2015年6月大学英语六级仔细阅读练习题及解析（七）

　　Passage One

　　Questions 56 to 60 are based an the followingpassage.

　　Dropping out of university to launch a start-up isold hat. The twist with Joseph Cohen, Dan Getelmanand Jim Grandpre is that their start-up aims toimprove how universities work. In May 2011 thethree founders quit the University of Pennsvlvania. to launch Coursekit,soon renamed asLore.whichhas already raised $ 6m to develop what Mr. Cohen, its 21-year-old chief executive,describes as a social-learning network for the classroom".

　　Lore is part of a trend that builds on the familiarity with social networking that has comewith the success of Facebook. It customizes the rules of a network to meet the specific needsof students. Anyone teaching a class would reasonably worry that students using Facebookwere gossiping rather than learning useful information from their network of friends. Loreallows teachers to control exactly who is in the network by issuing a class-membership codeand to see how they are using it. They can also distribute course materials, contact students,manage tests and grades, and decide what to make public and what to keep private. Studentscan also interact with each other.

　　In the academic year after launching its first version last November, Lore was used in atleast one class in 600 diversities and colleges. Its goal for its second year, about to begin, is tospread rapidly within those 600 institutions, not least to see what the effects of scale are fromhaving lots of classes signed up within the same institution.

　　The firm has a fast-growing army of fans in the faculty common room. Lore, says EdwardBoches, who uses it for his advertising classes at Boston University, makes teaching "moreinteractive, extends it beyond the classroom and stimulates students to learn from each otherrather than just the professor. "

　　Among other challenges for the company, there remains the small matter of figuring out abusiness model. For the moment it has none. Mr. Cohen hopes that eventually Lore couldbecome the primary marketplace for everything from courses to textbooks, but so far theservice is free and carries no advertising. Blackboard, the industry incumbent (占有者), chargesusers for its course-management software. It remains to be seen how it will respond to theupstart(新贵).

　　The lack of a plan does not appear to bother Lore's founders or investors, -who seemcontent to learn a lesson from another university drop-out, Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder ofFacebook: achieve critical mass in your network and the profits will follow. And after thatperhaps they can expect an honorary degree from the a/ma mater(母校).

　　56. What do we learn from the first paragraph about Lore?

　　A. It specializes in producing old hats.

　　B. It aims to improve the way universities work.

　　C. It invests $ 6m in the development of social network.

　　D. It promotes the communication among classmates.

　　57. What does Lore enable teachers to do?

　　A. Meet specific needs of students.

　　B. Learn useful information from friends.

　　C. Control the online class membership.

　　D. Monitor students' personal privacy.

　　58. For its second-year goal, Lore is to __

　　A. increase fans in the faculty common room

　　B. launch its second version in 600 universities

　　C. make more classes from 600 institutions signed up

　　D. spread its influence within the same institution

　　59. Concerning the prospect of Lore, Mr. Cohen expects it to

　　A. confront with Blackboard as an equal

　　B. offer free service to the advertisers

　　C. cover businesses from courses to textbooks

　　D. Develop its own come-management software

　　60. What do we learn about Lore's founders?

　　A. They can't be bothered to design a business model.

　　B. They learn a lesson from the success of Facebook.

　　C. They will not make profits without drawing mass users.

　　D. They desire to receive an honorary degree from the alma mater.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

　　A bull grazes on dry wheat husks(Phi) in Logan, Kansas, one of the regions hit by therecord drought that has affected more than half of the U. S. and is expected to drive up foodprices.

　　Leadinu water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about global foodsupplies, saying that the world's population may have to switch almost completely to avegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.

　　Adopting a vegetarian diet is one option to increase the amount of water available to growmore food in an increasingly climate-unstable world, the scientists said. Animal protein-richfood consumes 5 to 10 times more water than a vegetarian diet. One third of the world'sarable(适于耕种的) land is used to grow crops to feed animals. Other options to feed peopleinclude eliminating waste and increasing trade between countries in food surplus and those indeficit.

　　"900 million people already go hungry and 2 billion people are malnourished in spite of thefact that per capita food production continues to increase," they said. "With 70% of allavailable water being in agriculture, growing more food to feed an additional 2 billion peopleby 2050 will place greater pressure on available water and land. "

　　The report is being released at the start of the annual world water conference inStockholm, Sweden, where 2,500 politicians, UN bodies, non-governmental groups andresearchers from 120 countries meet to address global water supply problems.

　　Competition for water between food production and other uses will intensify pressure onessential resources, the scientists said. "The UN predicts that we must increase foodproduction by 70% by mid-century. This will place additional pressure on our 'alreadystressed water resources, at a time when we also need to allocate more water to satisfy globalenergy demand--　which is expected to rise 60% over the coming 30 years--and to generateelectricity for the 1.3 billion people currently without it," said the report.

　　Overeating, undernourishment and waste are all on the rise and increased food productionmay face future constraints from water scarcity.

　　"We will need a new recipe to feed the world in the future," said the report's editor, AndersJagerskog.

　　A separate report from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) said the bestway for countries to protect millions of farmers from food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa andsouth Asia was to help them invest in small pumps and simple technology, rather than todevelop expensive, large-scale irrigation projects.

　　"Farmem across the developing world are increasingly relying on and benefiting from small-scale,locally-relevant water solutions. These techniques could increase yields up to 300% andadd tens of billions of U. S. dollars to household revenues across sub-Saharan Africa and southAsia. " said Dr. Colin Chartres, the director general.

　　61. What can be inferred from the water scientists' warning?

　　A. The record drought forces half of the U. S. to go hungry.

　　B. The record drought drives up food prices m the U. S.

　　C. Severe food shortage may happen without proper measures.

　　D. A vegetarian diet is the only option to avoid disastrous shortages.

　　62. What do the scientists say can be done to increase food supply?

　　A. Grow more animal protein-rich food.

　　B. Turn pastures into arable lands.

　　C. Promote trade between countries self-sufficient in food.

　　D. Increase the amount of water for food production.

　　63. According to the water scientists' report,

　　A. per capita food production has been increasing

　　B. reduced food supply will make more people malnourished

　　C. 70% of water will be used to feed 2 billion people by 2050

　　D. researchers begin to seek solutions to tackle water problem

　　64. In regard to the problem of water supply, scientists believe

　　A. more water should be allocated to satisfy energy demand

　　B. food production must be increased to 70% by mid-century

　　C. energy demand will intensify pressure on water resources

　　D. electricity generation must be increased by 60% 30 years later

　　65. What does the IWMI say is the best solution to food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africaand south Asia?

　　A. Applying small pumps and simple technology.

　　B. Launching large-scale irrigation projects.

　　C. Increase the local household revenues.

　　D. Investing in a new expensive irrigation project.