历年6级阅读真题及翻译.doc

历年英语六级阅读真题及翻译（2009.06-1999.01 ）2009 年 6 月英语六级阅读真题 Passage One： For hundreds of millions of years, turtles (海龟) have struggled out of the sea to lay their eggs on sandy beaches, long before there were nature documentaries to celebrate them, or GPS satellites and marine biologists to track them, or volunteers to hand-carry the hatchlings (幼龟) down to the waters edge lest they become disoriented by headlights and crawl towards a motel parking lot instead. A formidable wall of bureaucracy has been erected to protect their prime nesting on the Atlantic coastlines. With all that attention paid to them, youd think these creatures would at least have the gratitude not to go extinct. But Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness, and a report by the Fish and Wildlife Service showed a worrisome drop in the populations of several species of North Atlantic turtles, notably loggerheads, which can grow to as much as 400 pounds. The South Florida nesting population, the largest, has declined by 50% in the last decade, according to Elizabeth Griffin, a marine biologist with the environmental group Oceana. The figures prompted Oceana to petition the government to upgrade the level of protection for the North Atlantic loggerheads from “threatened” to “endangered”meaning they are in danger of disappearing without additional help. Which raises the obvious question: what else do these turtles want from us, anyway? It turns out, according to Griffin, that while we have done a good job of protecting the turtles for the weeks they spend on land (as egg-laying females, as eggs and as hatchlings), we have neglected the years spend in the ocean. “The threat is from commercial fishing,” says Griffin. Trawlers (which drag large nets through the water and along the ocean floor) and longline fishers (which can deploy thousands of hooks on lines that can stretch for miles) take a heavy toll on turtles. Of course, like every other environmental issue today, this is playing out against the background of global warming and human interference with natural ecosystems. The narrow strips of beach on which the turtles lay their eggs are being squeezed on one side by development and on the other by the threat of rising sea levels as the oceans warm. Ultimately we must get a handle on those issues as well, or a creature that outlived the dinosaurs (恐龙) will meet its end at the hands of humans, leaving our descendants to wonder how creature so ugly could have won so much affection. 在数亿年前的时间里，海龟一直在挣扎着离开大海道海滩上产卵，时间远远遭遇自然纪录片的赞扬，或全球定位通讯卫星和海洋生物学家的追踪，又或者志愿者们用手把幼龟放在海边以避免它们受到光线的影响迷失方向，爬向汽车旅馆的停车场。由官方建造的大型围墙用于保护海龟在大西洋沿岸的主要筑巢地。收到了各种各样的关注后，你可能会认为这些生物至少会心怀感激，不至于走向灭亡。但是自然却无视人类的公平观念，由渔业和野生动物服务组织提供的用一份报告显示，北大西洋的数种海龟的种群数量出现了令人担忧的下降，特别是体重可达400磅的红海龟。来自环保组织的Ocean的海洋生物学家伊丽莎白格里芬称，数量最多的佛罗里达州南部穴居种群在过去十年里减少了50%。该数据促使Oceana组织向政府情愿，要求将北大西洋红海龟的保护级别从“受威胁”提升至“濒危”-这意味着如果没有外界的帮助，它们将会面临灭绝的危险。这就提出了一个明显的问题：这些海龟究竟还要我们做什么？根据格里芬的说法，虽然海龟在陆上的数周时间内，我们可以很好地保护它们（包括产卵的母龟，卵和幼龟），但是我们忽略了它们在海里的漫长时光。“主要是来自商业捕捞的威胁”格里芬说。拖网渔船（在水中和海床拖行大型的渔网）和延绳钓鱼船（在钓线上装备数以千记的鱼钩，可以延伸至数英里）给海龟造成了惨重的伤亡。当然，就像所有当下的环保问题一样，这也是在全球变暖和人类干预自然生态系统的背景下发生的。海龟产卵的狭窄沙滩一方面收到开发的压榨，另一方面收到海洋变暖导致的海平面上升的威胁。最终我们还要解决这些问题，否则一种比恐龙活得更久的生物将会在人类手中灭绝，让我们的后代困惑于怎么这种丑陋的生物会赢得如此多的关爱。 Passage Two： There are few more sobering online activities than entering data into college-tuition calculators and gasping as the Web spits back a six-figure sum. But economists say families about to go into debt to fund four years of partying, as well as studying, can console themselves with the knowledge that college is an investment that, unlike many bank stocks, should yield huge dividends. A 2008 study by two Harvard economists notes that the “labor-market premium to skill”or the amount college graduates earned thats greater than what high-school graduate earneddecreased for much of the 20th century, but has come back with a vengeance (报复性地) since the 1980s. In 2005, The typical full-time year-round U.S. worker with a four-year college degree earned $50,900, 62% more than the $31,500 earned by a worker with only a high-school diploma. Theres no question that going to college is a smart economic choice. But a look at the strange variations in tuition reveals that the choice about which college to attend doesnt come down merely to dollars and cents. Does going to Columbia University (tuition, room and board $49,260 in 2007-08) yield a 40% greater return than attending the University of Colorado at Boulder as an out-of-state student ($35,542)? Probably not. Does being an out-of-state student at the University of Colorado at Boulder yield twice the amount of income as being an in-state student ($17,380) there? Not likely. No, in this consumerist age, most buyers arent evaluating college as an investment, but rather as a consumer productlike a car or clothes or a house. And with such purchases, price is only one of many crucial factors to consider. As with automobiles, consumers in todays college marketplace have vast choices, and people search for the one that gives them the most comfort and satisfaction in line with their budgets. This accounts for the willingness of people to pay more for different types of experiences (such as attending a private liberal-arts college or going to an out-of-state public school that has a great marine-biology program). And just as two auto purchasers might spend an equal amount of money on very different cars, college students (or, more accurately, their parents) often show a willingness to pay essentially the same price for vastly different products. So which is it? Is college an investment product like a stock or a consumer product like a car? In keeping with the automotive worlds hottest consumer trend, maybe its best to characterize it as a hybrid (混合动力汽车); an expensive consumer product that, over time, will pay rich dividends. 在大学学费计算器里输入数据，然后对着网络吐出来的六位数倒抽一口气，很少有其他在线活动比这种活动更让人清醒了。但是经济学家们认为，打算举债资助四年聚会和学习的家庭可以这样安慰自己：大学是不同于很多银行股票的投资，它应该产生巨额的红利。两位哈佛经济学家在2008年进行的一项研究发现“劳动力市场对及恩那个的溢价现象”-换种说法就是大学毕业生的收入高于高中毕业生-在20世纪大部分的时间都有所下降，但是自从20世纪80年代出现了报复性的增长。在2005年，典型的拥有四年大学学位的全职美国工人平均收入为50900美元，比高中文凭的工人的平均收入31500美元多了62%。毫无疑问，上大学从经济上来说是明智的选择。但是学费奇怪的变化说明，选择上哪种大学并不只是金钱的问题。上哥伦比亚大学（学费，食宿费在2007年-2008年达到了49260美元）比起非当地学生报读科罗拉多大学博德尔分销（费用为35542美元）的回报率高40%吗？不太可能。一名报读科罗拉多大学博德尔分校的非当地学生的收入会是当地学生（费用为17380美元的两倍吗？不太可能。不，在消费主义的时代，大部分的买家不会把大学看做一种投资，而是一种消费品-就像汽车、衣服或住房一样。购买这些商品，价格仅是需要考虑的很多关键因素中的一个。正如汽车一样，在今天的大学市场，消费者有很多选择，人们在寻找复合预算条件的最舒适和满意的学校。这解释了为什么人们愿意为不同的体验付出更高的费用（例如报读私立学校的文学院或者报读一家有很好的海洋生物学课程的外州公立大学）。正如两名购车人会为完全不同的汽车付同样的价钱一样，大学生（或者更准确地说，他们的父母）经常愿意为完全不同的产品支付差不多的价钱。那这是哪一种？究竟大学是像股票一样的投资产品还是像汽车一样的消费品？为了追上汽车最炙手可热的消费者趋势，或许最好是把大学看做混合动力汽车；一种消费品，但随着时间的流逝，会带来丰厚的回报。 2008 年12月英语六级阅读真题 Passage One： Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it has become difficult to question either the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to use. This is especially true in agriculture, where sustainable development is often taken as the sole measure of progress without a proper appreciation of historical and cultural perspectives. To start with, it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has changed markedly throughout history, and will continue to do so .medieval agriculture in northern Europe fed, clothed and sheltered a predominantly rural society with a much lower population density than it is today. It had minimal effect on biodiversity, and any pollution it caused was typically localized. In terms of energy use and the nutrients（营养成分） captured in the product it was relatively inefficient. Contrast this with farming since the start of the industrial revolution. Competition from overseas led farmers to specialize and increase yields. Throughout this period food became cheaper, safe and more reliable. However, these changes have also led to habitat（栖息地）loss and to diminishing biodiversity. Whats more, demand for animal products in developing countries is growing so fast that meeting it will require an extra 300 million tons of grain a year by 2050.yet the growth of cities and industry is reducing the amount of water available for agriculture in many regions. All this means that agriculture in the 21stcentury will have to be very different from how it was in the 20th.thiswill require radical thinking. For example, we need to move away from the idea that traditional practices are inevitably more sustainable than new ones. We also need to abandon the notion that agriculture can be “zero impact”. The key will be to abandon the rather simple and static measures of sustainability, which centre on the need to maintain production without increasing damage. Instead we need a more dynamic interpretation, one that looks at the pros and cons（正反两方面）of all the various way land is used. There are many different ways to measure agricultural performance besides food yield: energy use, environmental costs, water purity, carbon footprint and biodiversity. It is clear, for example, that the carbon of transporting tomatoes from Spain to the UK is less than that of producing them in the UK with additional heating and lighting. But we do not know whether lower carbon footprints will always be better for biodiversity. What is crucial is recognizing that sustainable agriculture is not just about sustainable food production. 可持续发展适用于诸如能源，净水，经济增长等几乎所有的方面，因此，要对可持续发展的基本假设或其概念的实施方法提出质疑也变得日益困难。这在农业方面尤其显著，可持续发展经常被认为是农业进步的唯一标准，而这并没有从历史和文化的角度进行适当的评估。首先，重要的是认识到农业的本质随着历史的发展已经发生了显著的变化，并且这种变化仍将持续。中世纪北欧的农业为以农业为主导的社会提供了衣食和住所，而当时的人口密度远低于现在。那是的农业对生物多样性的影响有限，产生的任何污染通常都是地方性的。当时的农业在能源利用以及农产品的营养成分方面是相对低效的。对比一下工业革命开始以后出现的农场化。来自国外的竞争促使农民专业化并且提高产量。在这个时期，食品价格下降，安全性和可靠性都有所提高。但是，这些变化也是导致了栖息地的流失和生物多样性的减少。此外，发展中国家队畜产品的需求增长如此迅速，以至于在2050年之前每年需要额外收货3亿吨谷物才能满足该需求。但是城市和工业的发展导致在很多地区农业可利用的水资源越来越少。所有这些都意味着21世纪的农业将非常不同于20世纪的农业。这需要激进的思考方式。例如，我们需要摒弃传统生产比新型生产注定更有利于可持续发展的方法，而这些方法的核心在于需要在保持生产的同时避免产生更多的破坏。我们同样需要抛弃农业可以“零污染”的观念。关键在于放弃相对简单和静态的衡量可持续发展性的方法，而这些方法的核心在于需要在保持生产的同时避免产生更多的破坏。取而代之的是更加动态的解释，可以兼顾到种种土地使用方式的正反两面。除了粮食产量以外，还有很多不同的方式可以衡量农业的效益；能源利用，环境成本，水源纯净程度，碳排放和生物多样性。例如，显然把番茄从西班牙运到英国的碳排放量要少于在英国用额外的供暖和照明设备种植番茄。但是我们不知道降低碳排放量是否总是对生物多样性是有益的。关键是要意识到农业可持续的发展并不仅仅是关于可持续的食物生产。Passage Two： The percentage of immigrants (including those unlawfully present) in the United states has been creeping upward for years. At 12.6 percent, it is now higher than at any point since the mid1920s. We are not about to go back to the days when Congress openly worried about inferior races polluting Americas bloodstream. But once again we are wondering whether we have too many of the wrong sort newcomers. Their loudest critics argue that the new wave of immigrants cannot, and indeed do not want to, fit in as previous generations did. We now know that these racist views were wrong. In time, Italians, Romanians and members of other so-called inferior races became exemplary Americans and contributed greatly, in ways too numerous to detail, to the building of this magnificent nation. There is no reason why these new immigrants should not have the same success. Although children of Mexican immigrants do better, in terms of educational and professional attainment, than their parents UCLA sociologist Edward Telles has found that the gains dont continue. Indeed, the fouth generation is marginally worse off than the third James Jackson, of the University of Michigan, has found a similar trend among black Caribbean immigrants, Tells fears that Mexican-Americans may be fated to follow in the footsteps of American blacks-that large parts of the community may become mired（陷入）in a seemingly permanent state of poverty and Underachievement. Like African-Americans, Mexican-Americans are increasingly relegated to (降入)segregated, substandard schools, and their dropout rate is the highest for any ethnic group in the country. We have learned much about the foolish idea of excluding people on the presumption of the ethnic/racial inferiority. But what we have not yet learned is how to make the process of Americanization work for all. I am not talking about requiring people to learn English or to adopt American ways; those things happen pretty much on their own, but as arguments about immigration hear up the campaign trail, we also ought to ask some broader question about assimilation, about how to ensure that people , once outsiders , dont forever remain marginalized within these shores. That is a much larger question than what should happen with undocumented workers, or how best to secure the border, and it is one that affects not only newcomers but groups that have been here for generations. It will have more impact on our future than where we decide to set the admissions bar for the latest ware of would-be Americans. And it would be nice if we finally got the answer right. 美国移民的比例（包括非法移民）连续数年呈增长趋势.现已达到12.6%，比20世纪20年代中期以来的任何时候都要高。我们不是要回到国会公开表示担忧等民族污染美国血统的时代。但是我们再一次想知道美国是否有太多不适合的新移民。其中声势最大的批评认为新的移民浪潮并不能像前面数代人一样真正融入，实际上他们也并不想这么做。现在我们知道这些种族主义的观点都是错的。曾经，意大利人、罗马尼亚人以及其他所谓的“低等民族”成为美国人的楷模，并且通过不胜枚举的方式为这个美妙国度的建设做出了伟大的贡献。说这些新移民不能取得同样的成功毫无根据。尽管墨西哥移民的孩子在教育和职业成就领域比起他们的父母表现更佳，加州大学洛杉矶分校的社会学家爱德华-特列斯发现这种成就感并没有持续性。事实上，第四代要比第三代稍差一点。密歇根大学的詹姆斯-杰克逊在加勒比黑人移民中也发现了相似的趋势。特列斯担心墨西哥裔美国人可能注定会步美国黑人的后尘-社区中的大部分人将陷入贫穷和毫无建树的状态。像非裔美国人一样，墨西哥裔美国人日益降入实行种族隔离政策、低标准的学校，他们的退学率在整个国家的所有民族中是最高的。我们已经认识到在民族、种族低劣的前提下去排斥他们是多么愚蠢。但是我们仍然不知道如何使美国化的过程适合所有的人。我并不是说要求所有的人都学习英语或者采取美国的方式；这些事情自然而然就会发生。但是随着关于移民的争论使总统大选白热化，我们也应该提出关于融合，关于如何确保曾经的外来人口无需永远在国内边缘化等更广泛的问题。这是比无证工人的遭遇或者如何包围边境安全更重要的问题。这个问题不仅影响了新移民，而且也影响到了已经在这里时代生活的群体。与现在我们队即将涌入的准美国人设定“准入点”相比，它将对我们的未来产生更大的影响。当然如果最终可以找到正确答案就太好了。2008年6月英语六级阅读真题 Passage One： Imagine waking up and finding the value of your assets has been halved. No, youre not an investor in one of those hedge funds that failed completely. With the dollar slumping to a 26-year low against the pound, already-expensive London has become quite unaffordable. A coffee at Starbucks, just as unavoidable in England as it is in the United States, runs about $8. The once all-powerful dollar isnt doing a Titanic against just the pound. It is sitting at a record low against the euro and at a 30-year low against the Canadian dollar. Even the Argentine peso and Brazilian real are thriving against the dollar. The weak dollar is a source of humiliation, for a nations self-esteem rests in part on the strength of its currency. Its also a potential economic problem, since a declining dollar makes imported food more expensive and exerts upward pressure on interest rates. And yet there are substantial sectors of the vast U.S. economy-from giant companies like Coca-Cola to mom-and-pop restaurant operators in Miami-for which the weak dollar is most excellent news. Many Europeans may view the U.S. as an arrogant superpower that has become hostile to foreigners. But nothing makes people think more warmly of the U.S. than a weak dollar. Through April, the total number of visitors from abroad was up 6.8 percent from last year. Should the trend continue, the number of tourists this year will finally top the 2000 peak? Many Europeans now apparently view the U.S. the way many Americans view Mexico-as a cheap place to vacation, shop and party, all while ignoring the fact that the poorer locals cant afford to join the merrymaking. The money tourists spend helps decrease our chronic trade deficit. So do exports, which thanks in part to the weak dollar, soared 11 percent between May 2006 and May 2007. For first five months of 2007, the trade deficit actually fell 7 percent from 2006. If you own shares in large American corporations, youre a winner in the weak-dollar gamble. Last week Coca-Colas stick bubbled to a five-year high after it reported a fantastic quarter. Foreign sales accounted for 65 percent of Cokes beverage business. Other American companies profiting from this trend include McDonalds and IBM. American tourists, however, shouldnt expect any relief soon. The dollar lost strength the way many marriages break up- slowly, and then all at once. And currencies dont turn on a dime. So if you want to avoid the pain inflicted by the increasingly pathetic dollar, cancel that summer vacation to England and look to New England. There, the dollar is still treated with a little respect. 想象你一觉醒来，发现自己的资产减半。不，你并不是其中一支彻底失败的基金的投资者。随着美元兑英镑跌至26年来的最低值，物价本就偏高的伦敦变得更让人难以承受。一杯星巴克的咖啡在英国不得不买到8美元，同在美国如出一辙。无所不能的美元在兑换英镑时，不再是庞然大物。美元兑欧元的汇率创下新低，并在与加元的汇兑中处于30年来的最低值。就连阿根廷闭锁和巴西雷亚尔都比美元有活力。疲软的美元带来了屈辱，因为一个国家的尊严部分来源于本国货币的强度。这也是一个潜在的经济问题，因为编制的美元使得进口食品价格上扬，并施加加息的压力。A但对于庞大美国经济体中大量的产业部门-从可口可乐这样的大公司到迈阿密的夫妻餐厅经营者-美元疲软的消息对他们来说可是再好不过了。一些欧洲人视美国为一个傲慢的超级大国，并且认为美国对外国人怀有敌意。但当人们想起美国时，没有什么比疲软的美元更带劲的了。整个4月的游客总数比去年同期增加了6.8%，如果这种趋势延续下去，今天游客的人数将最终比2000年的峰值还多。一些欧洲人现在看待美国的方式恰似美国人看待墨西哥一样-一个廉价的度假、购物和举行派对的场所，他们都忽略了那些更贫穷的本土居民不能承担这种寻欢作乐的费用。游客的消费帮助减缓了我们长期以来的贸易赤字。出口也是如此，部分由于疲软的美国，2006年5月-2007年5月的出口额飙升了11%。与2006年相比，2007年前5个月的贸易赤字居然下降了7%。如果你持有美国大公司的股票，那么你会是疲软美元投机中的赢家。上周可口可乐发布了令人振奋的一季数据后，其股价攀升至五年来的新高。海外销售占据可口可乐65%的饮料业务。其他美国企业，包括麦当劳和IBM在这种趋势下也赢得了利润。然而，美国游客不应该期望任何迅速的改善。美元疲软的过程就如同婚姻破裂的过程-都是缓慢的，然后才是快速的。货币不会立即升值。因此如果你想避免不断惨淡的美元带来的痛苦，那就取消去英格兰的暑期度假计划，该去新英格兰州吧。Passage Two： In the college-admissions wars, we parents are the true fights. We are pushing our kids to get good grades, take SAT preparatory courses and build resumes so they can get into the college of our first choice. Ive twice been to the wars, and as I survey the battlefield, something different is happening. We see our kids college background as e prize demonstrating how well we raised them. But we can acknowledge that our obsession(痴迷) is more about ve t us than them. So we contrived various justifications that turn out to be half-truths, prejudices or myths. It actually ve doesnt matter much whether Aaron and Nicole go to Stanford. We have a full-blown prestige panic; we worry that there wont be enough prizes to go around. Fearful parents urge their children to apply to more schools than ever. Underlying the hysteria(歇斯底里) is the beli