2023年06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
M: Hi, Lily, how’s the new apartment?
W: It’s okay.
M: What? How can it be just okay when last week you were thrilled about the place and kept posting photos of it online?
W: Well, last week when I moved in, the apartment seemed cozy, just the right size for one person. But now it just seems tiny, shabby and solitary.
M: Ah, that’s the problem. You miss your roommates from university, don’t you?
W: I’m going to sound like an idiot, because I used to complain to you all the time about how crowded our dormitory room was, and about all the things they did to irritate me like watching movies late at night without headphones, or talking loudly early in the morning. But now I miss them terribly.
M: Of course you do. That’s perfectly normal. When I got my first place I remember thinking I couldn’t wait to live by myself and get away from my juvenile roommates and all their annoying habits. But then I began missing them and feeling lonely and thinking that our dormitory was like paradise, even though there were six of us guys in one small room.
W: I thought it was just me who felt like that.
M: Look, you lived at home with us, and then you had three roommates, and this is your first time living alone. So it’s hard. But your first apartment is a milestone in your life, and you should celebrate it. Tell me about the apartment.
W: Actually, it’s not bad. In fact, it’s pretty adorable, now that I have decorated it and it has everything I need. I have a kitchen to cook in and a bathroom all to myself, and then another room with my bed at one end, and a sofa, a small table and chairs at the other end.
M: That does sound adorable and I can’t wait to see it, and neither can mom and dad.
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 1: What was the woman’s first impression of the apartment?
Question 2: Why does the woman say she is going to sound like an idiot?
Question 3: What do we learn about the man when he left the dormitory to live on his own?
Question 4: What does the man say he can’t wait to do?
1.
A) It was spacious and tranquil.
B) It was warm and comfortable.
C) It was shabby and solitary.
D) It was tiny and noisy.
2.
A) She no longer hates people talking loudly in the dorm.
B) She misses her roommates she used to complain about.
C) She begins to enjoy the movies she once found irritating.
D) She finds the crowded dorm as cozy as her new apartment.
3.
A) He found the apartment perfectly furnished.
B) He had a feeling of despair and frustration.
C) He had a similar feeling to the woman’s.
D) He felt the new place was like paradise.
4.
A) Go to see the woman’s apartment.
B) Make a phone call to his parents.
C) Buy some furniture for the woman.
D) Decorate the woman’s apartment.
Conversation 2
W: Welcome to our program Book Talk. Our guest today is Frank Jones, a critic of our education system, and the author of a new book, How to Reform Our Universities.
M: Hello, Susan.
W: Frank, you support radically changing universities in America?
M: Yes, I believe that the purpose of higher education is to prepare young people to enter the workforce, and that our current system fails to do this. We’re allocating too many resources to disciplines that don’t match the needs of employers.
W: I think your attitude to education is a bit cynical, Frank. Surely the purpose of university is to prepare young people to participate fully in civic life, rather than just to find well-paid jobs.
M: Susan, many young graduates struggle to find any job, let alone a good one. The job market is grim, particularly for students who study the arts.
W: I agree that it isn’t easy for young people to find work, but you propose closing down all departments that aren’t directly related to science and technology. Is that really the solution?
M: You’re overstating my point. My argument is that we need to use more of our budget on areas like science and engineering. To do that, we need to take money from subjects like literature and music.
W: But the arts have value. They’re an important part of our culture. Studying literature or music or sculpture might not result in a job in that area, but it helps young people to think about the world in a deeper way, which makes them better citizens and makes for a better society.
M: I agree that the arts are valuable to society, but it’s naive to think that not only the most talented, but all students should study them at university level. The arts are very competitive, and most graduates will end up with a great deal of debt, obtaining a degree that has little value on the job market.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 5: What do we learn from the conversation about the man?
Question 6: What does the man believe is the problem with the current American system of higher education?
Question 7: How should the education budget be allocated according to the man?
Question 8: What does the woman say the arts can do?
5.
A) He works as a literary critic.
B) He hosts an educational program.
C) He has initiated a university reform.
D) He has published a book recently.
6.
A) It fails to keep up with the radical changes of society.
B) It fails to ensure universities get sufficient resources.
C) It has not prepared young people for the job market.
D) It has not fostered the growth of the arts disciplines.
7.
A) More of the budget should go to science and technology.
B) The underfunded music discipline should be prioritized.
C) Subdisciplines like sculpture should get more funding.
D) Literature should get as much funding as engineering.
8.
A) Build a prosperous nation.
B) Make skilled professionals.
C) Create ingenious artists.
D) Cultivate better citizens.
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
Do you ever have the annoying feeling that you don’t have time to really think anymore? You’re not alone. A variety of factors have conspired to rob us of time for reflection about ourselves and our lives. Today, our preoccupied minds are rarely silent. The average person receives hundreds of texts and voice messages a day, and holidays for many of us are action-packed weeks, more likely full of family activities than opportunities for tranquility and contemplation.
Regular reflection, however, underlies all great professionals. It’s a prerequisite for you to recharge your mental batteries see things in a new light and tap into your creativity. Almost all of the great advisors that I have studied have found ways to get away from it all and contemplate their life and work. Some researchers in the field of creativity, in fact, believe that insight occurs during the reflection and relaxation that follows a period of intense activity. Schedule time for reflection about your work, or a particular project you’re engaged in. I usually block out half an hour. Don’t answer the phone; push your papers to the side; sketch; make lists; draw mind maps of ideas that come to you. At the end, write down any emerging ideas. When you’re alone, stop worrying and think. A lot of our down time is spent worrying about troublesome things in our lives or fantasizing about how we’d like our lives to be. Revisit things during moments of relaxation, after a period of intense work. This is when we are the most creative.
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 9: What do we learn about the feeling that one doesn’t have time to think anymore?
Question 10: What trait do all great professionals share?
Question 11: What do some researchers believe is conducive to creative ideas?
9.
A) It is quite common.
B) It is rarely noticed.
C) It seldom annoys people.
D) It occurs when one is alone.
10.
A) Seeing things in black and white.
B) Engaging in regular contemplation.
C) Having a special understanding of creativity.
D) Knowing how to make their mental batteries work.
11.
A) Engaging in intense activity.
B) Fantasizing in one’s down time.
C) Working on a particular project.
D) Reflecting during one’s relaxation.
Passage 2
Even before Colorado was a state, it had post offices. The first opened in 1859 in a settlement founded by migrants searching for gold. Life could be unpredictable at West – gold failed to appear, drought ruined farmers and settlers clashed with Native Americans. On the settlement’s location, now stands a sprawling university campus. Amid all the changes, one feature remained constant – the postal service. The maps tracing America’s westward expansion are telling. In 1864, there were few postal branches on land controlled by Native Americans, which still accounted for most of the West. Over the next 25 years, post offices grew quickly. Colonization of the West could be regarded as a result of big government rather than pioneers. As federal subsidies and land grants tempted people into the deserts and plains, the post kept them connected. In the mid-19th century, the post office department was far from a centralized bureaucracy. To keep up with migration patterns, postal services were added to existing businesses. The federal government commissioned private wagons to carry the mail. Short-term contracts were granted to local businessmen to act as postmasters. These partnerships enabled the mail to quickly follow migrants, helping knit together remote parts of the country. Mr. Blevins, a digital historian, wrote a book on the history of the US postal service, he used data science to analyze historical trends. Most strikingly, he built an accompanying website, complete with interactive maps. They show readers how, within a generation the postal service helped colonize a continent. These online interactive maps illustrate the formative power of snail mail.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 12: What does the passage say about Colorado before it became a state?
Question 13: How did the postal service contribute to America’s westward expansion?
Question 14: What did the federal government do to meet the increasing demand for the postal service in the West?
Question 15: What did Mr. Blevins do to study the history of the US postal service?
12.
A) Farmers helped Native Americans grow crops.
B) There were expansive university campuses.
C) There existed post offices.
D) Migrants found gold there.
13.
A) It helped to boost the economy in the American West.
B) It provided job opportunities for many gold seekers.
C) It extended the influence of the federal government.
D) It kept people in the deserts and plains connected.
14.
A) It employed Native Americans to work as postmen.
B) It commissioned private wagons to carry the mail.
C) It subsidized the locals who acted as postmasters.
D) It centralized postal services in its remote areas.
15.
A) He analyzed interactive maps of mail routes.
B) He read a large collection of books on the topic.
C) He examined its historical trends with data science.
D) He collected data about its impact on local business.
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
In last week’s lecture, we discussed reasons why people forget things. This week, we will discuss a surprising reason why we might remember some things – anxiety. Think about something as simple as buying a coffee. That may not seem like an experience that would make a deep impression on your memory, but anxiety could change that. In fact, a new study suggests that people with higher anxiety levels might remember certain information better than people with lower anxiety levels. That’s because higher levels of anxiety may make people more susceptible to negative feelings, putting them in a more negative state of mind. That in turn may make them able to better remember some events. Let’s take a closer look at that new study now. In this study, the researchers started by giving 80 undergraduate students an anxiety test. The test measured the participants’ anxiety levels over the preceding two weeks. Then, to test memory, the participants were shown a series of neutral words, one at a time. Some of the words were printed on to photos of negative scenes, meaning images that could affect their emotions negatively, such as a photo of a car accident or a cemetery. The rest of the words were printed on to photos of neutral scenes, such as a photo of a lake or trees. Neutral words included words like “table” or “desk” that don’t elicit emotion. Later, the participants were asked to think back to the words they were shown earlier, which caused them to reenter either a negative or a neutral mindset. The participants were then presented with another set of neutral words, and their memory of these new words was tested. The researchers found that the new words presented to people in a negative mindset were better remembered by people with higher levels of anxiety than those with lower levels of anxiety. In other words, when highly anxious individuals took in otherwise emotionally neutral information that was presented to them, it became colored by their negative mindset, making them remember the information better. But these same effects were not seen in people with low levels of anxiety. Previous studies have found that extreme levels of anxiety, such as those experienced by people diagnosed with an anxiety disordercan be quite detrimental to memory and cognitive performance. But the highly anxious people in this study represent individuals who are managing their anxiety and for whom anxiety is not a serious problem.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 16: What does the speaker say the new study suggests?
Question 17: What did researchers do first in the new study?
Question 18: What do we learn from previous studies about anxiety?
16.
A) Higher levels of anxiety may improve people’s memory.
B) Some experiences are easier to remember than others.
C) Most people tend to remember things selectively.
D) Simple things may leave a deep impression on one’s memory.
17.
A) They classified the participants mindset.
B) They showed some photos to the participants.
C) They measured the participants anxicty levels.
D) They tested the size of the participants’ vocabulary.
18.
A) Anxiety has become a serious problem for an increasing number of people.
B) Extreme levels of anxiety can adversely affect cognitive performance.
C) People diagnosed with anxiety disorder may forget things selectively.
D) There is no direct correlation between memory and levels of anxiety.
Recording 2
Over the past 20 years, the internet has gradually become a dominant feature of our lives. It has changed how we communicate with each other, and it has definitely transformed the way we do business with each other. Marketing has also changed in a number of ways. For instance, in the past consumers had to call a phone number and patiently wait on hold, in order to get the information they wanted. Today, they want the information immediately. They’ll go to the company’s social media page and post comments and questions, expecting to receive an immediate response. If they don’t get their questions answered soon, they’ll move on to another company that will answer them quickly. Marketing departments today need to follow technological development. For example this year’s smartphone is smarter than last year’s; self-driving cars are now on the road. Marketers have to do research on which technologies are coming into being. Otherwise they risk being left behind in the virtual dust. Marketing has also changed due to the importance of video. Pcople don’t just want to read text, they want to watch things happening. Companies now have to explore how they can use video on a consistent basis to share information about their businesses. Fortunately, it’s extremely easy to shoot something these days. All you need is a smartphone. But what’s the result of all this? Shorter attention spans. We are the same people that we were 20 years ago. Not only have we grown accustomed to getting the information we want instantaneously, our attention spans are much shorter. If something doesn’t capture our attention within a few seconds, we’re on to the next piece of content. Marketers need to figure out ways to speak directly to the customer’s emotions and they need to figure out how to do that as quickly as possible. Once people are emotionally engaged, they’ll stick with you. If marketing has changed this much in the past 20 years, imagine what the next 20 years will bring. In a recent survey, only 9% of marketers could say with confidence that their marketing efforts were actually working. Their confidence is being shaken, because the rules of the game change every year. That’s why it’s important for marketers to pay attention to the latest technological developments and consider collaborating with technological innovators. That way, they’ll be moving at the same pace as the tech industry.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 19: What does the speaker say about today’s consumers?
Question 20: How do marketers capture consumers’ attention as quickly as possible?
Question 21: What does the speaker suggest marketers do to meet future challenges?
19.
A) They compare products from different companies before making a choice.
B) They get information from other consumers’ postings and comments.
C) They lose patience when their phone call is no promptly answered.
D) They expect to get instantaneous responses to their inquiry.
20.
A) Giving them rewards on the spot.
B) Broadening their scope of interest.
C) Speaking directly to their emotions.
D) Focusing on the details of the product.
21.
A) Change the rules of the game in the market every year.
B) Keep up with the latest technological developments.
C) Learn from technological innovators to do business.
D) Make greater efforts to build up consumers’ confidence.
Recording 3
You might be surprised to learn that the benefits of friendships extend beyond people’s social life and into their work, which is interesting when considering the extent to which people sacrifice friendships, or at least the time they spend with friends, because of the extended hours they’re devoting to work. Just last week, I was remarking to a colleague that I’m content with only one social engagement per week. But according to recent research, that’s evidently not enough. In an initial study of more than 700 respondents, scholars from an American university analyzed the impact that friends, as opposed to family, have on self-esteem and well-being. Friends came out substantially on top. That’s because to be someone’s mate is a voluntary act, unlike family who people rarely get to choose. The researchers found that when people choose to cultivate and maintain supportive friendships with an individual, it means that the person is valued and worthy of their limited time. Such sentiments of value and worthiness boost our self-esteem. The second study comprised more than 300 participants. It proved that the better we feel about ourselves, the more likely we’ll perform our job confidently and competently. This follow-up study found that non-work friends even improve people’s job satisfaction. They have as much of an impact on how much they love their jobs as do the friends they have at work, despite not actually being at our place of work. These types of friends tend to be our preferred outlet for venting about work-related matters. This is an avenue that may not be available at the office. So even though friendships can be easy to neglect when confronted by pressures at work, or even pressures at home, neglecting our friends can turn out to be harmful and counterproductive. That’s why, when determining how to create a better work-life balance, we need to consider not only how to balance work and family demands, but also how to cultivate and sustain supportive friendships. It’s for this reason that managers should never discriminate when it comes to requests from employees for flexible work arrangements. It’s irrelevant whether their need for a desired schedule is due to, say, parenting responsibilities or a craving to hang out with the best mate. What matters is the opportunity to engage in a nourishing activity outside of work. That will definitely have a follow-on effect at work.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 22: What does the speaker say is interesting?
Question 23: What did researchers from an American university analyze in their initial study?
Question 24: What did the second study find about non-work friends?
Question 25: What does the speaker suggest managers do?
22.
A) People have only one social engagement per week.
B) Working together enhances friendship.
C) Few people have devoted friends.
D) Friendships benefit work.
23.
A) The impact of friends on people’s self-esteem.
B) How supportive friends can be in the workplace.
C) How to boost one’s sense of value and worthiness.
D) The role of family ties in people’s mental well-being.
24.
A) They show little interest in their friends’ work.
B) They tend to be much more difficult to make.
C) They are more trustworthy and reliable.
D) They increase people’s job satisfaction.
25.
A) Allow employees to have a flexible work schedule.
B) Encourage employees to be friends with colleagues.
C) Help employees balance work and family responsibilities.
D) Organize activities to nourish friendships outside of work.
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