1、大学英语六级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 85及答案与解析 Section C 0 Many objects in daily use have clearly been influenced by science, but their form and function, their dimensions and appearance, were determined by technologists, artisans, designers, inventors, and engineers use nonscientific modes of thought. This kind of th
2、inking way is different from science. Many features and qualities of the objects that a technologist thinks about cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with the mind by a visual, nonverbal process. In the development of Western technology, it has been non-verbal thinki
3、ng, by and large, that has fixed the outlines and filled in the details of our material surroundings. Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist not because of geometry or thermodynamics, but because they were first a picture in the minds of those who built them. The creative shaping process of a techn
4、ologist s mind can be seen in nearly every artifact that exists. For example, in designing a diesel engine, a technologist might impress individual ways of nonverbal thinking on the machine by continually using an intuitive sense of lightness and fitness. What would be the shape of the combustion ch
5、amber? Where should valves be placed? Should it have a long or short piston? Such questions have a range of answers that are supplied by experience, by physical requirements, by limitations of available space, and not least by a sense of form. Some decisions such as wall thickness and pin diameter,
6、may depend on scientific calculations, but the nonscientific component of design remains primary. Design courses, then, should be an essential element in engineering curriculum. Nonverbal thinking of a central mechanism in engineering design, involves perceptions, the stock-in-trade of the artist, n
7、ot the scientist. Because perceptive processes are not assumed to entail “hard thinking“, nonverbal thought is sometimes seen as a primitive stage in the development of cognitive Process and inferior to verbal or mathematical thought. But it is paradoxical that when the staff began the Historic Amer
8、ican. Engineering Record wished to have drawing made of machines and isometric views of industrial processes for its historical record of America engineering, the only college students with the requisite abilities were not engineering students, but rather students attending architectural schools. If
9、 courses in design, which in a strongly analytical engineering curriculum provide the background required for practical problem-solving, are not provided, we can expect to encounter silly but costly errors occurring in advanced engineering systems. For example, early models of high-speed railroad ca
10、rs loaded with sophisticated controls were unable to operate in a snowstorm because a fan sucked snow into the electrical system. Absurd random failures that plague automatic control systems are not merely trivial aberrations: they are a reflection of the chaos that results when design is assumed to
11、 be primarily a problem in mathematics. 1 What is the main idea of the first paragraph? （ A） Many objects in daily use have clearly been influenced by science. （ B） Nonscientific modes of thought are very important for material surroundings. （ C） Science is not significant for our daily supplies. （
12、D） Build a picture in your mind, then design. 2 What is the relationship between paragraph 1 and paragraph 2? （ A） Comparison and contrast. （ B） Cause and effect. （ C） The two paragraphs are paralleling. （ D） Paragraph 2 provides illustration for paragraph 1. 3 Which is not the reason that Design co
13、urses should be an essential element in engineering curriculum? （ A） Nonverbal thinking is a central mechanism in engineering design. （ B） Design courses can provide solutions to solve practical problems. （ C） Science course is not important and should be replaced by Design courses. （ D） Ignorant of
14、 Design courses may encounter silly but costly errors. 4 What can we conclude from the last paragraph? （ A） Design course can help solve practical problems. （ B） Design courses are necessary to open. （ C） Design is strongly analytical. （ D） People dont pay attention to Design courses. 5 What is the
15、authors attitude towards Design courses? （ A） Indifferent. （ B） Disapproving. （ C） Suspicious. （ D） Supporting. 5 Parenthood isnt a career-killer. The effect of parenthood is not that severe as people imagine. In fact, economists with two or more kids tend to produce more research, not less, than th
16、eir one-child or childless colleagues. But female economists in particular can pay a price in terms of productivity after becoming mothers, especially if they re young or unmarried. That s, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, a working paper(“Parenthood and Producti
17、vity of Highly Skilled Labour: Evidence from the Grove of Academe“)published this month by Matthias Krapf of the University of Zurich, Heinrich Ursprung of the University of Konstanz and Christian Zimmermann of the regional reserve bank. “There is a widespread conviction that motherhood is extremely
18、 costly in terms of professional career advancement. In particular, it is often argued that the only way for young women to make a challenging career is to remain childless,“ they wrote. “Our study of the academic labour market arrives at a somewhat less dreary picture: we do not observe a family ga
19、p in research productivity among female academic economists. Moreover, motherhood-induced decreases in research productivity are less pronounced than usually purported.“ The authors in early 2012 surveyed about 10,000 economists through the Research Papers in Economics online platform, matching the
20、academics answers with their publication records. They gauged an economist s productivity by looking at their output: published research, weighted by journal quality. Some of their findings are as follows: “Mothers of at least two children are, on average, more productive than mothers of only one ch
21、ild, and mothers in general are more productive than childless women. Fathers of at least two children are also more productive than fathers of one child and childless men. Toward the end of their careers, however, childless men appear to be somewhat more productive than fathers of one child.“ Paren
22、thood does appear linked to lower productivity while the children are 12 and younger: mothers average a 17.4% loss, while fathers average a 5% loss. A female economist with three children, on average, loses the equivalent of four years of research output by the time her kids become teenagers. Women
23、who are married or in a stable relationship “do not have any drop in research productivity in the three years following childbirth.“ For single mothers, research output drops by roughly a third over the same period. Female economists who have their first child before the age of 30 are less productiv
24、e, while “for older first-time mothers, the effect remains negative, but it is much smaller and lacks statistical significance.“ Male economists without tenure become more productive after having a child, while tenured male economists wont be more productive. There is no similar effect for female ec
25、onomists. 6 What is the relationship between the first two paragraphs? （ A） Comparison and contrast. （ B） Paragraph 2 is the illustration of paragraph 1. （ C） Cause and effect. （ D） The two paragraphs are two sides of the same topic. 7 The word “dreary“(Line 4, Para. 3)may mean_. （ A） exciting. （ B）
26、 relieved （ C） inspiring （ D） downcast 8 Which conditions as follows can lead to less productivity? （ A） Women have two children or more. （ B） Women have no children. （ C） Men have two children or more. （ D） Women with stable marriage relationship. 9 Which of the following statement is Not True? （ A
27、） Female economists can pay a price for productivity after becoming mothers. （ B） Towards retirements, childless men seem to be more productive. （ C） Female economists without tenure become more productive after having a child. （ D） Mothers productivity is lower than fathers while their children are
28、 12 and younger. 10 What is the main idea of this passage? （ A） Parenthood will kill one s career. （ B） How does having kids affect one s productivity? （ C） To be mother means less productivity. （ D） More children, lower productivity. 10 Do who choose to go on exotic, far-flung holidays deserve free
29、 health advice before they travel? And even if they pay, who ensures that they get good, up-to-date information? Who, for that matter, should collect that information in the first place? For a variety of reasons, travel medicine in Britain is a responsibility nobody wants. As a result, many travelle
30、rs go abroad prepared to avoid serious disease. Why is travel medicine so unloved? Partly there s an identity problem. Because it takes an interest in anything that impinges on the health of travellers, this emerging medical specialism invariably cuts across the traditional disciplines. It delves in
31、to everything from seasickness, jet lag and the hazards of camels to malaria and plague. But travel medicine has a more serious obstacle to overcome. Travel clinics are meant to tell people how to avoid ending up dead or in a hospital when they come home, but it is notoriously difficult to get anybo
32、dy pay out money for keeping people healthy. Travel medicine has also been colonized by commercial interests; the vast majority of travel clinics in Britain are run by airlines or travel companies. And while travel concerns are happy to sell profitable injections, they may be less keen to spread bad
33、 news about travellers diarrhea in Turkey, or to take time to spell out preventive measures travellers could take. “The NHS finds it difficult to define travellers health, says Ron Behrens, the only NHS consultant in travel and director of the travel clinic of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in L
34、ondon.“ Should it come within the NHS or should it be paid for? Its Gary area, and opinion is spilt. No one seems to have any responsibility for defining its role, he says. To compound its low status in the medical hierarchy, travel medicine has to rely on statistics that are patchy at best. In most
35、 cases we just don t know how many Britons contract diseases when abroad. And even if a disease linked to travel there is rarely any information about where those afflicted went, what they are, how they behaved, or which vaccinations they had. This shortage of hard facts and figures makes it difficu
36、lt to give detailed advice to people, information that might even save their lives. A recent leader in British Medical Journal argued. “Travel medicine will emerge as credible disciplines only if the risks encountered by travellers and the relative benefits of public health interventions are well de
37、fined in terms of their relative occurrence, distribution and control. Exactly how much money is wasted by poor travel advice. The real figure is anybody s guess, but it could easily run into millions. Behrens gives one example. Britain spends more than 1 million each year just on cholera vaccines t
38、hat often dont work and so give people a false sense of security.“ Information on the prevention and treatment of all forms of diarrhea would be a better priority, he says. 11 What can we infer from the first paragraph? （ A） Travel medicine is hard to prevail. （ B） People know little about travel me
39、dicine. （ C） People dont believe in travel medicine. （ D） Travellers can seldom get up-to-date information. 12 The phrase “delves into“(Line 3, Para. 2)can be replaced by_. （ A） refrains from （ B） holds back （ C） digs into （ D） worries about 13 Which of the following statement is not the problem of
40、travel medicine? （ A） Traditional disciplines are not enough for travel medicine. （ B） Travel medicine has been colonized by commercial interests. （ C） The statistics about travellers are hard to obtain. （ D） People spend much money on poor travel advice. 14 What does the author mean by saying “., b
41、ut it is notoriously difficult to get anybody pay out money for keeping people healthy.“(Para. 2)? （ A） People don t pay attention to their health. （ B） Few people are willing to support travel medicine. （ C） Most travellers firmly believe that they will be safe. （ D） Health comes last compared with
42、 others. 15 What can we conclude from the last paragraph? （ A） Travel advices are not important. （ B） Travel medicine is hard to be credible. （ C） How to prevent and treat disease can actually help travel medicine popularize. （ D） People haven t realized the importance of travel medicine. 15 Exercis
43、e is good for you. But most people really know very little about how to exercise. Look at the following true-false tests. You will be surprised! The best way to reduce the mid-section is to do abdominal exercise. False. Many people believe that when specific muscles are exercised, the fatty tissues
44、in the immediate area are “burned up“. The truth is that exercise burns fat from all over the body and not from one specific area, regardless of the type of exercise. Of course, if you reduce the fat throughout your body, you will certainly see results around your waistline too! To maintain an adequ
45、ate level of physical fitness, you need to exercise only twice a week. False. Studies conducted by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, show that unexercised muscles lose their strength very quickly. After 48 to 72 hours, you must use the muscles again to re-establish the good ph
46、ysical effects. To lose weight you should always “work up a good sweat“ when exercising. False. Sweating only lowers body temperature to prevent overheating; it does not help you reduce. You may weigh less immediate after a workout, but this is due to water loss. Once you replace the liquid, you rep
47、lace the weight. You burn more calories jogging one mile than walking the same distance. False. You use the same amount of energy whether you walk or jog the mile, since in both cases you are moving the same weight the same distance. The speed doesnt matter. Of course, if you jog rather than walk fo
48、r 30 minutes, youll cover more distance, and therefore burn more calories. If your breathing doesnt return to normal within minutes after you finish exercising, you ve exercised too much. True. Five minutes or so after exercising, your breathing should be normal, your heart shouldnt be pounding, and
49、 you shouldnt be exhausted. Beneficial exercise is not overly difficult, unpleasant, and refreshing. Walking is one of the best exercises. True. Walking helps circulation of blood through-out the body, and thus has a direct effect on your overall feeling. Vigorous stretching exercises keep muscles flexible. False. Stretching exercises(for example: twisting or bending at the waist, touching your toes)should be done slowly, allowing the muscles to relax and “let go“. Vigorous stretching makes the muscles tighter. The minimum amount of time you
