Section B

Passage 1

A scientific team is studying the thinking ability of eleven and half month old children. The test is a simple one. The baby watches a sort of show on a small stage. In Act One of the show, a yellow cube is lifted from a blue box, and moved across the stage. Then it is returned to the box. This is repeated 6 times. Act Two is similar except that the yellow cube is smaller. Baby boys do not react at all to the difference and the size of the cube. But girls immediately become excited. The scientists interpret the girls’ excitement as meaning they are trying to understand what they have just seen. They are wondering why Act Two is odd and how it differs from Act One. In other words, the little girls are reasoning. This experiment certainly does not definitely prove that girls start to reason before boys, but it provides a clue that scientists would like to study more carefully. Already it is known that bones, muscles and nerves develop faster in baby girls. Perhaps it is early nerve development that makes some infant girls show more intelligence than infant boys. Scientists have also found that nature seems to give another boost to girls. Baby girls usually talk at an earlier age than boys do. Scientists think that there is a physical reason for this. They believe that the nerve endings in the left side of the brain develop faster in girls than in boys, and it is this side of the brain that strongly influences an individual’s ability to use language and remember things.

Q26. What is the difference between Act One and Act Two in the test?

答案：The size of the objects shown.

Q27. How do the scientists interpret their observation from the experiment?

答案： Girls seem to start reasoning earlier than boys.

Q28. What does the speaker say about the experiment?

答案： It may simulate scientists to make further studies.

Q29. According to scientists, what is another advantage given to girls by nature?

答案： They talk at an early age.

【点评】

本文是一篇关于幼儿思维能力的文章。… but it provides a clue that… 一句前都是具体的实验过程，是一个例子，重点在实验为科学研究提供的线索。实验发现可能是早期的神经发育使女婴比男婴更聪明。科学家们还发现，自然可能还给了女孩另一大优势，那就是女孩通常比男孩早开口说话，而这也是因为神经末梢发育快于男孩。

关键词：interpret v. 解释;翻译boost n. 推动，帮助

Passage 2

A super attendant of the city municipal building, Dillia Adorno, was responsible for presenting its new security plan to the public. City employees, citizens and reporters gathered in the hall to hear her describe the plan. After outlining the main points she would cover, she assured the audience that she would be happy to answer questions at the end of her presentation. Dillia realized the plan was expensive and potentially controversial. So she was not surprised to see a number of hands go up as soon as she finished speaking. An employ asked, “Would the new system create long lines to get into the building like the line in the airport security checks?” Dillia had anticipated this question and had an answer ready. After repeating the question, she explained that the sufficient number of security guards would be working at peak hours to speed things along. The next question was more confrontational.”Where was the money come from to pay for all of this?”The journalists who ask the question seem hostile. But Dillia was careful not to adopt the defensive tone. She stated that the money would come from the city’s general budget. “I know these are tide times”, she added, “But everyone agrees on the importance of safe guarding our employees and members of the public who come into the building.” Near the end of the 25 minutes she has said, Dillia said she would take two more questions. When those were finished, she concluded the session with a brief restatement of how the new system will improve security and peace of mind in the municipal building.

Question 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.

30. What is the focus of Dillia Adorno’s presentation?

答案：The new security plan for the municipal building.

31. What question had Dillia Adorno anticipated?

答案： Whether the security checks would create long queues at peak hours.

32. What did the speakers think of the question from the journalist?

答案： Confrontational

【点评】

本文描写一位政府官员介绍了一项新的安保计划，并回答了在场人员的提问，类似于一场新闻发布会。计划成本较高，而且可能颇具争议。本文详细阐述了两个提问。第一个问题是Dillia预见到的，但第二个记者的提问是有对抗性的，即使confrontational这个词我们听不懂也没关系，可以从下文的其他词汇中推断，如hostile 有敌意的，而针对这个问题，Dillia让自己尽可能不采取defensive的态度，既然要采取防卫的态度，那记者的提问一定是在政府的对立面的，因此从defensive一词也可以判断出记者的态度。

关键词：attendant n. 随员 confrontational adj. 对抗性的 hostile，defensive

Passage 3

Despite unemployment and the lost of her home, Andrea Clark considers herself a blessed and happy woman. Why the cheerful attitude? Her troubles have brought her closer to her family. Last year, Andrea’s husband, Rick, a miner in Nevada was laid off. Though Andrea kept her job as a school bus driver, she knew that they couldn’t pay their bill and support their youngest of five children, Zack, age nine, on one income. “At first their church helped out, but you can’t keep that up forever”, Andrea says. Then Michal, their eldest of her four adult children suggested they move in with his family. For almost three months, seven Clarks lived under one roof. Andrea, Rick and Zack stayed in the basement department, sharing laundry and single bathroom with Michal, his wife and their two children.

The change cut their expenditures in half, but the new living arrangement proved too challenging. When Andrea found a job with a school district closer to her mother’s home in west Jorden, Utah, the family decided to move on. Packing up again with no picnic, Zack had to switch schools for the second time and space is even tighter. Andrea says that the moves themselves are exhausting and Rick is still looking for a job.

The recession has certainly come with more problems than Andrea anticipated, but she remains unfailingly optimistic. She is excited to spend more time with her mother. Another plus, rents are lower in Utah than in Nevada. So Andrea thinks they’ll be able to save up and move out in less than 6 months.

Questions 33-35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

Q33 What do we learn about Andrea’s husband?

答案：He used to work as a miner in Nevada.

Q34 Why did Andrea move to live in her eldest son’s home?

答案：To cut their living expenses.

Q35 What is Andrea’s attitude toward the hardships brought by the economic recession?

答案：Optimistic.

【点评】

本文描写了Andrea一家在经历失业时依然乐观向上的积极状态。这从文章的首句Despite unemployment and the lost of her home, Andrea Clark considers herself a blessed and happy woman.和最后一段but she remains unfailingly optimistic.都能得到印证。Andrea的丈夫是内华达的矿工，去年失业，为了维持生计，他们先是和大儿子一家住在一起，后来又搬家到犹他州，她的丈夫还在继续找工作。但是经济衰退，并没有让Andrea消极，她觉得自己和家人的关系更紧密了并且相信自己能够度过难关。

关键词：lay off 解雇;expenditure n. 支出，花费;optimistic adj. 乐观的

Section C

Mountain climbing is becoming a popular sport, but it is also a potentially dangerous one. People can fall. They may also become ill. One of the most common dangers to climbers is altitude sickness, which can affect even very experienced climbers. Altitude sickness usually begins when a climber goes above 8,000 to 9,000 feet. The higher one climbs, the less oxygen there is in the air. When people don’t get enough oxygen, they often begin to gasp for air. They may also feel dizzy and light-headed. Besides these symptoms of altitude sickness, others such as headache and fatigue may also occur. At heights of over 18,000 feet, people may be climbing in a constant daze. Their state of mind can have adverse affect on their judgment. A few precautions can help most climbers avoid altitude sickness. The first is not to go too high, too fast. If you climb to 10,000 feet, stay at that height for a day or two. Your body needs to get used to a high altitude before you climb to a even higher one. Or if you do climb higher sooner, come back down to a lower height when you sleep. Also, drink plenty of liquids and avoid tobacco and alcohol. When you reach your top height, do like activities rather than sleep too much. You breathe less when you sleep, so you get less oxygen. The most important warning is this: if you have severe symptoms, then don’t go away, go down. Don’t risk injury or death because of over-confidence or lack of knowledge.

36. potentially

37. experienced

38. gasp

39. dizzy

40. fatigue

41. constant

42. adverse

43. precautions

44. Your body needs to get used to a high altitude before you climb to a even higher one.

45. When you reach your top height, do like activities rather than sleep too much.

46. Don’t risk injury or death because of over-confidence or lack of knowledge.

【点评】

本文是有关高原病的，主要讲述了高原病的症状以及预防措施。文章本身长难句不多，但出现了较多偏难单词，考验学生的临场心态。

需填单词难度较大，如dizzy，fatigue，adverse，altitude等，对学生的词汇量要求颇高。

空格整体分布较为均匀，填写时间比较充足。所填词语格式比较重要，如-s等是不可漏过的细节。需填写的句子均较短，难度不是特别大。

深度阅读_SA：

47. others

解析：关键词 evaluate ourselves

迅速定位到 第一段第一句话 所以答案是 others

48. similar to peers

解析：关键词 adolescence

迅速定位到 第一段中间 所以答案是 similar to peers.

49. a good listener

解析：关键词 self- awareness

迅速定位到 第二段第一句 所以答案是a good listener

50. They seek professional help

解析：关键词 unacceptable to family or friends

迅速定位到 第二段第七行 所以答案是They can seek professional help.

51. a normal reaction

解析：关键词 Counselors 和assure

迅速定位到 第二段倒数第三行 所以答案是a normal reaction

深度阅读SB_1

Amid all the job losses of the Great Recession, there is one category of worker that the economic disruption has been good for: nonhumans.

From self-service checkout lines at the supermarket to industrial robots armed with saws and taught to carve up animal carcasses in slaughter-houses, these ever-more-intelligent machines are now not just assisting workers but actually kicking them out of their jobs.

Automation isn’t just affecting factory workers, either. Some law firms now use artificial intelligence software to scan and read mountains of legal documents, work that previously was performed by highly paid human lawyers.

“Robots continue to have an impact on blue-collar jobs, and white-collar jobs are under attack by microprocessors,” says Edward Leamer, an economics professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, a survey of the U.S. and California economies. Leamer says the recession permanently wiped out 2.5 million jobs. U.S. gross domestic product has climbed back to pre-recession levels, meaning we’re producing as much as before, only with 6 percent fewer workers. To be sure, robotics are not the only job killers out there, with outsourcing stealing far more gigs than automation.

Jeff Burnstein, president of the Robotics Industry Association, a trade group in Ann Arbor, Mich., argues that robots actually save U.S. jobs. His logic: companies that embrace automation might use fewer workers, but that’s still better than firing everyone and moving the work overseas.

It’s not that robots are cheaper than humans, though often they are. It’s that they are better. “In some cases the quality requirements are so stringent that even if you wanted to have a human do the job, you couldn’t,” Burnstein says.

Same goes for surgeons, who are using robotic systems to perform an ever-growing list of operations—not because the machines save money but because, thanks to the greater precision of robots, the patients recover in less time and have fewer complications, says Dr. Myriam Curet.

Surgeons may survive the robot invasion, but others at the hospital might not be so lucky, as iRobot, maker of the Roomba, a robot vacuum cleaner, has been showing off Ava, a three-foot-tall droid on wheels that carries a tablet computer. iRobot reckons Ava could be used as a courier in a hospital. And once you’re home, recovering, Ava could let you talk to your doctor, so there’s no need to send someone to your house. That “mobile telepresence” could be useful at the office. If you’re away on a trip, you can still attend a meeting. Just connect via videoconferencing software, so your face appears on Ava’s screen.

Is any job safe? I was hoping to say “journalist,” but researchers are already developing algorithms that can gather facts and write a news story. Which means that a few years from now, a robot could be writing this column. And who will read it? Well, there might be a lot of us hanging around with lots of free time on our hands.

52. What do we learn from the first few paragraphs?

答案：The robotic industry has benefited from the economic recession.

53. What caused the greatest loss of jobs in America?

答案：Moving production to other countries.

54. What does Jeff Burnstein say about robots?

答案：They compete with human workers.

55. What are robotic systems replacing surgeons in more and more operations according to Dr. Myriam Curet?

答案：They beat humans in precision.

56. What does the author imply about robotics?

答案：It will be applied in any field imaginable.

【解析】这是一篇讨论机器人取代人类的科技说明文，话题是考生比较熟悉的科技类文章。文中指出在大萧条时期众多失业的情况下，有一类工人却受益于经济混乱：机器人。机器人和业务外包比自动化分流了更多的岗位。但是专家指出，并不是因为机器人比人廉价，而是它们比人类更优秀。在很多具体工作上，人类无法做到像机器人那样精确。文章最后一段探讨还有那些岗位能免于机器人取代的危机，作者本以为记者行业可以，但是结果却不是这样，几乎所有岗位都面临这种趋势，从而紧扣文章原文题目和主题：Who Needs Humans?人类还有何用?

本文选材虽然是科技相关，但是词汇都比较简单，没有太偏的词汇。而这几道题相比而言，难度又低了不少，很多选项直接可以通过对比原文排除，如54题谈到对机器人的看法，其中B选项说机器人比人类工作更省钱更便宜，而文中已经特别清晰的表明立场，It’s not that …此外，词汇复现也能帮助大家准备做对题目，如第52题的答案中benefit from就对应了原文中的be good for，所以很快很轻松的就选出来了。因此考生只要明确文中几个人物各自的观点，勾画好关键词，整体上来讲，5道题都做对基本可以做到的。

深度阅读SB_2

You've now heard it so many times, you can probably repeat it in your sleep. President Obama will no doubt make the point publicly when he gets to Beijing: the Chinese need to spend more; they need to consume more; they need — believe it or not — to become more like Americans, for the sake of the global economy.

And it's all true. But the other side of that equation is that the U.S. needs to save more. For the moment, American households actually are doing so. After the personal-savings rate dipped to zero in 2005, the shock of the economic crisis last year prompted people to snap shut their wallets.

In China, the household-savings rate exceeds 20%. It is partly for policy reasons. As we've seen, wage earners are expected to care for not only their children but also their aging parents. And there is, to date, only the flimsiest(脆弱的) of publicly-funded health care and pension systems, which increases incentives for individuals to save while they are working. But China is a society that has long esteemed personal financial prudence(谨慎)for centuries. There is no chance that will change anytime soon, even if the government creates a better social safety net and successfully encourages greater consumer spending.

Why does the U.S. need to learn a little frugality(节俭)? Because healthy savings rates are one of the surest indicators of a country's long-term financial health. High savings lead, over time, to increased investment, which in turn generates productivity gains, innovation and job growth. In short, savings are the seed corn of a good economic harvest.

The U.S. government thus needs to act as well. By running constant deficits, it is dis-saving, even as households save more. Peter Orszag, Obama's Budget Director, recently called the U.S. budget deficits unsustainable and he's right. To date, the U.S. has seemed unable to have what Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has called an "adult conversation" about the consequences of spending so much more than is taken in. That needs to change. And though Hu Jintao and the rest of the Chinese leadership aren't inclined to lecture visiting Presidents, he might gently hint that Beijing is getting a little nervous about the value of the dollar — which has fallen 15% since March, in large part because of increasing fears that America's debt load is becoming unmanageable.

That's what happens when you're the world's biggest creditor: you get to drop hints like that, which would be enough by themselves to create international economic chaos if they were ever leaked. (Every time any official in Beijing deliberately publicly about seeking an alternative to the U.S. dollar for the $2.1 trillion China holds in reserve, currency traders have a heart attack.) If Americans saved more and spent less, consistently over time, they wouldn't have to worry about all that.

【点评】

本文讲述了在全球经济危机的背景下，美国人要向中国人学习勤俭，学会储蓄。为什么这样做呢?文章中指出良好的储蓄率能够推动经济的繁荣。但即使美国家庭开始储蓄更多，如果政府常年赤字的话，对美国来说还是“反储蓄”的。所以文章的目的是敦促美国政府降低赤字，并在文末再一次强调要坚持向中国学习存多花少，

57. How did the economic crisis affect Americans?

They had to tighten their belts.

【解析】细节题。从原文第二段最后一句话“the shock of the economic crisis last year prompted people to snap shut their wallets”可见，经济危机使得美国民众关紧钱包，即少花钱，也就是答案中tighten their belts(勒紧腰带，节省开支)的意思。所以正确答案为A。

58. What should be done to encourage Chinese people to consume?

Improving China’s social security system.

【解析】细节题。从原文中的“even if the government creates a better social safety net and successfully encourages greater consumer spending”可见，如要鼓励中国人消费更多，这需要提高社会安全系统。

59. What does the author mean by saying “savings are the seed corn of a good economic harvest” (Line 4, Para. 4)?

A healthy savings rate promotes economic prosperity.

【解析】细节题。根据题干提示，定位至第四段最后一句，我们发现这句话是前面几句话的概括，那根据前面“High savings lead, over time, to increased investment, which in turn generates productivity gains, innovation and job growth.”可知，高储蓄率能够促进投资，进而促进生产率、创新和岗位增长，即促进经济的繁荣。所以正确答案为D。

60. In what circumstances do currency traders become scared?

When Beijing mentions in public the huge debts America owes China.

【解析】细节题。从原文中的“Every time any official in Beijing deliberately publicly about seeking an alternative to the U.S. dollar for the $2.1 trillion China holds in reserve, currency traders have a heart attack.”可知，每当中国政府公开提到美国欠我国的大量债务，货币交易员们就担惊受怕。因为本段一开始提到作为最大的债权国，财政上的漏洞会造成经济的混乱。所以正确答案为D。

61. What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

To urge the American government to cut defictis.

【解析】主旨题。纵观全文，作者一直在强调美国应该向中国学习勤俭，文中第五段的第一句话“By running constant deficits, it is dis-saving, even as households save more.”也给到我们提示，既然长期运行赤字是不利于储蓄的，那美国政府应该做的是降低赤字。所以正确答案是A。

完形填空：

The shorter growing seasons expected with climate change over the next 40 years will endanger hundreds of millions of already poor people in the global tropics, say researchers working 62 the world's leading agricultural organisations.

The effects of climate change are likely to be seen across the entire tropical 63 but many areas previously considered to be 64 food secure are likely to become highly 65 to droughts, extreme weather and higher temperatures, say the 66 with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

Intensively farmed areas 67 northeast Brazil and Mexico are likely to see their 68 growing seasons fall below 120 days, which is 69 for crops such as corn to mature. Many other places in Latin America are likely to 70 temperatures that are too hot for bean 71 , a staple in the region.

The impact could be 72 most in India and southeast Asia. More than 300 million people in south Asia are likely to be affected even with a 5% decrease in the 73 of the growing season.

Higher peak temperatures are also expected to take a heavy 74 on food producers. Today there are 56 million crop-dependent people in parts of west Africa and India who live in areas where, in 40 years, maximum daily temperatures could be higher than 30C. This is 75 to the maximum temperature that beans can tolerate, 76 corn and rice yields suffer when temperatures 77 this level.

"We are starting to see much more clearly 78 the effects of climate change on agriculture could 79 hunger and poverty," said research leader Patti Kristjanson. "Farmers already adapt 80 variable weather by changing their planting schedules. What this study suggests is that the speed of climate 81 and the magnitude of the changes required to adapt could be much greater. "

【答案】

62. with

63. zone

64. relatively

65. vulnerable

66. researchers

67. like

68. prime

69. critical

70. experience

71. production

72. felt

73. length

74. toll

75. close

76. while

77. exceed

78. where

79. intensify

80. to

81. shifts

【总评】

完形填空原文选自英国的《卫报》(Guardian)，原文题目为Climate change in tropics poses food threat to poor。本文主要讲述的是全球气候变化给贫穷地区带来的食物紧缺问题，本文采用的是新闻典型的倒金字塔结构，开头点出整篇文章的核心点，即成长季节缩短会导致食物紧缺。第二段讲述影响范围，三、四两段举例说明，第五段指出对食物生产者的影响，而第六段则采用直接引用方式给出评论。

翻译A

82. The new movie we are going to see this evening____________(据说是基于一次真实的事件).

83.Sometimes the coupon attached to a product may______________(分散顾客对其质量的注意力).

84.If we had left half an hour earlier, we______________________(或许就不会为交通阻塞所耽搁).

85.Nancy refused the assistance provided, for she objected________________(被当成残疾人看待).

86.Hard_______________(他们虽然尽了力)，their first attempt at a solution was unsuccessful.

翻译答案

82. was said to be based on a true event

83. disperse customers’ attention to its quality

84. could not have been delayed by the traffic jam

85. to be treated as the disabled

86. as they had tried

翻译解析

82. was said to be based on a true event

【解析】本题考查固定句型及短语用法。”It is (was)said to be…”,表示“据说……”。该句子的主语是”The new movie”, “we are going to see this evening”这个句子是定语从句用来修饰主语，因此翻译的时候可以先不看它，抓住句子的主干。“基于”的表达有许多种：sth.be based on sth. ; sth. be on the base of sth.等等。

83. disperse customers’ attention to its quality

【解析】本题考查短语固定用法。“分散某人的注意力”表达方式也有许多种：disperse / distract one’s attention to sth.

84. could not have been delayed by the traffic jam

【解析】本题考查过去时态的虚拟语气;而且根据句意可知为被动态，因此主句的结构为”could not have been done”，表示本不可能发生的情况却发生了。另外注意“交通阻塞”、“耽搁”这些日常生活中常用词的英语表达。

85. to be treated as the disabled

【解析】本题考查动词短语固定表达。”treat sb. as”表示“把某人看作”，而此句用被动态”sb. was treated as”即“某人被当作(对待)……”。另外注意表示一类人的方法，通常用”the+adj.”所以“残疾人”为”the disabled”，又如，”the old”“老年人”等等。

86. as they had tried

【解析】本题考查让步主语从句及句子倒装。因为该从句以副词”Hard”开头表示强调，因此用连词”as”来引导该从句要整句倒装，”as”的意思为“虽然，尽管”。同时因主句是过去时可判断，从句的时态应为过去完成时。本句的正常语序为”As they had tried hard, their…”

2012 年 12 月英语六级真题及答案解析汇总

B 卷

Part I Writing

B【标准版】

On Maintaining Trust

Trust is the most frequently used word when we are talking about interpersonal relationships. However, it is hard to build trust but easy to destroy it. Therefore, how to build and maintain trust is very important for us. In my opinion, some factors play a primary role in it.

First comes honesty. There’s an old saying in Chinese: once bitten, twice shy. Thus, never lie to your partners. If they find out you’re lying or cheating, the existing trust will be broken. Once broken, it’s always hard to rebuild it. Promise-keeping is the second one. If you always break your promise, you will not be trusted by others any more. Another important aspect is attitude. People with good attitude are always welcome. They show their good manners, patience, modesty, willingness to communicate and, most important of all, sincerity to others, which contributes greatly to eliminating apathy and coldness.

There are, still, other influential factors. However, from my perspective, honesty, promise-keeping and good attitude stand out among them.