2006年12月大学英语六级考试试题及参考答案

（单词翻译）

Part III Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
11.A) Dr. Smith’s waiting room isn’t tidy. B) Dr. Smith enjoys reading magazines. C) Dr. Smith has left a good impression on her. D) Dr. Smith may not be a good choice.
12. A) The man will rent the apartment when it is available.
B) The man made a bargain with the landlady¹ over the rent.
C) The man insists on having a look at the apartment first.
D) The man is not fully² satisfied with the apartment.
13. A) Packing up to go abroad. B) Brushing up on her English.
C) Drawing up a plan for her English course. D) Applying for a visa to the United States.
14. A) He is anxious to find a cure for his high blood pressure.
B) He doesn’t think high blood pressure is a problem for him.
C) He was not aware of his illness until diagnosed with it.
D) He did not take the symptoms of his illness seriously.
15. A) To investigate the causes of AIDS.
B) To raise money for AIDS patients.
C) To rally support for AIDS victims in Africa.
D) To draw attention to the spread of AIDS in Asia.
16. A) It has a very long history. B) It is a private institution.
C) It was founded by Thomas Jefferson. D) It stresses the comprehensive study of nature.
17. A) They can’t fit into the machine. B) They have not been delivered yet.
C) They were sent to the wrong address. D) They were found to be of the wrong type.
18. A) The food served in the cafeteria usually lacks variety.
B) The cafeteria sometimes provides rare food for the students.
C) The students find the service in the cafeteria satisfactory.
D) The cafeteria tries hard to cater³ to the students’ needs.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19 .A) He picked up some apples in his yard.
B) He cut some branches off the apple tree.
C) He quarreled with his neighbor over the fence.
D) He cleaned up all the garbage in the woman’s yard.
20. A) Trim the apple trees in her yard. B) Pick up the apples that fell in her yard. C) Take the garbage to the curb⁴ for her. D) Remove the branches from her yard.
21. A) File a lawsuit⁵ against the man. B) Ask the man for compensation.
C) Have the man’s apple tree cut down. D) Throw garbage into the man’s yard.
22. A) He was ready to make a concession⁶. B) He was not intimidated⁷.
C) He was not prepared to go to court. D) He was a bit concerned.
Questions 23 to 25are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23. A) Bad weather. B) Human error.
C) Breakdown⁸ of the engines. D) Failure of the communications system.
24. A) Two thousand feet. B) Twelve thousand feet.
C) Twenty thousand feet. D) Twenty-two thousand feet.
25. A) Accurate communication is of utmost importance.
B) pilots should be able to speak several foreign languages.
C) Air controllers should keep a close watch on the weather.
D) Cooperation between pilots and air controllers is essential.
Section B
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 conversation you have just heard.
26. A) His father caught a serious disease. B) His mother passed away.
C) His mother left him to marry a rich businessman. D) His father took to drinking.
27. A) He disliked being disciplined. B) He was expelled by the university. C) He couldn’t pay his gambling⁹ debts. D) He enjoyed working for a magazine.
28. A) His poems are heavily influenced by French writers.
B) His stories are mainly set in the State of Virginia.
C) His work is difficult to read.
D) His language is not refined.
29. A) He grieved to death over the loss of his wife.
B) He committed suicide for unknown reasons.
C) He was shot dead at the age of 40.
D) He died of heavy drinking.
Passage Two
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
30. A) Women. B) Prisoners. C) Manual workers. D) School age children.
31. A) He taught his students how to pronounce the letters first.
B) He matched the letters with the sounds familiar to the learners.
C) He showed the learners how to combine the letters into simple words.
D) He divided the letters into groups according to the way they are written.
32. A) It Can help people to become literate¹⁰ within a short time.
B) It was originally designed for teaching the English language.
C) It enables the learners to master a language within three months.
D) It is effective in teaching any alphabetical¹¹ language to Brazilians.
Passage Three
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. A) The crop’s blooming period is delayed. B) The roots of crops are cut off.
C) The topsoil is seriously damaged. D)The growth of weeds is accelerated.
34. A) It’s a new way of applying chemical fertilizer.
B) It’s an improved method of harvesting crops.
C) It’s a creative technique for saving labor¹².
D) It’s a farming process limiting the use of ploughs.
35. A) In areas with few weeds and unwanted plants.
B) In areas with a severe shortage of water.
C) In areas lacking in chemical fertilizer.
D) In areas dependent on imported food.
Section C
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
Adults are getting smarter about how smart babies are. Not long ago, researchers learned that 4-day-oldscould understand (36)____ and subtraction¹³. Now, British research (37)____Graham Schafer has discovered that infants can learn words for uncommon¹⁴ things long before they can speak. He found that 9-month-old infants could be taught, through repeated show-and-tell, to (38)_______the names of objects that were foreign to them, a result that(39)________in some ways the received (40)______that, apart from learning to (41)______things common to their daily lives, children don’t begin to build vocabulary until well into their second year. “It’s no (42)______that children learn words, but the words they tend to know are words linked to (43)______situations in the home,” explains Schafer.”(44)____________________________________________________with an unfamiliar¹⁵ voice giving instructions in an unfamiliar setting.”
Figuring out how humans acquire language may shed light on why some children learn to read and write later than others, Schafer says, and could lead to better treatments for developmental problems. (45)____________________________________________________________. “Language is a test case for human cognitive¹⁶ development,” says Schafer. But parents eager to teach their infants should take note: (46)____________________________________________________ . “This is not about advancing development,” he says. “It’s just about what children can do at an earlier age than what educators have often thought.”

Part III Listening Comprehension
Section A
11. D 12. C 13. B 14. C 15. D 16. A 17. B 18. A 19. B 20.D 21. A 22. C 23. B 24.A 25. A
Section B
26. B 27. C 28.C 29.D 30. A 31. D 32. A 33. C 34.D 35. B
Section C
36. addition 37. psychologist 38. recognize 39. challenges 40. wisdom 41. identify 42. secret 43. specific
44. This is the first demonstration¹⁷ that we can choose what words the children will learn and that they can respond to them
45. What’s more, the study of language acquisition offers direct insight into how humans learn
46. Even without being taught new words, a control group caught up with the other infants within a few moths¹⁸


大学英语六级考试12月24日新六级试题（听力部分文字稿）
Section A
11. M: I need to find a dentist; you said you know Dr. Smith well, do you recommend her?
W: Well, I had to see her a few times, but what impressed me most was the magazines in her waiting room.
Q: What does the woman imply ?
12. W: I’m afraid I can’t show you the apartment at the moment, because the tenant¹⁹ is still living in it. It’s really a lovely place with a big kitchen and a sunny window for only two hundred dollars a month.
M: Sounds good, but we really can’t rent an apartment without seeing it first.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
13. M: So, that’s what’s been keeping you so busy recently!
W: Yes, I’ve been tied up with (被缠住) my studies. You know I’m planning to go to the United States this coming summer, but I’m a bit nervous about my English.
Q: What is the woman busy doing ?
14. W: How did you feel when you found out you had high blood pressure?
M: Shocked! The problem for me was that there no symptoms (症状); it seemed to have sneaked²⁰ up on (悄悄接近某人然后突然出现) me.
Q: What does the man mean?
15. W: So, you’re just back from a trip to India. What were you doing there?
M: The trip was intended to bring to the world’s attention the fact that AIDS is not just an African disease; it’s also endangering (危及) other countries , notably²¹, India and Thailand.
Q: What was the purpose of the man’s trip to India?
16. M: It’s quite clear from my visit this is a full-size comprehensive (综合性的) university. So why is it still called a college?
W: The College of William and Mary is the second oldest institution of higher learning (高等学府)in this country. We have nurtured²² (培养，培育) great minds like Thomas Jefferson and we’re proud of our name.
Q: What do we learn from this conversation about the College of William and Mary?
17. M: Have the parts we need for the photocopying²³ machine arrived yet?
W: I ordered them last week, but something is holding them up (耽搁).
Q: What does the woman say about the part needed for the photocopying machine?
18. W: The cafeteria provided many kinds of dishes for us today. Did you notice that?
M: Yes. Kind of (有点) rare, isn’t it?
Q: What does the man imply?
Conversation One
W: Hello, Patrick, is that you?
M: Yeah Jane, what can I do for you ?
W: I was calling about the apple tree that you were trimming (修剪，剪枝) yesterday. (19)
M: That was hard work!
W: I’m sure it was. It sure looked difficult.
M: Yeah, I’m glad it’s finished. Hauling the branches to the front for garbage pickup²⁴ was no fun either.
W: Well, I don’t think you’re quite finished yet; some of the larger branches fell over into my yard, and I think you should come and get them. (20)
M: Listen Jane, I don’t see why I should do that. You eat all the apples that fall in your yard and you’ve never complained about that before.
W: Well, it’s easier to pick up apples than to drag tree branches all the way to the curb. (20) My kids pick up the apples, and the branches are just too big for them to drag.
M: Well, I guess you’ll just have to do it yourself Jane.
W: Patrick, I wish you would reconsider (斟酌，再考虑). We’ve always gotten along fairly well, but I think you’re out of line here. The branches are your responsibility.
M: Sorry Jane, I disagree! You take the benefits of the apple tree, but refuse to deal with the bad side of it !
W: Get the branches off my property or I’ll have to sue you. (21)
M: Yeah? For what? You’re taking those law classes too seriously (太较真， 太当回事)! (22) I’ll gotta go, I have to pick up my son.
W: You’ll be hearing from me. M: Yeah, yeah. See you in court Jane.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. What did the man do yesterday?
20. What did the woman ask the man to do?
21. What did the woman threaten to do?
22. What was the man’s reaction to the woman’s threat?
Conversation Two
M: Did you hear about the air crash that occurred in South America recently? It was quite a tragic²⁵ accident!
W: No, I didn’t see anything in the news about it. What happened?
M: A foreign airliner²⁶ was attempting to land at night in a mountainous area of Argentina and flew into a hill!
W: That sounds really terrible! Did anyone survive?
M: No, everyone aboard, including the crew, was killed instantly.
W: What were the circumstances? Was there bad weather, a fire, or an engine failure?
M: Apparently²⁷, there were some low clouds in the area, but mostly it was just miscommunication between the pilots and the air traffic controllers.(23)
W: Weren’t they both speaking in English, the official international aviation (航空) language?
M: Yes, they were. But the transmission from poor-quality radios was slightly distorted (歪曲，曲解) and the accents of the Spanish speaking controllers were so strong that the pilots misunderstood a vital instruction.
W: How could a misunderstanding like that cause such a serious accident?
M: The pilots were told “Descend²⁸ to 2-2, 000 feet.” The instruction actually meant 22,000 feet, but they thought they heard descend to 2,000 feet. That’s a huge difference, and it should have been confirmed, but it was not. Unfortunately, the terrain²⁹ (地形，地势) of the mountains in that region extends up to 2,000 feet.(24)
W: So the pilots did descend to the wrong altitude (高度，海拔) then, thinking they were following the air controllers instructions.
M: Sadly enough, yes they did. It was a really bad mistake. Many people died as a result of this simple misunderstanding.W: Wow, that’s a powerful lesson in how important it can be to accurately³⁰ communicate with each other.(25)
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23. What was the cause of the tragedy?
24. How high are the mountains in the region?
25. What lesson could be drawn³¹ from the accident?
Section B
Passage One
Edgar Poe, an American writer, was born in 1809. His parents were actors. Edgar was a baby when his father left the family. He was two years old when his mother died. (26) He was taken into the home of a wealthy business man named John Allen. He then received his new name, Edgar Allen Poe. As a young man, Poe attended the University of Virginia. He was a good student, but he liked to drink alcohol and play card games for money. As an unskilled game player, he often lost money. Since he couldn’t pay his gambling losses, he left university (27) and began working for magazines. He worked hard, yet he was not well-paid, or well-known. A t the age of 27, he got married. For a time it seemed that Poe would find happiness, but his wife was sick for most of their marriage, and died in 1847. Through all his crises, Poe produced many stories and poems which appeared in different publications, yet he didn’t become famous until 1845, when his poem, The Raven³², was published. There is a question, however, about Poe’s importance in American literature. Some critics say Poe was one of America’s best writers, but others disagree. They say Poe’s work is difficult to understand (28) and most of his writing describes very unpleasant situations and events. Edgar Allen Poe died in 1849 when he was 40 years old. It is said that he was found dead after days of heavy drinking. (29)
26. What happened to Edgar Allen Poe’s family when he was only two years old?
27．Why did Edgar Allen Poe leave the University of Virginia?
28．What do some critics say about Edgar Allen Poe?
29．How did Edgar Allen Poe’s life come to an end?
Passage Two
More than fifty years ago, the United Nations declared that literacy is a basic human right. It’s very important for improving the lives of individuals. However, it is estimated that 880 million adults around the world are illiterate³³, that is, they are unable to read or write. A majority of them are women. (30) More than 110 million school age children in the world do not attend school. Many others complete school or fail to finish their studies without learning to read or write. Many countries depend on the efforts of people who offer their time to help illiterate individuals. For example, John Mogger became concerned about the problem of illiteracy³⁴ three years ago, so he started teaching five prisoners in Brazil. In his teaching, he developed a system with this group of prisoners. He says his way of teaching can help anyone learn how to read and write with about thirty hours of study. (32) To learn his system, people must first know how to write letters of the alphabet (字母表) and learn which sounds they represent. The system divides letters into three groups . The first group of letters can be written between two lines. The second can be written between two lines but part of the letter is above the top line. The third group has letters that are partly written below the lower line. (31) John Mogger taught his students to write simple words from the letters. In this way, his students learned more than seven hundred words. Many of them can now write to family members. They also can read newspapers and magazines.
30. According to the speaker, which group of people make up the illiterate population?
31．What is the most important feature of John Mogger’s method of teaching the alphabet?
32．What does John Mogger say about his teaching method?
Passage Three
Farmers usually use ploughs to prepare their fields for planting crops. Ploughs cut into the ground, and lift up weeds, and other unwanted plants. However, ploughing is blamed for causing severe damage to topsoil by removing the plants that protect the soil from being blown or washed away. (33) Many farmers in South Asia are now trying a process called Low Till Farming. Low Till Farming limits the use of ploughs. (34) in this method of farming seeds and fertilizer are put into the soil through small cuts made in the surface of the ground. Low Till Agriculture leaves much or all the soil and remains³⁵ of plants on the ground. They serve as a natural fertilizer and help support the roots of future crops. They take in rain and allow it to flow into the soil instead of running off. It has been proved that Low Till Farming increases harvests and reduces water use, and this method reduces the need for chemical products because there are fewer unwanted plants. Scientists say Low Till Farming is becoming popular in South Asia, which is facing a severe water shortage. (35) They say the area will become dependent in imported food unless water is saved through methods like Low Till Farming. Currently, more than 150 million people in South Asia depend on local rice and wheat crops. Farmers grow rice during wet weather. During the dry season they grow wheat in the same fields. Farmers are using the Low Till method to plant wheat after harvesting rice. Scientists say Low Till Agriculture is one of the best examples in the world of technologies working for both people and the environment.
33. What is the main problem caused by the usual way of ploughing?
34．What does the speaker say about Low Till Farming?
35．Where is Low Till Farming becoming popular?
Section C
Adults are getting smarter about how smart babies are. Not long ago, researchers learned that 4-day-oldscould understand (36) addition and subtraction. Now, British research (37) psychologist Graham Schafer has discovered that infants can learn words for uncommon things long before they can speak. He found that 9-month-oldinfants could be taught, through repeated show-and-tell, to (38) recognize the names of objects that were foreign to them, a result that (39) challenges in some ways the received (40)wisdom that, apart from learning to (41)identify things common to their daily lives, children don’t begin to build vocabulary until well into their second year. “It’s no (42) secret that children learn words, but the words they tend to know are words linked to (43)specific situations in the home,” explains Schafer.” (44)This is the first demonstration that we can choose what words the children will earn and they can respond to them with an unfamiliar voice giving instructions in an unfamiliar setting.” Figuring out how humans acquire language may shed light on why some children learn to read and write later than others, Schafer says, and could lead to better treatments for developmental problems. (45) What’s more, the study of language acquisition offers direct insight into how humans learn. “Language is a test case for human cognitive development,” says Schafer. But parents eager to teach their infants should take note: (46) Even without being taught new words, a control group caught up with the other infants within a few moths . “This is not about advancing development,” he says. “It’s just about what children can do at an earlier age than what educators have often thought.”