E) In her work, she revealed a side of nature so exotic, dramatic and valuable to Europeans of the time that she received much acclaim. But a century later, her findings came under scientific criticism. Shoddy（粗糙的）reproductions of her work along with setbacks to women's roles in 18th- and 19th- century Europe resulted in her efforts being largely forgotten. \off into oblivion（遗忘）,\trying to crawl out of it.\
F) Today, the pioneering woman of the sciences has re-emerged. In recent years, feminists，historians and artists have all praised Merian's tenacity（坚韧）, talent and inspirational artistic compositions. And now biologists like Dr. Etheridge are digging into the scientific texts that accompanied her art. Three hundred years after her death, Merian will be celebrated at an international symposium in Amsterdam this June.
G) And last month, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium was republished. It contains 60 plates (插图）and original descriptions, along with stories about Merian's life and updated scientific descriptions. Before writing Metamorphosis, Merian spent decades documenting European plants and insects that she published in a series of books. She began in her 20s, making textless, decorative paintings of flowers with insects. \butterflies and caterpillars. \桶）so she could draw them,\
H) The results of her decades' worth of careful observations were detailed paintings and descriptions of European insects, followed by unconventional visuals and stories of insects and animals from a land that most at the time could only imagine. It's possible Merian used a magnifying glass to capture the detail of the split tongues of sphinx moths (斯芬克斯飞蛾）depicted in the painting. She wrote that the two tongues combine to form one tube for drinking nectar (花蜜）. Some criticized this detail later, saying there was just one tongue, but Merian wasn't wrong. She may have observed the adult moth just as it emerged from its pupa. For a brief moment during that stage of its life cycle, the tongue consists of two tiny half-tubes before merging into one.
I) It may not have been ladylike to depict a giant spider devouring a hummingbird, but when Merian did it at the turn of the 18th century, surprisingly, nobody objected. Dr. Etheridge called it revolutionary. The image, which also contained novel descriptions of ants, fascinated a European audience that was more concerned with the exotic story unfolding before them than the gender of the person who painted it. J) \Victorian era thought differently. Her work had been reproduced, sometimes incorrectly. A few
observations were deemed impossible. \a bird,\book in 1863, proving Merian was correct.
K) In the same plate, Merian depicted and described leaf-cutter ants for the first time. \are large ants which can eat whole trees bare as a broom handle in a single night, she wrote in the description. Merian noted how the ants took the leaves below ground to their young. And she wouldn't have known this at the time, but the ants use the leaves to farm fungi (菌类）underground to feed their developing babies.
L) Merian was correct about the giant bird-eating spiders, ants building bridges with their bodies and other details. But in the same drawing, she incorrectly lumped together army and leaf-cutter ants. And
instead of showing just the typical pair of eggs in a hummingbird nest, she painted four. She made other mistakes in Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium as well: not every caterpillar and butterfly matched.
M) Perhaps one explanation for her mistakes is that she cut short her Suriname trip after getting sick, and completed the book at home in Amsterdam. And errors are common among some of history's most- celebrated scientific minds, too. \misconceptions published by Charles Darwin or Isaac Newton, \argued that too many have wrongly focused on the mistakes of her work.
N) Merian's paintings inspired artists and ecologists. In an 1801 drawing from his book, General Zoology Amphibia, George Shaw, an English botanist and zoologist, credited Merian for describing a frog in the account of her South American expedition, and named the young tree frog after her in his portrayal of it. It wouldn't be fair to give Merian all the credit. She received assistance naming plants, making sketches and referencing the work of others. Her daughters helped her color her drawings.
O) Merian also made note of the help she received from the natives of Suriname, as well as slaves or servants that assisted her. In some instances she wrote moving passages that included her helpers in descriptions. As she wrote in her description of the peacock flower, \by their Dutch masters, use the seeds to abort their children, so that they will not become slaves like themselves. The black slaves from Guinea and Angola have demanded to be well treated, threatening to refuse to have children. In fact, they sometimes take their own lives because they are treated so badly, and because they believe they will be born again, free and living in their own land. They told me this themselves. \
P) Londa Schiebinger, a professor of the history of science at Stanford University, called this passage rather astonishing. It's particularly striking centuries later when these issues are still prominent in public discussions about social justice and women's rights. \36. Merian was the first scientist to study a type of American ant. K
37. The European audience was more interested in Merian's drawings than her gender.I 38. Merian's masterpiece came under attack a century after its publication.E
39. Merian's mistakes in her drawings may be attributed to her shortened stay in South America.M 40. Merian often sat up the whole night through to observe and draw insects.G 41. Merian acknowledged the help she got from natives of South America.O
42. Merian contributed greatly to people's better understanding of medicine and science.C 43. Merian occasionally made mistakes in her drawings of insects and birds.L 44. Now, Merian's role as a female forerunner in sciences has been re-established.F
45. Merian made a long voyage to South America to study jungle insects over three centuries ago.D Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. 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 Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
While human achievements in mathematics continue to reach new levels of complexity, many of us who aren't mathematicians at heart (or engineers by trade) may struggle to remember the last time we used calculus (微积分）.
It's a fact not lost on American educators, who amid rising math failure rates are debating how math can better meet the real-life needs of students. Should we change the way math is taught in schools, or eliminate some courses entirely?
Andrew Hacker, Queens College political science professor, thinks that advanced algebra and other higher-level math should be cut from curricula in favor of courses with more routine usefulness, like statistics.
\around us,\not everybody has to know calculus. If you're going to become an aeronautical (航空的）engineer, fine. But most of us aren't.\
Instead, Hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at Queens College： Numeracy 101. There, his students of \corporate reports. Such courses, Hacker argues, are a remedy for the numerical illiteracy of adults who have completed high-level math like algebra but are unable to calculate the price of, say, a carpet by area.
Hacker's argument has met with opposition from other math educators who say what's needed is to help students develop a better relationship with math earlier, rather than teaching them less math altogether. Maria Droujkova is a founder of Natural Math, and has taught basic calculus concepts to 5-year-olds. For Droujkova, high-level math is important, and what it could use in American classrooms is an injection of childlike wonder.
\of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had bad experiences. \Pamela Harris, a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, has a similar perspective. Harris says that American education is suffering from an epidemic of \一an emphasis on rote memorization (死记硬背）of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how math can influence the ways we see the world.
Andrew Hacker, for the record, remains skeptical.
\interesting and exciting so students want to take it,\offered instead of putting all of us on the road to calculus. \46. What does the author say about ordinary Americans? A) They struggle to solve math problems. B) They think math is a complex subject. C) They find high-level math of little use. D) They work hard to learn high-level math.
47. What is the general complaint about America's math education according to Hacker? A) America is not doing as well as China.
B) Math professors are not doing a good job. C) It doesn't help students develop their literacy. D) There has hardly been any innovation for years. 48. What does Andrew Hacker's Numeracy 101 aim to do? A) Allow students to learn high-level math step by step. B) Enable students to make practical use of basic math. C) Lay a solid foundation for advanced math studies. D) Help students to develop their analytical abilities.
49. What does Maria Droujkova suggest math teachers do in class? A) Make complex concepts easy to understand. B) Start teaching children math at an early age. C) Help children work wonders with calculus. D) Try to arouse students' curiosity in math.
50. What does Pamela Harris think should be the goal of math education? A) To enable learners to understand the world better. B) To help learners to tell fake math from real math. C) To broaden Americans' perspectives on math. D) To exert influence on world development. Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
For years, the U. S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then. So what's the solution? Robots.
Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend. Toyohashi University of Technology has developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. This type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact.
Robots capable of social engagement help with loneliness as well as cognitive functioning, but the robot itself doesn't have to engage directly—it can serve as an intermediary for human communication. Telepresence robots such as MantaroBot, Vgo, and Giraff can be controlled through a computer, smartphone, or tablet, allowing family members or doctors to remotely monitor patients or Skype them, often via a screen where the robot's ' face' would be. If you can't get to the nursing home to visit grandma, you can use a telepresence robot to hang out with her. A 2016 study found that users had a \positive attitude\loneliness.
A robot's appearance affects its ability to successfully interact with humans, which is why the RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research decided to develop a robotic nurse that looks like a huge teddy bear. RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance), also known as ‘Robear', can help patients into and out of wheelchairs and beds with its strong arms.
On the less cute and more scary side there is Actroid F, which is so human-like that some patients may not know the difference. This conversational robot companion has cameras in its eyes, which allow it to track patients and use appropriate facial expressions and body language in its interactions. During a month- long hospital trial, researchers asked 70 patients how they felt being around the robot and \three or four said they didn't like having it around.\
It's important to note that robotic nurses don't decide courses of treatment or make diagnoses (though robot doctors and surgeons may not be far off). Instead, they perform routine and laborious tasks, freeing nurses up to attend to patients with immediate needs. This is one industry where it seems the integration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement. 51. What does the author say about Japan? A) It delivers the best medications for the elderly. B) It takes the lead in providing robotic care. C) It provides retraining for registered nurses. D) It sets the trend in future robotics technology. 52. What do we learn about the robot Terapio? A) It has been put to use in many Japanese hospitals. B) It provides specific individualized care to patients. C) It does not have much direct contact with patients. D) It has not revolutionized medical service in Japan. 53. What are telepresence robots designed to do?
A) Directly interact with patients to prevent them from feeling lonely. B) Cater to the needs of patients for recovering their cognitive capacity. C) Closely monitor the patients' movements and conditions around the clock. D) Facilitate communication between patients and doctors or family members. 54. What is one special feature of the robot Actroid F? A) It interacts with patients just like a human companion. B) It operates quietly without patients realizing its presence. C) It likes to engage in everyday conversations with patients. D) It uses body language even more effectively than words. 55. What can we infer from the last paragraph? A) Doctors and surgeons will soon be laid off. B) The robotics industry will soon take off. C) Robots will not make nurses redundant. D) Collaboration will not replace competition. Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
中国越来越重视公共图书馆，并鼓励人们充分加以利用。新近公布的统计数字表明，中国的公共图书馆数量在逐年增长。许多图书馆通过翻新和扩建，为读者创造了更为安静、舒适的环境。大型公共图书馆不仅提供种类繁多的参考资料，而且定期举办讲座、展览等活动。近年来，也出现了许多数字图书馆，从而节省了存放图书所需的空间。一些图书馆还推出了自助服务系统，使读者借书还书更加方便，进一步满足了读者的需求。
China attaches increasing importance to public libraries and encourages people to make full use
of them. The newly released statistics indicate that the number of public libraries in China ison an increase year by year. Many libraries have created a quieter and more comfortable
environment for readers through renovation and expansion. Not only do large-scale public libraries provide a wide range of reference materials
，
but they also regularly hold lectures, exhibitions and other activities. In recent years, there have also been many digital libraries, saving the space needed to store books. In addition, some libraries have introduced self-service systems, which make it more convenient for readers to borrow and return books, and further meet the needs of readers.
2018年12月英语六级考试真题及答案第2套
