2006年6月大学英语六级考试试题及参考答案 - 中华考试网

Part I Listening Comprehension (20 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each
conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation
and the question 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 the Answer
Sheet with a single line through the center.

Example: You will hear:
You will read:
A) 2 hours.
B) 3 hours.
C) 4 hours.
D) 5 hours.
From the conversation we know that the two were talking about some work they will start at 9
o’clock in the morning and have to finish at 2 in the afternoon. Therefore, D) “5 hours” is the
correct answer. You should choose [D] on the Answer Sheet and mark it with a single line through
the center.
Sample Answer [A] [B] [C] [D]
1. A) She met with Thomas just a few days ago.
B) She can help with the orientation program.
C) She is not sure she can pass on the message.
D) She will certainly try to contact Thomas.
2. A) Set the dinner table.
　　B) Change the light bulb
　　C) Clean the dining room.
　　D) Hold the ladder for him.
3. A) He’d like a piece of pie.
B) He’d like some coffee
C) He’d rather stay in the warm room.
D) He’s just had dinner with his friends.
4. A) He has managed to sell a number of cars.
B) He is contented with his current position.
C) He might get fired.
D) He has lost his job.
5. A) Tony’s secretary.
B) Paul’s girlfriend.
　　C) Paul’s colleague.
　　D) Tony’s wife.
6. A) He was fined for running a red light.
B) He was caught speeding on a fast lane.
C) He had to run quickly to get the ticket.
D) He made a wrong turn at the intersection.
7. A) He has learned a lot from his own mistakes.
B) He is quite experienced in taming wild dogs.
C) He finds reward more effective than punishment.
D) He thinks it important to master basic training skills.
8. A) At a bookstore.
B) At the dentist’s.
　　C) In a restaurant.
　　D) In the library.
9. A) He doesn’t want Jenny to get into trouble.
B) He doesn’t agree with the woman’s remark.
C) He thinks Jenny’s workload too heavy at college.
D) He believes most college students are running wild.
10. A) It was applaudable.
B) It was just terrible.
C) The actors were enthusiastic.
D) The plot was funny enough.

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 the Answer Sheet
with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.
11. A) Social work.
　　B) Medical care
　　C) Applied physics
　　D) Special education.
12. A) The timely advice from her friends and relatives.
B) The two-year professional training she received.
C) Her determination to fulfill her dream.
D) Her parents’ consistent moral support.
13. A) To get the funding for the hospitals.
B) To help the disabled children there.
C) To train therapists for the children there.
D) To set up an institution for the handicapped.

Passage Two
Questions 14 to 17 are based on the passage you have just heard.
14. A) At a country school in Mexico.
B) In a mountain valley of Spain.
C) At a small American college.
D) In a small village in Chile.
15. A) By expanding their minds and horizons.
B) By financing their elementary education.
C) By setting up a small primary school.
D) By setting them an inspiring example.
16. A) She wrote poetry that broke through national barriers.
B) She was a talented designer of original school curriculums.
C) She proved herself to be an active and capable stateswoman.
D) She made outstanding contributions to children’s education.
17. A) She won the 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature.
B) She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
C) She translated her books into many languages.
D) She advised many statesmen on international affairs.

Passage Three
Question 18 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.
18. A) How animals survive harsh conditions in the wild.
B) How animals alter colors to match their surroundings.
C) How animals protect themselves against predators.
　　D) How animals learn to disguise themselves effectively.
19. A) Its enormous size.
　　B) Its plant-like appearance.
　　C) Its instantaneous response.
　　D) Its offensive smell.
20. A) It helps improve their safety.
　　B) It allows them to swim faster.
　　C) It helps them fight their predators.
　　D) It allows them to avoid twists and turns.

Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. 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 the
Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
There are good reasons to be troubled by the violence that spreads throughout the media.
Movies. Television and video games are full of gunplay and bloodshed, and one might reasonably
ask what’s wrong with a society that presents videos of domestic violence as entertainment. Most
researchers agree that the causes of real-world violence are complex. A 1993 study by the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences listed “biological, individual, family, peer, school, and community
factors” as all playing their parts.
　　Viewing abnormally large amounts of violent television and video games may well contribute
to violent behavior in certain individuals.
　　The trouble comes when researchers downplay uncertainties in their studies or overstate the
case for causality (因果关系). Skeptics were dismayed several years ago when a group of
societies including the
　　American Medical Association tried to end the debate by issuing a joint statement: “At this
time, well over 1,000 studies… point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media
violence and aggressive behavior in some children.”
　　Freedom-of-speech advocates accused the societies of catering to politicians, and even
disputed the number of studies (most were review articles and essays, they said). When Jonathan
Freedman, a social psychologist at the University of Toronto, reviewed the literature, he found
only 200 or so studies of television-watching and aggression. And when he weeded out “the most
doubtful measures of aggression”, only 28% supported a connection.
　　The critical point here is causality. The alarmists say they have proved that violent media
cause aggression. But the assumptions behind their observations need to be examined. When
labeling games as violent or non-violent, should a hero eating a ghost really be counted as a
violent event? And when experimenters record the time it takes game players to read ‘aggressive’
or ‘non-aggressive’ words from a list, can we be sure what they are actually measuring? The intent
of the new Harvard Center on Media and Child Health to collect and standardize studies of media
violence in order to compare their methodologies, assumptions and conclusions is an important
step in the right direction.
　　Another appropriate ster would be to tone down the criticism until we know more. Several
researchers write, speak and testify quite a lot on the threat posed by violence in the media. That is,
of course, their privilege. But when doing so, they often come out with statements that the matter
has now been settled, drawing criticism from colleagues. In response, the alarmists accuse critics
and news reporters of being deceived by the entertainment industry. Such clashes help neither
science nor society.
21. Why is there so much violence shown in movies, TV and video games?
A) There is a lot of violence in the real world today.
B) Something has gone wrong with today’s society.
C) Many people are fond of gunplay and bloodshed.
D) Showing violence is thought to be entertaining.
22. What is the skeptics (Line 3. Para.3) view of media violence?
A) Violence on television is a fairly accurate reflection of real-world life.
B) Most studies exaggerate the effect of media violence on the viewers.
C) A causal relationship exists between media and real-world violence.
D) The influence of media violence on children has been underestimated.
23. The author uses the term “alarmists” (Line 1. Para.5) to refer to those who ______.
A) use standardized measurements in the studies of media violence
B) initiated the debate over the influence of violent media on reality
C) assert a direct link between violent media and aggressive behavior
D) use appropriate methodology in examining aggressive behavior
24. In refuting the alarmists, the author advances his argument by first challenging____.
A) the source and amount of their data
B) the targets of their observation
C) their system of measurement
D) their definition of violence
25. What does the author think of the debate concerning the relationship between the media and
violence?
A) More studies should be conducted before conclusions are drawn.
B) It should come to an end since the matter has now been settled.
C) The past studies in this field have proved to be misleading.
D) He more than agrees with the views held by the alarmists.

Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

　　You’re in trouble if you have to buy your own brand-name prescription drugs. Over the past
decade, prices leaped by more than double the inflation rate. Treatments for chronic conditions can
easily top ＄2,000 a month-no wonder that one in four Americans can’s afford to fill their
prescriptions. The solution? A hearty chorus of “O Canada.” North of the border, where price
controls reign, those same brand-name drugs cost 50% to 80% less.
　　The Canadian option is fast becoming a political wake-up call, “If our neighbors can buy
drugs at reasonable prices, why can’t we?” Even to whisper that thought provokes anger.
“Un-American!” And-the propagandists’ trump card (王牌)—“Wreck our brilliant health-care
system.” Super-size drug prices, they claim, fund the research that sparks the next generation of
wonder drugs. No sky-high drug price today, no cure for cancer tomorrow. So shut up and pay up.
Common sense tells you that’s a false alternative. The reward for finding. Say, a cancer cure is so
huge that no one’s going to hang it up. Nevertheless, if Canada-level pricing came to the United
States, the industry’s profit margins would drop and the pace of new-drug development would
slow. Here lies the American dilemma. Who is all this splendid medicine for? Should our
health-care system continue its drive toward the best of the best, even though rising numbers of
patients can’t afford it? Or should we direct our wealth toward letting everyone in on today’s level
of care? Measured by saved lives, the latter is almost certainly the better course.
　　To defend their profits, the drug companies have warned Canadian wholesalers and
pharmacies(药房) not to sell to Americans by mail, and are cutting back supplies to those who
dare.
　　Meanwhile, the administration is playing the fear card. Officials from the Food and Drug
Administration will argue that Canadian drugs might be fake, mishandled, or even a potential
threat to life.
　　Do bad drugs fly around the Internet? Sure-and the more we look, the more we’ll find, But I
haven’t heard of any raging epidemics among the hundreds of thousands of people buying
cross-border.
　　Most users of prescription drugs don’s worry about costs a lot.
　　They’re sheltered by employee insurance, owing just a $20 co-pay.
　　The financial blows rain, instead, on the uninsured, especially the chronically ill who need
expensive drugs to live, This group will still include middle-income seniors on Medicare, who’ll
have to dig deeply into their pockets before getting much from the new drug benefit that starts in
2006.
26. What is said about the consequence of the rocketing drug prices in the U.S.?
A) A quarter of Americans can’t afford their prescription drugs.
B) Many Americans can’t afford to see a doctor when they fall ill.
C) Many Americans have to go to Canada to get medical treatment.
D) The inflation rate has been more than doubled over the years.
27. It can be inferred that America can follow the Canadian model and curb its soaring drug
prices by _____.
A) encouraging people to buy prescription drugs online
B) extending medical insurance to all its citizens
C) importing low-price prescription drugs from Canada
D) exercising price control on brand-name drugs
28. How do propagandists argue for the U.S. drug pricing policy?
A) Low prices will affect the quality of medicines in America.
B) High prices are essential to funding research on new drugs.
C) Low prices will bring about the anger of drug manufacturers.
D) High-price drugs are indispensable in curing chronic diseases.
29. What should be the priority of America’s health-care system according to the author?
A) To resolve the dilemma in the health-care system.
B) To maintain America’s lead in the drug industry.
C) To allow the vast majority to enjoy its benefits.
D) To quicken the pace of new drug development.
30. What are American drug companies doing to protect their high profits?
A) Labeling drugs bought from Canada as being fakes.
B) Threatening to cut back funding for new drug research.
C) Reducing supplies to uncooperative Canadian pharmacies.
D) Attributing the raging epidemics to the ineffectiveness of Canadian drugs.

Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

　　Age has its privileges in America. And one of the more prominent of them is the senior
citizen discount. Anyone who has reached a certain age-in some cases as low as 55-is
automatically entitled to a dazzling array of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial
life. Eligibility is determined not by one’s need but by the date on one’s birth certificate.
Practically unheard of a generation ago, the discounts have become a routine part of many
businesses-as common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.
　　People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them；yet，
millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent (有支付能力的). Businesses that
would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older
Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that “elderly” and “needy”
are synonymous (同义的).
　　Perhaps that once was true, but today elderly Americans as a group have a lower poverty rate
than the rest of the population. To be sure, there is economic diversity within the elderly, and many
older Americans are poor, But most of them aren’t. It is impossible to determine the impact of the
discounts on individual companies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to revenue. But in other
cases the discounts are given at the expense.
　　Directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they are a direct irritant in what
some politicians and scholars see as a coming conflict between the generations.
　　Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits，
which mostly involves a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another
sore point, Buoyed (支持) by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are
declining the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job-thereby lessening employment and
promotion opportunities for younger workers.
　　Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have become a formidable
economic privilege to a group with millions of members who don’t need them.
　　It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve
priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enhance the myth that older people
can’t take care of themselves and need special treatment； and they threaten the creation of a new
myth, that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other
age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the essence of the very thing older Americans are fighting
against-discrimination by age.
31. We learn from the first paragraph that____.
A) offering senior citizens discounts has become routine commercial practice
B) senior citizen discounts have enabled many old people to live a decent life
C) giving senior citizens discounts has boosted the market for the elderly
D) senior citizens have to show their birth certificates to get a discount
32. What assumption lies behind the practice of senior citizen discounts?
A) Businesses, having made a lot of profits, should do something for society in return.
B) Old people are entitled to special treatment for the contribution they made to society.
C) The elderly, being financially underprivileged，need humane help from society.
D) Senior citizen discounts can make up for the inadequacy of the Social Security system.
33. According to some politicians and scholars, senior citizen discounts will___.
A) make old people even more dependent on society
B) intensify conflicts between the young and the old
C) have adverse financial impact on business companies
D) bring a marked increase in the companies revenues
34. How does the author view the Social Security system?
A) It encourages elderly people to retire in time.
B) It opens up broad career prospects for young people.
C) It benefits the old at the expense of the young
D) It should be reinforced by laws and court decisions
35. Which of the following best summarizes the author’s main argument?
A) Senior citizens should fight hard against age discrimination.
B) The elderly are selfish and taking senior discounts for granted.
C) Priority should be given to the economic needs of senior citizens.
D) Senior citizen discounts may well be a type of age discrimination.

Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

　　In 1854 my great-grandfather, Morris Marable, was sold on an auction block in Georgia for
＄500. For his white slave master, the sale was just “business as usual.” But to Morris Marable
and his heirs, slavery was a crime against our humanity. This pattern of human rights violations
against enslaved African-Americans continued under racial segregation for nearly another century.
The fundamental problem of American democracy in the 21st century is the problem of “structural
racism” the deep patterns of socio-economic inequality and accumulated disadvantage that are
coded by race, and constantly justified in public speeches by both racist stereotypes and white
indifference. Do Americans have the capacity and vision to remove these structural barriers that
deny democratic rights and opportunities to millions of their fellow
citizens?
　　This country has previously witnessed two great struggles to achieve a truly multicultural
democracy.
　　The First Reconstruction (1865-1877) ended slavery and briefly gave black men voting rights,
but gave no meaningful compensation for two centuries of unpaid labor. The promise of “40 acres
and a mule (骡子)”was for most blacks a dream deferred (尚未实现的).
　　The Second Reconstruction (1954-1968), or the modern civil rights movement, ended legal
segregation in public accommodations and gave blacks voting rights . But these successes
paradoxically obscure the tremendous human costs of historically accumulated disadvantage that
remain central to black Americans’ lives.
　　The disproportionate wealth that most whites enjoy today was first constructed from
centuries of unpaid black labor. Many white institutions, including some leading universities,
insurance companies and banks, profited from slavery. This pattern of white privilege and black
inequality continues today.
　　Demanding reparations (赔偿) is not just about compensation for slavery and segregation. It
is, more important, an educational campaign to highlight the contemporary reality of “racial
deficits” of all kinds, the unequal conditions that impact blacks regardless of class. Structural
racism’s barriers include “equity inequity.” the absence of black capital formation that is a direct
consequence of America’s history. One third of all black households actually have negative net
wealth. In 1998 the typical black family’s net wealth was ＄16,400, less than one fifth that of
white families.
　　Black families are denied home loans at twice the rate of whites.
　　Blacks remain the last hired and first fired during recessions.
　　During the 1990-91 recession. African-Americans suffered disproportionately. At Coca-Cola,
42 percent of employees who lost their jobs were blacks. At Sears, 54 percent were black, Blacks
have significantly shorter life spans, in part due to racism in the health establishment. Blacks are
statistically less likely than whites to be referred for kidney transplants or early-stage cancer
surgery.
36. To the author, the auction of his great-grandfather is a typical example of____.
A) crime against humanity
B) unfair business transaction
C) racial conflicts in Georgia
D) racial segregation in America
37. The barrier to democracy in 21st century America is____.
A) widespread use of racist stereotypes
B) prejudice against minority groups
C) deep-rooted socio-economic inequality
D) denial of legal rights to ordinary blacks
38. What problem remains unsolved in the two Reconstructions?
A) Differences between races are deliberately obscured.
B) The blacks are not compensated for their unpaid labor.
C) There is no guarantee for blacks to exercise their rights.
D) The interests of blacks are not protected by law.
39. It is clear that the wealth enjoyed by most whites____.
A) has resulted from business successes over the years
B) has been accompanied by black capital formation
C) has derived from sizable investments in education
D) has been accumulated from generations of slavery
40. What does the author think of the current situation regarding racial discrimination?
A) Racism is not a major obstacle to blacks’ employment.
B) Inequality of many kinds remains virtually untouched
C) A major step has been taken towards reparations.
D) Little has been done to ensure blacks’ civil rights.

Part III Vocabulary (20 minutes)

Direction: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there
are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Choose the ONE answer that best
completes the sentence. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with
a single line through the centre.

41. Because of the of its ideas, the book was in wide circulation both at home and
abroad.
　　A)originality B) subjectivity
　　C) generality D) ambiguity
42. With its own parliament and currency and a common ___ for peace, the European
Union declared itself—in 11 official languages—open for business.
　　A) inspiration B) assimilation
　　C) intuition D) aspiration
43. America has now adopted more _________ European-style inspection systems, and the
incidence of food poisoning is falling.
　　A) discrete B) solemn
　　C) rigorous D) autonomous
44. Mainstream pro-market economists all agree that competition is an ___ spur to
efficiency and innovation.
　　A) extravagant B) exquisite
　　C) intermittent D) indispensable
45. In the late 19th century, Jules Verne, the master of science fiction, foresaw many of the
technological wonders that are ___ today.
　　A) transient B) commonplace
　　C) implicit D) elementary

Part Ⅲ Vocabulary
41. A) originality
42. D) aspiration
43. C) rigorous
44. D) indispensable
45. B) commonplace
46. C) thrilled
47. A) retrieved
48. D) nominated
49. B) overwhelming
50. A) startling
51. C) cherished
52. A) interacting
53. D) transcending
54. C) deprived
55. B) prone
56. D) donated
57. B) gorgeous
58. B) trait
59. C) transition
60. A) distort
61. D) hierarchy
62. A) abnormal
63. D) genetic
64. B) indicative
65. A) disturbance
66. C) durability
67. D) stunned
68. B) drastic
69. A) descendants
70. C) extinct

Part IV Error Correction
S1. master ------------ --> mastering
S2. that------------------> what
S3. in an effect---------->去掉an
S4. lazy------------------>laziness
S5. which --------------->that
S6. affecting ------------------>affected
S7. at same time--------------->same前加the
S8. year ------------------------>years
S9. relative----------------------> relatively
S10. with ------------------------> without