谷维素的作用
2017年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第3套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
（请于正式开考后半小时内完成该部分，之后将进行听力考试）
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying "Help others, and you will be helped when you are in need " You can cite examples to illustrate your views. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
Part II Listening Comprehension (30minutes)说明：由于2017年12月六级考试全国共考了2套听力，本套真题听力与前2套内容完全一样，只是顺序不一样，因此在本套真题中不再重复出现。
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this ction, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to lect one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Plea
mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not u any of the words in the bank more than once.
Question 26 to 35 are bad on the following passage.
Many European countries have been making the shift to electric vehicles and Germany has just stated that they plan to ban the sale of vehicles using gasoline and diel as fuel by 2030. The country is also planning to reduce its carbon footprint by 80-95% by 2050, ___26___ a shift to green energy in the country. Effectively, the ban will include the registration of new cars in the country as they will not allow any gasoline ___27___ vehicle to be registered after 2030.
Part of the reason this ban is being discusd and ___28___ is becau energy officials e that they will not reach their emissions goals by 2050 if they do not ___29___ a large portion of vehicle emissions. The country is still ___30___ that it will meet its emissions goals, like reducing emissions by 40% by 2020, but the ___31___ of electric cars in the country has not occurred as fast as expected.
Other efforts to increa the u of electric vehicles include plans to build over 1 million hybrid and electric car battery charging stations across the country. By 2030, Germany plans on having over 6
million charging stations ___32___. According to the International Business Times, electric car sales are expected to increa as V olkswagen is still recovering from its emissions scandal.
There are ___33___ around 155,000 registered hybrid and electric vehicles on German roads, dwarfed by the 45 million gasoline and diel cars driving there now. As countries continue tting goals of reducing emissions, greater steps need to be taken to have a ___34___ effect on the surrounding environment. While the efforts are certainly not ___35___, the results of such bans will likely only start to be en by generations down the line, bettering the world for the future.
A)acceptance I)incidentally
B)currently J)installed
C)disrupting K)noticeable
D)eliminate L)powered
E)exhaust M)restoration
F)futile N)skeptical刀的简笔画
G)hopeful O)sparking丰衣足食什么意思
H)implemented
Directions: In this ction, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choo a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
Apple’s Stance Highlights a More Confrontational Teach Industry
A) The battle between Apple and law enforcement officials over unlocking a terrorist’s smartphone is the culmination of a slow turning of the tables between the technology industry and the United States government.
B) After revelations by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden in 2013 that the government both cozied up to (讨好) certain tech companies and hacked into others to gain access to private data on an enormous scale, tech giants began to recognize the United States government as a hostile actor. But if the confrontation has crystallized in this latest battle, it may alre
ady be heading toward a predictable conclusion: In the long run, the tech companies are destined to emerge victorious.
C) It may not em that way at the moment. On the one side, you have the United States govern ment’s mighty legal and curity apparatus fighting for data of the most sympathetic sort: the crets buried in a dead mass murderer’s phone. The action stems from a federal court order issued on Tuesday requiring Apple to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I) to unlock an iPhone ud by one of the two attackers who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, in December.
D) In the other corner is the world’s most valuable company, who chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, has said he will a ppeal the court’s order. Apple argues that it is fighting to prerve a principle that most of us who are addicted to our smartphones can defend: Weaken a single iPhone so that its contents can be viewed by the American government and you risk weakening all iPhones for any government intruder, anywhere.
E) There will probably be months of legal tussling, and it is not at all clear which side will prevail in court, nor in the battle for public opinion and legislative favor. Yet underlying all of this is a simple dynamic: Apple, Google, Facebook and other companies hold most of the cards in this confrontation.
They have our data, and their business depend on the global public’s collective belief that they will do everything they can to protect that data.
F) Any crack in that front could be fatal for tech companies that must operate worldwide. If Apple is forced to open up an iPhone for an American law enforcement investigation, what is to prevent it from doing so for a request from the Chine or the Iranians? If Apple is forced to write code that lets the F.B.I. get into the Phone 5c ud by Syed Rizwan Farook, the male attacker in the San Bernardino attack, who would be responsible if some hacker got hold of that code and broke into its other devices?
G) Apple’s stance on the issues emerged post-Snowden, when the company started putting in place a ries of technologies that, by default, make u of encryption to limit access to people’s data. More than that, Apple - and, in different ways, other tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft - have made their opposition to the government’s claims a point of corporate pride.
H) Appl’s emerging global brand is privacy; it has staked its corporate reputation, not to mention the investment of considerable technical and financial resources, on limiting the sort of mass surveillanc
e that was uncovered by Mr. Snowden. So now, for many cas involving governmental intrusions into data, once-lonely privacy advocates find themlves fighting alongside the most powerful company in the world.
I) “A comparison point is in the 1990s battles over encryption,” said Kurt Opsahl, general counl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy watchdog group. “Then you had a few companies involved, but not one of the largest companies in the world coming out with a lengthy and impassioned post, like we saw yesterday from Tim Cook. Its profile has really been raid.”
J) Apple and other tech companies hold another ace: the technical means to keep making their devices more and more inaccessible. Not e that Apple’s public opposition to the government’s request is itlf a
created before Apple found religion on (热衷于) privacy, the F.B.I. may have been able to break into the device by itlf.
K) You can expect that noo (束缚) to continue to tighten. Experts said that whether or not Apple los this specific ca, measures that it could put into place in the future will almost certainly be able to further limit the government’s reach.
L) That’s not to say that the outcome of the San Bernardi no ca is insignificant. As Apple and veral curity experts have argued, an order compelling Apple to write software that gives the F.B.I. access to the iPhone in question would establish an unttling precedent. The order esntially asks Apple to hack its own devices, and once it is in place, the precedent could be ud to justify law enforcement efforts to get around encryption technologies in other investigations far removed from national curity threats.
M) Once armed with a method for gaining access to iPhones, the government could ask to u it proactively (先发制人地), before a suspected terrorist attack - leaving Apple in a bind as to whether to comply or risk an attack and suffer a public-relations night mare. “This is a brand-new salvo in the war against encryption,” Mr. Opsahl said. “We’ve had plenty of debates in Congress and the media over whether the government should have a backdoor, and this is an end run around that - here they come with an order to create that backdoor.”
N) Yet it’s worth noting that even if Apple ultimately los this ca, it has plenty of technical means to clo a backdoor over time. “If they’re anywhere near worth their salt as engineers, I bet they’re rethinking their threat model as we speak,” sai d Jonathan Zdziarski, a digital forensic expert who studies the iPhone and its vulnerabilities.
O) One relatively simple fix, Mr. Zdziarski said, would be for Apple to modify future versions of the iPhone to require a ur to enter a passcode before the phone will accept the sort of modified operating system that the F.B.I. wants Apple to create. That way, Apple could not unilaterally introduce a code that weakens the iPhone — a ur would have to connt to it.
P) “Nothing is 100 percent hacker-proof,” M r. Zdziarski said, but he pointed out that the judge’s order in this ca required Apple to provide “reasonable curity assistance” to unlock Mr. Farook’s phone. If Apple alters the curity model of future iPhones so that even its own eng ineers’ “reasonable assistance” will not be able to crack a given device when compelled by the government, a precedent t in this ca might lo its lasting force. In other words, even if the F.B.I. wins this ca, in the long run, it los.
36. It is a popular belief that tech companies are committed to protecting their customers’ private data.
37. The US government believes that its access to people’s iPhones could be ud to prevent terrorist attacks.
佘艳
38. A federal court asked Apple to help the FBI access data in a t errorist’s iPhone.
39. Privacy advocates now have Apple fighting alongside them against government access to personal data.
40. Snowden revealed that the American government had tried hard to access private data in massive scale.
41. The FBI might have been able to access private data in earlier iPhones without Apple’s help.
42. After the Snowden incident, Apple made clear its position to counter government intrusion into personal data by means of encryption.
43. According to one digital expert, no iPhone can be entirely free from hacking.
椰子鸡汤的做法44. Timothy Cook’s long web post has helped enhance Apple’s image.
45. Apple’s CEO has decided to appeal the federal court’s order to unlock a ur’s iPhone.
Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this ction. Each passage is followed by some questions or unf
inished 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 Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
At the ba of a mountain in Tanzania’s Gregory Rift,Lake Natron burns bright red, surrounded by the remains of animals that were unfortunate enough to fall into the salty water. Bats, swallows and more are chemically prerved in the po in which they perished, aled in the deposits of sodium carbonate in the water. The lake’s landscape is bizarre and deadly- and made even more so by the fac t that it’s the place where nearly 75perce nt of the world’s flamingos(火烈鸟) are born.
The water is so corrosive that it can burn the skin and eyes of unadapted animals. Flamingos, however, are the only species that actually makes life in the midst of all that death. Once every three or four years, when conditions are right, the lake is covered with the pink birds as they stop flight to breed. Three –quarters of the world’s flamingos fly over from other salt lakes in the Rift Valley and nest on salt- crystal islands that appear when the water is at specific level- too high an d the birds can’t build their nests, too low and predators can more briskly across the lake bed and attack. When the water hits the right level. The baby birds are kept safe form predators by a corrosive ditch.
“Flamingos have evolved very leathery skin on their legs so they can tolerate the salt water,” says David Harper, a professor at the University of Leicester. “ Humans cannot, and would die if their legs were expod for any length of time.” So far this year, water levels have been too high for the flamingos to nest.
Some fish, too, have had limited success vacationing at the lake as less salty lagoons (泻湖) form on the outer edges from hot springs flowing into Lake Natron. Three species of tilapia (罗非鱼) thrive there part-time. “Fish have a refuge i n the streams and can expand into the lagoons when the lake is low and the lagoons are parate,” Harper said. “All the lagoons join when the lake is high and fish m ust retreat to their stream refuges or die.” Otherwi, no fish are able to survive in the naturally toxic lake.
This unique ecosystem may soon be under pressure. The Tanzanian government has once again started mining the lake for soda ash, ud for making chemicals, glass and detergents. Although the planned operation will be located more than 40 miles away, drawing the soda ash in through pipelines, conrvationists worry it could still upt the natural water cycle and breeding grounds. For now, though, life prevails – even in a lake that kills almost everything it touches.
山景46. What can we learn about Lake Natron?
A) It is simply uninhabitable for most animals.
B) It remains little known to the outside world.
C) It is a breeding ground for a variety of birds.
D) It makes an ideal habitat for lots of predators.
47. Flamingos nest only when the lake water is at a specific level so that their babies can ______.
A) find safe shelter more easily C) stay away from predators
B) grow thick feathers on their feet D) get accustomed to the salty water
48. Flamingos in the Rift Valley are unique in that _______.
A) they can move swiftly across lagoons C) they breed naturally in corrosive ditches
B) they can survive well in salty water D) they know where and when to nest
49. Why can certain species of tilapia sometimes survive around Lake Natron?
A) They can take refuge in the less salty waters.
B) They can flee quick enough from predators.
C) They can move freely from lagoon to lagoon.
D) They can stand the heat of the spring water.
50. What may be the conquence of Tanzania n government’s planned operation?
A) The accelerated extinction of flamingos.
B) The change of flamingos’ migration route.圆明园的介绍
C) The overmining of Lake Natron’s soda ash.
D) The disruption of Lake Natron’s ecosystem.
It is the ason for some frantic last-minute math across the country, employees of all stripe are counting backward in an attempt to figure out just how much paid time-off they have left it their rerves. More of them, though, will skip tho calculations altogether and just power through the ho
lidays into 2017: More than half of American workers don’t u up all of thei r allotted vacation days each year.
彭援华
Not so long ago, people would have turned up their nos at that kind of dedication to the job. As marketing professors Silvia Bellezza, Neeru Paharia, and Anat Keinan recently explained in Harvard Business Review (HBR), leisure time was once en as an indicator of high social status, something attainable only for tho at the top. Since the middle of the 20th century, though, things have turned the opposite way –the days, punishing hours at your desk, rather than days off, are en as the mark of someone important.
In a ries of veral experiments, the rearchers illustrated just how much we’ve come to admire busyness, or at least the appearance of it. Volunteers read two passages, on about a man who led a life of leisure and another about a man who was over-worked and over –scheduled; when asked to determine which of the two had a higher social status, the majority of the participants said the latter. The same held true for people who ud products that implied they were short on time: In one experiment, for example, customers of the grocery-delivery rvice Peapod were en as of higher status than people who shopped at grocery stores that were equally expensive; in another, people wearing wireless headphones were considered further up on the social ladder than tho wearing re
gular headphones, even when both were just ud to listen to music.
In part, the authors wrote in HBR, this pattern may have to do with the way work itlf has changed over the past veral decades.
We think that the shift from leisure-as-status to busyness-as-status may be linked to the development of knowledge-intensive economics. In such economies, individuals who posss the human capital characteristics that employers or clients , competence and ambition) are expected to be in high demand and short supply on the job market. Thus, by telling others that we are busy and working all the time, we are implicitly suggesting that we are sought after, which enhances our perceived status.
Even if you feel tempted to sacrifice your own vacation days for fake busyness, though, at least consider leaving your weekends unscheduled. It’s for your own good.
51. What do most employees plan to do towards the end of the year?
A) Go for a vacation. C) Set an objective for next year.
B) Keep on working. D) Review the year’s achievements.
52.How would people view dedication to work in the past?
A) They would regard it as a matter of cour.
B) They would consider it a must for success.
C) They would look upon it with contempt.
D) They would deem it a trick of businessmen.
53. What did the rearchers find through a ries of experiments?
A) The busier one appears, the more respect one earns.
B) The more one works, the more one feels exploited.
C) The more knowledge one has, the more competent one will be.
D) The higher one’s status, the more vacation time one will enjoy.
54. What may account for the change of people’s attitude towards being busy?
A) The fast pace of life in modern society.
B) The fierce competition in the job market.
C) The widespread u of computer technology.
D) The role of knowledge in modern economy.
55. What does the author advi us to do at the end of the passage ?
