2008年12月全国大学英语六级考试真题和答案
Part I writing (30 minutes)
注意：此部分试题在答题卡1上
Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and scanning) (15 minutes)
Supersize surpri
Ask anyone why there is an obesity epidemic and they will tell you that it’s al down to eating too much and burning too few calories. That explanation appeals to common n and has dominated efforts to get to the root of the obesity epidemic and rever it/ yet obesity rearchers are increasingly dissatisfied with it. Many now believe that something el must have changed in our environment to precipitate(促成) such dramatic ris in obesity over the past 40 years or so. Nobody is saying that the “big two” – reduced physical activity and incread availability of food – are not important contributors to the epidemic, but they cannot explain it all.
Earlier this year a review paper by 20 obesity experts t out the 7 most plausible alternative explanations for the epidemic. Here they are.
1. Not enough sleep
It is widely believed that sleep is for the brain, not the body. Could a shortage of shut-eye also be helping to make us fat?
Several large-scale studies suggest there may be a link. People who sleep less than 7 hours a night tend to have a higher body mass index than people who sleep more, according to data gathered by the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Similarly, the US Nurs’ Health Study, which tracked 68,000 women for 16 years, found that tho who slept an average of 5 hours a night gained more weight during the study period than women who slept 6 hours, who in turn gained more than who who slept 7.
It’s well known that obesity impairs sleep, so perhaps people get fat first and sleep less afterwards. But the nurs’ study suggests that it can work in the other direction too: sleep loss may precipitate weight gain.
如何提升进店率Although getting figures is difficult, it appears that we really are sleeping less. In 1960 people in the US slept an average of 8.5 hours per night. A 2002 poll by the National Sleep Foundation suggests that the average has fallen to under 7 hours, and the decline is mirrored by the increa in obesity.
2. Climate control
We humans, like all warm-blooded animals, can keep our core body temperatures pretty much constant regardless of what’s going on in the world around us. We do this by altering our metabolic(新陈代新的) rate, shivering or sweating. Keeping warm and staying cool take energy unless we are in the “thermo-neutral zone”, which is increasingly where we choo to live and work.
There is no denying that ambient temperatures(环境温度) have changed in the past few decades. Between 1970 and 2000, the average British home warmed from a chilly 13C to 18C. In the US, the changes have been at the other end of the thermometer as the proportion of homes with air conditionings ro from 23% to 47% between 1978 and 1997. In the southern s
tates – where obesity rates tend to be highest – the number of hous with air conditioning has shot up to 71% from 37% in 1978.
Could air conditioning in summer and heating in winter really make a difference to our weight?
Sadly，there is some evidence that it does-at least with regard to heating. Studies show that in comfortable temperatures we u less energy.
3.Less smoking
Bad news: smokers really do tend to be thinner than the rest of us,and quitting really does pack on the pounds, though no one isn sure why. It probably has something to do with the fact that nicotine is an appetite suppressant and appears to up your metabolic rate.
Katherine Flegal and colleagres at the US National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville,Maryland, have calculated that people kicking the habit have been respousible for a small but significant portion of the US epidemic of fatness.From data collected aroud 1991 by the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,they worked out that people who had quit in the previous decade were much more likely to be overweight than smokers and people who had never smoked .Among men, for example, nearly half of quitters were overweight compared with 37% of non-smokers and only 28%of smokers.shelf是什么意思
4. Genetic effects
Yours chances of becoming fat may be t,at least in part,before you were even born.children of boe mothers are much more likely to become obest themlves later in life.Offspring of mice fed a high-fat diet during pregnancy are much more likely to become fat than the offspring of identical mice
fed a normal diet. Intriguingly,the effect persists for two or three generations.Grand-children of mice fed a high-fat diet grow up fat even if their own mother is fed normally-so you fate may have been aled even before you were conceived.
5.A little older…
Some groups of people just happen to be fatter than others.surveys carried out by the US national center for health statisties found that adults aged 40 to 79 were around three times as likely to be obe as -white females also tend to fall at the fatter end of the spectreum:Mexican-american women are 30% more likely than white women to be obss,and black women have twice the risk.
In the US,the groups account for an increasing percentage of the population.between 1970 and 2000 the US population aged 35 to 44 grew by 43%.the proportion of Hispanic-americans also grew,from under 5% to 12.5% of the population,while the proportion of black Americans incread from 11% to 12.3%.the changes may account in part for the incread prevalence of obesity.
6.mature mums
Mothers around the world are getting older.in the UK,the mean age for aving a frist child is 27.3,compared with 23.7 in 1970 .mean age at frist birth in the US has also incread, rising from 21.4 in 1970 to 24.9 in 2000.
This would be neither here nor there if it were’t for the obrvation that having an older mother ems to be an independent risk factor fo
r obesity. Results from the US national heart,lung and blood institute’s study found that the odds of a child being obe increa 14% for every five extra years of their mother’s age , though why this should be so is not entirely clear.
Michael Symonds at the university of Nottingham,UK,found that first-bron children have more fat than younger ones. As family size decreas, firstbrons account for a greather share of the population. In 1964, british women gave birth to an average of 2.95 children;by 2005 that figure had fallen to 1.79. in the US in 1976, 9.6% of woman in their 40s had only one chile;in 2004 it was 17.4%. this combination of older mothers and more single children could be contributing to the obesity epidemic.
7.Like marrying like
Just as people pair off according to looks, so they do for size. Lean people are more likely to marry lean an d fat more likely to marry fat. On its own, like marrying like cannot account for any increa in obesity. But combined with others- particularly the fact that obesity is partly genetic, and that heavier people have more children-it amplifies the increa form other caus.
1. A)effects of obesity on people’s health
B)the link between lifestyle an obesity
C)New explanations for the obesity epidemic
D)possible ways to combat the obesity epidemic
2. A)gained the least weight
B)were inclined to eat less
C)found their vigor enhanced
foreign是什么意思D)were less susceptible to illness
amf3. A)it makes us sleepy
B)it caus sleep loss
C)it increas our appetite
D)it results from lack of sleep
4. A)it makes us stay indoors more
B)it accelerates our metabolic rate
C)it makes us feel more energetic 托福考试报名
D)it contributes to our weight gain
5. A)it threatens their health
B)it heightens their spirits
C)it suppress their appetite
D)it slows down their metabolism
6. A)heavy smokers
B)passive smokers
C)tho who never smoke
D)tho who quit smoking
7. A)the growing number of smokers among young people
B)the rising proportion of minorities in its population
C)the increasing consumption of high-calorie foods
D)the improving living standards of the poor people
8.according to the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the reason why older mothers’ children tend to be obe remains not entirely clear
9.According to Michael Symonds, one factor contributing to the obesity epidemic is decrea of family size
10 when two heavy people get married, chances of their children getting fat increa, becau obesity is party genetiz
Part III Listening Comprehension
Section A
11. A)He is quite easy to recognize
B)he is an outstanding speaker
C)he looks like a movie star
D)he looks young for his age
12. A)consult her dancing teacher
B)take a more interesting class
C)continue her dancing class
D)improve her dancing skills
13. A)the man did not believe what the woman said
B)the man accompanied the woman to the hospital 净角的意思
C)the woman may be suffering from repetitive strain injury
D)the woman may not followed the doctor’s instructions
pinene 14. A)they are not in style any more
B)they have cost him far too much
C)they no longer suit his eyesight
D)they should be cleaned regularly
15. A)he spilled his drink onto the floor
B)he has just finished wiping the floor
nd nudes C)he was caught in a shower on his way home
D)he rushed out of the bath to answer the phone
16. A)fixing some furniture
B)repairing the toy train
C)reading the instructions
D)asmbling the bookca
17. A)urge Jenny to spend more time on study
B)help Jenny to prepare for the coming exams
C)act towards Jenny in a more nsible way
D)nd Jenny to a volleyball training center
18. A)The building of the dam needs a large budget
B)the propod site is near the residential area
C)the local people fel incure about the dam
D)the dam pos a threat to the local environment
Question19 to21 are bad on the conversation you have just heard
19 A. It saw the end of its booming years worldwide
B. Its production and sales reached record levels.
C. It became popular in some foreign countries
D. Its domestic market started to shrink rapidly.
20. A. They cost less. C. They were in fashion.
B. They tasted better. D. They were widely advertid.
21. A. It is sure to fluctuate . C. It will remain basically stable.
B. It is bound to revive. D. It will e no more monopoly
22. A. Organising protests C. Acting as its spokesman.
B. Recruiting members D. Saving endangered animals.
23. A. Anti-animal-abu demonstrations B. Anti-nuclear campaigns
C. Surveying the Atlantic Ocean floor D. Removing industrial waste.
24. A. By harassing them. C. By taking legal action.
B. By appealing to the public D. By resorting to force.
25. A. Doubtful C. Indifferent .
B. Rerved D. Supportive
26. A, The air becomes still. C. The clouds block the sun.
B. The air pressure is low. D. The sky appears brighter.
27. A. Ancient people were better at foretelling the weather.
B. Sailors’saying about the weather are unreliable.
C. People knew long ago how to predict the weather.
D. It was easiter to forecast the weather in the old days.
28 A. Weather forecast is getting more accurate today.
B. People can predict the weather by their ns
C. Who are the real esperts in weather forecast .
D. Weather changes affect people’s life remarkably
29. A. They often feel incure about their jobs.
write的现在分词
B. They are unable to decide what to do first .
C. They are feel burdened with numerous tasks every day.
D they feel burdened with numerous tasks every day
30 A. Analyze them rationally. C. Turn to others for help.
B. Draw a detailed to-do list . D. Handle them one by one .
31. A. They have accomplished little . C. They have worked out a way to relax.
B. They feel utterly exhausted . D. They no longer feel any n of guilt.
32. A. Their performance may improve.
B. Their immune system may be reinforced
C. Their blood pressure may ri all of a sudden.
D. Their physical development may be enhanced.
33. A. Improved mental functioning C. Speeding up of blood circulation
B. Incread susceptibility to dia D. Reduction of stress-related hormones
34. A. Pretend to be in better shape. C. Turn more often to friends for help
B. Have more physical exerci . D. Pay more attention to bodily nsations.
35. A. Different approaches to coping with stress.
B. Various caus for rious health problems.
C. The relationship between stress and illness.
D. New finding of medical rearch on stress.
Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
Section A
Questions 47 to 51 are bad on the following passage. israeli
One of the major producers of athletic footwear, with 2002 sales of over $10 billion, is a company c
alled Nike, with corporate headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Forbes magazine identified Nike’s president, Philip Knight, as the 53rd-richest man in the world in 2004. But Nike has not always been a large multimillion-dollar organization. In fact, Knight started the company by lling shoes from the back of his car at track meets.
In the late 1950s Philip Knight was a middle-distance runner on the University of Oregon track team, coached by Bill Bowerman. One of the top track coaches in the U.S., Bowerman was also known for experimenting with the design of running shoes in an attempt to make them lighter and more shock-absorbent. After attending Oregon, Knight moved on to do graduate work at Stanford University; his MBA thesis was on marketing athletic shoes. Once he received his degree, Knight traveled to Japan to contact the Onitsuka Tiger Company, a manufacturer of athletic shoes. Knight convinced the company’s officials of the potential for its product in the U.S. In 1963 he received his first shipment of Tiger shoes, 200 pairs in total.
In 1964, Knight and Bowerman contributed $500 each to from Blue Ribbon Sports, the predecessor of Nike. In the first few years, Knight distributed shoes out of his car at local track meets. The first employees hired by Knight were former college athletes. The company did not have the money to hire “experts”, and there was
no established athletic footwear industry in North America from which to recruit tho knowledgeable in the field. In its early years the organization operated in an unconventional manner that characterized its innovative and entrepreneurial approach to the industry. Communication was informal; people discusd ideas and issues in the hallways, on a run, or over a beer. There was little task differentiation. There were no job descriptions, rigid reporting systems, or detailed rules and regulations. The team spirit and shared values of the athletes on Bowerman’s teams carried over and provided the basis for the collegial style of management that characterized the early years of Nikes.
47. While rving as a track coach, Bowerman tried to design running shoes that were lighter and more shock-absorbent.
48. During his visit to Japan, Knight convinced the officials of the Onitsuka Tiger Company that its product would have potentials in the U.S.
49. Blue Ribbon Sports as unable to hire experts due to the abnce of established athletic footwear in North America.
50. In the early years of Nike, communication within the company was usually carried out informally.
51. What qualities of Bowerman’s teams formed the basis of Nike’s early management style?
The team spirit and shared valves of the athlets.
Passage one
questions 52 to 56 are bad on the following passage
sustainable development is applied to just about eberything from energy to clean water and economic growth,and as a result it has become difficult to question either the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to u.this is especially true in agriculture,where sustainable development is often taken as the sole measure of progress without a proper appreciation of histrorcal and cultural perspectives.
To start with,it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has changed markedly throughout history,and will continue to do so .medieval agriculture in northern Europe fed,clothed and shelered a predominantly rural society with a much lower population density than it is today.it had minimal effect on biodiversity,and any pollution it caud was typically localized.in termsof energy u and the nutrients captured in the product it was relatively inefficient.
Contrast this with farming since the start of the petion from overas led farmers to specialize and increa yields.throughout this period food became cheaper,safe and more reliable.however,the changes have alsoled to habitat loss and to diminishing biodiversity.
What’smore,demand for animal products in developing countrics is growing so fast that meeting it will require an extra 300 million tons of grain a year the growth of cities and in dustry is reducing the amount of water available for agriculture in many regions.
All this means that agriculture
