1、大学英语六级综合-阅读(九)及答案解析(总分：60.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Unit 6(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、Passage One(总题数：1，分数：5.00)In 2012, America will still be the place where the future happens first, for that is the nations oldest tradition. The early Puritans lived in almost Stone Age conditions, but they were inspired by visions of
2、future glories, Gods kingdom on earth. The early pioneers would sometimes travel past perfectly good farmland, because they were convinced that even more amazing land could be found over the next ridge. The Founding Fathers took t 3 scraggly Colonies and believed they were creating a new nation on e
3、arth. The railroad speculators envisioned magnificent fortunes built on bands of iron.This future-mindedness explains many modem features of American life. It explains workaholism: the average American works 350 hours a year more than the average European. Americans move more, in search of that brig
4、hter tomorrow, than people in other lands. They also, sadly, divorce more, for the same reason. Americans adopt new technologies such as online shopping and credit cards much more quickly than people in other countries. Forty-five percent of world Internet use takes place in the United States. Even
5、today, after the bursting of the stock-market bubble, American venture-capital firms-which are in the business of betting on the future-dwarf the firms from all other nations.Future-mindedness contributes to the disorder in American life, the obliviousness to history, the high rates of family breakd
6、own, the frenzied waste of natural resources. It also leads to incredible innovation. According to the Yale historian Paul Kennedy, 75 percent of the Noble laureates in economics and the sciences over recent decades have lived or worked in the United States. One in 12 Americans has enjoyed the thril
7、l and challenge of starting his own business. A study published in the Journal of International Business Studies in 2000 showed that innovative people are spread pretty evenly throughout the globe, but Americans are most comfortable with risk.If the 1990s were a great decade of future-mindedness, we
8、 are now in the midst of a season of experience. It seems cooler to be skeptical, to pooh-pooh all those IPO suckers who lost their money betting on the telecom future. By 2012, this period of chastisement(惩罚) will likely have run its course, and future-mindedness will be back in vogue, for better o
9、r worse.We dont know exactly what the next future-minded frenzy will look like. We do know where it will take place: the American suburb. In 1979, three quarters of American office space were located in central cities. The new companies, research centers and entrepreneurs are flocking to these low b
10、uildings near airports, highways and the Wal-Mart mails, and they are creating a new kind of suburban life. We are now approaching a moment in which the majority of American office space, and the hub of American entrepreneurship, will be found in quiet office parks in places like Rockville, Maryland
11、, and in the sprawling suburbosphere around Atlanta.We also know that future-mindedness itself will become the object of greater study. We are discovering that there are many things that human beings do easily that computers can do only with great difficulty, if at all. Cognitive scientists are now
12、trying to decode the human imagination, to understand how the brain visualizes, dreams and creates. And we know, too, that where there is future-mindedness there is hope.（分数：5.00）(1).The first paragraph examines Americas future-mindedness from the _ perspective.（分数：1.00）A.futureB.realisticC.historic
13、alD.present(2).According to the passage, which of the following is NOT brought about by future- mindedness?（分数：1.00）A.Economic stagnation.B.Environmental destruction.C.High divorce rates.D.Neglect of history.(3).The word “pooh-pooh“ in the fourth paragraph means _.（分数：1.00）A.appreciateB.praiseC.shun
14、D.ridicule(4).According to the passage, people at present can forecast _ of a new round of future-mindedness.（分数：1.00）A.the natureB.the locationC.the varietyD.the features(5).The author predicts in “the last paragraph that the study of future-mindedness will focus on（分数：1.00）A.how it comes into bein
15、gB.how it functionsC.what it brings aboutD.what it is related to三、Passage Two(总题数：1，分数：5.00)American dramas and sitcoms (连续剧) would have been candidates for prime time several years ago. But today those programs-though some remain popular- increasingly occupy fringe times slots on foreign networks.
16、Instead, a growing number of shows produced by local broadcasters are on the air at the best times.The shift counters longstanding assumptions that TV shows produced in the United States would continue to overshadow locally produced shows from Singapore to Sicily. The changes are coming at a time wh
17、en the influence of the United States on_ international affairs has chafed (使恼火) friends and foes, and some people are expressing relief that at least on television American culture is no longer quite the force it once was.“There has always been a concern that the image of the world would be shaped
18、too much by American culture,“ said Dr. Jo Groebek, director general of the European Institute for the Media, a non-profit group. Given the choice, he adds, foreign viewers often prefer homegrown shows that better reflect local tastes, cultures and historical events.Unlike in the United States, comm
19、ercial broadcasting in most regions of the world-including Asia, Europe and a lesser extent Latin American, which has a long history of commercial TV-is a relatively recent development.A majority of broadcasters in many countries were either state-owned or state- subsidized for much of the last cent
20、ury. Governments began to relax their control in the 1980s by privatizing national broadcasters and granting licenses to dozens of new commercial networks. The rise of cable and satellite pay-television increased the spectrum of channels.Relatively inexperienced and often financed on a shoestring, t
21、hese new commercial stations needed hours of programming fast. The cheapest and easiest way to fill airtime was to buy shows from American studios, and the bidding wars for popular shows were fierce.The big American studios took advantage of that demand by raising prices and forcing foreign broadcas
22、ters to buy less popular programs if they wanted access to the best-selling shows and movies.“The studios priced themselves out of prime time,“ said Harry Evans Sloan, chairman of SBS Broadcasting, a Pan-European broadcaster. Mr. Sloan estimates that over the last decade, the price the body of poetr
23、y that might be labeled science fiction is only slightly larger. To say that science fiction is a sub- genre of prose fiction is to say that it has all the basic characteristics and serves, the same basic functions in much the same way as prose fiction in general, that is, it shares a great deal wit
24、h all other novels and short stories.Everything that can be said about prose fiction, in general, applies to science fiction. Every piece of science fiction, whether short story or novel, must have a narrator, a story, a plot, a setting, characters, language, and theme. And like any prose, the theme
25、s of science fiction are concerned with interpreting mans nature and experience in relation to the world around him. Themes in science fiction are constructed and presented in exactly the same ways that themes are dealt with in any other kind of fiction. They are the result of a particular combinati
26、on of narrator, story, plot, character, setting, and language. In short, the reasons for reading and enjoying science fiction, and the ways of studying and analyzing it, are basically the same as they would be for any other story or novel.（分数：5.00）(1).According to the author, the popular image of sc
27、ience fiction is _.（分数：1.00）A.prejudicedB.impartialC.worthyD.admiring(2).Science fiction is called a literary sub-genre because _.（分数：1.00）A.it is not important enough to be a literary genreB.it cannot be made dramatic presentationC.it shares characteristics with other types of prose fictionD.to cal
28、l it a “genre“ would subject it to literary jargon(3).From the last paragraph, we know that people read science fiction especially for _.（分数：1.00）A.the discovery of meaningB.the beauty of languageC.the display of characterD.the psychological complexity(4).The last sentence of the passage implies tha
29、t _.（分数：1.00）A.the reader should turn next to commentaries on general fictionB.there is no reason for any reader not to like science fictionC.the reader should compare other novels and stories to science fictionD.those who can appreciate prose fiction can appreciate science fiction(5).An appropriate
30、 title for this passage would be _.（分数：1.00）A.On the Inaccuracies of Pulp MagazinesB.Toward a Definition of Science FictionC.A Type of Prose FictionD.Beyond the Bug Eyed Monster六、Unit 7(总题数：0，分数：0.00)七、Passage One(总题数：1，分数：5.00)If an occupation census had been taken in the eleventh century，it would
31、probably have revealed that quite 90%of the people were country dwellers who drew their livelihood from farming，herding，fishing，or the forestAn air photograph taken at that time would have revealed a sprinkling of villages，linked together by unsurfaced roads and more than 10，000 personsA second pict
32、ure，taken in the midfourteenth century would show that the villages had grown larger，more numerous，and also more widespread，for Europeans had pushed their frontier outward by clearing，draining，and settling new areasThere would be more people on the road，rivers and seas，carrying food or raw materials
33、 to towns which had increased in number，size and importance But a photograph taken about 1450 would reveal that little further expansion had taken place during the preceding hundred yearsAny attempt to describe the countryside during those centuries is beset by two difficultiesIn the first place we
34、have to examine the greater part of Europes 3,50,000 square miles，and not merely the Mediterranean landsIn the second place the inhabitants of that wide expanse refuse to fit into one standard pattern or to stand still There is variety and there is changeConsequently, as a distinguished student of m
35、edieval rural life once remarked, “In the history of land problems, there is no sin like the sin of generalization“ and “There is no heresy about the Middle Ages quite so pernicious(有害的)as the theory that they were unchanging.“In the early days of studying economic history it was customary to descri
36、be a “typical“ manor and give the impression that all rural life was of this kind. But a vast amount of research has been done since then, for the field is an interesting one, the documents are abundant in some countries, the work calls for great patience and skill, and the results may be revolution
37、ary. From such arduous (辛勤的) labor Professor Eileen Power emerged with the conclusion that “manor“ was a term about as descriptive as the word “mammal“. After equally arduous effort Professor Kosminsky defined the manor as a community in which unfree villagers (villains, serfs“)cultivated their lord
38、s domain as the price of their serfdom and of their use of a holding of land. He then discovered that even in the English midlands, the stronghold of manors, only about 60% of the territory was “manorial“ in 1279. The remaining 40% was non-manorial; it had no unfree tenants, or it had no domain, or
39、it was all domain and had no villain holdings. In France and other continental regions research is revealing similar diversity. After reading a recent study of the seigniorial (领主的) system in Lorraine, one reviewer threw up his hands and exclaimed, “The more we look at things, the more they appear c
40、omplicated./（分数：5.00）(1).According to the passage by 1350, as compared with three hundred years earlier, Europeans had _.（分数：1.00）A.larger territoryB.dug more canals for irrigationC.made Europe larger by conquestD.have their lifestyles altered(2).It is rather difficult to describe the countryside du
41、ring the period under consideration because the inhabitants _.（分数：1.00）A.rebelled against the conformity expected of themB.moved around too much to study properlyC.frequently changed their system of lifeD.left behind no written proof of their life(3).The word “heresy“ (Line 7, Par（分数：1.00）A.2) most
42、probably means _.A. an opinion of worshipping GodB. a belief against what is establishedC. an advocate of returning to the pastD. an act that runs counter to public interests(4).It is implied in the passage that the findings made in the study concerning economic history may be _.（分数：1.00）A.misleadin
43、gB.faultlessC.contradictoryD.oversimplified(5).In the eyes of the author, the life in the country in medieval times _.（分数：1.00）A.was nothing less than interestingB.proved as laborious as possibleC.conformed to a certain patternD.was characterized by absolute freedom八、Passage Two(总题数：1，分数：5.00)Perhap
44、s only a small boy training to be a wizard at the Hogwarts School of magic could cast a spell so powerful as to create the biggest book launch ever. Wherever in the world the clock strikes midnight on June 20th, his followers will flock to get their paws on one of more than 10m copies of Harry Potte
45、r and the Order of the Phoenix. Bookshops will open in the middle of the night and delivery firms are drafting in extra staff and bigger trucks. Related toys, games, DVDs and other merchandise will be everywhere. There will he no escaping Potter mania.Yet Mr. Potters world is a curious one, in which
46、 things are often not what they appear. While an excitable media (here by including The Economist, happy to support such a fine example of globalization)is helping to hype the launch of J.K. Rowlings fifth novel, about the most adventurous thing that the publishers (Scholastic in America and Britain
47、s Bloomsbury)have organized is a reading by Ms.Rowling in Londons Royal Albert Hall to be broadcast as a live web cast. Hollywood, which owns everything else to do with Harry Potter, says it is doing even less. Incredible as it may seem, the guardians of the brand say that, to protect the Potter fra
48、nchise, they are trying to maintain a low profile, well, relatively low.Ms. Rowling signed a contract in 1998 with Warner Brothers, part of AOL Time Warner, giving the studio exclusive film, licensing and merchandising rights in return for what now appears to have been a steal: some $500,000.Globall
49、y, the first four Harry Potter books have sold some 200m copies in 55 languages; the two movies have grossed over $1.8 billion at the box office.This is a stunning success by any measure, especially as Ms. Rowling has long demanded that Harry Potter should not be over-commercialized. In line with her wishes, Warner says it is being extraordinarily careful, at least by Hollywood standards, about what it licenses and to whom. It imposed tough conditions on Coca-Cola, insisting that no Harry Potter ima
