2013年12月英语六级考试真题与答案

（单词翻译）

【短对话】

1.

W: What a wonderful performance! Your rock band has never sounded better.

M: Many thanks. I guess all those hours of practice in the past month are finally paying off.

Q：What does the man mean?

2.

M: I can't decide what to do for my summer vacation. I either want to go on a bike tour of Europe or go diving in Mexico.

W: Well, we're offering an all-inclusive two-week trip to Mexico for only 300 dollars.

Q：What does the woman suggest the man do for his vacation?

3. W: How long do you think this project might take?

M: I'd say about three months, but it could take longer if something unexpected happened. Maybe we'd better allow an extra month, so we won’t have to worry about being late.

Q: Why does the man say extra time should be allowed for the project?

4. M: I'm thinking about becoming a member here, and I'd like some information.

W: Sure. A three-month membership costs 150 dollars, and that includes use of the wait-room, sauna and pool. I'll give you a free path so that you can try out the facilities before you decide.

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

5.

W: I'm sorry to hear that you failed the Physics course, Ted¹.

M: Let's face it. I'm just not cut out to be a scientist.

Q:  What does the man mean?

6.

M: Gary insisted on buying the food for the picnic.

W: That's pretty generous of him. But shouldn't we at least offer to share the expenses? He has a big family to support.

Q: What does the woman suggest they do?

7.

W: Did you see the headlines in the paper this morning?

M: Year. Apparently² the bus company will be laying off its employees if they can't reach an agreement on wages by midnight.

Q: What did the man read about?

8.

W: Have we received payment for the overseas order we delivered last month?

M: Yes. The cheque came in yesterday afternoon. I'll be depositing it when I go the bank today.

Q: What is the woman concerned about?

【短对话】

 六级短文1原文

In America, white tailed deer are more numerous than ever before, so abundant in fact that they've become a suburban³ nuisance and a health hazard.

Why can't the herd⁴ be thinned the old-fashioned way? The small community of North Haven⁵ on Long Island is home to some six hundred to seven hundred deer. The department of Environmental Conservation estimates the optimum population at 60. The town has been browsed⁶ bare of vegetation except where gardens and shrubs⁷ are protected by high fences.

Drivers routinely collide with deer and there are so many dead bodies left by the side of the road that the town has made it a deal with a local pet cemetery⁸ to collect and dispose of the bodies. Some people in the town have become ill from deer transmitted diseases. On the occasions when hunting has been tried, local animal rights people have worked to secure court orders against the hunts. And when that is failed, they stop the hunters, banging on pots and pans to alert the deer. Town meetings called to discuss the problem inevitably⁹ dissolved into confrontations¹⁰.

The activists¹¹ believe simply that the deer are not the problem. Some communities have even discussed the possibility of bringing wolves back into the ecological¹² mix. That means wolves in the suburbs of New York. It is almost too wonderful not to try it. The wolves would kill deer of course. They would also terrorize and kill dogs and cats which is not what the suburban dwellers¹³ have in mind.

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard

Q16. What do we learn about white-tailed deer in North Haven?

Q17. Why do local animal rights people bang on pots and pans?

Q18. What would happen if wolves were brought back into the ecological mix?

六级短文2原文

And now, if you'll walk this way, ladies and gentlemen, the next room we're going to see is the room in which the family used to hold their formal dinner parties and even occasionally entertain heads of state and royalty¹⁴. However, they managed to keep this room friendly and intimate. And I think you'll agree. It has a very informal atmosphere, quite unlike some grand houses you visit. The curtains were never drawn¹⁵, even at night, so guests got a view of the lake and fountains outside which were lit up at night – a very attractive sight. As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, the guests were seated very informally around this oval table, which would add to the relaxed atmosphere. The table dates from the 18th century and is made from Spanish oak. It's rather remarkable¹⁶ for the fact that although it's extremely big, it's supported by just six rather slim legs. However, it seems to have survived like that for 200 years. So it's probably going to last a bit longer. The chairs which go with the table are not a complete set. There were originally six of them. They are interesting for the fact that they are very plain and undecorated for the time, with only one plain central panel at the back and no armrests. I myself find them rather uncomfortable to sit in for very long, but people were used to more discomfort¹⁷ in the past. And now, ladies and gentlemen, if you'd like to follow me into the great hall…

Q19. What do we learn about the speaker?

Q20. What does the speaker say about the room they are visiting?

Q21. What is said about the oval table in the room?

Q22. What does the speaker say about the chairs?

2013年12月大学英语六级考试听力原文短文3】

Janet James was 22 years old when she was diagnosed with MS—a disease that attacks the body's nerves. She has just graduated from college and got a job at an advertising¹⁸ agency when she began to sense that something strange was going on inside her body.When James realized how severe her illness was, she knew she had better hurry up and live life. MS is the biggest cripplerof young adults. And although she didn't have many symptoms, she knew it was just a matter of time. First on her agenda was to pursue her dream of hosting a pop music programme. She worked at a radio station for a year, always aware that her body was degenerating¹⁹. Then her best friend moved away. And one night James began screaming, "I got to go! I got to go!" Two weeks later, she arrived at Alaska, thousands of miles from her friends, her family and her past. "Everything fell into a place", she recalls. A 23-year-old girl with an incurable²⁰ disease can fly to Alaska and everything can work out. The MS attacks came and went. And most of the time they hardly slowed her down. James hiked, fished, learnt to sail and experimented with hot air ballooning. "I lived for adventure", she says. "Nobody ever had a better time or did more exotic strange things than I did in an 80-year period." Inevitably however, the day came when she was so weakened that she had to return to Pittsburgh, her home town. There she began relieving her adventures by writing a book about them. Her book was published in 1993.

Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

Questions 23

What does the speaker say about MS?

Questions 24

What did Janet James decide to do after her disease was diagnosed?

Questions 25

What's sort of person can we infer Janet James is?the ecological mix?

2013年12月大学英语六级考试

听力填空原文

It’s difficult to estimate the number of youngsters involved in home schooling²¹ where children are not sent to school and receive their formal education from one or both parents. Legislation and court decisions have made it legally possible in most states for parents to educate their children at home and each year more people take advantage of that opportunity.

Some states require parents or a home tutor to meet teacher certification standards, and many require parents to complete legal forms to verify that their children are receiving instruction in state approved curriculum.

Supporters of home education claim that it is less expensive and far more efficient than mass public education. Moreover they site several advantages: alleviation²² of school overcrowding, strengthen family relationships, lower dropout²³ rates, the facts that students are allowed to learn at their own rate, increased motivation, higher standardized²⁴ test scores, and reduced discipline problems.

Critics of the home schooling movement content that it creates as many problems as it solves. They acknowledge that, in a few cases, home schooling offers educational opportunities superior to those found in most public schools, but few parents can provide such educational advantages. Some parents who withdraw their children from the schools in favor of home schooling have an inadequate²⁵ educational background and insufficient²⁶ formal training to provide a satisfactory education for their children. Typically, parents have fewer technological²⁷ resources at their disposal than do schools. However, the relatively²⁸ inexpensive computer technology that is readily available today is causing some to challenge the notion that home schooling is in any way inferior to more highly structured classroom education.

【六级听力长对话原文2】

W: Hello.

M: Hello. Is that the reference library?

W: Yes, can I help you?

M: I hope so. I ran earlier and asked for some information about Dennis Hutton, the scientist. You asked me to ring back.

W: Oh, yes. I have found something.

M: Good. I've got a pencil and paper. Perhaps you could read out what it says.

W: Certainly. Hutton Dennis, born Darlington, 1836, died New York, 1920.

M: Yes, got that.

W: Inventer and physicist²⁹, the son of a farmworker. He was admitted to the University of London at the age of 15.

M: Yes.

W: He graduated at 17 with the first class degree in physics and mathematics. All right?

M: Yes, all right.

W: He made his first notable achievement at the age of 18. It was a method of refrigeration which rolls from his work in low temperature physics. He became professor of mathematics at the University of Manchester at 24, where he remained for twelve years. During that time, he married one of his students, Natasha Willoughby

M: Yes, go on.

W: Later working together in London, they laid the foundations of modern physics by showing that normal laws of cause and effect do not apply at the level of subatomic particles. For this he and his wife received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1910, and did so again in 1912 for their work on very high frequency radio waves. In his lifetime, Hutton patented 244 inventions. Do you want any more?

M: Yes, when did he go to America?

W: Let me see. In 1920 he went to teach in New York and died there suddenly after only three weeks. Still he was a good age.

M: Yes, I suppose so. Well, thanks.

Question 12: What do we learn about Dennis Hutton when he was 15?

Question 13: What did Dennis Hutton do at the age of 24?

Question 14: For what were Dennis Hutton and his wife awarded the Nobel Prize a second time?

Question 15: Why did Dennis Hutton go to New York?