1、大学英语六级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 44及答案与解析 Section C 0 One question that worries many visitors to , a website devoted to the delights and difficulties of life with a hidden gun, is whether their “concealed-carry“ permits will be valid outside the state in which they are issued. Can they take their guns on holiday
2、with them? Can they pack them in their checked bags for a flight? What if their plane is diverted to a spot like New York, which makes it exceedingly difficult to carry a gun? And if they cannot bring their guns with them, how will they defend themselves and their loved ones when threatened? Gun-rig
3、hts activists have a simple solution: require all states to honour one another s concealed-carry permits. There is no reason to suppose, says Andrew Arulanandam of the National Rifle Association(NRA), that a person considered fit to carry a gun in one state would suddenly become a menace to society
4、on entering another. The House of Representatives agrees: earlier this month it approved a bill that would make one state s permit valid in any other, with the exception of Illinois and the District of Columbia, both of which do not allow concealed weapons at all. Opponents of the measure, including
5、 the mayors and police chiefs of many big cities, say it will allow people to avoid local rules about who can obtain a concealed-weapon permit. Many states require permit-holders to undergo safety training, for example, or deny permits to alcoholics; others do not. Four states Alaska, Arizona, Vermo
6、nt and Wyoming do not require a permit at all, although three of them do helpfully issue them for use outside the state. The question of which states have the cheapest and easiest-to-obtain permits is another popular topic on . It will fall to the Senate to decide. John Thune, a Republican from Sout
7、h Dakota, says he is working on getting concealed carry through the chamber. He was also the leader of the last attempt, in 2009, that fell just two votes short of approval. Conditions look more favourable now. Several of the Democrats who voted against it then have since been replaced by Republican
8、s, who tend to be keener on gun rights. Others, such as Claire McCaskill of Missouri, are facing difficult re-election battles in gun-friendly states. Even Barack Obama, the monster of gun-rights groups, has wavered on the subject of concealed carry. He claimed to oppose it as a candidate, but then
9、signed a law permitting it in national parks in 2009. Mr. Obama, facing a difficult re-election battle of his own, would probably prefer not to offend anyone by taking either side this time. Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, could well grant him his wish, by preventing
10、 the subject from coming to a vote. 1 What is about? （ A） About alcoholics. （ B） Gun-rights. （ C） Delights and difficulties of life with a hidden gun. （ D） Concealed-carry permits. 2 Which of the following states do not require a permit? （ A） Alaska. （ B） Illinois. （ C） District of Columbia. （ D） N
11、ew York. 3 Why some people oppose the measure of requiring all states to honour concealed-carry permits? （ A） It will allow people to avoid local rules about who can obtain a concealed-weapon permit. （ B） It will promote more people carry concealed weapons. （ C） It will make work difficult for mayor
12、s and police chiefs of many big cities. （ D） It may allow alcoholics and other dangerous people to carry guns. 4 Whats Obama s attitude towards the issue? （ A） Totally oppose it. （ B） Support it. （ C） Not mentioned. （ D） Don t take any side. 5 Which title suits the passage best? （ A） Should All Stat
13、es Honor Concealed-weapon Permits? （ B） Can Alcoholics Carry Concealed Weapons? （ C） Difficulties of Carrying Guns. （ D） Different Attitudes Toward Concealed Weapons. 5 It is not, by any means, the worlds oldest company. There are Japanese hotels dating back to the 8th century, German breweries that
14、 hail from the 11th and an Italian bank with roots in the 15th. What is unusual about IBM, which celebrates its 100th birthday next week, is that it has been so successful for so long in the fast-moving field of technology. How has it done it? IBM s secret is that it is built around an idea that tra
15、nscends any particular product or technology. Its strategy is to package technology for use by businesses. At first this meant making punch-card tabulators(卡片穿孔机 ), but IBM moved on to magnetic-tape systems, PCs, and most recently services and consulting. Building a company around an idea, rather th
16、an a specific technology, makes it easier to adapt when industry “platform shifts“ occur. True, IBM s longevity is also due, in part, to dumb luck. It almost collapsed early on because its bosses were hesitant to abandon punch cards. And it had a near-death experience in 1993 before Lou Gerstner rea
17、lized that the best way to package technology for use by businesses was to focus on services. An elegant organising idea is no use if a company cannot come up with good products or services, or if it has clueless bosses. But on the basis of this simple formula that a company should focus on an idea,
18、 rather than a technology with which todays young tech giants can live for 100 years? The most obvious example is Apple(founded in 1976). Like IBM, it had a near-death experience in the 1990s, and it is dangerously dependent on its founder, Steve Jobs. But it has a powerful organising idea: take the
19、 latest technology, package it in a simple, elegant form and sell it at a high price. Apple has done this with personal computers, music players, smartphones and tablet computers. Apple has already shifted from PCs to mobile devices. The animating idea of Amazon(founded in 1994)is to make it easy fo
20、r people to buy stuff. It began by doing this for books, but has since applied the same idea to other products: music, groceries, even computing power and storage. Consider, by contrast, three product-based firms. Dell(founded in 1984)made its name building PCs more efficiently than anyone else and
21、selling them direct to consumers. That model does not neatly transfer to other products. Microsoft(1975)is hugely dependent on Windows, which is its answer to everything. But software for a PC may not be the best choice to run inside a phone or a car. All these firms are linked to specific products,
22、 not deeper philosophies, and are having trouble navigating technological shifts. 6 Why IBM has been so successful for so long in the fast-moving field of technology? （ A） Its advanced products. （ B） It is built around an idea. （ C） Making it easy for people to buy stuff. （ D） Contracts from the gov
23、ernment. 7 What s Apple s organizing idea? （ A） Package technology for use. （ B） Focusing on services. （ C） Good products and service. （ D） Take the latest technology, package it in a simple, elegant form and sell it at a high price. 8 What s the problem with Microsoft in the writer s eyes? （ A） It
24、s software cannot fit in cars or smartphones. （ B） It depends on products rather than deeper philosophies. （ C） It fails to keep up with the changing world. （ D） It s service is not so well as it used to be. 9 What s the similarities between Amazon and Apple according to the passage? （ A） Selling pr
25、oducts online. （ B） Making computers. （ C） Having a powerful organizing idea. （ D） Selling smartphones. 10 Which of the following adjectives best describe the authors attitude towards IBM? （ A） Objective. （ B） Approving. （ C） Sympathetic. （ D） despising. 10 No mater what, the “content-should-be-free
26、“ crowd says, copyright theft robs artists and businesses of their livelihoods. Creative industries employ millions of people in the advanced world . The damage may be less than the annual $135 billion that the entertainment and publishing industries claim. These firms could change their business mo
27、dels to reduce the pirates profits, especially in countries where an album costs a days wages. But mispricing does not justify crime. So far, attempts to stop online piracy have largely failed. Lawsuits did shut down file-sharing services such as Napster and Grokster, but others have taken their pla
28、ce such as Pirate Bay and the new “cyberlockers“. Congress is now considering the Stop Online Piracy Act(SOPA)which would let copyright-holders take action against the intermediaries such as payment services, search engines, and internet service providers(ISPs) that supply money and traffic to pirat
29、e sites. If the intermediaries do not cut these sites off, they will face lawsuits. In principle, the move is a good one. Content companies need more effective legal methods against piracy. And the thrust of the bill is sensible. Search engines direct users to pirated content and make money from the
30、 ads that appear next to the search results. The threat of lawsuits might encourage them to do much more to ensure that a search only brings up legitimate online music services. And putting the burden of enforcement on the private sector has advantages: the victimized party will have a better idea t
31、han the state whether a copyright infringement is worth pursuing. But the bill has problems too. The loose definition of infringement in SOPA could include sites that unwittingly carry comments linking to pirated material. It could discourage people from setting up new sites allowing users to post t
32、hings. Large firms can cope with the extra bother, but the fear of lawsuits could stifle smaller companies and start-ups. A second big defect is that SOPA obliges ISPs to put filters in place to prevent their customers reaching pirate websites easily. That risks damaging the internets vital internal
33、 addressing system, which lets people use words instead of numbers to access websites. And the bill s vague wording leaves open the possibility that American ISPs might have to set up more intrusive forms of filtering, with the costs, performance problems and privacy issues that would inevitably cau
34、se. Yet SOPAs flaws are not, as its opponents claim, fatal. The bill should be improved and tightened by defining more narrowly the kinds of websites that intermediaries can be asked to block to ensure that it makes life harder for pirates without damaging the internet or imposing unreasonable costs
35、 on the law-abiding. 11 What s Stop Online Piracy Act mainly about? （ A） It would let copyright-holders take action against the intermediaries. （ B） It prohibit people download songs from the Internet without paying it. （ C） It aims to protect people s rights. （ D） It aims to stop illegal websites.
36、12 Which of the following is not among the defects of SOPA? （ A） Putting the burden of enforcement on the private sector. （ B） The loose definition of infringement in SOPA. （ C） Obliging ISPs to put filters in place to prevent their customers reaching pirate websites easily. （ D） The bill s vague wo
37、rding 13 According to the passage, how can we improve the SOPA? （ A） Letting people use words instead of numbers to access websites. （ B） Allowing people to download from legal websites. （ C） Defining more narrowly the kinds of websites that intermediaries can be asked to block. （ D） Offering a clea
38、r definition of infringement. 14 What s the author s attitude towards the SOPA? （ A） Supporting. （ B） Opposing. （ C） Neutral. （ D） Not clear. 15 What s the topic of the passage? （ A） The spread of illegal websites. （ B） Online piracy. （ C） Content-should-be-free. （ D） Stop Online Piracy Act. 15 As f
39、ans enjoy footballs(soccers)month-long World Cup, Brazilian authorities are pleased over the boost they say the tournament is giving the countrys economy. However, independent analysts who study such events are less enthusiastic. The 2014 World Cup has injected an estimated $15 billion into the Braz
40、ilian economy and created many jobs. Regarding the human legacy, the numbers are extraordinary: the creation of one million jobs in the country due to this great event, one million jobs or 15 percent of all the jobs created this year in Brazil. The government has invested $11 billion in stadiums and
41、 infrastructure and another $2 billion in security. It is expected to spend billions more preparing for the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. But an analyst who studies such great events, Architecture and Urbanism Professor at Rio de Janeiro s Fluminense Federal University, Chris Gaffney, believes these fi
42、gures are exaggerated. “I dont think that theyve invested enough money to create those kinds of permanent jobs. In the scale of the Brazilian economy, we re not looking at that much money being invested. Its 30 billion dollars invested in a $1 trillion economy.“ Another expert, Lisa Delpy Neirotti o
43、f George Washington University s business school in the United States, says the real economic benefits of such events are less tangible and more long-term. “Theres a lot of transfer of knowledge,“ she said. “People are learning more about hospitality. Theres also the broadcast center where theyre be
44、ing trained in how to use technology. And so I think it s in the media sector, a lot in the hospitality industry and also in licensing and merchandizing, retail.“ She said. “Yes, there s been a lot of money spent here but we have to realize that the infrastructure that theyve built up around the Wor
45、ld Cup is something that will last and it stays in the country.“ Other analysts say the Cup may help the Brazilian economy but it also boosts inflation and public debt. Less than half of the Brazilians in a recent poll believed that hosting the Cup was a good idea. And there have been many demonstra
46、tions against the Cup, though they have declined since the tournament began. Nevertheless, many Brazilians are proud to host the World Cup and the 600,000 foreign visitors it brings. The hope is that they will spread the good word about Brazil when they return home. 16 According to the passage why i
47、s Brazilian government so pleased with the World Cup? （ A） It will spread the good word about Brazil. （ B） It will enhance Brazil s international status. （ C） It has boosted its economy. （ D） It has created many jobs. 17 Which of the following can not be inferred from “independent analysts who study
48、 such events are less enthusiastic“(Para.l)? （ A） They dont trust the authorities words. （ B） The tournament is not a good thing for Brazil. （ C） The tournament does not bring such a boost as the authorities thought. （ D） The tournament also has some negative influence. 18 Why Chris Gaffhey believes
49、 these figures are exaggerated? （ A） The tournament cannot produce so many jobs in such short time. （ B） Because the economic benefits of such events are less tangible and more long-term. （ C） Because it is hard to estimate the actual money spent on it. （ D） Given the scale of Brazilian economy, they cannot invest enough money to create so many permanent jobs. 19 The examples of hospitality and infrastructure proves that_. （ A） the benefits of such events are long-term and
