2016年12月英语六级考前冲刺试题第三套

　　Part ⅡReading Comprehension (35 minutes)

　　Directions: 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 centre.

　　Passage 1

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

　　Using a public telephone may well be one of the minor irritations of life, demanding patience, determination and a strong possibility of failure, together on occasion with considerable unpopularity.

　　The hopeful caller (shall we call him George?) waits till six o’clock in the evening to take advantage of the so-called “cheap rates” for a long-distance call. The telephone box, with two broken panes of glass in the side, stands at　the junction of two main roads with buses, lorries and cars roaring past. It is　pouring with rain as George joins a queue of four depressed-looking people. Time passes slowly and seems to come to a standstill while the person immediately before George carries on an endless conversation, pausing only to insert another coin every minute or so.

　　Eventually the receiver is replaced and the caller leaves the box. George　enters and picks up one of the directories inside, only to discover that someone　unknown has torn out the very page he needs. Nothing for it but to dial directory Enquiries, wait patiently for a reply down the number given.

　　At last George can go ahead with his call. Just as he is starting to dial,　however, the door opens and an unpleasant-looking face peers in with the demand, “Can’t you hurry up?” Ignoring such barbarity, George continues to dial and　his unwanted companion withdraws. At last he hears the burr-burr of the ringing　tone, immediately followed by rapid pips demanding his money, but he is now so upset that he knocks down the coins he has placed ready on the top of the box. Having at last located them, he dials again: the pips are repeated and he hastily　inserts the coins. A cold voice informs him, “Grand Hotel, Chalfont Wells.” “

　　I’ve an urgent message for a Mr. Smith who is a guest in your hotel. Could you put me through to him? I’m afraid I don’t know his room number.”　The response appears less than enthusiastic and a long long silence follows. George inserts more coins. Then the voice informs him, “I’ve been trying to　locate Mr. Smith but the hall porter reports having seen him leave about a minute ago.”

　　Breathing heavily, George replaces the receiver, just as the knocking on the door starts again.

　　21.The main intention of the passage is to provide____.

　　A) instructions about how to use a public call box

　　B) advice about how to deal with public telephone problems

　　C) criticism of the efficiency of telephone system

　　D) an account of possible annoyances in using a public telephone

　　22.Which of the following calls are you unlikely to make at the “cheaprate” referred to?

　　A) To discuss your account in a bank in Scotland.

　　B) To have a chat with an elderly relation.

　　C) To ask about a friend in hospital who has just had an operation.

　　D) To express Christmas greetings to cousins in Australia.

　　23.George can at least be thankful that ____.

　　A) the call box is in a convenient position

　　B) the telephone itself is working

　　C) he can use the directory in the box to find the number

　　D) he is able to give his message to the hotel receptionist

　　24.Why does George have to dial a second time?

　　A) He hasn’t remembered to put the money in the box. B) He hasn’t got enough money with him.

　　C) He has got to find the money to put in the box. D) He can’t find the number he wants in the directory.

　　25.What are George’s feelings when he completes his call?

　　A) He has some difficulty in controlling his annoyance.

　　B) He is very disappointed at missing his friends.

　　C) He is annoyed with himself for being so stupid.

　　D) He is depressed at the thought of having to try again to get through.

　　Passage 2

　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

　　What does it feel like to be approaching the wrong end of middle age? For the　moment at least, the differences between the young diplomat of 30 years ago and　the aging writer of today are more psychological than physical. Naturally. I can　hardly ignore the inevitable change in my outward appearance. My hair has gonewell, silver; the whites of my eyes occasionally look more like yolks; and I’ve　got heavier round the middle. But all this is merely on the surface inside. I’m　not really conscious of feeling very much older than I did my younger days.

　　Mentally, however, it’s another story. It is no longer a surprise to come into　a room and to find that I’m the oldest person in it, but notice the fact all the same. It’s a long time since I stopped worrying about policemen being younger　than me; when, on the other hand, I find generals, archbishops and High Court judges in the same happy situation. I tend to grow thoughtful …

　　Now for the compensations. And there are plenty of them, and by no means the least is a new found independence. Until now, responsibilities seem to have increased year by year; now, thankfully they begin to diminish, and are replaced by new opportunities.

　　These are positive compensations; there are also negative ones which can be appreciated just as much. Immense pleasure can be got from Putting Things Behind One. My own recent decisiontaken with immense reliefhas been to give up all efforts to understand modern music. There is more than enough music from the17th, 18th and 19th centuries to keep me happy for the rest of my life. Now, at　last, I can face the fact that I just don’t like 20th century music.

　　Finally, it’s goodbye to hypochondria. When I was young I constantly worried about my health and imagined I had all sorts of terrible diseases. Now those days　are over. I love every moment of my life and want it to go on for as long as possible until I become senile or a burden to my family and friends, at which point I would like it to stop at once. I can honestly say that I have had and am still having a wonderful time.

　　26.In the passage, what is the writer mainly talking about?

　　A) We should take an objective attitude towards the problem of getting old.

　　B) We can have compensations while getting old.

　　C) Getting old is a terrible thing.

　　D) We should refuse to accept the fact of getting old.

　　27.According to the passage, the changes of the writer while getting old

　　are the following except ____.

　　A) the hair has become white

　　B) the whites of the eyes look like yellow

　　C) the man becomes fat

　　D) the difference between the young and the aging writer is more in his o

　　utward appearance than in his inside

　　28.According to the writer, what is not the advantage of getting old?

　　A) New opportunities take the place of responsibilities.

　　B) Immense pleasure can be got from negative compensations.

　　C) Generals, archbishops and High Court judges are all happy while getting old.

　　D) Hypochondria will not disturb you any longer.

　　29.What is the meaning of Putting Things Behind One?

　　A) To put things that should be done after another one. B) To give up.

　　C) To do the things as you like. D) To delay the time of finishing the work.

　　30.What is the writer’s attitude towards the problem of getting old?

　　A) Optimistic.B) Pessimistic.C) Indifferent. D) Tolerant.

　　Passage 3

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

　　Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism / evolution are in the publisher’s pipelines. A few have already appeared. The goal of all will be to try to　explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two　equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life. Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened. “Scientific” creationism, which is being pushed by some for “equal time” in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of non-fundamentalist religious leaders have come to regard “scientific” creationism as bad science and bad religion.

　　The first four chapters of Kitcher’s book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating. He describes their programs and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may come as an unpleasant surprise. When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior.

　　Kitcher is a philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments. The non-specialist will be able to obtain at least　a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory. The final chapters on the creationists will be extremely clear to all. On the dust　jacket of this fine book, Stephen Jay Gould says:“This book stands for reason itself.” And so it does and all would be well were reason the only judge in the　creationism I evolution debate.

　　31.More than twenty books ____.

　　A) are intended to support creationism

　　B) are intended to attack Kitcher

　　C) are written in a style of clarity and effectiveness

　　D) include Kitcher’s hook

　　32.“Creationism” in the passage refers to ______.

　　A) evolution in its true sense as to the origin of the universe

　　B) a notion of the creation of religion

　　C) the scientific explanation of the earth formation

　　D) the deceptive theory about the origin of the universe

　　33.Kitcher’s book is intended to ______.

　　A) recommend the views of the evolutionistsB) expose the true features of creationists

　　C) curse bitterly at his opponentsD) launch a surprise attack on creationists

　　34.From the passage we can infer that ______.

　　A) reasoning has played a decisive role in the debate

　　B) creationists do not base their argument on reasoning

　　C) evolutionary theory is too difficult for non-specialists

　　D) creationism is supported by scientific findings

　　35.This passage appears to be a digest of ______.

　　A) a book review B) a scientific paper

　　C) a magazine feature D) a newspaper editorial

　　Passage 4

　　Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:

　　It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of　arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group’s on-line service, Death

　　NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long，because of course this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”

　　The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Illlaw has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sights of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the hill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australiawhere an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their partother states are going to　consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.

　　Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death probably by a deadly injection or pillto put an end to suffering. The patient must　be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of　seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from h　is breathing condition.“I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view,　but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the　hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says.

　　36.Which of the following has the similar meaning to the sentence “But the tide is unlikely to turn hack”?

　　A) US and some other countries are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.

　　B) It is impossible to pass the bill.

　　C) Doctors are allowed by law to take the lives of the ill patients.

　　D) The fact that the NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Law has been passed　probably can’t be changed.

　　37.From the second paragraph we learn that ______.

　　A) the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries

　　B) physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia

　　C) changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hasty passage of the law

　　D) it takes time to realize the significance of the law’s passage

　　38.When the author says that observers are waiting for the dominoes to　start falling, he means ______.

　　A) observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the future of euthanasia

　　B) similar bills are likely to be passed in the US, Canada and other countries

　　C) observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes

　　D) the effect-taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop

　　39.When Lloyd Nickson dies, he will ______.

　　A) face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia B) experience the suffering of a lung cancer patient

　　C) have an intense fear of terrible suffering D) undergo a cooling off period of seven days

　　40.The author’s attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of ______.

　　A) opposition B) suspicion C) approval D) doubt