大学英语六级(2013年12月考试改革适用)模拟试卷269(题后含答案及解析)

大学英语六级（2013年12月考试改革适用）模拟试卷269 (题后含答

案及解析)

题型有：1. Writing 2. Listening Comprehension 3. Reading Comprehension 4. Translation

Part I Writing 1． For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay entitled The Value of University life. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. Write your essay on Answer Sheet 1.

正确答案： University is where we can gain knowledge and friends that both benefit our future life. But as far as I am concerned, the value of university life is that I gradually master the wisdom of choice. First of all, university provides a wide range of choices for us and we have to learn how to judge wisely. As a university student, we are familiar with the feeling of being overwhelmed by choices: which selective courses to pick, which societies to join or even who to make friends with. There is no silver bullet to solve all these puzzles once and for all. We might need to solicit information from junior and senior students to make an informed choice. Secondly, the choosing sharpens our analytical skill. For example, when we decide to drop Contemporary Dramas in the West and pick Literature Theories, we have to weigh the gains and losses of each course. The more choices we make, the more analysis we have to perform, and the better our analytical skill will get. In conclusion, the value of university life is the wisdom of choice, which makes us intelligent and discerning.

解析：本题属于“自由发挥型”作文，要求考生对“大学生活的价值”提出个人的意见。按照题目的要求，可谋篇布局如下：第1段：从大学生活人题，指出大学生活的价值在于能掌握选择的智慧。第2段：阐述原因。 1．大学为我们提供一系列的选择，我们不得不学会理智地判断。 2．选择能磨练我们的分析能力。以退选课程和改选课程为例。第3段：大学生活的价值在于得到选择的智慧，让我们变得聪明，懂得甄别。

Part II Listening Comprehension

Section A

听力原文：W: Welcome to Backpack Travel! I’m your host, Stacy Goodwin. Today our program is about hitchhiking. We have Dennis Hornyak here to share his hitchhiking experience. Thank you for joining us, Mr. Hornyak. M: Call me Dennis, please.W: Okay, Dennis. Do you hitchhike to save money or do you hitchhike for some other reason? M: I haven’t got any money to save! I’m a student. I hitchhike in

order to travel and, of course, to meet people. W: Is it easy to get a lift? Do people stop or do you have to wait a very long time? M: It depends where you are, what time it is and how many people are with you and whether they are men or women! W: Isn’t it dangerous for a woman to hitchhike by herself? M: Yes. On the other hand a lot of things are dangerous. It is very dangerous to travel in a car. And, in any case, most people in Britain will be respectful of her right to travel as she wants. W: And is it faster for you if you travel with a woman? M: Yes, it’s certainly faster. W: How do you stop the cars? M: In Britain you just hold out your hand, usually you put your thumb upwards. Actually, the best system is to have a sign and make the letters big. W: Any more tips? M: Well, you learn all kinds of things when you do it. The main advice is, try it! You’ll meet a lot of different people. And you’ll learn a lot about the country.1 For what purpose did the man hitchhike?2 What do we learn about women’s hitchhiking?3 How can the man get a lift faster?4 What is the best system to stop cars in Britain according to the man?

2．

A．To try something different. B．To travel and meet people. C．To learn different culture. D．To save money.

正确答案：B 解析：女士问男士搭便车是为了省钱还是出于别的原因。男士则回答当然是为了旅行，而且可以碰到各式各样的人。选B。

3．

A．It’s not safe for them. B．Everyone respect them.

C．They are easier to find partners. D．They only hitchhike in Britain.

正确答案：A

解析：女士问男士，女性独自一人时搭便车是不是很危险?男士给予肯定回答。A为答案。

4．

A．By travelling with a woman. B．By waiting in a queue.

C．By meeting different people. D．By giving others a hand.

正确答案：A

解析：女士问男士如果他跟一个女的旅行，是否能更快搭上便车，男士回答说是，这样肯定更快些。故选A项。

5．

A．Just hold out one’s hands. B．Put one’s thumb upwards.

C．Have a sign with big letters on it. D．Bring no luggage and be alone.

正确答案：C 解析：男士提到要求搭便车的通常手势是竖起大拇指，而最佳的方法则是举牌，并用大字体书写。选C。

听力原文：W: Roger, any problems in your Korean study?M: The biggest problem with me is the Korean vocabulary. It really makes me frustrated. The pronunciation and usage put me into great confusion as I keep forgetting them. W: I guess first of all, you can narrow down the vocabulary sphere. I mean, try to learn “core” vocabulary, the words with high frequencies of occurrence.M: That sounds quite reasonable. Do you think I can find in bookstores a book or dictionary where such kinds of words are listed?W: Yes, definitely. Another thing, the first several occurrences of strange words are very important. Words are remembered best if they are learnt quickly with a few presentations. You may not have much trouble in remembering swear words, may you?M: No. They’re very impressive and quite memorable. I don’t even need to practice them.W: That’s it! For other words that don’t have such a strong effect, you have to make yourself highly attentive and sensitive. If not, later practice and repetition don’t seem to work so well.M: I see.W: The last thing I’ll say is that if you want to remember something for periods longer than a year or two, you need to space the presentations over quite long intervals of days, say 30 days. A more frequent interval doesn’t promise you longer remembrance.M: Really? I have thought every word should be practiced as often as possible within a short time span.W: No. How the word is practiced is much more important than how often it is practiced.M: You really do me a great favor, Teresa.5 What is the man’s biggest problem?6 What is the cause of the man’s problem?7 Why needn’t the man practice swear words?8 What is an advisable way of longer remembrance of vocabulary?

6．

A．He keeps forgetting the important things he has to do. B．He has great difficulty remembering Korean words. C．He can’t find the most helpful Korean dictionary. D．His pronunciation of Korean words confuses others.

正确答案：B 解析：对话开头女士就问了男士在韩语学习中有没有问题，自然应该注意听他的回答。B是对男士回答的概括。

7．

A．His poor memory.

B．His fatigue.

C．His lack of diligence. D．His method.

正确答案：D

解析：女士说“练习的方法比练习的次数更重要”，故选D。

8．

A．Because they’re quite impressive with a strong effect. B．Because they are not so frustrating as other expressions. C．Because they are practiced and repeated once and again. D．Because they are most people’s favorite words.

正确答案：A

解析：文中提到swear words时用了impressive一词，故A正确。

9．

A．Try to retain as many new words as possible. B．Practice words at appropriate intervals.

C．Learn difficult words with the highest frequencies. D．Make complicated words simply through repetition.

正确答案：B

解析：女士最后一条建议中的高频核心词是interval(间隔时间)，故B正确。

Section B

听力原文： “Switching off the television may help prevent children from getting fatter, even if they do not change their diet or increase the amount they exercise,” US researchers said last week. A study of 192 third and fourth graders, generally aged eight and nine, found that children who cut the number of hours spent watching television gained nearly two pounds less over a one-year period than those who did not change their television diet. The findings are important because they show that weight loss can only be the result of a reduction in television viewing and not any other activity. American children spend an average of more than four hours per day watching television and videos or playing video games, and rates of childhood being very fat have doubled over the past 20 years. In the study, presented this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting in San Francisco, the researchers persuaded about 100 of the students to reduce their television viewing by one-quarter to one-third. Children watching fewer hours of television showed a significantly smaller increase in waist size and had less body fat than other students who continued their normal television viewing, even though neither group ate a special diet or took part in any extra exercise. One explanation for the weight loss could be the children unstuck to the television may simply have been moving around

more and burning off calories. Another reason might be due to eating fewer meals in front of the television. Some studies have suggested that eating in front of the TV encourages people to eat more.9 What do we know about the findings of the study?10 Why are the findings important?11 What accounts for the findings?

10．

A．Children will get absent-minded if they play video games. B．Children will get healthier if they change their diet.

C．Children will improve their grades if they stop watching TV. D．Children will lose weight if they spend less time watching TV.

正确答案：D

解析：细节题。通过对三道题目选项的浏览，重复率较高的children与TV提示短文内容可能与小孩看电视有关。短文开篇就提到了researchers的研究结果，即“不看电视可以防止小孩长胖……”，然后介绍了研究过程和研究结果背后可能的原因，故D为正确答案。此外，这句话也是整个短文的主题句。

11．

A．Because they prove the direct effect of reduction in television viewing. B．Because they show the great importance of physical activity. C．Because they help settle on the best diet small children need.

D．Because they indicate that children benefit much from TV programs.

正确答案：A

解析：细节题。短文提到，研究结果很重要，因为它们显示了体重的减少只会是看电视减少的结果，而不是任何其他活动导致的。由此可判断，A为正确答案。

12．

A．Children will move more and consume more energy if they don’t watch TV. B．Children will spend more time studying if they are not allowed to watch TV. C．Children will eat more food to their taste if they have special diets.

D．Children will be indulged in video games if parents don’t supervise them.

正确答案：A

解析：细节题。文中提到，体重减少的其中一个原因可能是不常看电视的孩子会更多地到处活动，从而燃烧更多的能量，故A为正确答案。

听力原文： Albert Schweitzer was born in 1875 in Alsace. At that time, it was a part of Germany. His generous spirit was first awakened through his training as a preacher. Besides gaining a reputation as a preacher, he also became respected for his ability to play the organ. He was a man of many talents. His concern for other people turned his attention to medicine. He had also acquired doctoral degrees in philosophy and music. His wife took an interest in medicine also and became a nurse. Many people thought that he should remain and lecture in Europe to have a strong

impact on Western civilization. Though he listened to their suggestions, he ultimately decided to follow his own conscience. This led him to Africa. Albert had felt that all men should accept the responsibility of helping others. He felt particularly concerned for black Africans who had been exploited by white men. He earned the money he needed by performing on the organ and by lecturing. With this money he bought equipment and opened a hospital in Africa He was a man of great strength who faced great problems with courage. The threat of war, the reality of imprisonment during World War One as a German citizen and the unbearable heat in Africa did not make him retreat at all. He believed that a man could overcome these obstacles if he had a sense of idealism. He died in 1965.12 How was Albert’s generous spirit awakened?13 What was he respected for?14 According to Albert, what should all men accept?15 What kind of man is Albert?

13．

A．Through his hard work at training. B．Through his training as a preacher. C．Through his reputation as a preacher. D．Through his attention to medicine.

正确答案：B

解析：细节题。短文提到，训练成为传教士的经历唤起了他的慷慨之情，故B为正确答案。

14．

A．His ability to play the organ. B．His interest in medicine.

C．His doctoral degrees in philosophy and music. D．His talents in preaching.

正确答案：A

解析：细节题。短文提到，他还因为能够演奏风琴而受到尊重，故A为正确答案。

15．

A．His generous suggestions and help. B．His imprisonment in World War I. C．The responsibility of helping others. D．His impact on Western civilization.

正确答案：C

解析：细节题。短文提到，Albert认为所有人都应该承担帮助他人的责任，故C为正确答案。

16．

A．He was a man full of responsibility for German citizens.

B．He was a man with little courage to face the threat of war. C．He was an eccentric man who loves hot weather.

D．He was a man of many talents with a sense of idealism.

正确答案：D

解析：归纳题。短文讲述了Albert的一生。他是一个非常有责任感的人；他多才多艺——擅长传教和演奏风琴，懂医学，获得了哲学和音乐博士学位；他以极大的勇气面对一生中的许多重大问题：他相信，一个人如果有理想就能够克服种种障碍。关键要听到of many talents及a sense of idealism所在的句子，故可推知D为正确答案。

Section C

听力原文： I am a health psychologist, and my work is to help people be happier and healthier. But I’m afraid that something I’ve been teaching about stress for the last 10 years is doing more harm than good. For years I’ve been telling people, stress makes you sick. It increases the risk of everything from the common cold to heart disease. Basically, I’ve turned stress into the enemy. But I have changed my mind about stress, and today, I want to change yours. Let me start with the study that made me rethink my approach to stress. This study tracked 30,000 adults in the United States for eight years. Researchers found that people who experienced a lot of stress and believed stress was harmful in the previous years had a 43 percent increased risk of dying. But people who experienced a lot of stress but did not view stress as harmful had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study, including people who had relatively little stress. The researchers estimated that over the eight years 182,000 Americans died too young, not from stress, but from the belief that stress is bad for you. Now, if that estimate is correct, that would make believing stress is bad for you the 15th largest cause of death in the United States last year, killing more people than skin cancer and AIDS. You can see why this study freaked me out. Here I’ve been spending so much energy telling people stress is bad for their health. So this study got me wondering: Can changing how you think about stress make you healthier? And here the science says yes. When you change your mind about stress, you can change your body’s response to stress. What if you viewed stress instead as signs that your body was energized, was preparing you to meet this challenge? Now that is exactly what participants were told in a study conducted at Harvard University. Before they went through a social test, they were taught to rethink their stress response as helpful. That pounding heart is preparing you for action. If you’re breathing faster, it’s no problem. It’s getting more oxygen to your brain. Guess how was the result? Well, they were less stressed out, less anxious, more confident, but the most fascinating finding to me was how their physical stress response changed. So my goal as a health psychologist has changed. I no longer want to get rid of your stress. I want to make you better at stress. And we just did a little intervention. When you view stress in that way, your body believes you, and your stress response becomes healthier.16 What does the speaker say about his last 10 years’ teaching?17

What do we know about death of the 182,000 Americans according to the researchers?18 What did the Harvard researchers teach the participants before the social test?19 What change has happened to the speaker’s goal?

17．

A．It made people happier. B．It did more harm than good. C．It increased risks. D．It made people sick.

正确答案：B

解析：演讲人在介绍完自己的职业后，用转折句对过去十年的工作做总结，他认为自己向人们灌输的压力知识弊大于利(doing more harm thangood)。故表述一致的B项是正确选项。

18．

A．They did not believe the harm of stress.

B．They might die from experiencing a lot of stress. C．Their risk of dying increased over the years. D．They might die from believing stress is bad.

正确答案：D

解析：录音提到研究者推断，过去八年间共有18．2万美国人英年早逝并非因为压力，而是因为他们错误地认为压力对自身有害无益。故选择D项.

19．

A．People shall rethink stress response as helpful.

B．Participants shall prepare for the challenge of stress. C．Stress makes your heart pounding.

D．Your body was energized during the stress test.

正确答案：A

解析：录音提到，哈佛大学的研究主题是人们积极看待压力后的表现，在测试前研究者告诉参与测试者，把压力转化成有用的感受(rethink their stressresponse as helpful)。故A项正确.

20．

A．He turns stress into your enemy. B．He is able to get rid of your stress. C．He wants to make you better at stress. D．He is no longer a health psychologist.

正确答案：C 解析：演讲人因为实验结果而改变了自己的工作目标，他不再帮人们摆脱压力，而是教他们善用压力(better at stress)。C项表述基本一致，是正确答案。

听力原文： Your choice of running shoe is a very personal decision. You’ve got to balance how well they protect your feet and legs with how they fit, how heavy they are and, yes, even how they look. I bet you have a personal favorite that you buy again and again. But if it is the quality and cost that are the very things you want to look at, a Danish Web site called runrepeat.com has a research to tell you the numbers from nearly 135,000 consumer reviews it gathered over a year, along with the suggested retail price of most of the popular brands.The biggest surprise: The higher the price, the lower the rating in many cases. In fact, the 10 most expensive running shoes, with an average list price of $181 per pair, were rated 8.1 percent lower than the 10 cheapest models(average price $61). “If money is a matter to you, you will not get more in expensive running shoes,” says the Web site’s founder, Jens Jakob Andersen. “Affordable mid-range running shoes are very nearly the same as expensive running shoes.” That doesn’t mean that you should buy $15 running shoes at a department store. Those will almost surely cause you injuries. But Andersen believes that running shoe makers have poured so much money into marketing in their battle for a slice of a multibillion-dollar market that we don’t know what’s real any longer. “When you spend more, you expect more,” Andersen says in trying to explain why expensive shoes may have disappointed some purchasers. “... But you should not expect to be less satisfied spending more money.” Runrepeat bills itself as the Yelp of running shoes. Andersen says he takes no money from any company, funding the site himself. There are no ads. So which brands come out on top? Skechers, Saucony and Vibram Five Fingers took top three, while Reebok, Adidas and Hoka One One brought up the rear. “What Skechers are doing great is that they don’t do the really high price ranning shoes,” Andersen says. “They are the running shoe brand for moms.”20 What should be considered when buying running shoes?21 What do we know about the 10 most expensive running shoes?22 Why is Skechers rated top three by the consumers?

21．

A．How high the rating is.

B．How well the running shoes protect your feet. C．How fast you can run in these running shoes. D．How much the running shoes will cost you.

正确答案：B

解析：录音提到，在购买跑鞋时，消费者要在舒适度、重量、外观这三个元素与鞋子对腿部和脚部的保护作用中做出取舍。所以B项“对脚部的保护”是买跑鞋时需要考虑的因素。

22．

A．They were rated 8.3% higher than the average ones. B．They were sold at an average price of $61 per pair. C．They were rated 8.1% lower than the 10 cheapest ones. D．They were strongly welcomed by the 135,000 consumers.

正确答案：C 解析：录音提到，价格最高的十个的跑鞋在的调查中的好评度要比最价格最低的十个跑鞋低8．1％。因此C项为正确答案。

23．

A．Because this brand has good quality. B．Because they are consumers’ favorite. C．Because they don’t sell high price shoes. D．Because many moms buy this brand.

正确答案：C

解析：录音列举了排名前三和末三位的运动鞋品牌后，举例说明了斯凯奇(Skechers)这一品牌上榜的原因是他们产品价廉物美。C项概括了主要大意，为正确选项。

听力原文： The robot takeover of the world may not be as dramatic as we thought. It won’t come in the form of explosions, but rather in the form of employment. In a classic scenario of the student being better than the master, our eagerness to make robots that are increasingly sophisticated and capable of truly remarkable tasks has, perhaps, showed ourselves rather redundant and out of date. “Technology appears to be resulting in faster, wider and deeper degrees of hollowing-out than in the past,” said Andy Haldane, the Bank’s chief economist. Because the machines of today can not only perform boring tasks, but are also capable of creative thought, humans may no longer be able to compete. “These machines are different,” Haldane told CNN. “Unlike in the past, they have the potential to substitute for human brains as well as hands.” So what jobs are most at risk? According to an Oxford University study published last year, loan officers, receptionists, legal assistants, salespeople, drivers, security guards, fast food cooks, bartenders, and financial advisers all risk at least a 50 percent chance of being replaced by robots. And at this year’s Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles, Amy Webb, a digital media futurist and founder of Webbme-dia Group, suggested that added marketers, journalists, and lawyers .join this at-risk group too. Considering that much of journalism is already done by way of computers, to say that I’m completely unconcerned would be a bit of a stretch. But still, Haldane notes, humans don’t really have all that much to fear. Just because robots replace the jobs of today doesn’t mean that we won’t create new ones for tomorrow. “Humans will adapt their skills to the tasks where they continue to have a comparative advantage over machines,” he noted. Although to be fair, “The smarter machines become, the greater the likelihood that the space remaining for uniquely human skills could shrink further.” So let this be a lesson to you, current and future college students. Pick a major that isn’t duplicable by robots. It may be the only way to stay competitive in the 22nd century.23 How will robots take over the world according to this lecture?24 Which job will be replaced by robots according to Amy Webb?25 Why does Andy

Haldane tell people not to fear the unemployment?

24．

A．They have thought. B．They replace our jobs. C．They perform boring tasks. D．They create explosions.

正确答案：B

解析：录音开头提到，机器人占领世界或许并非如此戏剧性，他们占领世界的方式不是explosions，而是以受雇用(employment)的形式出现。可知B项“他们取代我们的工作”正确。

25．

A．Drivers. B．Songwriters. C．Journalists.

D．Fast food cooks.

正确答案：C 解析：录音提到，数字媒体未来学家兼网站创始人Amy Webb建议要把营销师、记者和律师加入到即将失业的大军中。由此可知C项正确。

26．

A．For we can create new robots in the future. B．For we can adapt our skills to the tasks at work. C．For we can learn a lesson from the unemployment. D．For we can work with advantages over machines.

正确答案：D

解析：录音最后Andy Haldane提到，人们不用害怕机器人抢了自己的工作，因为他们的技能可以用到比机器人有优势的工作上。D项概括了这句话的主要内容，是正确选项。

Part III Reading Comprehension

Section A

Ten years ago, Joe Allen began studying a diverse group of seventh graders near the University of Virginia, where he’s a professor. One of Allen’s main concerns was how these kids dealt with peer pressure, and how deeply they felt the pressure to【C1】______to what the crowd was doing. According to every pop theory of【C2】______, peer pressure is danger. Being able to resist it should be considered a sign of character strength. But a funny thing happened as Allen continued to follow these kids every year for the next 10 years: the kids who felt more peer pressure when

they were 12 or 13 were turning out better. Notably, they had much higher-quality relationships with friends, parents, and【C3】______partners. Their need to fit in, in the early teens, later【C4】______itself as a willingness to accommodate—a necessary【C5】______of all reciprocal relationships. The self-conscious kid who spent seventh grade convinced that everyone was watching her and learned to be attuned(与……合拍)to【C6】______changes in others’ moods. Years down the road, that【C7】______sensitivity lead to empathy(移情)and social adeptness. Meanwhile, those kids who did not feel much peer pressure to smoke, drink, and【C8】______in seventh grade didn’t turn out to be the independent-minded stars we’d imagine. Instead, what was notable about them was that within five years they had a much lower GPA(grade point average). The kid who could say no to his peers turned out to be less engaged, all around, socially and【C9】______.. Basically, if he was so detached that he didn’t care what his peers thought, he probably wasn’t【C10】______by what his parents or society expected of him, either.A)adolescence E)morally I)smuggle M)motivatedB)trivial F)conform J)academically N)romanticC)component G)subtle K)manifested O)heightenedD)shoplift H)ignited L)nutrient

27． 【C1】

正确答案：F

解析：此处需填入动词原形，且能与介词to搭配。conform“遵守，顺从”符合要求。conform to what the crowd was doing可以理解为“顺从大众的行为”，句意为：他们所感受到的压力到了哪种程度会使他们产生从众行为。

28． 【C2】

正确答案：A

解析：此处需填入名词，说明是什么样的流行理论。seventh graders(七年级学生)是一群处于青春期的孩子，故填adolescence“青春期”。

29． 【C3】

正确答案：N

解析：此处需填入修饰partners的词，可能是形容词或分词。romantic“浪漫的”与partners搭配指“知己，恋人”，呼应上文的much higher-quality relationships(更高质量的关系)。

30． 【C4】

正确答案：K

解析：空格所在句的主语中心语为their need，不定式短语to fit in是后置定语，故此处需填入谓语动词。句子大意为：十几岁时需要的是适应，之后便是愿意包容。manifested“表现”符合上下文语义。

31． 【C5】

正确答案：C

解析：此处需填入necessary修饰的可数名词单数形式。破折号后的内容是对a willingness to accommodate(愿意包容)的补充说明，component“成分”填入空格后表示是所有人际交往中的一个必要“组成部分”，语义逻辑通顺。

32． 【C6】

正确答案：G

解析：此处需填入修饰changes的词。下文的that…sensitivity(敏感)指代这里的be attuned to．．．changes in others’moods(与别人……的情绪变化相协调)，subtle“微妙的”代入句中适合。

33． 【C7】

正确答案：O

解析：此处需填入修饰sensitivity(敏感)的词。heightened“高度的”可说明敏感的程度，符合后文提到的结果：移情和熟练的社交能力。

34． 【C8】

正确答案：D

解析：此处需填入动词原形，与smoke和drink并列，shoplift指“从商店中偷商品，顺手牵羊”，符合句意。而smuggle意为“走私”，对于七年级孩子来说很罕见。

35． 【C9】

正确答案：J 解析：此处需填入与socially(社交上)并列的副词，说明这些对同龄人说“不”的孩子更不愿意参加什么样的活动．academically“学术上”与socially补充说明all around，故正确。

36． 【C10】

正确答案：M

解析：空格后的by表明此处需填入动词过去分词形式，构成被动语态。空格前的否定词wasn’t表明填入的词应表积极意义，motivated“激励”符合语境，该句意思是指不合群、不在乎同龄人想法的人也不会由于父母和社会对他的期望而受到鼓励。

Section B

Why We Need Good Teachers[A]The relative decline of American education at the elementary- and high-school levels has long been a national embarrassment as well as a threat to the nation’s future. Once upon a time, American students tested better than any other students in the world. Now, ranked against European schoolchildren, America does about as well as Lithuania, behind at least 10 other nations. Within the United States, the achievement gap between white students and poor and minority students stubbornly persists—and as the population of disadvantaged students grows, overall scores continue to fall.[B]For much of this time—roughly the last half century—professional educators believed that if they could only find the right teaching method, all would be well. They tried New Math, open classrooms, Whole Language—but nothing seemed to achieve significant or lasting improvements.[C]Yet in recent years researchers have discovered something that may seem obvious, but for many reasons was overlooked or denied. What really makes a difference, what matters more than the class size or the textbook, the teaching method or the technology, or even the curriculum, is the quality of the teacher. Much of the ability to teach is innate(天生的)—an ability to inspire young minds as well as control unruly classrooms that some people instinctively possess. Teaching can be taught, to some degree, but not the way many graduate schools of education do it, with a lot of boring or marginally relevant theorizing and teaching method. In any case the research shows that within about five years, you can generally tell who is a good teacher and who is not.[D]It is also true and unfortunate that often the weakest teachers are degraded to teaching the neediest students, poor minority kids in inner-city schools. For these children, teachers can be make or break. “The research shows that kids who have two, three, four strong teachers in a row will eventually excel, no matter what their background, while kids who have even two weak teachers in a row will never recover,” says Kati Haycock of the Education Trust and coauthor of the 2006 study “Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality.”[E]Nothing, then, is more important than hiring good teachers and firing bad ones. But here is the rub. Although many teachers are caring and selfless, teaching in public schools has not always attracted the best and the brightest. There once was a time when teaching was one of the few jobs not denied to women and minorities. But with social progress, many talented women and minorities chose other and more highly compensated fields. One recent review of the evidence by McKinsey & Co., the management consulting firm, showed that most schoolteachers are recruited from the bottom third of college-bound high-school students.[F]At the same time, the teachers’ unions have become more and more powerful. In most states, after two or three years, teachers are given lifetime tenure(长期聘用). It is almost impossible to fire them. In New York City in 2008, three out of 30,000 tenured teachers were dismissed for cause. The statistics are just as eye-popping in other cities. The percentage of teachers dismissed for poor performance in Chicago between 2005 and 2008 was 0.1 percent. In Akron, Ohio, zero percent. In Toledo, 0.01 percent. In Denver, zero percent. In no other socially significant profession are the workers so insulated from responsibility. The

responsibility does not just fall on the unions. Many principals don’t even try to weed out the poor performers. Year after year, about 99 percent of all teachers in the United States are rated “satisfactory” by their school systems: firing a teacher invites a costly court battle with the local union.[G]Over time, inner-city schools, in particular, surrendered to a defeatist mindset. The problem is not the teachers, went the thinking—it’s the parents(or absence of parents): it’s society with all its distractions and pathologies(病态): it’s the kids themselves. Not much can be done, really, except to keep the assembly line moving through “social promotion,” regardless of academic performance, and hope the students graduate. Or so went the conventional wisdom in school superintendents’ offices from Newark to L.A. By 1992, “there was such a dramatic achievement gap in the United States, far larger than in other countries, between socioeconomic classes and races,” says Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. “It was a scandal of monumental proportions, that there were two distinct school systems in the U.S., one for the middle class and one for the poor.”[H]In the past two decades, some schools have sprung up that defy and refute what former president George W. Bush memorably called “the soft bigotry(偏执成见)of low expectations.” Generally operating outside of school bureaucracies as charter schools, programs like KIPP(Knowledge Is Power Program)have produced inner-city schools with high graduation rates(85 percent). KIPP schools don’t cherry-pick—they take anyone who will sign a contract to play by the rules, which require some parental involvement. And they are not one-shot wonders. There are now 82 KIPP schools in 19 states and the District of Columbia, and, routinely, they far outperform the local public schools. KIPP schools are mercifully free of red tape and bureaucratic rules. KIPP schools require longer school days and a longer school year, but their greatest advantage is better teaching.[I]It takes a certain kind of teacher to succeed at a KIPP school or at other successful charter programs, like YES Prep. KIPP teachers carry cell phones so students can call them at any time. The dedication required makes for high burnout rates. It may be that teaching in an inner-city school is a little like going into the Special Forces in the military, a calling for only the chosen few.[J]Yet those few are multiplying. About 20 years ago, a Princeton senior named Wendy Kopp wrote her senior thesis proposing an organization to draw graduates from elite schools into teaching poor kids. Her idea was to hire them for just a couple of years, and then let them move on to Wall Street or wherever. Today, Teach for America(TFA)sends about 4,100 graduates, many from Ivy League colleges, into inner-city schools every year. Some(about 8 percent)can’t cope with it, but most(about 61 percent)stay in teaching after their demanding two-year tours. Two thirds of TFA’s 17,000 graduates are still involved in education and have become the core of a reform movement that is having real impact. The founders of KIPP, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, are TFA products. So is the most aggressive reformer in education today, Michelle Rhee, the education chancellor of the District of Columbia, who is trying to loosen the hold of the teachers’ union on a school system that for years had the highest costs and worst results in the nation.[K]It is difficult to remove the educational establishment. In New Orleans, a hurricane was required: since Katrina, New Orleans has made more educational progress than any other city, largely because

the public-school system was wiped out. Using nonunion charter schools, New Orleans has been able to measure teacher performance in ways that the teachers’ unions have long and bitterly resisted. Under a new Louisiana law, New Orleans can track which schools produce the best teachers, forcing long-needed changes in school curricula.

37． In terms of test scores, American students used to be at the top of the world.

正确答案：A

解析：根据test和American students定位到A段第2句。原文说，以前美国学生的成绩要比世界上其他国家学生的成绩好。本题句子的used to对应原文的Once upon a time，而at the top of the world则为原文better than any other students in the world的同义转述。

38． There was a large achievement gap in America between different classes and races.

正确答案：G

解析：根据achievement gap和classes and races定位到G段。该段引用了Kate Walsh的话：“在美国，在社会经济各阶层和不同种族之间，存在巨大的成绩鸿沟，比在其他国家大得多。”本题句子的large对应原文的dramatic。

39． One recent review found that most schoolteachers didn’t perform well in their school life.

正确答案：E

解析：根据One recent review定位到E段最后一句。Mckinsey&Co．近期一次调查显示，多数中小学招聘的教师都是那些与大学挂钩的高中里最差的学生。本题句子与原文的意思一致。

40． Unfortunately, the neediest students often receive the poorest teaching.

正确答案：D

解析：根据Unfortunately和the neediest students定位到D段。原文说，很不幸，最差的老师通常会被降级去教贫穷的少数族裔学生。本题句子与原文意思一致。

41． The new teaching methods, like open classrooms the professional educators tried, were all in vain.

正确答案：B

解析：根据teaching methods和open classroom定位到B段。教育者尝试了新数学、开放性课堂和整体语言教学法——但是似乎没有哪个获得明显或者持久

的改进成效。本题句子的in vain对应原文的nothing。

42． According to a research in recent years, teacher quality is regarded as the dominant factor for students’ performance.

正确答案：C

解析：根据的research、in recent years和teacher quality定位到C段.该段说，真正有区别的，比班级规模和教科书、教学方法甚至课程设置都更重要的，是教师的水平。本题句子概括了原文的意思。

43． The percentage of dismissed teacher was so low in many states due to the power of teacher’s unions.

正确答案：F

解析：根据dismissed、teacher和teacher’s unions定位到F段。该段第3～9句都在讲对教师的解雇率非常低这一现象，追溯其原因，可以找到该段第1句，即教师工会的影响力越来越大，这是造成这一现象的根本原因之一。本题句子的power对应原文的become more and more powerful。

44． Only a few people are qualified for the position of the charter school teachers teaching in inner-city.

正确答案：I

解析：根据few、charter schools和inner-city定位到I段。该段的最后一句形象地将在市区中心教书的教师比喻成特种的是士兵，他们的共同之处在于都要经过精挑细选，即很少人能够符合条件。本题句子的Only a few people are qualified for the position对应原文的a calling for only the chosen few。

45． An education chancellor is trying to lessen the influence of the teachers’ union on a school system.

正确答案：J

解析：根据education chancellor和the teachers’union on a school system定位到J段。哥伦比亚特区的教育局试图放松教师工会对学校体系的控制，这种控制多年来导致了国家付出最大的代价且获得最糟糕的结果。本题句子的lessen the influence对应原文的loosen the hold。

46． The public-school system of an American city was wiped out after a hurricane so that the city made outstanding educational progress.

正确答案：K 解析：根据public-school system、wiped out、hurricane和educational progress定位到K段。飓风Katrina摧毁了公立学校体系，于是新奥尔良得以建设摆脱教师工会的学校，在教育方面的进步比其他城市都大。本题句子的outstanding

educational progress对应原文的more educational progress than any other city。

Section C

It is a familiar scene these days: employees taking newly laid-off co-workers out for a consolation drink. But which side deserves sympathy more, the jobless or the still employed? On March 6, researchers at a conference at the University of Cambridge heard data suggesting it’s the latter: compared with people who are straight-up laid off, those who keep their job but are under a constant threat of losing it suffer a greater decline in mental well-being. Brendan Burchell, a Cambridge sociologist, presented his analysis based on various surveys conducted across Europe. The data suggest that employed people who feel insecure in their job display similar levels of anxiety and depression as those who are unemployed. But whereas a newly jobless person’s mental health may “bottom out” after about six months, and then even begin to improve, the mental state of people who are perpetually worried about losing their job “just continues to deteriorate, getting worse and worse,” Burchell says. Evolutionary psychologists support this theory by arguing that human beings feel more stress during times of insecurity because they sense an immediate but hard-to-discern threat. Patients have been known to experience higher levels of anxiety, for example, while waiting for results than knowing the diagnosis— even if the result is cancer. It’s better to get the bad news and start doing something about it rather than suffer in anxiety. When the uncertainty is prolonged, people stay in a sustained “fight or flight” response, which leads to damaging stress. But not every employee in insecure industries has such a gloomy view, Burchell says. Entrepreneurs seem to thrive. In general, women fare better too. While reporting higher levels of anxiety than men when directly questioned, women scored lower in stress on the GHQ 12, even when they had a job they felt insecure about losing. As Burchell explains, “For women, most studies show that any job—it doesn’t matter whether it is secure or insecure—gives psychological improvement over unemployment.” Burchell hypothesizes that the difference in men is that they tend to feel pressure not only to be employed, but also to be the primary breadwinner, and that more of a man’s self-worth depends on his job. So what advice can Burchell offer to those lucky millions across the globe who are still employed but are worried about losing their job? After searching thoroughly through the surveys in search of the key to an even mental keel, Burchell came up with, “Nothing. Certainly some individuals cope better, but we don’t know why. It seems there are just certain things about job insecurity that can’t be overcome.”

47． What can we learn from the conference at the University of Cambridge? A．The employed are often under a threat of losing their job. B．The jobless and the still employed should help each other. C．It’s unnecessary to comfort the straight-up laid-off workers. D．Employees who feel insecure in their job need consolation.

正确答案：D

解析：由the conference at the University of Cambridge可以定位到第1段第3句。该句是对第2句提出的问题的回答，句中的the latter指的就是the still employed。可见仍然在职的一方更值得同情。由此可见，本题应选D“工作中没有安全感的员工需要安慰”。

48． The phrase “bottom out”(Line 4, Para. 2)is closest in meaning to “_____”. A．stop declining B．return to normal C．continue to worsen D．have a subtle change

正确答案：A 解析：在该句中，按照bottom out和begin to improve的顺序可以推断bottom out应该是指“达至最低谷，停止恶化”的意思，该句表明失业的人在大概6个月后，精神状态就不会再变糟，有的甚至在这个时候会开始好转。由此可见，最能表达失业的人的精神状态变化顺序的是A。

49． What is most likely to make a person stay in a “fight or flight” response? A．When he feels damaging stress. B．When he discerns immediate threat. C．When he gets an incurable disease.

D．When he remains in a state of insecurity.

正确答案：D 解析：“fight of flight”出现在第3段句末，该句开头由When引导的时间状语从句表明，当一个人对事情不能确定的时候，就会处于“战或逃”反应当中。在原文中，insecurity，anxiety和该句中的uncertainty为近义词，都可以表示一个人处于对事情不能肯定的状态，因此D正确。

50． The fact that women scored lower in stress on the GHQ 12 shows that _____.

A．they feel more stress about an insecure job than men do B．they feel less stress about an insecure job than men do C．they are at higher levels of anxiety than men do D．they are at lower levels of anxiety than men do

正确答案：B

解析：第4段第4句和第5句都是为了说明该段第3句的观点：women fare better(女性表现得更好)。由此可见，该段第4句提到女性在压力测试中得分较低，这说明她们和男士不同，她们工作不稳定时，不会产生如男士那么多的受压感。选B。

51． It is _____that men take their job as a way to realize their self-worth. A．a general belief

B．the author’s assumption C．Burchell’s speculation

D．a finding in Burchell’s surveys

正确答案：C

解析：题干提到的关于self-worth的内容与第4段最后一句旬末的内容最为相近，而该句开头的hypothesize表明该句接下来的内容(包括关于self-worth)都是Burchell的hypothesis(猜想)，C中的speculation也是“猜想，假设”的意思。因此，本题应选C。

A pioneering headteacher is calling for all secondary schools to follow his lead and start classes at 11 am, allowing teenagers two hours extra in bed. Dr. Paul Kelley, head of Monkseaton Community High School in North Tyneside, said it would mean the end of “teenage zombies” dozing off in lessons before lunch, after experiments showed teenagers could have different body clocks from adults and younger children. Russell Foster, an Oxford professor of neuroscience, tested the memory of 200 Monkseaton pupils at 9 am and 2 pm using pairs of words, and discovered a 9% improvement in the afternoon. Students correctly identified 51% of word pairs in the later session, compared with 42% in the morning. Tayler McCullough, 15, one of the test subjects, said the majority of students would welcome the extra hours in bed. “I’m extremely hard to get up in the morning. One or two people like to get to school early, but most of us would be up for going in later. I’m sure it would make a big difference to our learning ability.” Kelley believes firmly a change of school timetable will have a significant impact on exam performance. He said: “Teenagers aren’t lazy. We’re depriving them of the sleep they need through purely biological factors beyond their control. This has a negative impact on their learning, and possibly on their mental and physical health. We’ve just learnt of this, but it is vital that we act on it.” “The research carried out by Professor Foster showed that, from the age of 10, our internal body clocks shift, so it’s good for young people to stay in bed. The “time shift” is two hours on average, so teenagers should get up two hours later. We are making teenagers irritable by making them get up early.” He wants his school’s governors to approve his plan and put the new timetable in place before the opening of Monkseaton’s new ￡20m school building, the most technologically advanced in the country, in September. Kelley has a history of groundbreaking teaching methods. In January, he carried out a trial at Monkseaton High that found pupils scored up to 90% in a GCSE science paper after one session involving three 20-minute bursts put in between with 10-minute breaks for physical activity. The 48 year-nine pupils had not covered any part of the GCSE science syllabus before the lessons. In 1998, Kelley established a scheme with the Open University bridging the divide between school and university by allowing sixth formers to study undergraduate modules alongside their A-levels. Kelley hopes his latest idea will be just as successful. “We have to be sensible and practical. But this

proves that, by starting later, children’s learning improves, as does their health.”

52． “Teenage zombies” are inactive in class before lunch most probably because _____.

A．they need more sleep than adults and little kids B．they are dismissed from class too late C．they are too hungry to focus on class D．they begin their classes too early

正确答案：D

解析：第1段第1句提到Dr．Paul Kelley建议将中学的上课时间推迟到早上11点，这样就可以杜绝第2句提到“teenage zombies”在课堂上打瞌睡的情况。由此可推断，“teenage zombies”在课堂上不活跃是因为早上的上课时间太早而导致睡眠不足，因此本题应选D。

53． By saying that “most of us would be up for going in later”, Tayler McCullough means that most students_____.

A．have to get up early to prepare for school

B．would consider the headteacher’s idea carefully C．are in favor of postponing classes by two hours D．go to bed late but get up early every day

正确答案：C 解析：该句中的but表明其前后两个分句的意思是相反的，可以推断most of us would be up for going in later应该理解为大多数学生不愿意早起去上学，他们更希望学校推迟上课的时间。因此，本题应选C。

． What does Kelley most probably suggest about biological clock? A．Our biological clocks are controllable before ten years old. B．Teenagers should learn to control their biological clocks. C．Sleeping time should vary with the biological clocks. D．Teenagers’ biological clocks are easily out of control.

正确答案：C

解析：从本文第一段开始，我们就知道Kelley认为中学生应该推迟上课时间，因为他们的生物钟与小孩或成人都不同，第3段中间部分通过Professor Foster的研究再次强调这一个观点：生物钟发生变化，睡眠时间就应相应变化，C表达了相同的观点，故为本题答案。

55． In January, Kelley chose pupils who _____to take part in his trial. A．scored up to 90% in a GCSE science paper B．had no idea of the GCSE science syllabus C．were nine years of age

D．liked physical activities

正确答案：B

解析：原文这两句介绍了Kelley在1月份做的试验，根据第3句可知，48名参加试验的学生在试验前未接触过任何GCSE科学课程提纲(had not covered any part of the GCSE science syllabus before the lessons)，这意味着这些学生在试验前对GCSE科学课程提纲一无所知，可见B的说法是正确的。

56． The author is most likely to think that Kelley’s call for starting classes at 11 a.m. is _____.

A．groundbreaking B．impractical C．successful D．sensible

正确答案：A

解析：最后一段第1句中的has a history of表明作者认为Kelley一贯以来的教学方法都是groundbreaking(具有开创性)的，这暗示作者认为Kelley这次呼吁将上课时间推迟两小时也是一种开创性的做法。此外，文章第1段第1句用到的pioneering也是“开创性的”的意思。因此，本题应选A。

Part Ⅳ Translation

57． 秦始皇是中国历史上杰出的政治家、战略家和改革家。13岁继承王位，39岁统一中国并自封“始皇帝”(First Emperor)，建立第一个统一的、多民族、集权制国家。统一中国之后，他推行了一系列改革，比如统一度量衡单位和货币标准、统一文字(the Chinese script)。他在位期间还进行多项浩大工程，比如修建长城和他的陵墓等。为了加强统治，他禁止、焚烧经典书籍，坑杀儒士(Confucian scholars)。虽然他的一些举措给人民带来沉重的灾难，但他的功绩远大于过失。

正确答案： Qin Shi Huang is an outstanding statesman, strategist and reformer in the history of China. He inherited the throne at the age of 13. At the age of 39, he unified China and proclaimed himself the First Emperor, establishing the first united, multi-ethnic and centralized country. After the unification of China, he passed a series of reforms, for example, standardizing the units of measurements and the currency, unifying the Chinese script. He also undertook gigantic projects such as the construction of the Great Wall and his tomb in his reign. To strengthen his rule, he outlawed and burned classic books and buried some Confucian scholars alive. Although some of his measures brought people heavy disaster, his achievement is far more than his error.

解析：1．秦始皇统一中国，伴随而来的是“建立第一个……国家”，因此这部分可处理为伴随状语，即establishing the first．．．country。2．“统一中国之后，他推行了一系列改革……”这一句中，由于前句已使用动词unify，此处可将“统

一”译为名词 unification。“统一……标准”只需译为动词standardize，而不用unify the standard of…，避免反复使用某个词汇。3．注意．“虽然……，但他的功绩远大于过失”中出现关联词“虽然……但……”，英文只需用although／though／but 其中一个来表达，although／though和but不能同时出现。“远大于”用far more than表达。