大學英語六級真題閱讀:長篇閱讀答案及解析
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 one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
The College Essay: Why Those 500 Words Drive Us Crazy
A) Meg is a lawyer-mom in suburban Washington, D.C., where lawyer-moms are thick on the ground. Her son Doug is one of several hundred thousand high-school seniors who had a painful fall. The deadline for applying to his favorite college was Nov. 1,and by early October he had yet to fill out the application. More to the point, he had yet to settle on a subject for the personal essay accompanying the application. According to college folklore, a well-turned essay has the power to seduce an admissions committee. He wanted to do one thing at a time, Meg says, explaining her son s delay. But really, my son is a huge procrastinator . The essay is the hardest thing to do, so he s put it off the longest. Friends and other veterans of the process have warned Meg that the back and forth between editing parent and writing student can be traumatic .
B) Back in the good old days say, two years ago, when the last of my children suffered the ordeal a high-school student applying to college could procrastinate all the way to New Year s Day of their senior year, assuming they could withstand the parental pestering .But things change fast in the nail-biting world of college admissions.The recent trend toward early decision and early action among selective colleges and universities has pushed the traditional deadline of January up to Nov. 1 or early December for many students.
C) If the time for heel-dragging has been shortened, the true source of the anxiety and panic remains what it has always been. And it s not the application itself. A college application is a relatively straightforward questionnaire asking for the basics: name, address, family history employment history. It would all be innocent enough 20 minutes of busy work except it comes attached to a personal essay.
D) There are good reasons it causes such anxiety, says Lisa Sohmer, director of college counseling at the Garden School in Jackson Heights, N.Y. It s not just the actual writing. By noweverything else is already set. Your course load is set, your grades are set, your test scores are set. But the essay is something you can still control, and it s open-ended. So the temptation is to write and rewrite and rewrite. Or stall and stall and stall.
E) The application essay, along with its mythical importance, is a recent invention. In the 1930s,when only one in 10 Americans had a degree from a four-year college, an admissionscommittee was content to ask for a sample of applicants school papers to assess their writing ability. By the 1950s, most schools required a brief personal statement of why the student had chosen to apply to one school over another.
F) Today nearly 70 percent of graduating seniors go off to college, including two-year and four-year institutions. Even apart from the increased competition, the kids enter a process that has been utterly transformed from the one baby boomers knew. Nearly all application materials are submitted online, and the Common Application provides a one-size-fits form accepted by more than 400 schools, including the nation s most selective.
G) Those schools usually require essays of their own, but the longest essay, 500 words maximum, is generally attached to the Common Application. Students choose one of six questions. Applicants are asked to describe an ethical dilemma they ve faced and its impact on them, or discuss a public issue of special concern to them, or tell of a fictional character or creative work that has profoundly influenced them. Another question invites them to write about the importance of diversity―a word that has assumed magic power in American higher education. The most popular option: write on a topic of your choice.
H) Boys in particular look at the other questions and say, Oh, that s too much work, says John Boshoven, a counselor in the Ann Arbor, Mich., public schools. They think if they do a topic of their choice, I ll just go get that history paper I did last year on the Roman Empire and turn it into a first-person application essay! And they end up producing something utterly ridiculous.
I) Talking to admissions professionals like Boshoven, you realize that the list of don ts in essay writing is much longer than the dos. No book reports, no history papers, no character studies, says Sohmer.
J) It drives you crazy, how easily kids slip into clich s, says Boshoven. They don t realize how typical their experiences arc. I scored the winning goal in soccer against our arch-rival. My grandfather served in World War II, and I hope to be just like him someday. That may mean a lot to that particular kid. But in the world of the application essay, it s nothing. You ll lose the reader in the first paragraph.
K) The greatest strength you bring to this essay, says the College Board s how-to book, is 17 years or so of familiarity with the topic: YOU. The form and style are very familiar, and best of all, you are the world-class expert on the subject of YOU ... It has been the subject of your close scrutiny every morning since you were tall enough to see into the bathroom mirror. Thekey word in the Common Application prompts is you.
L) The college admission essay contains the grandest American themes―status anxiety, parental piety , intellectual standards and so it is only a matter of time before it becomes infected by the country s culture of excessive concern with self-esteem. Even if the question isostensibly about something outside the self , the essay invariably returns to the favorite topic: what is its impact on YOU?
M) For all the anxiety the essay causes, says Bill McClintick of Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, it s a very small piece of the puzzle. I was in college admissions for 10 years. I saw kids and parents beat themselves up over this. And at the vast majority of places, it is simply not a big variable in the college s decision-making process.
N) Many admissions officers say they spend less than a couple of minutes on each application, including the essay. According to a recent survey of admissions officers, only one in four private colleges say the essay is of considerable importance in judging an application. Among public colleges and universities, the number drops to roughly one in 10. By contrast, 86 percent place considerable importance on an applicant s grades, 70 percent on strength of curriculum.
O) Still, at the most selective schools, where thousands of candidates may submit identically high grades and test scores, a marginal item like the essay may serve as a tie-breaker between two equally qualified candidates. The thought is certainly enough to keep the pot boiling under parents like Meg, the lawyer-mom, as she tries to help her son choose an essay topic. For a moment the other day, she thought she might have hit on a good one. His father s from France, she says. I said maybe you could write about that, as something that makes you different. You know: half French, half American. I said, You could write about your identity issues. He said, I don t have any identity issues! And he s right. He s a well-adjusted, normal kid. But that doesn t make for a good essay, does it?
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2上作答。
46.Today many universities require their applicants to write an essay of up to five hundred words.
47.One recent change in college admissions is that selective colleges and universities have movedthe traditional deadline to earlier dates.
48.Applicants and their parents are said to believe that the personal essay can sway the admissions committee.
49.Applicants are usually better off if they can write an essay that distinguishes them from the rest.
50.Not only is the competition getting more intense, the application process today is also totally different from what baby boomers knew.
51.In writing about their own experiences many applicants slip into clich s, thus failing to engage the reader.
52.According to a recent survey, most public colleges and universities consider an applicant s grades highly important.
53.Although the application essay causes lots of anxiety, it does not play so important a role in the college sdecision-making process.
54.The question you aresupposed to write about may seem outside the self, but the theme of the essay should center around its impact on you.
55.In the old days, applicants only had to submit a sample of their school papers to show their writing ability.
參考答案
46.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：同義轉述題。由題干中的up to five hundred words定位到G)段第一句。定位句提到,那些學校通常 要求申請人提供原創論文,但是最長的論文一般和通用申請表一起提交。本題題干將定位句簡化為 很多大學要求申請人撰寫一篇最多500字的論文 ,是對原文的同義轉述,故答案為G)。
47.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節歸納題。由題干中的selective colleges and universities, traditional deadline 定位到B)段最后兩句。B)段倒數第二句提到,大學 錄取方面的事情瞬息萬變。接著在最后一句中具 體指出最近發生的變化:人學申請的截止日期由傳統的1月份提前到11月1日或者12月初。題干中的 申請截止日期提前了一些 是對原文中提 到的具體日期進行的概括性說明。其中的 I moved... to...是對原文中 pushed... up to...的 同義轉述。由此可確定本題的答案為B)。
48.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節推斷題。由題干中的sway, admissions committee 定位到A)段第五句。A)段以Meg母子為例介紹 了學生和家長們對個人論文的看法:措辭優美的 論文足以對錄取委員會產生誘惑，即影響其做出的錄取決定。題干中的sway意為 影響，使改變看法 ，與原文中的seduce意思相近，題干中的 can是對原文中的has the power的同義轉述,故答案為A)。
49.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節歸納題。由題干中的better off, distinguishes定位到O)段第一句。定位句提到,在一些最具競爭力的高校里,候選人所提交的成績和測驗分數 同樣都很高,對于兩位具有相同資格的候選人來 說,論文之類的邊緣項目可能會起到決定成敗的 作用。題干中的are usually better off是對原文中的 serve as a tie-breaker的同義轉述，故答案為O)。
50.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：同義轉述題。由題干中的competition, intense, application process, what baby boomers knew 定位到F)段第二句。F)段第二句提到，即使不考慮競爭加劇的因素，現在的孩子們需要經歷的過程與嬰兒潮時期出生的那代人所經歷的過程完全不同。這說明現在的人學申請競爭不斷加劇，而且申請程序也與以前完全不同。題干中的the competition getting more intense 是對原文中的 the increased competition的同義轉述,題干中的 totally different from 和原文中的 has been utterly transformed from意思相同，故確定本題 答案為F)。
51.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：歸納概括題。由題干中的 slip into cliches, failing to engage the reader 定位到J)段。J)段第一句提到Boshoven 對孩子們寫作的評價,孩子們寫作的內容往往是 一些老生常談的問題,會讓人感到抓狂。最后一 句提到,對于這樣的論文,讀者讀完第一段就不愿 意繼續讀下去了。題干將原文中具有因果關系的兩件事情明確地表述了出來。題干中的slip into cliches和原文表述完全一致,題干中的failing to engage the reader 是對原文中的 lose the reader in the first paragraph的同義轉述,故確定答案力J)。
52.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節推斷題。由題干中的 According to a recent survey, an applicant s grades, highly important 定位至N)段。N)段介紹了一項最近開展 的對招生負責人的調研結果。本段最后一句提到,86%的學校認為申請人的成績 非常重要 。 題干中的According to a recent survey與原文表述完全一致,題干中的most 詞是對86 percent 的總結,題f巾的consider... important與原文中 的 place considerable importance on 意思相同， W此確定答案為N)。
53.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節辨認題。由題干中的 causes lots of anxiety, in the college s decision-making process 定位到 M)段。M)段第一句中提到了入學申請論文會導致很多焦慮。最后一句中提到，在絕大多數地方,論文在大學作錄取決定的過程中并不是一個多么重要的因素。題干則是借助連詞 Although把原文中開頭和結尾兩個具有讓步關系 的句子連接起來。題于中的causes lots of anxiety 和原義中的 an the anxiety the essay causes 意思相同，題干中的 does not play so important a role 是對原文中的simply not a big variable的同義轉述題干中的 in the college s decision-making
process和原文中的表述完全一致，因此確定答案 為 M)。
54.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節推斷題。由題干中的 outside the self，its impact on you定位到L)段最后一句。L)段最后一句提到，即使 表面上看問題是關于自我之外的東西,但論文仍然會回到那個最受人喜愛的話題：它對 你自己 有什么影響?題干中的outside the self與原文中的表述完全一致，題干中的should center around 是對原文中的 invariably returns to the favorite topic的同義轉述,題干中的its impact on you 是對原文中的 what is its impact on YOU? 的簡化。由此可確定答案力L)。
55.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節推斷題。由題干中的a sample of their school papers, writing ability 定位到 E)段第二句。定位句中提到，在20世紀30年代,錄取委員會如何評估申請人的寫作能力：要求申請人提供在校期間的論文樣本,這樣就以評估他們的寫作能力。題干中的In the old days是對原文中的In the 1930s的模糊化處理,題干中的 applicants only had to submit 和原文中的 an admissions committee was content to ask for 對應,題干中的 a sample of their school papers 和 writing ability與原文中的表述完全一致,因此E) 為本題的答案。
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 one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
The College Essay: Why Those 500 Words Drive Us Crazy
A) Meg is a lawyer-mom in suburban Washington, D.C., where lawyer-moms are thick on the ground. Her son Doug is one of several hundred thousand high-school seniors who had a painful fall. The deadline for applying to his favorite college was Nov. 1,and by early October he had yet to fill out the application. More to the point, he had yet to settle on a subject for the personal essay accompanying the application. According to college folklore, a well-turned essay has the power to seduce an admissions committee. He wanted to do one thing at a time, Meg says, explaining her son s delay. But really, my son is a huge procrastinator . The essay is the hardest thing to do, so he s put it off the longest. Friends and other veterans of the process have warned Meg that the back and forth between editing parent and writing student can be traumatic .
B) Back in the good old days say, two years ago, when the last of my children suffered the ordeal a high-school student applying to college could procrastinate all the way to New Year s Day of their senior year, assuming they could withstand the parental pestering .But things change fast in the nail-biting world of college admissions.The recent trend toward early decision and early action among selective colleges and universities has pushed the traditional deadline of January up to Nov. 1 or early December for many students.
C) If the time for heel-dragging has been shortened, the true source of the anxiety and panic remains what it has always been. And it s not the application itself. A college application is a relatively straightforward questionnaire asking for the basics: name, address, family history employment history. It would all be innocent enough 20 minutes of busy work except it comes attached to a personal essay.
D) There are good reasons it causes such anxiety, says Lisa Sohmer, director of college counseling at the Garden School in Jackson Heights, N.Y. It s not just the actual writing. By noweverything else is already set. Your course load is set, your grades are set, your test scores are set. But the essay is something you can still control, and it s open-ended. So the temptation is to write and rewrite and rewrite. Or stall and stall and stall.
E) The application essay, along with its mythical importance, is a recent invention. In the 1930s,when only one in 10 Americans had a degree from a four-year college, an admissionscommittee was content to ask for a sample of applicants school papers to assess their writing ability. By the 1950s, most schools required a brief personal statement of why the student had chosen to apply to one school over another.
F) Today nearly 70 percent of graduating seniors go off to college, including two-year and four-year institutions. Even apart from the increased competition, the kids enter a process that has been utterly transformed from the one baby boomers knew. Nearly all application materials are submitted online, and the Common Application provides a one-size-fits form accepted by more than 400 schools, including the nation s most selective.
G) Those schools usually require essays of their own, but the longest essay, 500 words maximum, is generally attached to the Common Application. Students choose one of six questions. Applicants are asked to describe an ethical dilemma they ve faced and its impact on them, or discuss a public issue of special concern to them, or tell of a fictional character or creative work that has profoundly influenced them. Another question invites them to write about the importance of diversity―a word that has assumed magic power in American higher education. The most popular option: write on a topic of your choice.
H) Boys in particular look at the other questions and say, Oh, that s too much work, says John Boshoven, a counselor in the Ann Arbor, Mich., public schools. They think if they do a topic of their choice, I ll just go get that history paper I did last year on the Roman Empire and turn it into a first-person application essay! And they end up producing something utterly ridiculous.
I) Talking to admissions professionals like Boshoven, you realize that the list of don ts in essay writing is much longer than the dos. No book reports, no history papers, no character studies, says Sohmer.
J) It drives you crazy, how easily kids slip into clich s, says Boshoven. They don t realize how typical their experiences arc. I scored the winning goal in soccer against our arch-rival. My grandfather served in World War II, and I hope to be just like him someday. That may mean a lot to that particular kid. But in the world of the application essay, it s nothing. You ll lose the reader in the first paragraph.
K) The greatest strength you bring to this essay, says the College Board s how-to book, is 17 years or so of familiarity with the topic: YOU. The form and style are very familiar, and best of all, you are the world-class expert on the subject of YOU ... It has been the subject of your close scrutiny every morning since you were tall enough to see into the bathroom mirror. Thekey word in the Common Application prompts is you.
L) The college admission essay contains the grandest American themes―status anxiety, parental piety , intellectual standards and so it is only a matter of time before it becomes infected by the country s culture of excessive concern with self-esteem. Even if the question isostensibly about something outside the self , the essay invariably returns to the favorite topic: what is its impact on YOU?
M) For all the anxiety the essay causes, says Bill McClintick of Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, it s a very small piece of the puzzle. I was in college admissions for 10 years. I saw kids and parents beat themselves up over this. And at the vast majority of places, it is simply not a big variable in the college s decision-making process.
N) Many admissions officers say they spend less than a couple of minutes on each application, including the essay. According to a recent survey of admissions officers, only one in four private colleges say the essay is of considerable importance in judging an application. Among public colleges and universities, the number drops to roughly one in 10. By contrast, 86 percent place considerable importance on an applicant s grades, 70 percent on strength of curriculum.
O) Still, at the most selective schools, where thousands of candidates may submit identically high grades and test scores, a marginal item like the essay may serve as a tie-breaker between two equally qualified candidates. The thought is certainly enough to keep the pot boiling under parents like Meg, the lawyer-mom, as she tries to help her son choose an essay topic. For a moment the other day, she thought she might have hit on a good one. His father s from France, she says. I said maybe you could write about that, as something that makes you different. You know: half French, half American. I said, You could write about your identity issues. He said, I don t have any identity issues! And he s right. He s a well-adjusted, normal kid. But that doesn t make for a good essay, does it?
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2上作答。
46.Today many universities require their applicants to write an essay of up to five hundred words.
47.One recent change in college admissions is that selective colleges and universities have movedthe traditional deadline to earlier dates.
48.Applicants and their parents are said to believe that the personal essay can sway the admissions committee.
49.Applicants are usually better off if they can write an essay that distinguishes them from the rest.
50.Not only is the competition getting more intense, the application process today is also totally different from what baby boomers knew.
51.In writing about their own experiences many applicants slip into clich s, thus failing to engage the reader.
52.According to a recent survey, most public colleges and universities consider an applicant s grades highly important.
53.Although the application essay causes lots of anxiety, it does not play so important a role in the college sdecision-making process.
54.The question you aresupposed to write about may seem outside the self, but the theme of the essay should center around its impact on you.
55.In the old days, applicants only had to submit a sample of their school papers to show their writing ability.
參考答案
46.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：同義轉述題。由題干中的up to five hundred words定位到G)段第一句。定位句提到,那些學校通常 要求申請人提供原創論文,但是最長的論文一般和通用申請表一起提交。本題題干將定位句簡化為 很多大學要求申請人撰寫一篇最多500字的論文 ,是對原文的同義轉述,故答案為G)。
47.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節歸納題。由題干中的selective colleges and universities, traditional deadline 定位到B)段最后兩句。B)段倒數第二句提到,大學 錄取方面的事情瞬息萬變。接著在最后一句中具 體指出最近發生的變化:人學申請的截止日期由傳統的1月份提前到11月1日或者12月初。題干中的 申請截止日期提前了一些 是對原文中提 到的具體日期進行的概括性說明。其中的 I moved... to...是對原文中 pushed... up to...的 同義轉述。由此可確定本題的答案為B)。
48.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節推斷題。由題干中的sway, admissions committee 定位到A)段第五句。A)段以Meg母子為例介紹 了學生和家長們對個人論文的看法:措辭優美的 論文足以對錄取委員會產生誘惑，即影響其做出的錄取決定。題干中的sway意為 影響，使改變看法 ，與原文中的seduce意思相近，題干中的 can是對原文中的has the power的同義轉述,故答案為A)。
49.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節歸納題。由題干中的better off, distinguishes定位到O)段第一句。定位句提到,在一些最具競爭力的高校里,候選人所提交的成績和測驗分數 同樣都很高,對于兩位具有相同資格的候選人來 說,論文之類的邊緣項目可能會起到決定成敗的 作用。題干中的are usually better off是對原文中的 serve as a tie-breaker的同義轉述，故答案為O)。
50.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：同義轉述題。由題干中的competition, intense, application process, what baby boomers knew 定位到F)段第二句。F)段第二句提到，即使不考慮競爭加劇的因素，現在的孩子們需要經歷的過程與嬰兒潮時期出生的那代人所經歷的過程完全不同。這說明現在的人學申請競爭不斷加劇，而且申請程序也與以前完全不同。題干中的the competition getting more intense 是對原文中的 the increased competition的同義轉述,題干中的 totally different from 和原文中的 has been utterly transformed from意思相同，故確定本題 答案為F)。
51.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：歸納概括題。由題干中的 slip into cliches, failing to engage the reader 定位到J)段。J)段第一句提到Boshoven 對孩子們寫作的評價,孩子們寫作的內容往往是 一些老生常談的問題,會讓人感到抓狂。最后一 句提到,對于這樣的論文,讀者讀完第一段就不愿 意繼續讀下去了。題干將原文中具有因果關系的兩件事情明確地表述了出來。題干中的slip into cliches和原文表述完全一致,題干中的failing to engage the reader 是對原文中的 lose the reader in the first paragraph的同義轉述,故確定答案力J)。
52.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節推斷題。由題干中的 According to a recent survey, an applicant s grades, highly important 定位至N)段。N)段介紹了一項最近開展 的對招生負責人的調研結果。本段最后一句提到,86%的學校認為申請人的成績 非常重要 。 題干中的According to a recent survey與原文表述完全一致,題干中的most 詞是對86 percent 的總結,題f巾的consider... important與原文中 的 place considerable importance on 意思相同， W此確定答案為N)。
53.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節辨認題。由題干中的 causes lots of anxiety, in the college s decision-making process 定位到 M)段。M)段第一句中提到了入學申請論文會導致很多焦慮。最后一句中提到，在絕大多數地方,論文在大學作錄取決定的過程中并不是一個多么重要的因素。題干則是借助連詞 Although把原文中開頭和結尾兩個具有讓步關系 的句子連接起來。題于中的causes lots of anxiety 和原義中的 an the anxiety the essay causes 意思相同，題干中的 does not play so important a role 是對原文中的simply not a big variable的同義轉述題干中的 in the college s decision-making
process和原文中的表述完全一致，因此確定答案 為 M)。
54.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節推斷題。由題干中的 outside the self，its impact on you定位到L)段最后一句。L)段最后一句提到，即使 表面上看問題是關于自我之外的東西,但論文仍然會回到那個最受人喜愛的話題：它對 你自己 有什么影響?題干中的outside the self與原文中的表述完全一致，題干中的should center around 是對原文中的 invariably returns to the favorite topic的同義轉述,題干中的its impact on you 是對原文中的 what is its impact on YOU? 的簡化。由此可確定答案力L)。
55.ANSWER 答案
2023年12月六級閱讀長篇閱讀解析：細節推斷題。由題干中的a sample of their school papers, writing ability 定位到 E)段第二句。定位句中提到，在20世紀30年代,錄取委員會如何評估申請人的寫作能力：要求申請人提供在校期間的論文樣本,這樣就以評估他們的寫作能力。題干中的In the old days是對原文中的In the 1930s的模糊化處理,題干中的 applicants only had to submit 和原文中的 an admissions committee was content to ask for 對應,題干中的 a sample of their school papers 和 writing ability與原文中的表述完全一致,因此E) 為本題的答案。
