六级考前模考试卷(二).doc

六级考前模考试卷（二）
Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)
A Look That Conveys a Message
To tour an assembly plant in Canada, Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Chrysler, wore a black sweater and a checked oxford shirt.
At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mr. Marchionne wore a black sweater and a checked oxford shirt. And at a Saturday night gala honoring Lee A. Iacocca in Los Angeles, he wore a black sweater and a checked oxford shirt.
Mr. Marchionne, who last year earned more than 5 million euros ($6.9 million) and owns luxury houses in three countries, has donned a monochromatic (单色的) wardrobe similar to that worn by other top-flight executives. He has discovered the power of dressing down, and not just on Fridays.
“The message he wanted to pass is not wearing a tie, not wearing a suit, means we are more flexible and what really matters is not the uniform but something else,” said Cristiano Carlutti, the former head of used cars at Fiat, which Mr. Marchionne also heads.
Today, corporate executives have a wider choice of what to wear than ever before. Stylists and personal shoppers reserve exclusive clothes, Hong Kong tailors make office visits and silk ties from France can be delivered overnight.
Yet the simple personal uniform is being seen in some corner offices as the ultimate power suit.
“I always used to feel sorry for them,” David Wolfe, creative director of the trend-forecasting company the Doneger Group, said of the single-outfit executives. “Now I think they’re smart.”
He added, “How do you stand out if everybody’s trendy? The only way is to be beyond the trend.”
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, wears hoodies and sneakers. Andrea Jung, chief executive of Avon Products, sticks with sleeveless close-fitting dresses — often red — and pearls. The television personality Simon Cowell and the fashion designer Roberto Cavalli wear jeans, T-shirts and black jackets.
Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, takes regular ribbings (笑话) about his day-in, day-out fleece (羊毛的) jacket and jeans. A Facebook group is campaigning for Michael Kors, a designer and judge on the show “Project Runway”, to change his ensemble (also jeans, T-shirt and black jacket), which he has worn for nearly all eight seasons of the show.
Steven P. Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, wears New Balance sneakers, Levi’s and black mock turtlenecks (高翻领衣), while Lawrence J. Ellison, the chief of Oracle, dons black mock turtlenecks, usually topped with a blazer.
The motivations vary, but every uniform sends a message. Mr. Scarborough, a Republican who is the host of a program on a left-leaning cable network, may be signaling that he is a “mellow (温和的), fleece-wearing Republican that Democrats love to like,” wrote New York magazine. Mr. Jobs, by most accounts, prefers the ordinary clothe as a way to de-emphasize individuality in favor of promoting a collective approach at Apple. And Thierry Rautureau, a Seattle chef who tops every outfit with a hat, wears the distinctive style for branding purposes.
Mr. Wolfe, the fashion forecaster, switched to a single outfit last summer as a protest against how accessible trends had become.
“It is fashion snobbery (盲从) or elitism that made me think, ‘I want to make sure people know I’m not just a player in a game that too many people are playing,’ ” he said.
While he used to go to work in “Tibetan Indian clothes, cowboy outfits, a baseball uniform one season, often street-cleaner jumpsuits and things like that,” he said, he has altered his look in the last several months to wearing white L. L. Bean oxford shirts and Levi’s 501s every day.
“People are really coming to grips with the fact that the recession is the new normal. We’re not going to get over it and go back to a wild and crazy extravagant time right away. I think that’s starting to affect the way people are presenting themselves to the world at large, with a very conservative fashion approach,” he said.
Some executives land on a statement piece that broadcasts their brand, as Mr. Rautureau did when he wore a soft hat to one of his restaurants.
“A great customer of mine was sitting at the first table, and looked at me, and went, ‘Oh, the chef in the hat,’ ” he said. “I snapped my finger and went, ‘Marketing, marketing, marketing.’ ”
Mr. Rautureau trademarked the chef-in-the-hat name, and has collected about 20 hats — straw, cowboy and felt — that he wears whenever he leaves his house. “It has been very successful in terms of, obviously, recognition and branding — I can tell you, everywhere I go, they know the guy in the hat, the chef in the hat,” he said. “So it’s easy to be catchy.”
Still, Mr. Rautureau concedes that he may have gotten too attached to his signature hat. After a fund-raiser in Cincinnati, he was mugged while walking back to his hotel, and a group of teenagers ran off with his hat.
“Now, most normal people would have run away and go to the hotel, which was only like two or three blocks away,” Mr. Rautureau said. “Instead, I went back, and said I need my hat back. And of course that was a dumb move because we get in a fight and they take my wallet, and blah blah blah. That was the most dangerous move I’ve ever made, because of my hat.”
For Mr. Jobs, the turtleneck-and-jeans outfit seems to be about reducing his persona to spotlight the product.
“He didn’t want any individual to kind of overshadow the brand, and that includes him,” said Steve Chazin, a former Apple marketing executive, and the author of Marketing Apple. “He didn’t want people thinking he was special.”
Mr. Marchionne’s outfits also seemed to carry a certain message, said Mr. Carlutti, the former Fiat executive.
“You have to understand that Fiat, before he joined the company, was very formal,” he said, and Mr. Marchionne wanted to “break the formality”, by replacing solid office doors with glass ones, for instance, and declining to dress up.
Of course, by sticking to sweaters and slacks, Mr. Marchionne basically ensured that everyone else would continue to wear suits, Mr. Carlutti said.
“The majority was afraid of seeming to copy the boss, so they stick to their normal dressing,” he said. Indeed, when Mr. Carlutti had his job interview with Mr. Marchionne, he spent the morning debating what to wear.
“That was a big dilemma, because if you wear a tie, he may consider you too formal, too rigid,” he said. “If you don’t wear a tie, he may think you try to imitate his casual style. So you never win, basically. In the end I wore a tie, which I usually don’t.”
The auto chief is now spreading his style in his new city. In February, he met with the Detroit mayor, David Bing, to show Chrysler’s Super Bowl commercial, “Imported From Detroit”. And he presented Mr. Bing, who usually dresses in suits, with a gift: a black sweater (no oxford shirt).
The mayor put on the sweater for a news conference the day he got it. But even though he admires Mr. Marchionne’s style, he has no plans to adopt it, said a spokeswoman, Karen Dumas, in an e-mail message.
“The mayor has his own style, with which he is very comfortable — tailored suits and custom, monogrammed shirts. It’s tried, true and has worked for him this long, so he doesn’t feel the need to switch up now,” she said.

1. What do we learn about top-flight executives from the passage?
A) They seem to live a life of luxury.
B) They tend to wear clothes of one color.
C) They invest heavily in foreign markets.
D) They prefer formal uniforms at office.

2. What’s David Wolfe’s opinion on executives’ style of dressing?
A) Suits and ties are ideal for them at work.
B) It’s better that they wear an attractive ensemble.
C) It’s a wise choice to wear simple uniforms.
D) They should keep up with the latest fashions.

3. What do people in a Facebook group do concerning Michael Kors?
A) They make fun of his ridiculous dress in the program.
B) They want to force him out of the popular show.
C) They try to persuade him to change his single outfit.
D) They call people to follow his suit and wear jeans.

4. According to New York magazine, Mr. Scarborough’s outfit conveys a message that _______.
A) he is a firm supporter of the Republican party
B) he prefers jackets made of soft materials
C) he can be trusted as a professional TV host
D) he is a Republican with Democratic leanings

5. Mr. Wolfe, the fashion forecaster, altered his look last summer to _______.
A) show that he was against fashion snobbery
B) promote the development of the fashion industry
C) set the trend that many people can follow
D) prove that the simpler a uniform is, the better

6. According to Mr. Wolfe, people now take a very conservative fashion approach due to _______.
A) international influences
B) fashion forecasters’ predicts
C) the idea of returning to nature
D) the economic downturn

7. What is Mr. Rautureau’s purpose of wearing a hat when leaving his house?
A) To help increase his visibility.
B) To make his restaurants widely known.
C) To avoid recognition in the streets.
D) To display his special taste in fashion.

8. Steve Chazin explained that Mr. Jobs wore a single outfit in the hope that he would not _____________________ the Apple product.

9. The examples of changing office doors and dressing down showed Mr. Marchionne’s intention to make Fiat less _____________________.

10. Cristiano Carlutti said he was in _____________________ when deciding the clothes for the job interview with Mr. Marchionne.

Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2.
Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.

Almost a third of children regularly go without breakfast before school and are more likely than classmates to be inactive, unfit and obese (极胖的), research shows.
The study of 4,326 children, aged 10-16, in England was reported in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition and found that 26.6% of boys and 38.6% of girls skipped breakfast some or all of the time. Boys often blame lack of time, while many girls missed breakfast because they believe doing so would help them lose weight.
“We found that children who skip breakfast either occasionally or routinely are less fit, less active and more likely to be overweight or obese than those who always eat breakfast,” said lead author Dr Gavin Sandercock, a lecturer in clinical physiology at the University of Essex. “Children with the healthiest weight were always those who regularly had breakfast before heading to school.
“These findings are worrying because we found more obesity and lower levels of physical activity among skippers, which is of great concern because these children are more likely to develop chronic disease in adulthood like cancer, heart disease and diabetes,” added Sandercock.
Until now it has been thought that children who missed breakfast were more likely to be obese because they snacked during the day and ate late at night. But the study suggests that their inactive lifestyles may also play a key role.
“This research should concern parents because they are putting their children at a higher risk of being overweight unless they make sure they eat breakfast before leaving the house, and are also increasing their risk of being unfit and inactive,” said Sandercock. “It’s of great concern that 32% of parents don’t do that, especially as we already know that kids’ concentration and ability to learn is worse when they miss breakfast.”
Tam Fry, founder of the Child Growth Foundation, said the study underlined the importance of breakfast for everyone. “Although 68% of the children studied always ate breakfast, there are areas of the country where, tragically, very few are given breakfast at home. That is why breakfast clubs at school are hugely important for them — not only for their physical fitness but also for their fitness to learn,” said Fry.
But Sandercock said that while breakfast clubs are a good idea, they take away from parents the responsibility of preparing food for their offspring.

47. According to the study conducted in England, many girls skip breakfast in order to _____________________________________________.

48. Dr Gavin Sandercock suggested that children who miss morning meal are more likely to have _____________________________________________ in their adult life.

49.Besides irregular meals, the study indicates that _____________________________________________ also contribute to obesity among children who skipped breakfast.

50.Parents should realize that their children will have difficulty in _____________________________________________ and learning if they go to school without breakfast.

51. Sandercock stressed that when it comes to preparing children’s breakfast, it is parents that should be _____________________________________________.

Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One
Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.
The employment discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart, which the Supreme Court heard last week, is the largest in American history. If the court rejects this suit, it will send a chilling message that some companies are too big to be held accountable (负有责任的).
It began in 1999 after Stephanie Odle was fired when she complained of sex discrimination. As Ms. Odle described in sworn testimony, as an assistant manager she discovered that a male employee with the same title and less experience was making $10,000 a year more than her.
She complained to her boss, who defended the difference by saying the male had a family to support. When she replied that she was having a baby that she needed to support, the supervisor made her provide a personal budget and then gave her a raise closing just one-fifth the gap.
The plaintiffs (原告) who have brought a class action on behalf of 1.5 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees allege that they, too, faced discrimination in pay and promotion. If Wal-Mart loses, it could owe more than $1 billion in back pay.
Wal-Mart has tried to end the litigation (诉讼) by arguing that 1.5 million women do not have enough in common to sue for discrimination as a single class under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. A federal trial judge said they do. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit uphe