2017年6月-六级听力真题卷2--听力文本

College English Test Band SixPart II Listening ComprehensionSection ADirections: In this section,you will hear two long conversations.At the end of each conversation,you will hear four questions.Both the conversation and the questionswill be spoken only once.After you hear a question,you must choose the best answerfrom the four choicesmarked A), B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letteron Answer Sheet 1with a single line through the centre.Conversation OneW: Mr. Ishiguro,have you ever found one of your booksat a secondhand bookstore?M: Yes. That kind of thing is difficult.If theyve got my book there,I think,“Well, this is an insult!Somebody didnt want to keep my book!”But if its not there,I feel its an insult too.I think,“Why arent peopleexchanging my book?Why isnt it in this store?”W: Does being a writerrequire a thick skin?M: Yes, for example,my wife can be very harsh.I began working on my latest book,The Buried Giant, in 2004but I stoppedafter I showed my wife a little section.She thought it was rubbish.W: Even after you won a Booker Prize?M: Shes not intimidated at alland she criticizes mein exactly the same way she didwhen I was first unpublishedand I was starting.W: But you would nevercompromise on your vision.M: No, I wouldnt ever compromise onthe essential, the ideas or the themes.This isnt really whatmy wife is trying to criticize me about.Its always about execution.W: So why did you put your book,The Buried Giant,aside for so long?Apparently you started working on itover 10 years ago.M: Ive often stopped writing a bookand left it for a few years.And by the time I come back to it,it may have changed.Usually my imagination has moved onand I can think of different contextsor a different way to do it.W: What does it feel likewhen you finally finish a book?M: Its funny you ask thatbecause I never have this momentwhen I feel, “Ah, Ive finished!”I watch footballersat the end of the match,you know,the whistle goesand theyve won or lost.Until thentheyve been giving everything they haveand at that momentthey know its over.Its funny for an author.Theres never a finishing whistle.Questions 1 to 4 are based onthe conversation you have just heard.1.How would the man feelif he found his bookin a secondhand bookstore?2. What does the mans wifethink of his books?3. What does the man dowhen he engages in writing?4. What does the man want to sayby mentioning the football match?Conversation TwoW: According to a study of raceand equity in education,black athletesare dropping out of collegeacross the country at alarming rates.With us to talk about the findings in the studyis Washington Post columnistKevin Blackistone.Good morning.M: Good morning, how are you?W: Fine, thank you.What is newthat you found in this study?M: Well, this is Shaun Harpers study,and he points out thaton major college campusesacross the country,black males make up less than3 percent of undergraduate enrollments.Yet, when you look attheir numbers or percentageson the revenue-generating sports teamsof football and basketball,they make up wellinto 50 to 60 percent of those teams.So the idea is thatthey are really there to be part ofthe revenue-generating working classof athletes on campusand not necessarily there to be part of the educating classas most students in other groups are.W: Compared with other groups,I think the numbers in this group,at those 65 schools,are something likejust barely more than halfof the black male athletes graduateat all.M: Exactly.And whats really bad about this isthese athletes are supposedly promised at least one thingas reward for all their blood and sweat.And that is a college degree,which can be a transformative toolin our societywhen you talk about upward mobility.And thats really the troubling part about this.W: Well, this has beentalked about so much,really, in recent years.Why hasnt it changed?M: Well, I think one of the reasonsit hasnt changed is becausetheres really no economic pressureto change this.All of the incentive is really onwinning and not losing on the fieldor on the court.Coaches do not necessarily havethe incentive to graduate players.Questions 5 to 8 are based onthe conversation you have just heard.5. What are the speakers talking about?6. What is the new findingabout black male athletesin this study?7. What is the graduation rateof black male athletes?8. What accounts forblack athletes failureto obtain a college degree,according to the man?Section BDirections: In this section,you will hear two passages.At the end of each passage,you will hear three or four questions.Both the passage and the questionswill be spoken only once.After you hear a question,you must choose the best answerfrom the four choicesmarked A), B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letteron Answer Sheet 1with a single line through the centre.Passage OneAmericas holiday shopping season starts on Black Friday,the day after Thanksgiving.It is the busiest shopping day of the year.Retailers make the most moneythis time of year,about 20 to 30 percent of annual revenue.About 136 million people will shopduring the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.More and more will shop online.In an era of instant information,shoppers can use their mobile phones to find deals.About 183.8 million people will shopon Cyber Monday,the first Monday after Thanksgiving.More than half of all holiday purchases will be made online.One-in-five Americans will usea tablet or smartphone.Online spending on Black Fridaywill rise 15 percentto hit $2.7 billion this year.Cyber Monday spending will increase 12 percent to $3 billion.For many, shopping online was“a more comfortable alternative”than crowded malls.The shift to online shoppinghas had a big impacton traditional shopping malls.Since 2010,more than 24 shopping mallshave closedand an additional 60 are struggling.However, Fortune saysthe weakest of the malls have closed. The sector is thriving again.The International Councilof Shopping Centers said94.2 percent of malls were full,or occupied,with shops by the end of 2014.That is the highest level in 27 years.Economist Gus Faucher saidlower unemployment and rising wages couldgive Americans more money to spend.The average American consumerwill spend about $805 on gifts.Thats about $630.5 billionbetween November and Decemberan increase of 3.7 percent from last year.Questions 9 to 12 are based onthe passage you have just heard.9. What is the speakermainly talking about?10. How many peoplewill shop on Cyber Monday?11. What does Fortune sayabout traditional shopping malls?12. What is said to account forthe increased number of shoppers?Passage TwoFor years,many of us have relied on antibiotic useto treat various infections.And the reality is thatantibiotics have been responsible forsaving millions of lives since penicillin,one of the earliest antibiotics,was first used on a clinical basis70 years ago.However, today is a new erain which taking antibioticscan cause some very dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations.In fact, you may have heard aboutthe new “superbugs”,which are antibiotic-resistant bacteriathat have developed as a result of overprescribed antibiotics.In the past,health experts warned us thatthe day would come in whichit would become very difficultto provide medical carefor even common problemssuch as lung infectionor severe sour throat.And, apparently,that day has comebecause seemingly routine operationssuch as knee replacementsare now much more hazardousdue to the looming threatof these infections.The problem has grown intosuch epidemic proportions thatthis severe strain of resistant bacteriais being blamed fornearly 700,000 deathseach year throughout the world;and, unfortunately,health experts worry thatthe number will rise to 10 millionor more on a yearly basis by 2050.With such a largelife-threatening epidemic,it is sad to say thatonly 1.2 percent of budgetary moneyfor the National Institutes of Healthis currently being spent on researchto tackle this problem.This is a far cry from the fundsnecessary fora problem of such magnitude.Questions 13 to 15 are based onthe passage you have just heard.13. What do we learnabout the “superbugs”?14. What is the result ofthe overuse of antibiotics?15. What is most urgently neededfor tackling the large life-threatening epidemic,according to the speaker?Section CDirections: In this section,you will hear three recordingsof lectures or talksfollowed by three or four questions.The recordings will be played only once.After you hear a question,you must choose the best answerfrom the four choicesmarked A), B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letteron Answer Sheet 1with a single line through the centre.Recording OneThis is the reasonyou are here in a university.You are here to be educated.You are hereto understand thinking betterand to think better yourself.Its not a chanceyoure going to havethroughout your lifetime.For the next few years,you have a chance to focus on thinking.I think about some of the studentswho took advantage oftheir opportunities in a university.One of the stories I always like to tellis of a freshman seminarthat I had a chance to teach at Harvardwhen I was president of the university.I taught a seminar on globalizationand I assigned a reading thatI had written about global capital flows.And as I did each week,I asked one of the studentsto introduce the readings.And this young man,in October of his freshman year,said something like the following.“The reading by President Summerson the flow of capital across countries,it was kind of interesting,but the data did not come close to supporting the conclusions.”And I thought to myself,“What a fantastic thing this was.How could somebodywho had been there for five weekstell the personwho had the title Presidentthat he didnt really knowwhat he was talking about?”And it was a special moment.Now, I dont want to be misunderstood.I explained to my student thatI actually thoughthe was rather more confused than I was and I argued back,but what was really important about thatwas the universities stand out as placesthat really are about the authority of ideas.You see it in faculty memberswho are pleasedwhen their students make a discoverythat undermines a cherished theorythat they had put forward.I think of another student I hadwho came to me one morning,one evening actually,walked into my office and said thatI had written a pretty good paper,but that it had five important mistakesand that he wanted a job.You could debatewhether they actually were mistakes,but you couldnt debatethat young mans hunger to learn.You could not debate thatthat young man was someonewho wanted to make a differencein economicsand he is today a professor of economics.And his works are more cited as an economistthan any other economist in the world.Questions 16 to 18 are based onthe recording you have just heard.16. What does the speaker sayabout a university?17. What do we learnfrom the speakers storiesabout universities?18. What does the speaker seein the young manwho challenged his paper?Recording TwoPsychological research showswe consistently underestimateour mental powers.If you think this does not apply to you,then here is a simple testto show you are wrong.Write down the namesof all the American statesyou can remember.Put the list away and thenset yourself the same task a week later.Provided you have not cheatedby consulting an atlas,you will notice somethingrather surprising.The two lists will containroughly the same number of states,but they will not be identical.Some names will have slipped away,but others will have replaced them.This suggests thatsomewhere in your mindyou may well have a recordof virtually every state.So it is not really your memoryletting you down,just your abilityto retrieve information from it.We would remember a lot moreif we had more confidencein our memoriesand knew how to use them properly.One useful tip is thatthings are more likely to be rememberedif you are in exactly the same stateand place as you werewhen you learned them.So if you are a studentwho always reviews over black coffee,perhaps it would be sensibleto prime yourself with a cupbefore the exam.If possible,you should also try tolearn information in the roomwhere it is going to be tested.When you learn is also important.Lots of people swearthey can absorb new informationmore efficientlyat some times of the day than at others.Research shows this isnot just imagination.There is a biological rhythm for learning,though it affects different peoplein different ways.For most of us,the best plan is totake in new information in the morningand thentry to consolidate it into memoryduring the afternoon.But this does not apply to everyone,so it is essentialto establish your own rhythm.You can do this bylearning a set number of lines of poetryat different times of the dayand seeing when most lines stick.When you have done this,try to organize your lifeso that the time set aside for learningcoincides with the timewhen your memory is at its best.Avoid learning marathonsthey do not make the best useof your mind.Take plenty of breaks,because they offer a double bonus:the time offgives your mind a chanceto do some preliminary consolidationand it also givesa memory boost to the learning.Questions 19 to 22 are based onthe recording you have just heard.19. What does the simple test suggest?20. What do we learnabout the two lists in the test?21. What does the speaker suggestabout preparing forand taking an exam?22. What tip does the speaker give on learning?Recording ThreeHello!Today I am going to talk about poverty.Poverty has become a critical issuein todays world.It concerns not only us sociologists,but also economists, politiciansand business people.Poverty has been understoodin many different ways.One useful way isto distinguish betweenthree degrees of povertyextreme poverty, moderate poverty,and relative poverty.The first type of poverty isextreme poverty.Its also called absolute poverty.In extreme poverty,households cannot meetbasic needs for survival.People are chronically hungry.They are unable toaccess safe drinking water,let alone health care.They cannot affordeducation for their children.In short,people who live in extreme povertydo not haveeven the minimum resourcesto support themselves and their families.Where does extreme poverty occur?Well, you can find itonly in developing countries.Well, what about moderate poverty?Unlike extreme poverty,moderate povertygenerally refers to conditions of lifein which basic needs are met, but barely.