1、大学英语六级模拟试卷 483及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Obtain the Information Online. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below: 1. 随着网络的发 展，我们可以轻而易举地从网络上获取各种信息 2.如此便捷地获取信息有利也有弊 3.你的看法 Ob
2、tain the Information Online 二、 Part II Reading Comprehension (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
3、information given in the passage; N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 1 Part Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the pa
4、ssage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage. Earth Will Survive Global Warming, But Will We? The notion that hu
5、man activity, or the activity of any organism, can affect Earth on a planetary scale is still a hard one for many people to swallow. And it is this kind of disbelief that fuels much of the public skepticism surrounding global warming. A poll conducted last summer by the Pew Research Center found tha
6、t only 41 percent of Americans believe the burning of fossil fuels causes global warming. But in a meeting this week in Paris, officials from 113 nations have agreed that a highly anticipated international report will state that global warming was “very likely“ caused by human activity. The idea tha
7、t biology can alter the planet in broad and dramatic ways is widely accepted among scientists, and they point to several precedents throughout the history of life. The mighty microbes Human-caused global warming-also called “anthropogenic“ global warming-is the latest example of life altering Earth,
8、 but it is not the most dramatic. That title probably goes to the oxygenation of Earths early atmosphere by ancient microbes as they began to harness the power of sunlight through photosynthesis(光合作用 ). Humans “are having a strong effect on global geochemical cycles, but it does not compare at all t
9、o the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis,“ said Katrina Edwards, a geo-microbiologist at the University of Southern California (USC). “That was a catastrophic environmental change that occurred before 2.2 billion years ago which wreaked its full wrath on the Earth system.“ Edwards studies another way
10、 life impacts the planet in largely unseen ways. She focuses on how microbes living on the dark ocean floor transform minerals through a kind of underwater power. “These microbes are completely off radar in terms of global biogeochemical cycles,“ Edwards told Live-Science.“ We dont consider them as
11、part of the Earth system right now in our calculation about whats going on, and we dont consider them in terms of how the Earth system will move forward into the future.“ These reactions are strongly influenced by life and have been occurring for billions of years, for as long as the oceans have bee
12、n oxygenated and there have been microbes inhabiting the seafloor, Edwards said. Creating Earth On land, microbes, and in particular a form of bacteria called cyanobacteria (固氮蓝藻 ), help keep soil in place and suppress dust. “Wed certainly have more dust storms and it would not be anywhere as nice o
13、n Earth if they werent around,“ said Jayne Belnap, a researcher with the United States Geological Survey. Scientists believe the tiny life-forms performed the same roles on early Earth. “One of the big problems for geologists is that, OK, you have this big ball of rock, the soil is weathering out an
14、d you have these ferocious winds. What in the world is holding the soil in place as it weathers out of the rocks?“ Belnap said in a telephone interview. “Cyanobacteria are also credited with that function.“ The microbes anchored soil to the ground; this created habitats for land plants to evolve and
15、 eventually for us to evolve. “They literally created Earth in a sense,“ Belnap said. “Cyanobacteria are just like it,“ she continued. “Ive been telling everybody to make a small altar and offer sacrifices every night. We owe them everything.“ A snowball planet The mighty microbes also triggered sud
16、den climatic shifts similar to what humans are doing now. Recent studies suggest that the proliferation of cyanobacteria 2.3 billion years ago led to a sudden ice age and the creation of a “Snowball Earth.“ As they carry out photosynthesis, cyanobacteria break apart water and release oxygen as a was
17、te product. Oxygen is one of the most reactive elements around, and its release into the atmosphere in large amounts destroyed methane (沼气 ),a greenhouse gas that absorbed the suns energy and helped keep our planet warm. Some scientists think the disappearance of this methane blanket plunged the pla
18、net into a cold spell so severe that Earths equator was covered by a mile-thick layer of ice. Earth might still be frozen today if not for the appearance of new life forms. As organisms evolved, many developed the ability to breathe oxygen. In the process, they exhaled another greenhouse gas, Carbon
19、 dioxide, which eventually ice-out the world. That was the first biologically triggered ice age, but others followed, said Richard Kopp, a Caltech researcher who helped piece together the Snowball Earth scenario. A new leaf When trees first appeared about 380 million years ago, they also disturbed E
20、arths atmospheric balance. Unlike animals, plants breathe in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. Trees transform some of that atmospheric carbon into lignin (木质素 )-the major constituent of wood and one of the most abundant proteins on the planet. Lignin is resistant to decay, so when a tree dies, much
21、of its carbon becomes buried instead of released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere thins the blanket of gases that keeps Earth warm, and that cooling effect can trigger global cooling, possibly even an ice age. “There was some glaciation that started a
22、round that period that was driven at least in part by the evolution of land plants,“ Kopp said in a telephone interview. Trees also affected the global carbon cycle in another indirect way. As they tunnel through the ground, tree roots break down silicate rocks into sediment and soil. Silicate rock
23、contains large amounts of calcium and magnesium (镁 ). When these elements are exposed to air, they react with atmospheric carbon dioxide to form calcium carbonate (碳酸盐 ) and magnesium carbonate, compounds that are widespread on Earth. The human difference Though it might seem as if humans are mere f
24、leas along for a ride on the back of an immense animal called Earth, our intelligence, technology and sheer numbers mean our species packs a punch that can shake the world in wild ways. While we are not the first species to drastically alter our planet, our influence is unique in a number of ways, s
25、cientists say. For one thing, humans have developed large-scale industry, said Spencer Weart, a science historian at the American Institute of Physics. “We are capable of mobilizing things beyond our own biology,“ Weart said. “I emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide, but my automobile emits far mo
26、re.“ Another is the rate at which humans are warming Earth. “Humans are the most common large animal to ever walk the planet,“ said Kirk Johnson, a chief curator at the Denver Museum of Nature the rest were mere blinds. In this task, a participant received an electric shock and was asked to evaluate
27、 the experience on a scale ranging from one (not at all uncomfortable) to seven (extremely uncomfortable). During each trial, the participant saw a computer screen which displayed two potential tasks for that session. When assessing discomfort was one of these, the other was always evaluating the re
28、lative pitches of two tones. In this, as in the other trials, the participant was told that his partner in the next room would select which task he had to complete. In fact, participants received an electric shock whenever assessment discomfort was one of the options displayed. But how they thought
29、it had been administered had a crucial effect on their sense of pain. Half the time, the participants were told that their partner had chosen to shock them. The other half they were told that their partner had chosen not to shock them, but that the experimental plan meant this decision had been reve
30、rsed. On the one-to-seven scale that Dr. Gray and Dr. Wagner asked the participants to use to assess their pain, the students rated the strength of shocks they thought had been intentionally administered at 3.62, on average; those they thought unintentional averaged 3.00. The researchers also found
31、the apparently unintentional shocks hurt progressively less as the experiment went on, whereas those perceived as deliberate continued to hurt as much. It would seem, therefore, that malice not only carries a sting of its own. Compared with accidental pain, the sting also lasts longer. 58 What is th
32、e main purpose for Dr. Gray and Dr. Wegner to conduct the experiment? （ A） To study whether the deliberate hurt hurts more. （ B） To let people know deliberately hurting people is evil. （ C） To study the phenomenon of stepping on people. （ D） To offer students academic credits. 59 What does the autho
33、r tell us about the experiment by Dr. Gray and Dr. Wagner? （ A） Participants are arranged to step on each others toe. （ B） The study partner is actually the assistant for the researchers. （ C） The participants know beforehand researchers intention. （ D） Participants have to complete exactly the same
34、 task Simultaneously. 60 With the experiment going on, the two researchers find that _. （ A） student participants hurt less and less after suffering the unintentional shocks （ B） student participants hurt more and more after suffering the unintentional shocks （ C） student participants hurt more and
35、more after suffering the Perceived deliberate shocks （ D） student participants hurt less and less after suffering the perceived deliberate shocks 61 What kind of information can we get after reading the whole passage? （ A） 43 students were divided into experiment group and control group. （ B） Studen
36、ts had to do many tasks in a series of trials. （ C） Six scales of uncomfortableness is classified in the experiment. （ D） Half the time participants are not shocked by the partner. 62 What kind of conclusion can we get from the experiment? （ A） Being exposed to an accidental pain is not a big deal.
37、（ B） What hurts people more is the malicious intent. （ C） Accidental pain by no means hurts people more. （ D） Malicious intent only hurts people physically. 三、 Part V Cloze (15 minutes) Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A, B, C and
38、 D. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. 62 Mass transportation revised the social and economic fabric of the American city in three fundamental ways. It speeded up physical expansion, it sorted out people and land uses, and it【 C1】 _ the inherent instability of urban life. By
39、opening vast areas of unoccupied land for residential expansion, the buses,【 C2】 _ , commuter trains, and electric trolleys pulled settled regions outward two to four times more【 C3】 _ from city centers than they were in the pre-modern era. In 1850, for example, the borders of Boston lay【 C4】 _ two
40、miles from the old business district; by the turn of the century the【 C5】 _ ex tended ten miles. Now those who could afford it could live far removed from the old city center and still【 C6】 _ there for work, shopping, and【 C7】 _ The new accessibility of land around the periphery (外围 ) of almost ever
41、y, major city【 C8】 _ an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now【 C9】 _ as urban sprawl (城市蔓延 ). Between 1890 and 1920, for example, some 250,000 new【 C10】 _ lots were recorded within the borders of Chicago,【 C11】 _ of them located in outlying areas. Over the same period, another
42、550,000 were plotted outside the city limits【 C12】 _ within the metropolitan area. Anxious to take【 C13】 _ of the possibilities of commuting, real estate developers added 800,000 potential building sites to the Chicago region in just thirty years lots that could have housed five to six million peopl
43、e. Of course, many were never【 C14】 _ ; there was always a huge surplus of subdivided, but vacant, land around Chicago and other cities. These【 C15】 _ pre sent a feature of residential expansion【 C16】 _ to the growth of mass transportation: urban sprawl was【 C17】 _ unplanned. It was carried out by t
44、housands of small investors who paid little care to coordinated land use or to future land users. Those who purchased and prepared land for residential purposes, particularly land near or outside city borders【 C18】 _ transit lines and middle-class inhabitants were anticipated, did so to create deman
45、d【 C19】 _ much as to respond to it. Chicago is a prime example of this【 C20】 _ . Real estate subdivision there proceeded much faster than population growth. 63 【 C1】 （ A） mobilized （ B） terminated （ C） facilitated （ D） accelerated 64 【 C2】 （ A） vessels （ B） aviation （ C） railways （ D） phones 65 【 C3
46、】 （ A） distant （ B） separated （ C） scattered （ D） isolated 66 【 C4】 （ A） scarcely （ B） almost （ C） nearly （ D） even 67 【 C5】 （ A） spot （ B） radius （ C） circle （ D） gauge 68 【 C6】 （ A） transport （ B） walk （ C） commute （ D） cycle 69 【 C7】 （ A） exploration （ B） entrainment （ C） travel （ D） communicatio
47、n 70 【 C8】 （ A） described （ B） sparked （ C） reinforced （ D） extinguished 71 【 C9】 （ A） reward （ B） honor （ C） expect （ D） know 72 【 C10】 （ A） residential （ B） vacant （ C） environmental （ D） parking 73 【 C11】 （ A） none （ B） most （ C） rare （ D） partial 74 【 C12】 （ A） but （ B） and （ C） or （ D） not 75 【
48、 C13】 （ A） development （ B） advantage （ C） future （ D） technique 76 【 C14】 （ A） replaced （ B） involved （ C） occupied （ D） protected 77 【 C15】 （ A） excesses （ B） allowances （ C） valleys （ D） terrace 78 【 C16】 （ A） against （ B） opposite （ C） paralleled （ D） related 79 【 C17】 （ A） purposely （ B） essent
49、ially （ C） successively （ D） comparatively 80 【 C18】 （ A） where （ B） when （ C） what （ D） how 81 【 C19】 （ A） not （ B） in （ C） too （ D） as 82 【 C20】 （ A） schedule （ B） process （ C） routine （ D） system 四、 Part VI Translation (5 minutes) Directions: Complete the sentences in the blanks by translating into English the Chinese given in brackets. 83 Standing in front of the children, _(我的声音被喧闹声淹没了 ). 84 It is acknowledged tha
