2013年12月英语六级阅读理解真题原文

2013年12月英语六级真题阅读理解原文

一、词汇理解

2、Questions 36-45 are based on the following passage.

Some performance evaluations require supervisors to take action. Employees who receive a veryfavorable evaluation may deserve some type of recognition or even a promotion. If supervisors do notacknowledge such outstanding performance, employees may either lose their 36_________ and reduce theireffort or search for a new job at a firm that will 37_________ them for high performance. Supervisors shouldacknowledge high performance so that the employee will continue to perform well in the future.

Employees who receive unfavorable evaluations must also be given attention. Supervisors must38_________ the reasons for poor performance. Some reasons, such as a family illness, may have a temporaryadverse 39_________ on performance and can be corrected. Other reasons, such as a bad attitude, may not betemporary. When supervisors give employees an unfavorable evaluation, they must decide whether to takeany 40 _________action,s. If the, employees were unaware of their own deficiencies, the unfavorable evaluationcan pinpoint (指出) the deficiencies that employees must correct. In this case, the supervisor may simplyneed to monitor the employees 41_________and ensure that the deficiencies are corrected.

If the employees were already aware of their deficiencies before the evaluation period, however, theymay be unable or unwilling to correct them. This situation is more serious, and the supervisor may need totake action. The action should be 42_________with the firms guidelines and may include reassigning theemployees to new jobs,43_________them temporarily, or firing them. A supervisors action toward a poorlyperforming worker can 44_________ the attitudes of other employees. If no 45_________is imposed on an employeefor poor performance, other employees may react bv reducing their productivity as well.

A. additional

B. affect

C. aptly

D.assimilate

E. circulation

F. closely

G. consistent

H enthusiasm

I.identify

J.impact

K.penalty

L. reward

M. simplifying

N. suspending

O.vulnerable

二、长篇阅读

回答47-56题

The College Essay: Why Those,500 Words Drive Us Crazy

[A] Meg is a lawyer-mom in suburban Washington, D. C., where lawyer-morns are thick on the ground.Her son Doug is one of several hundred thousand high-school seniors who had a painful fall. Thedeadline for applying to his favorite college was Nov.1, and by early October he had yet to fill outthe application. More to the point, he had yet to settle on a subject for the personal essayaccompanying the application. According to college folklore, a well-turned essay has the power toseduce (诱惑) an admissions committee. He wanted to do one thing at a time, Meg says,explaining her sons delay. But really, my son is a huge procrastinator (拖延者). The essay is thehardest thing to do, so hes put it off the longest. Friends and other veterans of the process havewarned Meg that the back and forth between editing parent and writing student can be traumatic ( 痛苦的).

[B] Back in the good old days--say, two years ago, when the last of my children suffered the ordea/( 折磨)--a high-school student applying to college could procrastinate all the way to New Years Day oftheir senior year, assuming they could withstand the parental pestering (烦扰). But things changefast in the nail-biting world of college admissions. The recent trend toward early decision and earlyaction among selective colleges and universities has pushed the traditional deadline of January up toNov.1 or early December for many students.

[C] If the time for heel-dragging has been shortened, the true source of the anxiety and panic remainswhat it has always been. And its not the application itself. A college application is a relativelystraightforward questionnaire asking for the basics: name, address, family history, employmenthistory. It would all be innocent enough--20 minutes of busy work--except it comes attached to apersonal essay.

[D] There are good reasons it causes such anxiety, says Lisa Sohmer, director of college counseling atthe Garden School in Jackson Heights, N.Y. Its not just the actual writing. By now everything elseis already set. Your course load is set, your grades are set, your test scores are set. But the essay issomething you can still control, and its open-ended. So the temptation is to write and rewrite andrewrite. Or stall and stall and stall.

[E] The application essay, along with its mythical importance, is a recent invention. In the 1930s, whenonly one in 10 Americans had a degree from a four-year college, an admissions committee wascontent to ask for a sample of applicants school papers to assess their writing ability. By the 1950s,most schools required a brief personal statement of why the student had chosen to apply to oneschool over another.

[ F] Today nearly 70 percent of graduating seniors go off to college, including two-year and four-yeariustitutions. Even ap .art from the increased competition, the kids enter a process that has been utterlytransformed from the one baby boomers knew. Nearly all application materials are submitted online,and the Common Application provides a one-size-fits form accepted by more than 400 schools,including the nations most selective.

[G] Those schools usually require essays of their own, but the longest essay,500 words maximum, isgenerally attached to the Common Application. Students choose one of six questions. Applicants areasked to describe an ethical dilemma theyve faced and its impact on them, or discuss a public issueof special concern to them, or tell of a fictional character or creative work that has profoundlyinfluenced them. Another question invites them to write about the importance (to them, again) ofdiversity -- a word that has assumed magic power in American higher education. The most popularoption: writ on a topic of your choice.

[H] Boys in particular look at the other questions and say, Oh, thats too much work, says JohnBoshoven, a counselor in the Ann Arbor, Mich., public schools. They think if they do a topic oftheir choice, ll just go get that history paper I did last year on the Roman Empire and turn it into afirst-person application essay! And they end up producing something utterly ridiculous.

[I] Talking to admissions professionals like Boshoven, you realize that the list of donts in essaywriting is much longer than the dos. No book reports, no history papers, no character studies,says Sohmer.

[J] It drives you crazy, how easily kids slip into cliches ( 老生常谈) , says Boshoven. They dontrealize how typical their experiences are. I scored the winning goal in soccer against our arch-rival. My grandfather served in World War H, and I hope to be just like him someday. That maymean a lot to that particular kid. But in the world of the application essay, its nothing. Youll losethe reader in the first paragraph.

[K] The greatest strength you bring to this essay, says the College Boards how-to book, is 17 years or so of familiarity with the topic: YOU. The form and style are very familiar, and best of all, you arethe world-class expert on the subject of YOU... It has been the subject of your close scrutiny everymorning since you were tall enough to see into the bathroom mirror. The key word in the CommonApplication prompts is you.

[L] The college admission essay contains the grandest American themes--status anxiety, parental piety(孝顺), intellectual standards--and so it is only a matter of time before it becomes infected by thecountrys culture of excessive concern with self-esteem. Even if the question is ostensibly ( 表面上)about something outside the self ( describe a fictional character or solve a problem of geopolitics),the essay invariably returns to the favorite topic: what is its impact on YOU?

[M] For all the anxiety the essay causes, says Bill McClintick of Mercersburg Academy inPennsylvania, its a very small piece of the puzzle. I was in college admissions for 10 years. I sawldds and parents beat themselves up over this. And at the vast majority of places, it is simply not abig variable in the colleges decision-making process.

[ N] Many admissions officers say they spend less than a couple of minutes on each application, includingthe essay. According to a recent survey of admissions officers, only one in four private colleges saythe essay is of considerable importance in judging an application. Among public colleges anduniversities, the number drops to roughly one in 10. By contrast,86 percent place considerableimportance on an applicants grades,70 percent on strength of curriculum.

[O] Still, at the most selective schools, where thousands of candidates may submit identically high gradesand test scores, a marginal item like the essay may serve as a tie-breaker between two equallyqualified candidates. The thought is certainly enough to keep the pot boiling under parents like Meg,the lawyer-mom, as she tries to help her son choose an essay topic. For a moment the other day, shethought she might have hit on a good one. His fathers from France, she says. I said maybe youcould write about that, as something that makes you different. You know;half French, halfAmerican. I said, You could write about your identity issues. He said, I dont have any identityissues! And hes right. Hes a well-adjnsted， normal kid. But that doesnt make for a good essay,does it?

Today many universities require their applicants to write an essay of up to five hundred words.

48、 One recent change in college admissions is that selective colleges and universities have moved the traditional deadline to earlier dates.

49、 Applicants and their parents are said to believe that the personal essay can sway the admissions committee.

50、 Applicants are usually better off if they can write an essay that distinguishes them from the rest.

51、 Not only is the competition getting more intense, the application process today is also totally different from what baby boomers knew.

52、 In writing about their own experiences many applicants slip into cliches, thus falling to engage the reader.

53、 According to a recent survey, most public colleges and universities consider an applicants grades highly important.

54、 Although the application essay causes lots of anxiety, it does not play so important a role in thecolleges decision-making process.

55、 The question you are supposed to write about may seem outside the self, but the theme of the essay should center around its impact on you.

56、 In the old days, applicants only had to submit a sample of their school papers to show their writing ability.

三、仔细阅读

根据下列材料，回答57-66题

Among the governments most interesting reports is one that estimates what parents spend on theirchildren. Not surprisingly, the costs are steep. For a middle-class, hnsband-and-wife family (averagepretax income in 2009: $76,250), spending per child is about $12,000 a year. With inflation the familys 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 ofprograms and taxes. It reflects a societys priorities and values. Our society does not-- despite rhetoric(说辞) to the contrary--put much value on raising children. Present bridget policies tax parents heavily tosupport the elderly. Meanwhile, tax breaks for children are modest. If deficit reduction aggravates thesebiases, more Americans may choose not to have children or to have fewer children. Down that path lieseconomic decline.

Societies that cannot replace their populations discourage investment and innovation. They havestagnant (萧条的) or shrinking markets for goods and services. With older populations, they resistchange. To stabilize its population--discounting immigration--women must have an average of twochildren. Thats a fertility rate of 2.0. Many countries with struggling economies are well below that.

Though having a child is a deeply personal decision, its shaped by culture, religion, economics, andgovernment policy. No one has a good answer as to why fertility varies among countries, sayssociologist Andrew Cherlin of The Johns Hopkins University. Eroding religious belief in Europe may partlyexplain lowered birthrates. In Japan young women may be rebelling against their mothers isolated lives ofchild rearing. General optimism and pessimism count. Hopefulness fueled Americas baby boom. After theSoviet Unions collapse, says Cherlin, anxiety for the future depressed birthrates in Russia and EasternEurope.

In poor societies, people have children to improve their economic well-being by increasing thenumber of family workers and providing support for parents in their old age. In wealthy societies, the logicoften reverses. Govenunent 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 1.0in Western Europe, reports economist Robert Stein in the journal National Affairs. Similarly, somecouples dont have children because they dont want to sacrifice their own lifestyles to the time andexpense of a family.

Young Americans already face a bleak labor market that cannot instill (注入) confidence abouthaving children. Piling on higher taxes wont help, If higher taxes make it more expensive to raisechildren, says Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute, people will think twice abouthaving another child. That seems like common sense, despite the multiple influences on becomingparents.

What do we learn from the government report?

A.Inflation increases families expenses.

B.Raising children is getting expensive.

C.Budget reduction is around the corner.

D.Average family expenditure is increasing.

58、 What is said to be the consequence of a shrinking population?

A.Weakened national strength.

B.Increased immigration.

C.Economic downturn.

D.Social instability.

59、 What accounted for Americas baby boom?

A.Optimism for the future.

B.Improved living conditions.

C.Religious beliefs.

D.Economic prosperity.

60、 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 dont rely on their children to support them in old age.

61、 What is the authors 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.

62、 Questions 62-71are based on the following passage.

Space exploration has always been the province of dreamers: The human imaginatio readily soarswhere human ingenuity (创造力) struggles to follow. A Voyage to the Moon, often cited as the firstscience fiction story, was written by Cyrano de Bergerac in 1649. Cyrano was dead and buried for a goodthree 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 thedecades end, those words, too, had a dreamlike quality. They resonated (共鸣) with optimism and ambition in much the same way as the most famous dream speech of all, delivered by Martin Luther KingJr. two years later. By the end of the decade, both visions had yielded concrete results and transformedAmerican society. And yet in many ways the two dreams ended up at odds with each other.The fight forracial and economic equality is intensely pragmatic (讲求实用的) and immediate in its impact. The urgeto 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 Apollomissions. The technologically compromised space shuttle program has jus come to an end, with nosuccessor. The perpetual argument is that funds are tight, that we have more pressing problems here onEarth. Amid the current concerns about the federal deficit, reaching toward the stars seems a dispensableluxury--as if saving one-thousandth of a single years budget would solve our problems.

But human ingenuity struggles on. NASA is developing a series of robotic probes that will get the mostbang from a buck. They will serve as modern Magellans, mapping out the solar system for whateverexplorers follow, whether man or machine. On the flip side, companies like Virgin Galactic are plotting abottom-up assault on the space dream by making it a reality to the public. Private spaceflight could liewithin 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 dreamsfeed off each other. Both Martin Luther King and John Kennedy appealed to the idea that humans cantranscend 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 alot of the credit. The more evidence we collect that our species is capable of greatness, the more we willactually achieve it.

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

63、 How did the general public view Kennedys 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.

64、 What does the author say about Americas 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.

65、 What is the authors attitude toward space programs?

A.Critical.

B.Reserved.

C.Unbiased.

D.Supportive.

66、 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 private sectors.

D.They can only be solved by people with optimism and ambition.