Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 passages in this Part. Each passage is followed by some questions or Unfinished 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
（这是一篇报道性的科普文章，文章的主题是气候变化对人类生存的影响。阅读难度较大。）
When global warming finally came, it stuck with a vengeance (异乎寻常地). In some regions, temperatures rose several degrees in less than a century. Sea levels shot up nearly 400 feet, flooding coastal settlements and forcing people to migrate inland. Deserts spread throughout the world as vegetation shifted drastically in North America, Europe and Asia. After driving many of the animals around them to near extinction, people were forced to abandon their old way of life for a radically new survival strategy that resulted in widespread starvation and disease. The adaptation was farming: the global-warming crisis that gave rise to it happened more than l0,000 years ago.
As environmentalists convene in rio de Janeiro this week to ponder the global climate of the future, earth scientists are in the midst of a revolution in understanding how climate has changed in the past --and how those changes have transformed human existence. Researchers have begun to piece together an illuminating picture of the powerful geo1ogical and astronomical forces that have combined to change the planet’s environment from hot to cold, wet to dry and back again over a time Period stretching back hundreds of millions of years.
Most important, scientists are beginning to realize that the climatic changes have had a major impact on the evolution of the human species. New research now suggests that climate shifts have played a key role in nearly every significant turning point in human evolution: from the dawn of Primates (灵长类动物) some 65 million years ago to human ancestors rising up to walk on two legs, from the huge expansion of the human brain to the rise of agriculture. Indeed, the human history has not been merely touched by global climate change, some scientists argue, it has in some instances been driven by it.
The new research has profound implications for the environmental summit in Rio. Among other things, the findings demonstrate that dramatic climate change is nothing new for planet Earth. The benign (宜人的) global environment that has existed over the past l0,000years - during which agriculture, writing, cities and most other features of civilization appeared -- is a mere bright spot in a much large pattern of widely varying climate over
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the ages. In fact the pattern of climate change in the past reveals that Earth’s climate will almost certainly go through dramatic changes in the future -- even without the influence of human activity
2l. Farming emerged as a survival strategy because man had been obliged____________ .
A) to give up his former way of life
B) to leave the coastal areas.
C) to follow the ever-shifting vegetation
D) to abandon his original settlement.
答案为A)
事实细节题。见第一段的倒数第二句话After driving many of the animals around them to near extinction, people were forced to abandon their old way of life for a radically new survival strategy that resulted in widespread starvation and disease. 在使周围的动物濒临灭绝之后，人们被迫放弃旧有的生活方式，采取一种全新的生活策略， 这导致了大范围的饥荒和疾博
22. Earth scientists have come to understand that climate____________ .
A) is going trough a fundamental change
B) has been getting warmer for l0, 000 years
C) will eventually change from hot to cold.
D) has gone through Periodical changes
答案为D)
事实细节题。见第二段的第二句话Researchers have begun to piece together an illuminating picture of the powerful geological and astronomical forces that have combined to change the pl anet’s environment from hot to cold, wet to dry and back again over a time period stretching back hundreds of millions of years.研究人员拚凑起一辐具有启示意义的图画，揭示出正是地质和天文的巨大力量结合在 一起，在过去的几百万年中使地球的环境由热到冷、由潮湿到干燥，周而复始地发生变化。
23. Scientists believe that human evolution____________ .
A) has seldom been accompanied by climatic changes
B) has exerted little influence on climatic changes
C) has large1y been effected by climatic changes
D) has had a major impact on climatic changes
答案为C)
主旨题。本文的主题是气候变化对人类生存的影响。在第二段的开头即 提出了会议的内容，提到了“those changes have transformed human existence”；第三段的第一句话重申了这个主题，说“the climatic changes have had a m ajor impact on the evolution of the human species”，这句话倒过来即是本题题干加 上选项C）的意思。
24. Evidence of past climatic changes indicates that___________ .
A) human activities have accelerated changes of Earth’s environment
B) Earth’s environment will remain mild despite human interference
C) Earth’s climate is bound to change significantly in the future
D) Earth’s climate is unlikely to undergo substantial changes in the future
答案为C）
事实细节题。文章的最后一句话说“过去气候变化的模式说明，即使没有 人类活动的影响，将来地球上的气候也几乎肯定会经历巨大的变化”，C）是本句后面部分 的同义再现。
25. The message the author wishes to convey in the passage is that___________ .
A) human civilization remains glorious though it is affected by climatic changes
B) mankind is virtually helpless in the face of the dramatic changes of climate
C) man has to limit his activities to slow down the global warming process
D) human civilization will continue to develop in spite of the changes of nature
答案为D)
逻辑推断题。解题的线索在第三段的最后一句话：Indeed, the human history has not been merely touched by g
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lobal climate change, some scientists ague, it has in some instances been driven by it. 的确，人类的历史不仅仅受到全球气候变化一些影响。科学家们认为，在有些情况下，正是 气候变化推动了人类历史的发展。
21. A 22. D 23. C 24. C 25. B
Passage two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
这是一篇关于社会问题的议论文，对当今人们一味追求的变瘦（thinness）的趋向，作者先将其作了历史的对比， 之后分析了其原因，最后提出文章的主题：我们不应该过于看重体重，而要重视整体的健康。
No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying often attributed to the late Duchess (公爵夫人 ) of Windsor embodies much of the odd spirit of our times. Being thin is deemed as such virtue.
The Problem with such a view is that some people actually attempt to live by it. I myself have fantasies of slipping into narrow designer clothes. Consequently, I have been on a diet for the better -- or worse -- part of my life. Being rich wouldn’t be bad either, but that won’t happen unless an unknown relative dies suddenly in some distant land, leaving me millions of dollars.
Where did we go off the track? When did eating butter become a sin, and a little bit of extra flesh unappealing, if not repellent? All religions have certain days when People refrain from eating, and excessive eating is one of Christianity’s seven deadly sins. However until quite recently, most People had a problem getting enough to eat. In some religious groups, Wealth was a symbol of probable salvation and high morals, and fatness a sign of wealth and well-being.
Today the Opposite is true. We have shifted to thinness as our new mark of virtue. The result is that being fat -- or even only somewhat overweight -- is bad because it implies a lack of moral strength.
Our obsession (迷恋) with thinness is also fueled by health concerns. It is true that in this country we have more overweight people than ever before, and that, in many cases, being over weight correlates with an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease. These diseases, however, may have as much to do with our way of life and our high-fat diets as with excess weight. And the associated risk of cancer in the digestive system may be more of a dietary problem -- too much fat and a lack of fiber -- than a weight problem.
The real concern, then, is not that we weigh too much, but that we neither exercise enough nor eat well. Exercise is necessary for strong bones and both heart and lung health. A balanced diet without a lot of fat can also help the body avoid many diseases. We should surely stop -paying so much attention to weight. Simply being thin is not enough. It is actually hazardous if those who get (or already are) thin think they are automatically healthy and thus free from paying attention&nbs
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p;to their overall life-style. Thinness can be pure vainglory (虚荣).
26. In the eyes of the author an odd phenomenon nowadays is that ___________ .
A) the Duchess of Windsor is regarded as a woman of virtue
B) looking slim is a symbol of having a large fortune
C) being thin is viewed as a much desired quality
D) religious people are not necessarily virtuous
答案为C)
事实细节题。第一段第二句话中的“odd spirit”指的就是下面的一句话 “Being thin is deemed as such a virtue”。选项C）中的viewed与句中的deemed均指th ought之意；desired quality恰恰就是virtue的解释。
27. Swept by the prevailing trend, the author ___________ .
A) had to go on a diet for the greater part of her life
B) could still prevent herself from going off the track
C) had to seek help from rich distant relatives
D) had to wear highly fashionable clothes
答案为A)
事实细节题。参见第二段的第三句话Consequently, I have been on a diet for the better - or worse - part of my life，在这里的the better part 相当于the greater part，不要被破折号后面的or worse所误导，此处是作者玩的一个文字游戏。 当然本题也可用排除法 。
28. In human history people’s views on body weight ___________ .
A) were closely related to their religious beliefs
B) changed from time to time
C) varied between the poor and the rich
D) led to different moral standards
答案为B)
逻辑推断题。通篇都在讲述人们对体型胖瘦态度随时间变化的不同。
（此题大部分六级辅导用书认为答案应为A）
29. The author criticizes women’s obsession with thinness___________ .
A) from an economic and educational perspective
B) from sociological and medical points of view
C) from a historical and religious standpoint
D) in the light of moral principles
答案为B)
主旨大意题。本题考察学生对文章结构把握的能力。
30. What’s the author’s advice to women who are absorbed in the idea of thinness?
A) They should be more concerned with their overall lifestyle.
B) They should be more watchful for fatal diseases.
C) They should gain weight to look healthy.
D) They should rid themselves of fantasies about designer clothes.
答案为A)
主旨大意+逻辑推断题。本文的主题直到结尾部分才提出来，前面所有的论述都是为了引出这一结论（倒数第二 句话）。尽管通篇都没有出现advice或advise，但此句中作者用了if句型来表达隐含的建议。
试比较：
If you go on like this, you’ll be punished. = Don’t go on like this.
I’ll never finish it if you keep interrupting me. (So don’t interrupt me)
26. C 27. A 28. B 29. B 30. A
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
这是一篇关于人类社会中暴力的描述性文章，全文分成两大部分。第一段为第一部分，指出了人类的暴力的
两个特性：是天生的，但其表现形式又要受社会习惯的制约。
War may be a natural expression of biological instinct and drives toward aggression in the human species. natural impulses of anger, hostility, and territoriality (守卫地盘的天性) are expressed through acts of violence. These are all qualities that humans share with animals. Aggression is a kind of innate (天生的) survival mechanism, an instinct for self-preservation, that&
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nbsp;allows animals to defend themselves from threats to their existence. But, on the other hand, human violence shows evidence of being a learned behavior. In the case of human aggression, violence can not be simply reduced to an instinct. The many expressions of human violence are always conditioned by social conventions that give shape to aggressive behavior. In human societies violence has a social function: It is a strategy for creating or destroying forms of social order. Religious traditions have taken a leading role in directing the powers of violence. We will look at the ritual and ethical (道德上的) patterns within which human violence has been directed.
The violence within a society is controlled through institutions of law .The more developed a legal system becomes, the more society takes responsibility for the discovery, control, and punishment of violent acts. In most tribal societies the only means to deal with an act of violence is revenge. Each family group may have the responsibility for personally carrying out judgment and punishment upon the person who committed the offense. But in legal systems, the responsibility for revenge becomes depersonalized and diffused. The society assumes the responsibility for protecting individuals from violence. In cases where they cannot be protected, the society is responsible for imposing punishment. In a state controlled legal system, individuals are removed from the cycle of revenge motivated by acts of violence, and the state assumes responsibility for their protection.
The other side of a state legal apparatus is a state military apparatus. while the one protects the individual from violence, the other sacrifices the individual to violence in the interests of the state. In war the state affirms supreme power over the individuals within its own borders. War is not simply a trial by combat to settle disputes between states; it is the moment when the state makes its most powerful demands upon its people for their commitment, allegiance, and supreme sacrifice.
Times of war test a community’s deepest religious and ethical commitments.
31. Human violence shows evidence of being a learned behavior in that___________ .
A) it threatens the existing social systems
B) it is influenced by society
C) it has roots in religious conflicts
D) it is directed against institutions of law
答案为B)
细节题。第一段指出了人类暴力的两个特性，其中第二个特性就是它是“a learned behavior”。可以知道本 题的答案应该就在第一段的后面部分。接下来的第二句话即说人类暴力的诸多表现形式都受社会习惯的制约：The many expressions of human violence are always conditioned by social conventions that give shape to aggressive behavior.人类暴力的诸多表现形式都受社会习惯的制约，将其定型为侵略性行为。此可较有把握地选择出B）。
32. The function of legal systems, according to the passage, is___________ .
A) to control violence within a society
B) to protect the world from ch
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aos
C) to free society from the idea of revenge
D) to give the government absolute power
答案为A)
细节题。见第二段的第一句话：The violence within a society is controlled through institutions of law .
33. What does the author mean by saying "... in legal systems, the responsibility for revenge becomes depersonalized and diffused”(Lines 5-6, Para. 2)?
A) Legal systems greatly reduce the possibilities of physical violence.
B) Offenses against individuals are no longer judged on a personal basis.
C) Victims of violence find it more difficult to take revenge.
D) Punishment is not carried out directly by the individuals involved.
答案为D)
逻辑推断题。解题时要注意题干中这句话开头的“but”一词，既然该句是由but引导的转折，则上文往往是理 解该题的关键。在上面一句中，作者提到在部落社会中，对犯罪者的审判和惩罚往往由家族进行，接下来话锋 一转，说在法律系统中，这种报复的责任已经非个人化了、分散了，也就是说，不是由所涉及的个人来进行了 ，故D）正确。
34. The world “allegiance" (Line 5, Para. 3) is closest in meaning to ___________ .
A) loyalty C) survival
B) objective D) motive
答案为A)
词汇题。解本题可用同类词关系进行判断。在“allegiance”前后的两个主词分别是commitment和 sacrifice ，应能判断出这三个词相对于国家而言是同一类词，再利用排除法，不难选出正确答案A）。
35. What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A) Governments tend to abuse their supreme Power in times of war
B) In times of war governments may extend their power across national borders.
C) In times of war governments impose high religious and ethical standards on their people.
D) Governments may sacrifice individuals in the interests of the state in times of war.
答案为D)
主旨大意题。最后一段的主旨较为明显，说的是国家司法机器的另一方面，即军事机器，开头第二句说得很明 确，这一方面是为了国家的利益而牺牲个人，恰好是选项D）的意义。
31. B 32. A 33. D 34. A 35. D
Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.
这是一篇关于文化研究方法的描述性文章，文章的三段即它的三个部分。第一段指出研究者要注意的一个问题， 同时也是后文的引子。第二段说明了两种研究方法的不同，第三段举例说明了这两种方法的运用。
Researchers who are unfamiliar with the cultural and ethnic groups they are studying must take extra precautions to shed any biases they bring with them from their own culture. For example, they must make sure they construct measures that are meaningful for each of the cultural or ethnic minority groups being studied.
In conducting research on culture and ethnic minority issues, investigators distinguish between the emic approach and the etic approach. In the emic approach, the goal is to describe behavior in one culture or ethnic group in terms that are meaningful and important to the People in that culture or ethnic group, without regard to other cultures or ethnic groups. In the etic approach, the goal is to describe behavior so that generalizations can be made across cultures. If researchers construct a questionnaire in an emic fashion, their concern is only that the questions are meaningful to the particular culture or ethnic group being studied. If, however, the researchers construct a questionnaire in an etic fashion, they want to include questions that reflect concepts fa
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miliar to all cultures involved.
How might the emic and etic approaches be reflected in the study of family processes? In the emic approach, the researchers might choose to focus only on middle-class White families, without regard for whether the information obtained in the study can be generalized or is appropriate for ethic minority groups. In a subsequent study the researchers may decide to adopt an etic approach by studying not only middle-class, White families, but also lower-income White families, Black American families, Spanish American families, and Asian American families. In studying ethnic minority families, the researchers would likely discover that the extended family is more frequently a support system in ethnic minority families than in White American families. If so, the emic approach would reveal a different pattern of family interaction than would the etic approach, documenting that research with middle-class White families cannot always be generalized to all ethnic groups.
36. According to the first paragraph, researchers unfamiliar with the target cultures are inclined to ___________ .
A) be overcautious in constructing meaningful measures
B) view them from their own cultural perspective
C) guard against interference from their own culture
D) accept readily what is alien to their own culture
答案为B)
逻辑推断题。本题的关键是要细心。题干的意思是“…研究人员往往会……”，而第一段的第一句话说的是他 们应该怎么做，意思恰恰相反。注意这一点之后，就可以推断出原文中他们要注意避免的事情就是他们往往做 的事情，亦即带上他们自己的文化偏见，换句话说，就是B）中的“用他们自己的文化眼光去看待”被研究的文 化。
37. What does the author say about the emic approach and the etic approach?
A) They have different research focuses in the study of ethnic issues.
B) The former is biased while the latter is objective.
C) The former concentrates on the study of culture while the latter on family
issues.
D) They are both heavily dependent on questionnaires in conducting surveys.
答案为A)
逻辑推断题。第二段的第二、三两句是解决本题也是理解全文的关键。据此，两种研究方法的不同主要在于其 目的的不同，因而研究的焦点也就不同。
38. Compared with the etic approach, the emic approach is apparently more ___________ .
A) culturally interactive B) culture-oriented
C) culturally biased D) culture-specific
答案为D)
逻辑推断题。文章第二段提到，etic方法的目的是描述能够在不同的文化间得到概括的行为（第三句话），而 emic方法的目的仅是研究对某个群体而言是有意义的和重要的行为：In the emic approach, the goal is to describe behavior in one culture or ethnic group in terms that are meaningful and important to the people in that culture or ethnic group, without regard to other cultures or ethnic groups.采取emic（位）研究方法时，研究的目的是描述对一个文化群体或种族 群体的人们而言是有意义的和重要的行为，而不管考虑别的文化群体或种族群体。，因此可知emic方法更为 文化具体。其它选项的意思是A）文化上互动性强，B）源于文化的，C）文化上有偏见的，均与原义不符。
39. The etic approach is concerned with___________ .
A) the general characteristics of minority families
B) culture-related concepts of individual ethnic groups
C) features shared by various cultures or ethnic groups
D) the economic conditions of different types of families
答案为C)
细节题。请见上题注解。
40.
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;Which of the following is true of the ethnic minority families in the U.S. according to the passage?
A) Their cultural patterns are usually more adaptable.
B) Their cultural concepts are difficult to comprehend.
C) They don’t interact with each other so much as White families.
D) They have closer family ties than White families.
答案为D) 逻辑推断题。第二段的倒数第二句话后面说，“较之白人家庭，在少数民族家庭中，扩展的家庭更为经常是一 个支撑系统”，言外之意即是说他们的家庭纽带更紧密一些。
36. B 37. A38. D 39. C 40. D
***以上解析来自双博士系列《六级考试历年真题解析》北京邮电大学出版社2002年9月修订第五版，有删改。（另注：本书配套磁带录音人为Paul Denman 和 Claire Davies, 因为Claire的回国，今年夏天以后这对黄金搭档再也没有合作录制过磁带。他们的合作，曾经代表了北京各大学录音室的最高水平。）
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