2018年12月大學英語六級考試真題完整版（第二套）

Part Ⅰwriting （30 minutes）

directions: for this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on how to balance work and leisure. you should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

Part Ⅱ listening comprehension （30 minutes）

Section A

directions: in this section, you will hear two long conversations. at the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. both the conversation 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 1 with a single line through the centre.

questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

1. a） it can benefit professionals and non-professionals alike.

b） it lists the various challenges physicists are confronting.

c） it describes how some mysteries of physics were solved.

d） it is one of the most fascinating physics books ever written.

2.a） physicists1 contribution to humanity.

b） stories about some female physicists.

c） historical evolution of modem physics.

d） women’s changing attitudes to physics.

3.a） by exposing a lot of myths in physics.

b） by describing her own life experiences.

c） by including lots of fascinating knowledge.

d） by telling anecdotes about famous professors.

4.a） it avoids detailing abstract concepts of physics.

b） it contains a lot of thought-provoking questions.

c） it demonstrates how they can become physicists.

d） it provides experiments they can do themselves.

questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

5. a） he is too busy to finish his assignment in time.

b） he does not know what kind of topic to write on.

c） he does not understand the professor’s instructions.

d） he has no idea how to proceed with his dissertation.

6.a） it is too broad.

b） it is outdated.

c） it is challenging.

d） it is interesting.

7. a） biography.

b） nature.

c） photography.

d） beauty.

8. a） improve his cumulative grade.

b） develop his reading ability.

c） stick to the topic assigned.

d） list the parameters first.

Section B

directions: in this section, you will hear two passages. at the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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 1 with a single line through the centre.

questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.

9. a） the unprecedented high temperature in greenland.

b） the collapse of ice on the northern tip of greenland.

c） the unusual cold spell in the arctic area in october.

d） the rapid change of arctic temperature within a day.

10. a） it has created a totally new climate pattern.

b） it will pose a serious threat to many species.

c） it typically appears about once every ten years.

d） it has puzzled the climate scientists for decades.

11. a） extinction of arctic wildlife.

b） iceless summers in the arctic.

c） emigration of indigenous people.

d） better understanding of ecosystems.

questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.

12. a） a good start.

b） a detailed plan.

c） a strong determination.

d） a scientific approach.

13.a） most people get energized after a sufficient rest.

b） most people tend to have finite source of energy.

c） it is vital to take breaks between demanding mental tasks.

d） it is most important to have confidence in one’s willpower.

14. a） they could keep on working longer.

b） they could do more challenging tasks.

c） they found it easier to focus on work at hand.

d） they held more positive attitudes toward life.

15. a） they are part of their nature.

b） they are subject to change.

c） they are related to culture.

d） they are beyond control.

Section C

directions: in this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four ques ions. the recordings will be played only once. after you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from t e four choices marked a）, b）, c） and d）. then mark the corresponding letter on answer sheet 1 with a sing e me through the centre.

questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.

16. a） about half of current jobs might be automated.

b） the jobs of doctors and lawyers would be threatened.

c） the job market is becoming somewhat unpredictable.

d） machine learning would prove disruptive by 2013.

17. a）they are widely applicable for massive open online courses.

b）they are now being used by numerous high school teachers.

c）they could read as many as 10,000 essays in a single minute.

d）they could grade high-school essays just like human teacher.

18. a） it needs instructions throughout the process.

b） it does poorly on frequent, high-volume tasks.

c） it has to rely on huge amounts of previous data.

d） it is slow when it comes to tracking novel things.

questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.

19. a） the engineering problems with solar power.

b） the generation of steam with the latest technology.

c） the importance of exploring new energy sources.

d） the theoretical aspects of sustainable energy.

20. a） drive trains with solar energy.

b） upgrade the city’s train facilities.

c） build a new ten-kilometer railway 1ine.

d） cut down the city s energy consumption.

21. a） build a tank for keeping calcium oxide.

b） find a new material for storing energy.

c） recover super-heated steam.

d） collect carbon dioxide gas.

questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.

22.a）the lack of supervision by both the nation and local government.

b）the impact of the current economic crisis at home and abroad.

c）the poor management of day centers and home help services.

d）the poor relation between national health and social care services.

23. a） it was mainly provided by voluntary services.

b） it mainly caters to the need of the privileged.

c） it called for a sufficient number of volunteers.

d） it has deteriorated over the past sixty years.

24. a） their longer lifespans.

b） fewer home helpers available.

c） their preference for private services.

d） more of them suffering serious illness.

25. a） they are unable to pay for health services.

b） they have long been discriminated against.

c） they are vulnerable to illness and diseases.

d） they have contributed a great deal to society.

PartⅢ reading comprehension （40 minutes）

Section A

directions: in this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. you are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. read the passage through carefully before making your choices. each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. please mark the corresponding letter for each item on answer sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. you may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

surfing the internet during class doesn’t just steal focus from the educator; it also hurts students who’re already struggling to __26__ the material. a new study from michigan state university, though, argues that all students—including high achievers—see a decline in performance when they browse the internet during class for non-academic purposes.

to measure the effects of internet-based distractions during class, researchers__27__500 students taking an introductory psychology class at michigan state university. researchers used act scores as a measure of intellectual __28__ . because previous research has shown that people with high intellectual abilities re better at __29__ out distractions, researchers believed students with high act scores would not

show a __30__ decrease in performance due to their use of digital devices. but students who surfed the web during class did worse on their exams regardless of their act scores, suggesting that even the academically smartest students are harmed when they’re distracted in class.

college professors are increasingly __31__ alarm bells about the effects smartphones, laptops, and tablets have on academic performance. one 2013 study of college students found that 80% of students use their phones or laptops during class, with the average student checking their digital device 11 times in a __32__ class. a quarter of students report that their use of digital devices during class causes their grades to __33__ .

professors sometimes implement policies designed to __34__ students’ use of digital devices, and some instructors even confiscate （沒收）tablets and phones. in a world where people are increasingly dependent on their phones, though, such strategies often fail. one international study found that 84% of people say they couldn’t go a day without their smartphones. until students are able to __35__ the pull of social networking,

texting, and endlessly surfing the web, they may continue to struggle in their classes.

a） aptitude

b） eradication

c） evaluated

d） evaporated

e） filtering

f） grasp

g） legacy

h） minimize

i） obscure

j） obsess

k） raising

l） resist

m） significant

n） suffer

o） typical

Section B

directions: in this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. you may choose a paragraph more than once. each paragraph is marked with a letter. answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on answer sheet 2.

pioneering woman of science re-emerges after 300 years

a）maria sibylla merian, like many european women of the 17th century, stayed busy managing a household and rearing children. but on top of that, merian, a german-born woman who lived in the netherlands, also managed a successful career as an artist, botanist, naturalist and entomologist （昆蟲學家）.

b） “she was a scientist on the level with a lot of people we spend a lot of time talking about,” said kay etheridge, a biologist at gettysburg college in pennsylvania who has been studying the scientific history of merian s work. “she didn't do as much to change biology as charles darwin, but she was significant.”

c）at a time when natural history was a valuable tool for discovery, merian discovered facts about plants and insects that were not previously known. her observations helped dismiss the popular belief that insects spontaneously emerged from mud. the knowledge she collected over decades didn’t just satisfy those curious about nature, but also provided valuable insights into medicine and science. she was the first to bring together insects and their habitats, including food they ate, into a single ecological composition.

d）after years of pleasing a fascinated audience across europe with books of detailed descriptions and life-size paintings of familiar insects, in 1699 she sailed with her daughter nearly 5,000 miles from the netherlands to south america to study insects in the jungles of what is now known as suriname. she was 52 years old. the result was her masterpiece, metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium.

e） in her work, she revealed a side of nature so exotic, dramatic and valuable to europeans of the time that she received much acclaim. but a century later, her findings came under scientific criticism. shoddy reproductions of her work along with setbacks to women’s roles in 18th- and 19th-century europe resulted in her efforts being largely forgotten. “it was kind of stunning when she sort of dropped off into oblivion ，” said dr. etheridge. “victorians started putting women in a box, and they’re still trying to crawl out of it.”

f） today, the pioneering woman of the sciences has re-emerged. in recent years, feminists, historians and artists have all praised merian s tenacity，talent and inspirational artistic compositions. and now biologists like dr. etheridge are digging into the scientific texts that accompanied her art. three hundred years after her death, merian will be celebrated at an international symposium in amsterdam this june.

g） and last month, metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium was republished. it contains 60 plates and original descriptions, along with stories about merian’s life and updated scientific descriptions. before writing metamorphosis, merian spent decades documenting european plants and insects that she published in a series of books. she began in her 20s, making textless, decorative paintings of flowers with insects. “then she got really serious, dr. etheridge said. merian started raising insects at home, mostly butterflies and caterpillars. she would sit up all night until they came out of the pupa so she could draw them,” she said.

h） the results of her decades1 worth of careful observations were detailed paintings and descriptions of european insects, followed by unconventional visuals and stories of insects and animals from a land that most at the time could only imagine. it's possible merian used a magnifying glass to capture the detail of the split tongues of sphinx moths depicted in the painting. she wrote that the two tongues combine to form one tube for drinking nectar.some criticized this detail later, saying there was just one tongue, but merian wasn’t wrong. she may have observed the adult moth just as it emerged from its pupa. for a brief moment during that stage of its life cycle, the tongue consists of two tiny half-tubes before merging into one.

i）it may not have been ladylike to depict a giant spider devouring a hummingbird, but when merian did it at the turn of the 18th century, surprisingly, nobody objected. dr. etheridge called it revolutionary. the image, which also contained novel descriptions of ants, fascinated a european audience that was more concerned with the exotic story unfolding before them than the gender of the person who painted it.

j） “all of these things shook up their nice, neat little view，’’ dr. etheridge said. but later, people of the victorian era thought differently. her work had been reproduced, sometimes incorrectly. a few observations were deemed impossible. “she，d been called a silly woman for saying that a spider could eat a bird,” dr. etheridge said. but henry walter bates, a friend of charles darwin, observed it and put it in a book in 1863, proving merian was correct.

k） in the same plate, merian depicted and described leaf-cutter ants for the first time. “in america there are large ants which can eat whole trees bare as a broom handle in a single night,” she wrote in the description. merian noted how the ants took the leaves below ground to their young. and she wouldn’t have known this at the time，but the ants use the leaves to farm fungi underground to feed their developing babies.

l） merian was correct about the giant bird-eating spiders, ants building bridges with their bodies and other details. but in the same drawing, she incorrectly lumped together army and leaf-cutter ants. and instead of showing just the typical pair of 電gs in a hummingbird nest, she painted four. she made other mistakes in metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium as well: not every caterpillar and butterfly matched.

m） perhaps one explanation for her mistakes is that she cut short her suriname trip after getting sick, and completed the book at home in amsterdam. and errors are common among some of history’s most- celebrated scientific minds, too. “these errors no more invalidate ms. merian’s work than do well-known misconceptions published by charles darwin or isaac newton,m dr. etheridge wrote in a paper that argued that too many have wrongly focused on the mistakes of her work.

n） merian’s paintings inspired artists and ecologists. in an 1801 drawing from his book, general zoology amphibia, george shaw, an english botanist and zoologist, credited merian for describing a frog in the account of her south american expedition, and named the young tree frog after her in his portrayal of it. it wouldn’t be fair to give merian all the credit. she received assistance naming plants, making sketches and referencing the work of others. her daughters helped her color her drawings.

o） merian also made note of the help she received from the natives of suriname, as well as slaves or servants that assisted her. in some instances she wrote moving passages that included her helpers in descriptions. as she wrote in her description of the peacock flower, “the indians, who are not treated well by their dutch masters, use the seeds to abort their children, so that they will not become slaves like themselves. the black slaves from guinea and angola have demanded to be well treated, threatening to refuse to have children. in fact, they sometimes take their own lives because they are treated so badly, and because they believe they will be born again, free and living in their own land. they told me this themselves.”

p） londa schiebinger, a professor of the history of science at stanford university, called this passage rather astonishing. it’s particularly striking centuries later when these issues are still prominent in public discussions about social justice and women’s rights. “she was ahead of her time,” dr. etheridge said.

36.merian was the first scientist to study a type of american ant.

37.the european audience was more interested in merian’s drawings than her gender.

38.merian’s masterpiece came under attack a century after its publication.

39.merian’s mistakes in her drawings may be attributed to her shortened stay in south america.

40.merian often sat up the whole night through to observe and draw insects.

41.merian acknowledged the help she got from natives of south america.

42.merian contributed greatly to people’s better understanding of medicine and science.

43.merian occasionally made mistakes in her drawings of insects and birds.

44.now, merian’s role as a female forerunner in sciences has been re-established.

45.merian made a long voyage to south america to study jungle insects over three centuries ago.

Section C

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 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

while human achievements in mathematics continue to reach new levels of complexity, many of us who aren’t mathematicians at heart （or engineers by trade） may struggle to remember the last time we used calculus （微積分）.

it’s a fact not lost on american educators, who amid rising math failure rates are debating how math can better meet the real-life needs of students. should we change the way math is taught in schools, or eliminate some courses entirely?

andrew hacker, queens college political science professor, thinks that advanced algebra and other higher-level math should be cut from curricula in favor of courses with more routine usefulness, like statistics.

“we hear on all sides that we’re not teaching enough mathematics, and the chinese are running rings around us,” hacker says. “i’m suggesting we’re teaching too much mathematics to too many people... not everybody has to know calculus. if you’re going to become an aeronautical （航空的））engineer, fine. but most of us aren’t.”

instead, hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at queens college: numeracy 101. there, his students of “citizen statistics” learn to analyze public information like the federal budget and corporate reports. such courses, hacker argues, are a remedy for the numerical illiteracy of adults who have completed high-level math like algebra but are unable to calculate the price of, say, a carpet by area.

hacker’s argument has met with opposition from other math educators who say what’s needed is to help students develop a better relationship with math earlier, rather than teaching them less math altogether.

maria droujkova is a founder of natural math, and has taught basic calculus concepts to 5-year-olds. for droujkova, high-level math is important, and what it could use in american classrooms is an injection of childlike wonder.

“make mathematics more available,” droujkova says. “redesign it so it’s more accessible to more kinds of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had bad experiences.”

pamela hams, a lecturer at the university of texas at austin, has a similar perspective. harris says that american education is suffering from an epidemic of “fake math”一an emphasis on the rote memorization（死記硬背）of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how math can influence the ways we see the world.

andrew hacker, for the record, remains skeptical.

“i’m going to leave it to those who are in mathematics to work out the ways to make their subject interesting and exciting so students want to take it”, hacker says. “all that i ask is that alternatives be offered instead of putting all of us on the road to calculus.”

46. what does the author say about ordinary americans?

a） they struggle to solve math problems.

b） they think math is a complex subject.

c）they find high-level math of little use.

d）they work hard to learn high-level math.

47.what is the general complaint about america’s math education according to hacker?

a） america is not doing as well as china.

b）math professors are not doing a good job.

c）it doesn’t help students develop their literacy.

d）there has hardly been any innovation for years.

48.what does andrew hacker’s numeracy 101 aim to do?

a）allow students to learn high-level math step by step.

b）enable students to make practical use of basic math.

c） lay a solid foundation for advanced math studies.

d） help students to develop their analytical abilities.

49.what does maria droujkova suggest math teachers do in class?

a）make complex concepts easy to understand.

b）start teaching children math at an early age.

c） help children work wonders with calculus.

d） try to arouse students’ curiosity in math.

50.what does pamela harris think should be the goal of math education?

a）to enable learners to understand the world better.

b）to help learners to tell fake math from real math.

c） to broaden americans’ perspectives on math.

d） to exert influence on world development.

Passage two

questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage

for years, the u.s. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. the bureau of labor statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then.

so what’s the solution? robots.

japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend. toyohashi university of technology has developed terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items，and retrieve records. it follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. this type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact.

robots capable of social engagement help with loneliness as well as cognitive functioning, but the robot itself doesn’t have to engage directly—it can serve as an intermediary for human communication. telepresence robots such as mantarobot, vgo, and giraff can be controlled through a computer, smartphone, or tablet, allowing family members or doctors to remotely monitor patients or skype them, often via a screen where the robot s face would be. if you can’t get to the nursing home to visit grandma, you can use a telepresence robot to hang out with her. a 2016 study found that users had a “consistently positive attitude” about the giraff robot’s ability to enhance communication and decrease feelings of loneliness.

a robot’s appearance affects its ability to successfully interact with humans, which is why the riken-trj collaboration center for human-interactive robot research decided to develop a robotic nurse that looks like a huge teddy bear. riba （robot for interactive body assistance）, also known as “robear”，can help patients into and out of wheelchairs and beds with its strong arms.

on the less cute and more scary side there is actroid f, which is so human-like that some patients may not know the difference. this conversational robot companion has cameras in its eyes, which allow it to track patients and use appropriate facial expressions and body language in its interactions. during a month-long hospital trial, researchers asked 70 patients how they felt being around the robot and “only three or four said they didn’t like having it around.”

it’s important to note that robotic nurses don’t decide courses of treatment or make diagnoses （though robot doctors and surgeons may not be far off）. instead, they perform routine and laborious tasks, freeing nurses up to attend to patients with immediate needs. this is one industry where it seems the integration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement.

51. what does the author say about japan?

a） it delivers the best medications for the elderly.

b） it takes the lead in providing robotic care.

c） it provides retraining for registered nurses.

d） it sets the trend in future robotics technology.

52. what do we learn about the robot terapio?

a）it has been put to use in many japanese hospitals.

b）it provides specific individualized care to patients.

c）it does not have much direct contact with patients.

d） it has not revolutionized medical service in japan.

53. what are telepresence robots designed to do?

a）directly interact with patients to prevent them from feeling lonely.

b）cater to the needs of patients for recovering their cognitive capacity.

c）closely monitor the patients’ movements and conditions around the clock.

d）facilitate communication between patients and doctors or family members.

54. what is one special feature of the robot actroid f?

a）it interacts with patients just like a human companion.

b）it operates quietly without patients realizing its presence.

c）it likes to engage in everyday conversations with patients.

d）it uses body language even more effectively than words.

55. what can we infer from the last paragraph?

a）doctors and surgeons will soon be laid off.

b）the robotics industry will soon take off.

c）robots will not make nurses redundant.

d）collaboration will not replace competition.

Part Ⅳ translation （30 minutes）

directions: for this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from chinese into english. you should write your answer on answer sheet 2.

中國越來越重視公共圖書館，并鼓勵人們充分加以利用。新近公布的統計數字表明，中國的公共圖書館數量在逐年增長。許多圖書館通過翻新和擴建，為讀者創造了更為安靜、舒適的環境。大型公共圖書館不僅提供種類繁多的參考資料，而且定期舉辦講座、展覽等活動。近年來，也出現了許多數字圖書館，從而節省了存放圖書所需的空間。一些圖書館還推出了自助服務系統，使讀者借書還書更加方便，進一步滿足了讀者的需求。