2012年12月英语六级真题阅读原文

2012年12月英语六级真题阅读原文

Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)

Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

Thirst grows for living unplugged

More people are taking breaks from the connected life amid the stillness and quiet of retreats like the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, Pennsylvania.

About a year ago, I flew to Singapore to join the writer Malcolm Gladwell, the fashion designer Marc Ecko and the graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister in addressing a group of advertising people on Marketing to the Child of Tomorrow. Soon after I arrived, the chief executive of the agency that had invited us took me aside. What he was most interested in, he began, was stillness and quiet.

A few months later, I read an interview with the well-known cutting-edge designer Philippe Starck.

What allowed him to remain so consistently ahead of the curve? I never read any magazines or watch TV, he said, perhaps with a little exaggeration. Nor do I go to cocktail parties, dinners or anything like that. He lived outside conventional ideas, he implied, because I live alone mostly, in the middle of nowhere.

Around the same time, I noticed that those who part with $2,285 a night to stay in a cliff-top room at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California, pay partly for the privilege of not having a TV in their rooms; the future of travel, Im reliably told, lies in black-hole resorts, which charge high prices precisely because you cant get online in their rooms

Has it really come to this?

The more ways we have to connect, the more many of us seem desperate to unplug. Internet rescue camps in South Korea and China try to save kids addicted to the screen.

Writer friends of mine pay good money to get the Freedom software that enables them to disable the very Internet connections that seemed so emancipating not long ago. Even Intel experimented in 2007 with conferring four uninterrupted hours of quiet time (no phone or e-mail) every Tuesday morning on 300 engineers and managers. Workers were not allowed to use the phone or send e-mail, but simply had the chance to clear their heads and to hear themselves think.

The average American spends at least eight and a half hours a day in front of a screen, Nicholas Carr notes in his book The Shallows. The average American teenager sends or receives 75 text messages a day, though one girl managed to handle an average of 10,000 every 24 hours for a month.

Since luxury is a function of scarcity, the children of tomorrow will long for nothing more than intervals of freedom from all the blinking machines, streaming videos and scrolling headlines that leave them feeling empty and too full all at once.

The urgency of slowing downto find the time and space to thinkis nothing new, of course, and wiser souls have always reminded us that the more attention we pay to the moment, the less time and energy we have to place it in some larger context. Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries, the French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in the 17th century, and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries. He also famously remarked that all of mans problems come from his inability to sit quietly in a room alone

When telegraphs and trains brought in the idea that convenience was more important than content, Henry David Thoreau reminded us that the man whose horse trots (奔跑), a mile in a minute does not carry the most important messages.

Marshall McLuhan, who came closer than most to seeing what was coming, warned, When things come at you very fast, naturally you lose touch with yourself.

We have more and more ways to communicate, but less and less to say. Partly because we are so busy communicating. And we are rushing to meet so many deadlines that we hardly register that what we need most are lifelines.

So what to do? More and more people I know seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation (沉思), or tai chi (太极);these arent New Age fads (时尚的事物) so much as ways to connect with what could be called the wisdom of old age. Two friends of mine observe an Internet sabbath (安息日) every week, turning off their online connections from Friday night to Monday morning. Other friends take walks and forget their cellphones at home.

A series of tests in recent years has shown, Mr. Carr points out, that after spending time in quiet rural settings, subjects exhibit greater attentiveness, stronger memory and generally improved cognition. Their brains become both calmer and sharper. More than that, empathy (同感，共鸣)，as well as deep thought, depends (as neuroscientists like Antonio Damasio have found) on neural processes that are inherently slow.

I turn to eccentric measures to try to keep my mind sober and ensure that I have time to do nothing at all (which is the only time when I can see what I should be doing the rest of the time).?I have yet to use a cellphone and I have

never Tweeted or entered Facebook. I try not to go online till my days writing is finished, and I moved from Manhattan to rural Japan in part so I could more easily survive for long stretches entirely on foot.

None of this is a matter of asceticism (苦行主义);it is just pure selfishness. Nothing makes me feel better than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, or music. It is actually something deeper than mere happiness: it is joy, which the monk (僧侣) David Steindl-Rast describes as that kind of happiness that doesnt depend on what happens.

It is vital, of course, to stay in touch with the world. But it is only by having some distance from the world that you can see it whole, and understand what you should be doing with it.

For more than 20 years, therefore, I have been going several times a yearoften for no longer than three daysto a Benedictine hermitage (修道院)，40 minutes down the road, as it happens, from the Post Ranch Inn. I dont attend services when I am there, and I have never meditated, there or anywhere; I just take walks and read and lose myself in the stillness, recalling that it is only by stepping briefly away from my wife and bosses and friends that I will have anything useful to bring to them. The last time I was in the hermitage, three months ago, I happened to meet with a youngish-looking man with a 3-year-old boy around his shoulders.

Youre Pico, arent you? the man said, and introduced himself as Larry; we had met, I gathered, 19 years before, when he had been living in the hermitage as an assistant to one of the monks.

What are you doing now? I asked

We smiled. No words were necessary. I try to bring my kids here as often as I can, he went on. The child of tomorrow, I realized, may actually be ahead of us, in terms of sensing not what is new, but what is essential.

.

1. What is special about the Post Ranch Inn?

A) Its rooms are well furnished but dimly lit.

B) It makes guests feel like falling into a black hole.

C) There is no access to television in its rooms.

D) It provides all the luxuries its guests can think of.

2. What does the author say the children of tomorrow will need most?

A) Convenience and comfort in everyday life.

B) Time away from all electronic gadgets.

C) More activities to fill in their leisure time.

D) Greater chances for individual development.

3. What does the French philosopher Blaise Pascal say about distraction?

A) It leads us to lots of mistakes.

B) It renders us unable to concentrate.

C) It helps release our excess energy.

D) It is our greatest misery in life.

4. According to Marshall McLuhan, what will happen if things come at us very fast?

A) We will not know what to do with our own lives.

B) We will be busy receiving and sending messages.

C) We will find it difficult to meet our deadlines.

D) We will not notice what is going on around us.

5. What does the author say about yoga, meditation and tai chi?

A) They help people understand ancient wisdom.

B) They contribute to physical and mental health.

C) They are ways to communicate with nature.

D) They keep people from various distractions.

6. What is neuroscientist Antonio Damasios finding?

A) Quiet rural settings contribute a lot to long life.

B) Ones brain becomes sharp when it is activated.

C) Eccentric measures are needed to keep ones mind sober.

D) When people think deeply, their neural processes are slow.

7. The author moved from Manhattan to rural Japan partly because he could _______.

A) stay away from the noise of the big city.

B) live without modern transportation.

C) enjoy the beautiful view of the countryside.

D) practice asceticism in a local hermitage

8. In order to see the world whole, the author thinks it necessary to __________.

9. The author takes walks and reads and loses himself in the stillness of the hermitage so that he can bring his wife and bosses and friends ___________.

10. The youngish-looking man takes his little boy to the hermitage frequently so that when he grows up he will know __________.

Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2.

Questions 47 to 54 are based on the following passage.

A key process in interpersonal interaction is that of social comparison, in that we evaluate ourselves in terms of how we compare to others. In particular, we engage in two types of comparison. First, we decide whether we are superior or inferior to others on certain dimensions, such as attractiveness, intelligence, popularity, etc. Here, the important aspect is to compare with an appropriate reference group. For example, modest joggers should not compare their performance with Olympic standard marathon (马拉松) runners. Second, we judge the extent to which we are the same as or different from others. At certain stages of life, especially adolescence, the pressure to be seen as similar to peers is immense. Thus, wearing the right brand of clothes or shoes may be of the utmost importance. We also need to know whether our thoughts, beliefs and ideas are in line with those of other people. This is part of the process of self-validation whereby we employ self-disclosures to seek support for our self-concept.

is not abnormal or atypical (非典型的), but is a normal reaction shared by others when facing such circumstances. Patient disclosure, facilitated by the therapist, seems also to facilitate the process of normalising.

47. To evaluate ourselves, the author thinks it important for us to compare ourselves with _______. 48. During adolescence, people generally feel an immense pressure to appear _______. 49. It is often difficult for people to heighten their self-awareness without _______. 50. What can people do if they find what they think or say unacceptable to family or friends? 51. Counsellors often assure their clients that what they experience themselves is only _______.

Section B

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

People who do not have access to a good listener may not only be denied the opportunity to heighten their self-awareness, but they are also denied valuable feedback as to the validity and acceptability of their inner thoughts and feelings. By discussing these with others, we receive feedback as to whether these are experiences which others have as well, or whether they are less common. Furthermore, by gauging the reactions to our self-disclosures we learn what types are acceptable or unacceptable with particular people and in specific situations. On occasions it is the fear that certain disclosures may be unacceptable to family or friends that motivates an individual to seek professional help. Counsellors will be familiar with client statements such as: I just couldnt talk about this to my husband., I really cant let my mother know my true feelings. Another aspect of social comparison in the counselling context relates to a technique known as normalising. This is the process whereby helpers provide reassurance to clients that what they are experiencing.

Amid all the job losses, theres one category of worker that the economic disruption has been good for: nonhumans. From self-service checkout lines at the supermarket to industrial robots armed with saws and taught to carve up animal bodies in slaughter-houses, these ever-more-intelligent machines are now not just assisting workers but actually kicking them out of their jobs.

Automation isnt just affecting factory workers, either. Some law firms now use artificial intelligence software to scan and read mountains of legal documents, work that previously was performed by highly-paid human lawyers. Robots continue to have an impact on blue-collar jobs, and white-collar jobs are under attack by microprocessors, says economics professor Edward Leamer. The recession permanently wiped out 2.5 million jobs. U.S. gross domestic product has climbed back to pre-recession levels, meaning were producing as much as before, only with 6% fewer workers. To be sure, robotics are not the only job killers out there, with outsourcing (外包) stealing far more jobs than automation. Jeff Burnstein, president of the Robotics Industry Association, argues that robots actually save U.S. jobs. His logic: companies that embrace automation might use fewer workers, but thats still better than firing everyone and moving the work overseas.

Its not that robots are cheaper than humans, though often they are. Its that theyre better. In some cases the quality requirements are so exacting that even if you wanted to have a human do the job, you couldnt, Burnstein says.

Same goes for surgeons, whore using robotic systems to perform an ever-growing list of operationsnot because the machines save money but because, thanks to the greater precision of robots, the patients recover in less time and have fewer complications, says Dr. Myriam Curet.

Surgeons may survive the robot invasion, but others at the hospital might not be so lucky, as iRobot, maker of the Roomba, a robot vacuum cleaner, has been showing off Ava, which could be used as a messenger in a hospital. And once youre home, recovering, Ava could let you talk to your doctor, so theres no need to send someone to your house. That mobile telepresence could be useful at the office. If youre away on a trip, you can still attend a meeting. Just connect via videoconferencing software, so your face appears on Avas screen.

Is any job safe? I was hoping to say journalist, but researchers are already developing software that can gather facts and write a news story. Which means that a few years from now, a robot could be writing this column. And who will read it? Well, there might be a lot of us hanging around with lots of free time on our hands.

52. What do we learn from the first few paragraphs?

A) The over-use of robots has done damage to American economy.

B) It is hard for robots to replace humans in highly professional work.

C) Artificial intelligence is key to future technological innovations.

D) The robotic industry has benefited from the economic recession.

53. What caused the greatest loss of jobs in America?

A) Using microprocessors extensively.

B) Moving production to other countries.

C) The bankruptcy of many companies.

D) The invasion of migrant workers.

54. What does Jeff Burnstein say about robots?

A) They help companies to revive.

B) They are cheaper than humans.

C) They prevent job losses in a way.

D) They compete with human workers.

55. Why are robotic systems replacing surgeons in more and more operations according to Dr. Myriam Curet?

A) They save lots of money for the patients.

B) They beat humans in precision.

C) They take less time to perform a surgery.

D) They make operations less painful.

56. What does the author imply about robotics?

A) It will greatly enrich literary creation.

B) It will start a new technological revolution

C) It will revolutionize scientific research.

D) It will be applied in any field imaginable.

Passage Two

Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

Youve now heard it so many times, you can probably repeat it in your sleep. President Obama will no doubt make the point publicly when he gets to Beijing: the Chinese need to consume more; they needbelieve it or notto become more like Americans, for the sake of the global economy.

And its all true. But the other side of that equation is that the U.S. needs to save more. For the moment, American households actually are doing so. After the personal-savings rate dipped to zero in 2005, the shock of the economic crisis last year prompted people to snap shut their wallets.

In China, the household-savings rate exceeds 20%. It is partly for policy reasons. As weve seen, wage earners are expected to care for not only their children but their aging parents. And there is, to date, only the flimsiest (脆弱的) of publicly-funded health care and pension systems, which increases incentives for individuals to save while they are working. But China is a society that has long esteemed personal financial prudence (谨慎). There is no chance thatwill change anytime soon, even if the government creates a better social safety net and successfully encourages greater consumer spending.

Why does the U.S. need to learn a little frugality (节俭)?Because healthy savings rates are one of the surest indicators of a countrys long-term financial health. High savings lead, over time, to increased investment, which in turn generates productivity gains, innovation and job growth. In short, savings are the seed corn of a good economic harvest.

The U.S. government thus needs to act as well. By running constant deficits, it is dis-saving, even as households save more. Peter Orszag, Obamas Budget Director, recently called the U.S. budget deficits unsustainable and hes right. To date, the U.S. has seemed unable to see the consequences of spending so much more than is taken in. That needs to change. And though Hu Jintao and the rest of the Chinese leadership arent inclined to lecture visiting Presidents, he might gently hint that Beijing is getting a little nervous about the value of the dollarwhich has fallen 15% since March, in large part because of increasing fears that Americas debt load is becoming unmanageable.

Thats what happens when youre the worlds biggest creditor: you get to drop hints like that, which would be enough by themselves to create international economic chaos if they were ever leaked. (Every time any official in Beijing deliberates publicly about seeking an alternative to the U.S. dollar for the $2.1 trillion China holds in reserve, currency traders have a heart attack.) If Americans saved more and spent less, consistently over time, they wouldnt have to worry about all that.

57. How did the economic crisis affect Americans?

A) They had to tighten their belts.

B) Their bank savings rate dropped to zero.

C) Their leadership in the global economy was shaken.

D) They became concerned about Chinas financial policy.

58. What should be done to encourage Chinese people to consume?

A) Changing their traditional way of life.

B) Providing fewer incentives for saving.

C) Improving Chinas social security system.

D) Cutting down the expenses on child-rearing.

59. What does the author mean by saying savings are the seed corn of a good economic harvest (Line 4, Para. 4)?

A) The more one saves, the more returns one will reap.

B) A countrys economy hinges on its savings policy.

C) Those who keep saving will live an easy life in the end.

D) A healthy savings rate promotes economic prosperity.

60. In what circumstances do currency traders become scared?

A) When Beijing allows its currency exchange rates to float.

B) When China starts to reduce its current foreign reserves.

C) When China talks about switching its dollar reserves to other currencies.

D) When Beijing mentions in public the huge debts America owes China.

61. What is the authors purpose of writing the passage?

A) To urge the American government to cut deficits.

B) To encourage Chinese people to spend more.

C) To tell Americans not to worry about their economy.

D) To promote understanding between China and America