2023年大学英语六级考试12月真题.doc

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled The Way to Success by commenting on Abraham Lincoln's famous remark, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend, the first four sharpening the axe." You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
The Way to Success
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。

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 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.
Google's Plan for World's Biggest Online Library: Philanthropy Or Act of Piracy?
In recent years, teams of workers dispatched by Google have been working hard to make digital copies of books. So far, Google has scanned more than 10 million titles from libraries in America and Europe - including half a million volumes held by the Bodleian in Oxford. The exact method it uses is unclear; the company does not allow outsiders to observe the process. Why is Google undertaking such a venture?
Why is it even interested in all those out-of-print library books, most of which have been gathering dust on forgotten shelves for decades? The company claims its motives are essentially public-spirited. Its overall mission, after all, is to "organize the world's information", so it would be odd if that information did not include books.

The company likes to present itself as having lofty aspirations. "This really isn't about making money. We are doing this for the good of society." As Santiago de la Mora, head of Google Books for Europe, puts it: "By making it possible to search the millions of books that exist today, we hope to expand the frontiers of human knowledge." Dan Clancy, the chief architect of Google Books, does seem genuine in his conviction that this is primarily a philanthropic (慈善旳) exercise "Google's core business is search and find, so obviously what helps improve Google's search engine is good for Google," he says. "But we have never built a spreadsheet (电子数据表) outlining the financial benefits of this, and I have never had to justify the amount I am spending to the company's founders."
It is easy, talking to Clancy and his colleagues, to be swept along by their missionary passion. But Google's book-scanning project is proving controversial. Several opponents have recently emerged, ranging from rival tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon to small bodies representing authors and publishers across the world. In broad terms, these opponents have leveled two sets of criticisms at Google.
First, they have questioned whether the primary responsibility for digitally archiving the world's books should be allowed to fall to a commercial company. In a recent essay in the New York Review of Books, Robert Danton, the head of Harvard University's library, argued that because such books are a common resource – the possession of us all – only public, not-for-profit bodies should be given the power to control them.
The second related criticism is that Google's scanning of books is actually illegal. This allegation has led to Google becoming mired in (陷入) a legal battle whose scope and complexity makes the Jaundice and Jaundice case in Charles Dickens' Bleak House look straightforward.
At its centre, however, is one simple issue: that of copyright. The inconvenient fact about most books, to which Google has arguably paid insufficient attention, is that they are protected by copyright. Copyright laws differ from country to country, but in general protection extends for the duration of an author's life and for a substantial period afterwards, thus allowing the author's heirs to benefit. (In Britain and America, this post-death period is 70 years.) This means, of course, that almost all of the books published in the 20th century are still under copyright – and the last century saw more books published than in all previous centuries combined. Of the roughly 40 million books in US libraries, for example, an estimated 32 million are in copyright. Of these, some 27 million are out of print.
Outside the US, Google has made sure only to scan books that are out of copyright and thus in the "public domain" (works such as the Bodleian's first edition of Middlemarch, which anyone can read for free on Google Books Search). But, within the US, the company has scanned both in-copyright and out-of-copyright works. In its defense, Google points out that it displays only small segments of books that are in copyright– arguing that such displays are "fair use".
But critics allege that by making electronic copies of these books without first seeking the permission of copyright holders, Google has committed piracy.
"The key principle of copyright law has always been that works can be copied only once authors have expressly given their permission," says Piers Bluffed, of the Sheila Land literary agency in London. "Google has reversed this – it has simply copied all these works without bothering task."
In , the Authors Guild of America, together with a group of US publishers, launched a class action suit (集团诉讼) against Google that, after more than two years of negotiation, ended with an announcement last October that Google and the claimants had reached an out-of-court settlement. The full details are complicated - the text alone runs to 385 pages– and trying to summarize it is no easy task. "Part of the problem is that it is basically incomprehensible," says Bluffed, one of the settlement's most vocal British critics.
Broadly, the deal provides a mechanism for Google to compensate authors and publishers whose rights it has breached (including giving them a share of any future revenue it generates from their works). In exchange for this, the rights holders agree not to sue Google in future.
This settlement hands Google the power - but only with the agreement of individual rights holders – to exploit its database of out-of-print books. It can include them in subscription deals sold to libraries or sell them individually under a consumer license. It is these commercial provisions that are proving the settlement's most controversial aspect.
Critics point out that, by giving Google the right to commercially exploit its database, the settlement paves the way for a subtle shift in the company's role from provider of information to seller. "Google's business model has always been to provide information for free, and sell advertising on the basis of the traffic this generates," points out James Grimmelman, associate professor at New York Law School. Now, he says, because of the settlement's provisions, Google could become a significant force in bookselling.
Interest in this aspect of the settlement has focused on "orphan" works, where there is no known copyright holder – these make up an estimated 5-10% of the books Google has scanned. Under the settlement, when no rights holders come forward and register their interest in a work, commercial control automatically reverts to Google. Google will be able to display up to 20% of orphan works for free, include them in its subscription deals to libraries and sell them to individual buyers under the consumer license.
It is by no means certain that the settlement will be enacted (执行) – it is the subject of fairness hearing in the US courts. But if it is enacted, Google will in effect be off the hook as far as copyright violations in the US are concerned. Many people are seriously concerned by this and the company is likely to face challenges in other courts around the world.
No one knows the precise use Google will make of the intellectual property it has gained by scanning the world's library books, and the truth, as Gerick, an American science writer and member of the Authors Guild, points out, is that the company probably doesn't even know itself. But what is certain is that, in some way or other, Google's entrance into digital bookselling will have a significant impact on the book world in the years to come.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。
1. Google claims its plan for the world's biggest online library is
A) to serve the interest of the general public
B) to encourage reading around the world
C) to save out-of-print books in libraries
D) to promote its core business of searching
2. According to Santiago de la Mora, Google's book-scanning project will _____.
A) broaden humanity's intellectual horizons
B) B) help the broad masses of readers
C) C) revolutionize the entire book industry
D) D) make full use of the power of its search engine
3. Opponents of Google Books believe that
digitally archiving the world's books should be controlled by _____.
A) non-profit organizations
B) B) the world's leading libraries
C) C) multinational companies
D) D) the world's tech giants

4. Google has involved itself in a legal battle as it ignored _____.
A) the copyright of authors of out-of-print books
B) the copyright of the books it scanned
C) the interest of traditional booksellers
D) the differences of in-print and out-of-print books
5. Google defends its scanning in-copyright books by saying that _____.
A) it displays only a small part of their content
B) it is willing to compensate the copyright holders
C) making electronic copies of books is not a violation of copyright
D) the online display of in-copyright books is not for commercial use
6. What do we learn about the class action suit against Google?
A) It ended in a victory for the Authors Guild of America.
B) It was settled after more than two years of negotiation.
C) It failed to protect the interests of American publishers.
D) It could lead to more out-of-court settlements of such disputes.
7. What remained controversial after the class action suit ended?
A) The compensation for copyright holders.
B) The change in Google's business model.
C) Google's further exploitation of its database.
D) The commercial provisions of the settlement.
8. While _____, Google makes money by selling advertising.
9. Books whose copyright holders are not known are called _____.
10. Google's entrance into digital bookselling will tremendously _____ in the future.

Part III Section A

Listening Comprehension

(35 minutes)

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 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. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 2 上作答。
11. A) Cancel the trip to prepare for the test.
B) Review his notes once he arrives in Chicago.
C) Listen to the recorded notes while driving.
D) Prepare for the test after the wedding.
12. A) The woman will help the man remember the lines.
B) The man lacks confidence in playing the part.
C) The man hopes to change his role in the play.
D) The woman will prompt the man during the show.
13. A) Preparations for an operation.
B) A complicated surgical case.
C) Arranging a bed for a patient.
D) Rescuing the woman's uncle.

14. A) He is interested in improving his editing skills.
B) He is eager to be nominated the new editor.
C) He is sure to do a better job than Simon.
D) He is too busy to accept more responsibility.
15. A) He has left his position in the government.
B) He has already reached the retirement age.
C) He made a stupid decision at the cabinet meeting
D) He has been successfully elected Prime Minister.
16.
A) This year's shuttle mission is a big step in space exploration.
B) The man is well informed about the space shuttle missions.
C) The shuttle flight will be broadcast live worldwide.
D) The man is excited at the news of the shuttle flight.
17.
A) At an auto rescue center.
B) At a car renting company.
C) At a suburban garage.
D) At a mountain camp.
18.
A) He got his speakers fixed.
B) He went shopping with the woman.
C) He listened to some serious music
D) He bought a stereo system.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. A) Providing aid to the disabled.
B) Printing labels for manufactured goods.
C) Promoting products for manufacturers.
D) Selling products made for left-handers.

20.
A) Most of them are specially made for his shop.
B) All of them are manufactured in his own plant.
C) The kitchenware in his shop is of unique design.
D) About half of them are unavailable on the market.
21.
A) They specialize in one product only.
B) They have outlets throughout Britain.
C) They run chain stores in central London.
D) They sell by mail order only.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
22.
A) It publishes magazines.
B) It sponsors trade fairs.
C) It runs sales promotion campaigns.
D) It is engaged in product design.
23.
A) The ad specifications had not been given in detail.
B) The woman's company made last-minute changes.
C) The woman's company failed to make payments in time.
D)Organizing the promotion was really time-consuming.

24.
A) Extend the campaign to next year.
B) Cut the fee by half for this year.
C) Run another four-week campaign.
D) Give her a 10 percent discount.
25.
A) Stop negotiating for the time being.
B) Calm down and make peace.
C) Reflect on their respective mistakes
D) Improve their promotion plans.

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 spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 2 上作答。
Passage One Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. A) They look spotlessly clean throughout their lives.
B) They are looked after by animal-care organizations.
C) They sacrifice their lives for the benefit of humans.
D) They are labeled pet animals by the researchers.

27. A) They may affect the results of experiments.
B) They may behave abnormally.
C) They may breed out of control.
D) They may cause damage to the environment.

28. A) When they become escapees.
B) When they are no longer useful.
C) When they get too old.
D) When they become ill.
29. A) Whi