历年6级阅读真题及翻译.docx

历年6级阅读真题及翻译.docx

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历年6级阅读真题及翻译

历年英语六级阅读真题及翻译（2009.06-1999.01）

2009年6月英语六级阅读真题

PassageOne：

Forhundredsofmillionsofyears,turtles（海龟）havestruggledoutoftheseatolaytheireggsonsandybeaches,longbeforetherewerenaturedocumentariestocelebratethem,orGPSsatellitesandmarinebiologiststotrackthem,orvolunteerstohand-carrythehatchlings（幼龟）downtothewater’sedgelesttheybecomedisorientedbyheadlightsandcrawltowardsamotelparkinglotinstead.AformidablewallofbureaucracyhasbeenerectedtoprotecttheirprimenestingontheAtlanticcoastlines.Withallthatattentionpaidtothem,you’dthinkthesecreatureswouldatleasthavethegratitudenottogoextinct.ButNatureisindifferenttohumannotionsoffairness,andareportbytheFishandWildlifeServiceshowedaworrisomedropinthepopulationsofseveralspeciesofNorthAtlanticturtles,notablyloggerheads,whichcangrowtoasmuchas400pounds.TheSouthFloridanestingpopulation,thelargest,hasdeclinedby50%inthelastdecade,accordingtoElizabethGriffin,amarinebiologistwiththeenvironmentalgroupOceana.ThefigurespromptedOceanatopetitionthegovernmenttoupgradethelevelofprotectionfortheNorthAtlanticloggerheadsfrom“threatened”to“endangered”—meaningtheyareindangerofdisappearingwithoutadditionalhelp.Whichraisestheobviousquestion:

whatelsedotheseturtleswantfromus,anyway?

Itturnsout,accordingtoGriffin,thatwhilewehavedoneagoodjobofprotectingtheturtlesfortheweekstheyspendonland（asegg-layingfemales,aseggsandashatchlings）,wehaveneglectedtheyearsspendintheocean.“Thethreatisfromcommercialfishing,”saysGriffin.Trawlers（whichdraglargenetsthroughthewaterandalongtheoceanfloor）andlonglinefishers（whichcandeploythousandsofhooksonlinesthatcanstretchformiles）takeaheavytollonturtles.Ofcourse,likeeveryotherenvironmentalissuetoday,thisisplayingoutagainstthebackgroundofglobalwarmingandhumaninterferencewithnaturalecosystems.Thenarrowstripsofbeachonwhichtheturtleslaytheireggsarebeingsqueezedononesidebydevelopmentandontheotherbythethreatofrisingsealevelsastheoceanswarm.Ultimatelywemustgetahandleonthoseissuesaswell,oracreaturethatoutlivedthedinosaurs（恐龙）willmeetitsendatthehandsofhumans,leavingourdescendantstowonderhowcreaturesouglycouldhavewonsomuchaffection.

PassageTwo：

Therearefewmoresoberingonlineactivitiesthanenteringdataintocollege-tuitioncalculatorsandgaspingastheWebspitsbackasix-figuresum.Buteconomistssayfamiliesabouttogointodebttofundfouryearsofpartying,aswellasstudying,canconsolethemselveswiththeknowledgethatcollegeisaninvestmentthat,unlikemanybankstocks,shouldyieldhugedividends.A2008studybytwoHarvardeconomistsnotesthatthe“labor-marketpremiumtoskill”—ortheamountcollegegraduatesearnedthat’sgreaterthanwhathigh-schoolgraduateearned—decreasedformuchofthe20thcentury,buthascomebackwithavengeance（报复性地）sincethe1980s.In2005,Thetypicalfull-timeyear-roundU.S.workerwithafour-yearcollegedegreeearned$50,900,62%morethanthe$31,500earnedbyaworkerwithonlyahigh-schooldiploma.There’snoquestionthatgoingtocollegeisasmarteconomicchoice.Butalookatthestrangevariationsintuitionrevealsthatthechoiceaboutwhichcollegetoattenddoesn’tcomedownmerelytodollarsandcents.DoesgoingtoColumbiaUniversity（tuition,roomandboard$49,260in2007-08）yielda40%greaterreturnthanattendingtheUniversityofColoradoatBoulderasanout-of-statestudent（$35,542）?

Probablynot.Doesbeinganout-of-statestudentattheUniversityofColoradoatBoulderyieldtwicetheamountofincomeasbeinganin-statestudent（$17,380）there?

Notlikely.No,inthisconsumeristage,mostbuyersaren’tevaluatingcollegeasaninvestment,butratherasaconsumerproduct—likeacarorclothesorahouse.Andwithsuchpurchases,priceisonlyoneofmanycrucialfactorstoconsider.Aswithautomobiles,consumersintoday’scollegemarketplacehavevastchoices,andpeoplesearchfortheonethatgivesthemthemostcomfortandsatisfactioninlinewiththeirbudgets.Thisaccountsforthewillingnessofpeopletopaymorefordifferenttypesofexperiences（suchasattendingaprivateliberal-artscollegeorgoingtoanout-of-statepublicschoolthathasagreatmarine-biologyprogram）.Andjustastwoautopurchasersmightspendanequalamountofmoneyonverydifferentcars,collegestudents（or,moreaccurately,theirparents）oftenshowawillingnesstopayessentiallythesamepriceforvastlydifferentproducts.Sowhichisit?

Iscollegeaninvestmentproductlikeastockoraconsumerproductlikeacar?

Inkeepingwiththeautomotiveworld’shottestconsumertrend,maybeit’sbesttocharacterizeitasahybrid（混合动力汽车）;anexpensiveconsumerproductthat,overtime,willpayrichdividends.

X

2008年12月英语六级阅读真题

PassageOne：

Sustainabledevelopmentisappliedtojustabouteverythingfromenergytocleanwaterandeconomicgrowth,andasaresultithasbecomedifficulttoquestioneitherthebasicassumptionsbehinditorthewaytheconceptisputtouse.Thisisespeciallytrueinagriculture,wheresustainabledevelopmentisoftentakenasthesolemeasureofprogresswithoutaproperappreciationofhistoricalandculturalperspectives.Tostartwith,itisimportanttorememberthatthenatureofagriculturehaschangedmarkedlythroughouthistory,andwillcontinuetodoso.medievalagricultureinnorthernEuropefed,clothedandshelteredapredominantlyruralsocietywithamuchlowerpopulationdensitythanitistoday.Ithadminimaleffectonbiodiversity,andanypollutionitcausedwastypicallylocalized.Intermsofenergyuseandthenutrients（营养成分）capturedintheproductitwasrelativelyinefficient.Contrastthiswithfarmingsincethestartoftheindustrialrevolution.Competitionfromoverseasledfarmerstospecializeandincreaseyields.Throughoutthisperiodfoodbecamecheaper,safeandmorereliable.However,thesechangeshavealsoledtohabitat（栖息地）lossandtodiminishingbiodiversity.What’smore,demandforanimalproductsindevelopingcountriesisgrowingsofastthatmeetingitwillrequireanextra300milliontonsofgrainayearby2050.yetthegrowthofcitiesandindustryisreducingtheamountofwateravailableforagricultureinmanyregions.Allthismeansthatagricultureinthe21stcenturywillhavetobeverydifferentfromhowitwasinthe20th.thiswillrequireradicalthinking.Forexample,weneedtomoveawayfromtheideathattraditionalpracticesareinevitablymoresustainablethannewones.Wealsoneedtoabandonthenotionthatagriculturecanbe“zeroimpact”.Thekeywillbetoabandontherathersimpleandstaticmeasuresofsustainability,whichcentreontheneedtomaintainproductionwithoutincreasingdamage.Insteadweneedamoredynamicinterpretation,onethatlooksattheprosandcons（正反两方面）ofallthevariouswaylandisused.Therearemanydifferentwaystomeasureagriculturalperformancebesidesfoodyield:

energyuse,environmentalcosts,waterpurity,carbonfootprintandbiodiversity.Itisclear,forexample,thatthecarbonoftransportingtomatoesfromSpaintotheUKislessthanthatofproducingthemintheUKwithadditionalheatingandlighting.Butwedonotknowwhetherlowercarbonfootprintswillalwaysbebetterforbiodiversity.Whatiscrucialisrecognizingthatsustainableagricultureisnotjustaboutsustainablefoodproduction.

可持续发展适用于诸如能源，净水，经济增长等几乎所有的方面，因此，要对可持续发展的基本假设或其概念的实施方法提出质疑也变得日益困难。

这在农业方面尤其显著，可持续发展经常被认为是农业进步的唯一标准，而这并没有从历史和文化的角度进行适当的评估。

首先，重要的是认识到农业的本质随着历史的发展已经发生了显著的变化，并且这种变化仍将持续。

中世纪北欧的农业为以农业为主导的社会提供了衣食和住所，而当时的人口密度远低于现在。

那是的农业对生物多样性的影响有限，产生的任何污染通常都是地方性的。

当时的农业在能源利用以及农产品的营养成分方面是相对低效的。

对比一下工业革命开始以后出现的农场化。

来自国外的竞争促使农民专业化并且提高产量。

在这个时期，食品价格下降，安全性和可靠性都有所提高。

但是，这些变化也是导致了栖息地的流失和生物多样性的减少。

此外，发展中国家队畜产品的需求增长如此迅速，以至于在2050年之前每年需要额外收货3亿吨谷物才能满足该需求。

但是城市和工业的发展导致在很多地区农业可利用的水资源越来越少。

所有这些都意味着21世纪的农业将非常不同于20世纪的农业。

这需要激进的思考方式。

例如，我们需要摒弃传统生产比新型生产注定更有利于可持续发展的方法，而这些方法的核心在于需要在保持生产的同时避免产生更多的破坏。

我们同样需要抛弃农业可以“零污染”的观念。

关键在于放弃相对简单和静态的衡量可持续发展性的方法，而这些方法的核心在于需要在保持生产的同时避免产生更多的破坏。

取而代之的是更加动态的解释，可以兼顾到种种土地使用方式的正反两面。

除了粮食产量以外，还有很多不同的方式可以衡量农业的效益；能源利用，环境成本，水源纯净程度，碳排放和生物多样性。

例如，显然把番茄从西班牙运到英国的碳排放量要少于在英国用额外的供暖和照明设备种植番茄。

但是我们不知道降低碳排放量是否总是对生物多样性是有益的。

关键是要意识到农业可持续的发展并不仅仅是关于可持续的食物生产。

PassageTwo：

Thepercentageofimmigrants（includingthoseunlawfullypresent）intheUnitedstateshasbeencreepingupwardforyears.At12.6percent,itisnowhigherthanatanypointsincethemid1920s.WearenotabouttogobacktothedayswhenCongressopenlyworriedaboutinferiorracespollutingAmerica’sbloodstream.Butonceagainwearewonderingwhetherwehavetoomanyofthewrongsortnewcomers.Theirloudestcriticsarguethatthenewwaveofimmigrantscannot,andindeeddonotwantto,fitinaspreviousgenerationsdid.Wenowknowthattheseracistviewswerewrong.Intime,Italians,Romaniansandmembersofotherso-calledinferiorracesbecameexemplaryAmericansandcontributedgreatly,inwaystoonumeroustodetail,tothebuildingofthismagnificentnation.Thereisnoreasonwhythesenewimmigrantsshouldnothavethesamesuccess.AlthoughchildrenofMexicanimmigrantsdobetter,intermsofeducationalandprofessionalattainment,thantheirparentsUCLAsociologistEdwardTelleshasfoundthatthegainsdon’tcontinue.Indeed,thefouthgenerationismarginallyworseoffthanthethirdJamesJackson,oftheUniversityofMichigan,hasfoundasimilartrendamongblackCaribbeanimmigrants,TellsfearsthatMexican-AmericansmaybefatedtofollowinthefootstepsofAmer