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 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.
Among the government s most interesting reports is one that estimates what parents spend on their children. Not surprisingly, the costs are steep. For a middle-class, husband-and-wife family , spending per child is about $12,000 a year. With inflation the family s spending on a child will total $286,050 by age 17.
The dry statistics ought to inform the ongoing deficit debate, because a budget is not just a catalog of programs and taxes. It reflects a society s priorities and values. Our society does not despite rhetoric to the contrary put much value on raising children. Present budget policies tax parents heavily to support the elderly. Meanwhile, tax breaks for children are modest. If deficit reduction aggravates these biases, more Americans may choose not to have children or to have fewer children. Down that path lies economic decline.
Societies that cannot replace their populations discourage investment and innovation. They have stagnant or shrinking markets for goods and services. With older populations, theyresist change. To stabilize its population discounting immigration women must have an average of two children. That s a fertility rate of 2.0.Many countries with struggling economies are well below that.
Though having a child is a deeply personal decision, it s shaped by culture, religion, economics, and government policy. No one has a good answer asto why fertility varies among countries, says sociologist Andrew Cherlin of The Johns Hopkins University. Eroding religious belief in Europe may partly explain lowered birthrates. In Japan young women may be rebelling against their mothers isolated lives of child rearing. General optimism and pessimism count. Hopefulness fueled America s baby boom. After the Soviet Union s collapse, says Cherlin, anxiety for the future depressed birthrates in Russiaand Eastern Europe.
In poor societies, people have children to improve their economic well-being by increasing the number of family workers and providing supports for parents in their old age. In wealthy societies, the logic often reverses. Government now supports the elderly, diminishing the need for children. By some studies, the safety nets for retirees have reduced fertility rates by 0.5 children in the United States and almost 1.0 in Western Europe, reports economist Robert Stein in the journal National Affairs. Similarly, some couples don t have children because they don t want to sacrifice their own lifestyles to the lime and expense of a family.
Young Americans already face a bleak labor market that cannot instill confidence about having children. Piling on higher taxes won t help, If higher taxes make it more expensive to raise children, says Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute, people will think twice about having another child. That seems like common sense, despite the multiple influences on becoming parents.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
56. What do we learn from the government report?
A) Inflation increases families expenses.
B) Raising children is getting expensive.
C) Budget reduction in around the corner.
D) Average family expenditure is increasing.
ANSWER 答案
57. What is said to be the consequence of a shrinking population?
A) Weakened national strength.
B) Increased immigration.
C) Economic downturn.
D) Social instability.
ANSWER 答案
58. What accounted for America s baby boom?
A) Optimism for the future.
B) Improved living conditions.
C) Religious beliefs.
D) Economic prosperity.
ANSWER 答案
59. Why do people in wealthy countries prefer to have fewer children?
A) They want to further improve their economic well-being.
B) They cannot afford the time and expenses of rearing children.
C) They are concerned about the future of the coming generation.
D) They don t rely on their children to support them in old age.
ANSWER 答案
60. What is the author s purpose in writing the passage?
A) To instill confidence in the young about raising children.
B) To advise couples to think twice before having children.
C) To encourage the young to take care of the elderly.
D) To appeal for tax reduction for raising children.
ANSWER 答案
56.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：语义理解题。由题干中的the government report定位到文章第一段第一、二句。文章开头首句提到，在最有意思的政府报告中，其中之一是估算父母花在子女身上的费用的报告;第二句接着指出具体内容，这些费用急剧增加,这一点不足为奇。由此可见，抚养子女的费用急剧增加。本题的解题关键在于理解steep这个词，steep最常用的意思为 陡峭的 ,此处引申为 急剧的，大幅度的 。由此确定 本题的答案为B)。
57.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：事实细节题。由题干中的the consequence of a shrinking population定位到文章第二段最后两句。文章第二段倒数第二句提到,如果削减赤字加剧这些偏见,可能会有更多的美国人选择不要孩子或者少要孩子，即题干中的 shrinking population;最后一句指出其后果是经济衰退,所以本题答案为C)。
58.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：推理判断题。由题干中的America s baby boom定位到文章第四段倒数第二句。文章第四段倒数第三句指出,普遍的乐观情绪和悲观情绪影响很大。倒数第二句中以美国为例指出了乐观情绪的积极作用,满怀希望燃起了美国生育高條的熊熊烈火。 由此可见，导致美国生育高峰的原因是 Hopefulness,也就是第五句中提到的optimism, 由此确定A)为本题答案。
59.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：推理判断题。由题干中的wealthy countries定位到文章 第五段第二至四句。文章第五段第二句提到,在 富裕社会里.这一逻辑与贫穷社会恰恰相反;第三句中进一步进行说明，由于政府现在供养老年人，客观上减少了对子女的需要,所以人们倾向于少生孩子。第四句中通过一些研究数据进一步说明人们倾向于少生孩子的原因在于政府为退休人员织就的安全网。综合以上内容可知，富裕社会的人不愿意生孩子,原因在于政府为老年人提供的 福利条件较好,不需要子女为他们养老,所以本题答案为D)。
60.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：主旨大意题。由题干中的purpose in writing the passage 定位到整篇文章。本文的主题是生育子女的问 题,作者认为抚养孩子的高额费用会导致出生率下降,从而最終会导致经济衰退,而生育子女受多种因素的影响，其中就包括政府政策。文章最后一段提到，年轻的美国人已经在面对萧条的劳动力市场,这样的市场无法向他们灌输生孩子的信心，累积更高的税收也不会起什么作用,而且还让抚养孩子的费用更高。由此可以推断,为了提高美国的生育率,作者呼吁为抚养子女而减税,故本题正确答案为D)。
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
Space exploration has always been the province of dreamers: The human imagination readily soars where human ingenuity struggles to follow. A Voyage to the Moon,often cited as the first science fiction story, was written by Cyrano de Bergerac in 1649. Cyrano was dead and buried for a good three centuries before the first manned rockets started to fly.
In 1961, when President Kennedy declared that America would send a man to the moon by the decade s end, those words, too, had a dreamlike quality. They resonated with optimism and ambition in much the same way as the most famous dream speech of all, delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. two years later. By the end of the decade, both visions had yielded concrete results and transformed American society. And yet in many ways the two dreams ended up at odds with each other. The fight for racial and economic equality is intensely pragmatic and immediate in its impact. The urge to explore space is just the opposite. It is figuratively and literally otherworldly in its aims.
When the dust settled, the space dreamers lost out. There was no grand follow-up to the Apollo missions. The technologically compromised space shuttle program has just come to an end, with no successor. The perpetual argument is that funds are tight, that we have more pressing problems here on Earth. Amid the current concerns about the federal deficit, reaching toward the stars seems a dispensable luxury as if saving one-thousandth of a single year s budget would solve our problems.
But human ingenuity struggles on. NASA is developing a series of robotic probes that will get the most bang from a buck. They will serve as modem Magellans, mapping out the solar system for whatever explorers follow, whether man or machine. On the flip side, companies like Virgin Galactic are plotting a bottom-up assault on the space dream by making it a reality to the public. Private spaceflight could lie within reach of rich civilians in a few years. Another decade or two and it could go mainstream.
The space dreamers end up benefiting all of us not just because of the way they expand human knowledge, or because of the spin-off technologies they produce, but because the two types of dreams feed off each other. Both Martin Luther King and John Kennedy appealed to the idea that humans can transcend what were once considered inherent limitations. Today we face seeming challenges in energy, the environment, health care. Tomorrow we will transcend these as well, and the dreamers will deserve a lot of the credit. The more evidence we collect that our species is capable of greatness, the more we will actually achieve it.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
61. The author mentions Cyrano de Bergerac in order to show that_________.
A) imagination is the mother of invention
B) ingenuity is essential for science fiction writers
C) it takes patience for humans to realize their dreams
D) dreamers have always been interested in science fiction
ANSWER 答案
62. How did the general public view Kennedy s space exploration plan?
A) It symbolized the American spirit.
B) It was as urgent as racial equality.
C) It sounded very much like a dream.
D) It made an ancient dream come true.
ANSWER 答案
63. What does the author say about America s aim to explore space?
A) It may not bring about immediate economic gains.
B) It cannot be realized without technological innovation.
C) It will not help the realization of racial and economic equality.
D) It cannot be achieved without a good knowledge of the other worlds.
ANSWER 答案
64. What is the author s attitude toward space programs?
A) Critical.
B) Reserved.
C) Unbiased.
D) Supportive.
ANSWER 答案
65. What does the author think of the problems facing human beings?
A) They pose a serious challenge to future human existence.
B) They can be solved sooner or later with human ingenuity.
C) Their solutions need joint efforts of the public and privatesectors.
D) They can only be solved by people with optimism andambition.
ANSWER 答案
61.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：推理判断题。由题干中的Cyrano de Bergerac定位到文章第一段。文章开篇指出，人类想象力很快速地就扶摇直上太空，而人类的创造力也苦苦地紧追不舍,接着以Cyrano de Bergerac科幻小说中想象多年以后最终成为现实为例进行证明,从而说明,先有想象力的存在，然后真正的创造才有可能成为现实，即A)想象是创造之母 。由此确定A)为本题的答案。
62.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：事实细节题。由题干中的 Kennedy s space exploration plan定位到文章第二段第一句。定位句提到，1961年肯尼迪 总统宣布美国将在20世纪60年代末以前把人类送到月球上，民众对这一计划的反应是：those words, too, had a dreamlike quality 那样的话语同样也像是梦想一般 。由此确定C)为本题的答案。
63.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：细节推断题。由题千中的America s aim to explore space定位到文章第二段最后三句。定位句提到，为种族和经济 平等的斗争非常讲求实用，能够产生立竿见影的效果,倒数第二句中接着指出,探索太空的愿望却恰恰相反。说明作者认为探索太空并不实用，不可能产生立竿见影的效果,最后一句补充说明其看法，(太空探索的)目标更具有象征意义,给人一 种超凡脱俗的感觉。由此可见,作者认为,美国的太空探索可能不会在短期内产生多少经济效益。 所以确定A)为本题的答案。
64.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：观点态度题。由题干中的 attitude toward space programs定位到文章第四段第一句、第五段第一句和第三、 四句。解答本题需要从整体上把握全文结构。作者采取了欲扬先抑的写作手法,前三段指出目前的资金紧张导致太空探索陷人后继 无人的爐媳境地,第四段开头使用But 词,笔锋 一转,指出人类的创造依然在艰难中前行,第五段第一句接着指出，太空梦想家们的努力终将造福 我们所有人,第三、四句进一步突出主题,将来我 们会超越现在面临的各种挑战，梦想家们也必然获得相应的赞誉。从整体上来看,作者是支持梦 想家们的,也是支持美国的太空探索项目的。由此确定本题答案为D)。
65.2013年12月英语六级仔细阅读试题解析：推理判断题。由题干中的the problems facing human beings定位到文章第五段最后三句。第五段第三句提到，我们现 在正面临着能源、环境、医疗保健方面的各种所谓的挑战,第四句中作者表明了自己的态度,将来我们同样也会超越这些挑战，梦想家们也必然获得相应的赞誉,第五句中进一步强调我们要认识到人类的伟大,并且人类将会变得越来越伟大。由此可见,对于人们现在面临的各种问题,作者认为是可以超越的,換句话说,这些问题迟早是能够得到解决的。由此确定B)为本题的答案。