大学英语六级改革适用（听力）模拟试卷508

W: We’ve all heard the saying “Laughter is the best medicine.” How important is it to our health, Dr. Berk? M: This saying has been scientifically proven! [1]A year-long study of heart attack victims done at the Oakhurst Health Research Institute in California found that of those patients who spent half an hour a day watching comedy videos, 10 percent had a second heart attack, whereas 30 percent of those who did not watch had a second heart attack. W: Wow! [2]Laughter is really a good medicine to patients. Can you give us another example? M: Sure! Norman Cousins, editor of the Saturday Review, learned this during a battle with an illness. He discovered that his condition improved when he enjoyed himself and watched funny movies. W: You said Norman learned this? Do we have to learn to laugh? M: Not necessarily. Since laughing is something people can do sitting down, costs no money, and requires no special exercise equipment or skill, it’s the perfect workout for anyone who doesn’t have the time or desire to participate in a regular [3]fitness program. W: Oh. [3]Do you have such a program to offer to the general public? M: [3]Yes, we do. It’s called the Smile Time-Out. You take a deep breath, smile, exhale, and say “Aaah” while visualizing all your muscles and cells smiling. Then add to that a memory of a time you felt really good and laughed and laughed. W: What about the situation in which you aren’t in a mood to laugh? M: [4]Even when you fake a smile or laugh, you get the same physiological benefits as when it’s the real thing, because your mind is smart, but your body is stupid and can’t tell the difference! Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 1. What did the year-long study of heart attack victims find? 2. What is Norman’s example meant to prove? 3. What is the so-called Smile Time-Out? 4. What can we learn about smile or laugh according to Dr. Berk? Health conditions improve with time spent watching healthy programs. Comedy videos can cure most people of chronic heart attacks. Chances of having heart attacks reduce with those amused daily. Most patients can’t survive once they suffer from a second heart attack.

W: [5]Professor Smith, I wonder if you can fill me in on your lecture last Friday. I had to attend a scholarship award ceremony. M: Oh, well, congratulations. I hope you were rewarded handsomely! W: Well, every bit helps. So, about your lecture, I understand you were talking about extinctions. M: Yes. Well, the crux of my talk was just that we tend to think of extinction as a dramatic event, but most species die out over quite a period of time. W: [6]Why do they die off? I thought they were continuously improving themselves. Natural selection, I think you once mentioned. M: Ah, but you see while there is natural competition between the species, what determines which species survive is largely by chance. W: I don’t get it. Why do species bother competing? M: Well, there are short term advantages. But many species also are helped by others. For example, the common housefly and cockroaches might have died off years ago if not for human. W: But you’re not saying that humans are so successful merely because of chance? M: To a certain extent, humans were initially lucky enough to have the right weather conditions and a lack of predators, [7]but now, of course, we survive by ingenuity! W: So we may never become extinct. M: [8]No, because we may be in a crash course to extinction by our continuous exploitation of the environment. We are a relatively young species and our time is not yet overdue. W: But there are 6 billion of us! M: Yes, and there’re many more houseflies too! Each with the capacity to spread one disease from one person to another in a fast period of time. W: Frightening thought, isn’t it? Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 5. Why does the woman go to see the professor? 6. What puzzles the woman about extinction? 7. What does the professor say about human beings’ survival? 8. Why is the professor not so sure humans will never become extinct? She is doing a paper. She missed the lecture. She is interested in the topic. She is writing a paper for a scholarship.

[9] Visitors to Britain are sometimes surprised to learn that newspapers there have such a large circulation. The Daily Mirror and the Daily Express both sell about four million copies every day. British families generally buy a newspaper every morning and frequently take two or three on Sundays. Apart from the national papers, there is, however, another branch of the British press which sells almost as many copies. Local newspapers have a weekly circulation of 13 million. Almost every town and country area has one. [10]Nearly all of them hold their own financially and many of them are very profitable. These papers are written almost entirely for readers interested in local events—births, weddings, deaths, council meetings and sports—but the content is naturally influenced by the kind of community they serve. Editors prefer to rely on a small staff of people who all know the district well. [11]A great deal of local news is regularly supplied by clubs and churches in the neighborhood and it doesn’t get out of date as quickly as national news. If there is no room for it in this week’s edition, an item can sometimes be held over until the following week. Local newspapers do not often comment on problems of national importance and editors rarely hold with taking sides on political questions. [12]But they can often be of service to the community in expressing public feeling on local issues. A newspaper can sometimes persuade the council to take action to provide better shopping facilities, improve transport in the area and preserve local monuments and places of interest. Questions 9 to 12 are based on the passage you have just heard. 9. What are visitors to Britain sometimes surprised at? 10. What does the speaker say about the local newspapers in Britain? 11. Who supplies the great part of local news? 12. What is the most striking feature of local newspapers? The great variety of newspapers. The large circulation of newspapers. British families buying newspapers. More local newspapers are sold than national ones.

Clean air is important to good health. If the air contains impurities, they may be absorbed by our bodies and make us ill. We need clean air, but unfortunately, air pollution is generally present, especially in cities. Our cities have many factories, which we need to make food products, clothing and many other things. Every day these factories pour millions upon millions of tons of smoke and soot into the air. [13]Power plants that burn coal add greatly to air pollution. Things made in factories wear out after a while and are thrown away as trash. We burn a lot of trash. More smoke and soot. And then there are the cars made in factories. Once they are out on the street, the cars will take in air and replace it with poisonous gases. Again, more smoke and soot. No area in the world is completely free of air pollution. We must take measures to control it. Now, more and more people are realizing the importance of clean air. Schools are now teaching about the pollution problem. Industries are beginning to help to clean up. [14]They are installing equipment to clean up their smoke. Scientists and inventors are trying to develop cleaner engines for cars and trains. Someday we may drive cars with electricity. A new kind of paper that will dissolve in water and need not to be burned. A new kind of glass bottle that will melt in sunlight and disappear is being developed in some countries. [15] Surely the day will come when people will be able to breathe clean air in cities. Questions 13 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard. 13. What has caused air pollution according to the speaker? 14. What kind of measure is being carried out to control air pollution? 15. What is the speaker’s attitude toward air conditions in the future? Power plants bum coal. Factories pour sewage. People bury trash underground City population increases greatly.

If you are interested in studying at an American university, you have probably heard about the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The test is widely known as TOEFL. It is the most widely used language assessment exam for American universities. Many foreign students are frightened of the TOEFL because it is risky. Good test results on the TOEFL will open many doors. [16]But a low TOEFL score will limit your choices for financial aid and admission to top schools. The most competitive universities generally expect an Internet-based test score of 90 or above. Others accept lower scores, and some do not require a TOEFL score at all. Most universities do not publicize an actual cutoff score, but a high score will always help. H ere are s o m e tips for getting started with TOEFL: 1. Plan ahead—It takes a long time to improve your TOEFL score. Many students study just before the test. Raising your score will take months of intensive work. Do not expect a big lift in your test results after two weeks. There is no easy way to improve your score quickly. You will have to spend a lot of time and energy. 2. Master the basics first—Many students study for the TOEFL before they are ready. You should have at least an upper-intermediate English level before you attempt the test. If you score below 70 on the iBT, study the fundamentals for a few months and come back to the TOEFL later. 3. Get a study guide—It is easy to find study guides for the iBT. Pearson, Barron’s, ETS and Kaplan all produce quality materials. Take a practice test once or twice a month. [17]The best study guides will have explanations in the answer key. 4. Use outside resources—Using TOEFL practice materials all the time will make you crazy. Remember, you are learning a language, not a test. [18]You can improve your TOEFL score by making English part of your daily life. Some simple ways are listening to broadcasts, informal conversation with English speakers, watching movies and reading newspapers. Some others are reading English textbooks, sending and reading text messages in English, and writing online comments in English. [19]The bottom line is, the best way to do well on the TOEFL is to know English well. Do not depend on informal advice or tricks. Do not try to outwit the test maker. Think of reading, listening, speaking, writing, and grammar as a single connected concept-communication. The real goal of the test is to measure how well a student can communicate in an English-speaking classroom. Immerse yourself in English on a daily basis and improvement is sure to follow. Questions 16 to 19 are based on the recording you have just heard. 16. What can we learn about TOEFL from the lecture? 17. What study guide can be the most useful for TOFFL examination according to the lecture? 18. What is one of the mentioned tips for getting started with TOEFL? 19. What is the best way to do well on TOEFL? TOEFL is the most globally used language assessment exam. TOEFL scores matter a lot in getting financial aids. All American universities require a TOEFL score. Cutoff TOEFL scores are standardized by most universities.

W: A single cigarette sold on a street corner may not cost a lot; however, the overall costs of smoking are huge. First, consider the cost of human life. The World Health Organization says about 10 people die of a tobacco-linked disease every minute. [20]That rate adds up to almost six million people dying from such diseases every year. The majority of these preventable deaths happen in low-income and middle-income countries. The World Bank says each of these countries has a gross national income of less than $12,746. M: For most people, stopping smoking is hard. Many began smoking as teenagers. They are used to it. Also, tobacco contains the powerful drug nicotine. Studies show people who want to stop smoking can do so with different treatments. Some get help from electronic cigarettes, medicine or nicotine patches that reduce one’s desire for the drug. Dr. Nancy Rigotti works at Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States. [21]She says she finds that medicine and counseling service together work best of all. Other experts and former smokers offer even more effective advice: if you are considering starting smoking, don’t. W: Smoking cost more than the life of an individual. It can affect the health of an entire country. The World Health Organization says low-income countries depend heavily on taxes from cigarettes. They use the money, in part, to pay cost of health care for tobacco-related diseases. M: But the illegal trade in tobacco products is further testing the economies of low-income countries. WHO officials say the illegal trade earns about $31 billion every year. Doudlas Bettcher is the director of the WHO’s Department for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases. He calls the illegal trade a monster with many heads. [22]He says the trade enables young people to buy cigarettes at low prices, become addicted to tobacco and suffer serious health problems. Furthermore, it feeds the growth of transnational organized crime, another head of this multi-headed monster, and it drains resources, taxes, revenue from the purses of ministries of finance. W: The World Health Organization is urging United Nations member states to sign a treaty to end the illegal trade in tobacco products. Eight countries have approved the treaty. But the approval of 32 other counties is needed for it to become international law. M: If the treaty succeeds, governments could put people who trade illegal tobacco products in jail—another cost to countries’ budgets. Questions 20 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard. 20. What does the World Health Organization say about smoking? 21. What is the best way to stop smoking according to Dr. Nancy Rigotti? 22. What damage does illegal tobacco trade cause in low-income countries? It is the top one reason for people’s abnormal death. It causes death of almost six million people every year. It will be completely forbidden in developed countries. It does more harm to young children than to adults.

Many areas around the world suffer from frequent loss of electrical power. People often must use other sources of power, such as gasoline or fuel. But these other power sources can be deadly if people do not ventilate the area in which they are used. The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, says that about 430 people die every year in the United States from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas. All fuel-powered engines produce carbon monoxide. [23] Recently, carbon monoxide killed eight family members as they slept in their home in the U.S. State of Maryland. An electric company had cut power to their home because the family owed the company money. They used an electric heater connected to a small gas-powered generator inside the house. Patric Breysse is the director of the CDC Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. He says the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning can be difficult to notice. “The gas has no color. It has no odor or taste. If you happen to be sleeping at the time, all this could happen to you without your knowledge.” [24]Mr. Breysse says that small, movable gas generators are the most dangerous because people can operate them in their homes, or in a boat or even a tent. He says the best way to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning is to learn how to use these gas generators safely. “The number one step is to avoid using them in any enclosed environment like indoor space. The second step is we can encourage people to put small carbon monoxide detectors in their home environments. They are available in many parts of the world, and they are battery-operated...” Mr. Breysse adds that deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning are always preventable. Experts say that small generators should always be located outside and at least 4.5 meters from the home. Scientists also warn that long-term contact with low levels of carbon monoxide can lead to difficulty in thinking, memory loss and depression. Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard. 23. What is the cause of the death of the eight family members? 24. What is the most dangerous for carbon monoxide poisoning? 25. What does the lecture mainly talk about? Gas explosion. Electric shock. Gas poisoning. Fire disaster.