大学英语六级考试特别预测卷2

Part II Listening Comprehension

Section A

Directions:

In this section, you will hear two long conversations.

At the end of each conversation, you will hear some questions.

Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once.

After you hear a question, 

you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A. B. C.and D.

Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Now you will hear two long conversation.

Conversation One

W: United World Colleges. Good morning. Can I help you?

M: Good morning. My name is Michal Jacson. 

I have a friend in Spain who`s interested in applying for a place at one of the colleges. 

There are one or two questions which she`d like me to ask you.

W: Go ahead. 

M: Thanks. The first one is:What language is used for normal lessons?

W: Well, the main language of instruction in all the colleges is English.

 But at Pacific College in Canada,some subjects are taught in french, 

and at the college of the Adriatic, some may be taught in Italian. 

M: Right. Her next question is about fees. 

Is it expensive to go to one of the colleges?

W: Students` parents don`t have to be rich, 

if that`s what you mean. There are scholarships for all colleges, 

but do ask parents to help paying what they can afford. 

M: Good. She`ll be glad to hear that. 

Now she wants to know something about gettng into a college. 

Does she have to get high marks in her examines?

W: Ah, yes, well she will haven`t do well, 

but academic ability is not the only thing that`s important. 

We also look at personal qualities.

M: What sort of things do you mean?

W: Maturity, the ability to get on well with people from different countries, 

that sort of thing. 

M: Of course. I understand what you mean. 

Her last question is about her other interest. 

Can she do painting and morden dancing, for example?

W: Yes, probably. It depends on the staff at the college she enters.

 Each college has its own special activities, such as theatre studies or environmental work, 

in which students can take part.

M: Good. I think that`s all. Thank you very much for your help.

W: You`re welcome. I hope your friends sends in an application.

M: I`m sure she will. Thanks again. Goodbye.

W: Goodbye.

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

Questions 1

Why did the man call the United World Colleges?

Questions 2

What aspects did the man not inquire about?

Questions 3

What is the qualification if one wants to apply for a college?

Questions 4

What is the man`s second question about?

Conversation Two

W: I`m very impressed by all the work you`ve done on your house, Mr. Miller. 

How long have you been working on it?

M: I first became interested in do it yourself several years ago. You see, 

my son Paul is disabled. He`s in a wheel chair and I just had to make alterations to the house.

 I couldn`t affort to pay workmen to do it. I had to learn to do it myself.

W: Had you had any experience of this kind of work? 

M: No. I got a few books from the library but they didn`t help. 

Then I decided to go to evening class to learn basic carpentry and electrics.

W: What sort of changes did you make to the house?

M: First of all, practical things to help Paul. 

You never really realize the problems handicapped people have until it affects your own family. 

We used to live in a flat, and of course it was totally unsuitable. 

We needed a large house with wide corridors. 

We didn`t have much money and we had to buy this one.

 It`s over ninty years old and it was in a very bad state of repair. 

W: Where did you begin?

M: The electrics. I completely rewired the house so that Paul could reach all the switches. 

I had to lower the light switches and raise the power points.

 I went on to do the whole house so that Paul could reach things and go where he wanted. 

By the time, I`d altered everything for Paul. Now do it yourself had become a hobby. 

I really enjoyed doing things with my hands.

W: What are you working on now?

M: I`ve just finished the kitchen. I`ve designed it so that Paul can reach everything. 

Now I`m building all extension so that Paul will have a large room on the ground floor for work. 

W: There`s a ￡10,000 prize. How are you going to spend it?

M: I`m going to start my own business so that I can convert ordinary houses for disable people.

 I think I`ve been an expert on the subject.  

Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

Questions 5

Why did Mr. Miller begin to do it self several years ago?

Questions 6

How did Mr. Miller learn the practical skills ?

Questions 7

What is the first step for Mr. Miller to help his son?

Questions 8

What was Mr. Miller going to do in the future?

Section B

Directions:

In this section, you will hear two passages.

At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions.Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.

After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A. B. C.and D.

Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Within fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well 

on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste. 

The word rubbish could lose its meaning because everything which goes 

into the dumps would be made into something useful. 

Even the most dangerous and unpleasant waste would provide energy if nothing else.

The latest project is to take a city around half a million inhabitants 

and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out. 

The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided 

if a plant for recycling waste were built just outside the city. 

This plant would recycle not only metals such as steel, lead and copper, 

but also paper and rubber as well.

Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish. 

When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: 

first, it will pass through sharp metal bars 

which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; 

then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate 

the lightest elements from the heavy solids; 

after that grounders and rollers will break up everything that can be broken. 

Finally, the rubbish will pass under magnets, which will remove the bits of iron and steel; 

the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage.

The first full scale giant recycling plants are, perhaps, fifteen years away. Indeed, 

with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities 

will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long.

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.

Questions 9

Why will Britain and other nations build huge industrial complexes?

Questions 10

According to the passage, what is not the purpose of new projects?

Questions 11

What statement on the first fullscale big recycling plants is right?

Passage Two

The time is 9 o`clock and this is Marian Snow with the news.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced an inquiry 

into allegations that Britain`s security services were complicit in the torture 

of terrorist suspects detained overseas since the 9/11 attacks. 

Addressing parliament, Mr Cameron said the 

allegations had damaged Britain`s reputation and had to be investigated. 

The government has also published new guidance for intelligence and military 

personnel on how to deal with detainees held by other countries. 

Eighteen thousand people have been evacuated from a town in northern 

Mexico where a dam is in danger of overflowing in the aftermath of Hurricane Alex. 

People from Ciudad Anahuac were taken to shelters in nearby towns and cities. 

The city`s mayor said the water level of the dam was now critical.

The French parliament is debating a bill that could lead to fines 

and prison terms for women who wear full Islamic veils in public. 

Men who force their wives to wear the burka could face the toughest penalties, 

fines of around 20,000 dollars and a year in jail. Women would be treated more 

leniently unless they persistently flouted the ban. 

The bill is opposed by many of France`s five million Muslims.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told Azerbaijan 

that the United States is ready to help it reach a deal 

with Armenia over the disputed enclave of Nagorno Karabakh. 

Speaking in Azerbaijan, she said the issue was a high priority 

for the US and that peace was possible. 

The enclave has been controlled by Armenian troops and ethnic Armenian forces since 1994. 

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has called the simmering tensions 

with Armenia “a major threat” to regional security.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.

Questions 12

What has the British Prime Minister David Cameron announced when he addressing parliament?

Questions 13

Why have the Mexico government evacuated people in a town innorthern Mexico?

Questions 14

What is the bill that the French parliament is debating on?

Questions 15

What did Hillary Clinton not mention about the disputed enclave of Nagorno Karabakh?

Section C

Directions:

In this section, you will hear recordings of lectures or talks followed by some questions.

The recordings will be played only once.After you hear a question, 

you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A. B. C.and D.

Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 16 to 19.

Thank you, President Mellow, distinguished faculty, 

friends and above all else the Graduating Class of 2013.

It is a great honor for me to share in your accomplishment and pride today. 

But I must admit that I approached this address with some trepidation. 

I suppose that more commencement speeches have been delivered more seriously, 

listened to more attentively, and forgotten more promptly than any other form of human communication. 

So I will try to be brief and practical. 

My advice is grounded in my own experience. And my own experience, in many respects, 

is not that different from many of yours.

I grew up with the idea that college was more an aspiration than an expectation.

 I saw my parents struggle most of their lives and the daily battle 

to keep afloat sometimes even drained what hopes and dreams they had for me. 

They didn`t go to college and neither did my only, older sibling. 

My father sorted mail for the post office. 

He worked nights because it paid 10% more than a day shift. 

My mother was a receptionist at a burglar alarm company, 

one of the few growth industries in our neighborhood. 

I grew up in the Linden Houses, which, as some of you know, 

is a housing project in East New York. 

It was and is a tough neighborhood, though it produced some accomplished  people who, 

despite or because of their background, did well. 

I attended Thomas Jefferson high school, 

which has since shut down as a high school and operates different training 

programs for various skills. Up until high school, 

I shared a small apartment with my extended family, 

which included my grandmother, my sister and my nephew. 

But looking back, I grew up in a world of unlimited opportunity. 

Each night I would read, and reading opened up the world to me. 

I love reading history and especially biography. In biographies,

 you are almost always reading about people who started out unimportant

 but ended up having a significant life. What I liked most about biographies then 

and now is that the person you are reading about is in his or her early life on page 50, 

doesn`t know about the success he or she will achieve on page 300.

 They couldn`t see the greatness that lay ahead. 

If you think about it, that`s a great justification for the optimism 

that you should have for the life ahead of you.

 All of you are only on about page 50 of your biography,

 with hundreds of pages to go. Growing up, 

my biggest goal was just to get out of East New York. 

I took the college entrance exam and committed myself to getting into college. I did. 

The day I left for college was one of the first trips I made out of New York City.

Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 20 to 22.

It`s a New Year and there`s a lot that is new in our country today: 

two million new private sector jobs created since 2010; 

a new spirit in our classrooms with over one million more children 

learning in schools that are good or outstanding; for over 24 million hard working people, 

there`ve been new tax cuts and for three million of the lowest paid, 

no income tax whatsoever. 

There are tens of thousands of new homeowners, 

thanks to our Help to Buy scheme; new security for those retiring after a life of work, 

with the state pension increased by ￡800 so far and by ￡950 next year. 

And the world is looking at Britain in a new way, with our economy growing 

faster than any other major developed nation.

None of this happened out of thin air. It`s because we put in place 

a long term plan with some clear values at its heart. 

Ours must be a country where if you put in, you will get out; 

where if you want to work, there are decent jobs; where if you put the hours in,

 you keep more of your own money; where if you`re raising your children the best you can,

you can expect they`ll get a proper education; 

and where if you`re willing to save, you can buy a home of your own;

 and of course where when you retire, you will have dignity and security in old age.

Our long term plan is working. Our country is being turned around. But let us be clear:

With this New Year comes new challenges. The global economy remains uncertain,

 and many countries continue to struggle. And against that backdrop, 

Britain has a choice:  

between the competence that has got us this far or the chaos of giving it up, 

going backwards and taking huge risks.

So I say this should be our resolution: 

to stick to the plan, stay on course to prosperity, and keep 

doing the important, long work of securing a better future.

2015 can promise to be a great year for our country—if we make the right choices together.

And for now, I`d like to wish you, your family and your friends a very Happy New Year.

Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 23 to 25.

I heard about a high school in Chicago 

where students had to pass a certain number of courses to graduate,

 and if they didn`t pass a course, they got the grade Not Yet.

 And I thought that was fantastic, because if you get a failing grade, you think,

 I`m nothing, I`m nowhere. But if you get the grade Not Yet 

you understand that you`re on a learning curve. 

It gives you a path into the future. 

Not Yet also gave me insight into a critical event early in my career, 

a real turning point. I wanted to see how children coped with challenge and difficulty, 

so I gave 10 year olds problems that were slightly too hard for them. 

Some of them reacted in a shockingly positive way. They said things like, 

I love a challenge, or, you know, I was hoping this would be informative. 

They understood that their abilities could be developed. 

They had what I call a growth mindset. But other students felt it was tragic, 

catastrophic. From their more fixed mindset perspective, 

their intelligence had been up for judgment and they failed. 

Instead of luxuriating in the power of it, they were gripped in the tyranny of now. 

So what do they do next?

I`ll tell you what they do next. 

In one study, they told us they would probably cheat the next time 

instead of studying more if they failed a test. 

In another study, after a failure, they looked for someone 

who did worse than they did so they could feel really good about themselves.

And in study after study, they have run from difficulty. 

Scientists measured the electrical activity from the brain as students confronted an error. 

On the left, you see the fixed mindset students. There`s hardly any activity. They run from the error. 

They don`t engage with it. But on the right, you have the students with the growth mindset, 

the idea that abilities can be developed. They engage deeply. Their brain is on fire with it. 

They engage deeply. They process the error. They learn from it and they correct it.

How are we raising our children? Are we raising them for now instead of it? 

Are we raising kids who are obsessed with getting A`s? 

Are we raising kids who don`t know how to dream big dreams? 

Their biggest goal is getting the next A or the next test score? 

And are they carrying this need for constant validation with them into their future lives?

 Maybe, because employers are coming to me and saying, 

we have already raised a generation of young workers 

who can`t get through the day without an award.