历年英语六级阅读真题

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历年真题提供了极具针对性和实效性的应试指导讲座，将为广大六级考生带来极为有效的考前辅导，帮助考生顺利地通过考试。下面是小编收集推荐的历年英语六级阅读真题，仅供参考，欢迎阅读。

2019年12月英语六级阅读真题及答案选词填空

The number of devices you can talk to is multiplying -- first it was your phone, then your cat, and now you can tell your kitchen appliances what to do. But even without gadgets that understand our spoken commands, research suggests that, as bizarre is it sounds, under certain __26__ people regularly ascribe human traits to everyday objects.

Sometimes we see things as human because we are __27__ In one experiment, people who reported feeling isolated were more likely than others to attribute __28__ to various gadgets. In turn, feeling close to objects can __29__ loneliness. When college students were reminded of a time they had been __30__ in a social setting, they compensated by exaggerating their number of friends- unless they were first given tasks that caused them to interact with their phone as if it had human qualities. According to the researchers, the participants' phones __31__ substituted for real friends.

At other times, we personify products in an effort to understand them. One study found that three in four respondents yelled at their computer. Further, the more their computer gave them problems, the more likely the respondents were to report that it had its own "beliefs and __32__."

So how do people assign trails to an object? In par, we rely on looks. On humans wide faces are __33__ with dominance. Similarly, people rated curs, clocks, and watches with wide faces as more dominant-looking than narrow-faced ones, and preferred them- especially in __34__ situations. An analysis of car sales in Germany found that cars with grilles(护栅) that were upturned like smiles sold best. The purchasers saw this __35__ as increasing a car's friendliness.

A) alleviate

B) apparently

C) arrogant

D) associated

E) circumstances

F) competitive

G) conceded

H) consciousness

I) desires

J) excluded

K) feature

L) lonely

M) separate

N) spectacularly

O) warrant

(26)E

(27)L

(28)H

(29)A

(30)J

(31)B

(32)I

(33)D

(34)F

(35)K

2019年12月英语六级阅读真题及答案段落匹配

Why More Farmers Are Making The Switch to Grass-Fed Meat and Dairy

A) Though he didn't come from a farming family, from a young age Tim Joseph was fascinated by the idea of living off the land. Reading magazines like The Stockman Grass Farmer and Graze, he got hooked on the idea of grass-fed agriculture. The idea that all energy and wealth comes from the sun really intrigued him. He thought the shorter the distance between the sun and the end product, the higher the profit to the farmer.

B) Joseph wanted to put this theory to the test. In 2009, he and his wife Laura launched Maple Hill Creamery, an organic, all grass-fed yogurt company in northern New York. He quickly learned what the market has demonstrated: Demand for grass-fed products currently exceeds supply. Grass-fed beef is enjoying a 25-30% annual growth rate. Sales of grass-fed yogurt and kefir(发酵乳饮品), on the other hand, have in the last year increased by over 38%. This is in comparison with a drop of just under 1% in the total yogurt and kefir market, according to natural and organic market research company SPINS. Joseph's top priority became getting his hands on enough grass-fed milk to keep customers satisfied, since his own 64-cow herd wasn't going to suffice.

C) His first partnership was with Paul and Phyllis Amburgh, owners of the Dharma Lea farm in New York. The Amburghs, too, were true believers in grass-fed. In addition to supplying milk from their own 85-head herd, they began to help other farmers in the area convert from conventional to certified organic and grass-fed in order to enter the Maple Hill supply chain. Since 2010, the couple has helped 125 small dairy farms convert to grass-fed, with more than 80% of those farms coming on board during the last two years.

D) All this conversion has helped Maple Hill grow 40-50% every year since it began, with no end in sight. Joseph has learned that a farmer has to have a certain mindset to successfully convert. But convincing open- minded dairy people is actually not that hard, when you look at the economics. Grass fed milk can fetch up to 2.5 times the price of conventional milk. Another factor is the squeeze that conventional dairy farmers have felt as the price of grain they feed their cows has gone up, tightening their profit margins. By replacing expensive grain feed with regenerative management practices, grass-fed farmers are insulated from jumps in the price of feed. These practices include grazing animals on grasses grown from the pastureland s natural seed bank, and fertilized by the cows' own fertilizer.

E) Champions of this type of regenerative grazing also point to its animal welfare, climate and health benefits: Grass-fed animals live longer out of confinement. Grazing herds stimulate microbial(微生物的) activity in the soil, helping to capture water and separate carbon. And grass-fed dairy and meat have been shown to be higher in certain nutrients and healthy fats.

F) In the grass-fed system, farmers are also not subject to the wildly fluctuating milk prices of the international commodity market. The unpredictability of global demand and the lag-time it takes to add more cows to a herd to meet demand can result in events like the recent cheese surplus. Going gras-fed is a safe refuge, a way for family-scale farms to stay viable. Usually a farmer will get to the point where financially, what they're doing is not working. That's when they call Maple Hill. If the farm is well managed and has enough land, and the desire to convert is sincere, a relationship can begin. Through regular regional educational meetings, a large annual meeting, individual farm visits and thousands of phone calls, the Amburghs pass on the principles of pasture management. Maple Hill signs a contract pledging to buy the farmer's milk at a guaranteed base price, plus quality premiums and incentives for higher protein, butter-fat and other solids.

G) While Maple Hill's conversion program is unusually hands-on and comprehensive, it's just one of a growing number of businesses committed to slowly changing the way America farms. Joseph calls sharing his knowledge network through peer-to-peer learning a core piece of the company's culture. Last summer, Massachusetts grass-fed beef advocate John Smith launched Big Picture Beef, a network of small grass-fed beef farms in New England and New York that is projected to bring to market 2,500 head of cattle from 125 producers this year. Early indications are that Smith will have no shortage of farm members. Since he began to informally announce the network at farming conferences and on social media, he' s received a steady stream of inquiries from interested farmers.

H) Smith says he'll provide services ranging from formal seminars to on-farm workshops on holistic(整体的) management, to one-on-one hand-holding and an almost 24/7 phone hotline for farmers who are converting. In exchange, he guarantees an above-market price for each animal and a calf-to-customer electronic ear tag ID system like that used in the European Union.

I) Though advocates portray grass fed products as a win-win situation for all, they do have downsides. Price, for one, is an issue. Joseph says his products are priced 10-20%above organic versions, but depending on the product chosen, compared to non-organic conventional yogurt, consumers could pay a premium of 30-50% or more for grass-fed. As for the meat, Smith says his grass-fed hamburger will be priced 20-25% over the conventional alternative. But a look at the prices on online grocer Fresh Direct suggests a grass-fed premium of anywhere from 35-60%.

J) And not every farmer has the option of going grass-fed. For both beef and dairy production, it requires, at least in the beginning, more pastureland. Grass-fed beef production tends to be more labor-intensive as well. But Smith counters that if you factor in the hidden cost of government corm subsidies, environment degradation, and decreased human health and animal welfare, grass-fed is the more cost-effective model. "The sun provides the lowest cost of production and the cheapest meat," he says.

K) Another grass-fed booster spurring farmers to convert is EPIC, which makes meat-based protein bars. Founders Taylor Collins and his wife, Katie Forrest, used to be endurance athletes; now they' re advocates of grass- fed meat. Soon after launching EPIC's most successful product- the Bison Bacon Cranberry Bar- Collins and Forrest found they'd exhausted their sources for bison(北美野牛) raised exclusively on pasture. When they started researching the supply chain, they learned that only 2-3% of all bison is actually grass-fed. The rest is feed- lot confined and fed grain and corm.

L) But after General Mills bought EPIC in 2016, Collins and Forrest suddenly had the resources they needed to expand their supply chain. So the company teamed up with Wisconsin-based rancher Northstar Bison. EPIC fronted the money for the purchase of $2.5 million worth of young bison that will be raised according to its grass- fed protocols, with a guaranteed purchase price. The message to young people who might not otherwise be able to afford to break into the business is, "'You car Purchase this S3 million piece of land here, because I'm guaranteeing you today you'll have 1,000 bison on it.' We're bringing new blood into the old, conventional farming ecosystem, which is really cool to see," Collins explains.

36. Farmers going grass-fed are not affected by the ever-changing milk prices of the global market.

37. Over the years, Tim Joseph's partners have helped many dairy farmers to switch to grass-fed.

38. One advocate believes that many other benefits should be taken into consideration when we assess the cost-effectiveness of grass-fed farming.

39. Many dairy farmers were persuaded to switch to grass-fed when they saw its advantage in terms of profits.

40. Tim Joseph's grass-fed program is only one example of how American farming practice is changing.

41. Tim Joseph was fascinated by the notion that sunlight brings energy and wealth to mankind.

42. One problem with grass-fed products is that they are usually more expensive than conventional ones.

43. Grass-fed products have proved to be healthier and more nutritious.

44. When Tim Joseph started his business, he found grass-fed products fell short of demand.

45. A snack bar producer discovered that the supply of purely grass-fed bison meat was scarce.

36.F

37.C

38.J

39.D

40.G

41.A

42.I

43.E

44.B

45.K

2019年12月英语六级阅读真题及答案仔细阅读

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

"The dangerous thing about lying is people don't understand how the act changes us," says Dan Ariely, behavioral psychologist at Duke University. Psychologists have documented children lying as early as the age of two. Some experts even consider lying a developmental milestone, like crawling and walking, because it requires sophisticated planning, attention and the ability to see a situation from someone else's perspective to manipulate them. But, for most people, lying gets limited as we develop a sense of morality and the ability to self-regulate.

Harvard cognitive neuroscientist Joshua Greene says. for most of us, lying takes work. In studies, he gave subjects a chance to deceive for monetary gain while examining their brains in a functional MRI machine，which maps blood flow to active parts of the brain. Some people told the truth instantly and instinctively. But others opted to lie, and they showed increased activity in their frontal parietal (颅腔壁的) control network, which is involved in difficult or complex thinking. This suggests that they were deciding between truth and dishonesty and ultimately opting for the latter. For a follow-up analysis, he found that people whose neural(神经的)reward centres were more active when they won money were also more likely to be among the group of liars- suggesting that lying may have to do with the inability to resist temptation.

Extremal conditions also matter in terms of when and how often we lie. We are more likely to lie, research shows, when we are able to rationalise it, when we are stressed and fatigued or sec others being dishonest. And we are less likely to lie when we have moral reminders or when we think others are watching. "We as a society need to understand that, when we don't punish lying, we increase the probability it will happen again," Ariely says.

In a 2016 study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Ariely and colleagues showed how dishonesty alters people's brains, making it easier to tell lies in the future. When people uttered a falsehood, the scientists noticed a burst of activity in their amygdala. The amygdala is a crucial part of the brain that produces fear, anxiety and emotional responses including that sinking, guilty feeling you get when you lie. But when scientists had their subjects play a game- in which they won money by deceiving their partner, they noticed the negative signals from the amygdala began to decrease. Not only that, but when people faced no consequences for dishonesty, their falsehoods tended to get even more sensational. This means that if you give people multiple opportunities to lie for their own benefit, they start with little lies which get bigger over time.

46. Why do some experts consider lying a milestone in a child's development?

A) It shows they have the ability to view complex situations from different angles.

B) It indicates they have an ability more remarkable than crawling and walking.

C) It represents their ability to actively interact with people around them.

D) It involves the coordination of both their mental and physical abilities.

47. Why does the Harvard neuroscientist say that lying takes work?

A) It is hard to choose from several options.

B) It is difficult to sound natural or plausible.

C) It requires speedy blood flow into one's brain.

D) It involves lots of sophisticated mental activity.

48. Under what circumstances do people tend to lie?

A) When they become too emotional.

B) When they face too much peer pressure.

C) When the temptation is too strong.

D) When the consequences are not imminent.

49. When are people less likely to lie?

A) When they are worm out and stressed.

B) When they are under watchful eyes.

C) When they think in a rational way.

D) When they have a clear conscience.

50. What does the author say will happen when a liar does not get punished?

A) They may feel justified.

B) They will tell bigger lies.

C) They will become complacent.

D) They may mix lies and truths.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Here's how the Pacific Northwest is preparing for "The Big One". It's the mother of all disaster drills for what could be the worst disaster in American history. California has spent years preparing for "The Big One" -- the inevitable earthquake that will undoubtedly unleash all kinds of havoc along the famous San Andreas fault (断层). But what if the fault that runs along the Pacific Northwest delivers a gigantic earthquake of its own? If the people of the Cascadia region have anything to do with it, they won't be caught unawares.

The region is engaged in a multi-day earthquake-and-tsunami(海啸) drill involving around 20,000 people. The Cascadia Rising drill gives area residents and emergency responders a chance to practice what to do in case of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami along one of the nation's dangerous -- and underestimated -- faults.

The Cascadia Earthquake Zone is big enough to compete with San Andreas (it's been called the most dangerous fault in America), but it's much lesser known than its California cousin. Nearly 700 miles long, the earthquake zone is located by the North American Plate off the coast of Pacific British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

Cascadia is what's known as a "megathrust" fault. Megathrusts are created in earthquake zones-land plate boundaries where two plates converge. In the areas where one plate is beneath another, stress builds up over time. During a megathrust event, all of that stress releases and some of the world's most powerful earthquakes occur. Remember the 9.1 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean off Sumatra in 2004? It was caused by a megathrust event as the India plate moved beneath the Burma micro-plate.

The last time a major earthquake occurred along the Cascadia fault was in 1700, so officials worry that another event could occur any time. To prevent that event from becoming a catastrophe, first responders will join members of the public in rehearsals that involve communication, evacuation, search and rescue, and other scenarios.

Thousands of casualties are expected if a 9.0 earthquake were to occur. First, the earthquake would shake metropolitan areas including Seattle and Portland. This could trigger a tsunami that would create havoc along the coast. Not all casualties can necessarily be prevented -- but by coordinating across local, state, and even national borders, officials hope that the worst-case scenario can be averted. On the exercise's website, officials explain that the report they prepare during this rehearsal will inform disaster management for years to come.

For hundreds of thousands of Cascadia residents, "The Big One" isn't a question of if, only when. And it's never too early to get ready for the inevitable.

51. What does "The Big One" refer to?

A) A gigantic geological fault.

B) A large-scale exercise to prepare for disasters.

C) A massive natural catastrophe.

D) A huge tsunami on the California coast.

52. What is the purpose of the Cascadia Rising drill?

A) To prepare people for a major earthquake and tsunami.

B) To increase residents' awareness of imminent disasters.

C) To teach people how to adapt to post-disaster life.

D) To cope with the aftermath of a possible earthquake.

53. What happens in case of a megathrust earthquake according to the passage?

A) Two plates merge into one.