2014年英语六级阅读练习及答案5.doc

2014年英语六级阅读练习及答案(33)How to Deal With Difficult PeopleIn New York City one day, a businesswoman got into a taxi. Because it was rush hour and she was hurrying for a train, she suggested a route. Ive been a cabby(车夫) for 15 years! the driver yelled. You think I dont know the best way to go?The woman tried to explain that she hadnt meant to offend him, but the driver kept yelling. She finally realized he was too upset to be reasonable. So she did the unexpected. You know, youre right, she told him. It must seem dumb for me to assume you dont know the best way through the city. Taken aback, the driver flashed his rider a confused look in the rear-view mirror, turned down the street she wanted and got her to the train on time. He didnt say another word the rest of the ride, she said, until I got out and paid him. Then he thanked me. When you encounter people like this cab driver, theres an irresistible urge to dig in your heels. This can lead to prolonged arguments, soured friendships, lost career opportunities and broken marriages. As a clinical psychiatrist, Ive discovered one simple but extremely unlikely principle that can prevent virtually any conflict or other difficult situation from becoming a recipe for disaster.The key is to put yourself in the other persons shoes and look for the truth in what that person is saying. Find a way to agree. The result may surprise you.Sulkers Steves 14-year-old son, Adam, had been irritable for several days. When Steve asked why, Adam snapped, Nothings wrong! Leave me alone! and stalked off to his room.We all know people like this. When theres problem, they may sulk(生闷气) or act angry and refuse to talk.So whats the solution? First, Steve needs to ask himself why Adam wont talk. Maybe the boy is worried about something that happened at school. Or he might be angry at his dad but afraid to bring it up because Steve gets defensive whenever he is criticized. Steve can pursue these possibilities the next time they talk by saying, I noticed youre upset, and I think it would help to get the problem out in the open. It may be hard because I havent always listened very 58 well. If so, I feel bad because I love you and dont want to let you down. If Adam still refuses to talk, Steve can take a different tack: Im concerned about whats going on with you, but we can talk things over later, when youre more in the mood. This strategy allows both sides to win: Steve doesnt have to compromise on the principle that ultimately the problem needs to be talked out and resolved. Adam saves face by being allowed to withdraw for a while.Noisy critics. Recently, I was counselling a businessman named Frank who lends to be overbearing(专横的) when hes upset. Frank told me that I was too absent-minded with money and that he shouldnt have to pay at each of our sessions. He wanted to be billed monthly.I felt annoyed because it seemed Frank always had to have things his way. I explained that I had tried monthly billing, but it hadnt worked because some patients didnt pay. Frank argued that he had impeccable (无可挑剔的 ) credit and knew much more about credit and billing than I did.Suddenly I realized I was missing Franks point. You are right, I said. Im being defensive. We should focus on the problems in your life and not worry so much about money. Frank immediately softened and began talking about what was really bothering him, which were some personal problems. The next time we met, he handed me a check for 20 sessions in advance!There are times, of course, when people are unreasonably abusive and you may need to just walk away from the situation. But if the problem is one that you want solved, its important to allow the other person to keep some self-esteem. Theres nearly always a grain of truth in the other persons point of view. If you acknowledge this, he or she will be less defensive and more likely to listen to you.Complainers. Brad is a 32-year-old Detroit chiropractor (按摩师) who recently described his frustration with a patient of his: I ask Mr. Barry, How are you doing? and he dumps out his whole life story-his family problems and his financial difficulties. I give him advice, but he ignores everything I tell him. Brad needs to recognize that habitual complainers usually dont want advice. They just want someone to listen and understand. So Brad might simply say : sounds like a rough week, Its no fun to have unpaid bills, people nagging you, and this pain besides. The complainer will usually run out of gas and stop complaining. The secret is not to give advice. Just agreeing and validating a persons point of view will make that person feel better.Demanding friends. Difficult people arent always -, angry or just complaining. Sometimes they are difficult because of the demands they place upon us. Maybe a friend puts you on the spot with a request to run an errand for him while hes out of town. If you have a crowded schedule, you may agree but end up angry and resentful. Or if you say no in the wrong way, your friend may feel hurt and unhappy. The problem is that, caught off guard, you dont know how to deal with the situation in a way that avoids bad feelings.One method Ive found helpful is punting. Youre punting when you tell the person you need to think about the request and that youll get back about it. Say a colleague calls and pressures me to give a lecture at his university. Ive learned to say, Im flattered that you thought of me. Let me check my schedule, and Ill call you back. This gives me time to deal with any feelings of guilt if I have to say no. Suppose I decide it is better to decline; punting allow me to plan what I will say when I call back, I appreciate being asked, I might indicate, but I find Im over-committed right now. However, I hope youll think of me in the future. Responding to difficult people with patience and empathy can be tough, especially when you feel upset. But the moment you give up your need to control or be right, the other person will begin relaxing and start listening to you. The Greek philosopher Epictetus understood this when he said nearly 2, 000 years ago, If someone criticizes you, agree at once. Mention that if only the other person knew you well, there would be more to criticize than that !Real communication results from a spirit of respect for yourself and for the other person. The benefits can be amazing.1. The principle the writer has discovered to stop any conflict from going worse is to find a way to agree.2. The taxi driver thanked the businesswoman because she was very polite to him.3. Difficult people mentioned in the passage include those who give occasional complaints.4. One way to deal with the person who is unreasonably abusive is to walk away from the situation.5. If Mr. Barry had followed Brads advice, he would have solved all his personal problems.6. What habitual complainers need is a good listener.7. It will end up in unhappiness whether you have satisfied your friends request or not.8. You will be rewarded with a real communication if you_for others.9. A difficult person can become a relaxing and good conversational partner if you_your control.10. According to the author, one effective way to deal with a demanding friend is_.答案：1. Y 2. N 3. N 4. Y 5. NG 6. Y 7. N 8. show respect 9. give up 10. punting2014年英语六级阅读练习及答案(34)A growing world population and the discoveries of science may 11 this pattern of distribution in the future. As men slowly learn to master diseases, control floods, prevent famines, and stop wars, fewer people die every year; and in 12 the population of the world is 13 increasing. In 1925 there were about 2,000 million people in the world; by the end of the century there may well be over 4,000 million.When numbers rise the 14 mouths must be fed. New lands must be I bought under cultivation, or land already farmed made to 15 larger crops. In some areas the accessible land is largely so intensively 16 that it will be difficult to make it provide more food. In some areas the population is so dense that the land is parceled out in units too 17 to allow for much improvement in farming methods. Were a larger part of this farming population drawn off into industrial occupations, the land might be farmed much more productively by modern methods.There is now a race for science, technology, and industry to keep the 18 of food rising faster than the number of people to be fed. New strains of crops are being developed which will thrive in 19 climates; irrigation and dry-farming methods bring poor lands under the plough, dams hold back the waters of great rivers to 20 water for the fields in all seasons and to provide electric power for new industries; industrial chemistry provides fertilizers to suit particular soils; aero planes spray crops to destroy insects and many plant diseases.A. ensure B. violently C. alter D. harmful E. cultivated F. unique G. transplanted H. yield I. consequence J. output K. extra L. steadily M. tiny N. unfavorable O. produce答案：11. C 12. I 13. L 14. K 15. H 16. E 17. M 18. J 19. N 20. A2014年英语六级阅读练习及答案(35)The process of perceiving others is rarely translated (to ourselves or others) into cold, objective terms. She was 5 feet 8 inches tall, had fair hair, and wore a colored skirt. More often, we try to get inside the other person to pinpoint (强调 ) his or her attitudes, emotions, motivations, abilities, ideas, and characters. Furthermore, we sometimes behave as if we can accomplish this difficult job very quicklyperhaps with a two-second glance.We try to obtain information about others in many ways. Berger suggests several methods for reducing uncertainties about others; who are known to you so you can compare the observed persons behavior with the known others behavior, observing a person in a situation where social behavior is relatively unrestrained or where a wide variety of behavioral responses are called for, deliberately structuring the physical or social environment so as to observe the persons responses to specific stimuli (刺激因素) , asking people who have had or have frequent contact with the person about him or her, and using various strategies in face-to-face interaction to uncover information about another personquestion, self-disclosures, and so on.Getting to know someone is a never-ending task, largely because people are constantly changing and the methods we use to obtain information are often imprecise. You may have known someone for ten years and still know very little about him. If we accept the idea that we wont ever fully know another person, it enables us to deal more easily with those things that get in the way of accurate knowledge such as secrets and deceptions. It will also keep us from being too surprised or shocked by seemingly inconsistent behavior. Ironically, those things that keep us from knowing another person too well(e. g. secrets and deceptions) may be just as important to the development of a satisfying relationship as those things that enable us to obtain accurate knowledge about a person (e. g. disclosures and truthful statement).21. According to the passage, if we perceive a person, we are likely to be interested inA. what he wears B. how tall he isC. how happy he is D. what color he dyes his hair22. Some people are often surprised by what other people do. According to Berger, that is mainly because_.A. some people are more emotional than othersB. some people are not aware of the fact that we will never completely know another personC. some people are sensitive enough to sense the change of other peoples attitudesD. some people choose to keep to themselves23. We may have known someone for ten years and still know very little about him because_.A. we dont accept the idea that we might never fully know another personB. we often get information in a casual and inexact wayC. we pay more attention to other peoples motivations and emotions 62 D. we often have face-to-face conversation with him24. There are things that we find preventing us from knowing others. These things areA. disclosures B. deceptionsC. stimuli D. interactions25. This passage mainly concerns_.A. the relationship between people B. the perception of other peopleC. secrets and deceptions of people D. peoples attitudes and characters答案：21. C 22. B 23. B 24. B 25. B2014年英语六级阅读练习及答案(36)Modern scientists divide the process of dying into two stagesclinical or (emporary death and biological death. Clinical death occurs when the vital organs, such as the heart or lungs, have ceased to function, but have not suffered permanent damage. The organism can still be revived (复活). Biological death occurs when changes in the organism lead to the disintegration(解体) of vital cells and tissues. Death is then irreversible and final.Scientists have been seeking a way to prolong the period of clinical death so (hat the organism can be revived before biological death occurs. The best method developed so far involves cooling of the organism, combined with narcotic(麻醉的) sleep. By slowing down the bodys metabolism(新成代谢) , cooling delays the processes leading to biological death.To illustrate how this works, scientists performed an experiment on a six-year-old female monkey called Keta. The scientists put Keta to sleep with a narcotic. Then they surrounded her body with ice-bags and began checking her body temperature. When it had dropped to 28 degrees the scientists began draining blood from an its body. The monkeys blood pressure decreased and an hour later both the heart and breathing stopped; clinical death set in. For twenty minutes Keta remained in this state. Her temperature dropped to 22 degrees. At this point the scientists pumped blood into its body in the direction of the heart and started artificial breathing. After two minutes the monkeys heart became active once more. After fifteen minutes, spontaneous breathing began, and after four hours Keta opened her eyes and lifted her head. After six hours, when the scientists tried to give her a penicillin injection, Keta seized the syringe and ran with it around the room. Her behavior differed little from that of a healthy animal.26. This passage focuses on_.A. the difference between biological and clinical death.B. the process of dyingC. prolonging the period of clinical deathD. the nature of clinical death27. The best statement of the main idea of this passage is thatA. modem scientists divide the process of dying into clinical and biological deathB. biological death occurs when vital organs have suffered permanent damageC. scientists have found a way to prolong the period of clinical deathD. cooling delays the processes leading to biological death28. One characteristic of clinical death is_.A. lasting damage to the lungs B. destruction of the tissuesC. temporary non-functioning of the heartD. that the organism cannot be revived29. According to the passage, cooling an organismA. speeds up the bodys metabolism B. slows disintegration of body tissuesC. prevents damage to organs D. revives damaged organs30. One possible benefit of the experiment discussed in the passage is_.A. less crowded cities B. victory over deathC. protection against fatal injury D. fewer deaths from heart attacks答案：26. C 27. C 28. C 29. B 30. D2014年英语六级阅读练习及答案(37)Three Kinds of FatigueFatigue is one of the most common complaints brought to doctors, friends, and relatives. Youd think in this era of labor-saving devices and convenient transportation that few people would have reason to be so tired. But probably more people complain of fatigue today than in the days when hay was baled by hand and laundry scrubbed on a washboard.The causes of modern-day fatigue are diverse and only rarely related to excessive physical exertion. The relatively few people who do heavy labor all day long almost never complain about being tired, perhaps because they expect to be. Today, physicians report, tiredness is more likely a consequence of under-exertion than of wearing yourself down with over-activity. In fact, increased physical activity is often prescribed as a cure for lowering energy.Physical. This is the well-known result of overworking your muscles to the point where metabolic (新成代谢的) waste productscarbon dioxide and lactic acid (乳酸)accumulate in our blood and reduce your strength. Your muscles cant continue to work efficiently in a bath of these chemicals. Physical fatigue is usually a pleasant tiredness, such as that which you might experience after playing a hard set of tennis, chopping wood, or climbing a mountain. The cure is simple and fast: You rest, giving your body a chance to get rid of accumulated wastes and restore muscle fuel.Pathological (病理的). Here fatigue is a warning sign or consequence of some underlying physical disorder, perhaps the common cold or flu or something more serious like diabetes or cancer. Usually other symptoms besides fatigue are present that suggest the true cause.Even after an illness has passed, youre likely to feel dragged out for a week or more. Take your fatigue as a signal to go slow while your body has a chance to recover fully even if all you had was a cold. Pushing yourself to resume full activity too soon could lead to a relapse (旧病复发) and almost certainly will prolong our period of fatigue.Even though illness is not frequent cause of prolonge