1、大学英语六级改革适用（阅读）-试卷 206及答案解析(总分：60.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：6，分数：60.00)1.Part III Reading Comprehension（分数：10.00）_2.Section C（分数：10.00）_Moving far more quickly than many had thought likely or possible, lawmakers in the 10-member House-Senate committee announced the agreement after less
2、 than 24 hours of negotiations. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: “Like any negotiation, this involved give and take, and if you dont mind my saying so that is an understatement.“ The agreement drops the total to $789 billion, while both Senate and House-passed measures exceeded $800 billion. A com
3、bination of low and middle income tax cuts, making up about 35 percent of the bill, and domestic spending, its supporters say it meets President Barack Obamas goal of creating or saving as many as 4 million jobs. Susan Collins of Maine was among only 3 moderate Senate Republicans who joined the Demo
4、cratic majority there. She says money trimmed from the bill reflects an effort to focus it more sharply to help the economy. “It is a fiscally-responsible number that reflects our efforts to truly focus this bill on programs, and policies and tax relief that will help turn our economy around, create
5、 jobs and provide relief to the families of our country,“ she said. Collins also pointed out the agreement increases spending on infrastructure projects, more than $150 billion in the proposed measure. Republican opponents kept up their criticisms, primarily that the measure contains untargeted spen
6、ding and not the right level of tax relief. House Republican leader John Boehner voiced disappointment with the agreement, repeating his assertion that the measure will not create jobs quickly enough. “It appears that they have made a bad bill worse by reducing the amount of tax relief for American
7、families and small businesses, and adding more wasteful Washington spending,“ he said. But Senator Arlen Specter, another moderate Republican who worked with Democrats, said action was required. “This is obviously a very difficult vote in view of the large deficit and national debt which we have, bu
8、t I believe it is indispensable, that strong action be taken,“ he said. White House aides, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, joined in the negotiations on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers behind the agreement hope a final conference report will be ready in the next 2 days that the House and Senate will
9、vote on. Approval would send the legislation to President Obama for signature. An eventual Senate vote is expected to mirror earlier results in which majority Democrats, with help from the 3 Republicans, achieved the 60 votes needed to overcome any procedural block. It remains to be seen how a vote
10、will turn out in the House, where no Republicans supported a House-passed measure, but where Democrats hold a strong enough majority to pass measures easily. House Republican leaders declined to predict Wednesday how many in their party might support final legislation.（分数：10.00）(1).“The agreement“(L
11、ine 2, Para. 1)is most probably a bill about _.（分数：2.00）A.stimulus for the economyB.reform of the legal systemC.funding for the educational systemD.expenditure on the national defence(2).Which of the following statements about Harry Reid is TRUE?（分数：2.00）A.He comes from the Republic Party.B.He comes
12、 from the Democratic Party.C.He is optimistic about the future economy.D.He is pessimistic about the future economy.(3).Susan Collins accepted the agreement with _.（分数：2.00）A.mild reservationsB.reluctant compromiseC.firm confidenceD.reasonable skepticism(4).Arlen Specter most probably thought that _
13、.（分数：2.00）A.some senators would become undetermined in the process of votingB.the economic problems should be solved immediatelyC.deficit and national debt shouldnt have been neglectedD.the measures in the agreement would not be as effective as expected(5).It can be inferred about the House from the
14、 passage that _.（分数：2.00）A.it is led by a Republican leaderB.most Republicans are moderateC.measures proposed by the Republicans are seldom passedD.measures can be passed without the Republicans supportAge has its privileges in America, and one of the more prominent of them is the senior citizen dis
15、count. Anyone who has reached a certain agein some cases as low as 55is automatically entitled to a dazzling array of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial life. Eligibility is determined not by ones need but by the date on ones birth certificate. Practically unheard of a generation a
16、go, the discounts have become a routine part of many businessesas common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners. People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them; yet, millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent(有支付能力的). Busine
17、sses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that “elderly“ and “needy“ are synonymous(同义的). Perhaps that once was true, but today elderly Americans as a group have
18、a lower poverty rate than the rest of the population. To be sure, there is economic diversity within the elderly, and many older Americans are poor. But most of them arent. It is impossible to determine the impact of the discounts on individual companies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to reven
19、ue. But in other cases the discounts are giveh at the expense, directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they are a direct irritant in what some politicians and scholars see as a coming conflict between the generations. Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over S
20、ocial Security benefits, which mostly involves a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another sore point. Buoyed(支持)by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are declining the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the jobthereby lessening employment and
21、promotion opportunities for younger workers. Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have become a formidable economic privilege to a group with millions of members who dont need them. It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs de
22、serve priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enhance the myth that older people cant take care of themselves and need special treatment; and they threaten the creation of a new myth, that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other
23、age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the essence of the very thing older Americans are fighting against discrimination by age.（分数：10.00）(1).We learn from the first paragraph that _.（分数：2.00）A.offering senior citizens discounts has become routine commercial practiceB.senior citizen discounts have
24、 enabled many old people to live a decent lifeC.giving senior citizens discounts has boosted the market for the elderlyD.senior citizens have to show their birth certificates to get a discount(2).What assumption lies behind the practice of senior citizen discounts?（分数：2.00）A.Businesses, having made
25、a lot of profits, should do something for society in return.B.Old people are entitled to special treatment for the contribution they made to society.C.The elderly, being financially underprivileged, need humane help from society.D.Senior citizen discounts can make up for the inadequacy of the Social
26、 Security system.(3).According to some politicians and scholars, senior citizen discounts will _.（分数：2.00）A.make old people even more dependent on societyB.intensify conflicts between the young and the oldC.have adverse financial impact on business companiesD.bring a marked increase in the companies
27、 revenues(4).How does the author view the Social Security system?（分数：2.00）A.It encourages elderly people to retire in time.B.It opens up broad career prospects for young people.C.It benefits the old at the expense of the young.D.It should be reinforced by laws and court decisions.(5).Which of the fo
28、llowing best summarizes the authors main argument?（分数：2.00）A.Senior citizens should fight hard against age discrimination.B.The elderly are selfish and taking senior discounts for granted.C.Priority should be given to the economic needs of senior citizens.D.Senior citizen discounts may well be a typ
29、e of age discrimination.Reebok executives do not like to hear their stylish athletic shoes called “footwear for yuppies(雅皮士，少壮高薪职业人士)“. They contend that Reebok shoes appeal to diverse market segments, especially now that the company offers basketball and childrens shoes for the under-18 set and wal
30、king shoes for older customers not interested in aerobics(健身操)or running. The executives also point out that through recent acquisitions they have added hiking boots, dress and casual shoes, and high-performance athletic footwear to their product lines, all of which should attract new and varied gro
31、ups of customers. Still, despite its emphasis on new markets, Reebok plans few changes in the upmarket(高档消费人群的)retailing network that helped push sales to $1 billion annually, ahead of all other sports shoe marketers. Reebok shoes, which are priced from $27 to $85, will continue to be sold only in b
32、etter specialty, sporting goods, and department stores, in accordance with the companys view that consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution. In the past few years, the Massachusetts-based company has imposed limits on the number of its distributors(and the number of
33、 shoes supplied to stores), partly out of necessity. At times the unexpected demand for Reeboks exceeded supply, and the company could barely keep up with orders from the dealers it already had. These fulfillment problems seem to be under control now, but the company is still selective about its dis
34、tributors. At present, Reebok shoes are available in about five thousand retail stores in the United States. Reebok has already anticipated that walking shoes will be the next fitness-related craze, replacing aerobics shoes the same way its brightly colored, soft leather exercise footwear replaced c
35、onventional running shoes. Through product diversification and careful market research, Reebok hopes to avoid the distribution problems Nike came across several years ago, when Nike misjudged the strength of the aerobics shoe craze and was forced to unload huge inventories of running shoes through d
36、iscount stores.（分数：10.00）(1).One reason why Reeboks managerial personnel dont like their shoes to be called “footwear for yuppies“ is that_.（分数：2.00）A.they believe that their shoes are popular with people of different age groupsB.new production lines have been added to produce inexpensive shoesC.yup
37、pies usually evokes a negative imageD.the term makes people think of prohibitive prices(2).Reeboks view that “consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution“(Line 5, Para. 2)implies that _.（分数：2.00）A.the quality of a brand is measured by the service quality of the store
38、selling itB.the quality of a product determines the quality of its distributorsC.the popularity of a brand is determined by the stores that sell itD.consumers believe that first-rate products are only sold by high-quality stores(3).Reebok once had to limit the number of its distributors, because _.（
39、分数：2.00）A.its supply of products fell short of demandB.too many distributors would cut into its profitsC.the reduction of distributors could increase its share of the marketD.it wanted to enhance consumer confidence in its products(4).Although the Reebok Company has solved the problem of fulfilling
40、its orders, it_.（分数：2.00）A.does not want to further expand its retailing networkB.still limits the number of shoes supplied to storesC.is still particular about who sells its productsD.still carefully chooses the manufacturers of its products(5).What lesson has Reebok learned from Nikes distribution
41、 problems?（分数：2.00）A.A company should not sell its high quality shoes in discount stores.B.A company should not limit its distribution network.C.A company should do follow-up surveys of its products.D.A company should correctly evaluate the impact of a new craze on the market.Car makers have long us
42、ed sex to sell their products. Recently, however, both BMW and Renault have based their latest European marketing campaigns around the icon of modern biology. BMWs campaign, which launches its new 3-series sports saloon in Britain and Ireland, shows the new creation and four of its earlier versions
43、zigzagging around a landscape made up of giant DNA sequences, with a brief explanation that DNA is the molecule responsible for the inheritance of such features as strength, power and intelligence. The Renault offering, which promotes its existing Laguna model, employs evolutionary theory even more
44、explicitly. The companys television commercials intersperse(点缀)clips of the car with scenes from a lecture by Steve Jones, a professor of genetics at University College London. BMWs campaign is intended to convey the idea of development allied to heritage. The latest product, in other words, should
45、be viewed as the new and improved scion(后代)of a long line of good cars. Renaults message is more subtle. It is that evolution works by gradual improvements rather than sudden leaps and in this, Renault is aligning itself with(与保持一致)biological orthodoxy. So, although the new car in the advertisement
46、may look like the old one, the external form conceals a number of significant changes to the engine. While these alterations are almost invisible to the average driver, Renault hopes they will improve the cars performance, and ultimately its survival in the marketplace. Whether they actually do so w
47、ill depend, in part, on whether marketers have read the public mood correctly. For, even if genetics really does offer a useful metaphor for automobiles, employing it in advertising is not without its dangers. That is because DNAs public image is ambiguous. In one context, people may see it as the c
48、ornerstone of modern medical progress. In another, it will bring to mind such controversial issues as abortion, genetically modified food-stuffs, and the sinister subject of eugenics(优生学). Car makers are probably standing on safer ground than biologists. But even they can make mistakes. Though it wo
49、uld not be obvious to the casual observer, some of the DNA which features in BMWs ads for its nice, new car once belonged to a woolly mammotha beast that has been extinct for 10,000 years. Not, presumably, quite the message that the marketing department was trying to convey.（分数：10.00）(1).Both BMW and Renault use the icon of modern biology in marketi
