1990年6月大学英语六级考试真题
日期:2009-05-03 15:39

(单词翻译:单击)

 Part I Listening Comprehension (20 minutes)
  Section A

  1. A) A new house cost thirty thousand dollars.

  B) Bob's house cost him sixty thousand dollars.

  C) Bob didn't want to buy an old house.

  D) Bob decided to buy an old house.

  2. A) Yes, but he needs to have the approval of his professor.

  B) Yes, he can study there if he is writing a research paper.

  C) Yes, because he is a senior student.

  D) No, it' s open only to teachers and postgraduates.

  3. A) He doesn't like seafood any more.

  B) A seafood dinner is too expensive.

  C) He doesn't have enough money.

  D) He likes seafood very much.

  4. A) He went to the hospital to take his wife home.

  B) He stayed in the hospital until very late.

  He tried to call the woman several times.

  He went to the hospital at midnight yesterday.

  5. Her errors were mainly in the reading part.

  B) It wasn't very challenging to her.

  C) It was more difficult than she had expected.

  D) She made very few grammatical mistakes in her test.

  6. A) 6 hours. B) 4 hours. C) 12 hours. D) 18 hours.

  7. A) It' s dirty. B) It' s faded. C) It' s dyed. D) It' s torn.

  8. A) Sixteen dollars. B) Eight d, ollars.

  C) Ten dollars. D) Twelve dollars.

  9. A) His watch will be fixed no later than next Monday.

  B) His watch needs to be repaired.

  C) He may come again for his watch at the weekend.

  D) The woman won't repair his watch until next Monday.

  10. A) The things to do on Monday morning.

  B) The weather on Monday morning.

  C) The time to see John.

  D) The place John should go to.

  Section B

  Passage One

  Questions 11 to 14 are based on the passage you have just heard.

  11. A) The number of its readers. B) Its unusual location.

  C) Its comfortable chairs. D) Its spacious rooms.

  12. A) The latest version of the Bible.

  B) A book written by Columbus.

  C) A map of the New World.

  D) One of the earliest copies of Shakespeare's work.

  13. A) It has too few employees.

  B) It lacks money to cover its expenses.

  C) It is over crowded.

  D) It is growing too rapidly.

  14. A) From Monday to Friday. B) From Monday to Saturday.

  C) Every day. D) On Saturdays and Sundays.

  Passage Two

  Questions 15 to 17 are based on the passage you have just heard.

  15. A) They would train the children to be happy street cleaners.

  B) They would make the children great scholars.

  C) They intended to train the children as adults were trained.

  D) They would give the children freedom to fully develop themselves.

  16. A) Some children are good, some are not.

  B) Children are good by nature.

  C) Most children are nervous.

  D) Children are not as brave as adults.

  17. A) He thinks a scholar is more respectable than a street cleaner.

  B) He thinks highly of teaching as a profession.

  C) He thinks all jobs are equally good so long as people like them.

  D) He thinks a street cleaner is happier than a scholar.

  Passage Three

  Questions 18 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.

  18. A) The daughter of a prison guard.

  B) The Emperor of Rome.

  C) A Christian couple.

  D) A Christian named Valentine.

  19. A) To propose marriage.

  B) To celebrate Valentine's birthday.

  C) To express their respect for each other.

  D) To show their love.

  20. A) It is an American folktale.

  B) It is something recorded in Roman history.

  C) It is one of the possible origins of this holiday.

  D) It is a story from the Bible.

  Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

  Passage One

  Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

  One day in January 1913. G.H. Hardy, a famous Cambridge University mathematician received a letter from an Indian named Srinivasa Ramanujan asking him for his opinion of 120 mathematical theorems(定理) that Ramanujan said he had discovered. To Hardy, many of the theorems made no sense. Of the others, one or two were already well - known. Ramanjuan must be some kind of trickplayer, Hardy decided, and put the letter aside. But all that day the letter kept hanging round Hardy. Might there be something in those wild - looking theorems?That evening Hardy invited another brilliant Cambridge mathematician, J.E. Littlewood,and the two men set out to assess the Indian's worth. That incident was a turning point in the history of mathematics.

  At the time, Ramanujan was an obscure Madras Port Trust clerk. A little more than a year later, he was at Cambridge University, and beginning to be recognized as one of the most amazing mathematicians the world has ever known. Though he died in 1920, much of his work was so far in advance of his time that only in recent years is it beginning to be properly understood.

  Indeed, his results are helping solve today' s problems in computer science and physics, problems that he could have had no notion of.

  For Indians, moreover, Ramanujan has a special significance. Ramanujan, though born in poor and ill - paid accountant' s family 100 years ago, has inspired many Indians to adopt mathematics as career.

  Much of Ramanujan' s work is in number theory, a branch of mathematics that deals with the subtle(难以捉摸的) laws and relationships that govern numbers. Mathematicians describe his results as elegant and beautiful but they are much too complex to be appreciated by laymen.

  His life, though, is full of drama and sorrow. It is one of the great romantic stories of mathematics, a distressing reminder that genius can surface and rise in the most unpromising circumstances.

  21. When Hardy received the 120 theorems from Ramanujan, his attitude at first might be best described as

  A) uninterested B) unsympathetic C) suspicious D) curious

  22. Ramanujan's position in Cambridge University owed much to

  A) the judgement of his work by Hardy and Littlewood

  B) his letter of application accepted by Hardy

  C) his work as a clerk at Madras Port Trust

  D) his being recognized by the world as a famous mathematician

  23. It may be inferred from the passage that the author

  A) feels sorry for Ramanujan's early death

  B) is dissatisfied with the slow development of computer science

  C) is puzzled about the complexity of Ramanujan's theorems

  D) greatly appreciates Ramanujan's mathematical genius

  24. In the last paragraph, the author points out that

  A) Ramanujan's mathematical theorems were not appreciated by other mathematicians

  B) extremely talented people can prove their worth despite difficult circumstances

  C) Ramanujan also wrote a number of stories about mathematics

  D) Ramanujan had worked out an elegant but complicated method of solving problems

  25. The word "laymen"( Last para, Lind 6) most probably means

  A) people who do not specialize in mathematical science

  B) people who are careless

  C) people who are not interested in mathematics

  D) people who don't like to solve complicated problems

  Passage Two

  Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

  Even if all the technical and intellectual problems can be solved, there are major socialproblems inherent in the computer revolution. The most obvious is unemployment, since the basic purpose of commercial computerization is to get more work done by fewer people. One British study predicts that "automation induced unemployment" in Western Europe could reach 16~,6 in the next decade, but most analyses are more optimistic. The general rule seems to be that new technology eventually creates as many jobs as it destroys, and often more. "People who put in computers usually increase their staffs as well" says CPT's Scheff. "Of course," he adds,"one industry may kill another industry. That' s tough on some people."

  Theoretically, all unemployed workers can be retrained, but retraining programs are not high on the nation' s agenda(议事日程). Many new jobs, moreover, will require an ability in using computers, and the retraining needed to use them will have to be repeated as the technology keeps improving. Says a chilling report by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment:

  "Lifelong retraining is expected to become the standard for many people. "There is a already considerable evidence that the school children now being educated in the use of computers are generally the children of the white middle class. Young blacks, whose unemployment rate stands today at 50 96, will find another barrier in front of them.

  Such social problems are not the fault of the computer, of course, but a consequence of the way the American society might use the computer. "Even in the days of the Big, main- frame computers, when they were a machine for the few." says Katherine Davis Fishman, author of The Computer Establishment, "it was a tool to help the rich get richer. It still is to a large extent. One of the great values of the personal computer is that smaller firms, smaller organizations can now have some of the advantages of the bigger organizations."

  26. The closest restatement of "one industry may kill another industry" ( Para. I Lind 11) is that

  A) industries tend to compete with one another

  B) one industry might be driven out of business by another industry

  C) one industry may increase its staff at the expense of another

  D) industries tend to combine into bigger ones

  27. The word "chilling" (Para. 2, Line 5) most probably means

  A) misleading B) convincing C) discouraging D) interesting

  28. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

  A) Computers are efficient in retraining unempleyed workers.

  B) Computers may offer more working opportunities than they destroy.

  C) Computers will increase the unemployment rate of young blacks.

  D) Computers can help smaller organizations to function more effectively.

  29. From the passage it can be inferred that

  A) all school children are offered a course in the use of computers

  B) all unemployed workers are being retrained

  C) retraining programmes are considered very important by the government

  D) in reality only a certain portion of unemployed'workers will be retrained

  30. The major problem discussed in the passage is

  A) the importance of lifelong retraining of the unemployed workers

  B) the social consequences of the widespread use of computers in the United States

  C) the barrier to the employment of young people

  D) the general rule of the advancement of technology

  Passage Three

  Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

  Mobility of individual members and family groups tends to split up family relationships.

  Occasionally the movement of a family away from a situation which has been the source of friction results in greater family organization, but on the whole mobility is disorganizing.

  Individuals and families are involved in three types of mobility: movement in space,movement up or down in social status, and the movement of ideas. These are termed respectively spatial, vertical, and ideational mobility.

  A great increase in spatial mobility has gone along with improvements in rail and water transportation, the invention and use of the automobile, and the availability of airplane passenger service. Spatial mobility results in a decline in the importance of the traditional home with its emphasis on family continuity and stability. It also means that when individual family members or the family as a whole move away from a community, the person or the family is removed from the pressures of relatives, friends, and community institutions for conventionality and stability. Even more important is the fact that spatial mobility permits some members of a family to come in contact with and possibly adopt attitudes, values, and ways of thinking different from those held by other family members. The presence of different attitudes, values, and ways of thinking with in a family may, and often does, result in conflict and family disorganization. Potential disorganization is present in those families in which the husband, wife, and children are spatially separated over a long period, or are living together but see each other only briefly because of different work schedules.

  One index of the increase in vertical mobility is the great increase in the proportion of sons, and to some extent daughters, who engage in occupations other than those of the parents.

  Another index of vertical mobility is the degree of intermarrigae between racial classes. This occurs almost exclusively between classes which are adjacent to each other. Engaging in a different occupation, or intermarriage, like spatial mobility, allows one to come in contact with ways of behavior different from those of the parental home, and tends to separate parents and their children.

  31. What the passage tells us can be summarized by the statement:

  A) social development results in a decline in the impotance of traditional families

  B) potential disorganization is present in the American family

  C) family disorganization is more or less the result of mobility

  D) the movement of a family is one of the factors in raising its social status

  32. According to the passage, those who live in a traditional family

  A) are less likely to quarrel with others because of conventionality and stability

  B) have to depend on their relatives and friends if they do not move away from it

  C) can get more help from their family members if they are in trouble

  D) will have more freedom of action and thought if they move away from it.

  33. Potential disorganization exists in those families in which

  A) the husband, wife, and children work too hard

  B) the husband, wife, and children seldom get together

  C) both parents have to work full time

  D) the family members are subject to social pressures

  34. Intermarriage and different occupations play an important role in family disorganization because

  A) they enable the children to travel around without their parents' permission

  B) they allow one to find a good job and improve one's social status

  C) they enable the children to better understand the ways of behavior of their parents

  D) they permit one to come into contact with different ways of behavior and thinking

  35. This passage suggests that a well - organized family is a family whose members

  A) are not psychologically withdrawn from one another

  B) never quarrel with each other even when they disagree

  C) often help each other with true love and affection

  D) are exposed to the same new ideas introduced by books, radios, and TV sets


  Passage Four

  Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:

  To call someone bird - brained in English means you think that person is silly or stupid.

  But will this description soon disappear from use in the light of recent research? It seems the English may have been unfair in association bird's brains with stupidity.

  In an attempt to find out how different creatures see the world, psychologists at Brown University in the USA have been comparing the behaviour of birds and humans. One experiment has involved teaching pigeons to recognize letters of the English alphabet. The birds study in "classrooms", which are boxes equipped with a computer. After about four days of studying a particular letter, the pigeon has to pick out that letter from several displayed on the computer screen. Three male pigeons have learnt to distinguish all twenty - six letters of the alphabet in this way.

  A computer record of the birds's fourmonth study period has shown surprising similarities between the pigeons' and human performance. Pigeons and people find the same letters easy, or hard, to tell apart. For example, 92 per cent of the time the pigeons could tell the letter D from the letter Z. But when faced with U and V(often confused by English children), the pigeons were right only 34 per cent of the time.

  The results of the experiments so far have led psychologists to conclude that pigeons and humans observe things in similar ways. This suggests that there is something fundamental about the recognition process. If scientists could only discover just what this recognition process is it could be very useful for computer designers. The disadvantage of a presen computer is that it can only do what a human being has programmed it to do and the programmer must give the computer precise, logical instructions. Maybe in the future, though, computers will be able to think like human beings.

  36. The writer suggests that the expression "bird - brained" might be out of use soon because it is

  A) silly B) impolite C) unnecessary D) inappropriate

  37. Psychologists have been experimenting with pigeons to find out whether the brids

  A) are really silly or stupid

  B) can learn to make ideas known to people

  C) see the world as human beings do

  D) learn more quickly than children

  38. U and V are confused by

  A) 92 per cent of pigeons

  B) many English children

  C) most people learning English

  D) 34 per cent of English children

  39. There are similarities in observing things by pigeons and humans

  A) because pigeons are taught by humans

  B) because pigeons have brains more developed than other birds

  C) because their basic ways to know the world are the same

  D) because pigeons and humans have similar brains

  40. The research may help

  A) computer designers B) computer salesmen

  C) psychologists D) teachers

  Part III Vocabulary and Structure ( 20 minutes)

  Directions: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four

  choices marked A ), B ) , C) and D ) . Choose the ONE that best completes the sentence. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line

  through the centre.

  41. Germans used to believe that all other races were inferior _______ them.

  A) than B) for C) to D) from

  42. The main road through Pitsburgh ws blocked for three hours today after an accident_______ two trucks.

  A) connecting B) combining , C) including D) involving

  43. Many parents think that a regular _______ is an excellen way to teach children the value of money.

  A) allowance B) grant C) aid D) amount

  44. The girl is so sensitive that she is_______ to get angry at the slightest offence.

  A) adaptable B) liable C) fit D) suitable

  45. He was at the _______ of his career when he was murdered.

  A) glory B) power C) pride D) height

  46. I have never met the professor though I have been in correspondence him for several years.

  A) with B) by C) of D) to

  47. _______ they must learn in a course is not provided in the classroom.

  A) Many things B) So much C) Much of what D) All what

  48. Of the immigrants who came to America in the first three quarters of the seventeenth century,the _______ majority was English.

  A) overwhelming B) overflowing C) overtaking D) overloading

  49. You can't be _______ careful in making the decision as it is such a critical case.

  A) quite B) too C) very D) so

  50. By the first decade of the 21st century, international commercial air traffic is expected _______ vastly beyond today's levels.

  A) to have extended B) to be extending

  C) being extended D) having been extended

  51. The doctor warned his patient that _______ should he return to work until he had completely recovered.

  A) on all accounts B) on no account

  C) on any account D) on every account

  52. We started burning some leaves in our yard, but the fire got _______and we had to call the fire department to put it out:

  A) out of hand B) out of order

  C) out of the question D) out of the way

  53. If an earthquake occurred, some of the one- storey houses

  A) might be standing left B) might be left standing

  C) might leave to be standing D) might be left to stand

  54. The professor picked several students _______ from the class and asked them to help him with the experiment.

  A) at ease B) at all C) at random D) at hand

  55. Every year there is some _______ of the laws.

  A) transformation B) identification C) correction D) alteration

  56. Some people believe that proficiency in a foreign language is not achieved through teaching and learning but _______ through actual use.

  A) received B) accepted C) derived D) aequird

  57. It is said that somewhere between the ages of 6 and 9, children begin to think _______ in-stead of concretely.

  A) logically B) reasonably C) abstractly D) generally

  58. Sea food of all kinds is _______ in the states that border the oceans.

  A) abandoned B) advantageous C) abundant D) accumulated

  59. I can't back the car because there is a truck _______

  A) in every way B) in a way C) in the way D) in any way :

  60. _______as a poor boy in a family of seventeen children. Benjamin Franklin became famous on both sides of the Atlantic as a statesman, scientist, and author.

  A) Starting B) Started C) Being started D) To have started

  61. Though I've never seen you before. I guess you _______ be the new secretary.

  A) should B) must C) would D) could

  62. This store has an excellent _______ for fair dealing.

  A) repetition B) reputation C) authority D) popularity

  63. The atmosphere is as much a part of the earth as _______ its soils and the water of its lakes, rivers and oceans.

  A) has B) do C) is D) are

  64. Her terror was so great _______ somewhere to escape, she would have run for her life.

  A) only if there had been B) that there had only been

  C) that had there only been D) if there was only

  65. While you pedal away on the exercise bicycle, a machine will be _______ your breathing and pulse.

  A) reviewing B) screening C) surveying D) monitoring

  66. Understanding the cultural habits of another nation, especially _______ containing as many different subcultures as the United States is a complex task.

  A) these B) that C) one D) such

  67. Their bedroom windows _______ a lovely garden.

  A) look up to B) look out for C) look forwad to D) look out on

  68. I hoped to get the house but a rich man was _______ against me.

  A) bidding B) disputing C) betting D) testifying

  69. His first novel 'Night' was an account of the Nazi crimes _______ through the eyes of a teenaged boy.

  A) and were seen B) which saw

  C) but was seen D) as seen

  70. The judge recommended that he _______ for at least three years.

  A) was not released B) not be released

  C) had not been released D) not released

  Part 1V Error Correction (15 minutes)

  Example:

  Television is rapidly becoming the literature of our periods . 1. time

  Many of the arguments having used for the study of literature a 2.

  school subject are valid for study of television. 3. the

  Quite recently researcher have reviewed the

  causes of motion sickness and methods with which

  it may be suppressed. They concentrated first of

  all in motion sickness which develops in children 71.__________

  travelling in the back seat of cars.

  A lot of children suffer terribly from car

  sick. What's required is to provide the child with 72.__________

  the visual field he has in walk. So objects at 73.___________

  a distance in the center of the field remain

  stationary while those in teh peripheral field

  appear to move. This can be achieved by

  positioning the child in a raised seat in the

  front of the car, that, of course, isn' t very 74.___________

  sensible in terms of safety.

  Looking at the horizon is always beneficial

  to anyone develops sea sickness, because it' s the 75.__________

  only object which doesn't move. If he is below

  deck, closing his eyes is helpful. It' s better to

  have no visual information but something which 76.____________

  results in conflict.

  Taking drugs is one way to prevent motion

  sickness. In the fact, it' s interesting to note 77.____________

  that these have been excluded in medical kits 78.____________

  used in space flights. Astronauts have been known

  to develop motion sickness, too: Drugs are fine

  in moderation. We human beings, moreover, are not 79.___________

  alone in our suffering. Dogs, cats and horses are

  also easily effected. Even fish in glass 80.____________

  containers on ships sometimes become seasick.

  Part V Writing (30 minutes)

  Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic:

  How to Solve the Housing Problem in Big Cities. Four suggested solutions to this problem are listed below. You are supposed to write in favour of one suggestion (ONE only) and against another (ONE only). You should give your reasons in both cases. You should write no less than 120 words. Remember to give a short introduction and a brief conclusion. Write your composition clearly.

  四种可能解决住房问题的方案:

  1.多造高层建筑

  2.向地下发展

  3.建造卫星城市

  4.疏散城市人口

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重点单词
  • remindern. 提醒物,提示
  • geniusn. 天才,天赋
  • availabilityn. 有效,有用,有益;可得到的人(或物)
  • stupidityn. 愚蠢
  • disadvantagen. 不利,不利条件,损害,损失
  • senioradj. 年长的,高级的,资深的,地位较高的 n. 年长
  • liableadj. 有义务的,应负责的,有 ... 倾向
  • dissatisfiedadj. 不满意的;不高兴的;流露不满的 v. 使不满(
  • preventv. 预防,防止
  • declinen. 衰微,跌落; 晚年 v. 降低,婉谢