2020年12月大学英语六级阅读理解真题及答案

根据全国大学英语六级考试大纲可知，阅读理解部分由词汇理解（1篇）、长篇阅读（1篇）和仔细阅读（2篇）构成。词汇理解的篇章长度为250-300词；长篇阅读的篇章长度约1200词；仔细阅读的每篇长度为400-450词。阅读理解部分的分值比例为35% ，其中词汇理解占5%，长篇阅读占10%，仔细阅读占20%。考试时间40分钟。以下是希赛网英语四六级频道为大家搜集整理的2020年12月英语六级阅读理解真题及参考答案。

Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Directions：In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carngfully before making your choices.Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Ansuer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Overall, men are more likely than women to make excuses. Several studies suggest that men feel the need to appear competent in all 26______，while women worry only about the skills in which they"ve invested 27______ . Ask a man and a woman to go diving for the first time, and the woman is likely to jump in, while the man is likely to say he"s not feeling too well.

Ironically, it is often success that leads people to flirt with failure. Praise won for 28______ a skill suddenly puts one in the position of having everything to lose. Rather than putting their reputation on the line again, many successful people develop a handicap

drinking,29______,depression- -that allows them to keep their status no matter what the future brings. An advertising executive 30______ for depression shortly after winning an award put it this way:“ Without my depression, I"d be a failure now;with it, I"m a success‘on hold’”

In fact, the people most likely to become chronic excuse makers are those 31______ with success.Such people are so afraid of being 32______ a failure at anything that they constantly develop one handicap or another in order to explain away failure.

Though self-handicapping can be an effective way of coping with performance anxiety now and then, in the end, researchers say, it will lead to 33______. In the long run, excuse makers fail to live up to their true 34______ and lose the status they care so much about. And despite their protests to the 35______ they have only themselves to blame.

Section B

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in ome of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from xwhich the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once.Fach paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questioms by marking thecorresponding letter om Ansuer Sheet 2.

Six Potential Bain Benefits of Bilingual Education

A) Brains, brains, brains. People are fascinated by brain research. And yet it can be hard to point to places where our education system is really making use of the latest neuroscience findings. But there is one happy link where research is meeting practice: bilingual  education.“In the last 20 years or so, there"s been a virtual explosion of research on bilingualism ,says Judith Kroll, a professor at the University of Califonia, Riverside.

B) Again and again, researchers have found,“bilingualism is an experience that shapes our brain for life," in the words of Gigi Luk, an associate professor at Harvard"s Graduate School of Education.At the same time, one of the hottest trends in public schooling is what"s often called dual-language or two-way immersion programs.

C) Traditional programs for English-language leamers, or ELLs, focus on assimilating students into English as quickdy as possible. Dual-language classrooms, by contrast, provide instruction across subjects to both English natives and English leamers, in both English and a target language.The goal is functional bilingualism and biliteracy for all students by middle school. New York City ,North Carolina, Delaware, Utah, Oregon and Washington state are among the places expanding dual-language classrooms.

D) The trend fies in the face of some of the culture wars of two decades ago , when advocates insisted on“English first” education. Most famously, Califomnia passed Proposition 227 in 1998. It was intended to sharply reduce the amount of time that English-language leamers spent in bilingual settings. Proposition 58，passed by California voters on November 8, largely reversed that decision,paving the way for a huge expansion of bilingual education in the state that has the largest population of English-language leamers.

E) Some of the insistence on Englih-first was founded on research produced decades ago, in which bilingual students underperformned monolingual English speakers and had lower IQ scores. Today"s scholars, like Elen Bialystok at York University in Toronto, say that research was “deeply flawed. ”“ Earlier research looked at socially disadvantaged groups, ”agrees Antonella Sorace at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.“This has been completely contradicted by recent research"”that compares groups more similar to each other.

F) So what does recent research say about the potential benefts of bilingual education? It tuns out that, in many ways, the real trick to speaking two languages consists in managing not to speak one of those languages at a given moment- -which is fundametally a feat of paying attention. Saying “Goodbye" to mom and then“Guten tag" to your teacher, or managing to ask for a crayola roja instead of a red crayon, requires skills called “ inhibition”and “task switching.” These skills are subsets of an ability called executive function.

G) People who speak two languages often outperform monolinguals on general measures of executive function.“ Bilinguals can pay focused attention without being distracted and also improve in the ability to switch from one task to another,”says Sorace.

H) Do these same advantages beneft a child who begins learning a second language in kindergarten instead of as a baby? We don"t yet know. Patterns of language learning and language. use are complex. But Gigi Luk at Harvard cites at least one brain-imaging study on adolescents that shows similar changes in brain structure when compared with those who are bilingual from bith, even when they didn"t begin practicing a second language in eamest before late childhood.

I) Young children being raised bilingual have to follow social cues to fngure out which language to use with which person and in what setting. As a result, says Sorace，bilingual children as young as age 3 have demonstrated a head start on tests of perspective-taking and theory of mind- -both of which are fundamental social and emotional skills.

J) About 10 percent of students in the Portland, Oregon public schools are assigned by lottery to dua]-language classrooms that offer instruction in Spanish, Japanese or Mandarin, alongside English.Jennifer Steele at American University conducted a four-year, randomized trial and found that these dual-language students outperforned their peers in English-reading skills by a full school-year"s worth of learning by the end of middle school. Because the effects are found in reading, not in math or science where there were few differences, Steele suggests that learning two languages makes students more aware of how language works in general.

K) The research of Gigi Luk at Harvard offers a slightly different explanation. She has recently done a small study looking at a group of 100 fourth-graders in Massachusetts who had similar reading scores on a standard test, but very different language experiences. Some were foreign-language dominant and others were English natives. Here"s what"s interesting. The students who were dominant in a foreign language weren"t yet comfortably bilingual; they were just starting to leam English.Therefore, by definition, they had a much weaker English vocabulary than the native speakers.Yet they were just as good at interpreting a text. “ This is very surprising," Luk says.“You would expect the reading comprehension performance to mirror the vocabulary- -it"s a cormerstone of comprehension.*

L) How did the foreign-language dominant speakers manage this feat? Well, Luk found, they also scored higher on tests of executive functioning. So, even though they didn"t have huge mental dictionaries to draw on, they may have been great puzzle- solvers, taling into account higher-level concepts such as whether a single sentence made sense within an overall story line. They got to the same results as the monolinguals, by a different path.

M) American public school classrooms as a whole are becoming more segregated by race and class.Dual-language programs can be an exception. Because they are composed of native English speakers deliberately placed together with recent immigrants， they tend to be more ethnically and economically balanced. And there is some evidence that this helps kids of all backgrounds gain comfort with diversity and different cultures.

N) Several of the researchers also pointed out that, in bilingual education, non-English- dominant students and their families tend to feel that their home language is heard and valued,compared with a classroom where the home language is left at the door in favor of English. This can improve students" sense of belonging and increase parents" involvement in their children"s education,including behaviors like reading to children. “ Many parents fear their language is an obstacle,a problem, and if they abandon it their child will integrate better," says Antonella Sorace of the University of Edinburgh.“We tell them they"re not doing their child a favor by giving up their language.”

O) One theme that was striking in speaking to all these researchers was just how strongly they advocated for dual-language classrooms. Thomas and Collier have advised many school systems on how to expand their dual-language programs, and Sorace runs “ Bilingualism Matters," a intermational network of researchers who promote bilingual education projects. This type 0 advocacy among scientists is unusual; even more so because the“bilingual advantage hypothesis" is being challenged once again.

P) A review of studies published last year found that cognitive advantages failed to appear in 83 percent of published studies , though in a separate analysis , the sum of effects was still signifcantly positive.One potential explanation offered by the researchers is that advantages that are measurable in the very young and very old tend to fade when testing young adults at the peak of their cognitive powers. And, they countered that no negative effects of bilingual education have been found.So,even if the advantages are small, they are still worth it. Not to mention one obvious, outstanding fact:“ Bilingual children can speak two languages! " "

36. A study found that there are similar changes in brain structure between those who are bilingual from birth and those who start leaming a second language later.

37. Unlike traditional monolingual prograns, bilingual classrooms aim at developing students" ability to use two languages by middle school.

38. A study showed that dual-language students did significantly better than their peers in reading English texts.

39. About twenty years ago, bilingual practice was strongly discouraged, especially in California.

10. Ethnically and economically balanced bilingual classooms are found to be helpful for kids to get used to social and cultural diversity.

41. Researchers now claim that earlier research on bilingual education was seriously flawed.

42. According to a researcher , dual-language experiences exert a lifelong influence on one"s brain.

43. Advocates of bilingual education argued that it produces positive effects though they may be limited.

44. Bilingual speakers often do better than monolinguals in completing certain tasks because they can concentrate better on what they are doing.

45. When their native language is used, parents can become more involved in their children"s education.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

It is not controversial to say that an unhealthy diet causes bad health. Nor are the basic elements of healthy eating disputed. Obesity raises susceptibility to cancer, and Britain is the sixth most obese country on Earth. That is a public health emergency. But naming the problem is the easy part. No one disputes the costs in quality of life and depleted health budgets of an obese population, but the quest for solutions gets diverted by ideological arguments around responsibility and choice. And the water is muddied by lobbying from the industries that profit from consumption of obesity-inducing products.

Historical precedent suggests that science and politics can overcome resistance from businesses that pollute and poison but it takes time, and success often starts small. So it is heartening to note that a programme in Leeds has achieved a reduction in childhood obesity, becoming the first UK city to reverse a fattening trend. The best results were among younger children and in more deprived areas.When 28% of English children aged two to 15 are obese, a national shift on the scale achieved by Leeds would lengthen hundreds of thousands of lives. A significant factor in the Leeds experience appears to be a scheme called HENRY,which helps parents reward behaviours that preyent obesity in children.

Many members of parliament are uncomfortable even with their own govemment"s anti-obesity strategy,since it involves a“sugar tax" and a ban on the sale of energy drinks to under-16s. Bans and taxes can be blunt instruments, but their harshest critics can rarely suggest better methods.These critics just oppose regulation itself.

The relationship between poor health and inequality is too pronounced for govermments to be passive about large-scale intervention. People living in the most deprived areas are four times more prone to die from avoidable causes than counterparts in more affluent places. As the structural nature of public health problems becomes harder to ignore,the complaint about overprotective govenment loses potency.

In fact, the polarised debate over public health interventions should have been abandoned long ago.Govemment action works when individuals are motivated to respond. Individuals need govemments that expand access to good choices. The HENRY programme was delivered in part through children"s centres. Closing such centres and cutting council budgets doesn"t magically increase reserves of individual self-reliance. The function of a well-designed state intervention is not to deprive people of liberty but to build social capacity and infrastructure that helps people take responsibility for their wellbeing. The obesity crisis will not have a solution devised by leit or right ideology- -but experience indicates that the private sector needs the incentive of regulation before it starls taling public health emergencies seriously.

46. Why is the obesity problem in Britain so difficult to solve?

A) Goverment health budgets are depleted.

B) People disagree as to who should do what.

C) Individuals are not ready to take their responsibilties.

D) Industry lobbying makes it hard to get healthy foods.

47. What can we learmn from the past experience in tacking public health emergencies?

A) Govemments have a role to play.

B) Public health is a scientifc issue.

C) Priority should be given to deprived regions.

D) Businesses" responsility should be stressed.

48. What does the author imply about some critics of bans and taxes concerning unhealthy drinks?

A) They are not aware of the consequences of obesity.

B) They have not come up with anything more constructive.

C) They are uncomfortable with parliament"s anti obesity debate.

D) They have their own motives in opposing govermment regulation.

49. Why does the author stress the relationship between poor health and inequality?

A) To demonstrate the dilemma of people living in deprived areas.

B) To bring to light the root cause of widespread obesity in Britain.

C) To highlight the area deserving the most attention from the public.

D) To justify govermment intervention in solving the obesity problem.

50. When will govermment action be effective?

A) When the polarised debate is abandoned.

B) When ideological differences are resolved.

C) When individuals have the incentive to act accordingly.

D) When the private sector realises the severity of the crisis.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Home to virgin reefs, rare sharks and vast numbers of exotic fish, the Coral Sea is a unique haven of biodiversity off the northeastem coast of Australia. If a proposal by the Australian govemment goes ahead, the region will also become the world"s largest marine protected area, with restrictions or bans on fishing, mining and marine farming.

The Coral Sea reserve would cover almost 990 000 square kilometres and stretch as far as 1100 kilometres from the coast. Unveiled recently by environment minister Tony Burke，the proposal would be the last in a series of proposed marine reserves around Australia"s coast.

But the scheme is attracting criticism from scientists and conservation groups, who argue that the govemment hasn"t gone far enough in protecting the Coral Sea, or in other marine reserves in the coastal network.Hugh Possingham,director of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions at the University of Queensland, points out that little more than half of the Coral Sea reserve is proposed as“no take" area, in which all fishing would be banned. The world"s largest existing marine reserve,established last year by the British govemment in the Indian Ocean, spans 554 000 km2 and is a no-take zone throughout. An alliance of campaigning conversation groups argues that more of the Coral Sea should receive this level of protection.

“I would like to have seen more protection for coral reefs," says Tery Hughes, director of the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Queensland.“More than 20 of them would be outside the no-take area and vulnerable to catch- and-release fshing” .

As Nature went to press, the Australian govemment had not responded to specifc criticisms of the plan. But Robin Beaman, a marine geologist at James Cook University, says that the reserve does“broadly protect the range of habitats”in the sea.“I can testify to the huge effort that govemment agencies and other organisations have put into trying to understand the ecological values of this vast area," he says. .

Reserves proposed earlier this year for Australia"s southwester and northwesterm coastal regions have also been criticised for failing to give habitats adequate protection. In August,173 marine scientists signed an open letter to the govemment saying they were“greatly concemed" that the proposals for the southwestem region had not been based on the“ core science principles”of reserves-the protected regions were not, for instance , representative of all the habitats in the region, they said.

Critics say that the southwestem reserve offers the greatest protection to the offishore areas where commercial opportunities are fewest and where there is lttle threat to the environment,a contention also levelled at the Coral Sea plan.

51. What do we learn from the passage about the Coral Sea?

A) It is exceptionally rich in marine life.

B) It is the biggest marine protected area.

C) It remains largely undisturbed by humans.

D) It is a unique haven of endangered species.

52. What does the Australian govemment plan to do according to Tony Burke?

A) Make a new proposal to protect the Coral Sea.

B) Revise its conservation plan owing to criticisms.

C) Upgrade the established reserves to protect marine life.

D) Complete the series of marine reserves around its coast.

53. What is scientists" argument about the Coral Sea proposal?

A) The govemment has not done enough for marine protection.

B) It will not improve the marine reserves along Australia"s coast.

C) The govemment has not consulted them in drawing up the proposal.

D) It is not based on suffcient investigations into the ecological system.

54. What does marine geologist Robin Beaman say about the Coral Sea plan?

A) It can compare with the British govemment"s effort in the Indian Ocean.

B) It will result in the establishment of the world"s largest marine reserve.

C) It will ensure the sustainability of the fishing industry around the coast.

D) It is a tremendous joint effort to protect the range of marine habitats.

55. What do critics think of the Coral Sea plan?

A) It will do more harm than good to the environment.

B) It will adversely affect Australia"s fishing industry.

C) It will protect regions that actually require lttle protection.

D) It will win lttle support from environmental organisations.