1、大学英语六级模拟试卷 90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 A Letter of Application. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below: 1. 你即将大学毕业，申请出国攻读博士学位 2. 介绍个人简厉，所学专业以及专长 3. 公派出国，费用由中国政府提供 4. 希望申请被接受 二、 Part
2、 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 information given in the passage; N
3、 (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. 2 Language Varieties Languages constantly undergo changes, resulting in the development of different varieties of the languages. A. Dialects A dialect is a
4、variety of a language spoken by an identifiable subgroup of people. Traditionally, linguists have applied the term dialect to geographically distinct language varieties, but in current usage the term can include speech varieties characteristic of other socially definable groups. Determining whether
5、two speech varieties are dialects of the same language, or whether they have changed enough to be considered distinct languages, has often proved a difficult and controversial decision. Linguists usually cite mutual intelligibility as the major criterion in making this decision. If two speech variet
6、ies are not mutually intelligible, then the speech varieties are different languages; if they are mutually intelligible but differ systematically from one another, then they are dialects of the same language. There are problems with this definition, however, because many levels of mutual intelligibi
7、lity exist, and linguists must decide at what level speech varieties should no longer be considered mutually intelligible. This is difficult to establish in practice. Intelligibility(可理解性 ) has a large psychological component: If a speaker of one speech variety wants to understand a speaker of anoth
8、er speech variety, understanding is more likely than if this were not the case. In addition, chains of speech varieties exist in which adjacent speech varieties are mutually intelligible, but speech varieties farther apart in the chain are not. Furthermore, sociopolitical factors almost inevitably i
9、ntervene in the process of distinguishing between dialects and languages. Such factors, for example, led to the traditional characterization of Chinese as a single language with a number of mutually unintelligible dialects. Dialects develop primarily as a result of limited communication between diff
10、erent parts of a community that share one language. Under such circumstances, changes that take place in the language of one part of the community do not spread elsewhere. As a result, the speech varieties become more distinct from one another. If contact continues to be limited for a long enough pe
11、riod, sufficient changes will accumulate to make the speech varieties mutually unintelligible. When this occurs, and especially if it is accompanied by the sociopolitical separation of a group of speakers from the larger community, it usually leads to the recognition of separate languages. The diffe
12、rent changes that took place in spoken Latin in different parts of the Roman Empire, for example, eventually gave rise to the distinct modem Romance languages, including French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian. In ordinary usage, the term dialect can also signify a variety of a language t
13、hat is distinct from what is considered the standard form of that language. Linguists, however, consider the standard language to be simply one dialect of a language. For example, the dialect of French spoken in Paris became the standard language of France not because of any linguistic features of t
14、his dialect but because Paris was the political and cultural centre of the country. B. Social Varieties of Language Sociolects(社会方言 ) are dialects determined by social factors rather than by geography. Socioleets often develop due to social divisions within a society, such as those of socioeconomic
15、class and religion. In New York City, for example, the probability that someone will pronounce the letter when it occurs at the end of a syllable, as in the word fourth, varies with socioeconomic class. The pronunciation of a final in general is associated with members of higher socioeconomic classe
16、s. The same is true in England of the pronunciation of h, as in hat. Members of certain social groups often adopt a particular pronunciation as a way of distinguishing themselves from other social groups. The inhabitants of Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, for example, have adopted particular vowel
17、pronunciations to distinguish themselves from people vacationing on the island. Slang, argot(隐语 ), and jargon(行话 ) are more specialized terms for certain social language varieties usually defined by their specialized vocabularies. Slang refers to informal vocabulary, especially short-lived coinages,
18、 that do not belong to a languages standard vocabulary. Argot refers to a nonstandard vocabulary used by secret groups, particularly criminal organizations, usually intended to render communications incomprehensible to outsiders. A jargon comprises the specialized vocabulary of a particular trade or
19、 profession, especially when it is incomprehensible to outsiders, as with legal jargon. In addition to language varieties defined in terms of social groups, there are language varieties called registers that are defined by social situation. In a formal situation, for example, a person might say, “Yo
20、u are requested to leave,“ whereas in an informal situation the same person might say, “Get out!“ Register differences can affect pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. C. Pidgins and Creoles A pidgin(混杂语言 ) is an auxiliary language(a language used for communication by groups that have different na
21、tive tongues) that develops when people speaking different languages are brought together and forced to develop a common means of communication without sufficient time to learn each others native languages properly. Typically, a pidgin language derives most of its vocabulary from one of the language
22、s. Its grammatical structure, however, will either be highly variable, reflecting the grammatical structures of each speakers native language, or it may in time become stabilized in a manner very different from the grammar of the language that contributed most of its vocabulary. Historically, planta
23、tion societies in the Caribbean and the South Pacific have originated many pidgin languages. Tok Pisin is the major pidgin language of Papua New Guinea. Both its similarities to and its differences from English can be seen in the sentence “Pik bilong dispela man i kam pinis,“ meaning “This mans pig
24、has come,“ or, more literally, “Pig belong this fellow man he come finish.“ Since a pidgin is an auxiliary language, it has no native speakers. A creole language, on the other hand, arises in a contact situation similar to that which produces pidgin languages and perhaps goes through a stage in whic
25、h it is a pidgin, but a creole becomes the native language of its community. As with pidgin languages, creoles usually take most of their vocabulary from a single language. Also as with pidgins, the grammatical structure of a creole language reflects the structures of the languages that were origina
26、lly spoken in the community. A characteristic of creole languages is their simple morphology. In the Jamaican Creole sentence “A fain Jan fain di kluoz,“ meaning “John found the clothes,“ the vocabulary is of English origin, while the grammatical structure, which doubles the verb for emphasis, refle
27、cts West African language patterns. Because the vocabularies of Tok Pisin and Jamaican Creole are largely of English origin, they are called English-based. D. Languages in the World Estimates of the number of languages spoken in the world today vary depending on where the dividing line between langu
28、age and dialect is drawn. For instance, linguists disagree over whether Chinese should be considered a single language because of its speakers shared cultural and literary tradition, or whether it should be considered several different languages because of the mutual unintelligibility of, for exampl
29、e, the Mandarin spoken in Beijing and the Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong. If mutual intelligibility is the basic criterion, current estimates indicate that there are about 6,000 languages spoken in the world today. However, many languages with a smaller number of speakers are in danger of being repla
30、ced by languages with large numbers of speakers. In fact, some scholars believe that perhaps 90 percent of the languages spoken in the 1990s will be extinct or doomed to extinction by the end of the 21st century. The 10 most widely spoken languages, with approximate numbers of native speakers, are a
31、s follows: Chinese, 1.2 billion; Arabic, 422 million; Hindi, 366 million; English, 341 million; Spanish, 322 to 358 million; Bengali, 207 million; Portuguese, 176 million; Russian, 167 million; Japanese, 125 million; German, 100 million. If second-language speakers are included in these figures, Eng
32、lish is the second most widely spoken language, with 418 million speakers. 2 Languages have been changed through the ages. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 A dialect is a variety of a language spoken by a very small number of people. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 If two speech varieties are not mutually intelligib
33、le, then the speech varieties are considered to be different languages. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 There are thousands of speech varieties in the world. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 If a speaker of one speech variety wants to understand a speaker of another speech variety, understanding is more likely than_
34、. 7 Some factors led to the traditional characterization of Chinese as a single language with a number of_. 8 In ordinary usage, the term dialect can also signify a variety of a language that is distinct from what is considered _. 9 Sociolects often develop due to social divisions within a society,
35、such as those of _. 10 Typically, a pidgin language derives most of its vocabulary from _. 11 Estimates of the number of languages spoken in the world today vary depending on _. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each co
36、nversation, 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 marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer. （ A） The man c
37、an come another time. （ B） There would be more fun without the mans roommate. （ C） It is no problem if the mans roommate refuses to come. （ D） The man can bring the roommate along and enjoy the party. （ A） Linda made her own guitar. （ B） Linda taught herself to play the piano. （ C） Linda taught hers
38、elf to play the guitar. （ D） Linda doesnt have much talent for music. （ A） She couldnt talk to the consultant before two. （ B） She would talk to the consultant during lunch. （ C） She couldnt contact the consultants secretary. （ D） She talked with the consultant about the new program until two. （ A）
39、It looks exactly like Susan. （ B） It makes Susan look older than she really is. （ C） It makes Susan look younger than she really is. （ D） It makes Susan look better than she looks in person. （ A） She cant afford the time for the trip. （ B） She will manage to leave this month. （ C） She has to change
40、the time for the trip. （ D） She hasnt decided where to go next month. （ A） He shouldnt have apologized. （ B） He will find a better way of apologizing. （ C） He couldnt find a right word to make an apology. （ D） His friend is asking for more than just an apology. （ A） The woman likes arguing. （ B） The
41、 woman should get a job. （ C） The woman should work in a factory. （ D） The woman spends too much money. （ A） The first house they saw is too expensive. （ B） She is happy with the price set by the seller. （ C） They may save some money for the time being. （ D） Less money will be spent in maintaining t
42、he house. （ A） She had moved out of the old address. （ B） She ignored it. （ C） The library didnt try to inform her about it. （ D） The landlord refused to give the books back to her. （ A） She Was too busy to remember if she had returned them. （ B） She didnt return them in fact. （ C） She gave them to
43、the landlord to return. （ D） She did return them but somehow the library made a mistake. （ A） Pay for the lost books. （ B） Reconfirm with the library that the books were returned. （ C） Check to see if the books are still at her home. （ D） Check to see if the books are at Henzers place. （ A） She is w
44、riting a competitive paper for a scholarship. （ B） She is doing a research paper. （ C） She missed the lecture. （ D） She is planning to attend the scholarship award ceremony. （ A） Why species dont avoid extinction by adapting. （ B） Why species become extinct at the rate they do. （ C） Why humans arent
45、 extinct. （ D） How many species arent extinct. （ A） Because every species becomes extinct. （ B） Because humans beings are powerful enough to kill other species. （ C） Because of over-population. （ D） Because human being is still a young species though it is exploiting the environment. （ A） He thinks
46、flies will take over the earth. （ B） He thinks human will die off quite soon, （ C） He thinks mass disease could be the next path to extinction. （ D） He sees human beings as destructive. Section B Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear s
47、ome 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 choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） Family debts. （ B） Bank savings. （ C） Monthly bills. （ D） Spending habits. （ A） $190,000. （ B） $330,000. （ C） $500,0
48、00. （ D） $1,000,000. （ A） Invest into a mutual fund. （ B） Use the discount tickets. （ C） Quit his eating-out habit, （ D） Use only paper bills and save coins. （ A） Partly because they sleep in one long block. （ B） Partly because they take one or two naps daily. （ C） Partly because they sleep in three
49、 distinct parts. （ D） Partly because they have many five-minute naps. （ A） Its habit. （ B） Its genes. （ C） Its mental state. （ D） Its physical condition. （ A） Go to bed early. （ B） Have a long rest. （ C） Give in to sleep. （ D） Take some refreshments. （ A） Confidence. （ B） Preparation. （ C） Informativeness. （ D） Select appropriate materials. （ A） Gather abundant data. （ B） Organize the ideas logically. （ C） Develop a great opening. （ D） Select appropriate materials. （ A） Uneasy. （ B） Uncertain. （ C） F
