2000年6月英语六级真题及答案

2000 年 6 月英语六级真题及答案 Part I Listening Comprehension (20 minutes) Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, 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 center. Example: You will hear: You will read: A) 2 hours. B) 3 hours. C) 4 hours. D) 5 hours. From the conversation we know that the two were talking about some work they will start at 9 o’clock in the morning and have to finish at 2 in the afternoon. Therefore, D) “5 hours” is the correct answer. You should choose [D] on the Answer Sheet and mark it with a single line through the center. Sample Answer [A] [B] [C] [D] 1. A) Buy some traveller’s checks. B) Borrow some money from a friend. C) Check the brakes and tires. D) Spend some time travelling. 2. A) He is very forgiving and tolerant. B) He probably has a poor memory. C) He is well liked by his customers. D) He has been introduced to the staff. 3. A) He thinks the book should include more information. B) He doesn’t think it necessary to provide the answers. C) The answers will be added in a later edition. D) The book does include the answers. 4. A) Announce appeals for public service. B) Hold a charity concert to raise money. C) Ask the school radio station for help. D) Pool money to fund the radio station. 5. A) She talked with the consultant about the new program until two. B) She wouldn’t talk to the consultant before two. C) She would talk to the consultant during lunch. D) She couldn’t contact the consultant’s secretary. 6. A) They are equally competent for the job. B) They both graduated from art schools. C) They majored in different areas of art. D) They are both willing to draw the posters. 7. A) At a book store. B) At an art museum. C) At a newspaper office. D) At a gymnasium. 8. A) The woman received a phone call from Mark yesterday. B) The man injured Mark in a traffic accident yesterday. C) The man met a friend by chance. D) The woman contracted Mark on business. 9. A) The man should stay up and watch the program. B) The man should read something exciting instead. C) The man should go to bed at eleven. D) The man should give up watching the movie. 10. A) Students with a library card can check any book out. B) Reference books are not allowed to be checked out. C) Only students with a library card can check out reference books. D) The number of books a student can check out is unlimited. 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), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. Passage one Question 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard. 11. A) To find out whether they take music lessons in their space time. B) To find out whether they can name four different musical instruments. C) To find out whether they enjoy playing musical instruments in school. D) To find out whether they differ in their preference for musical instruments. 12. A) They find them too hard to play. B) They think it silly to play them. C) They find it not challenging enough to play them. D) They consider it important to be different from girls. 13. A) Children who have private music tutors. B) Children who are 8 or older. C) Children who are between 5 and 7. D) Children who are well-educated. Passage Two Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard. 14. A) Because there weren’t any professional teams in the U.S. then. B) Because Pele hadn’t retired from the Brazilian National Team yet. C) Because this fast-moving sport wasn’t familiar to many Americans. D) Because good professional players received low salaries. 15. A) When it has a large number of fans. B) When it plays at home. C) When it has many international stars playing for it. D) When the fans cheer enthusiastically for it. 16. A) It wasn’t among the top four teams. B) It didn’t play as well as expected. C) It won the World Cup. D) It placed fourth. Passage Three Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard. 17. A) Students from America. B) Students from England. C) Students from Australia. D) Students from Japan. 18. A) Those who know how to program computers. B) Those who get special aid from their teachers. C) Those who are very hardworking. D) Those who have well-educated parents. 19. A) Japanese students study much harder than Columbian students. B) Columbian students score higher than Japanese students in maths. C) Columbian students are more optimistic about their maths skills. D) Japanese students have better conditions for study. 20. A) Physics. B) Mathematics. C) Environmental science. D) Life science. Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes) Direction: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four 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 One Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage: In the 1920s demand for American farm products fell, as European countries began to recover from World War I and instituted austerity（紧缩）紧缩）programs to reduce their imports. The result was a sharp drop in farm prices. This period was more disastrous for farmers than earlier times had been, because farmers were no longer self-sufficient. They were paying for machinery, seed, and fertilizer, and they were also buying consumer goods. The prices of the items farmers bought remained constant, while prices they received for their products fell. These developments were made worse by the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and extended throughout the 1930s In 1929, under President Herbert Hoover, the Federal Farm Board was organized. It established the principle of direct interference with supply and demand, and it represented the first national commitment to provide greater economic stability for farmers. President Hoover’s successor attached even more importance to this problem. One of the first measures proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was subsequently passed by Congress. This law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on the grounds that general taxes were being collected to pay one special group of people. However, new laws were passed immediately that achieved the same result of resting soil and providing floodcontrol measures, but which were based on the principle of soil conservation. The Roosevelt Administration believed that rebuilding the nation’s soil was in the national interest and was not simply a plan to help farmers at the expense of other citizens. Later the government guaranteed loans to farmers so that they could buy farm machinery, hybrid（紧缩）杂交）grain, and fertilizers. 21. What brought about the decline in the demand for American farm products? A) The impact of the Great Depression. B) The shrinking of overseas markets. C) The destruction caused by the First World War. D) The increased exports of European countries. 22. The chief concern of the American government in the area of agriculture in the 1920s was ____________________. A) to increase farm production B) to establish agricultural laws C) to prevent farmers from going bankrupt D) to promote the mechanization of agriculture 23. The Agricultural Adjustment Act encouraged American farmers to __________. A) reduce their scale of production B) make full use of their land C) adjust the prices of their farm products D) be self-sufficient in agricultural production 24. The Supreme Court rejected the Agricultural Adjustment Act because it believed that the Act ______________. A) might cause greater scarcity of farm products B) didn’t give the Secretary of Agriculture enough power C) would benefit neither the government nor the farmers D) benefited one group of citizens at the expense of others 25. It was claimed that the new laws passed during the Roosevelt Administration were aimed at _______________. A) reducing the cost of farming B) conserving soil in the long-term interest of the nation C) lowering the burden of farmers D) helping farmers without shifting the burden onto other taxpayers Passage Two Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage: In the 1950s, the pioneers of artificial intelligence (AI) predicted that, by the end of this century, computers would be conversing with us at work and robots would be performing our housework. But as useful as computers are, they’re nowhere close to achieving anything remotely resembling these early aspirations for humanlike behavior. Never mind something as complex as conversation: the most powerful computers struggle to reliably recognize the shape of an object, the most elementary of tasks for a ten-month-old kid. A growing group of AI researchers think they know where the field went wrong. The problem, the scientists say, is that AI has been trying to separate the highest, most abstract levels of thought, like language and mathematics, and to duplicate them with logical, step-by-step programs. A new movement in AI, on the other hand, takes a closer look at the more roundabout way in which nature came up with intelligence. Many of these researchers study evolution and natural adaptation instead of formal logic and conventional computer programs. Rather than digital computers and transistors, some want to work with brain cells and proteins. The results of these early efforts are as promising as they are peculiar, and the new nature-based AI movement is slowly but surely moving to the forefront of the field. Imitating the brain’s neural（紧缩）神经的）network is a huge step in the right direction, says computer scientist and biophysicist Michael Conrad, but it still misses an important aspect of natural intelligence. “People tend to treat the brain as if it were made up of color-coded transistors,” he explains, “but it’s not simply a clever network of switches. There are lots of important things going on inside the brain cells themselves.” Specifically, Conrad believes that many of the brain’s capabilities stem from the pattern-recognition proficiency