分类目录大学英语六级

2016年06月英语六级第3套听力原文及题目

Section A
Direction: 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 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 Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.

Conversation 1
M: So, what’s the next thing on the agenda, Mary?
W: Well, it’s the South Theater Company. They want to know if we’d be interested in sponsoring a tour they want to make to East Asia.
M: East Asia? Uh… and how much are they hoping to get from us?
W: Well, the letter mentions 20,000 pounds, but I don’t know if they might settle for less.
M: Do they say what they would cover? Have they anything specific in mind?
W: No, I think they are just asking all the firms in town for as much money as they think they’ll give.
M: And we are worth 20,000 pounds, right?
W: It seems so.
M: Very flattering. But I am not awfully happy with the idea. What do we get out of it?
W: Oh, good publicity I suppose. So what I suggest is not that we just give them a sum of money, but that we offer to pay for something specific like travel or something, and that in return, we ask for our name to be printed prominently in the program, and that they give us free advertising space in it.
M: But the travel bill would be enormous, and we could never manage that.
W: I know. But why don’t we offer to pay for the printing of the programs ourselves on condition that on the front cover there’s something like “This program is presented with the compliments of Norland Electronics”, and free advertising of course.
M: Good idea. Well, let’s get back to them and ask what the program they want will cost. Then we can see if we are interested or not.
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 1: What do we learn about the South Theater Company?
Question 2: How much does the South Theater Company ask for in the letter?
Question 3: What benefit does the woman say their firm can get by sponsoring the South Theater Company?
Question 4: What does the woman suggest they do instead of paying the South Theater Company’s travel expenses?

1.
A) It is advertising electronic products.
B) It is planning to tour East Asia.
C) It is sponsoring a TV programme.
D) It is giving performances in town.

2.
A) 20,000 pounds.
B) 12,000 pounds.
C) Less than 20,000 pounds.
D) Less than 12,000 pounds.

3.
A) A lot of good publicity.
B) Talented artists to work for it.
C) Long-term investments.
D) A decrease in production costs.

4.
A) Promise long-term cooperation with the Company.
B) Explain frankly their own current financial situation.
C) Pay for the printing of the performance programme.
D) Bear the cost of publicising the Company’s performance.

Conversation 2
W: Rock stars now face a new hazard—voice abuse. After last week’s announcement that Phil Collins might give up touring because live concerts are ruining his voice, doctors are counseling stars about the dos and don5ts of voice care. Here in the studio today, we have Mr. Paul Philips, an expert from the Highfield Hospital. Paul, what advice would you give to singers facing voice problems?
M: If pop singers have got voice problems, they really need to be more selective about where they work. They shouldn’t work in smoky atmospheres. They also need to think about resting their voices after a show. Something else they need to be careful about is medicines, aspirin, for example. Singers should avoid aspirin. It thins the blood. And if a singer coughs, this can result in the bruising of the vocal chords.
W: And is it true that some singers use drugs before concerts to boost their voices when they have voice problems?
M: Yes, this does happen on occasion. They are easily-available on the Continent and they are useful if a singer has problems with his vocal chords and has to sing that night. But if they are taken regularly, they cause a thinning of the voice muscle. Most pop singers suffer from three things: lack of training, overuse and abuse of the voice, especially when they are young. They have difficult lives. When they go on tour, they do a vast number of concerts, sing in smoky places.
W: So, what would you advise these singers to do?
M: Warm you voice up before a show and warm it down after.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 5: What does last week’s announcement say about rock star, Phil Collins?
Question 6: What does Paul Philips say about aspirin?
Question 7: What does Paul Philips say about young pop singers?
Question 8: What are the speakers mainly talking about?

5.
A) He has been seeing doctors and counsellors.
B) He has found a new way to train his voice.
C) He was caught abusing drugs.
D) He might give up concert tours.

6.
A) Singers may become addicted to it.
B) It helps singers warm themselves up.
C) Singers use it to stay away from colds.
D) It can do harm to singers’ vocal chords.

7.
A) They are eager to become famous.
B) Many lack professional training.
C) Few will become successful.
D) They live a glamorous life.

8.
A) Harm to singers done by smoky atmospheres.
B) Side effects of some common drugs.
C) Voice problems among pop singers.
D) Hardships experienced by many young singers.

Section B
Direction: 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 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Passage 1
Would you trust a robot to park your car? The question will confront New Yorkers in February as the city’s first robotic parking opens in Chinatown. The technology has been successfully applied overseas, but the only other public robotic garage in the United States has been troublesome, dropping vehicles and trapping cars because of technical problems. Nonetheless, the developers of the Chinatown garage are confident with the technology and are counting on it to squeeze 67 cars in an apartment-building basement that would otherwise fit only 24, accomplished by removing a maneuver space normally required. A human-shaped robot won’t be stepping into your car to drive it. Rather, the garage itself does the parking. The driver stops the car on a flat platform and gets out. The platform is lowered into the garage, and it is then transported to a vacant parking space by a computer-controlled device similar to an elevator that also runs sideways. There is no human supervision, but an attendant will be on hand to accept cash and explain the system to new users. Parking rates will be attracted about $400 monthly or $25 per day, according to Ari Milstein, the director of planning for Automation Parking Systems, which is the U.S. subsidiary of a German company. This company has built automated garages in several countries overseas and in the United States for residents of a Washington, D.C. apartment building.
Questions 9 to 12 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 9: What do we learn about robotic parking in the U.S. so far?
Question 10: What advantage does robotic parking have according to its developers?
Question 11: What does the attendant do in the automated garage?
Question 12: What does the company say about the parking rates?

9.
A) It has not been very successful.
B) It has long become a new trend.
C) It has met with strong resistance.
D) It has attracted a lot of users.

10.
A) It saves time.
B) It increases parking capacity.
C) It ensures drivers’ safety.
D) It reduces car damage.

11.
A) Collect money and help new users.
B) Maintain the automated system.
C) Stay alert to any emergency.
D) Walk around and guard against car theft.

12.
A) They will vary with the size of vehicles.
B) They will be discountable to regular customers.
C) They will be lower than conventional parking.
D) They will be reduced if paid in cash.

Passage 2
Alcoholism is a serious disease. Nearly nine million Americans alone suffer from the illness. Many scientists disagree about what the differences are between an alcohol addict and a social drinker. The difference occurs when someone needs to drink. And this need gets in the way of his health or behavior. Alcohol causes a loss of judgment and alertness. After a long period, alcoholism can deteriorate the liver, the brain and other parts of the body. The illness is dangerous, because it is involved in half of all automobile accidents. Another problem is that the victim often denies being an alcohol addict and won’t get help. Solutions do exist. Many hospitals and centers help patients cope. Without assistance, the victim can destroy his life. He would detach himself from the routines of life. He may lose his employment, home or loved ones. All the causes of the sickness are not discovered yet. There is no standard for a person with alcoholism. Victims range in age, race, sex and background Some groups of people are more vulnerable to the illness. People from broken homes and North American Indians are two examples. People from broken homes often lack stable lives. Indians likewise had their traditional life taken from them by white settlers who often encourage them to consume alcohol to prevent them from fighting back. The problem has now been passed on. Alcoholism is clearly present in society today. People have started to get help and information. With proper assistance, victims can put their lives together one day.
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 13: What is the problem of the victims about alcoholism according to the speaker?
Question 14: Why did white settlers introduce alcohol to Indians?
Question 15: What does the speaker seem to believe about those affected by alcoholism?

13.
A) They do not know any solution.
B) They do not give up drunk driving.
C) They do not behave in public places.
D) They do not admit being alcohol addicts.

14.
A) To stop them from fighting back.
B) To thank them for their hospitality.
C) To teach them the European lifestyle.
D) To relieve their pains and sufferings.

15.
A) Without intervention they will be a headache to the nation.
B) With support they can be brought back to a normal life.
C) They readily respond to medical treatment.
D) They pose a serious threat to social stability.

Section C
Direction: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Recording 1
Hi, everybody. On Tuesday, America went to the polls. And the message you sent was clear: you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. That’s why I’ve invited leaders of both parties to the White House next week, so we can start to build consensus around challenges we can only solve together. I also intend to bring in business, labor and civic leaders from around the country from outside Washington to get their ideas and input as well. At a time when our economy is still recovering from the Great Recession, our top priority has to be jobs and growth. That’s the focus of the plan I talked about throughout the campaign. It’s a plan to reward businesses that create jobs here in America, and give people access to the education and training that those businesses are looking for. It’s a plan to rebuild our infrastructure and keep us on the cutting edge of innovation and clean energy. And it’s a plan to reduce our deficit in a balanced and responsible way. This is even more important because at the end of this year, we face a series of deadlines that require us to make major decisions about how to pay down our deficit—decisions that will have a huge impact on the economy and the middle class, not only now but in the future. Last year, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to cut a trillion dollars, worth of spending, and I intend to work with both parties to do more. But as I said over and over again on the campaign trail, we can’t just cut our way to prosperity. If we’re serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue—and that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes. That’s how we did it when Bill Clinton was President. And that’s the only way we can afford to invest in education and job training and manufacturing—all the ingredients of a strong middle class and a strong economy. Already, I’ve put forward a detailed plan that allows us to make these investments while reducing our deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade.
Questions 16 to 19 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 16: Why are leaders of both parties invited to the White House next week?
Question 17: What is the focus of the mentioned plan?
Question 18: What are the major decisions about?
Question 19: What does combining spending cuts with revenue mean?

16.
A) To award them for their hard work.
B) To build common views.
C) To bring in business projects.
D) To vote for action.

17.
A) Recovering from the Great Recession.
B) Creating jobs and boosting the economy.
C) Rewarding innovative businesses.
D) Launching economic campaigns.

18.
A) Talking over paying off deficit.
B) Increasing the number of middle class.
C) Controlling the impact on education.
D) Planning to reduce energy consumption.

19.
A) Shorten America’s way to prosperity.
B) Be cautious about reducing the deficit.
C) Increase deficit to cover the revenue.
D) Require the richest to pay more taxes.

Recording 2
Most people agree that eating healthy food is important. But sometimes making good food choices can be tough. Now, there are apps that can help people learn about the food they eat to improve their diets and their dining out experience.
OpenTable
OpenTable helps people choose restaurants when they want to go out to eat. OpenTable is a free service that shows users restaurant availability based on where and when they want to dine. OpenTable users can also make restaurant reservations directly through the app or website. OpenTable gives users points when they make reservations. The points can add up to discounts on restaurant visits. When users make reservations through OpenTable they get an email confirmation. They can also add the reservation directly to their electronic calendar.
Max McCalman’s Cheese and Wine
But which wines go best with which cheeses? Max McCalman’s Cheese and Wine App can help. It provides information about hundreds of different cheeses and suggests wines to pair with each. More than 3,000 possible combinations can be found based on 600 different cheeses. The app includes a “Cheese 101” section that teaches the basics about choosing a cheese. Max McCalman’s Cheese & Wine Pairing App is free for iPhone and iPad.
Epicurious
Epicurious is a free app and website to help users find recipes and become better cooks. The app has more than 30,000 recipes and can create a shopping list based on the ingredients in a recipe. Users can search by ingredients or buy vegetables that are in season where they live. The app also rates recipes for popularity and other qualities. Users also provide advice about making the recipes. Each recipe has a list of ingredients, preparation time, instructions as well as a photo of the finished meal.
Calorific
What does 200 calories look like? It can be hard to picture. For example, 200 calories of broccoli and 200 calories of cake look very different! The app Calorific shows just that. Calorific provides images of 200 calories worth of food. The pictures can help people on diets and those who just want to eat healthier. The app also provides the weights of each food pictured. The app is free for iPad and iPhone. There is also a version that provides more information for a price.
Harvest
An app called Harvest informs users about seasonal fruits and vegetables in different areas. This can be helpful in planning meals. Harvest also tells about pesticide use and organic food. Users can learn the best ways to safely store food and keep it fresh longer.
Questions 20 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 20: What are the points OpenTable offers users for?
Question 21: What do we learn about Epicurious?
Question 22: How does Calorific help people get healthier?

20.
A) They can be redeemed for cash.
B) They can be used to reduce meal costs.
C) They can be used as membership certificate.
D) They can be used to make reservations.

21.
A) It is free for us to download the app.
B) It helps you to be a professional cook.
C) It provides advice about making recipes.
D) It only rates recipes by popularity.

22.
A) By showing the weight of 200 kinds of food.
B) By providing the price of 200 calories of food.
C) By picturing the food of 200 calories with weights.
D) By telling people 200 kinds of healthy food.

Recording 3
We’ve had fifty years of progress since that landmark Surgeon General’s report back in 1964. Over these years incredible things have taken place. Our society has changed—changed in terms of tobacco use, in terms of its acceptance of smoking in public establishments, in restaurants, in bars. So things have really changed for the better. In addition, smoking rates have come down in the United States. We went from 43 percent of adult smokers in the United States to 18 percent currently. So that’s really made incredible headway, yet I have to emphasize the battle isn’t over, the war isn’t over. Eighteen percent of American adults who are still smoking, basically 40 million people in our population. That being said we have to realize also that of that whole group, we’re going to have roughly a half million people every year dying from smoking related diseases. So although we’ve made progress in a half century the reality is we still have a lot of work to do. So, you know, we increasingly see tough advertisements on the air against smoking. These ads are working. In particular, the CDC—the Center for Disease Control and Prevention came up with a series of advertisements from former smokers called TIPS. And that really was quite effective in terms of reducing the number of smokers. In addition, there’s various policies that need to be implemented and further implemented in order to make us a tobacco-free society. So we really have to work at the idea of using media, using those advertisements. We have to look at really concentrating on the youth of America to make it more difficult to actually get cigarettes. And in addition we have to look at the idea of pricing cigarettes appropriately so that ultimately it becomes a hardship to use those products. So, let’s talk a little bit about packaging those products. Other countries have much more graphic detail of the potential dangers of smoking. We’re currently working closely; the office of the Surgeon General is working closely with the Food and Drug Administration, specifically the Center for Tobacco Products and are reanalyzing the whole row of the idea of the warning labels and the idea of how graphic they should be, and so there will probably be more information coming out on this in the near future.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 23: What is the number of smokers in America?
Question 24: What measures can be taken to make it harder to get cigarettes?
Question 25: What institution does the speaker most likely come from?

23.
A) About 43 percent of American adults.
B) About 18 percent of the whole population.
C) About 40 million American adults.
D) About a half million people in America.

24.
A) To set a series of bans on public smoking.
B) To set the price of cigarettes properly.
C) To package the cigarettes with tips of warning.
D) To reduce the production and supply of cigarettes.

25.
A) The office of the Surgeon General.
B) The Food and Drug Administration.
C) The Center for Tobacco Products.
D) The Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

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2016年12月英语六级第1套听力原文及题目

Section A
Direction: 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 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 Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.

Conversation 1
W: Professor Henderson could you give us a brief overview of what you do, where you work and your main area of research?
M: Well, the Center for Climate Research where I work links the science of climate change to issues around economics and policy. Some of our research is to do with the likely impacts of climate change and all of the associated risks.
W: And how strong is the evidence that climate change is happening? That it’s really something we need to be worried about.
M: Well most of the science of climate change particularly that to do with global warming is simply fact. But other aspects of the science are less certain or at least more disputed. And so we’re really talking about risk. What the economics tells us is that it’s probably cheaper to avoid climate change, to avoid the risk than it has to deal with the likely consequences.
W: So what are we doing? What can we do about it?
M: Well I would argue that we need to develop the science specifically to understand the likely impacts of climate change in different contexts. As I said we need to understand the best ways of avoiding climate change and this will involve a huge transition to low carbon energy systems and the transition is a tremendous priority. And for this to happen, we may need action on a global scale. From a political perspective, we need to understand the terms on which major countries like China and the USA might sign up to a global agreement because at the moment we don’t have that consensus.
W: Right.
M: And we also need to plan ahead so that we’re in a position to deal with the likely levels of climate change which are already inevitable and even more so to for the levels that are likely if we don’t get those global agreements.
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 1: What does Professor Henderson say about his main area of research?
Question 2: What does Professor Henderson say about climate change?
Question 3: What does Professor Henderson say is a top priority in combating climate change?
Question 4: What does Professor Henderson advise us to do to better deal with climate change?

1.
A. It tries to predict the possible trends of global climate change.
B. It studies the impacts of global climate change on people’s lives.
C. It links the science of climate change to economic and policy issues.
D. It focuses on the efforts countries can make to deal with global warming.

2.
A. It will take a long time before a consensus is reached on its impact.
B. It would be more costly to deal with its consequences than to avoid it.
C. It is the most pressing issue confronting all countries.
D. It is bound to cause endless disputes among nations.

3.
A. The transition to low-carbon energy systems.
B. The cooperation among world major powers.
C. The signing of a global agreement.
D. The raising of people’s awareness.

4.
A. Carry out more research on it.
B. Cut down energy consumption.
C. Plan well in advance.
D. Adopt new technology.

Conversation 2
W: I have many business English students. When I teach the classroom, we often end up talking about things like success and what leads to success. And it’s interesting that many of them mention the element of luck.
M: Right.
W: Luck is important to success. But since you’ve seen that fantastic video on the TED Talks website by Richard St. John, he doesn’t mention luck at all.
M: Well, I’m a firm believer that people can make their own luck. I mean what people regard as luck, you can actually create, to a degree.
W: Sure. I think a lot of what people consider luck is attributed to how you respond to the opportunities that come your way.
M: Yes. Very good point.
W: Seizing the opportunities. But was there any point in the video that you thought was particularly interesting?
M: Yes. Actually there was. Something very impressive to me is many people think that luck is important and that natural talent is something you must have in order to be successful. And in the video we saw, the point about getting good at something is not about having some natural talent. It’s all about practice, practice, practice.
W: Definitely yeah. Natural talent helps in some way but at the end of the day you really do need to work hard and get really really good at what you do.
M: Sure.
W: I thought one interesting thing in the video was the idea of passion being so important and that people who really love what they do. Of course you’re going to want to work harder and put the time and effort into it. And the funny thing is that if you love what you do and are really passionate about it and work really hard, the money kind of comes automatically.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 5: What are the speakers mainly talking about?
Question 6: What is the woman’s view of luck?
Question 7: What is the chief point the TED Talks video makes?
Question 8: What does the woman think is the funny thing in the TED Talks video?

5.
A. When luck plays a role.
B. What determines success.
C. Whether practice makes perfect.
D. How important natural talent is.

6.
A. It knocks at your door only once in a while.
B. It is something that no one can possibly create.
C. It comes naturally out of one’s self-confidence.
D. It means being good at seizing opportunities.

7.
A. Luck rarely contributes to a person’s success.
B. One must have natural talent to be successful.
C. One should always be ready to seize opportunities.
D. Practice is essential to becoming good at something.

8.
A. Putting time and effort into fun things is profitable.
B. People who love what they do care little about money.
C. Being passionate about work can make one wealthy.
D. People in need of money work hard automatically.

Section B
Direction: 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 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Passage 1
Devils Tower, the first national monument in America, could almost be mistaken for the stump of an enormous tree. Its sheer rock sides sweep up from a broad base until they cut off abruptly at the flat summit. Rising more than 1,000 feet in the middle of the gently rolling plains of Wyoming, the massive column of rock looks as though it was dropped down into this location from a different time and place. In a sense it was. Devils Tower is a relic of the past, when the molten rock of the earth’s core forced its way to the surface to form the throat of a volcano. As the centuries passed, the rock cooled and hardened, shrinking and cracking into long columns. Born in fire and fury, Devils Tower was then shaped by the slow, gentle work of wind and water. The outer layers of the volcano were worn away, until the hard core stood completely exposed. Small wonder that an Indian legend described Devils Tower as being formed by supernatural powers. The legend says that when seven girls were attacked by bears, they took refuge on top of a small rock, and they appealed to the Rock God for help. The god caused the rock to grow and to lift the girls far above the ground, while its sides were scored by the claws of the angry bears. Even today, says the legend, the girls can be seen above the towering rock, as seven shining stars in the night sky.
Questions 9 to 12 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 9: What does Devils Tower look like?
Question 10: What caused the volcano’s outer layers to wear away?
Question 11: What does an Indian legend say about Devils Tower?
Question 12: How did the Rock God help the seven girls in the Indian legend?

9.
A. The stump of a giant tree.
B. A huge piece of rock.
C. The peak of a mountain.
D. A tall chimney.

10.
A. Human activity.
B. Wind and water.
C. Chemical processes.
D. Fire and fury.

11.
A. It is a historical monument.
B. It was built in ancient times.
C. It is Indians’ sacred place for worship.
D. It was created by supernatural powers.

12.
A. By sheltering them in a cave.
B. By killing the attacking bears.
C. By lifting them well above the ground.
D. By taking them to the top of a mountain.

Passage 2
It’s no accident that most gas stations have convenience stores attached. Few of us can fill up the tank without buying a few snacks, cigarettes, soft drinks or other items we can live without. “I deserve it.” That’s what hard-working men and women say to justify their lavish vacations, big stereo systems or regular restaurant meals. They do deserve such indulgences. However, they also deserve a home of their own, a secure retirement and freedom from worrying about unpaid bills. No one should have to live with what a Texas mother described as constant stress, tension, even fear about money. Sadly, the pleasure that comes from extravagances often disappears long before the bills do. The video camera that one single mother bought for a special occasion, for example, is not much fun now. She’s figured out that it will take her another three years to pay it off at $30 a month. And the New Yorkers who spent a bundle on an outdoor hot tub now admit they rarely use it, “because we can’t afford to heat it in winter.” The solution — set priorities, add up the annual cost of each item, then consider what else she could buy with the same money. That will help you decide which items are really worth it. One Chicago woman, for example, discovered that daily lunches with coworkers cost her $2,000 a year; she decided to take lunch to work instead. “I now put $20 a week into my vacation fund, and another 20 into retirement savings,” she says. “Those mean more to me than lunch.”
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 13: What does the speaker say about drivers who stop at gas stations?
Question 14: What does the speaker say about extravagances?
Question 15: What does the speaker want to show by the example of the Chicago woman?

13.
A. They will buy something from the convenience stores.
B. They will take advantage of the time to rest a while.
C. They will have their vehicles washed or serviced.
D. They will pick up some souvenirs or gift items.

14.
A. They can bring only temporary pleasures.
B. They are meant for the extremely wealthy.
C. They should be done away with altogether.
D. They may eventually drive one to bankruptcy.

15.
A. A good way to socialize is to have daily lunch with one’s colleagues.
B. Retirement savings should come first in one’s family budgeting.
C. A vacation will be affordable if one saves 20 dollars a week.
D. Small daily savings can make a big difference in one’s life.

Section C
Direction: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Recording 1
Let’s say you start to brainstorm a list of all the emotions you’ve ever experienced. Just for fun, try it now. What’s on your list? Chances are, you included things like happy, sad, excited, angry, afraid, grateful, proud, scared, confused, stressed, relaxed and amazed. Now sort your list into two categories — positive emotions and negative emotions. Feeling both positive and negative emotions is a natural part of being human. We might use the word “negative” to describe more difficult emotions, but it doesn’t mean those emotions are bad or we shouldn’t have them. Still, most people would probably rather feel a positive emotion than a negative one. It’s likely you’d prefer to feel happy instead of sad, or confident instead of insecure. What matters is how our emotions are balanced — how much of each type of emotion, positive or negative, we experience. Negative emotions warn us of threats or challenges that we may need to deal with. For example, fear can alert us to possible danger. It’s a signal that we might need to protect ourselves. Angry feelings warn us that someone is stepping on our toes, crossing a boundary, or violating our trust. Anger can be a signal that we might need to act on our own behalf. Negative emotions focus our awareness. They help us to zero in on a problem so we can deal with it. But too many negative emotions can make us feel overwhelmed, anxious, exhausted or stressed out. When negative emotions are out of balance, problems might seem too big to handle. The more we dwell on negative emotions, the more negative we begin to feel. Focusing on negativity just keeps it going. Positive emotions balance out negative ones, but they have other powerful benefits, too. Instead of narrowing our focus like negative emotions do, positive emotions affect our brains in ways that increase our awareness, attention and memory. They help us take in more information, hold several ideas in mind at once, and understand how different ideas relate to each other. When positive emotions open us up to new possibilities, we are more able to learn and build on our skills. That leads to doing better on tasks and tests. People who have plenty of positive emotions in their everyday lives tend to be happier, healthier, learn better, and get along well with others.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 16: What does the speaker say about negative emotions?
Question 17: What happens to people whose negative emotions are out of balance?
Question 18: How do positive emotions affect us?

16.
A. They should be done away with.
B. They are necessary in our lives.
C. They enrich our experience.
D. They are harmful to health.

17.
A. They feel stressed out even without any challenges in life.
B. They feel too overwhelmed to deal with life’s problems.
C. They are anxious to free themselves from life’s troubles.
D. They are exhausted even without doing any heavy work.

18.
A. They expand our mind.
B. They prolong our lives.
C. They narrow our focus.
D. They lessen our burdens.

Recording 2
In the past few months, I’ve been traveling for weeks at a time with only one suitcase of clothes. One day, I was invited to an important event, and I wanted to wear something special for it. I looked through my suitcase but couldn’t find anything to wear. I was lucky to be at the technology conference then, and I had access to 3D printers. So I quickly designed a skirt on my computer, and I loaded the file on the printer. It just printed the pieces overnight. The next morning, I just took all the pieces, assembled them together in my hotel room, and this is actually the skirt that I’m wearing right now. So it wasn’t the first time that I printed clothes. For my senior collection at fashion design school, I decided to try and 3D print an entire fashion collection from my home. The problem was that I barely knew anything about 3D printing, and I had only nine months to figure out how to print five fashionable looks. I always felt most creative when I worked from home. I loved experimenting with new materials, and I always tried to develop new techniques to make the most unique textiles for my fashion projects. One summer break, I came here to New York for an internship at a fashion house in Chinatown. We worked on two incredible dresses that were 3D printed. They were amazing — like you can see here. But I had a few problems with them. They were made from hard plastics and that’s why they were very breakable. The models couldn’t sit in them, and they even got scratched from the plastics under their arms. So now, the main challenge was to find the right material for printing clothes with, I mean the material you feed the printer with. The breakthrough came when I was introduced to Filaflex, which is a new kind of printing material. It’s strong, yet very flexible. And with it, I was able to print the first garment, a red jacket that had the word “freedom” embedded into it. And actually, you can easily download this jacket, and change the word to something else, for example, your name or your sweetheart’s name. So I think in the future, materials will evolve, and they will look and feel like fabrics we know today, like cotton or silk.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 19: What does the speaker say about the skirt she is wearing now?
Question 20: When did the speaker start experimenting with 3D printing?
Question 21: What was the problem with the material the speaker worked on at a New York fashion house?
Question 22: What does the speaker say about Filaflex?

19.
A. It is not easily breakable.
B. It came from a 3D printer.
C. It represents the latest style.
D. It was made by a fashion designer.

20.
A. When she had just graduated from her college.
B. When she attended a conference in New York.
C. When she was studying at a fashion design school.
D. When she attended a fashion show nine months ago.

21.
A. It was difficult to print.
B. It was hard to come by.
C. It was hard and breakable.
D. It was extremely expensive.

22.
A. It is the latest model of a 3D printer.
B. It is a plastic widely used in 3D printing.
C. It gives fashion designers room for imagination.
D. It marks a breakthrough in printing material.

Recording 3
Welcome to the third lecture in our series on the future of small businesses in Europe. The purpose of today’s lecture, as you have seen from the title and the abstract, is to examine in more detail the problems facing small- and medium-sized enterprises which arise at least in part from having to adapt to rapid advances in technology. And I want to look at these both from a financial and from a personnel point of view and to offer a few hopefully effective solutions. Here we have three of the most important problems facing small businesses that I want to look at today. First, keeping up with the pace of technological change, recruiting high quality staff in a time of skills shortages in IT as a whole and in a highly competitive market, and the issue of retaining staff once they’ve been recruited and trained. Now, all of these problems involve significant costs for all businesses. But there are particularly challenging issues for small-and medium-sized enterprises. And those costs would vary depending on the size and scale of the businesses. So let’s come to the first issue on our list which is keeping pace with developments in technology. Now we all know that the technology industry is intensely competitive with new products being launched all year round as the various companies strive to compete with each other, rather than, say once a year or every couple of years. And this is a real headache for smaller businesses. So, let’s imagine we have a small company which is doing OK. It’s just about making a profit and it spends most of its income on overheads. So for a company in this situation, keeping up to date with the latest technology, even if it’s only for the benefit of key staff, this can be hugely expensive. So in my view, some creative thinking needs to come in here to find ways to help companies in this situation to stay ahead in the game, but at the same time, to remain technologically competitive. Well, there’s a possibility that small groups of companies with similar requirements but not directly competing with each other — they could share the cost of upgrading in much the same way as, let’s say, an intranet operates within large organizations. In fact, cost-sharing could be a very practical solution, especially in times of financial difficulty. If there’s downward pressure on costs, because of a need for investment in other areas, I would argue that this is a perfectly feasible solution.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 23: What does the speaker say about the problems facing small-and medium-sized enterprises?
Question 24: What does the speaker say about the technology industry?
Question 25: What is a practical solution to the problems of small-and medium-sized businesses?

23.
A. They arise from the advances in technology.
B. They have not been examined in detail so far.
C. They are easy to solve with modern technology.
D. They can’t be solved without government support.

24.
A. It is attractive to entrepreneurs.
B. It demands huge investment.
C. It focuses on new products.
D. It is intensely competitive.

25.
A. Cooperation with big companies.
B. Recruiting more qualified staff.
C. In-service training of IT personnel.
D. Sharing of costs with each other.

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2016年12月英语六级第2套听力原文及题目

Section A
Direction: 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 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 Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.

Conversation 1
M: Guess what? The worst food I’ve ever had was in France.
W: Really? That’s odd. I thought the French were all good cooks.
M: Yes. That’s right. I suppose it’s really like anywhere else, though. You know, some places are good. Some bad. But it’s really all our own fault.
W: What do you mean?
M: Well, it was the first time I’d been to France. This was years ago when I was at school. I went there with my parents’ friends, from my father’s school. They’d hired a coach to take them to Switzerland.
W: A school trip?
M: Right. Most of them had never been abroad before. We’d crossed the English Channel at night, and we set off through France, and breakfast time arrived, and the coach driver had arranged for us to stop at this little café. There we all were, tired and hungry, and then we made the great discovery.
W: What was that?
M: Bacon and eggs.
W: Fantastic! The real English breakfast.
M: Yes. Anyway, we didn’t know any better — so we had it, and ugh …!
W: What was it like? Disgusting?
M: Oh, it was incredible! They just got a bowl and put some fat in it. And then they put some bacon in the fat, broke an egg over the top and put the whole lot in the oven for about ten minutes.
W: In the oven! You’re joking. You can’t cook bacon and eggs in the oven!
M: Well. They must have done it that way. It was hot, but it wasn’t cooked. There was just this egg floating about in gallons of fat and raw bacon.
W: Did you actually eat it?
M: No! Nobody did. They all wanted to turn round and go home. You know, back to teabags and fish and chips. You can’t blame them really. Anyway, the next night we were all given another foreign speciality.
W: What was that?
M: Snails. That really finished them off. Lovely holiday that was!
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 1: What did the woman think of the French?
Question 2: Who did the man travel with on his first trip to Switzerland?
Question 3: What does the man say about the breakfast at the little French café?
Question 4: What did the man think of his holiday in France?

1.
A. They were all good at cooking.
B. They were particular about food.
C. They were proud of their cuisine.
D. They were fond of bacon and eggs.

2.
A. His parents.
B. His friends.
C. His schoolmates.
D. His parents’ friends.

3.
A. No tea was served with the meal.
B. It was the real English breakfast.
C. No one of the group ate it.
D. It was a little overcooked.

4.
A. It was full of excitement.
B. It was really extraordinary.
C. It was a risky experience.
D. It was rather disappointing.

Conversation 2
M: You say your shop has been doing well. Could you give me some idea of what “doing well” means in facts and figures?
W: Well, “doing well” means averaging £1,200 or more a week for about 7 years, making almost a quarter of a million pounds. And “doing well” means your earnings are rising. Last year, we did slightly over 50,000 and this year, we hope to do more than 60,000. So, that’s good if we continue to rise.
M: Now, that’s gross earnings, I assume. What about your expenses?
W: Yes, that’s gross. The expenses, of course, go up steadily. And since we’ve moved to this new shop, the expenses have increased greatly, because it’s a much bigger shop. So I couldn’t say exactly what our expenses are. They are something in the region of six or seven thousand pounds a year, which is not high. Commercially speaking, it’s fairly low, and we try to keep our expenses as low as we can.
M: And your prices are much lower than the same goods in shops round about. How do the local shopkeepers feel about having a shop doing so well in their midst?
W: Perhaps a lot of them don’t realize how well we are doing, because we don’t make a point of publicizing. That was a lesson we learned very early on. We were very friendly with all local shopkeepers and we happened to mention to a local shopkeeper how much we had made that week. He was very unhappy and never as friendly again. So we make a point of never publicizing the amount of money we make. But we are on very good terms with all the shops. None of them have ever complained that we are putting them out of business or anything like that. I think it’s a nice friendly relationship. Maybe if they did know what we made, perhaps they wouldn’t be so friendly.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 5: What are the speakers mainly talking about?
Question 6: What does the woman say her shop tries to do?
Question 7: What do we learn about the goods sold at the woman’s shop?
Question 8: Why doesn’t the woman want to make known their earnings anymore?

5.
A. The woman’s relationship with other shops.
B. The business success of the woman’s shop.
C. The key to running a shop at a low cost.
D. The woman’s earnings over the years.

6.
A. Improve its customer service.
B. Expand its business scale.
C. Keep down its expenses.
D. Upgrade the goods it sells.

7.
A. They are sold at lower prices than in other shops.
B. They are very-popular with the local residents.
C. They are delivered free of charge.
D. They are in great demand.

8.
A. To follow the custom of the local shopkeepers.
B. To attract more customers in the neighborhood.
C. To avoid being put out of business in competition.
D. To maintain friendly relationships with other shops.

Section B
Direction: 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 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Passage 1
Birds are famous for carrying things around. Some, like homing pigeons, can be trained to deliver messages and packages. Other birds unknowingly carry seeds that cling to them for the ride. Canadian scientists have found a worrisome, new example of the power that birds have to spread stuff around. Way up north in the Canadian Arctic, seabirds are picking up dangerous chemicals in the ocean and delivering them to ponds near where the birds live. Some 10,000 pairs of the birds, called fulmars, a kind of Arctic seabird, make their nests on Devon Island, north of the Arctic Circle. The fulmars travel some 400 kilometers over the sea to find food. When they return home, their droppings end up all around their nesting sites, including in nearby ponds. Previously, scientists noticed pollutants arriving in the Arctic with the wind. Salmon also carry dangerous chemicals as the fish migrate between rivers and the sea. The bodies of fish and other meat-eaters can build up high levels of the chemicals. To test the polluting power of fulmars, researchers collected samples of deposit from 11 ponds on Devon Island. In ponds closest to the colony, the results showed there were far more pollutants than in ponds less affected by the birds. The pollutants in the ponds appear to come from fish that fulmars eat when they’re out on the ocean. People who live, hunt, or fish near bird colonies need to be careful, the researchers say. The birds don’t mean to cause harm, but the chemicals they carry can cause major problems.
Questions 9 to 12 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 9: What have Canadian scientists found about some seabirds?
Question 10: What does the speaker say about the seabirds called fulmars?
Question 11: What did scientists previously notice about pollutants in the Arctic?
Question 12: What does the speaker warn about at the end of the talk?

9.
A. They can be used to deliver messages in times of emergency.
B. They deliver pollutants from the ocean to their nesting sites.
C. They carry plant seeds and spread them to faraway places.
D. They are on the verge of extinction because of pollution.

10.
A. They migrate to the Arctic Circle during the summer.
B. They originate from Devon Island in the Arctic area.
C. They travel as far as 400 kilometers in search of food.
D. They have the ability to survive in extreme weathers.

11.
A. They were carried by the wind.
B. They had become more poisonous.
C. They were less than on the continent.
D. They poisoned some of the fulmars.

12.
A. The threats humans pose to Arctic seabirds,
B. The diminishing colonies for Arctic seabirds.
C. The harm Arctic seabirds may cause to humans.
D. The effects of the changing climate on Arctic seabirds.

Passage 2
In recent years, the death rate among American centenarians — people who have lived to age 100 or older — has decreased, dropping 14 percent for women and 20 percent for men from 2008 to 2014. The leading causes of death in this age group are also changing. In 2000, the top five causes of death for centenarians were heart disease, stroke, flu, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. But by 2014, the death rate from Alzheimer’s disease for this age group had more than doubled — increasing from 3.8 percent to 8.5 percent — making the progressive brain disease the second leading cause of death for centenarians. One reason for the rise in deaths from Alzheimer’s disease in this group may be that developing this condition remains possible even after people beat the odds of dying from other diseases such as cancer. People physically fit enough to survive over 100 years ultimately give in to diseases such as Alzheimer’s which affects the mind and cognitive function. In other words, it appears that their minds give out before their bodies do. On the other hand, the death rate from flu dropped from 7.4 percent in 2000 to 4.1 percent in 2014. That pushed flu from the third leading cause of death to the fifth. Overall, the total number of centenarians is going up. In 2014, there were 72,197 centenarians, compared to 50,281 in 2000. But because this population is getting larger, the number of deaths in this group is also increasing — 18,434 centenarians died in 2000, whereas 25,914 died in 2014.
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 13: What does the speaker say about the risk of dying for American centenarians in recent years?
Question 14: What does the speaker say about Alzheimer’s disease?
Question 15: What is characteristic of people who live up to 100 years and beyond?

13.
A. It has decreased.
B. It has been exaggerated.
C. It has become better understood.
D. It has remained basically the same.

14.
A. It develops more easily in centenarians not actively engaged.
B. It is now the second leading cause of death for centenarians.
C. It has had no effective cure so far.
D. It calls for more intensive research.

15.
A. They care more about their physical health.
B. Their quality of life deteriorates rapidly.
C. Their minds fall before their bodies do.
D. They cherish their life more than ever.

Section C
Direction: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Recording 1
Okay. So let’s get started. And to start things off I think what we need to do is consider a definition. I’m going to define what love is but then most of the experiments I’m going to talk about are really focused more on attraction than love. And I’m going to pick a definition from a former colleague, Robert Sternberg, who is now the dean at Tufts University but was here on our faculty at Yale for nearly thirty years. And he has a theory of love that argues that it’s made up of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment, or what is sometimes called decision commitment. And these are relatively straightforward. He argued that you don’t have love if you don’t have all three of these elements. Intimacy is the feeling of closeness, of connectedness with someone, of bonding. Operationally, you could think of intimacy as you share secrets, you share information with this person that you don’t share with anybody else. Okay. That’s really what intimacy is, the bond that comes from sharing information that isn’t shared with other people. The second element is passion. Passion is the drive that leads to romance. You can think of it as physical attraction. And Sternberg argues that this is a required component of a love relationship. The third element of love in Sternberg’s theory is what he calls decision commitment, the decision that one is in a love relationship, the willingness to label it as such, and a commitment to maintain that relationship at least for some period of time. Sternberg would argue it’s not love if you don’t call it love and if you don’t have some desire to maintain the relationship. So if you have all three of these, intimacy, passion and commitment, in Sternberg’s theory you have love. Now what’s interesting about the theory is what do you have if you only have one out of three or two out of three. What do you have and how is it different if you have a different two out of three? What’s interesting about this kind of theorizing is it gives rise to many different combinations that can be quite interesting when you break them down and start to look them carefully. So what I’ve done is I’ve taken Sternberg’s three elements of love, intimacy, passion and commitment, and I’ve listed out the different kinds of relationships you would have if you had zero, one, two or three out of the three elements.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 16: What does the speaker say about most of the experiments mentioned in his talk?
Question 17: What does Robert Sternberg argue about love?
Question 18: What question does the speaker think is interesting about Sternberg’s three elements of love?

16.
A. They are focused more on attraction than love.
B. They were done by his former colleague at Yale.
C. They were carried out over a period of some thirty years.
D. They form the basis on which he builds his theory of love.

17.
A. The relationship cannot last long if no passion is involved.
B. Intimacy is essential but not absolutely indispensable to love.
C. It is not love if you don’t wish to maintain the relationship.
D. Romance is just impossible without mutual understanding.

18.
A. Which of them is considered most important.
B. Whether it is true love without commitment.
C. When the absence of any one doesn’t affect the relationship.
D. How the relationship is to be defined if any one is missing.

Recording 2
Hi! I am Elizabeth Hoffler, Master of Social Work. I am a social worker, a lobbyist, and a special assistant to the executive director at the National Association of Social Workers. Today we are going to be talking about becoming a social worker. Social work is the helping profession. Its primary mission is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people, with a particular focus on those who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. We often deal with complex human needs. Social work is different from other professions, because we focus on the person and environment. We deal with the external factors that impact a person’s situation and outlook. And we create opportunity for assessment and intervention, to help clients and communities cope effectively with their reality and change that reality when necessary. In thousands of ways social workers help other people, people from every age, every background, across the country. Wherever needed, social workers come to help. The most well-known aspect of the profession is that of a social safety net. We help guide people to critical resources and counsel them on life-changing decisions. There are more than 600,000 professional social workers in the country, and we all either have a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, or a PhD in Social Work. There are more clinically trained social workers than clinically trained psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric nurses combined. Throughout this series you will learn more about the profession, the necessary steps to get a social work degree, the rich history of social work, and the many ways that social workers help others. Later in this series, you will hear from Stacy Collins and Mel Wilson, fellow social workers at the National Association of Social Workers. Stacy is going to walk you through the step-by-step process of becoming a social worker, and Mel will tell you about the range of options you have once you get your social work degree, as well as the high standards of responsibility he social workers must adhere to. The National Association of Social Workers represents nearly 145,000 social workers across the country. Our mission is to promote, protect, and advance the social work profession. We hope you enjoy this series about how you can make a difference by becoming a social worker. Next, we are going to talk about choosing social work.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 19: What does the speaker mainly talk about?
Question 20: What do social workers mainly do?
Question 21: What do professional social workers have in common, according to the speaker?
Question 22: What is Mel Wilson going to talk about in the series?

19.
A. Social work as a profession.
B. The history of social work.
C. Academic degrees required of social work applicants.
D. The aim of the National Association of Social Workers.

20.
A. They try to change people’s social behavior.
B. They help enhance the well-being of the underprivileged.
C. They raise people’s awareness of the environment.
D. They create a lot of opportunities for the unemployed.

21.
A. They have all received strict clinical training.
B. They all have an academic degree in social work.
C. They are all members of the National Association.
D. They have all made a difference through their work.

22.
A. The promotion of social workers’ social status.
B. The importance of training for social workers.
C. Ways for social workers to meet people’s needs.
D. Social workers’ job options and responsibilities.

Recording 3
Today, I’d like to talk about what happens when celebrity role models get behind healthy habits, but at the same time, promote junk food. Currently, there’s mounting criticism of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign, which fights childhood obesity by encouraging youngsters to become more physically active, and has signed on singer Beyoncé and basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, both of whom also endorse sodas, which are a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Now there’s a lot more evidence of how powerful a celebrity — especially a professional athlete — can be in influencing children’s behavior. In a report published by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, researchers studied 100 professional athletes and their endorsement contracts. The team focused on athletes since they are theoretically the best role models for active, healthy lifestyles for children. After sorting the deals by category, they determined that among the 512 brands associated with the athletes, most involved sporting goods, followed closely by food and beverage brands. Sports drinks, which are often high in sugar and calories made up most of the food and drink deals, with soft drinks and fast food filling out the remainder. Of the 46 beverages endorsed by professional athletes, 93% relied exclusively on sugar for all of their calories. It’s no surprise that high-profile athletes can influence children’s eating behaviors, but the scientists were able to quantify how prevalent these endorsements are in the children’s environment. Advertisements featuring professional athletes and their endorsed products tend to get impressive exposure on TV, radio, in print and online. And in 2010, the researchers reported that children ages 12 to 17 saw more athlete-endorsed food and beverage brand commercials than adults. One reason any campaign wants a popular celebrity spokesperson is because kids are attracted to them no matter what they are doing. We can’t expect kids to turn off that admiration when the same person is selling sugar. At best, kids might be confused. At worst, they’ll think the messages about soda are the same as the messages about water, but those two beverages aren’t the same. If children are turning to athletes as role models, it’s in their best interest if their idols are consistent. Consistent messaging of positive behaviors will show healthier lifestyles for kids to follow.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 23: What is the aim of Michelle Obama’s campaign?
Question 24: What does research find about advertisements featuring professional athletes?
Question 25: What does the speaker think kids’ idols should do?

23.
A. To fight childhood obesity.
B. To help disadvantaged kids.
C. To encourage kids to play more sports.
D. To urge kids to follow their role models.

24.
A. They best boost product sales when put online.
B. They are most effective when appearing on TV.
C. They are becoming more and more prevalent.
D. They impress kids more than they do adults.

25.
A. Always place kids’ interest first.
B. Do what they advocate in public.
C. Message positive behaviors at all times.
D. Pay attention to their image before children.

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