英语六级阅读专项：标准阅读

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第一篇：

I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year-round sun. You may think people in such a glamorous, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.

Many intelligent people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more abiding emotion.

Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.

I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”。But in memoir after memoir, celebrities reveal the unhappiness hidden beneath

all their fun：depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and profound loneliness.

Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he‘s honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.

Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine out ever they want and sleep as late as they want. Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night‘s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children.

Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to. It liberates time：now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money：buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy：we now understand that all those rich and glamorous people we were so sure are happy

because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

1.Which of the following is true？

A.Fun creates long-lasting satisfaction.

B.Fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness.

C.Happiness is enduring whereas fun is short-lived.

D.Fun that is long-standing may lead to happiness.

2.To the author, Hollywood stars all have an important role to play that is to __.

A.rite memoir after memoir about their happiness.

B.tell the public that happiness has nothing to do with fun.

C.teach people how to enjoy their lives.

D.bring happiness to the public instead of going to glamorous parties.

3.In the author‘s opinion, marriage___.

A.affords greater fun.

B.leads to raising children.

C.indicates commitment.

D.ends in pain.

4.Couples having infant children___.

A.are lucky since they can have a whole night‘s sleep.

B.find fun in tucking them into bed at night.

C.find more time to play and joke with them.

D.derive happiness from their endeavor.

5.If one get the meaning of the true sense of happiness, he will__.

A.stop playing games and joking with others.

B.make the best use of his time increasing happiness.

C.give a free hand to money.

D.keep himself with his family.

第一篇答案：CBCDB

第五篇：

If the old maxim that the customer is always right still has meaning, then the airlines that ply the world‘s busiest air route between London and Paris have a flight on their hands.

The Eurostar train service linking the UK and French capitals via the Channel Tunnel is winning customers in increasing numbers. In late May, it carried its one millionth passenger, having run only a limited service between London, Paris and Brussels since November 1994, starting with two trains a day in each direction to Paris and Brussels. By 1997, the company believes that it will be carrying ten million passengers a year, and continue to grow from there.

From July, Eurostar steps its service to nine trains each way between London and Paris, and five between London and Brussels. Each train carries almost 800 passengers, 210 of them in first class.

The airlines estimate that they will initially lose around 15%-20% of their London-Paris traffic to the railways once Eurostar starts a full service later this year （1995）, with 15 trains a day each way. A similar service will start to Brussels. The damage will be limited, however, the airlines believe, with passenger numbers returning to previous levels within two to three years.

In the short term, the damage caused by the 1 million people-levels traveling between London and Paris and Brussels on Eurostar trains means that some air services are already suffering. Some of the major carriers say that their passenger numbers are down by less than 5% and point to their rivals-Particularly Air France-as having suffered the problems. On the Brussels route, the railway company had less success, and the airlines report anything from around a 5% drop to no visible decline in traffic.

The airlines‘ optimism on returning traffic levels is based on historical precedent. British Midland, for example, points to its experience on Heathrow Leeds Bradford service which saw passenger numbers fold by 15% when British Rail electrified and modernized the railway line between London and Yorkshire. Two years later, travel had risen between the two destinations to the point where the airline was carrying record numbers of passengers.

1.British airlines confide in the fact that__.

A.they are more powerful than other European airlines.

B.their total loss won‘t go beyond a drop of 5% passengers.

C.their traffic levels will return in 2-3 years.

D.traveling by rail can never catch up with traveling by air.

2.The author‘s attitude towards the drop of passengers may be described as__.

A.worried.

B.delighted

C.puzzled.

D.unrivaled.

3.In the passage, British Rail （Para 6）is mentioned to__.

A.provide a comparison with Eurostar.

B.support the airlines‘ optimism.

C.prove the inevitable drop of air passengers.

D.call for electrification and modernization of the railway.

4.The railway‘s Brussels route is brought forth to show that__.

A.the Eurostar train service is not doing good business.

B.the airlines can well compete with the railway.

C.the Eurostar train service only caused little damage.

D.only some airlines, such as Air France, are suffering.

5.The passage is taken from the first of an essay, from which we may well predict that in the following part the author is going to__.

A.praise the airlines‘ clear-mindedness.

B.warn the airlines of high-speed rail services.

C.propose a reduction of London/Paris flights.

D.advise the airlines to follow British Midland as their model.

第五篇答案：CABCB

We can begin our discussion of “population as global issue” with what most persons mean when they discuss “the population problem”：too many people on earth and a too rapid increase in the number added each year. The facts are not in dispute, It was quite right to employ the analogy that likened demographic growth to “a long, thin powder fuse that burns steadily and haltingly until it finally reaches the charge and explodes.”

To understand the current situation, which is characterized by rapid increases in population, it is necessary to understand the history of population trends. Rapid growth is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Looking back at the 8,000 years of demographic history, we find that

populations have been virtually stable or growing very slightly for most of human history. For most of our ancestors, life was hard, often nasty, and very short. There was high fertility in most places, but this was usually balanced by high mortality. For most of human history, it was seldom the case that one in ten persons would live past forty, while infancy and childhood were especially risky periods. Often, societies were in clear danger of extinction because death rates could exceed their birthrates. Thus, the population problem throughout most of history was how to prevent extinction of the human race. This pattern is important to notice. Not only does it put the current problems of demographic growth into a historical perspective, but it suggests that the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years is not a sudden enthusiasm for more children, but an improvement in the conditions that traditionally have caused high mortality. Demographic history can be divided into two major periods：a time of long, slow growth which extended from about 8,000 BC.till approximately AD. 1650. In the first period of some 9600 years, the population increased from some 8 million to 500 million in 1650. Between 1650 and the present, the population has increased from 500 million to more than 4 billion. And it is estimated that by the year 2000 there will be 6.2 billion people throughout the world. One way to

appreciate this dramatic difference in such abstract numbers is to reduce the time frame to something that is more manageable. Between 8000BC and 1650, an average of only 50,000 persons was being added annually to the world‘s population each year. At present, this number is added every six hours. The increase is about 80,000,000 persons annually.

1.Which of the following demographic growth pattern is most suitable for the long thin powder fuse analogy？

A.A virtually stable or slightly decreasing period and then a sudden explosion of population.

B.A slow growth for a long time and then a period of rapid, dramatic increase.

C.Too many people on earth and a few rapid increase in the number added each year.

D.A long period when death rates exceeds birthrates and then a short period with higher fertility and lower mortality.

2.During the first period of demographic history, societies were often in danger of extinction because___.

A.only one in ten persons could live past 40.

B.there was higher mortality than fertility in most places.

C.it was too dangerous to have babies due to the poor conditions.

D.our ancestors had little enthusiasm for more children.

3.Which statement is true about population increase？

A.There might be an increase of 2.2 billion persons from now to the year 2000.

B.About 50,000 babies are born every six hours at present.

C.Between 8000 BC and the present, the population increase is about 80,000,000 persons each year.

D.The population increased faster between 8000BC and 1650 than between 1650 and the present.

4.The author of the passage intends to___.

A.warn people against the population explosion in the near future.

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/7c13728926.html,pare the demographic growth pattern in the past with that after 1650.

C.find out the cause for rapid increase in population in recent years.

D.present us a clear and complete picture of the demographic growth.

5.The word “demographic” in the first paragraph means___.

A.statistics of human.

B.surroundings study.

C.accumulation of human.

D.development of human.

答案：ABADA

第十三篇：

The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation. All high school graduates ought to go, says conventional wisdom and statistical evidence, because college will help them earn more money, become “better” people, and learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don‘t go.

But college has never been able to work its magic for everyone. And now that close to half our high school graduates are attending, those who don‘t fit the pattern are becoming more numerous, and more obvious.

College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis；college students interfere with each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the intense competition for admission to graduate school. Other find no stimulation in their studies, and drop out—often encouraged by college administrators.

Some observers say the fault is with the young people themselves—they are spoiled and they are expecting too much. But that is a condemnation of the students as a whole, and doesn‘t explain all campus unhappiness. Others blame the state of the world, and they are partly right. We have been told that young people have to go to college because our economy can’t absorb an army of untrained

eighteen-year-olds. But disappointed graduates are learning that it can no longer absorb an army of trained twenty-two-year-olds, either.

Some adventuresome educators and watchers have openly begun to suggest that college may not be the best, the proper, the only place for every young person after the completion of high school. We may have been looking at all those surveys and statistics upside down, it seems, and through the rosy glow of our own remembered college experiences. Perhaps college doesn‘t make people intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, or quick to learn things—may it is just the other way around, and

intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, quick-learning people are merely the ones who have been attracted to college in the first place. And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful whether they had gone to college or not. This is heresy to those of us who have been brought up to believe that if a little schooling is good, more has to be much better. But contrary evidence is beginning to mount up.

1.According to the author, ___.

A.people used to question the value of college education.

B.people used to have full confidence in higher education.

C.all high school graduates went to college.

D.very few high school graduates chose to go to college.

2.In the 2nd paragraph, “those who don‘t fit the pattern” refer to___.

A.high school graduates who aren‘t suitable for college education.

B.college graduates who are selling shoes and driving taxis.

C.college students who aren‘t any better for their higher education.

D.high school graduates who failed to be admitted to college.

3.The dropout rate of college students seems to go up because___.

A.young people are disappointed with the conventional way of teaching at college.

B.many people are required to join the army.

C.young people have little motivation in pursuing a higher education.

D.young people don‘t like the intense competition for admission to graduate school.

4.According to the passage, the problems of college education partly originate in the fact that___.

A.society cannot provide enough jobs for properly trained graduates.

B.High school graduates do not fit the pattern of college education.

C.Too many students have to earn their own living.

D.College administrators encourage students to drop out.

5.In this passage the author argues that___.

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2010 年6 月六级真题 Passage One 发达国家中只有两个国家不能保证提供用于照料新生儿的带薪休假。去年春天，这两个国家中的一个——澳大利亚——放弃了这种令人质疑的殊荣，建立了自2011 年起开始实施的带薪家庭休假制。在美国这并没有成为新闻，我并不感到意外——现在我们是唯一没有这项政策的富有国家。 美国确实有一个明确的家庭政策，这就是于1993 年通过的《家庭和医疗休假法》。它规定要照料新生儿或处理家庭医疗问题的工人有资格享受时间长达12 个星期的不带薪休假。尽管此法案带来的利益不明显，但当时商务部和其他一些商业团体都极力反对，称其为“政府负责的人事管理”和“危险的先例”。事实上，民主党领袖一直都致力于将能促进工作与家庭关系平衡的措施形成法律条文，但每一次的努力都遭到了商业团体的强烈反对。 正如耶鲁大学法学教授Anne Alstott 所辩解的那样，要肯定父母关爱的作用就要将家庭定义为一种社会商品，从某种意义上讲，社会要为此埋单。在她的书《无路可走：父母对孩子的亏欠以及社会对家长的亏欠》中，她认为父母在生活的多个方面都肩负重担：在谈到孩子的话题时，父母们“无路可走”：“社会希望也需要家长们能不间断地照看好他们的孩子，而且是人类用以开发智力、培养情感和树立道德的那种深度的、亲密无间的照看。社会还希望并需要父母们能坚守这一角色，18 年如一日，如有必要，甚至还可以更长。” 大部分父母出于爱都会照顾孩子，不照顾孩子的父母则会受到公众的处罚。换句话说，父母们所做的一切都是这个国家所密切关注的问题，原因很明显，照顾孩子不仅从道德上来说是迫切的而且对这个社会的未来至关重要。国家在大多数保障儿童福利的家庭法律中都认可了这一点，而父母们在履行社会所强加给他们的、会改变其命运的义务时得到的帮助却甚少。把养育孩子视为个人选择、集体没有责任的做法不仅仅忽视了良好家庭教育所产生的社会效益，而且会抹杀这部分社会效益，因为当今天的孩子成为明天的具有生产力的公民时这部分社会效益会属于整个社会。实际上，据估计父母对孩子投入的价值，包括时间和金钱的投入（包括失去的薪水）相当于国内生产总值的20%—30%。如果这些投入能够产生巨大的社会效益——很明显能产生——那么为家庭提供更多的社会支持所带来的效益将会更加显而易见。 Passage Two 塔夫茨大学公民学习和参与信息研究中心(CIRCLE)一份新的调查显示，现在有比以前更多的年轻人参与投票选举，美国发展中心2008 年的一份调查也表明越来越多的年轻选民和活动家开始支持传统的自由事业。但要看出这些调查数字在现实生活中的意义并非易事。在总统竞选期间，巴拉克·奥巴马以希望和改变为宣传口号组成了不同种族之间和不同意识形态之间人们的联盟。当新一届政府执政下的现实生活步入正轨的时候，有些支持者可能会大失所望。随着国家进一步走入奥巴马执政时代，参与政治的年轻人是会继续支持奥巴马及其施政议程还是会渐行渐远？ “O（奥巴马的简称）一代”是《新闻周刊》新开的一个博客，致力于记录那些支持奥巴马的年轻人的生活。“O 一代”的作者们想就上面的问题做出回答。未来的三个月，Michelle Kremer 和其他11 位年龄从19 岁到34 岁不等的奥巴马支持者将会用博客来记录美国社会的主流生活，一个不同之处在于：通过将他们所有的观点和经历与新任总统及其领导下的政府紧密结合，这些博客作者试图开启一场对话，探讨在当今美国，年轻并且在政治方面活跃到底意味着什么。24 岁的Malena Amusa 是该博客的一位作者，也是来自圣路易斯的一位舞者，她将这一项目看做是即时记录历史的一种方式。Amusa 今年春天为了完成其著作前往印度，后来又去塞内加尔教授英语，她和她的朋友一直在谈论奥巴马当政会如何改变他们的日常生活，她希望把其中的一些观点和她的全球性视角写到帖子里。她很兴奋，要看清楚世界，“我不必等上15 年”，她这样解释说。 Henry Flores 是圣玛丽大学的政治学教授，他将年轻一代的政治力量归因于他们对科技的拥护。“网络使他们接触到更多的思想，”他说，“不同地区想法相同的人们就会聚到一起。”这正是“O 一代”博主们所期待的事情。结果可能会出现一群年轻人，就像他们在二战后生育高峰期出生的父母一样，伴随一种强烈的目的感而成长，他们也会改变此前从“X 一代”人身上所继承下来的冷漠形象。由一群普通但有抱负的年轻人来管理博客是个不小的挑战，但“O 一代”的成员能胜任这项任务。

英语六级快速阅读专项训练(真题版附答案和详解)

1.Why Integrity Matters What Is Integrity? The key to integrity is consistency- not only setting high personal standards for oneself (honesty, responsibility, respect for others, fairness) but also living up to those standards each and every day. One who has integrity is bound by and follows moral and ethical (道德上的) standards even when making life's hard choices, choices which may be clouded by stress, pressure to succeed, or temptation. What happens if we lie, cheat, steal, or violate other ethical standards? We feel disappointed in ourselves and ashamed. But a lapse (缺失) of integrity also affects our relationships with others. Trust is essential in any important relationship, whether personal or professional. Who can trust someone who is dishonest or unfair? Thus integrity must be one of our most important goals. Risky Business We are each responsible for our own decisions, even if the decision, making process has been undermined by stress or peer pressure. The real test of character is whether we can learn from our mistake, by understanding why we acted as we did and then exploring ways to avoid similar problems in the future. Making ethical decisions is a critical part of avoiding future problems. We must learn to recognize risks, because if we can't see the risks we're taking, we can't make responsible choices. To identify risks, we need to know the rules and be aware of the facts. For example, one who doesn't know the rules a about plagiarism (剽窃) may accidentally use words or ideas without giving proper credit or one who fails to keep careful research notes may unintentionally fail to quote and cite sources as required. But the fact that such a violation is "unintentional" does not excuse the misconduct, Ignorance is not a defense. "But Everybody Does It" Most people who get in trouble do know the rules and facts but manage to fool themselves about the risks they're taking by using excuses: "Everyone else does it." "I'm not hurting anyone", or "I really need this grade." Excuses can get very elaborate: "I know I'm look at another's exam, even though I'm supposed to keep my eyes on my own paper, but that's not cheating because I’m just checking my answers, not copying." We must be honest about our actions and avoid excuses, if we fool ourselves into believing we're not doing anything wrong, we can't see the real choice we're making - and that leads to bad decisions. To avoid fooling yourself, watch out for excuses and try this test: Ask how you would feel if your actions were public and anyone could be watching over yore shoulder. If you'd rather hide your actions, that's an indication that you're taking a risk and rationalizing it to yourself. Evaluating Risks To decide whether a risk is worth taking, you must examine the consequences, in the future as well as right now, negative as well as positive, and to others as well as to yourself. Those who take risks they later regret usually focus on immolate benefits and simply haven't considered what might go wrong. The consequences of getting caught are serious and may include a "O" on a test or assignment, an "F" in the class, suspension (暂令停学) or dismissal from school and a ruined reputation. In fact, when you break a role or law, you lose control over your life and give others the power to impose punishment that you have no control over. This is an extremely vulnerable (脆弱的) position. There may be some matters of life and death or highest principle, which might justify such a risk, but there aren't many things that fall in this category. Getting Away with it - Or Not Those who don't get caught pay an even higher price. A cheater doesn't learn from the test, which deprives (剥夺) him her of an education. Cheating undermines confidence and independence: the cheater is a fraud, and knows that without dishonesty, he/she would have failed. Cheating destroys self-respect and integrity, leaving the cheater ashamed, guilty and afraid of getting caught. Worst of all, a cheater who doesn't get caught the first time usually cheats again, not only because he/she is farther behind, but also because it seems "easier." This slippery slope of eroding ethics and bigger risks leads only to disaster. Eventually, the cheater gets caught, and the later he/she gets caught, the worse the consequences. Cheating Hurts Other, Too Cheaters often feel invisible, as if their actions "don't count" and don't really hurt anyone. But individual choices have an intense cumulative (累积的) effect. Cheating can spread like a disease. Recent statistics suggest 30％or more of college students cheat. If a class is graded on a curve, cheating hurts others' grades. Even if there is no curve, cheating "poisons" the classroom, and others may feel pressured to join in. ("If I don't cheat I can't compete with those who do") Cheating also has a destructive impact on teachers. The real reward of goof teaching is seeing students learn. But a cheater says. "I'm not interested in what you're trying to teach, all I care about is stealing a grade, regardless of the effect on others." The end result is a destructive attack on the quality of your education. Finally, cheating can hurt the reputation of the university and harm those who worked hard for their degree.