions like how to evaluate four teachers on the performance
of135students.Butforthetimebeing,itseemstobeworking.
51. Whatdowelearnaboutteamteachingfromthepassage?
A.Itisgenerallyconductedinclassroomswithoutwalls.
B.Itallowsstudentstochooseteacherstheyfavormost.
C.Itprioritizespeerworkoverclassroominstruction.
D.Itiscloselycoordinateddespiteseemingconfusion.
52. WhatdoesinitialresearchsuggestregardingWestwood’sinnovativeteachingmodel?
A.Itcouldhelpraiseteachers’pay.
B.Itcouldturnouttobea success.
C.Itcouldcutdownoverallcosts.
D.Itcouldenduplikeagamble.
53. WhatdidsuperintendentAndiFourlissayabouttheteachingprofession?
A.Moralecannotbeboosteduntilteachingmodelsareoverhauled.
B.Teachersaresimplytoobusytovisitclassesoftheircolleagues.
C.Progressisslowduetolackofcollaborationamongteachers.
D.Teachersoftendofantasticthingswithoutbeingnoticed.
54. WhatdoestheauthorwanttoshowbycitingEnglishteacherJeffHall’sexperience?
A.Englishteachersandscienceteachersarecomplementaryinperformingtheirtasks.
B.Ateacherofartsandlettersiscompletelypuzzledbywhata scienceteacherteaches.
C.The newteachingmodelhelpsinformtheteacherhowtheirinstructionisreceived.
D.Scienceteacherswillhardlyknowtheconfusiontheycreatewithoutaperformanceappraisal.
55. Whatdoestheauthorthinkisoneofthedifficultproblemsinimplementingthenewteachingmodel?
A.Whattodowithteachersworkingalone. C.Howto recruitvolunteersforateam.
B.Whattoincludeinteachingschedules. D.Howto assesseachteacher’sperformance.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You
shouldwriteyouransweronAnswer Sheet2.
遨游太空历来是中华民族的梦想。2003 年，神舟五号飞船发射成功，杨利伟成为第一个飞入太空的中
国宇航员。2008 年，神舟七号升空，翟志刚成为中国历史上首位进行太空行走的宇航员。近年来，中国航
天进入创新发展“快车道”，太空基础设施建设稳步推进，中国空间站于2022年全面建成。中国航天事业的
迅速发展在中华民族的历史上写下了辉煌一页，也为人类文明进步做出了巨大贡献。未来，中国探索太空的
脚步将迈得更稳、更远。
6 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn

2024 年 6 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 1 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “Nowadays,
cultivatingindependentlearningabilityisbecomingincreasinglycrucialforpersonaldevelopment.”Youcanmake
comments,citeexamplesoruseyourpersonalexperiencestodevelopyouressay.Youshouldwriteatleast150words
butnomorethan200words.(Youshouldcopythesentencegiveninquotesatthebeginningofyouressay.)

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
choosethebestanswerfromthefourchoicesmarkedA),B),C)andD).ThenmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions 1 to 4arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard.

A.Readnumerouscommentsusersputonline.
B.Blendedallhisfoodwithoutusingamachine.
C.Searchedforthestate-of-the-artmodelsofblenders.
D.Didthoroughresearchonthepriceofkitchenappliances.
A.Eatinganyblendedfood.
B.Buyingablenderherself.
C.Usingmachinestodohercooking.
D.Makingsoupsandjuicesforherself.
A.Cookingeverymealcreativelyinthekitchen.
B.Payingdueattentiontohispersonalhygiene.
C.Eatingbreakfastpunctuallyeverymorning.
D.Makinghisownfreshfruitjuiceregularly.
A.One-tenthofitissugar.
B.Itlookshealthyandattractive.
C.One’sfancymaybetickledbyit.
D.Itcontainsanassortmentofnutrients.
Questions 5 to 8arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard.
A.HowhehasmadehimselfpopularasthemayorofBerkton.
B.HowtheresidentswillturnBerktonintoatouristattraction.
C.HowcharminghehimselfconsidersthevillageofBerktontobe.
D.HowhehasledpeopleofBerktontochangethevillageradically.
A.Itwasdevelopedonlytoalimitedextent.
B.Itwastotallyisolatedasasleepyvillage.
C.Itwasrelativelyunknowntotheoutside.
D.Itwasendowedwithrarenaturalresources.
A.AllthepropertiesinBerktonweredesignedbythesamearchitect.
B.Themajorityofresidentslivedinharmonywiththeirneighbours.
C.Themajorityofresidentsenjoyedcosyhousingconditions.
D.AllthehousesinBerktonlookedaestheticallysimilar.
A.Theyhavehelpedboostthelocaleconomy.
B.Theyhavemadetheresidentsunusuallyproud.
C.Theyhavecontributedconsiderablytoitspopularity.
D.Theyhavebroughthappinesstoeveryoneinthevillage.

Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four
questions.Boththepassageandthequestionswillbespokenonlyonce.Afteryouhearaquestion,youmustchoosethe
best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1
withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions 9 to 11arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
9. A.Theyhavecreatedthesmallestremote-controlledwalkingrobotintheworld.
B.TheyaregoingtopublishtheirresearchfindingsinthejournalScienceRobotics.
C.Theyarethefirsttobuildarobotthatcanbend,crawl,walk,turnandevenjump.
D.Theyareengagedinresearchonaremote-controlledrobotwhichusesspecialpower.
10. A.Itchangesitsshapebycomplexhardware.
B.Itisoperatedbyaspecialtypeoftinymotor.
C.Itmovesfromoneplacetoanotherbymemory.
D.Itispoweredbytheelasticpropertyofitsbody.
11. A.Replacehumansinexploratorytasks.
B.Performtasksintightlyconfinedspaces.
C.Explorethestructureofcloggedarteries.
D.Assistsurgeonsinhighlycomplexsurgery.
Questions 12 to 15arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
12. A.Shethrewupinthebathroom.
B.Shesleptduringtheentireride.
C.Shedozedoffforafewminutes.
D.Sheboastedofhermarathonrace.
13. A.Theyaremostlyimmunetocognitiveimpairment.
B.Theycansleepsoundlyduringaroughrideatsea.
C.Theyconstituteabout13percentofthepopulation.
D.Theyaregeneticallydeterminedtoneedlesssleep.
14. A.Whetherthereisawaytoreachelitestatus.
B.Whetheritispossibletomodifyone’sgenes.
C.Whetherhavingababyimpactsone’spassion.
D.Whetheronecantrainthemselvestosleepless.
15. A.Itisinfactquitepossibletonurtureapassionforsleep.
B.Babiescanseverelydisrupttheirparents’sleeppatterns.
C.Beingforcedtoriseearlydiffersfrombeinganearlybird.
D.Newparentsareforcedtojumpoutofbedatthecrackofdawn.

Section C

Questions 19 to 21arebasedontherecordingyouhavejustheard.
19. A.Americanmomshavebeenincreasinglyinclinedtolivealone.
B.TheAmericanpopulationhasbeenontheriseinthepast25years.
C.Americanmotherhoodhasactuallybeenonthedecline.
D.ThefertilityratesinAmericahaveinfactbeenfallingsharply.
20. A.Morenewmotherstendtotakegreatercareoftheirchildren.
B.Morenewmothersareeconomicallyabletoraisechildren.
C.Alargerproportionofwomentakeprideintheirchildren.
D.Alargerproportionofwomenreallyenjoymotherhood.
21. A.Themeaningofmotherhoodhaschangedconsiderably.
B.Moreandmoremothersgoshoppingtotreatthemselves.
C.Moremothershaveadultchildrencelebratingtheholiday.
D.ThenumberofAmericanmothershasbeengrowingsteadily.

Questions 22 to 25arebasedontherecordingyouhavejustheard.
22. A.Addtoindoortoxicpollutants.
B.Absorbpoisonouschemicals.
C.Beautifythehomeenvironment.
D.Soakupsurroundingmoisture.
23. A.NASAdidexperimentsinsealedcontainersresemblingthesuperinsulatedofficesof1970s.
B.Itwasbasedonexperimentsunderconditionsunlikethoseinmosthomesoroffices.
C.NASAconductedtestsinouterspacewhoseenvironmentisdifferentfromours.
D.Itdrewitsconclusionwithoutanycontrastivedatafromotherexperiments.
24. A.Naturalventilationprovesmuchmoreefficientforcleaningtheairthanhouseplants.
B.Houseplantsdispersechemicalcompoundsmorequicklywithpeoplemovingaround.
C.Naturalventilationturnsouttobemosteffectivewithdoorsandwindowswideopen.
D.Houseplantsinanormalenvironmentrarelyhaveanyadverseimpactontheair.
25. A.Therootcauseformisinterpretationsofscientificfindings.
B.Thedifficultyinunderstandingwhat’sactuallyhappening.
C.Thestepstobetakeninarrivingatanyconclusionwithcertainty.
D.Thenecessityofcontinuallyreexaminingandchallengingfindings.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Arainbowisformedwhenlight(generallysunlight)passesthroughwaterdroplets 32 intheatmosphere.The
light waves change direction as they pass through the water droplets, resulting in two processes: reflection and
refraction(折射).Whenlightreflectsoffawaterdroplet,itsimply 33 backintheoppositedirectionfromwhereit
34 .Whenlightrefracts,ittakesadifferentdirection.Someindividualsrefertorefractedlightas“bentlightwaves.”
Arainbowisformedbecausewhitelightentersthewaterdroplet,whereitbendsinseveraldifferentdirections.When
these bent light waves reach the other side of the water droplet, they reflect back out of the droplet instead of 35
passingthroughthewater.Sincethewhitelightisseparatedinsideofthewater,therefractedlightappearsasseparate
colorstothehumaneye.

A. bounces
B. completely
C. dispersion
D. eccentric
E. hanging
F. optical
G. originates
H. perceive
I. permeates
J. ponder
K. preceding
L. recklessly
M. relation
N. spectrum
O. stands

Section B

Directions: Inthissection,youaregoingtoreadapassagewithtenstatementsattachedtoit.Eachstatementcontains
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
correspondingletteronAnswer Sheet2.
Blameyourworthlessworkdaysonmeetingrecoverysyndrome
A. PhyllisHartmanknowswhatit’sliketomakeone’swaythroughthedepthsofofficemeetinghell.Managersatone
of her former human resources jobs arranged so many meetings that attendees would fall asleep at the table or
intentionallyarrivelate.Withhoursofherdayblockedupwithunnecessarymeetings,shewasoftenforcedtomake
up her work during overtime. “I was actually working more hours than I probably would have needed to get the
workdone,”saysHartman,whoisfounderandpresidentofPGHRConsultinginPittsburgh,Pennsylvania.
B. Sheisn’taloneinherfrustration.Between11millionand55millionmeetingsareheldeachdayintheUnitedStates,
costing most organisations between 7% and 15% of their personnel budgets. Every week, employees spend about
sixhoursinmeetings,whiletheaveragemanagermeetsforastaggering23hours.
C. And though experts agree that traditional meetings are essential for making certain decisions and developing
strategy, some employees view them as one of the most unnecessary parts of the workday. The result is not only
hundreds of billions of wasted dollars, but an annoyance of what organisational psychologists call "meeting
recovery syndrome (MRS)": time spent cooling off and regaining focus after a useless meeting. If you run to the
office kitchen to get some relief with colleagues after a frustrating meeting, you're likely experiencing meeting
recoverysyndrome.
D. Meetingrecoverysyndromeisaconceptthatshouldbefamiliartoalmostanyonewhohasheldaformaljob.Itisn't
ground-breakingtosayworkersfeelfatiguedafterameeting,butonlyinrecentdecadeshavescientistsdeemedthe
conditionworthyoffurtherinvestigation.Withitslinkstoorganisationalefficiencyandemployeewellbeing,MRS
hasattractedtheattentionofpsychologistsawareoftheneedtounderstanditsprecisecausesandcures.
E. Today, in so far as researchers can hypothesise, MRS is most easily understood asa slow renewal of finite mental
andphysicalresources.Whenanemployeesitsthroughanineffectivemeetingtheirbrainpowerisessentiallybeing
drainedaway.Meetingsdrainvitalityiftheylasttoolong,failtoengageemployeesorturnintoone-sidedlectures.
The conservation of resources theory, originally proposed in 1989 by Dr Stevan Hobfoll, states that psychological
stress occurs when a person's resources are threatened or lost. When resources are low, a person will shift into
defence to conserve their remaining supply. In the case of office meetings, where some of employees' most
valuable resources are their focus, alertness and motivation, this can mean an abrupt halt in productivity as they
taketimetorecover.
F. Ashumans,whenwetransitionfromonetasktoanotheronthejob—sayfromsittinginameetingtodoingnormal
work — it takes an effortful cognitive switch. We must detach ourselves from the previous task and expend
significantmentalenergytomoveon.Ifwearealreadydrainedtodangerouslevels,thenmakingthementalswitch
to the next thing is extra tough. It's common to see people cyber-loafing after a frustrating meeting, going and
gettingcoffee,interruptingacolleagueandtellingthemaboutthemeeting,andsoon.
G. Each person's ability to recover from horrible meetings is different. Some can bounce back quickly, while others
carry their fatigue until the end of the workday. Yet while noformal MRS studiesare currently underway,one can
loosely speculate on the length of an average employee's lag time. Switching tasks in a non-MRS conditiontakes
about 10 to 15 minutes. With MRS, it may take as long as 45 minutes on average. It's even worse when a worker
hasseveralmeetingsthatareseparatedby30 minutes."Notenoughtimetotransitioninanon-MRSsituationtoget
anything done, and in an MRS situation, not quite enough time to recover for the next meeting," says researcher
Joseph Allen. "Then, add the compounding of back-to-back bad meetings and we may have an epidemic on our
hands."
H. In an effort to combat the side effects of MRS, Allen, along with researcher Joseph Mroz and colleagues at the
University of Nebraska-Omaha, published a study detailing the best ways to avoid common traps, including a
concisechecklistofdo'sanddon'tsapplicabletoanyworkplace.Drawingfromaround200paperstocompiletheir
comprehensivelist,MrozandhisteammaynowholdaremedytothelargelyundefinedproblemofMRS.
I. Mrozsaysagoodplacetostartisaskingourselvesifourmeetingsareevennecessaryinthefirstplace.Ifallthat's
on the agenda is a quick catch-up, or some non-urgent information sharing, it may better suit the group to send
aroundan email instead. "The second thing I would always recommendis keep the meeting assmall as possible,"
says Mroz. "If they don't actually have some kind of immediate input, then they can follow up later. They don't
need to be sitting in this hour-long meeting." Less time in meetings would ultimately lead to more employee
engagementinthemeetingstheydoattend,whichexpertsagreeisaprovenremedyforMRS.
J. Employees also feel taxed when they are invited together to meetings that don't inspire participation, says Cliff
Scott,professoroforganisationalscience.Ittakesprecioustimeforthemtoventtheiremotions,complainandtryto
regain focus after a pointless meeting — one of the main traps of MRS. Over time as employees find themselves
tied up in more and more unnecessary meetings — and thus dealing with increasing lag times from MRS — the
wasteofworkdayhourscanfeelinsulting.
K. Despite the relative scarcity of research behind the subject, Hartman has taught herself many of the same tricks
suggestedinMroz'sstudy,andhascomealongwaysinceherdaysofbeingstuckwithunnecessarymeetings.The
people she invites to meetings today include not just the essential employees, but also representatives from every
departmentthatmighthaveastakeintheissueathand.Managerslikeher,whoseekinputevenfromnon-expertsto
shapetheirdecisions,canfindgreatersupportandcooperationfromtheirworkforce,shesays.
L. Ifanorganisationweretoapplyall22suggestionsfromMrozandAllen'sfindings,themostnoticeabledifference
wouldbeastarkdecreaseinthetotalnumberofmeetingsontheschedule,Mrozsays.Lesstimeinmeetingswould
ultimatelyleadtoincreasedproductivity,whichistheultimateobjectiveofconveningameeting.Whilenoneofthe
counter-MRSideashavebeentestedempiricallyyet,Allensaysonetrickwithpromiseisforemployeestoidentify
things that quickly change their mood from negative to positive. As simple as it sounds, finding a personal happy
place,goingthereandthencomingstraightbacktoworkmightbekeytofacilitatingrecovery.
M. Leadersshouldseealsothemselvesas"stewardsofeveryoneelse'svaluabletime",addsStevenRogelberg,author
of The Surprising Science of Meetings. Having the skills to foresee potential traps andtreat employees' endurance
withcareallowsleaderstoprovideeffectiveshort-termdeterrentstoMRS.
N. Most important, however, is for organisations to awaken to the concept of meetings being flexible, says Allen. By
reshapingthewaytheyprioritiseemployees'time,companiescaneliminatetheverysourcesofMRSintheirtracks.

D Although employees are said to be fatigued by meetings, the condition has not been considered worthy of further
researchuntilrecently.
H MrozandhisteamcompiledalistofwhattodoandwhatnottodotoremedytheproblemofMRS.
N CompaniescangetridoftherootcauseofMRSiftheygiveprioritytoworkers'time.
F Ifworkersareexhaustedtoadangerousdegree,itisextremelyhardforthemtotransitiontothenexttask.
B EmployeesinAmericaspendalotoftimeattendingmeetingswhilethenumberofhoursmanagersmeetisseveral
timesmore.
K Phyllis Hartman has learned by herself many of the ways Mroz suggested in his study and made remarkable
successinfreeingherselffromunnecessarymeetings.
E Whenmeetingscontinuetoolongordon'tengageemployees,theydepletevitality.
I Whenthetimeofmeetingsisreduced,employeeswillbemoreengagedinthemeetingstheydoparticipatein.
C Someemployeesconsidermeetingsoneofthemostdispensablepartsoftheworkday.
L According to Mroz, if all his suggestions were applied, a very obvious change would be a steep decrease in the
numberofmeetingsscheduled.

Section C

Directions: Thereare2passagesinthissection.Eachpassageisfollowedbysomequestionsorunfinishedstatements.
ForeachofthemtherearefourchoicesmarkedA),B),C)andD).Youshoulddecideonthebestchoiceandmarkthe
correspondingletteronAnswer Sheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
Sarcasm and jazz have something surprisingly in common: You know them when you hear them. Sarcasm is
mostlyunderstoodthroughtoneofvoice,whichisusedtoportraytheoppositeoftheliteralwords.Forexample,when
someonesays,"Well,that'sexactlywhatIneedrightnow,"theirtonecantellyouit'snotwhattheyneedatall.
Mostfrequently,sarcasmhighlightsanirritationoris,quitesimply,mean.

If you want to be happier and improve your relationships, cut out sarcasm. Why? Because sarcasm is actually
hostilitydisguisedashumor.

Despite smiling outwardly, many people who receive sarcastic comments feel put down and often think the
sarcasticpersonisrude,orcontemptible.Indeed,it'snotsurprisingthattheoriginofthewordsarcasmderivesfromthe
Greek word "sarkazein" which literally means "to tear or strip the flesh off." Hence, it's no wonder that sarcasm is
oftenprecededbytheword"cutting"andthatithurts.

What'smore,sinceactionsstronglydeterminethoughtsandfeelings,whenapersonconsistentlyactssarcastically
it may only serve to heighten their underlying hostility and insecurity. After all, when you come right down to it,
sarcasmcanbeusedasasubtleformofbullying—andmostbulliesareangry,insecure,orcowardly.

Alternatively, when a person stops voicing negative comments, especially sarcastic ones, they may soon start to
feelhappierandmoreself-confident.Also,otherpeopleintheirlifebenefitevenmorebecausetheynolongerhaveto
heartheemotionallyhurtfullanguageofsarcasm.

Now,I'mnotsayingallsarcasmisbad.Itmayjustbebetterusedsparingly—likeapotentspiceincooking.Too
muchofthespice,andthedishwillbeoverwhelmedbyit.Similarly,anoccasionaldashofsarcasticwitcanspiceupa
chatandaddanelementofhumortoit.Butabigorsteadyservingofsarcasmwilloverwhelmtheemotionalflavorof
anyconversationandcantasteverybittertoitsrecipient.

So, tone down the sarcasm and work on clever wit instead, which is usually without any hostility and thus more
appreciatedbythoseyou'recommunicatingwith.Inessence,sarcasmiseasywhiletrue,harmlesswittakestalent.

Thus, the main difference between wit andsarcasm is that, asalready stated, sarcasm is often hostility disguised
ashumor.Itcanbeintendedtohurtandisoftenbitterandbiting.Wittystatementsareusuallyinresponsetosomeone's
unhelpful remarks or behaviors, and the intent is to untangle and clarify the issue by emphasizing its absurdities.
Sarcastic statements are expressed in a cutting manner; witty remarks are delivered with undisguised and harmless
humor.

A Whydoestheauthorsaysarcasmandjazzhavesomethingsurprisinglyincommon?
A.Botharerecognizedwhenheard.
B.Bothhaveexactlythesametone.
C.Bothmeantheoppositeofwhattheyappearto.
D.Bothhavehiddeninthemanevidentirritation.
B Howdomanypeoplefeelwhentheyhearsarcasticcomments?
A.Theyfeelhostiletowardsthesarcasticperson.
B.Theyfeelbelittledanddisrespected.
C.Theyfeelastrongurgetoretaliate.
D.Theyfeelincapableofdisguisingtheirirritation.
B Whathappenswhenapersonconsistentlyactssarcastically?
A.Theyfeeltheirdignitygreatlyheightened.
B.Theyfeelincreasinglyinsecureandhostile.
C.Theyendurehostilityunderthedisguiseofhumor.
D.Theytastebitternesseveninpleasantinteractions.
C Whatdoestheauthorsayaboutpeoplequittingsarcasticcomments?
A.Itmakesothershappierandmoreself-confident.
B.Itrestrainsthemfrombeingirritatingandbullying.
C.Itbenefitsnotonlythemselvesbutalsothosearoundthem.
D.Itshieldsthemfromnegativecommentsandoutrighthostility.
D Whatisthechiefdifferencebetweenaspeaker'switandsarcasm?
A.Theirclarity.
B.Theirappreciation.
C.Theiremphasis.
D.Theirintention.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
Variability is crucially important for learning new skills. Consider learning how to serve in tennis. Should you
always practise serving from the exactly same location on the court, aiming at the same spot? Although practising in
morevariableconditionswillbesloweratfirst,itwilllikelymakeyouabettertennisplayerintheend.Thisisbecause
variabilityleadstobettergeneralisationofwhatislearned.

This principle is found in many domains, including speech perception and learning categories. For instance,
infants will struggle to learn the category "dog" if they are only exposed to Chihuahuas, instead of many different
kindsofdogs.

"Thereareovertendifferentnamesforthisbasicprinciple,"saysLimorRaviv,theseniorinvestigatorofarecent
study."Learningfromlessvariableinputisoftenfast,butmayfailtogeneralisetonewstimuli."

To identifykeypatternsand understandthe underlyingprinciplesof variabilityeffects,Raviv andher colleagues
reviewed over 150 studies on variability and generalisation across fields, including computer science, linguistics,
categorisation,visualperceptionandformaleducation.

The researchers discovered that, across studies, the term variability can refer to at least four different kinds of
variability, such as set size and scheduling. "These four kinds of variability have never been directly compared —
whichmeansthatwecurrentlydon'tknowwhichismosteffectiveforlearning,"saysRaviv.

The impact of variability depends on whether it is relevant to the task or not. But according to the "Mr. Miyagi
principle",practisingseeminglyunrelatedskillsmayactuallybenefitlearningofotherskills.

Butwhydoesvariabilityimpactlearningandgeneralisation?Onetheoryisthatmorevariableinputcanhighlight
whichaspectsofataskarerelevantandwhicharenot.

Anothertheoryisthatgreatervariabilityleadstobroadergeneralisations.Thisisbecausevariabilitywillrepresent
therealworldbetter,includingatypical(非典型的)examples.

A third reason has to do with the way memory works: when training is variable, learners are forced to actively
reconstructtheirmemories.

"Understandingtheimpactofvariabilityisimportantforliterallyeveryaspectofourdailylife.Beyondaffecting
thewaywelearnlanguage,motorskills,andcategories,itevenhasanimpactonoursociallives,"explainsRaviv."For
example, face recognition is affected by whether people grew up in a small community or in a larger community.
Exposuretofewerfacesduringchildhoodisassociatedwithdiminishedfacememory."

"We hope this work will spark people's curiosity and generate more work on the topic," concludes Raviv. "Our
paper raises a lot of open questions. Can we find similar effects of variability beyond the brain, for instance, in the
immunesystem?"

A Whatdoesthepassagesayaboutinfantslearningthecategory"dog"iftheyareexposedtoChihuahuasonly?
A.Theywillencountersomedegreeofdifficulty.
B.Theywilltrytocategoriseotherobjectsfirst.
C.TheywillpreferChihuahuastootherdogspecies.
D.TheywillimagineChihuasinvariousconditions.
D WhatdoesRavivsayaboutthefourdifferentkindsofvariability?
A.Whichofthemismostrelevanttothetaskathandistobeconfirmed.
B.Whytheyhaveanimpactonlearningisfarfrombeingunderstood.
C.Whytheyhaveneverbeendirectlycomparedremainsamystery.
D.Whichofthemismostconducivetolearningisyettobeidentified.
B Howdoesoneofthetheoriesexplaintheimportanceofvariabilityforlearningnewskills?
A.Learnersregardvariabletrainingastypicalofwhathappensintherealworld.
B.Learnersreceivingvariabletrainingarecompelledtoreorganisetheirmemories.
C.Learnerspayattentiontotherelevantaspectsofataskandignorethoseirrelevant.
D.Learnersfocusonrelatedskillsinsteadofwastingtimeandeffortonunrelatedones.
D Whatdoesthepassagesayaboutfacerecognition?
A.Peoplegrowingupinasmallcommunitymayfinditeasytorememberfamiliarfaces.
B.Facerecognitionhasasignificantimpactonliterallyeveryaspectofoursociallives.
C.Peoplegrowingupinalargecommunitycanreadilyrecogniseanyindividualfaces.
D.Thesizeofthecommunitypeoplegrowupinimpactstheirfacerecognitionability.
C WhatdoesRavivhopetodowiththeirresearchwork?
A.Highlightwhichaspectsofataskarerelevantandwhicharenottolearningaskill.
B.Usetheprincipleofvariabilityinteachingseeminglyunrelatedskillsineducation.
C.Arousepeople'sinterestinvariabilityandstimulatemoreresearchonthetopic.
D.Applytheprincipleofvariabilitytosuchfieldsofstudyastheimmunesystem.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should
writeyouransweronAnswer Sheet2.
中国的传统婚礼习俗历史悠久，从周朝开始就逐渐形成了一套完整的婚礼仪式，有些一直沿用至今。如今
的中式婚礼习俗已有很大变化，但婚礼庆典仍然十分隆重。婚礼场地经过精心装饰，以象征喜庆(jubilance)的
红色为主色调，摆放着许多祝愿新人幸福的物件。在婚礼上，新人要拜天地(bowtoHeavenandEarth)、拜父母
和相互对拜，然后设宴招待宾客，并向宾客敬酒致谢。今天，许多年轻人依然钟情于传统的中式婚礼，体验独
特而美好的中国式浪漫。

2024 年 6 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 2 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: Forthispart,youareallowed30 minutestowriteanessaythatbeginswiththesentence“Nowadaysmore
and more college studentshave come to realize social practice and academic learning are equally important.” You
can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least
150wordsbutnomorethan200words.(Youshouldcopythesentencegiveninquotesatthebeginningofyouressay.)

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
choosethebestanswerfromthefourchoicesmarkedA),B),C)andD).ThenmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions 1 to 4arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard.

A.Replytotheman’slastproposalwithinashorttime.
B.Signtheagreementifonesmallchangeismadetoit.
C.Makeasponsorshipdealforherclientatthemeeting.
D.Givethemansomegoodnewsregardingthecontract.
A.Theyarebecomingimpatient.
B.Theyareafraidtimeisrunningout.
C.Theyareusedtomakingalterations.
D.Theyareconcernedaboutthedetails.
A.Topreventgeographicaldiscrimination.
B.Totapthefoodandbeveragemarket.
C.Toavoidanyconflictofinterest.
D.Toreduceunfaircompetition.
A.Itisapotentialmarketforfoodandbeverage.
C.Itisanegligiblemarketforhiscompany.
B.Itisveryattractiveforrealestatedevelopers.
D.Itisverydifferentfromothermarkets.
Questions 5 to 8arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard.
A.Theyarethrilledbyarareastronomicphenomenon.
B.Theyarecelebratingabigeventonmountaintops.
C.Theyareenthusiasticaboutbigscience-relatedstories.
D.TheyarejoinedbyastronomersallacrossNorthAmerica.
A.Itwillbethemostformidableofitskindinoveracentury.
B.ItwillcomeclosesttoEarthinmorethanonehundredyears.
C.Itwilleclipsemanyothersucheventsinhumanhistory.
D.ItwillbeseenmostclearlyfromDenver’smountaintops.
A.Ablur.
B.Stars.
C.Theedgeofourgalaxy.
D.Anordinaryflyingobject.
A.Useprofessionalequipment.
B.Climbtothenearbyheights.
C.Fixtheireyesduenorth.
D.Makeuseofphoneapps.

Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four
questions.Boththepassageandthequestionswillbespokenonlyonce.Afteryouhearaquestion,youmustchoosethe
best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1
withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
1 9 to 11arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
9. A.Whetherconsumersshouldbewarnedagainstultra-processedfoods.
B.Whetherthereissufficientscientificconsensusondietaryguidelines.
C.Whetherguidelinescanformthebasisfornutritionadvicetoconsumers.
D.Whetherfoodscientistswillagreeontheconceptofultra-processedfoods.
10. A.Bythelaborcostforthefinalproducts.
B.Bythedegreeofindustrialprocessing.
C.Bytheextentofchemicalalteration.
D.Bytheconventionofclassification.
11. A.Increasedconsumers’expenses.
B.Greaterriskofchronicdiseases.
C.People’smisunderstandingofnutrition.
D.Children’sdislikeforunprocessedfoods.
Questions 12 to 15arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
12. A.Theybegintothinkofthebenefitsofconstraints.
B.Theytrytoseeksolutionsfromcreativepeople.
C.Theytryhardtomaximizetheirmentalenergy.
D.Theybegintoseetheworldinadifferentway.
13. A.Itischaracteristicofallcreativepeople.
B.Itisessentialtopushingsocietyforward.
C.Itisacreativeperson’sresponsetolimitation.
D.Itisanimpetustosocio-economicdevelopment.
14. A.Scarcityorabundanceofresourceshaslittleimpactonpeople’screativity.
B.Innovativepeoplearenotconstrainedinconnectingunrelatedconcepts.
C.Peoplehavenoincentivetouseavailableresourcesinnewways.
D.Creativepeopletendtoconsumemoreavailableresources.
15. A.Itiskeytoacompany’ssurvival.
B.Itshapesandfocusesproblems.
C.Itisessentialtomeetingchallenges.
D.Itthrivesbestwhenconstrained.

Section C

Directions: Inthissection,youwillhearthreerecordingsoflecturesortalksfollowedbythreeorfourquestions.The
recordingswillbeplayedonlyonce.Afteryouhearaquestion,youmustchoosethebestanswerfromthefourchoices
markedA),B),C)andD).ThenmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions 16 to 18arebasedontherecordingyouhavejustheard.

A.Becausetheyarelearned.
B.Becausetheycomenaturally.
C.Becausetheyhavetobeproperlypersonalized.
D.Becausetherecanbemoreeffectivestrategies.
A.Theextentofdifferenceandofsimilaritybetweenthetwosides.
B.Theknowledgeofthespecificexpectationtheothersideholds.
C.Theimportanceofone’sgoalsandoftherelationship.
D.Theapproachesoneadoptstoconflictmanagement.
A.Thefox.
B.Theowl.
C.Theshark.
D.Theturtle.
Questions 19 to 21arebasedontherecordingyouhavejustheard.
A.Helpsavespeciesfromextinctionandboosthumanhealth.
B.Understandhowplantsandanimalsperishedoverthepast.
C.Helpgatherinformationpubliclyavailabletoresearchers.
D.FindoutthecauseofextinctionofBritain’s66,000species.
A.Itwasoncedominatedbydinosaurs.
B.Ithasenteredthesixthmassextinction.
C.Itsprospectsdependonfuturehumanbehaviour.
D.Itsclimatechangeisaggravatedbyhumans.
2 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn21. A.Itdwarfsallothereffortstoconserve,protectandrestorebiodiversityonearth.
B.Itiscostlytogetstartedandrequiresthejointeffortsofthousandsofscientists.
C.Itcanhelptobringbackthelargenumbersofplantsandanimalsthathavegoneextinct.
D.Itisthemostexciting,mostrelevant,mosttimelyandmostinternationallyinspirational.
Questions 22 to 25arebasedontherecordingyouhavejustheard.
A.Culturalidentity.
B.Socialevolution.
C.TheCopernicanrevolution.
D.Humanindividuality.
A.Itisadelusiontobedisposedof.
B.Itisprevalentevenamongacademics.
C.ItisamythspreadbyJohnDonne’spoem.
D.Itisrootedinthemindsetofthe17thcentury.
A.HebelievesinCopernicanphilosophicaldoctrinesabouttheuniverse.
B.HehasgainedamplescientificevidenceattheUniversityofReading.
C.Hehasfoundthatourinnerselfandmaterialselfareinterconnected.
D.Hecontendsmostofourbodycellscanonlyliveafewdaysorweeks.
A.Bycomingtoseehowdisruptivesuchproblemshavegottobe.
B.Byrealisingthatweallcandoourownbitinsuchendeavours.
C.Bybecomingawarethatwearepartofabiggerworld.
D.Bymakingjointeffortsresolutelyandpersistently.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Directions: Inthissection,thereisapassagewithtenblanks.Youarerequiredtoselectonewordforeachblankfrom
a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your
choices.Eachchoiceinthebankisidentifiedbyaletter.PleasemarkthecorrespondingletterforeachitemonAnswer Sheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.Youmaynotuseanyofthewordsinthebankmorethanonce.
It’s quite remarkable how different genres of music can spark unique feelings, emotions, and memories. Studies
have shown that music can reduce stress and anxiety before surgeries and we are all attracted toward our own unique
lifesoundtrack.
Ifyou’relookingto **<span style="color: red;">26:A</span>** stress,youmightwanttogiveclassicalmusicatry.
The sounds of classical music producea calmingeffect letting **<span style="color: red;">27:I</span>** pleasure-inducing dopamine(多巴胺) in
the brain that helps control attention, learning and emotional responses. It can also turn down the body’s stress
response,resultinginanoverallhappiermood.Itturnsoutapleasantmoodcanleadto **<span style="color: red;">28:B</span>** inaperson’sthinking.
Althoughtherearemanygreat **<span style="color: red;">29:D</span>** ofclassicalmusiclikeBach,BeethovenandHandel,noneoftheseartists’
music seems to have the same health effects as Mozart’s does. According to researchers, listening to Mozart can
increase brain wave activity and improve **<span style="color: red;">30:C</span>** function. Another study found that the distinctive features of
Mozart’s music trigger parts of the brain that are responsible for high-level mental functions. Even maternity **<span style="color: red;">31:O</span>**
useMozarttohelpnewbornbabiesadapttolifeoutsideofthemother’sbelly.
Ithasbeenfoundthatlisteningtoclassicalmusic **<span style="color: red;">32:M</span>** reducesaperson’sbloodpressure.Researchersbelieve
thatthecalmingsoundsofclassicalmusicmayhelpyourheart **<span style="color: red;">33:L</span>** fromstress.Classicalmusiccanalsobeagreat
tool to help people who have trouble sleeping. One study found that students who had trouble sleeping slept better
whiletheywerelisteningtoclassicalmusic.
Whetherclassicalmusicissomethingthatyoulistentoonaregularbasisornot,itwouldn’t **<span style="color: red;">34:E</span>** totaketime
out of your day to listen to music that you find **<span style="color: red;">35:N</span>** . You will be surprised at how good it makes you feel and the
potentiallypositivechangeinyourhealth.
3 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cnA. alleviate F. inhibiting K. mandatory
B. clarity G. interrogation L. recover
C. cognitive H. intrinsically M. significantly
D. composers I. loose N. soothing
E. hurt J. majestic O. wards

Section B

Directions: Inthissection,youaregoingtoreadapassagewithtenstatementsattachedtoit.Eachstatementcontains
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
correspondingletteronAnswer Sheet2.
TheCuriousCaseoftheTreeThatOwnsItself
A. In the city of Athens, Georgia, there exists a rather curious local landmark — a large white oak that is almost
universallystatedtoownitself.Becauseofthis,itisconsideredoneofthemostfamoustreesintheworld.Sohow
didthistreecometoownitselfandthelandaroundit?
B. Sometime in the 19th century a Georgian called Colonel William Jackson reportedly took a liking to the said tree
andendeavoredtoprotectitfromanydanger.Astowhyheloveditso,theearliestdocumentedaccountofthisstory
is an anonymously written front page articlein the Athens Weekly Banner published on August 12, 1890.It states,
“Col. Jackson had watched the tree grow from his childhood, and grew to love it almost as he would a human. Its
luxuriant leaves and sturdy limbs had often protected him from the heavyrains,and out of its highest branches he
hadmanyatimegottentheeggsofthefeatheredsingers.Hewatcheditsgrowth,andwhenreachingaripeoldage
hesawthetreestandinginitsmagnificentproportions,hewaspainedtothinkthatafterhisdeathitwouldfallinto
thehandsofthosewhomightdestroyit.”
C. Towardsthisend,Jacksontransferredbymeansofadeedownershipofthetreeandalittlelandaroundittothetree
itself.Thedeedread,“W.H.Jacksonforandinconsiderationofthegreataffectionwhichhebearsthesaidtree,and
his great desire to see it protected has conveyed unto the said oak tree entire possession of itself and of all land
withineightfeetofitonallsides.”
D. Intime,thetreecametobesomethingofatouristattraction,knownasTheTreeThatOwnsItself.However,inthe
early 20th century, the tree started showing signs of its slow death, with little that could be done about it. Father
time comes for us all eventually, even our often long lived, tall and leafy fellow custodians (看管者) of Earth.
Finally, on October 9, 1942, the over 30 meter tall and 200 - 400 year old tree fell, rumor has it, as a result of a
severewindstormand/orviahavingpreviouslydiedanditsrootsrotted.
E. Aboutfouryearslater,membersoftheJuniorLadiesGardenClub(who’dtendedtothetreebeforeitsunfortunate
death) tracked down a small tree grown from a nut taken from the original tree. And so it was that on October 9,
1946,underthedirectionofProfessorRoyBowdenoftheCollegeofAgricultureattheUniversityofGeorgia,this
little tree was transplanted to the location of its ancestor. A couple of months later, an official ceremony was held
featuringnoneotherthantheMayorofAthens,RobertLMcWhorter,tocommemoratetheoccasion.
F. ThisnewtreebecameknownasTheSonoftheTreeThatOwnsItselfanditwasassumedthat,astheoriginaltree’s
heir, it naturally inherited the land it stood on. Of course, there are many dozens of other trees known to exist
descending from the original, as people taking a nut from it to grow elsewhere was a certainty. That said, to date,
noneoftheoriginaltree’sotherchildrenhavepetitionedthecourtsfortheirshareoftheland,soitseemsallgood.
In any event, The Son of the Tree That Owns Itself still stands today, though often referred to simply as The Tree
ThatOwnsItself.
4 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cnG. ThisallbringsusaroundtowhetherJacksoneveractuallygavelegalownershipofthetreetoitselfinthefirstplace
andwhethersuchadeedislegallybinding.
H. Well,to beginwith, it turns out Jackson only spent about three yearsof his lifein Athens,starting at the age of 43
from 1829 to 1832, sort of dismissing the idea that he loved the tree from spending time under it as a child and
watching it grow, and then worrying about what would happen to it after he died. Further, an extensive search of
landownershiprecordsinAthensdoesnotseemtoindicateJacksoneverownedthelandthetreesitson.
I. Hedidliveonalotoflanddirectlynexttoitforthosethreeyears,butwhetherheownedthatlandornotisn’tclear.
Whatever the case, in 1832 a four acre parcel, which included the land the tree was on and the neighboring land
Jackson lived on, among others, was sold to University professor Malthus A Ward. In the transaction, Ward was
required to pay Jackson a sum of $1,200 (about $31,000 today), either for the property itself or simply in
compensation for improvements Jackson had made on the lot. In the end, whether he ever owned the neighboring
lotorwassimplyallowedtouseitwhileheallegedlyworkedattheUniversity,hedefinitelyneverownedthelotthe
treegrewon,whichisthemostimportantbitforthetopicathand.
J. AfterProfessorWardpurchasedtheland,Jacksonandhisfamilypurchaseda655acreparcelafewmilesawayand
moved there. Ten years later, in 1844, Jackson seemed to have come into financial difficulties and had his little
plantation seized by the Clarke County Sheriff’s office and auctioned off to settle the mortgage. Thus, had he
ownedsomelandinAthensitself,includingthelandthetreesaton,presumablyhewouldhavesoldittoraisefunds
orotherwisehadittakenaswell.
K. And whatever the case there, Jackson would have known property taxes needed to be paid on the deeded land for
thetreetobetrulysecureinitsfuture.Yetnoaccountorrecordindicatesanytrustorthelikewassetuptofacilitate
this.
L. Ontopofallthis,thereisnohardevidencesuchadeedeverexisted,despitethefactthatdeedrecordsinAthensgo
backmanydecadesbeforeJackson’sdeathin1876andthatitwassupposedtohaveexistedin1890inthearchives
accordingtotheoriginalanonymousnewsreporterwhoclaimstohaveseenit.
M. As you might imagine from all of this, few give credit to this side of the story. So how did all of this come about
then?
N. ItisspeculatedtohavebeeninventedbytheimaginationofthesaidanonymousauthorattheAthensWeeklyBanner
in the aforementioned 1890 front page article titled “Deeded to Itself”, which by the way contained several
elementsthataremuchmoreeasilyprovedtobefalse.Astowhytheauthorwoulddothis,it’sspeculatedperhapsit
wasa19thcenturyversionofaclick-baitthoughtexerciseonwhetheritwouldbelegalforsomeonetodeedsucha
non-consciouslivingthingtoitselfornot.
O. Whateverthecase,thenextknowninstanceoftheTreeThatOwnsItselfbeingmentionedwasn’tuntil 1901inthe
Centennial Edition of that same paper, the Athens Weekly Banner. This featured another account very clearly just
copyingtheoriginalarticlepublishedaboutadecadebefore,onlyslightlyreworded.Thenextaccountwasin1906,
againintheAthensWeeklyBanner,againveryclearlycopyingtheoriginalaccount,onlyslightlyreworded,the19th
centuryequivalentofre-postswhentheaudiencehasforgottenabouttheoriginal.

C Jackson was said to have transferred his ownership of the oak tree to itself in order to protect it from being
destroyed.
H NoproofhasbeenfoundfromanextensivesearchthatJacksonhadeverownedthelandwheretheoaktreegrew.
B Whenitwasrainingheavily,Jacksonoftentookshelterunderabigtreethatissaidtoownitself.
K ThereisnoevidencethatJacksonhadmadearrangementstopaypropertytaxesforthelandonwhichtheoaktree
sat.
I ProfessorWardpaidJacksonoveronethousanddollarswhenpurchasingapieceoflandfromhim.
5 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn41. D Itissaidthetreethatowneditselffellinaheavywindstorm.
N Thestoryoftheoaktreeissuspectedtohavebeeninventedasathoughtexercise.
J Jackson’slittleplantationwasauctionedofftosettlehisdebtinthemid-19thcentury.
E Anofficialceremonywasheldtocelebratethetransplantingofasmalltreetowhereitsancestorhadstood.
O ThestoryoftheTreeThatOwnsItselfappearedinthelocalpaperseveraltimes,withslightalterationsinwording.

Section C

Directions: Thereare2passagesinthissection.Eachpassageisfollowedbysomequestionsorunfinishedstatements.
ForeachofthemtherearefourchoicesmarkedA),B),C)andD).Youshoulddecideonthebestchoiceandmarkthe
correspondingletteronAnswer Sheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
It is irrefutable that employees know the difference between right and wrong. So why don’t more employees
intervenewhentheyseesomeoneexhibitingat-riskbehaviorintheworkplace?
There are a number of factors that influence whether people intervene. First, they need to be able to see a risky
situationbeginningtounfold.Second,thecompany’scultureneedstomakethemfeelsafetospeakup.Andthird,they
needtohavethecommunicationskillstosaysomethingeffectively.
This is not strictly a workplace problem; it’s a growing problem off the job too. Every day people witness
things on the street and choose to stand idly by. This is known as the bystander effect — the more people who
witness an event, the less likely anyone in that group is to help the victim. The psychology behind this is called
diffusionofresponsibility.Basically,thelargerthecrowd,themorepeopleassumethatsomeoneelsewilltakecareof
it—meaningnooneeffectivelyintervenesoractsinamomentofneed.
Thiscrowdmentalityisstrongenoughforpeopletoevadetheirknownresponsibilities.Butit'snotonlyfrontline
workers who don’t make safety interventions in the workplace. There are also instances where supervisors do not
interveneeither.
Whenagroupofemployeesseesunsafebehaviornotbeingaddressedataleadershiplevelitcreatestheprecedent
thatthisishowthesesituationsshouldbeaddressed,thusdefiningthesafetycultureforeveryone.
Despitethefactthatworkersareencouragedtointervenewhentheyobserveunsafeoperations,thishappensless
thanhalfofthetime.Fearistheultimatefactorinnotintervening.Thereisafearofpenalty,afearthatthey’llhaveto
domoreworkiftheyintervene.Unsuccessfulattemptsinthepastareanotherstrongcontributingfactortowhypeople
don’tintervene—theytendtoprefertodeferthatactiontosomeoneelseforallfuturesituations.
Onmanyworksites,competentworkersmustbeappointed.Partoftheirjobistointervenewhenworkersperform
ataskwithouttheproperequipmentoriftheconditionsareunsafe.Competentworkersarealsorequiredtostopwork
fromcontinuingwhenthere’sadanger.
Supervisors also play a critical role. Even if a competent person isn’t required, supervisors need a broad set of
skillstonotonlyidentifyandalleviateworkplacehazardsbutalsobuildasafetyclimatewithintheirteamthatsupports
interveningandopencommunicationamongthem.
Beyond competent workers and supervisors, it’s important to educate everyone within the organization that they
are obliged to intervene if they witness a possible unsafe act, whether you’re a designated competent person, a
supervisororafrontlineworker.
46. Whatisoneofthefactorscontributingtofailureofinterventioninfaceofriskybehaviorintheworkplace?
A.Slacksupervisionstyle.
B.Unfavorableworkplaceculture.
C.Unforeseeablerisk.
D.Blockedcommunication.
6 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn47. Whatdoestheauthormeanby“diffusionofresponsibility”(Line4,Para.3)?
A.Themorepeoplearearound,themoretheyneedtoworryabouttheirpersonalsafety.
B.Themorepeoplewhowitnessanevent,thelesslikelyanyonewillventuretoparticipate.
C.Themorepeopleidlingaroundonthestreet,themorelikelytheyneedtakingcareof.
D.Themorepeoplearearound,thelesschancesomeonewillstepforwardtointervene.
48. Whathappenswhenunsafebehaviorattheworkplaceisnotaddressedbytheleaders?
A.Noonewillintervenewhentheyseesimilarbehaviors.
B.Everyonewillseeitastheeasiestwaytodealwithcrisis.
C.Workershavetotakeextracautionexecutingtheirduties.
D.Workersarelefttotakecareoftheemergencythemselves.
49. Whatistheultimatereasonworkerswon’tactwhentheyseeunsafeoperations?
A.Preferenceofdeferringtheactiontoothers.
B.Anticipationofleadershipintervention.
C.Fearofbeingisolatedbycoworkers.
D.Fearofhavingtodomorework.
50. Whatiscriticaltoensuringworkplacesafety?
A.Workersbetrainedtooperatetheirequipmentproperly.
B.Workersexhibitingat-riskbehaviorbestrictlydisciplined.
C.Supervisorscreateasafetyenvironmentfortimelyintervention.
D.Supervisorsconducteffectivecommunicationwithfrontlineworkers.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
The term “environmentalist” can mean different things. It used to refer to people trying to protect wildlife and
natural ecosystems. In the 21st century, the term has evolved to capture the need to combat human-made climate
change.
The distinction between these two strands of environmentalism is the cause of a split within the scientific
communityaboutnuclearenergy.
On one side are purists who believe nuclear power isn’t worth the risk and the exclusive solution to the climate
crisisis renewable energy. The opposing side agrees that renewables are crucial, but says society needs an amount of
power available to meet consumers’ basic demands when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Nuclear
energy,beingfarcleanerthanoil,gasandcoal,isanaturaloption,especiallywherehydroelectriccapacityislimited.
Leon Clarke, who helped author reports for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, isn’t an
uncritical supporter of nuclear energy, but says it’s a valuable option to have if we’re serious about reaching carbon
neutrality.
“Coreto all of thisis the degree to which youthink we canactuallymeet climate goals with 100% renewables,”
hesaid.“Ifyoudon’tbelievewecandoit,andyoucareabouttheclimate,youareforcedtothinkaboutsomethinglike
nuclear.”
The achievability of universal 100% renewability is similarly contentious. Cities such as Burlington, Vermont,
have been “100% renewable” for years. But these cities often have small populations, occasionally still rely on fossil
fuelenergyandhavesignificantrenewableresourcesattheirimmediatedisposal.Meanwhile,countriesthatmanageto
runoffrenewablestypicallydosothankstoextraordinaryhydroelectriccapabilities.
Germany stands as the best case study for a large, industrialized country pushing into green energy. Chancellor
Angela Merkel in 2011 announced Energiewende, an energy transition that would phase out nuclear and coal while
phasing in renewables. Wind and solar power generation has increased over 400% since 2010, and renewables
7 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cnprovided46%ofthecountry’selectricityin2019.
But progress has halted in recent years. The instability of renewables doesn’t just mean energy is often not
producedatnight,butalsothatsolarandwindcanoverwhelmthegridduringtheday,forcingutilitiestopaycustomers
to use their electricity. Lagging grid infrastructure struggles to transport this overabundance of green energy from
Germany’s north to its industrial south, meaning many factories still run on coal and gas. The political limit has also
beenreachedinsomeplaces,withcitizensmeetingtheconstructionofnewwindturbineswithloudprotests.
TheresultisthatGermany’sgreenhousegasemissionshavefallenbyaround11.5%since2010—slowerthanthe
EUaverageof13.5%.
51. Whataccountsforthedividewithinthescientificcommunityaboutnuclearenergy?
A.Attentiontocombatinghuman-madeclimatechange.
B.Emphasisonprotectingwildlifeandnaturalecosystems.
C.Evolutionoftheterm“greenenergy”overthelastcentury.
D.Adherencetodifferentinterpretationsofenvironmentalism.
52. Whatisthesolutiontoenergyshortageproposedbypurists’opponents?
A.Relyingonrenewablesfirmlyandexclusively.
B.Usingfossilfuelandgreenenergyalternately.
C.Optingfornuclearenergywhennecessary.
D.Limitingpeople’snon-basicconsumption.
53. WhatpointdoestheauthorwanttomakewithcitieslikeBurlingtonasanexample?
A.Itiscontroversialwhetherthegoalofthewholeworld’sexclusivedependenceonrenewablesisattainable.
B.Itiscontentiouswhethercitieswithlargepopulationshaverenewableresourcesattheirimmediatedisposal.
C.Itisarguablewhethercitiesthatmanagetorunoffrenewableshavesustainablehydroelectriccapabilities.
D.Itisdebatablewhethertraditionalfossilfuelenergycanbedoneawaywithentirelythroughouttheworld.
54. WhatdowelearnaboutGermanyregardingrenewableenergy?
A.Ithasincreaseditswindandsolarpowergenerationfourtimesoverthelasttwodecades.
B.Itrepresentsagoodexampleofamajorindustrializedcountrypromotinggreenenergy.
C.Itreliesonrenewableenergytogeneratemorethanhalfofitselectricity.
D.IthassucceededinreachingthegoalofenergytransitionsetbyMerkel.
55. WhatmaybeoneofthereasonsforGermany’sprogresshavinghaltedinrecentyears?
A.Itsgridinfrastructure’scapacityhasfallenbehinditsdevelopmentofgreenenergy.
B.Itsoverabundanceofgreenenergyhasforcedpowerplantstosuspendoperationduringdaytime.
C.Itsindustrialsouthisusedtorunningfactoriesonconventionalenergysupplies.
D.Itsrenewableenergysuppliesareunstablebothatnightandduringtheday.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should
writeyouransweronAnswer Sheet2.
中国盛产竹子，是最早开发利用竹资源的国家。竹子在中国分布广泛，品种丰富。竹子实用性强，用于生
产和生活的许多方面，如筷子、桌椅的制作和桥梁、房屋的建造。中国人爱竹，自古以来就有无数文人以竹为
主题，创作了绚丽多彩的文学和绘画作品。竹子主干(stem)笔直，象征正直的品格。竹子具有强大的生命力和
适应能力，无论环境多么恶劣，都能够顽强生存，因而寓意坚韧不拔的精神。几千年来，竹子一直被视为中华
民族品格的象征。
8 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn

2024 年 6 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 3 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “There is a growing awareness of the importance of digital literacy and skills in today’s world.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. (You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.)

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

提示：2024年6月六级全国只考两套听力，本套听力内容与第一二套相同，故本套未重复显示。

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

The Sun Is Also a Star is a truly lovely story of love, romance, fate, and destiny.

Natasha is a Jamaican-born immigrant living I in America, not by choice exactly. Her parents brought her over and created the situations she O to be out of.

Daniel is an American born of Korean immigrants. He believes in true love, fate, and all that other nonsense that Natasha H through scientific reasoning.

Daniel and Natasha meet by E on the streets of New York on the day that she is to be G. She doesn’t tell him that but does allow him to keep her company while he tries to get her to fall in love with him over the course of the day.

Natasha is me. I found her so similar to myself. She’s scientifically-minded, practical, somewhat cynical, and always N. Her obsession with the universe through a scientific lens is infectious and I A Daniel seeing that too.

Daniel is charming and passionate and has a way with words that even F Natasha’s tough outer shell.

By the end of the book I fell in love with both of them.

I used to find romance stories to always be cheap or laughable. I think now I can see the value in escaping into a story of pure optimism. I got J in The Sun Is Also a Star and finished it cover to cover in a weekend. I couldn’t wait to get to what I hoped would be a happy ending.

It’s nice every once in a while to give in to magic. It doesn’t have to be a hard fantasy novel with actual spells, it can be the magic found between two people who just have that special something. That D that causes them to react and spark when they’re near each other.

A. adore
F. cracks
K. perpetually
B. appraise
G. deported
L. prescribed
C. assaults
H. dismisses
M. shrewd
D. chemistry
I. illegally
N. skeptical
E. coincidence
J. lost
O. strives

Section B

These are the habits to avoid if you want to make a behavior change

A. According to recent research, behavioral change involves physical changes in the brain. In the past decade, researchers have shown that when it comes to the duration of making a new behavior a deep-rooted habit there is not a simple answer. Even for the most productive and disciplined among us, undoing something that has become an automatic part of who we are takes more than an overnight effort. Once we’ve successfully made that change, we then have to make other adjustments to our lives to ensure that we continue to maintain it, which is often a whole other challenge in itself.

B. At its core, success in changing and maintaining a behavior rarely occurs without the introduction of some sort of system. When there isn’t the right framework in place, we face a greater likelihood of derailing our hard-earned progress. To ensure success in changing and maintaining a behavior, we should stay away from some detrimental habits.

C. The first one to avoid is relying on willpower. Think about the last time you vowed to resist a temptation. Perhaps you didn’t want to check your phone every 15 minutes, or you were determined not to reach for a chocolate bar at 3 p.m. Think about how difficult it must have been not to glance at your phone when it was within reach, or not to walk to the vending machine when your afternoon slump hit.

D. The research on whether we have finite or infinite willpower is inconclusive, but experts do generally agree that you can’t change and sustain a habit if you rely on your willpower alone. The old military saying “You never rise to the occasion, you only sink to the level of training” also applies to behavior change. The idea is simple—you repeat something so many times that it becomes automatic.

E. Think about what else you can change about your surrounding that makes it easier for you to perform this change on a daily basis. This is called your “cue.” Basically, it’s a trigger to perform that particular habit. If you don’t want to reach for a sugary treat at 3 p.m., have a box of herbal tea ready at your desk. When 3 p.m. comes around, that’s your cue to pour yourself a cup of hot water and drink that tea, instead of walking to the vending machine.

F. The second one to avoid is focusing on negative goals. Sometimes, it’s not your process that lets you down, but the habit that you want to change in the first place. For starters, not eating chocolate to beat your afternoon slump is a harder goal than swapping chocolate for herbal tea when you reach the designated time. Your brain wants to find routines that have succeeded in the past and allow you to repeat those actions again in the future without having to think about them explicitly. However, this habit-learning system isn’t so effective when it comes to learning not to do something. That’s why rather than giving up something, think about introducing something in its place. Focus on actions you are going to take that will ultimately conflict with the behaviors you want to stop. When your attention is on doing something new, you give your habit system a chance to operate.

G. The third one to avoid is using the same strategies in different circumstances. Because we are creatures of habit, it’s natural to assume that when we do manage to adopt and sustain a desirable behavior, that same strategy will work when we want to make another behavior change. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes, the system that got you to change one behavior might not work for another.

H. Sometimes we become accustomed to relying on our guts when it comes to decision-making. This serves us well in certain situations, but can hinder us in others especially when we need to consider metrics and data, rather than letting our instinct override everything. For example, if you want to stop checking your email first thing in the morning, you might decide to substitute another activity in its place. But if you want to stop indulging in video games, simply deciding you will go for a run might not be as effective. You might need to introduce another reinforcement, such as meeting a friend and booking an exercise class together.

I. The fourth one to avoid is not forgiving ourselves for slipping up. Of course, even the best-laid plans fail sometimes. You might have stuck to your screen-free night time routine for five days, and then a big project landed on your desk and you found yourself in bed with your laptop before you went to sleep. Or you prepared meals on Sunday and stuck to eating healthy dinners at home, but by Friday you found yourself so exhausted and opted to order greasy takeout. Life happens and even if your behavior change is small, every single day can prove pretty inflexible, and at some point your luck may run out, even if just for a day. The perfectionist in you might be screaming to abandon your goals altogether, but try to see it in the bigger picture. Just because you might have temporarily strayed off course doesn’t mean you can’t start afresh the next day.

J. The final one to avoid is discounting small progress. There’s a habit that many perfectionists tend to fall into when they try to establish a behavior change. They focus too much on the big goal and don’t take the time to celebrate the small progress they make in the process. Your brain responds to rewards. The basal ganglia, the brain region linked to our performance of habits, is most active at the beginning of a behavior, when the habit is cued, and at the end, when it’s rewarded. Say your goal is to run five miles three times a week, and this week you ran one mile on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Rather than focusing on how far you’ve gone toward your goal, think about how you can reward yourself for the progress you’ve made. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive; it can be something as simple as making your favorite fruit juice after your run. Whatever your reward, it has to be more than just the activity itself to get you going.

K. Initiating a new behavior usually seems like the hardest part of the process of change. However, people often fail to adequately prepare for maintaining it. One of the reasons for this is because we mistakenly believe the strategies we used to initiate the change will be equally effective in helping us continue the change. But they won’t. Where changing a strongly deep-rooted habit requires changing our belief about that habit that penetrates deeply into our lives, continually manifesting that wisdom requires that we maintain a positive outlook. If our mood is low, the wisdom to behave differently seems to disappear and we go back to eating more and exercising less. The key, then, to maintaining new behaviors is to be happy! Which is why it’s so hard to maintain new behaviors.

L. Remember, overcoming the behavioral inertia that prevents us from implementing new changes, like eating a healthy diet or exercising, can benefit us in the long run and can improve our physical and mental health. No one was born with habits. They were all learned, and can all, therefore, be unlearned. The question is: how badly do you really want to change?

There is general consensus among experts that willpower alone cannot guarantee one’s success in changing and maintaining a habit. D
One need not abandon their goals completely just because they missed their target temporarily; they can start a new. I
Research shows it is quite another challenge to maintain a behavioral change after you have initiated it. A
It is wrong to assume the strategies we use to start a change of behavior will work equally well in helping maintain it. K
Sometimes, it may not be successful to simply substitute one activity with another to effect a change of habit; you may need extra reinforcement. H
One should introduce something new to replace an old habit instead of simply kicking it. F
Perfectionists focus too much on their big target and neglect celebrating the small gains they make in the process. J
It is of great benefit to us in the long term to conquer the inertia that stops us from making behavioral changes. L
The strategy that successfully changed one of your behaviors may not work for some other behavior of yours. G
Without a happy mood, it seems that our wisdom to adopt a different behavior vanishes. K

Section C

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

The “American Dream” promises that in the Land of Opportunity, any individual can climb the economic ladder and prosper through hard work and ambition alone. And yet, young Americans today are struggling to earn more than their parents did at the same age, and upward mobility in the US actually compares unfavourably to that of other industrialised nations.

So why does the idea of the American Dream persist? A new study in the American Journal of Political Science identifies one factor that has been overlooked: the influence of reality TV.

Reality shows have come to dominate US television over the past 20 years, notes Eunji Kim from Vanderbilt University. And the overwhelming majority of these have a “rags-to-riches” storyline: they feature ordinary Americans who work hard to achieve great economic success. And while these programmes are regularly among the most-watched shows, news broadcasts — which paint a more realistic view of the economic hardship faced by millions of Americans—get a much smaller proportion of the viewership.

Rags-to-riches stories are ubiquitous (无处不在的) on TV — but does watching these programmes actually convince people that economic mobility is easily attainable? To find out, Kim’s team had participants watch a 5-minute clip from a reality show with a rags-to-riches storyline. Control participants watched a clip from a reality show that didn’t have a rags-to-riches story. After watching the shows, participants rated how much they agreed with four statements relating to the American Dream.

The results showed that those who’d watched a rags-to-riches clip did indeed have a significantly greater belief in the American Dream. Interestingly, when participants were separated by party affiliation, this effect was significant among Republicans but not Democrats, suggesting that the kind of messages implicit in these TV shows may play into people’s existing socioeconomic beliefs.

Kim also conducted a survey of 3,000 US residents. They also rated the extent to which they believed success in life is related to various internal factors (such as ambition) and external factors (such as family wealth). Finally, they read a list of TV programmes and indicated which they regularly watched.

Participants who were heavy viewers of rags-to-riches programmes or frequent viewers had a stronger belief in the American Dream than those who never watched such shows.

Kim concludes that “rags-to-riches entertainment media are an important cultural force that promotes and perpetuates beliefs in upward mobility”. And here’s the problem: if people mistakenly believe that hard work is all that is needed for individuals to make a better life for themselves, they may be less supportive of policies that could actually combat inequality.

“In this era of choice, entertainment media are what captures hearts and minds,” Kim writes. “Its political consequences are anything but trivial”.

What do we learn from the passage about young Americans of today?
A. They have greater ambitions than their parents.
B. They find it difficult to achieve upward mobility.
C. They have overtaken their parents in terms of earnings.
D. They envy the opportunities in other industrialised nations.
What does Kim’s team find about reality TV shows in America?
A. They reinterpret the essence of the popular rags-to-riches culture.
B. They urge people to achieve economic success through hard work.
C. They help strengthen people’s conviction in the American Dream.
D. They feature ordinary Americans striving for social recognition.
What does the author say about news broadcasts in America?
A. They attract far fewer viewers than reality TV.
B. They are bent on reporting the dark side of life.
C. They stand in striking contrast with reality TV.
D. They focus on Americans’ economic hardships.
What can we infer from the passage about Republicans in general?
A. They believe strongly in the American Dream.
B. They strive to climb the socio-economic ladder.
C. They have a very strong affiliation with their party.
D. They tend to watch more rags-to-riches TV shows.
What is stated about people who believe in upward mobility?
A. They are likely to blame the government for their plight.
B. They regard political consequences as anything but trivial.
C. They respect individuals striving to climb the social ladder.
D. They are less likely to approve of policies to fight inequality.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

When someone asks us “what do you do?” we nearly always reply with our occupation. Work, for many of us, is much more than a job. It is the defining aspect of our identity. For many of us it is through our job that we can define ourselves.

“Without my job I don’t know who I am,” is a sentence that has been uttered on more than a handful of occasions from my office chair. Indeed, it can be one of the most challenging aspects I work on with clients who have lost or been forced into changing their jobs. This loss provokes an identity crisis much greater than the loss of the job itself.

One of the things I have come to understand, however, is that our identity is much more complex than we recognize at first glance. If we take the time to reflect we might recognize that as well as our work we can also identify as a friend, a spouse, a son or daughter, a parent, a member of a sports team or religious community. We may recognise that we feel and act differently in these roles and relationships than we do at work. The passive daughter becomes an assertive leader at work. Furthermore, our identities at work are not static. They change over time. I myself have been a shop assistant, a waitress, a student, a graduate, and a clinical psychologist. At each stage my ability to adapt to and develop my career identity has been crucial to my wellbeing. Whilst we like to eliminate uncertainty in our lives at some level we have to manage uncertainty, especially in today’s volatile and ever-shifting job market.

How we see ourselves is central to the issue of our identity. When we tell ourselves “I’m good at starting projects but not so great at seeing them through” it can become part of our belief system. But if you have the unfortunate experience of an enforced job change you will need to examine those beliefs to see how grounded in reality they are. You will be required to ask yourself how helpful these beliefs are and consider personal change. We can change our beliefs, behaviors and emotional experience at any time through experimentation, practice and conscious self-discipline. In an age where career progression may lead us into new sectors it is ever more important to challenge our sense of self and explore whether you can create a new experience of your identity by changing the beliefs you hold about yourself in order to expand your career options. Ultimately it is you who define who you are. You are only your job if you let it be so.

What do we learn from the passage about one’s loss of a job?
A. It compels them to visit a clinical psychologist.
B. It offers them a chance to play different roles.
C. It renders them puzzled about who they are.
D. It forces them to redefine their life’s goals.
What has the author come to understand about our identity?
A. It is crucial to our emotional wellbeing.
B. It plays a big role in many facets of life.
C. It reflects our changing status in society.
D. It is more complicated than it appears.
What does the passage say about our identities at work?
A. They are essential to our self-esteem.
B. They evolve with the passage of time.
C. They overrule all other self-perceptions.
D. They are key to understanding ourselves.
What do we have to do in today’s ever-changing job market?
A. Strive to develop our social identity.
B. Prepare for different career paths.
C. Try to be assertive at all times.
D. Learn to manage uncertainty.
What should we do to expand our career options?
A. Alter our perceptions of ourselves.
B. Compare various job opportunities.
C. Look into newly emerging sectors.
D. Exercise self-discipline consciously.

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.

扇子自古以来就深受中国人喜爱，但现在已不只是消暑纳凉的工具，而更多地作为艺术品供人欣赏。许多扇子造型优美、做工精良，并绘有山水、花鸟、人物等精美图案，具有很高的艺术价值。中国许多著名画家和书法家喜欢在扇子上作诗绘画，展示其艺术品味。扇子常作为礼物赠予他人，表达美好的祝福和真挚的情感。如今，扇子的实用功能已大为减弱，但作为一种文化符号和艺术形式，扇子仍然在中国传统文化中扮演着重要角色。

2025 年 6 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 1 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “As social media is used more and more extensively, there is a growing awareness of the importance of using it properly and responsibly.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.

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.

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

A. Met the computer technician.
B. Told the man about her trouble.
C. Called the man’s company.
D. Visited Alpha Maintenance.
A. Consulted someone in charge.
B. Came as soon as possible.
C. Informed the central office at once.
D. Designated an engineer to the case.
A. Frustration.
B. Intimidation.
C. Desperation.
D. Indignation.
A. Whether the contents have been backed up.
B. Whether they can find help somewhere else.
C. Whether all data stored on the hard drive has got lost.
D. Whether they need to wipe the system directories clean.

Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A. It’s boring.
B. It’s challenging.
C. It’s a beautiful thing.
D. It’s unlike most jobs.

A. Arbitrating between disagreeing solicitors.
B. Preventing disputes from escalating.
C. Buying and selling property.
D. Mediating land disputes.
A. Courts are intended for fixing major legal disputes.
B. Courts are getting too bureaucratic to function.
C. Courts can be frustrating and expensive.
D. Courts can be frightening and arbitrary.
A. The ability to make arguments in a unique way.
B. The skill of preventing conflicts between parties concerned.
C. The skill of foreseeing any potential stakes in their work.
D. The ability to express themselves clearly and forcefully.

Section B

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A. They looked into the relationship between one’s prior knowledge and creativity.
B. They offered novel ways to help older adults to keep their memories from aging.
C. They proposed an explanation for old people’s difficulty in retrieving memories.
D. They advanced a new model concerning human information storage and retrieval.

A. Young adults rely on memory while older adults keep notes as a reminder.
B. Older adults often retrieve irrelevant memories along with what they want.
C. Young adults accumulate knowledge much more quickly than older adults.
D. Older adults generally perform cognitive tasks much slower than young adults.
A. They show preserved, and sometimes enhanced, creativity.
B. They frequently suffer from disorderly crowded memories.
C. They can rely on their accumulated wisdom in an emergency.
D. They may well be served by forgetting their prior knowledge.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A. They are actually proud of the goods and services they produce.
B. They are worried about being alienated from the outside world.
C. They are rarely in control of many things related to their work.
D. They are longing to share the profits made from their work.

A. The steady decrease in productivity.
B. The adverse effect on physical health.
C. The feeling of being time-poor.
D. The rising economic inequality.
A. It alters the structure of work.
B. It puts jobs and wages at risk.
C. It liberates people from tedious and laborious work.
D. It creates new work opportunities in the IT industry.
A. Finding meaning in work.
B. Prioritizing life over work.
C. Improving relationships in the community.
D. Realizing one’s social value in the workplace.

Section C

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A. Affect our attitude to novel tasks.
B. Distinguish us in the social world.
C. Outweigh IQ in importance.
D. Impact academic achievements.

A. By pressing a hidden button.
B. By pushing a big button on top.
C. By pressing two buttons at the same time.
D. By helping the babies push the right button.
A. Perform difficult tasks successfully just by observing how adults acted.
B. Make generalizable inferences about persistence from a few examples.
C. Adapt themselves to different social contexts.
D. Work hard to interact with experimenters.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A. Offering advice on overcoming habitual lateness.
B. Exemplifying various recreational opportunities.
C. Scrutinizing individuals’ defining traits.
D. Suggesting ways for setting priorities.

A. Make the breakfast simpler.
B. Take the alarms seriously.
C. Ready yourself in the early dawn.
D. Get prepared the night before.
A. Finish the prior task 30 minutes earlier.
B. Keep ourselves from hitting a bump.
C. Leave time in between activities.
D. Try to avoid possible hold-ups.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
22. A. Their lifestyles vary.
B. Their traits vary.
C. They have different customs.
D. They have different feels.

A. They are not as willing to help strangers.
B. They are not as patient with one another.
C. They violate traffic rules more frequently.
D. They become more easily irritated in public.
A. It was practiced by Boston’s founding fathers.
B. It is not deemed exotic by Proper Bostonians.
C. It was adopted by Boston’s upper class.
D. It is not part of Boston’s local culture.
A. Stick to its own way of showing courtesy to strangers.
B. Follow the examples set by Paris and New York City.
C. Learn from the world’s major cities in promoting tourism.
D. Take pride in its history and adhere to its cultural tradition.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

In her second year, Charlene Duong learned of the use of poisonous, synthetic pesticides on her college campus. Shocked but not surprised, she knew she had to do something. Along with a couple of classmates, Charlene did a quick web search and discovered a small but growing movement led by the organization, Herbicide-Free Campus (HFC), to rid college campuses of artificial herbicide (灭草剂). They were 26. J. intrigued.

Like many, Charlene experiences climate anxiety—a 27. B. chronic fear of a climate catastrophe—and was, at the time, looking for an 28. L. outlet. When she discovered the HFC movement, she said she felt she “had found a specific area to focus on that still fit into the larger picture of fighting for a healthier, safer, cleaner 29. F. environment for all.”

Toxic herbicide use in university land care is not unique. Most institutions of higher education rely on synthetic pesticides and fertilizers to achieve 30. A. aesthetic goals. Having a “beautiful” campus means green and perfectly-maintained lawns along with flower beds and paved sidewalks. But these 31. D. conventionally managed campuses can come at a cost: increased cancer risk, 32. C. contaminated waterways, poisoned wildlife and lifeless soil.

Pesticide use on college campuses also contributes to our global climate crisis. The use of chemicals to get rid of insects or unwanted plant life can increase indirect 33. E. emissions, as they can include petroleum-based ingredients. Pesticide use also decreases the life in soil, 34. G. hampering the ability of soils to absorb carbon or retain water and thus reducing campuses’ ability to recover quickly from climate-related extreme weather events like droughts and floods.

Instead of using toxic chemicals, students working with HFC help out with 35. O. weeding the campus grounds.
“This work reminds me to be in the present moment as I play my role in reducing herbicide use and keeping my campus safe and healthy,” says Charlene.

A. aesthetic
B. chronic
C. contaminated
D. conventionally
E. emissions
F. environment
G. hampering
H. incidentally
I. infringement
J. intrigued
K. juvenile
L. outlet
M. rotating
N. vibrations
O. weeding

Section B

Why Your Library Is the Most Important Place in Town

A. Librarians know the value of their community services, and their patrons appreciate their importance as well. But in an increasingly digital world, we see the role of libraries as community and cultural centers at times undervalued. When shrinking municipal budgets combine with the nonstop technological revolution, public library services that focus on building communities face-to-face, inspiring and educating patrons about art, literature, and music, and helping patrons engage in civil discourse can seem old-fashioned. But it is precisely those shrinking budgets and the assault of technologically mediated life that make public libraries’ cultural and community offerings more important than ever.

B. Many people point out the value public libraries bring to their communities. More than just books and banks of computers, libraries are still places where individuals gather to explore, interact, and imagine. Some of the specific ways in which libraries add value to our communities and serve as cultural centers for our patrons are community builders, centers for the arts, and champions of youth. Libraries serve in these capacities and are more than just about information.

C. As community builders libraries are engaged in incredible work. From tiny public libraries to huge city institutions with multiple branches, libraries across the United States are building community and supporting local culture in exciting ways. These are inspiring and hopefully will encourage librarians interested in community services and cultural outreach to make connections with each other, share ideas, and build partnerships. Supporters of libraries as community builders claim that unless you are out there changing neighborhoods, you are not completing the work you are to do. Strengthening neighborhoods and championing the cultural lives of communities are big responsibilities.

D. Place-based economic development stresses the importance of offering attractive, functional, and community-based places, such as libraries, in town squares and depressed neighborhoods. Like a major department store in a mall, libraries attract large numbers of people, creating economic opportunities for numerous businesses and organizations in the surrounding area. Large cities, medium-sized ones, and even small towns have successfully transformed their libraries into the hubs (枢纽) of vibrant neighborhoods.

E. As key municipal agencies, and focal points for community education, libraries are major players in creating livable, environmentally friendly cities and towns. The Urban Libraries Council released a report detailing the unique ways in which libraries can further sustainability at the local level. Beyond ensuring that library construction projects consider environmental impact, libraries can take a lead in supporting local foods and craftsmen, like the Peabody Institute Library’s partnering with local businesses to pioneer a farmers’ market in their courtyard, or the Richmond Public Library’s seed lending library which “nurtures locally-adapted plant varieties, and fosters community resilience (韧性), self-reliance and a culture of sharing.”

F. Archives preserve historic artifacts, oral histories, digital history projects, and scholarly writings relevant to the community, including minority groups. Communities lucky enough to have archivists have a great advantage when it comes to organizing historical records and artifacts. An organized archive is a place where people can research their ancestry and immigration history, do environmental research, and more. An archivist is an advocate for preservation who, among other things, coordinates the restoration of maps and paintings, the digitization of vital records, and the creation of oral history projects. With projects like the Massachusetts Memories Road Show and the Veterans History Project, evidence of the importance of archives is everywhere.

G. In the words of Robert Putnam, “People may go to the library looking mainly for information, but they find each other there.” New moms connect at baby story-times; elderly people, often facing difficult life transitions, attend events and find that they make new friends; teenagers meet up in libraries’ teen spaces after school; and readers discuss current events in the periodicals room. In libraries, community-building connections are happening all the time.

H. As Keith Richards said, “The public library is the great equalizer.” Despite the rising costs of concert and theater tickets, public library events (including concerts, author visits, and gallery displays) are often offered free of charge, enabling people of any income level to attend. In addition, library book groups allow people to explore and discuss the literary arts, and the Great Stories Club introduces at-risk youth to literature. The best part: it’s all free and open to the public.

I. In a time when education is increasingly expensive, public libraries provide information and educational opportunities free for all people, regardless of their socio-economic status. Offered by libraries across the country, American Library Association’s Let’s Talk about It programs are wonderful examples of scholar-facilitated learning opportunities in libraries. In addition, many libraries present classes and discussion programs, and some even provide online continuing education courses such as the Universal Class database.

J. Librarians know that patrons aren’t just information consumers, they’re information producers. Patrons use the library to gain knowledge in order to create their own new and independent works. Increasing numbers of libraries provide spaces and services that meet the needs of people who want to learn how to edit Wikipedia, set up blogs or podcasts, create their own magazines, and so much more. Many libraries offer art or writing workshops and groups, and some provide music practice rooms for patrons. Programs like ImaginOn in Charlotte, North Carolina, provide exciting models that take community partnership, creativity, and creation to a new level.

K. The decline of civil discourse stems in part from the fact that it is so easy for people to watch news about, buy products from, and engage — in both the virtual and real worlds — only with those of similar backgrounds and ideologies. Public libraries, through such programs as The Human Library and Socrates Café, can help build small communities of difference that encourage people to interact with and learn from each other through dialogue. By both actively promoting civil discourse through these programs, and modeling and upholding the principles of free inquiry and expression for all, libraries help individuals rediscover the importance of and increased need for civil discourse in American life.

L. Free tutoring, homework help programs, and summer reading programs for kids and teens help bridge the economic divide that impacts students’ academic performance. The cost of hiring a private tutor is well beyond what many library patrons can afford, so libraries offer homework help and tutoring online, by phone, in person, and even through social media and homework apps. Annual summer reading programs also have a positive impact on student performance and, according to a 2010 study conducted by Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science, students’ reading skills get a boost from these popular nationwide events.

M. Through library collections, programs, and physical spaces, children learn to share, to be engaged in their communities, to participate in the arts, and to explore their immediate world and the world at large. There are surely endless examples of innovative library services for children, including the Middle Country Public Library’s Nature Explorium, which engages children in learning about the natural world.

N. These examples are just a few of the many amazing things that public libraries around the United States (and the world) are doing to build and maintain strong community connections. We encourage you to try some of these ideas in your own libraries, and we hope that these ideas will help you be better able to convince your community leaders of the important role that public libraries play in communities large and small.

G People going to the library in search of information can build connections with each other there.
C According to advocates of libraries as community builders, librarians are not doing their job well if they do not change their communities.
I With the costs of education continually rising, public libraries remain places where all people can have access to education.
D Libraries draw large crowds, thus creating lots of business opportunities in neighboring areas.
A With the world more and more digitalized, people sometimes underestimate the role of libraries as community and cultural centers.
L Various programs organized by public libraries for children and adolescents help narrow the gap between students from varying economic backgrounds.
F In an organized archive, people can do research on their family history and find out how their ancestors came to settle in the new land.
H Public libraries organize cultural events, often allowing people of different income levels to attend free of charge.
B Besides being an information provider, the library performs many other important services for the community.
K Public libraries can help build small communities of people with different backgrounds and ideologies.

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.

Nationally, one in six children misses 15 or more days of school in a year. Education officials have deplored all this missed instruction.

These chronically absent students suffer academically because of all the classroom instruction they miss out on. In 2015, the US secretary of education responded to this crisis, urging communities to support every student to attend every day and be successful in school. His open letter stated that missing 10% of school days in a year for any reason—excused or unexcused—is a primary cause of low academic achievement.

Worrying about whether children attend school makes sense. After all, if students don’t show up, teachers can’t teach them.

But what if America’s attendance crisis is about much more than students missing class? What if, instead, it is a reflection of family and community crises these students face — such as being ejected from the family apartment, fearing for their safety in their neighborhood or suffering an illness?

As social scientists we investigated how excused and unexcused absences relate to children’s academic achievement.

We find that absences excused by a parent do little to harm children’s learning. In fact, children with no unexcused absences—but 15 to 18 excused absences—have test scores equal to their peers who have no absences.

Meanwhile, the average child with even just one unexcused absence does much worse academically than peers with none.

We believe unexcused absence is a strong signal of the many challenges children and families face, including economic and medical hardships. Unexcused absences can be a powerful signal of how those out-of-school challenges affect children’s academic progress.

Our evidence suggests unexcused absences are problematic, but for a different reason than people often think. Absence from school, and especially unexcused absence, matters mainly as a signal of many crises children and their families may be facing. It matters less as a cause of lower student achievement due to missed instruction.

How we choose to think of school absences matters for educational policy. School attendance policies typically hold schools and families accountable for the days children miss, regardless of whether they were excused or unexcused absences.

These policies assume that missing school for any reason harms children academically because they are missing classroom instruction. They also assume that schools will be able to effectively intervene by reducing student absences.

We find neither to be the case.

As a result, these attendance policies end up disproportionately punishing families dealing with out-of-school crises in their lives and pressuring schools who serve them to get students to school more often.

We instead suggest using unexcused absence from school as a signal to channel resources to the children and families who need them most.

What does the US secretary of education say in his open letter?
A. It is of vital importance to respond promptly to the school absence crisis.
B. The academic performance of chronically absent students is deplorable.
C. Low academic achievement is mainly attributed to school absences.
D. The effect of school absences on American education is worrisome.
What do the authors find about school absences?
A. Excused school absences have little impact on children’s learning.
B. There is little difference between unexcused and excused absences.
C. Excused absences lead to comparatively better school performance.
D. Unexcused absences are a big challenge to both schools and families.
What do the authors believe concerning unexcused school absences?
A. They are likely to cause a decrease in students’ academic achievements due to missed instruction.
B. They point directly to many of the out-of-school challenges confronting children and their families.
C. They are matters the American government typically ignores when formulating educational policies.
D. They give a clear signal to children and their families of the crises they are likely to face in the future.
What is the assumption underlying education policies in the US?
A. Children’s academic performance depends on reducing the number of absences.
B. Schools can boost children’s academic performance by effective intervention.
C. Schools as well as families should be held responsible for out-of-school crises.
D. Children’s academic performance is closely related to the quality of instruction.
What do the authors suggest doing regarding school absences?
A. Identifying their underlying causes.
B. Reframing school attendance policies.
C. Directing resources to helping needy children.
D. Pressuring schools to reduce unexcused ones.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

After earning a bachelor’s degree, I was determined to do what I love. I headed straight to graduate school to investigate the social problems that fascinated me.

For almost a decade, I told everyone I encountered that they should do the same. “Follow your passion,” I counseled. “You can figure out the employment stuff later.”

It wasn’t until I began to research this widely accepted career advice that I understood how problematic it really was.

As a sociologist, I interviewed college students and professional workers to learn what it really meant to pursue their dreams, which I will refer to here as the passion principle. I was stunned by what I found out about this principle in the research for my new book.

Surveys show the American public has long held the passion principle in high regard as a career decision-making priority. And its popularity is even stronger among those facing job instability.

Advocates of the passion principle found it compelling because they believed that following one’s passion can provide workers with both the motivation necessary to work hard and a place to find fulfillment.

Yet, what I found is that following one’s passion does not necessarily lead to fulfillment, but is one of the most powerful cultural forces perpetuating overwork. I also found that promoting the pursuit of one’s passion helps perpetuate social inequalities due to the fact that not everyone has the same economic resources to allow them to pursue their passion with ease.

While the passion principle is broadly popular, not everyone has the necessary resources to turn their passion into a stable, good-paying job. Passion-seekers from wealthy families are better able to wait until a job they are passionate about comes along without worrying about student loans in the meantime. They are also better situated to take unpaid internships to get their foot in the door while their parents pay their rent. And they often have access to parents’ social networks to help them find jobs. Surveys revealed that working-class and first-generation college graduates, regardless of their career field, are more likely than their wealthier peers to end up in low-paying unskilled jobs when they pursue their passion.

Colleges, workplaces and career counselors who promote the “follow your passion” path for everyone, without leveling the playing field, help perpetuate socioeconomic inequalities among career aspirants.

It’s not just well-off passion-seekers who benefit from the passion principle. Employers of passionate workers do, too. Potential employers showed greater interest in passionate applicants in part because they believed the applicants would work hard at their jobs without expecting an increase in pay. They even sacrifice a good salary, job stability and leisure time to work in a job they love.

What did the author advise people to do for almost a decade?
A. Figure out what is the most fascinating job.
B. Follow widely accepted career counsel.
C. Pursue their careers with passion.
D. Do whatever they are zealous for.
How did the author feel about the passion principle through his research?
A. He was astonished by its consequences.
B. He was further convinced of its soundness.
C. He was actually right to follow it through.
D. He was struck by its broad popularity.
What is important to turning one’s passion into a stable, good-paying job?
A. Willingness to take unpaid internships and low-paying jobs.
B. Full academic preparedness and sound career counseling.
C. Hard work and sacrifice of leisure time.
D. Financial backing and social connections.
What happens when everyone is encouraged to follow their passion?
A. Many more career aspirants end up unemployed.
B. People are less concerned with socioeconomic inequality.
C. Socioeconomic inequality is likely to persist.
D. Career counselors are going to lose credibility.
What does the author say about employers of passionate workers?
A. They provide these workers with job stability and a good salary.
B. They exploit these workers’ passion to benefit themselves.
C. They level the playing field for these workers to reach their goals.
D. They encourage these workers to realize their aspirations.

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.

天宫空间站(Tiangong Space Station)是中国首个太空实验室，拥有 110 多立方米使用空间，可驻留 3 名航天员，在距地球表面 400—450 公里的轨道上运行。天宫空间站已实施 180 多个科学研究与应用项目，涉及空间生命科学、太空医学、空间材料科学等领域。天宫空间站的研究成果在我国得到了广泛应用，产生了显著的经济效益。例如，太空育种创造的直接经济效益高达数千亿元。这不仅标志中国在航天技术上取得了巨大进步，也表明中国为全球的太空研究和应用做出了重大贡献。

2025 年 6 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 2 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “As requirements for job applications are getting increasingly higher, college students ought to be better prepared for their future career.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. You should copy the sentence given in quotes at the beginning of your essay.

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.

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

A. They have to make a choice by the end of the day.
B. Both candidates are very keen on getting the job.
C. They hold different views on the procedure.
D. Both candidates are quite competitive.
A. Both Rachel and Peter came across as respectful and professional.
B. Rachel scored moderately higher grades than Peter at school.
C. Both Rachel and Peter excelled in their academic pursuit.
D. Peter appeared slightly stronger than Rachel physically.
A. His use of body language.
B. His accumulation of experience.
C. His unusual state of mind.
D. His knowledge about the company.
A. Compare the candidates side by side again.
B. Ask the board to cast the deciding vote.
C. Find a way to break the tie next time.
D. Let John make the final decision.

Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
5. A. The private label “L’Orange”.
B. The woman’s latest collection.
C. This season’s new fashion.
D. The head designer’s role.

A. Something reflecting the social norms.
B. Something meeting public expectations.
C. Something slightly absurd.
D. Something a bit ambiguous.
A. Merge styles often at opposite ends of the fashion spectrum.
B. Learn from the designs of the Asian rural mountain villagers.
C. Make velvet capes look both majestic and masculine.
D. Draw intricate patterns on a traditional power suit.
A. Obtaining the woman’s signature.
B. Seeing the woman’s new creations.
C. Incorporating indigenous aspects into his work.
D. Sharing more ideas with the woman next time.

Section B

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9. A. They could readily recognize their owners simply by looking.
B. They could understand the implications of human commands.
C. They could be domesticated to act as our companions.
D. They could follow pointing gestures without training.

A. Cultivating them to be intelligent creatures.
B. Training them to behave like domesticated dogs.
C. Understanding how humans impact their behavior.
D. Taking measures to reduce their numbers.
A. Tame them through repeated training.
B. Treat them with sensitivity and respect.
C. Make them responsive to our commands.
D. Watch their behavior and try to improve it.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
12. A. The temperature inside it varies from place to place.
B. Proper placement facilitates access to food products.
C. Its different shelves are designed for different purposes.
D. The space in an average fridge changes from top to bottom.

A. To slow the rising of temperature in it.
B. To provide a big box of evenly cold air.
C. To prevent germs from growing quickly.
D. To keep the food cold as long as possible.
A. On the top shelf.
B. In the middle section.
C. On the inside of its doors.
D. At the back of its bottom shelf.
A. They will be extra-chilly.
B. They will be hard to defrost.
C. They will be contaminated.
D. They will be ruined.

Section C

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
16. A. Chronic depression.
B. Growing feebleness.
C. Hip fracture.
D. Fatal infections.

A. It feels real and relevant.
B. It contributes to psychology.
C. It outcompetes lots of academics’ research.
D. It wins recognition outside of Birmingham.
A. By bringing together experts old and young.
B. By counting on advanced modern technology.
C. By making full use of her expertise.
D. By combining multiple perspectives.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19. A. They don’t teach basic organization.
B. They don’t focus on teaching techniques.
C. They attach little importance to recipes.
D. They hire very few distinguished chefs.

A. It’s unique to celebrity chefs.
B. It’s a way of transformation.
C. It’s too demanding for them.
D. It’s a way of life to them.
A. Respect others so as to be respected.
B. Use time and resources in a wise way.
C. Cultivate a habit of self-discipline.
D. Learn from philosophers earnestly.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
22. A. The motive for hard work.
B. The reason for stagnation.
C. The basis for self-improvement.
D. The justification for self-confidence.

A. Feel confidence, happiness and satisfaction.
B. Believe they have achieved their life goals.
C. Use a key tool for setting ambitious goals.
D. Stop imagining further progress in life.
A. We feel we are always falling behind others.
B. We have to adapt to the ever-changing goal.
C. There are various misconceptions about goal setting.
D. There are always problems with the goal originally set.
A. A noticeable change in the number of goals to achieve.
B. Measuring always against the gap rather than the gain.
C. Measuring where we’ve come from instead of measuring against the goal.
D. A proper conception of what we fail to notice in trying to achieve our goals.

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

The slow progress of women in elective office is frustrating for some political observers and experts — including myself. Achieving gender equality in Congress is an important goal. This is because the number of women involved in legislative decisions has significant B. consequences for all the policies that governments E. enact. Female legislators are more likely than men to introduce, speak about and work to pass policies that disproportionately affect women and girls, such as paid family leave, pay F. equity and gender-based violence.

Having more women in Congress also fosters a greater sense of connection between female voters and government. In addition, it A. bolsters women’s sense that government cares about their concerns and inspires young women to become more politically engaged.

While women are underrepresented in governments around the globe, it is a particularly I. formidable problem in the United States. Currently, the US ranks 73rd in the world when it comes to female representation in government.

But the reason women are so G. especially underrepresented in US government is not because they face resistance from voters or struggle to raise money. On the contrary, decades of research shows that female candidates raise as much money and win as often as male politicians with similar C. credentials.

Rather, the slow progress of women in politics is a tale of two political parties.

In the next Congress, there will be 107 female Democratic lawmakers and 42 female Republican lawmakers in the Senate and House combined.

In order for women to gain half of the seats in Congress, more women need to run, J. impetus on Republican tickets. This will require the Republican Party as a whole to L. prioritize recruiting women — and not just for one election cycle, but in a N. sustained way.

Section B

The Benefits of Solitude

Lots of research demonstrates that being socially isolated is harmful to the elderly. C
Being alone enables artists to think and observe, which is a must for their creation. H
To one writer, being forced to play with others was a penalty while being kept alone in a room was quite a pleasure. B
Recent research shows for the first time that there is a specific link between being creative and being unsociable. I
We must be willing to stay alone at least for some time in order to plot our own course. M
According to new research, for people who prefer being alone, solitude can be beneficial to their work lives and emotional health. E
It may turn out to be better for one to cultivate a few steady relationships than to busy themselves socialising. O
Allowing your mind to wander freely is conducive to sharpening your focus in the long run. L
Research conducted on artists and scientists indicates that creative people are less interested in hanging out with others. G
According to Feist, you will have difficulty knowing yourself if you do not stay alone occasionally. N

Section C

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

What do we learn about successful changes in organizations?
A. They can be immediately implemented with great ease.
B. They are usually led by organization leaders of vision.
C. They call for enthusiastic support from the workforce.
D. They often result from simulation learning experiences.
What should learning leaders do to arouse learners’ passion for change?
A. Allow them to see what could possibly be achieved.
B. Help them break free from their old paradigms.
C. Encourage them to rethink their thought models.
D. Stimulate them to embrace fresh opportunities.
What does the passage say about lectures, training programs and workshops?
A. They are generally incapable of changing workers’ behaviors on the job.
B. They are interventions different from simulations in creating stimuli for change.
C. They aim at transforming the behaviors of the workers in an organization.
D. They help managers achieve the full effect of employee development efforts.
What makes simulation one of the most fruitful forms of learning?
A. Its capability of saving time by accelerating the immersive learning experience.
B. Its potential for learners to examine their skills, knowledge and learning process.
C. Its capability of providing all participants with a practical learning experience.
D. Its potential for learners to explore, experiment and practice without any risk.
What should participants do in a simulation to reap the greatest benefits possible?
A. Take the experience as a mere game.
B. Apply promptly what they learn to their jobs.
C. Develop a deep level of understanding.
D. Strive to connect closely with their leaders.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

What does the passage say is the more recent thinking of economic growth?
A. It should be made sustainable.
B. It is vital to the future of humanity.
C. It should be governments’ chief concern.
D. It is an indicator of government performance.
Why are some people opposed to the idea that governments should focus on happiness?
A. Governments cannot impose happiness on citizens.
B. People’s happiness is built upon their own endeavor.
C. Happiness means different things to different people.
D. Happiness depends on sustainable economic growth.
What does philosopher Julian Baggini suggest governments do in a recently published article?
A. Try to reduce inequality between the rich and the poor.
B. Provide people with access to resources for a better life.
C. Change people’s behaviors to put social wealth to better use.
D. Make use of advanced technologies to improve people’s lives.
Why does the WHO feel the need to appeal to the economic benefits of improving mental health to justify its recommendations?
A. Mental health programs cannot be executed without GDP growth.
B. Psychological interventions are conducive to people’s wellbeing.
C. Poor mental health is detrimental to a nation’s economic system.
D. Governments still take economic development as their priority.
What message does the author try to convey at the end of the passage?
A. Governments’ goal should be prosperity-driven.
B. Governments’ goal should be people-oriented.
C. Governments should consider citizens’ views in decision-making.
D. Governments should set sustained productivity as their top priority.

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.

2025 年 6 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 3 套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay that begins with the sentence “With the
increasing application of AI technology, there is a growing concern that it may negatively impact human
creativity.” You can make comments, cite examples or use your personal experiences to develop your essay. You
shouldwriteatleast150wordsbutnomorethan200 words.
Youshouldcopythesentencegiveninquotesatthe beginningofyouressay.

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

提示：2025年6月六级全国只考两套听力，本套听力内容与第一二套相同，故本套未重复显示。

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 Sheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.Youmaynot useanyofthe wordsinthebankmorethanonce.
NobeastonEarthistougherthanthetinytardigrade(缓步类动物).Itcan K beingfrozenat−272ºCelsius,
being exposed to the vacuum of outer space and even being B with 500 times the dose of X-rays that would
kill a human. In other words, the creature can endure conditions that don’t even exist on Earth. And researchers are
lookingtothemicroscopicanimalstolearnhowtopreparehumansandcropstohandlethe I ofspacetravel.
The tardigrade’s indestructibility stems from its A to its environment — which may seem surprising, since
itlivesin J comfortableplaces,likethecool,wetpatchesofmoss(青苔)thatdotagardenwall.
But it turns out that a tardigrade’s damp, mossy home can dry out many times each year. Drying is pretty C
for most living things. It does damage to cells in some of the same ways that freezing, vacuum and radiation do.
Tardigrades,however,have D specialstrategiesfordealingwiththesekindsofdamage.
As a tardigrade dries out, its cells produce several strange proteins that are unlike anything found in other
animals. In water, the proteins are shapeless. But as water disappears, the proteins self-assemble into long fibers that
fill the cell’s F . The fibers supportthe cell’s membranes(细胞膜) andproteins,preventing them from breaking
or O .
Emulating tardigrades could one day help humans colonize outer space. Food crops could be engineered to
produce tardigrade proteins, allowing these organisms to grow more efficiently on spacecraft where levels of
radiationareelevatedcomparedwithonEarth.
So if humans ever succeed in reaching the stars, they may accomplish this E , in part, by standing on the
shouldersofthetinyeight-leggedendurancespecialistsinyourbackyard.
A. adaptations F. interior K. survive
B. blasted G. probing L. tempt
C. catastrophic H. recurrence M. thrill
D. evolved I. rigors N. unanimously
E. feat J. seemingly O. unfolding
1 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cnSection 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
markingthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet2.
Yes,EatingMeatAffectstheEnvironment,butCowsAre NotKillingtheClimate
A. As the scale and impacts of climate change become increasingly alarming, meat is a popular target for action.
Advocates for the protection of the natural environment from destruction or pollution urge the public to eat less
meat.Someactivistshaveevencalledfortaxingmeattoreduceconsumptionofit.
B. A key claim underlying these arguments holds that globally, meat production generates more greenhouse gases
than the entire transportation sector. However, this claim is demonstrably wrong, as I will show. And its
persistencehasledtofalseassumptionsaboutthelinkagebetweenmeatandclimatechange.
C. My recent research focuses on ways in which animal agriculture affects air quality and climate change. In my
view, there are many reasons for either choosing animal protein or opting for a vegetarian selection. However,
abandoningmeatandmeat productsisnotthe environmentalpanacea(万灵药)manywouldhaveus believe.And
iftakentoanextreme,italsocouldhaveharmfulnutritionalconsequences.
D. A healthy portion of meat’s negative reputation centers on the assertion that livestock is the largest source of
greenhouse gases worldwide. For example, an analysis published in 2009 by the World Watch Institute based in
Washington, D.C. asserted that 51 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from rearing and processing
livestock. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the largest sources of US greenhouse gas
emissions in 2016 were electricity production (28 percent of total emissions), transportation (28 percent) and
industry(22percent).Allofagricultureaccountedforatotalof9percent,butall ofanimalagriculturecontributes
less than half of this amount, representing 3.9 percent of the total greenhouse emission in the US. That is very
differentfromclaimingthatlivestockrepresentsasmuchasormorethantransportation.
E. Why is there such a misconception? In 2006 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
published a study titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” which received widespread international attention. It stated
that livestock produced a staggering 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The agency drew a
startling conclusion that livestock was doing more to harm the climate than all modes of transportation combined.
Thislatterclaimwaswrong,andhassincebeencorrectedbyHenningStenfeld,thereport’sseniorauthor.
F. The problem was that analysts from the FAO used a comprehensive life-cycle assessment to study the climate
impact of livestock, but a different method when they analyzed transportation. For livestock, they considered
every factor associated with producing meat. This included emissions from fertilizer production, converting land
from forests to pastures, growing feed, and direct emissions from animals (manure as well as expelling of gas
fromthestomach)frombirthtodeath.
G. However, when they looked at transportation’s carbon footprint, they ignored impacts on the climate from
manufacturing vehicle materials and parts, assembling vehicles and maintaining roads, bridges and airports.
Instead, they only considered the exhaust smoke emitted by finished cars, trucks, trains and planes. As a result,
the FAO’s comparison of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock to those from transportation was greatly
distorted.
H. I pointed out this flaw during a speech to fellow scientists in San Francisco on March 22, 2010, which led to a
flood of media coverage. To its credit, the FAO immediately owned up to its error. Unfortunately, the agency’s
initial claim that livestock was responsible for the lion’s share of world greenhouse gas emissions had already
received wide coverage. To this day, we struggle to “unring” the bell. In its most recent assessment report, the
2 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cnFAO estimated that livestock produces 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
There is no comparable full life-cycle assessment for transportation. However, as Stenfeld has pointed out, direct
emissionsfromtransportationversuslivestockcanbe comparedandamountto14versus5percent,respectively.
I. Many people continue to think that avoiding meat as infrequently as once a week will make a significant
difference to the climate. But according to one recent study, even if Americans eliminated all animal protein from
their diets, they would reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by only 2.6 percent. According to our research at the
University of California, Davis, if the practice of Meatless Monday were to be adopted by all Americans, we’d
seeareductionofonly0.5percent.
J. Moreover, technological, genetic and management changes that have taken place in US agriculture over the past
70 years have made livestock production more efficient and less greenhouse gas-intensive. According to the
FAO’s statistical database, total direct greenhouse gas emissions from US livestock have declined by 11.3 percent
since1961,whileproductionoflivestockmeathasmorethandoubled.
K. Demand for meat is rising in developing and emerging economies, especially in the Middle East, North Africa
and Southeast Asia. For example, raising livestock such as goats in Kenya is an important source of food and
incomeformanysmall-scalefarmersandherders.Butmeatconsumptionperpersonin theseregionsstill lagsthat
of developed countries. In 2015, average annual meat consumption per person in developed countries was 92
kilograms, compared to 24 kilograms in the Middle East and North Africa and 18 kilograms in Southeast Asia.
Still, given projected population growth in the developing world, there will certainly be an opportunity for
countriessuchastheUnitedStatestobringtheirsustainablelivestockrearingpracticestothetable.
L. Removing animals from US agriculture would lower national greenhouse gas emissions to a small degree, but it
would also make it harder to meet people’s nutritional requirements. Many critics of animal agriculture are quick
to point out that if farmers raised only plants, they could produce more pounds of food and more calories per
person. But humans also need many essential micro- and macro-nutrients for good health. It’s hard to make a
compelling argument that the United States has a calorie deficit, given its high national rates of adult and child
obesity. Moreover, not all plant parts are edible or desirable. Raising livestock is a way to add nutritional and
economicvaluetoplantagriculture.
M. As one example, the energy in plants that livestock consume is most oftencontained in cellulose (纤维素),which
is indigestible for humans and many other mammals. But cows, sheep and other ruminant (反刍的) animals can
break cellulose down and release the solar energy contained in this vast resource. According to the FAO, as much
as 70 percent of all agricultural land globally is range land that can only be utilized as grazing land for ruminant
livestock.
N. The world population is currently projected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. Feeding this many people will raise
immense challenges. Meat is more calorie-dense per serving than vegetarian options, and ruminant animals
largelythriveonfeedthatisnotsuitableforhumans.Raisinglivestockalsooffersmuch-neededincomeforsmall-
scalefarmersindevelopingnations.Worldwide,livestockprovidesalivelihoodfor1billionpeople.
O. Climate change demands urgent attention, and the livestock industry has a large overall environmental footprint
that affects air, water and land. These, combined with a rapidly rising world population, give us plenty of
compelling reasons to continue to work for greater efficiencies in animal agriculture. I believe the place to start is
withscience-basedfacts.
36. The FAO concluded that farm animals were producing more greenhouse gases than all modes of transportation
combined. E
37. ConsumptionofmeatperpersonindevelopingcountriesismuchlessthanthatincountriesliketheUS. K
38. TheFAOwasworthyofpraiseinthatitadmitteditsmistakeonceitwaspointedout. H
3 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn39. Environmentaliststryhardtomakepeopleconsumelessmeattocombatclimatechange. A
40. Recent research has shown that even if Americans quit eating meat altogether, the resulting reduction of
greenhousegasesintheUSwouldbe slight. I
41. Morethanhalfoftheworld’sfarmlandissuitableonlyforanimalslikecowsto grazeon. M
42. The allegation that farm animals produce the world’s largest portion of greenhouse gases is responsible for
meat’sbadreputation. D
43. Raisingfarmanimalsmakesiteasiertomeetpeople’snutritionalneeds. L
44. Theauthordoesn’tbelievegivingupmeatandmeatproductswillbeacure-allfortheenvironmentalproblem. C
45. Changes in America’s farming technology and management in the past decades have increased efficiency and
reducedgreenhousegasemissionsinmeatproduction. J

Section C

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished
statements. For each of themthere are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and
markthecorrespondingletteronAnswer Sheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50are basedonthe followingpassage.
Why are weso worried about our careers? Partly it’s to do with money, but there’s a psychological aspect to our
fearsaswell.
We worry because we suspect — not wrongly — that the world is full of a frightening sort of person ready to
judgeusruthlesslyandswiftly:apersonwecancalla snob.
A snob is anyone who takes a relatively small part of us and uses it to come to a rigid conclusion about how
much of their attention we deserve. In the past, that might be your ancestry and royal connections. Nowadays, the
snobcaresaboutonethingonly:whatyoudoforaliving.
This explains why the first question we will be asked in any new social context is “What do you do?” and
accordingtohowweanswer,snobswilleitherwelcomeuswithbroadsmiles,orleaveusinthecold.
Andthatiswhywearefiredupbysucha desperateurgetoachieveandimpress.
Sometimes our behaviour is mistakenfor greedand vanity, but it is more than this. A lot of our interest in fancy
cars, jobs and houseshasnothing to do with materialism.It hasto do with a hunger for the respect and esteemthat is
only available in our societies through the acquisition of material goods. It isn’t the goods themselves we seek, it is
the love we stand to gain through our possession of them. The next time we see someone driving a Ferrari, we
shouldn’tcondemnthemfortheirgreed,weshouldpitythemfortheintensityoftheirneedforlovefromtheworld.
At the root of snobbery is a lack of imagination and confidence about how to decide who in the world is
valuable. The snobs are brutally misguided and slavish in their beliefs about how the superior individuals can be
identified. For snobs, it is the already acclaimed and already successful who are the only ones worthy of respect.
There is no room in their timid regimented minds to imagine that someone might be clever, kind or good — and yet
somehow have been overlooked entirely by society, their qualities lying hidden beneath an unfamiliar veil and
havingasyetdiscoverednoobviousoutlet.
Thetrueanswertosnobberyisnotto saythatthereisnosuchthingasa betterorworseperson,buttoinsistthat
better or worse exist in constantly unexpectedplaces and carry none of the outward signsof distinction. And because
we are such poor judges of the worth of others, our ultimate duty remains to be kind, good, curious and imaginative
aboutprettymucheveryonewhoevercrossesourpath.
4 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cn46. Whatgivesrisetoourworryaboutcareersapartfrommoney?
A.Fearofbeingjudgedin asnobbishmanner. C.The ruthlesswayemployeesareoftentreated.
B.The prospectoffacingfault-findingmanagers. D.Frightatthedifficultyinhuntingforajob.
47. Whatdowelearnfromthepassageabouttoday’ssnobs?
A.Theytryhardto digintoa person’spast. C.Theyjudgea personbytheiroccupation.
B.Theydrawarigidconclusionaboutpeople. D.Theytendto placepeopleinasocialcontext.
48. Whatdoestheauthorsayaboutpeople’sinterestinmaterialgoods?
A.Itisthecauseforcondemnationoftheirgreed.
B.Ithasa lottodowiththecomfortstheyprovide.
C.Itarousespityratherthanrespectfromthewealthy.
D.Itarisesfromtheircravingforsocialrecognition.
49. Whatkindofpeopledosnobsdeemworthrespectandesteem?
A.Thosewithfameandfortune. C.Thosewithintelligenceandimagination.
B.Thosewithregimentedminds. D.Thosewithqualitieslyinghiddenindisguise.
50. Whatdoestheauthorimplyweshoulddotoavoidbeingsnobbish?
A.Be awaretherehasneverbeensuchathingasa betterorworseperson.
B.Be kindtoandcuriousaboutthosewhowehappentomeetinourlives.
C.Realizethatbetterorworsekeepschanginginunexpectedways.
D.Judgepeopleonthebasisoftheirdistinctivecharactertraits.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55are basedonthe followingpassage.
Women have historically been paid less. But in the US in the 1980s, they began to catch up — fast. During that
decade, the gender pay gap closed by about one percentage point a year. Had that trend continued, the gender wage
gapwouldhavebeenclosedby2017.
Butthetrenddidn’tcontinue,andthegapremainsyawning.
According to a new study from academics at Harvard, the stagnation can be put down, perhaps
counterintuitively,totheintroductionofstateandfederalfamilyleavepolicies.
The academics argue that during the 1990s, as governments began to introduce leave policies, it was mainly
women who took advantage of them. Though the leave policies might have helped those women to stay in the
workplace — instead of dropping out to have families— those who returned saw their wages had increased at lower
ratesthanthemen.
After family leave was introduced in the US, in fact, the rate of gender wage convergence fell to just 0.03
percentagepointsperyear,andhasremainedthereeversince.
Those monitoring the process towards salary equity at work have long watched as progress slowed in many
countriesaroundtheworld.Infact,thatprogressbegantoreverseduringthepandemic(大流行病).
The gender pay gap is one of the most outstanding examples of that lack of parity (平等), and still exists just
about everywhere. The motherhood penalty has become a shorthand for describing why: In many places, especially
rich countries, women earn the same as men until they reach their childbearing years. Women who have children
begintoseetheirsalariesslipbehindtheirmalecounterparts.
Part of this is because women take on more of the unpaid labor at home, which can eat into time available for
work and energy for career advancement. But it’s alsobecause mothers are passedover for raises andpromotion,and
because time out of the workplace sets women back, even if that time is taken voluntarily, and supported by
5 https://zhenti.burningvocabulary.cncompanyorgovernmentpolicy.
What would have happened if leave policies hadn’t been introduced? The study doesn’t go into that question,
otherthantosaythatifthe1980strendcontinued,wewouldhavebeenatparitybynow.
It’s possible, however, that the journey towards wage parity would have stalled either way. If women’s gains in
the 1980s were made through the erasure of things like bias, once those less uncontrollable problems had been
addressed, there would still have been an issue with women — who are the ones to bear children and take care of
them in the early weeks because of biological factors like the ability to breastfeed, forcing them to take breaks,
whetherornotthosebreaksweremandated.
51. Whatdowelearnaboutthegenderpaygapinthe US duringthe1980s?
A.Itwasbeingslowlyclosed. B.Itwasshrinkingrapidly.
C.Itstartedtoyawn. D.Itremainedsubstantial.
52. Whathappenedwiththeintroductionofstateandfederalfamilyleavepolicies?
A.The processtowardssalaryequityatworkbegantoreverse.
B.The rateofgenderwageconvergencestartedtofallnoticeably.
C.The trendofwomenreturningtoworkafterchildbirthstarted.
D.The narrowingofthegenderpaygapattractedmoreattention.
53. Whatpartlyaccountsfortheslipinwomen’ssalaries?
A.The insufficientmotivationwomengenerallyhaveforcareeradvancement.
B.The opportunitiesnumerouswomengiveupforpayraiseandpromotion.
C.The hugeamountsoftimeandenergywomenspendtakingcareofthefamily.
D.The lackofpolicysupportfromgovernmentandbusinesscorporations.
54. Whatdoesthenewstudysayaboutwageparity？
A.Itwouldhavestalledifthosecontrollableproblemshadnotbeenaddressed.
B.Itwouldhavehaltedifcompanyandgovernmenthadnotworkedtogether.
C.Itwouldhavebeenachievedwiththecompleteerasureofgenderbiases.
D.Itwouldhavebeenattainedwiththecontinuationofthe1980strend.
55. Whatpreventswomenfromachievingparitywithmeninthefinalanalysis?
A.Ignoringbiasesagainstwomenintheworkplace. B.Givingbirthtochildrenandtakingcareofthem.
C.Failingtomandatebreaksforchildbirthandcare. D. Lackingresourcesto address biological problems.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should
writeyouransweronAnswer Sheet2.
粵港澳大湾区(Guangdong-HongKong-MacaoGreaterBayArea)具有得天独厚的地理位置，拥有完善的交通基础设施和丰富的产业资源。大湾区是中国开放程度最高、经济活力最强的区域之一，在国家经济发展中具有重要的战略地位。大湾区不仅将建成充满活力的世界级城市群和具有全球影响力的国际科技创新中心，还将打造成适合工作、购物、旅游的优质生活圈。随着改革开放的不断深入，大湾区的建设将进一步推动区域经济发展。到2035年，大湾区将实现成为国际一流湾区的目标。

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