1、大学英语六级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 260及答案与解析 Section A 0 Of the many factors that contribute to poor performance on standardized tests like the SAT, nerves and【 C1】 _ , surprisingly, may not rank very high. In fact, according to a new paper published in Journal of Experimental Psychology, a little anxiety not to me
2、ntion fatigue might actually be a very good thing. The study was conducted by psychology professors Phillip Ackerman and Ruth Kanfer. They【 C2】 _ 239 college freshmen, each of whom agreed to take three different versions of the SAT reasoning test given on three【 C3】 _ Saturday mornings. The tests wo
3、uld take three-and-a-half hours, four-and-a-half hours and five-and-a-half-hours, and would be administered in a【 C4】 _ order to each of the students. To【 C5】_ the stress level in the students who had already taken the SAT in the past and gotten into college Ackerman and Kanfer offered a cash【 C6】 _
4、 to any volunteers who beat their high-school score. Before the test began on each of the three Saturdays, the students filled out a questionnaire that asked them about their fatigue level,【 C7】 _ and confidence. They completed the questionnaire again at a break in the middle of the test and once mo
5、re at the end. Together, all of these【 C8】 _ a sort of fever chart of the students energy and anxiety throughout the experience. When the researchers scored the results, it came as no surprise that volunteers fatigue and stress rose【 C9】 _ as the test got longer. What was【 C10】 _ was their correspon
6、ding performance: as the length of the test increased, so did the students scores. The average score on the three-and-a-half hour test was 1,209 out of 1,600. On the four-and-a-half-hour version it was 1,222; on the five-and-a-half-hour test it was 1,237. A) provided B) random C) outrage D) bonus E)
7、 dramatically F) recruited G) terminated H) eliminate I) consecutive J) exhaustion K) deliberate L) unexpected M) boost N) steadily O) mood 1 【 C1】 2 【 C2】 3 【 C3】 4 【 C4】 5 【 C5】 6 【 C6】 7 【 C7】 8 【 C8】 9 【 C9】 10 【 C10】 Section B 10 Trading Modernist for Mcmansion A In 1949 W. Clinton Backus and h
8、is wife hired a 43-year-old designer named Greta Magnusson Grossman to build a house in the hills of Bel Air. The Los Angeles community was well-to-do even then, but it wasnt particularly extravagant. Grossman, a Swedish Emigre (移居者 ), had achieved some fame as a trader of modem design; her furnitur
9、e was often mentioned in the same breath and sold at the same stores as Charles Eamess, George Nelsons, and Eero Saarinens a rare distinction, at the time, for a woman. B For the Backuses, Grossman designed a tasteful two-story modernist home sit on a private slope, with sharp lines, walls of glass,
10、 and far-reaching views. It was 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and 1,800 square feet 500 square feet smaller than todays average American home and it fit right in. C Not anymore. The Backus House still hovers on the same Bel Air hillside where Grossman built it. But because of the sprawling megamansions t
11、hat have sprung up around the property, and because of the increasingly overheated state of the Southern California real estate market, Grossmans elegant modernist creation one of the few surviving examples of residential architecture by an innovative woman now ranked among the finest designers of h
12、er era may not survive much longer. D Theres an irony here. Starting in the 1920s, the combination of climate, terrain, and a young, progressive community of architects and clients triggered a flowering of modern residential design in Los Angeles that culminated in the famous Case Study House Progra
13、m (1945-66) a series of experimental model homes sponsored by the local magazine Arts the garage is filled with broken boards and crushed plaster, and appliances are scattered across the yard. The buyer evidently believes that a grander, newer estate would better suit the neighborhood, which, in the
14、 decades since Davidsons time, has become home to the likes of Steven Spielberg, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. M At-risk modernist houses dont always meet such a sad fate. In April the Schairer House, designed in 1949 by the great California architect Gregory Ain for a RAND Corporation aerospace engine
15、er, went up for sale. Another posh neighborhood, another multimillion-dollar price tag. At the time, observers were certain that the Schairer House was destined for destruction. “1949 Gregory Ain in Brentwood Hits the Market for the First Time, Probably as a Teardown,“ read the headline on real esta
16、te site Curbed LA. But now, 80 days after it sold, the Schairer House is still standing and a source with knowledge of the transaction tells that the new owners have hired an architect to supervise a complete restoration. N Whether that news warms your heart or leaves you cold is a matter of perspec
17、tive and taste; not everyone loves modernist architecture. But in Los Angeles, at least, there may be more at stake than architectural fancy. The history and character of the city are reflected in each of these purebred homes. O Right now, another Gregory Ain property is up for sale: the Feldman Hou
18、se (1953) in Beverly Hills. In a perfect world, the Feldman House would survive for another 60 years or more. But even the listing agent, Joyce Rey, is worried. “I want to find someone who will restore it,“ she says. “But heres the thing: all the buyers who want to restore it cant afford it right no
19、w, and the buyers who can afford it are the ones who want to replace it with something else. Its heartbreaking.“? 11 The increasing overheat of the real estate market may contribute to the destruction of the Backus House. 12 Modern residential design was at its peak from 1940s to 1960s. 13 Grossman,
20、 a Swedish female designer, was hired to build the Backus House in the 1940s. 14 Someone said an economic decline was beneficial for the preservation of modernist houses. 15 It is believed that California is the place where modern single-family dwellings were perfected. 16 The Kingdley Residence was
21、 in its original state when it was for sale. 17 The Backus House is surrounded by luxurious houses, among which, the property behind it is the most extravagant one. 18 Unexpected by observers, about three months after the Schairer House was sold, its still standing. 19 The interior of the Kingsley R
22、esidence is quite marvelous even though the exterior may look like a farm. 20 Even agents are concerned about the problem that those who can afford the modernist houses are those that want to replace them. Section C 20 Why in an age of advanced technology, should so many people still cling to an anc
23、ient belief? In part it must be because astrology claims to tell us something about ourselves, and all of us are interested in ourselves. I think it is because astrology is presented as if it were a science by its modern practitioner, and many people are misled by this. In fact, astrology was never
24、a science. It was not a hypothesis or theory developed to describe natural phenomena, and until fairly recent times, there was not attempt to test or verify its predictions. Astrology began approximately three thousand years ago in Babylonia; it was applied to monarchs and kingdoms, but not to indiv
25、iduals. It spread in the 6th century BC as far as India, where it flourishes today. The Egyptians, meanwhile, developed their own kind of astrology. But the astrology now practiced in Europe and America is that developed by the Greeks, who synthesized the ideas of the Babylonians and Egyptians and e
26、nriched them with concepts from their own fertile imaginations. The Greeks believed that the earth was composed of four elements, and the heavens of a perfect crystalline material. The planets themselves were variously thought to be gods, residences of gods, or at least manifestations of gods. The g
27、ods were immortal, but otherwise had the same attributes of anger, happiness, jealousy, rage and pleasure as we do. Now if what the gods thought was capricious (变化无常的 ), at least the planets were predictable in their movements. Because our own lot in life is so unpredictable, it must be purely at th
28、e mercy of gods. But if the gods are the planets, or somehow associated with them, then we have only to learn the rules of the motions of the planets to understand the whims of the gods and how they shape our own lives. So the belief developed that each of our lives is preordained by the precise con
29、figuration of the planets in the sky at the time of our birth. Astrology could not, of course, have seemed as incredible to the ancients as it does to us. The role of the sun influencing our daily and yearly lives is obvious; it was a natural extension to attribute other powers to the other planets
30、as well. It wasnt until the time of Newton that we understood that the laws of Nature apply to the celestial worlds as well as to the terrestrial one. During antiquity, however, all great scholars believed in astrology. 21 Many people are misled by astrology because it is presented by the practition
31、ers as_. （ A） a theory that can describe natural phenomena （ B） a magical key to understanding themselves （ C） an ancient belief that had long been applied to monarchs （ D） a mysterious power beyond the explanation of science 22 While the Greeks developed astrology, they believed that_. （ A） the ear
32、th was made up of four elements and the heavens （ B） the heavens were made up of a material of pure crystal （ C） the ideas of the Babylonians were not imaginative （ D） their ideas would soon spread throughout Europe 23 It is implied that astrology is based on the belief that_. （ A） the gods intentio
33、ns are hard to predict （ B） the fate of our lives are unpredictable （ C） the gods are closely related to the planets （ D） the gods have the same attributes as we do 24 Which of the following is true about the scholars before the time of Newton? （ A） All of them were convinced by astrology. （ B） They
34、 didnt know the laws of Nature apply to all planets. （ C） They played important roles in the development of astrology. （ D） Most of them found astrology incredible. 25 What is the authors purpose in writing the passage? （ A） To cast doubt on the origin of astrology. （ B） To compare astrology with re
35、al sciences. （ C） To point out the popularity of astrology. （ D） To justify the incredibility of astrology. 25 Its perhaps the worlds most famous underwater attraction, immortalized in film and in legend: the Titanic. But now experts say the ocean liner, once a wonder of the high seas, is falling to
36、 pieces. Capt. Alfred McLaren, the scientist who in July led the most recent expedition to the ships underwater grave, said his team saw clear signs of the wrecks accelerating decay. There was damage likely caused by rust and sea life, and the captains cabin had collapsed. “I was absolutely astonish
37、ed,“ McLaren said. Worse still, the fallen mast that crushed the ships deck is believed by many to be the result of an unapproved salvage operation. “It was almost depressing to see how quickly she was deteriorating,“ McLaren says. “I would be really surprised if theres very much standing up from th
38、e bottom, two decades from now.“ Ed Kamuda, who runs the Titanic Historical Society in Springfield, Mass., says adventure tourists who pay $36,000 each to visit the wreck are also contributing to the crumbling of the Titanic. “This is something I expected. I just didnt expect it to happen so quickly
39、,“ Kamuda said. “People are going down just as an ego trip to say I was there. All this takes a toll on the ship.“ The Titanic has sat at the bottom of the Atlantic since it sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage on April 14, 1912. More than 1,500 people died that night. The ship came to
40、 rest at the bottom of the frigid North Atlantic, more than 2 miles beneath the waves. The wreck was discovered in 1985, and since then it has been repeatedly visited by treasure hunters. But still some scientists say those divers, and other thrill seekers are not necessarily to blame for the Titani
41、cs current woes. Capt. Craig McLean of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went on an expedition to the Titanic in June as part of a government study that is monitoring the condition of the ship. He says its unclear what part of the damage is from Mother Nature and which is from huma
42、n nature. “Its too early and there is insufficient evidence to put our fingers on anything,“ McLean said. Regardless, most agree theres little that can be done for this most famous of wrecks. And soon, the mighty Titanic could well be lost again. 26 According to Alfred McLaren, the decay of the Tita
43、nic was most probably accelerated by _. （ A） Mother Nature （ B） human nature （ C） thrill seekers （ D） adventure tourists 27 McLaren expected that in twenty years _. （ A） the wreck would be completely destroyed by unapproved treasure hunters （ B） only salvage operation with the purpose of research wo
44、uld be approved （ C） only a minor part of the wreck would remain as it is （ D） the wreck would be deteriorating at a faster speed 28 What is the tourists purpose of visiting the wreck, according to Kamuda? （ A） To help finance the preservation of the Titanic. （ B） To satisfy their curiosity and adve
45、nturousness. （ C） To better understand the history of the Titanic. （ D） To contribute to the crumbling of the Titanic. 29 Craig McLean is one of the scientists who believe _. （ A） the influence of the thrill seekers on the wreck will finally be determined （ B） the deterioration of the Titanic is not
46、 necessarily attributed to the adventure tourists （ C） the government should contribute more to the monitoring of the Titanic （ D） visitors should not be prohibited the Titanic and other famous wrecks 30 The author is most likely to agree that the future of the Titanic is _. （ A） vague （ B） controll
47、able （ C） promising （ D） discouraging 大学英语六级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 260答案与解析 Section A 【知识模块】 阅读 1 【正确答案】 J 【试题解析】 此处需填入与 nerves并列的名词。该句提到，紧张和 并不是特别重要的因素。后一句进一步说明。少许焦虑 (疲惫暂且不提 )可能有好处。nerves与下一句中的 a little anxiety对应，故空格要对应 fatigue。名词中的exhaustion“疲惫 ”符合语境。 【知识模块】 阅读 2 【正确答案】 F 【试题解析】 此处需填入谓语动词，时态上应与上文一致，为一般过去时。做
48、研究需要对象， recruited“招募，吸收 ”符合语义，指招收 239名大学新生参与研究。 【知识模块】 阅读 3 【正确答案】 I 【试题解析】 此处需填入修饰 Saturday mornings的名词、形容词或分词。此处说的是学生在三个 的星期六早上参加不同版本的 SAT推理测试，consecutive“连续的 ”代入后符合逻辑。实验一般不会在三个 “任意的 ”周六上午进行，故排除 random。 【知识模块】 阅读 4 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此处需填入修饰 order的名词、形容词或分词。为了使研究具有普遍代表性，通常会随机测试。不特意设定顺序， random“任意的，随机
49、的 ”符合语义。 【知识模块】 阅读 5 【正确答案】 M 【试题解析】 to提示此处需填入动词原形。破折号中的定语从句表明受试学生以前考过 SAT，再结合句末 “成绩超过高中分数 ”(beat their high-school score)，推知研究人员给学生设定更大的压力。 boost“增加 ”符合语义。 【知识模块】 阅读 6 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 不定冠词 a表明此处需填入可数名词单数形式，为 offered的直接宾语，间接宾语是分数更高的学生。空格前的 cash(现金 )提示 bonus“奖金 ”符合逻辑。 【知识模块】 阅读 7 【正确答案】 O 【试题解析】 此处需填入与 fatigue level和 confidence并列的名词。文章首段提到影响考试的两大因素是 anxiety和 fatigue，词库中的 mood“心情，情绪 ”可概括anxiety，符合测试受试者考试状态的语境。 【知识模块】
