1、大学英语六级模拟试卷 589及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Say No to Drunk Driving. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below. 1众所周知，酒后驾车十分危险 2但近年来越来越多的 人酒后驾车，原因是 3我认为 Say No to Drunk Driving 二、 Part II
2、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 information given in the passage; N (fo
3、r 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 Trust Me, Im a Robot With robots now emerging from their industrial cages and moving into homes and workplaces, roboticists are concerned about the safety imp
4、lications beyond the factory floor. To address these concerns, leading robot experts have come together to try to find ways to prevent robots from harming people. Inspired by the Pugwash Conferences an international group of scientists, academics and activists founded in 1957 to campaign for the non
5、-proliferation of nuclear weapons the new group of robo-ethicists met earlier this year in Genoa, Italy, and announced their initial findings in March at the European Robotics Symposium in Palermo, Sicily. “Security and safety are the big concerns,“ says Henrik Christensen, chairman of the European
6、Robotics Network at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Should robots that are strong enough or heavy enough to crush people be allowed into homes? Is “system malfunction“ a justifiable defence for a robotic fighter plane that contravenes (违反 ) the Geneva Convention and mistakenl
7、y fires on innocent civilians? “These questions may seem hard to understand but in the next few years they will become increasingly relevant,“ says Dr. Christensen. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europes World Robotics Survey, in 2002 the number of domestic and service robot
8、s more than tripled, nearly surpassing their industrial counterparts. By the end of 2003 there were more than 600,000 robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers a figure predicted to rise to more than 4m by the end of next year. Japanese industrial firms are racing to build humanoid robots to act as dome
9、stic helpers for the elderly, and South Korea has set a goal that 100% of households should have domestic robots by 2020. In light of all this, it is crucial that we start to think about safety guidelines now, says Dr. Christensen. Stop right there So what exactly is being done to protect us from th
10、ese mechanical menaces? “Not enough,“ says Blay Whitby. This is hardly surprising given that the field of “safety-critical computing“ is barely a decade old, he says. But things are changing, and researchers are increasingly taking an interest in trying to make robots safer. One approach, which soun
11、ds simple enough, is try to program them to avoid contact with people altogether. But this is much harder than it sounds. Getting a robot to navigate across a cluttered room is difficult enough without having to take into account what its various limbs or appendages might bump into along the way. “R
12、egulating the behaviour of robots is going to become more difficult in the future, since they will increasingly have self-learning mechanisms built into them,“ says Gianmarco Veruggio. “As a result, their behaviour will become impossible to predict fully,“ he says, “since they will not be behaving i
13、n predefined ways but will learn new behaviour as they go.“ Then there is the question of unpredictable failures. What happens if a robots motors stop working, or it suffers a system failure just as it is performing heart surgery or handing you a cup of hot coffee? You can, of course, build in redun
14、dancy by adding backup systems, says Hirochika Inoue. But this guarantees nothing, he says. “One hundred per cent safety is impossible through technology,“ says Dr. Inoue. This is because ultimately no matter how thorough you are, you cannot anticipate the unpredictable nature of human behaviour, he
15、 says. Or to put it another way, no matter how sophisticated your robot is at avoiding people, people might not always manage to avoid it, and could end up tripping over it and falling down the stairs. Legal problems In any case, says Dr. Inoue, the laws really just summarize commonsense principles
16、that are already applied to the design of most modern appliances, both domestic and industrial. Every toaster, lawn mower and mobile phone is designed to nunimize the risk of causing injury yet people still manage to electrocute (电死 ) themselves, lose fingers or fall out of windows in an effort to g
17、et a better signal. At the very least, robots must meet the rigorous safety standards that cover existing products. The question is whether new, robot-specific rules are needed and, if so, what they should say. “Making sure robots are safe will be critical,“ says Colin Angle of iRobot, which has sol
18、d over 2m “Roomba“ household-vacuuming robots. But he argues that his firms robots are, in fact, much safer than some popular toys. “A radio-controlled car controlled by a six-year old is far more dangerous than a Roomba,“ he says. If you tread on a Roomba, it will not cause you to slip over; instea
19、d, a rubber pad on its base grips the floor and prevents it from moving. “Existing regulations will address much of the challenge,“ says Mr. Angle. “Im not yet convinced that robots are sufficiently different that they deserve special treatment.“ Robot safety is likely to surface in the civil courts
20、 as a matter of product liability. “When the first robot carpet-sweeper sucks up a baby, who will be to blame?“ asks John Hallam, a professor at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. If a robot is autonomous and capable of learning, can its designer be held responsible for all its actions? T
21、oday the answer to these questions is generally “yes“. But as robots grow in complexity it will become a lot less clear cut, he says. “Right now, no insurance company is prepared to insure robots,“ says Dr. Inoue. But that will have to change, he says. Last month, Japans Ministry of Trade and Indust
22、ry announced a set of safety guidelines for home and office robots. They will be required to have sensors to help them avoid collisions with humans; to be made from soft and light materials to minimize harm if a collision does occur; and to have an emergency shut-off button. This was largely prompte
23、d by a big robot exhibition held last summer, which made the authorities realize that there are safety implications when thousands of people are not just looking at robots, but mingling with them, says Dr. Inoue. However, the idea that general-purpose robots, capable of learning, will become widespr
24、ead is wrong suggests Mr. Angle It is more likely, he believes, that robots will be relatively dumb machines designed for particular tasks. Rather than a humanoid robot maid, “its going to be a heterogeneous (不同种类的 ) swarm of robots that will take care of the house,“ he says. 2 What was the Pugwash
25、Conferences intended to advocate? （ A） The non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. （ B） Safe robots in all aspects of life. （ C） Robot-ethics in the new century. （ D） Restriction on the use of robots as a weapon 3 Henrik Christensen is most concerned about whether robots are _. （ A） harmless （ B） powe
26、rful （ C） intelligent （ D） durable 4 It is expected that there are 4 million robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers in _. （ A） 2002 （ B） 2003 （ C） 2004 （ D） 2005 5 Japanese firms are competing in the production of robots specifically _. （ A） used in car factories （ B） used in hospitals （ C） helping t
27、he old people （ D） helping the school kids 6 Blay Whitby pointed out that people only began to be aware of the safety issue _. （ A） when household robots were invented （ B） when robots were in wide use （ C） after some grave accidents （ D） ten years or so ago 7 Gianmarco Veruggio thinks that it is di
28、fficult to regulate robots behaviour due to their_. （ A） unpredictable failures （ B） self-learning mechanisms （ C） automatic navigational systems （ D） possession of human-like personalities 8 Right now, the laws can only summarize commonsense principles so as to _. （ A） deal with possible robot-rela
29、ted lawsuits （ B） limit the number of robots production （ C） monitor the disposal of dangerous robots （ D） reduce the chance of injury caused by robots 9 Colin Angle considers robots are not so different as to _. 10 According to John Hallam, who should be responsible for the harm done by robots in t
30、he future will not be so _ as it is now. 11 Mr. Angle says a heterogeneous swarm of robots will take care of the house instead of_ Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked
31、 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 marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer. （ A） Because she feels very hot in the room. （ B） Because she
32、 wants to avoid meeting people. （ C） Because she wants to smoke a cigarette outside. （ D） Because she doesnt like the smell inside. （ A） Whether to employ the woman. （ B） Whether to take up the new job. （ C） Whether to ask for a raise. （ D） Whether to ask for more salary. （ A） A teacher. （ B） A psyc
33、hologist. （ C） A librarian. （ D） A publisher. （ A） To visit more places in the city. （ B） To snap as many pictures as possible. （ C） To take good care of her camera. （ D） To spare some time to meet his friends. （ A） He doesnt write well enough. （ B） He is not a professional writer. （ C） He hasnt got
34、 any professional experience. （ D） He didnt perform well in the interview. （ A） She was given a new position. （ B） She was given a raise. （ C） She was criticized for being late. （ D） She was praised for her service. （ A） Their neighbor Mr. Churchill will help them paint the house. （ B） Their house i
35、s still new and neednt any paint work. （ C） They will ask about the fee before having their house painted. （ D） They have to paint their house on their own for lack of money. （ A） The woman enjoyed the movie very much. （ B） The woman saw a horror movie last Saturday. （ C） The man asked the woman to
36、be careful at night. （ D） The man went to the show with the woman. （ A） Set up your own website. （ B） Consult the banks representatives. （ C） Try by making transfers. （ D） Check your statements. （ A） The person who is addicted to the Internet. （ B） The person who reads every label of the goods. （ C）
37、 The person who wants to buy fruit. （ D） The person who is not picky. （ A） The famous brands. （ B） The cereals. （ C） Books. （ D） Meat. （ A） Many of her books are bestsellers. （ B） She is a shrewd bookstore owner. （ C） She is promoting her book in person. （ D） She is a salesperson at the bookstore. （
38、 A） It has been the bestseller for weeks. （ B） It advises people to change themselves. （ C） It is being sold at a very low price. （ D） It distinguishes cooperators. （ A） A man careful with money. （ B） A book-lover. （ C） A noisy reader. （ D） A trouble-maker. （ A） Someone who always talks about himsel
39、f. （ B） The most violent type of co-workers. （ C） Someone who stabs your back. （ D） The most common annoying type of people. 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 spo
40、ken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） To recite a lot of wonderful reading materials. （ B） To combine prefixes, suffixes and roots freely. （ C） To take part in a lot of good talks. （ D） To make as many word lists as
41、 possible. （ A） Guess its meaning. （ B） Ask somebody. （ C） Refer to a dictionary. （ D） Add it to your word list. （ A） Look up the new words in your notebook. （ B） Pay due attention to new words that you come across. （ C） Analyze the basic structure of the new words. （ D） Interrupt the conversation a
42、nd ask others to explain the new words. （ A） It is extremely dangerous to fly in the dark. （ B） Noise regulations restrict the hours of airport operation. （ C） Some of its runways are not in good condition. （ D） Cargo planes produce more disturbing noises at night. （ A） It might increase airport cap
43、acity. （ B） It might lower property values. （ C） It might lead to effective modification of existing jet engines. （ D） It might cause more transportation costs to and from airports. （ A） The effects of noise on the quality of life. （ B） The role of air traffic restrictions. （ C） The production of qu
44、ieter engines. （ D） The economic aspects of noise reduction. （ A） It has a personal style. （ B） It sounds very familiar to our ears. （ C） It is one whose style you cannot recognize. （ D） It does not belong to any composer. （ A） It combines different feelings together. （ B） It can express some very c
45、onfusing feelings. （ C） It exaggerates some special feelings. （ D） It expresses feelings in an appropriate way. （ A） The newer the music is, the longer time it will last. （ B） It is easy for music to gain a permanent status. （ C） Good music always stands the test of time. （ D） Good music neednt be t
46、ested by time. （ A） Pop musics biggest test is the test of time. （ B） Pop musics tunes do not have very clear styles. （ C） Pop music may not express any important feeling at all. （ D） Pop music may exaggerate some feelings. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times.
47、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 f
48、ill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the 36 Most volcanoes are quiet. They rest 【 B1】 _ for hundreds of years. No one pays much attention to them. Mount St. Helens was one of these volcanoes. Until 1980, it was a beaut
49、iful 【 B2】 _ area. Its last eruption had been 123 years ago. No one was worried about another one. In March 1980, Mount St. Helens began to make noises. At first, there were some shaking movements. Then, small eruptions occurred. Some 【 B3】 _ left immediately. Others felt there was no danger. But on the morning of May 18, 1980, the mountain 【 B4】 _ its top. With the power of twenty-five 【 B5】 _ bombs, Mount St. Helens exploded. Clouds of dust and ash rose more than
