英语六级阅读常见考点：特殊标记

　　今天给大家带来的是六级常见阅读考点第二大特征：特殊标记。

　　细心的同学会在六级大纲中发现，快速阅读部分写到：

　　要求考生运用略读和查读的技能从篇章中获取信息。

　　查读考核学生利用各种提示，如数字、大写单词、段首或句首词等，快速查找特定信息的能力。

　　很显然，这一条不仅适用于快速阅读，也适用于仔细阅读。这里，为了方便称呼，我们把这些统统称作：特殊标记。

　　真题再现

　　例1：

　　In the past few years, prominent schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2003, whenCambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor,the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen(监督) a major strengthening of Yales financial position.

　　65. Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard as its vice-chancellor chiefly because _____.

　　A. she was known to be good at raising money

　　B. she could help strengthen its ties with Yale

　　C. she knew how to attract students overseas

　　D. she had boosted Yales academic status

　　【答案】A

　　【解析】

　　文中提到，剑桥大学于2003年任命Alison Richard为副校长，而句中publicly stressed(公开强调)之后的内容即为任命她的原因，便是：在以前的岗位上她的监管使得耶鲁的财政地位得到显著加强。所以，推理可知，答案为A。

　　例2：

　　Richard Got professor of astrophysics at Princeton, hopes man will set up a self-sufficient colony onMars, which would be a life insurance policy against whatever catastrophes, natural or otherwise, might occur on Earth.

　　6. According to Princeton professor Richard Gott, by setting up a self-sufficient colony on Mars, Humans_____.

　　A. might survive all catastrophes on earth

　　B. might acquire ample natural resources

　　C. will be able to travel to Mars freely

　　D. will move there to live a better life

　　【答案】A

　　【解析】

　　题干中setting up a self-sufficient colony on Mars可在原文中直接找到，原文中which引导的定语从句表示的内容就是setting up a self-sufficient colony on Mars所带来的影响：人类能够应对地球上各种各样的灾难从而幸存下来。A选项中的survive all catastrophes on earth 是对原文的同义转述。

　　动手练一练!

　　You never see him, but theyre with you every time you fly. They record where you are going, how fast youre traveling and whether everything on your airplane is functioning normally. Their ability to withstand almost any disaster makes them seem like something out of a comic book. Theyre known as the black box.

　　When planes fall from the sky, as a Yemeni airliner did on its way toComorosIslandsin theIndiaocean June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a Frenchsubmarine detected the devices homing signal five days later, the discovery marked a huge step toward determining the cause of a tragedy in which 152 passengers were killed.

　　In 1958, Australian scientist David Warren developed a flight-memory recorder that would track basic information like altitude and direction. That was the first mode for a black box, which became a requirement on all U.S. commercial flights by 1960. Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the device was completely redesigned and moved to the rear of the plane the area least subject to impact from its original position in the landing wells . The same year, the Federal Aviation Authority required that the boxes, which were never actually black, be painted orange or yellow to aid visibility.

　　Modern airplanes have two black boxes: a voice recorder, which tracks pilots conversations, and a flight-data recorder, which monitors fuel levels, engine noises and other operating functions that help investigators reconstruct the aircrafts final moments. Placed in an insulated case and surrounded by a quarter-inch-thick panels of stainless steel, the boxes can withstand massive force and temperatures up to2,000℉. When submerged, theyre also able to emit signals from depths of20,000 ft. Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazil on June 1,2009, are in water nearly that deep, but statistics say theyre still likely to turn up. In the approximately 20 deep-sea crashes over the past 30 years, only one planes black boxes were never recovered.

　　1. Why was the black box redesigned in 1965?

　　A. New materials became available by that time.

　　B. The early models didnt provide the needed data.

　　C. The early models often got damaged in the crash.

　　D. Too much space was needed for its installation.

　　2. What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447?

　　A. They have stopped sending homing signals.

　　B. They were destroyed somewhere near Brazil.

　　C. There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed.

　　D. There is still a good chance of their being recovered.

　　【解析】

　　1. 考点出处倒数第二段Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the device was completely redesigned

　　文中提到，早期的黑匣子经常抗不住空难的破坏(failed to withstand crashes)，因此在1965年，黑匣子重新设计(redesigned)，所以答案为C。

　　2. 考点出处最后一段Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazilon June 1,2009, are in water nearly that deep, but statistics say theyre still likely to turn up. In the approximately 20 deep-sea crashes over the past 30 years, only one planes black boxes were never recovered.

　　文中提到，专家相信法航447号的黑匣子是在水下20000英尺的深度，接着指出，但是统计数据显示他们仍然可能出现，即有可能被找到，接下来的具体统计数据也进一步说明了这一点，所以答案为D。