1、大学英语六级综合-阅读(十一)及答案解析(总分：80.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Unit 1(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、Passage One(总题数：1，分数：5.00)Nearly two thousand years have passed since a census decreed by Caesar Augustus became part of the greatest story ever told. Many things have changed in the intervening years. The hotel industry worries more
2、about overbuilding than overcrowding, and if they had to meet an unexpected influx, few inns would have a manager to accommodate the weary guests. Now it is the census taker that does the traveling in the fond hope that a highly mobile population will stay put long enough to get a good sampling.Meth
3、ods of gathering, recording, and evaluating information have probably been improved a great deal. And where then it was the modest purpose of Rome to obtain a simple head count as an adequate basis for levying taxes, now batteries of complicated statistical series furnished by governmental agencies
4、and private organizations are eagerly scanned and interpreted by sages and prophets to get a clue to future events.The Bible does not tell us how the Roman census takers made out, and as regards our more immediate concern, the reliability of present economic forecasting, there are considerable diffe
5、rences of opinion. They were aired at the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the American Statistical Association. There was the thought that business forecasting might well be on its way from an art to a science, and some speakers talked about newfangled(新花样的)computers and complicated mathemat
6、ical systems in terms of excitement and endearment which we, at least in our younger years when these things mattered, would have associate more readily with the description of a fair maiden. But others pointed to the deplorable(可叹的) very bad record of highly esteemed forecasts and forecaster with a
7、 batting average below that of the Nets, and the President elect of the Association cautioned that “high powered statistical methods are usually in order where the facts are crude and inadequate, the exact contrary of that crude and inadequate statisticians assume.“We left somewhere between hope and
8、 despair and with the conviction, not really newly acquired that proper statistical methods applied to ascertainable facts have their merits in economic forecasting as long as neither forecaster nor public is induced into mistaking the description of probabilities and trends for a prediction of cert
9、ainties of mathematical attitude.（分数：5.00）(1).The passage is most likely from _.（分数：1.00）A.a journal of biblical studiesB.an introductory college textbook on statisticsC.the annual report of the American Statistical AssociationD.a newspaper review of a recent professional festivity(2).According to t
10、he passage, taxation in Roman times was based on _.（分数：1.00）A.mobilityB.wealthC.populationD.census takers(3).The author refers to the Romans primarily in order to _.（分数：1.00）A.prove the superiority of modern sampling methods to ancient onesB.provide a historical framework for the passageC.relate an
11、unfamiliar concept to a familiar oneD.show that statistical forecasts have not significantly improved(4).On the basis of the passage, which of the following statements would the author agree with?（分数：1.00）A.Computers have significantly improved the application of statistics in business.B.Statistics
12、is not, at the present time, a science.C.It is useless to try to predict the economy.D.Most mathematical systems are inexact.(5).The authors tone can best be described as _.（分数：1.00）A.jocularB.scornfulC.pessimisticD.objective三、Passage Two(总题数：1，分数：5.00)Microsoft is no longer the worlds biggest compa
13、ny by market capitalization. Three other U.S. companies have overtaken the software giant in terms of stock market value. The firms value has gone down sharply by 41% so far this year, from nearly $600 billion to $358 billion.Much of the reason for the fall has been the uncertainty prompted by the o
14、n-going anti-trust case. It has been overtaken by General Electric, now worth $506 billion, Intel, worth $441 billion and Cisco Systems, $436 billion. Over the past year Microsoft shares have moved downwards from a high of $120 to $68 in early trading on 7 June. Meanwhile rival Cisco has seen its sh
15、are price rise by $25 to more than $60 as the company has gained its role in providing the hardware for the Internet. And for most of the year it has been competing with computer chip maker Intel for the second place. Intels Pentium chips are widely used in personal computers worldwide.The company t
16、hat now holds the title of the worlds biggest company is an industrial giant which makes everything from toasters to jet engines. GE has sales of $110 billion-nearly ten times that of Microsoft and 340,000 employees worldwide. It has seen its profits grow by 15% a year to $11 billion.GE Capital Serv
17、ices, its financial subsidiary, make up nearly half its sales. GE produces power generation systems, locomotive, medical imaging equipment and electrical appliances. It also owns the U.S. television network NBC and its financial news subsidiary, CNBC, and ironically, a joint venture with Microsoft t
18、o provide news on the Internet.Microsofts shares now face a further period of uncertainty as the companys legal battle continues. It could also face difficulty in recruiting and retaining employees whose pay has been boosted by their share options. The Seattle based firm is likely to go to an appeal
19、s court on any rulings. It could suffer further losses from lawsuits brought by competitors, who would be able to claim triple damages for any losses suffered. And with its energy and resources tied up in the lawsuits, the company may find it difficult to continue to innovate in the future, or move
20、so aggressively to buy up competitors.（分数：5.00）(1).Microsofts shares are devalued drastically owing to _.（分数：1.00）A.fierce competition from rivalsB.its involvement in a lawsuitC.the court rulingsD.the decrease in sales volume(2).Which is now the second biggest company in the United States?（分数：1.00）A
21、.General Electric.B.Intel.C.Cisco Systems.D.GE Capital Services.(3).Cisco Systems share price has risen considerably _.（分数：1.00）A.after it has overtaken part of Microsofts sharesB.after it has beaten Intel and risen to the second placeC.since it has gained a firm footing in the marketD.because it is
22、 developing jointly with Microsoft(4).Which of the following companies is owned by General Electric and Microsoft together?（分数：1.00）A.GE Capital ServicesB.NBCC.CNBCD.MSNBC(5).Why is it difficult for Microsoft to retain employees?（分数：1.00）A.Because it faces an uncertain future.B.Because it will have
23、difficulty in innovating itself.C.Because it will have difficulty in paying them.D.Because it may be bought up by its competitors one day.四、Passage Three(总题数：1，分数：5.00)In a sense, the new protectionism is not protectionism at all, at least not in the traditional sense of the term. The old protection
24、ism referred only to trade restricting and trade expanding devices, such as the tariff or export subsidy. The new protectionism is much broader than this: it includes interventions into foreign trade but is not limited to them. The new protectionism, in fact, refers to how the whole of government in
25、tervention into the private economy affects international trade. The emphasis on trade is still there, thus came the term “protection“. But what is new is the realization that virtually all government activities can affect international economic relations.The emergence of the new protectionism in th
26、e Western World reflects the victory of the interventionist, or welfare economy over the market economy. Jab Tumiler writes, “The old protectionism.coexisted, without any apparent intellectual difficulty with the acceptance of the market as a national as well as an international economic distributio
27、n mechanism-deed, protectionists as well as (if not more than) free traders stood for laissez faire (放任政策). Now, as in the 1930s, protectionism is an expression of a profound skepticism as to the ability of the market to distribute resources and incomes to societys satisfaction.“It is precisely this
28、 profound skepticism of the market economy that is responsible for the protectionism. In a market economy, economic change of various colors implies redistribution of resources and incomes. The same opinion in many communities apparently is that such redistributions often are not proper. Therefore,
29、the government intervenes to bring about a more desired result.The victory of the welfare state is almost complete in northern Europe. In Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands, government intervention in almost all aspects of economic and social life is considered normal. In Great Br
30、itain this is only somewhat less true. Government traditionally has played a very active role in economic life in France and continued to do so. Only West Germany dares to go against the tide towards excessive interventionism in Western Europe. It also happens to be the most successful Western Europ
31、ean economy.The welfare state has made significant progress in the United States as well as in Western Europe. Social security, unemployment insurance, minimum wage laws, and rent control are by now traditional welfare state elements on the American scene.（分数：5.00）(1).This passage is primarily conce
32、rned with discussing _.（分数：1.00）A.the definition of the new protectionismB.the difference between new and old protectionismC.the emergence of the new protectionism in the Western WorldD.the significance of the welfare state(2).What does the phrase “stood for“ (Line 6, Par（分数：1.00）A.2) mean?A. Repres
33、ented.B. Held out.C. Tolerated.D. Disapprove(3).The passage supplies information for answering which of the following questions?（分数：1.00）A.When did the new protectionism arise?B.Why is the new protectionism so popular in northern European countries?C.Does the American government play a more active r
34、ole in economic life than the British government?D.Why does the government intervene in economic life?(4).Which of the following inferences is TRUE, according to this passage?（分数：1.00）A.The economy developed faster in welfare states than in non-welfare states.B.In the 1930s, protectionism began to r
35、ise.C.The new protectionism is so called mainly because it is the latest.D.Government plays a more active role in economic life in Northern Europe than in Great Britain.(5).Which of the following statements is a characteristic of a welfare state mentioned in this passage?（分数：1.00）A.A jobless person
36、can be insured.B.Laws are made to fix the maximum wage.C.Free education is available to any child.D.There are regulations against rentin五、Passage Four(总题数：1，分数：5.00)Last years economy should have won the Oscar for best picture. Growth in gross domestic product was 4.1 percent; profits soared; export
37、s flourished; and inflation stayed around 3 percent for the third year. So why did so many Americans give the picture a lousy B rating? The answer is jobs. The macroeconomic situation was good, but the microeconomic numbers were not. Yes, 3 million new jobs were there, but not enough of them were pe
38、rmanent, good jobs paying enough to support a family. Job insecurity was wide-spread.Yes, unemployment went down. But over 1 million workers were so discouraged they left the labor force. More than 6 million who wanted full-time work were only partially employed, and another large group was either o
39、verqualified or sheltered behind the euphemism of self-employment. We lost a million good manufacturing jobs between 1990 and 1995, continuing the trend that has reduced the blue-collar work force from about 30 percent in the 1950s to about half of that today. White-collar workers found out they wer
40、e no longer immune. For the first time, they were let go in numbers virtually equal to those for blue-collar workers. Many resorted to temporary work-with lower pay, fewer benefits and less status.The Labor Department recently reported that real wages fell 2.3 percent in the 12- month period ending
41、this March. Since 1973, wages adjusted for inflation have declined by about a quarter for high school dropouts, by a sixth for high school graduates and by about 7 percent for those with some college education. Only the wages of college graduates are up, by 5 percent, and recently starting salaries,
42、 even for this group, have not kept up with inflation. While the top 5 percent of the population was setting new income records almost every year, poverty rates rose from 11 percent to 15 percent. No wonder this is beginning to be called the Silent Depression.Of all the reasons given for the wage sq
43、ueeze international competition, technology, deregulation, the decline of unions and defense cuts technology is probably the most critical. It has favored the educated and skilled. America is simply not growing fast enough to tighten the labor market and push up real wages. In the long run it is pot
44、entially self-destructive because there will not be enough purchasing power to grow the economy.（分数：5.00）(1).What does the sentence “Last years economy should have won the Oscar for best picture“ (Line 1, Par（分数：1.00）A.1 ) mean?A. Last years economy is regarded as an excellent film by the public.B.
45、Last years economy is good enough to win a prize for best picture.C. Last years economy looks wonderful and is in favor of the public.D. Last years economy can be made into a good film.(2).According to the passage, which statement is TRUE?（分数：1.00）A.Last year, the rate of unemployment in the U.S.A.
46、kept rising.B.White-collar workers used to keep good and high-paying jobs much easier.C.The development of technology is the only cause of the wage-cutting for all Americans.D.Most Americans are completely satisfied with the economic development of last year.(3).How many bluecollar workers are there
47、 among the whole work force in U.S.A.?（分数：1.00）A.30%B.15%C.60%D.5%(4).Who suffer the biggest wage losses among American workers today?（分数：1.00）A.High school dropoutsB.High school graduatesC.College graduatesD.White-collar workers(5).What does the author imply is the possible solution to the earning
48、squeeze and the scarcity of good and high-paying jobs?（分数：1.00）A.To slow down the development of technologyB.To create manufacturing jobs if possibleC.To curb the inflationD.To develop economy fast enough六、Unit 2(总题数：0，分数：0.00)七、Passage One(总题数：1，分数：5.00)Federal Reserve System, central banking syste
49、m of the United States, popularly called the Fed, is a central bank that serves as the banker to both the banking community and the government；it also issues the national currency, conducts monetary policy, and plays a major role in supervision and regulation of banks and bank holding companiesIn the U.S.these functions are the responsibilities of key officials of the Federal Reserve System：the Board of Governors located in Washington, D.C., and the top officers of the 12 district Federal Reserve banks, located throughout
