1、大学英语六级模拟试卷 40及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to your parents. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below in Chinese: 1告诉父母你决定毕业后去西部发展 2说明你做此决定的原因 3希望父母给予理解和支持 A Letter to Parents 二、 Part II Reading Compreh
2、ension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions attached to the passage. For questions 1-4, mark： Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage; N (for NO) if the st
3、atement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 2 Maglev Trains If youve been to an airport lately, youve probably noticed that air travel is becoming more and more congested. Despite frequent delays, airplanes still provid
4、e the fastest way to travel hundreds or thousands of miles. Passenger air travel revolutionized the transportation industry in the last century, letting people traverse great distances in a matter of hours instead of days or weeks. The only alternatives to airplanes feet, ears, buses, boats and conv
5、entional trainsare just too slow for todays fast-paced society. However, there is a new form of transportation that could revolutionize transportation of the 21st century the way airplanes did in the 20th century. A few countries are using powerful electromagnets to develop high-speed trains, called
6、 maglev trains. Maglev is short for magnetic levitation, which means that these trains will float over a guideway using the basic principles of magnets to replace the old steel wheel and track trains. In this article, you will learn how electromagnetic propulsion(电磁推进 ) works, how three specific typ
7、es of maglev trains work and where you can ride one of these trains. Electromagnetic Suspension(EMS) If youve ever played with magnets, you know that opposite poles attract and like poles repel each other. This is the basic principle behind electromagnetic propulsion. Electromagnets are similar to o
8、ther magnets in that they attract metal objects, but the magnetic pull is temporary. As you can read about in How Electromagnets Work, you can easily create a small electromagnet yourself by connecting the ends of a copper wire to the positive and negative ends of an AA, C or D-cell battery. This cr
9、eates a small magnetic field. If you disconnect either end of the wire from the battery, the magnetic field is taken away. The magnetic field created in this wire-and-battery experiment is the simple idea behind a maglev train rail system. There are three components to this system: - A large electri
10、cal power source - Metal coils lining a guideway or track - Large guidance magnets attached to the underside of the train The big difference between a maglev train and a conventional train is that maglev trains do not have an engine at least not the kind of engine used to pull typical train cars alo
11、ng steel tracks. The engine for maglev trains is rather unnoticeable. Instead of using fossil fuels, the magnetic field created by the electrified coils in the guideway walls and the track combine to propel the train. Maglev trains float on a cushion of air, eliminating friction. This lack of fricti
12、on and the trains aerodynamic(空气动力学的 ) designs allow these trains to reach unprecedented ground transportation speeds of more than 310 mph(500 kph), or twice as fast as Amtraks fastest commuter train. In comparison, a Boeing-777 commercial airplane used for long-range flights can reach a top speed o
13、f about 562 mph (905 kph). Developers say that maglev trains will eventually link cities that are up to 1,000 miles (1,609 kin) apart. At 310 mph, you could travel from Paris to Rome in just over two hours. Electrodynamic Suspension (EDS) Japanese engineers are developing a competing version of magl
14、ev trains that use an electro- dynamic suspension (EDS) system, which is based on the repelling force of magnets. The key difference between Japanese and German maglev trains is that the Japanese trains use super-cooled, superconducting electromagnets. This kind of electromagnet can conduct electric
15、ity even after the power supply has been shut off. In the EMS system, which uses standard electromagnets, the coils only conduct electricity when a power supply is present. By chilling the coils at frigid temperatures, Japans system saves energy. However, the cryogenic(低温学的 ) system used to cool the
16、 coils can be expensive. Another difference between the systems is that the Japanese trains levitate nearly 4 inches (10 cm) above the guideway. One potential drawback in using the EDS system is that maglev trains must roll on rubber tires until they reach a liftoff speed of about 62 mph (100 kph).
17、Japanese engineers say the wheels are an advantage if a power failure caused a shutdown of the system. Germanys Transrapid train is equipped with an emergency battery power supply Also, passengers with pacemakers(心脏起搏器 ) would have to be shielded from the magnetic fields generated by the superconduc
18、ting electromagnets. The Inductrack is a newer type of EDS that uses permanent room-temperature magnets to produce the magnetic fields instead of powered electromagnets or cooled superconducting magnets. Inductrack uses a power source to accelerate the train only until it begins to levitate. If the
19、power fails, the train can slow down gradually and stop on its auxiliary wheels. The track is actually an array of electrically-shorted circuits containing insulated wire. In one design, these circuits are aligned like rungs in a ladder. As the train moves, a magnetic field then repels the magnets,
20、causing the train to levitate. There are two Inductrack designs: Inductrack and Inductrack . Inductrack is designed for high speeds, while lnductrack is suited for slow speeds. Inductrack trains could levitate higher with greater stability. As long as its moving a few miles per hour, an Inductrack t
21、rain will levitate nearly an inch (25 cm) above the track. A greater gap above the track means that the train would not require complex sensing systems to maintain stability. Permanent magnets had not been used before because scientists thought that they would not create enough levitating force. The
22、 Inductrack design bypasses this problem by arranging the magnets in a Halbach array. The magnets are specially designed so that the intensity of the magnetic field concentrates above the array instead of below it. They are made from a newer material comprising a certain kind of alloy, which generat
23、es a higher magnetic field. The Inductrack design incorporates two Halbach arrays to generate a stronger magnetic field at lower speeds. Dr. Richard Post at the Livermore National Laboratory in California came up with this concept in response to safety and cost concerns. The prototype tests caught t
24、he attention of NASA, which awarded a contract to Dr. Post and his team to explore the possibility of using the Inductrack system to launch satellites into orbit. Maglev Technology in Use While maglev transportation was first proposed more than a century ago, the first commercial maglev train made i
25、ts test debut in Shanghai, China, in 2002, using the train developed by German company Transrapid International. The same line made its first open-to-the-public commercial run about a year later in December of 2003, The Shanghai Transrapid line currently runs to and from the longyang Road station at
26、 the citys center and Pudong Airport. Traveling at an average speed of 267 mph (430 kph), the 19 mile (30 km) journey takes less than 10 minutes on the maglev train as opposed to an hour-long taxi ride. China is building an extension of the Shanghai line that will run 99 miles (160 km) to Hangzhou.
27、Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2006 and should be completed by the 2010 Shanghai Expo. This line will be the first maglev rail line to run between two cities. Several other countries have plans to build their own maglev trains, but the Shanghai airport line remains the only commercial ma
28、glev line. U.S. cities from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh have had maglev line plans in the works, but the expense of building a maglev transportation system has been prohibitive. The administration at Old Dominion University in Virginia had hoped to have a super shuttle zipping students back and forth
29、across campus starting back in the fall semester of 2002, but the train remains motionless while research continues. 2 Maglev trains are comparable to airplanes in revolutionizing the transportation. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 Germany and Japan are the two pioneers in the researches and experiments of
30、maglev trains. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 Electromagnets are not exactly the same as other magnets because the magnetic pull of electromagnets is not permanent. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 The engine for maglev trains is used to pull train cars along steel tracks. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 Maglev trains can
31、run extremely fast partly because they are free from friction by floating on _. 7 Japanese maglev trains are different from German ones primarily in _. 8 The EDS system is not perfect in that the maglev trains must _ before leaving the ground. 9 By using the Inductrack, the train will slow down and
32、finally rest on _ when the power is off. 10 The Inductrack design can produce a very strong magnetic field even when the train runs more slowly by _. 11 The maglev line plan from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh has been suspended because of its high _. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear
33、8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices mark
34、ed A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer. （ A） Ask for an extension in the ticket date. （ B） Go get the passport issued immediately. （ C） Apply for a faster process to get a passport. （ D） Book a ticket before getting the passport issued. （ A） The author isnt an expert in economics. （ B
35、） She has a better theory about the economy. （ C） She isnt sure that the authors ideas would work. （ D） The author spends too much time arguing about details. （ A） The stories probably werent true. （ B） Tom doesnt usually tell funny stories. （ C） Shes surprised Tom was so serious last night. （ D） Sh
36、e wants to know where Tom heard the stories. （ A） Because she is not interested in the topic. （ B） Because her room is too little to agree to it. （ C） Because she didnt have enough time for it. （ D） Because she doesnt have enough money to attend it, （ A） Hes maybe too weak to adjust. （ B） He is bein
37、g stressed by the man. （ C） He will learn to hang his clothes in another week. （ D） He should get better the next week. （ A） She took a history class last year. （ B） She doesnt trust the mans opinion. （ C） She didnt like her sociology professor. （ D） She probably wont take any history classes. （ A）
38、He hopes the woman likes modern art. （ B） He really appreciates the womans gifts. （ C） The modern art prints are too expensive. （ D） People who enjoy modern art would like the prints. （ A） Speak to his previous employer. （ B） Get a job working on campus. （ C） Attend the career services workshop. （ D
39、） Get a job application from him. （ A） In his last week public relation class. （ B） In his last week literature class. （ C） In his last week history class. （ D） In his last week maths class. （ A） In 621. （ B） In 1621. （ C） In 1631. （ D） In 1641. （ A） They were religious people from New England. （ B）
40、 They were religious people from America. （ C） They were religi6us people from England. （ D） They were ethnic people from England. （ A） A class assignment. （ B） A journalism class. （ C） The womans job. （ D） The mans work experience. （ A） Choosing journalism as a career. （ B） Peoples reactions to a s
41、chool play. （ C） How to take good photographs. （ D） The experiences of the director of a school play. （ A） News writer. （ B） Director of a play. （ C） Photographer. （ D） Newspaper editor. （ A） Make copies of her article. （ B） Write an essay for a literature class. （ C） Take the man to a play. （ D） In
42、troduce the man to her coworkers. Section B Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four cho
43、ices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） The US should catch up to European environmental standards. （ B） American exporters must adapt to new regulations in Europe. （ C） The US should be more sensitive to environmental issues. （ D） The EUs new regulations are a burden. （ A） Their packaging of exports have t
44、o conform to EU regulations. （ B） They have to cut out waste completely. （ C） They must have an experienced distributor. （ D） They will see expensive rise. （ A） It will allow fewer trees to be cut. （ B） It will require less labor costs. （ C） It saves some shipping costs. （ D） It will make them more
45、competition. （ A） Factors that affect the ability to memorize （ B） The influence of childhood memories on adulthood. （ C） A proposal for future psychological research. （ D） Benefits of a busy lifestyle. （ A） The need to exercise the memory. （ B） How the brain differs from other body tissues. （ C） Th
46、e unconscious learning of a physical activity. （ D） How nerves control body movement. （ A） Repeat it aloud. （ B） Write it down. （ C） Make a mental picture of it. （ D） Practice recalling it. （ A） Protecting buyers of paintings. （ B） Why copies of famous paintings are made. （ C） How paintings are sold
47、 in the United States. （ D） Protecting artists from others illegal use of their work. （ A） After the artwork is reviewed by lawyers. （ B） After all documents are filed. （ C） When the artist first gets an idea. （ D） When the moment of the work of art is finished. （ A） The buyer has the right to repri
48、nt it. （ B） The buyer is allowed to change it. （ C） The artist continues to hold the copyright for it. （ D） The artist must report the sale to the United States Copyright Office. （ A） The original work of art increases in value. （ B） An artist has greater legal protection. （ C） Artists can sell thei
49、r work abroad. （ D） Artists are allowed to make changes in their own works. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing inform
