本单元大学英语六级考试模拟试题

Directions：In this section，you will hear 10 short conversations．At the end of each coversation，a question will be asked about what was said．Both the conversation and the question will be spoken only once．After each question there will be a pause．During the pause，you must read the four choices marked a，b，c and d，and decide which is the best answer．Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre．

1．a．The man enjoyed the movie very much．

   b．The man saw a horror movie．

   c．The woman asked the man to be careful at night．

   d．The woman went to the show with the man．

2．a．He has been offered a new job．

   b．He has been granted leave for one month．

   c．He has been fired by the company．

   d．He has been dismissed for his poor performance．

3．a．John will see Joan tomorrow evening．

   b．John might be at home late tomorrow evening．

   c．John and Joan have decided to go on a holiday．

   d．John asked the woman to come another time．

4．a．There is something wrong with the food．

   b．There is something wrong with the oven．

   c．She wanted her refrigerator to be fixed．

   d．She didn't know how to use the new oven．

5．a．It will end before long．

   b．It will probably continue．

   c．It will last for two weeks．

   d．It has come to a halt．

6．a．He himself doesn't have a good voice．

   b．He doesn't like his daughter．

   c．He sings better than his daughter．

   d．He didn't know his daughter could sing so well．

7．a．The man doesn't think it was the woman's fault．

   b．The man thanks the woman for her efforts．

   c．The man thinks that everything was all right．

   d．The man blames the woman for her absence．

8．a．She may sell it to the owner of a restaurant．

   b．She may rent it out for use as a restaurant．

   c．She may pull it down and build a new restaurant．

   d．She may convert it and use it as a restaurant．

9．a．She was angry．

   b．She was worried．

   c．She was confident．

   d．She was bored．

10．a．Mr Black is seldom in his office．

    b．Mr Black's department is more successful than all the others．

    c．Mr Black is an admirable chief of the Asian Department．

    d．Mr Black will be replaced if he makes another mistake．

Section B

Directions：In this section，you will hear 3 short passages．At the end of each passage，you will hear some questions．Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once．After you hear a question，you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked a，b，cand d．Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre．

Passage 1

Questions 11to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard．

11．a．Each flat has its own car park．

    b．They always have flat roofs．

    c．They have more services．

    d．They are bigger．

12．a．They have central heating and air-conditioning systems．

    b．They have everything that people need．

    c．They are well-planned．

    d．Many people live in them．

13．a．Flat roofs can be used for drying washing．

    b．The space is needed for cinemas，clubs and churches．

    c．The space is useful for parking cars．

    d．It is a cheap way of building．

Passage 2

Questions 14to 16are based on the passage you have just heard．

14．a．It is being rapidly expanded．

    b．It is found in one million homes．

    c．It is relatively new．

    d．It is very well established．

15．a．They are made of metal and glass．

    b．They cost about ＄50．00．

    c．They are usually found on the roof．

    d．They look like sandwiches．

16．a．It is expected to be a ＄3 billion industry．

    b．It is expected to be a ＄13 billion industry．

    c．It is expected to be a ＄1．13 billion industry．

    d．It is expected to be a ＄1．3billion industry．

Passage 3

Questions 17to 20are based on the passage you have just heard．

17．a．In the early seventeenth century．

    b．In the late seventeenth century．

    c．In the early eighteenth century．

    d．In the late eighteenth century．

18．a．It included many everyday words．

    b．It presented good sentences to the uses of each word．

    c．It was nothing more than a list of difficult words．

    d．It defined easy words as well as hard ones．

19．a．Daniel Webster．

    b．Samuel Johnson．

    c．John Kersey．

    d．Robert Cawdrey．

20．a．It showed word histories．

    b．It gave good meanings to each word．

    c．It was a twenty-volume work．

    d．It was a complete list of difficult words．

Part II Reading Comprehension

Directions：There are four passages in this part．Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are 4 choices marked a，b，c and d．You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center．

Passage 1

Questions 21to 25are based on the following passage．

The 40-page booklet was prepared by lexicographer Robert Burchfeild，chief editor of the authoritative Oxford English Dictionaries．Although intended as a final arbiter of spoken English，it has only added fuel to the rising criticism of BBC English in recent years．Burchfeild approves the occasional split infinitive，or preposition at the end of a sentence．But judging from angry letters to the BBC，many listeners do not．“Anytime anyone makes a mistake，or the listener thinks he heard a mistake，the more elderly members of the public tend to write at once and say the world is coming to an end，” Burchfeild says．

Burchfeild finds such attacks“conservative beyond reasonableness”．He argues，“English grammar is a complicated system never quite mastered even by the best speakers of English．” As for pronunciation，it is an unending mine field．“I'm riddled with uncertainties myself，” Burchfeild says．“For instance，this week I'm going through a period of indecision about whether to say SPEC-tator or spec-TA-tor．”

There are rules at the BBC，but Burchfeild wants them flexible，aiming—as in the case of split infinitives—for“the natural and unambiguous completion of a sentence already begun”rather than strict grammatical construction． However，clichés and meaningless fillers（e．g．， at this point in time，on-going，I mean to say）are to be avoided and words are to be pronounced correctly．It is gov-ment；dee-I-ty，notday-I-ty； jewel-ry，not joo-ler-ry；not comPAAR-able．

There have been worse controversies in the past，such as the loss of grammatical during the Middle English period．The current rate of change in the English language，he says，is about average for the past 1，200 years．

21．Which of the following statements about Burchfeild's booklet is Not True？

    a．It is meant to pacify people's criticism of BBC English in recent years．

    b．It is intended to judge spoken English．

    c．It turns out that it completely fails the author's expectations．

    d．It must have been ill-prepared since it is badly．

22．The old people mentioned in the first paragraph ______ ．

    a．have to bear many mistakes in English

    b．should be reasonable as to the change of English

    c．love to write letters to Burchfeild

    d．never end a sentence with a preposition

23．Why should the rules governing English be flexible and aiming？

    a．Because those who speak do not necessarily know the grammatical rules．

    b．Because spoken English is more important than grammar．

    c．Because the English language itself is full of controversies．

    d．Because English had already existed before its grammar came into being．

24．English at present is changing ______ ．

    a．rapidly

    b．more rapidly than English in the Middle Ages

    c．less rapidly than English in the Middle Ages

    d．at an average level with Middle English

25．Which is Not Burchfeild's view concerning English？

    a．English should be pronounced correctly．

    b．Try to avoid using clichés．

    c．The best English speakers cannot quite master English grammar．

    d．There should be standards of spoken and written English．

Passage 2

Questions 26to 30are based on the following passage．

Old people are always saying that the young are not what they were．The same comment was made from generation and it's always true．It has never been truer than it is today．The young are better educated．They have a lot more money to spend and enjoy more freedom．They grow up more quickly and are not so dependent on their parents．They think more for themselves and do not blindly accept the ideas of their elders． Events which the older generation remembering vividly are nothing more than past history．Even generation is different from the older one and today the difference is very marked indeed．

The old always assume that they know best for the simple reason that they have been around a bit longer．They don't like to feel that their values are being questioned or threatened．And this is precisely what the young are doing．They are questioning the assumptions of their elders and disturbing their self-satisfaction．They take leave to doubt that the older generation has created the best of all possible worlds．What they reject more than anything is conformity． Office hours，for instant，are nothing more than enforced slavery．Wouldn't people work best if they were given complete freedom and responsibility？And what about clothing？Who said that all men should wear GREy suits and convict haircuts？If we turn our minds to more serious matters，who said that the human differences can best be solved through conventional politics or by violent means？Why have the older generations so often used violence to solve the problems？Why are they unhappy and guilt-ridden in their personal lives，so obsessed with mean ambitions and the desire to amass more and more material possessions？Haven't the old lost touch with all that is important in life？

These are not questions the old generation can shrug off lightly．Traditionally，the young have turned to their elders for guidance．Today， the situation might be reversed．The old could learn a thing or two from their children．One of the biggest lessons they could learn is that enjoyment is not“sinful”．It is surely not wrong to enjoy your work and your leisure．It is surely not wrong to live in the present rather than in the past or future．This emphasis on the present is only to be expected because the young have grown up under the shadow of the bomb．The constant threat of complete destruction．

26．The author put forward suggestions to the old people except ______ ．

    a．they should enjoy life as possible as they can

    b．they should learn something from their children

    c．they should be more strict with young generation

    d．they should take young people's question into serious consideration

27．A person who rejects conformity  ______ ．

   a．would like to work at home

   b．would often do something surprising

   c．would like to be the last to come and the first to leave his office

   d．would like to quarrel with his boss

28．The old are most displeased with the young generation's  ______ ．

   a．questioning their values

   b．looking at everything in a negative way

   c．spending money freely

   d．demanding too much freedom

29．The young generation are，unlike the old， lively in the present mainly because ______ ．

   a．they are cynical

   b．they look at everything in a negative way

   c．they despise the past

   d．they are pessimistic about future

30．From the text we can infer that ______ ．

   a．the author is in favor of the young generation

   b．the author's attitude is very ambiguous

   c．the author is for the old generation

   d．the author is impartial

Passage 3

Questions 31to 35are based on the following passage．

The desire for achievement is one of life's GREat mysteries．Social scientists have devoted lifetimes to studying the drives that spur us out of bed in the morning，compel us to work or study hard and spark all manners of human endeavor．Indeed，a 1992textbook actually documents 32 distinct theories of human motivation．

Given this diversity of thought，it's easy to forget that for a half century，American society has been dominated by the psychological school known as behaviorism，or Skinnerian psychology．Although behaviorism and its fundamental principle of“positive reinforcement”have long since lost their way in academic circles，the Skinnerian legacy remains powerful in every realm of daily life，from the home and classroom to the workplace．Don't want to take trash out？ Do it，and you can go to the movies on Friday night．Not in the mood for work？Keep plugging away，and you might get a bonus．Not interested in calculus？Strive for an A in the class，and you'll make the honor roll．The theory may be bankrupt，but incentives and rewards are so much a part of American culture that it's hard to imagine life without them．

Yet that's exactly what a growing group of researchers are advocating today．A steady stream of research has found that rather encouraging motivation and productivity，rewards actually can undermine genuine interest and diminish performance．“Our society is caught in a whopping paradox，”asserts Alfie Kohn，author of the new book Punished by Rewards（Houghton Mifflin），which surveys recent research on the effectiveness of rewards．“We complain loudly about declining productivity，the crisis of our school and the distorted values of our children． But the very strategy we use to solve those problems—dangling rewards like incentive plans and grade and candy bars in front of people—is partly responsible for the fix we'rein．”

It's a tough argument to make in a culture that celebrates the spoils of success．Yet study after study shows that people tend to perform worse，to give up more easily and to lose interest more quickly when a reward is involved． Children who are given treats for doing artwork，for example，lose their initial love of art within weeks．Teenagers who are promised a reward for tutoring youngsters don't teach as enthusiastically as a tutor offered nothing．And chief executive officers who have been awarded long-term incentive plans have often steered their companies toward lower returns．

31．According to behaviorism，all human actions ______ ．

    a．are based on stimulus and response

    b．have no bearing on human drives

    c．are supposed to be highly motivated d．are of a GREat mystery

32．Behaviorism basically believesin ______ ．

    a．motivation

    b．performance

    c．rewards

    d．human factors

33．In paragraph 2，“calculus”probably refers to“ ______ ”．

    a．a course

    b．a sport

    c．a kind of public service

    d．a position in the student union

34．From the passage ，it can be inferred that ______ ．

   a．rewards are highly effective in America

   b．rewards are not much sought-after in academic circles

   c．rewards have long lost their appeal in American society

   d．Americans are addicted to rewards

35．Which of the following is in support of the finding that‘people tend to perform worse，．．．when a reward is involved'（last paragraph）？

   a．People are not used to being conditioned by prizes．

   b．Rewards，like punishments，are attempts to control behavior．

   c．Rewards are so indispensable to American culture．

   d．The principle of“positive reinforcement” is not fully enforced．

Passage 4

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage．

Humans are forever forgetting that they can't control nature．Exactly 20years ago，Time magazine covered story announced that“scientists are on the verge of being able to predict the time，place and even the size of earthquakes．”The people of quake-ruined Kobe learned last week how wrong that assertion was．

None of the methods praised two decades ago have succeeded．Even now，scientists have yet to discover a uniform warning signal that precedes all quakes，let alone any sign that would tell whether the coming quake is mild or a killer．Earthquake formation can be triggered by many factors，says Hiroo Kanamori，a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology． So，finding one all-purpose warning sign is impossible．One reason：quakes start deep in the earth，so scientist can't study them directly．

If a quake precursor were found，it would still be impossible to warn humans in advance of all dangerous quakes．Places like Japan and California are filled with hundreds，if not thousands，of minor faults．It is impossible to place monitoring instruments on all of them．And these inconspicuous sites can be just as deadly as their better-known cousins the San Andreas．Both the Kobe and the 1994 Northridge quakes occurred on small faults．

Prediction would be less important if scientists could easily build structures to withstand tremors．While seismic engineering has improved dramatically in the past 10to 15years，every new quake reveals unexpected weaknesses in“quake-resistant”structure，says Terry Tullis，a geophysicist at Brown University．In Kobe，for example，a highway that opened only last year was damaged．

In the Northridge earthquake，on the other hand，well-built structures generally did not col- lapse．But engineers have since found hidden problems in 120 steel-frame buildings that survived．Such structures are supposed to sway with the earth rather than crumple．They may have swayed，but the quake also unexpectedly weakened the joints in their steel skeletons．If the shaking had been longer and stronger，the buildings might have collapsed．

A recent report in Science adds yet more anxiety about life on the fault lines．Researchers ran computer simulations to see how quake-re- sistant buildings would fare in a moderate-size tremor，taking into account that much of a quake's energy travels in a large“pulse”of focused shaking．The results：Both steel-frame buildings that sit on insulating rubber pads suffered severe damage．More research will help experts design stronger structures and possibly find quake precursors．But it is still a certainty that the next earthquake will prove once again that every fault cannot be monitored and every highway cannot be completely quake-proofed．

36．Which of the following statements is Not true？

    a．Scientists claimed that they had found some methods of predicting earthquakes， they didn't work．

    b．Scientists have not discovered one single warning sign for all quakes．

    c．Scientists have not yet discovered any sign that would tell the size of quakes．

    d．The methods scientists boasted of 20 years ago of predicting quakes didn't produce desired results．

37．Quakes ______  ．

    a．can trigger minor faults

    b．can in no way be studied fully

    c．can be warned of beforehand

    d．on small faults cannot possibly be as deadly as those best known quakes

38．It is implied in the passage that  ______ ．

    a．seismic engineering has improved well enough for structures to resist quakes

    b．well-erected structures do not collapse

    c．steel-frame buildings survive any earthquakes

    d．the existent quake-resistant buildings need to be redesigned

39．The author's focus in the 3rd paragraph is more on  ______ ．

    a．the need for more research

    b．the designing of stronger structures and the finding of quake precursors

    c．the uncertainty of earthquakes

    d．the impossibility of monitoring faults and building completely quake proofed structures

40．The best title for the passage could be“ ______ ”．

    a．Nature Is Beyond Human's Control

    b．Why Earthquake Prediction Is Hard to Do

    c．No Method or Stronger Structures Are Found to Predict and Withstand Quakes

    d．Can't We Predict Earthquakes

Part III Vocabulary and Structure

Directions：There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part．For each sentence there are four choices marked a，b，cand d．Choose the ONE answer that best completes the sentence．Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet．

41．This book should be well read within the  ______ of anyone who has studied French for four years．

    a．possession

    b．confidence

    c．qualification

    d．competence

42．She cut her hair short and tried to ______ herself as a man．

    a．decorate

    b．disguise

    c．fabricate

    d．fake

43．When you put up wallpaper，should you ______ the edges or put them next to each other？

    a．coincide

    b．extend

    c．overlap

    d．collide

44．The disaGREement over trade restrictions could seriously ______  the relation between the two countries．

    a．tumble

    b．jeopardize

    c．manipulate

    d．intimidate

45．The town ______  a beautiful lake．

    a．boasts

    b．brags

    c．vaunts

    d．crows

46．Some city planners believe that each city is ______ ；in other words，because of cultural difference，one city cannot simply copy others．

    a．separated

    b．cut off

    c．unique

    d．integrated

47．I hope this kind of social system can exist ______ good．

    a．in

    b．at

    c．out of

    d．for

48．Many movies receive ______  reviews from film experts and yet become extremely successful．

    a．authoritative

    b．disparaging

    c．lengthy

    d．detailed

49．When he realized he had been ______  to sign the contract by intrigue，he threatened to start legal proceedings to cancel the aGREement．

    a．elicited

    b．excited

    c．deduced

    d．induced

50．He showed a total lack of ______ in the way he decorated his room．

    a．discrimination

    b．evaluation

    c．estimate

    d．appreciation

51．The original elections were declared ______ by the former military ruler．

    a．void

    b．vulgar

    c．surplus

    d．extravagant

52．Besides the pleasurable sounds of music and expressive feeling that it ______ ，music does exist in terms of the notes themselves and of their manipulation．

    a．gives away

    b．gives off

    c．gives up

    d．gives out

53．When people get on or off a crowded bus they often ______  each other．

    a．push

    b．shove

    c．propel

    d．pull

54．Clark felt that his ______ on the most dramatic medical experiments of all time was worth the suffering he underwent．

    a．appreciation

    b．participation

    c．presentation

    d．apprehension

55．I found the film ______ ．It gave me much inspiration．

    a．enlightening

    b．confusing

    c．annoying

    d．delighting

56．Very few people understand his lecture，the subject of which was very ______ ．

    a．intelligible

    b．obscure

    c．dim

    d．conspicuous

57．That French novel had been translated into English and published in Britain by ______ of the author．

    a．sympathy

    b．aGREement

    c．courtesy

    d．admission

58．The nurse was dismissed because she was found to be  ______ ．

    a．roundabout

    b．corresponding

    c．watchful

    d．negligent

59．They have made a decision to ______ the old television set and purchase a new one．

    a．scrap

    b．scrub

    c．scrape

    d．scratch

60．A short but heavy shower brought the ______ to a halt，and everybody went home．

    a．procedure

    b．process

    c．procession

    d．proGREss

61．We had ______ a minute to catch the train—We arrived at 11：59 and it left at 12：00．

    a．literally

    b．liberally

    c．really

    d．quite

62．We must ______ that the telegram arrives in time．

    a．guarantee

    b．ensure

    c．assure

    d．insure

63．This book is about how these basic beliefs and values affect important ______ of American life．

   a．facets

   b．fashions

   c．frontiers

   d．formats

64．The manager tried to wave aside these issues as ______  details that would be settled later．

   a．alternate

   b．trivial

   c．versatile

   d．preliminary

65．Over the last fifteen years running has become a popular ______  for 30 million participants of all ages．

   a．fantasy

   b．pastime

   c．symposium

   d．penalty

66．My effort was over and I ______  unconscious．When I woke up，I found myself in the hospital．

   a．slept

   b．lost

   c．fell

   d．turned

67．In World War II the Allies suffered a long ______  of defeats before they finally achieved victory．

    a．succession

    b．compression

    c．suppression

    d．streamline

68．I saw her ______ the letter from her boyfriend into pieces．

    a．ripping

    b．smashing

    c．ripening

    d．snatching

69．Although the body is made up of many different tissues，these tissues are arranged in an ______ and orderly fashion．

    a．intricate

    b．initial

    c．internal

    d．incredible

70．The directions were so ______ that it was impossible to complete the assignment．

    a．ingenious

    b．ambitious

    c．notorious

    d．ambiguous

Part IV Error Correction

Directions：This part consists of a short passage．In this passage，there are altogether 10 mistakes，one in each numbered line．You may have to change a word，add a word or delete a word．Mark out the mistakes and put the corrections in the blanks provided．If you change a word，cross it out and write the correct word in the corresponding blank．If you add a word，put an insertion mark（∧）in the right place and write the missing word in the blank．If you delete a word，cross it out and put a slash（／）in the blank．

Doctors tell us not to smoke；but lots of people smoke tobacco every day．

Long ago，no one in the Europe was smoked；the tobacco plant was unknown there．

71． ______ 

It GREw in America，and Christopher Columbus found it there．Later he returned Europe and

72． ______ 

told everyone about tobacco．He said that the American Indians often smoked that．One way

73． ______ 

of smoking was this：the American Indians Threw some tobacco leaves with fire．Then they

74． ______ 

put long tubes in their mouths．The other ends of the tubes were over the fire；so they were able to draw the smoke from their mouths．

75． ______ 

About the year 1560，a Frenchman，Jean Nicot，was living in Lisbon，Portugal．He was very interesting in all American plants；some of

76． ______ 

them were very different than the plants of

77． ______ 

Europe．He（and other men too）used the leaves of the tobacco plant to cure pain．If a person had a bad pain in a leg or an arm，Nicot put tobacco leaves on the painless place．He tried to cure the

78． ______ 

pain in that way．Besides，we say now that tobacco contains nicotine．

79． ______ 

A word nicotine comes from this man's name．

80． ______ 

Part V Writing

Directions：For this part，you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to apply for the admission to an American university for further study．Your composition should be at least no less than 120 words．