大学英语六级真题模拟.doc

大学英语六级真题

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6月大学六级考试试题
Part Ⅰ Writing
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Due Attention Should Be Given to the Study of Chinese. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below.
1. 近年来大小写生中出现了忽视中文学习的现象
2. 出现这种现象的原因和后果
3. 为了改变这种状况，我认为……
Due Attention Should Be Given to the Study of Chinese
________________________________
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)
Obama's success isn't all good news for black Americans
As Erin White watched the election results head towards victory for Barack Obama, she felt a burden lifting from her shoulders. "In that one second, it was a validation for my whole race," she recalls.
"I've always been an achiever," says White, who is studying for an MBA at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. "But there had always been these things in the back of my mind questioning whether I really can be who I want. It was like a shadow, following me around saying you can only go so far. Now it's like a barrier has been let down."
White's experience is what many psychologists had expected—that Obama would prove to be a powerful role model for African Americans. Some hoped his rise to prominence would have a big impact on white Americans, too, challenging those who still harbour raci'st sentiments. "The traits that characterise him are very contradictory to the racial stereotypes that black people are aggressive and uneducated," says Ashby Plant of Florida State University. "He's very intelligent and eloquent."
Sting in the tail
Ashby Plant is one of a number of psychologists who seized on Obama's candidacy to test hypotheses about the power of role models. Their work is already starting to reveal how the "Obama effect" is changing people's views and behaviour. Perhapssurprisingly, it is not all good news: there is a sting in the tail of the Obama effect.
But first the good news. Baraek Obama really is a positive role model for African Americans, and he was making an impact even before he got to the White House. Indeed, the Obama effect can be surprisingly immediate and powerful, as Ray Friedman of Vanderbilt University and his colleagues discovered.
They tested four separate groups at four key stages of Obama's presidential campaign. Each group consisted of around 120 adults of similar age and education, and the test assessed their language skills. At two of these stages,when Obama's success was less than certain, the tests showed a clear difference between the scores of the white and black participants—an average of 12.1 out of 20, compared to 8.8, for example. When the Obama fever was at its height, however, the black participants performed much better. Those who had watched Obama's acceptance speech as the Democrats' presidential candidate performed just as well, on average, as the white subjects. After his election victory, this was true of all the black participants.
Dramatic shift
What can explain this dramatic shift? At the start of the test, the participants had to declare their race and were told their results would be used to assess their strengths and weaknesses. This should have primed the subjects with "stereotype threat"—an anxiety that their results will confirm negative stereotypes, which has been shown to damage the performance of African Americans.
Obama's successes seemed to act as a shield against this. "We suspect they felt inspired and energised by his victory, so the stereotype threat wouldn't prove a distraction," says Friedman.
Lingering racism
If the Obama effect is positive for African Americans, how is it affecting their white compatriots (同胞)? Is the experience of having a charismatic (有魅力的) black president modifying lingering racist attitudes? There is no easy way to measure racism directly; instead psychologists assess what is known as "implicit bias", using a computerbased test that measures how quickly people associate positive and negative words—such as "love" or "evil"—with photos of black or white faces. A similar test can also measure how quickly subjects associate stereotypical traits— such as athletic skills or mental ability—with a particular group.
In a study that will appear in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Plant's team tested 229 students during the height of the Obama fever. They found that implicit bias had fallen by as much as 90% compared with the level found in a similar study in . "That's an unusually large drop," Plant says.
While the team can't be sure their results are due solely to Obama, they also showed that those with the lowest bias were likely to subconsciously associate black skin colour with political words such as "government" or "president". This suggests that Obama was strongly on their mind, says Plant.
Drop in bias
Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, who runs a website that measures implicit bias using similar tests, has also observed a small drop in bias in the 700,000 visitors to the site since January , which might be explained by Obama's rise to popularity. However, his preliminary results suggest that change will be much slower coming than Plant's results suggest.
Talking honestly
"People now have the opportunity of expressing support for Obama every day," says Daniel Effron at Stanford University in California. "Our research arouses the concern that people may now be more likely to raise negativeviews of African Americans." On the other hand, he says, it may just encourage people to talk more honestly about their feelings regarding race issues, which may not be such a bad thing.
Another part of the study suggests far more is at stake than the mere expression of views. The Obama effect may have a negative side. Just one week after Obama was elected president, participants were less ready to support policies designed to address racial inequality than they had been two weeks before the election.
Huge obstacles
It could, of course, also be that Obama's success helps people to forget that a disproportionate number of blaek Americans still live in poverty and face huge obstacles when trying to overcome these circumstances. "Barack Obama's family is such a salient (出众的) image, we generalise it and fail to see the larger picture—that there's injustice in every aspect of American life," says Cheryl Kaiser of the University of Washington in Seattle. Those trying to address issues of racial inequality need to constantly remind people of the inequalities that still exist to counteract the Obama effect, she says.
Though Plant's findings were more positive, she too warns against thinking that racism and racial inequalities are no longer a problem. "The last thing I want is for people to think everything's solved."
These findings do not only apply to Obama, or even just to race. They should hold for any role model in any country. "There's no reason we wouldn't have seen the same effect on our views of women if Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin had been elected," says Effron. So the election of a female leader might have a downside for other women.
Beyond race
We also don't yet know how long the Obama effect—both its good side and its bar—will last. Political sentiment is notoriously changeable: What if things begin to go wrong for Obama, and his popularity slumps?
And what ff Americans become so familiar with having Obama as their president that they stop considering his race altogether? "Over time he might become his own entity," says Plant. This might seem like the ultimate defeat for racism, but ignoring the race of certain select individuals—a phenomenon that psychologists call subtyping—also bas an insidious (隐伏的) side. "We think it happens to help people preserve their beliefs, so they can still hold on to the previous stereotypes." That could turn out to be the cruellest of all the twists to the Obama effect.
1. How did Erin White feel upon seeing Barack Obama's victory in the election?
A) Excited. B) Victorious. C) Relieved. D) Anxious.
2. Before the election, Erin White had been haunted by the question of whether ______.
A) she could go as far as she wanted in life B) she could obtain her MBA degree
C) she was really an achiever as a student D) she was overshadowed by her white peers
3. What is ihe focus of Ashby Plant's study?
A) The dual character of African Americans. B) Personality traits of successful blacks.
C) Racist sentiments in America. D) The power of role models.
4. In their experiments, Ray Friedman and his colleagues found that ______.
A) whites' attitude towards blacks has dramatically changed
B) Obama's success impacted blacks' performance in language tests
C) Obama's election has eliminated the prejudice against blacks
D) blacks and whites behaved differently during the election
5. What do Brian Nosek's preliminary results suggest?
A) The change in bias against blacks is slow in coming.
B) Bias against blacks has experienced an unusual drop.
C) Obama's popularity may decline as time passes by.
D) Website visitors' opinions are far from being reliable.
6. A negative side of the Obama effect is that ______.
A) relations between whites and African Americans may become tense again
B) white people are likely to become more critical of African Americans
C) more people have started to criticise President Obama's racial policies
D) people are now less ready to support policies addressing racial inequality
7. Cheryl Kaiser holds that people should be constantly reminded that ______.
A) blacks still face obstacles in political participation B) Obama's success is sound proof of blacks' potential
C) racial inequality still persists in American society D) Obama is but a rare example of blacks' excellence
8. According to Effron, if Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin had been elected, there would also have been a negative effect on ______.
9. It is possible that the Obama effect will be short-lived if there is a change in people's ______.
10. The worst possible aspect of the Obama effect is that people could ignore his race altogether and continue to hold on to their old racial ______.
Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension
Section A
B11. A) The woman has a poor memory.
B) The man failed to keep his promise.
C) The woman does not need the book any more.
D) The man borrowed the book from the library.
D12. A) The woman is making too big a fuss about her condition.
B) People tend to work longer hours with artificial lighting.
C) Fatigue is a typical symptom of lack of exercise.
D) The woman should spend more time outdoors.
C13. A) She regrets having bought one of the T-shirts.
B) It is not in fashion to have a logo on a T-shirt.
C) It is not a good idea to buy the T-shirt.
D) The printing on her T-shirt has faded.
A14. A) Most readers do not share his viewpoints.
B) The woman is only trying to console him.
C) He regrets having published the article.
D) Not many people have read his article.
D15. A) Buy Daisy a new notebook.
B) Apologize to Daisy again by phone.
C) Go see Daisy immediately.
D) Leave Daisy alone for the time being.
A16. A) Batteries. B) Cameras. C) Light bulbs. D) Garden tools.
D17. A) The woman feels lucky to have got a ticket.
B) The speakers will watch the game together.
C) The man plays center on the basketball team.
D) The man can get the ticket at its original price.
B18. A) The woman is going to buy a new dress for the concert.
B) The speakers will dress formally for the concert.
C) The man will return home before going to the concert.
D) It is the first time the speakers are attending a concert.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
C 19. A) He wants to sign a tong-term contract.
B) He is good at both language and literature.
C) He is undecided as to which job to go for.
D) He prefers teaching to administrative work.
B20. A) They hate exams.
B) They are all adults.
C) They are going to work in companies.
D) They all plan to study in Cambridge.
D21. A) Demanding and frustrating.
B) Time-consuming and tiring.
C) Difficult but rewarding.
D) Varied and interesting.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
A22. A) Hosting a television show.
B) Reviewing a new biography.
C) Interviewing a movie star.
D) Discussing teenage role models.
B23. A) He missed his aunt.
B) He lost his mother.
C) He had to attend school there.
D) He was unhappy in California.
C24. A) He delivered public speeches.
B) He played a role in East of Eden.
C) He got seriously into acting.
D) He hosted talk shows on TV.
B25. A) He made numerous popular movies.
B) He has long been a legendary figure.
C) He was best at acting in Hollywood tragedies.
D) He was the most successful actor of his time.
Section B
Passage One
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
A26. A) It crashed when it was circling to land.
B) 18 of its passengers survived the crash.
C) It earried passengers leaving an island.
D) A terrorist forced it to land on Tenerife.
D27. A) He failed in his negotiations with the Mrieans.
B) He lost lots of money 'in his African business.
C) He was assassinated in Central Africa.
D) He was kidnapped eight months ago.
D28. A) The trade union gave up its demand.
B) The workers on strike were all fired.
C) The management and union representatives reached an agreement.
D) Tile workers' pay was raised and their working hours were shortened.
D29. A) Sunny. B) Windy. C) Cloudy. D) Rainy.
Passage Two
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
A30. A) Very few of them knew much about geology.
B) Most of them lacked interest in the subject.
C) Some of them had once experienced an earthquake.
D) A couple of them had listened to a similar speech before.
A31. A) By noting where the most severe earthquake in U.S. history occurred.
B) By reflecting on Americans' previous failures in predicting earthquakes.
C) By describing tile destructive power of earthquakes.
D) By explaining some essential geological principles.
C32. A) Write down any points where he could improve.
B) Focus on the accuracy of the language he used.
C) Stop him when he had difficulty understanding.
D) Intemlpt him