2008年12月英语六级阅读的备考技巧及词汇三
Lesson5
33. The word dubious most probably means
A) valuable
B) useful
C) doubtful
D) helpful
注：烂的，没意义的
Yet you will fine little if anything written on what it is to be an employee. You can find a great deal of very dubious advice on how to get a job or how to get a promotion. You can also find a good deal of work in a chosen field, whether it be the mechanist s trade or bookkeeping . Every one of these trades requires different skills, sets different standards, and requires a different preparation. Yet they all have employeeship in common. And increasingly, especially in the large business or in government, employeeship is more important to success than the special professional knowledge or skill. Certainly more people fail because they do not know the requirements of being an employee than because they do not adequately possess the skills of their trade; the higher you climb the ladder, the more you get into administrative or executive work, the greater the emphasis on ability to work within the organization rather than on technical abilities or professional knowledge.
24. The word hassles in the passage probably means _____.
quarrels
worries
disadvantages
agreements
注：不平衡的行为
Living at home, says Knighton, a school teacher, continues to give her security and moral support. Her mother agreed, Its ridiculous for the kids to pay all that money for rent. It makes sense for kids to stay at home. But sharing the family home requires adjustments for all. There are the hassles over bathrooms, telephones and privacy . Some families, however, manage the delicate balancing act. But for others, it proves too difficult. Michelle Del Turco, 24, has been home three times-and left three times. What I considered a social drink, my dad considered an alcohol problem, she explains. He never liked anyone I dated , so I either had to hide away or meet them at friends house.
34. The word subjects refers to _____.
the performance tests used in the study of sleep deficit
special branches of knowledge that are being studied
people whose behavior or reactions are being studied
the psychological consequences of sleep deficit
注：做算术题和背文章指人
To determine the consequences of sleep deficit, researchers have put subjects through a set of psychological and performance tests requiring them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. Weve found that if youre in sleep deficit, performance suffers, says Dr. David. Short-term memory is weakened, as are abilities to make decisions and to concentrate.
37. To live a completely sedentary life-style in the passage means _____.
to live a decent life
to live an inactive life
to live a life of vice
to live a life with complete freedom
The concept of personal choice in relation to health behaviors is an important one. An estimated 90 percent of all illness may be preventable if individuals would make sound personal health choices based upon current medical knowledge. We all enjoy our freedom of choice and do not like to see it restricted when it is within the legal and moral boundaries of society. The structure of American society allows us to make almost all our own personal decisions that may concern our health. If we so desire, we can smoke, drink excessively, refuse to wear seat belts, eat whatever food we want, and live a completely sedentary life-style without any exercise. The freedom to make such personal decisions is a fundamental aspect of our society, although the wisdom of these decisions can be questioned. Personal choices relative to health often cause a difficulty. As one example, a teenager may know the facts relative to smoking cigarettes and health but may be pressured by friends into believing it is the socially accepted thing to do.
24. The word dormant most probably means _____.
inactive
strong
alert
soft
If sufficient rain falls the next year to form another lake, the eggs hatch, and once again the shrimps pass rapidly through their cycle of growth, adulthood, egg-laying, and death. Some years there is insufficient rain to form a lake: in this case, the eggs will remain dormant for another years, or even longer if necessary. Very, very occasionally, perhaps twice in a hundred years, sufficient rain falls to form a deep lake that lasts a month or more. In this case, the species passes through two cycles of growth, egg-laying, and death. Thus, on such occasions, the species multiplies considerably, which further ensures its survival.
33. From the context, the word disconcerting most probably means _____.
misleading
embarrassing
stimulating a goal wit
upsetting
注：焦虑anxiety
To some, the thought of having to write an assigned number of pages, often more than ever produced before, is disconcerting. To others, the very idea of having to work independently is threatening. But there is no need to approach the research paper assignment with anxiety, and nobody should view the research paper as an obstacle to overcome. Instead, consider it a goal to accomplish, a goal within reach if you use the help this book can give you.
21. The word pinpoint basically means _______.
A) appreciate
B) obtain
C) interpret
D) identify
The process of perceiving other people is rarely translated into cold, objective terms. She was 5 feet 8 inches tall, had had fair hair, and wore a colored skirt. More often, we try to get inside the other person to pinpoint his or her attitudes, emotions, motivations, abilities, ideas and characters. Furthermore, we sometimes behave as if we can accomplish this difficult job very quickly -perhaps with a two-second glance.
31. The word paradox means _________ .
A) implication
B) contradiction
C) interpretation
D) confusion
It is a curious paradox that we think of the physical sciences as hard, the social sciences as soft, and the biological sciences as somewhere in between, This is interpreted to mean that our knowledge of physical systems is more certain than our knowledge of biological systems, and these in turn are more certain than our knowledge of social system. In terms of our capacity to sample the relevant universes, however, and the probability that our images of these universes are at least approximately correct, one suspects that a reverse order is more reasonable. We are able to sample earth s social systems with some degree of confidence that we have a reasonable sample of the total universe being investigated. Our knowledge of mal systems, therefore, while it is in many ways extremely inaccurate, is not likely to be seriously overturned by new discoveries. Even the folk knowledge in social systems on which ordinary life is based in earning, spending, organizing, marrying, taking part in political activities, fighting and so on, is not very dissimilar from the more sophisticated images of the social system derived from the social sciences, even though it is built upon the very imperfect samples of personal experience.
26. The word liability most probably means ______.
A) misfortune
B) instability
C) disadvantage
D) burden
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable occupations. Personal consultants give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive circle, beauty can become a liability.
28. The phrase function in the disservice of one another most probably means _______.
A) betray each other
B) harm one another
C) help to collaborate with each other
D) benefit on another
The question of whether war is inevitable is one which has concerned many of the worlds great writers. Before considering this question, it will useful to introduce some related concepts. Conflict, defined as opposition among social entities directed against one another is distinguished from competition, defined as opposition among social entities independently striving for some thing which is in inadequate supply. Competitors may not be aware of one another, while the parties to a conflict are. Conflict and vice of one another. Opposition is thus contrasted with cooperation, the process by which social entities function in the service of one another. These definitions are necessary because it is important to emphasize that competition between individuals or groups is inevitable in a world of limited resources, but conflict is not. Conflict, nevertheless, is very likely to occur, and is probably an essential and desirable element of human societies.
33. The word precedent probably refers to __________.
A) early acts for men to follow as examples
B) particular places for men to occupy especially because of their importance
C) things that men should agree upon
D) mens beliefs that everything in the world has already been decided
In the workplace, men have long had well defined precedents and role models for achieving success. It has been otherwise for women. A good many women in the business world are uncertain about the appropriate mixture of masculine an d feminine attributes they should convey by their professional clothing. The variety of clothing alternatives to women has also been greater than that avail able for men. Male administrators tend to judge women more favorably for managerial positions when the women display less feminine grooming-shorter hair, moderate use of make up, and plain tailored clothing. As one male administrator confessed, An attractive woman is definitely going to get a longer interview, but she wont get a job.
29. The word carcass most probably means__________ .
A) vegetables preserved for future use
B) the dead body of an animal ready to be cut into meat
C) expensive food that consumers can hardly afford
D) meat canned for future consumption
This means one has to feed approximately 9--10 times as much food value to the animal than one can consume from the carcass. As a system for feeding the hungry, the effects can prove disastrous. At times of crisis, grain is the food of life.
31. The phrase emanate fromin Paragraph 1 most probably means ______.
A) thrive on
B) account for
C) originate from
D) descend from
We all have offensive breath at one time or another. In most cases, offensive breath emanates from bacteria in the mouth, although there are other more causes. Until a few years ago, the most doctors could do was to counsel patients with bad breath about oral cleanliness. Now they are finding new ways to treat the usually curable condition.
文章中的并列关系怎样对付阅读的长句
小的并列：成分并列，不容易出题。如果出题，选项应该概括所有并列成分，否则是错误选项。
大的并列：只出一题，应该提纲挈领。
What has the telephone done to us, or for us, in the hundred years of its existence? A few effects suggest themselves at once. ①It has saved lives by getting rapid word of illness, injury, or fire from remote places. ②By joining with the elevator to make possible the multistory residence or office building, it has made possible - for better or worse - the modern city. ③By bringing about a great leap in the speed and ease with which information moves from place to place, it has greatly accelerated the rate of scientific and technological changes and growth in industry. Beyond doubt ④it has seriously weakened if not killed the ancient art of letter writing. ⑤It has made living alone possible for persons with normal social impulses; by so doing, it has played a role in one of the greatest social changes of this century, the breakup of the multi-generational household. ⑥It has made the war chillingly more efficient than formerly. Perhaps, though not provably , it has prevented wars that might have arisen out of international misunderstanding caused by written communication. Or perhaps - again not provable - by magnifying and extending irrational personal conflicts based on voice contact, it has caused wars. Certainly it has extended the scope of human conflicts, since it impartially disseminates the useful knowledge of scientists and the nonsense of the ignorant, the affection of the affectionate and the malice of the malicious.
22. According to the passage, it is the telephone that ______.
A) has made letter writing an art
B) has prevented wars by avoiding written communication
C) has made the world different from what it was
D) has caused wars by magnifying and extending human conflicts
注：A应该是削弱
To protect the interests of their members in the era of automation, unions have adopted a number of new policies. One of these is the ①promotion of supplementary unemployment benefit plans. It is emphasized that since the employer involved in such a plan has a direct financial interest in preventing unemployment, he will have a strong drive for planning new installations so as to cause the least possible problems in jobs and job assignments. Some unions are working for dismissal pay agreements, requiring that permanently dismissed workers be paid a sum of money based on length of service. Another approach is the idea of the improvement factor, which calls for wage increases based on increases in productivity. It is possible, however, that labour will rely mainly on reduction in working hours in order to gain a full share in the fruits of automation.
32. From the third paragraph of the passage, we can conclude that young adults t end to believe that certain types of clothing can __________.
A) change peoples conservative attitudes toward their lifestyle
B) help young people make friends with the opposite sex
C) make them competitive in the job market
D) help them achieve success in their interpersonal relationships
People tend to agree on what certain types of clothes mean. Adolescent girls can easily agree on the lifestyles of girls who wear certain outfits, including the number of boyfriends they likely have had and whether they smoke or d rink. Newscasters, or the announcers who read the news on TV, are considered to be more convincing, honest, and competent when they are dressed conservatively. And collage students who view themselves as taking an active role in their inter personal relationships say they are concerned about the costumes they must wear to play these roles successfully. Moreover, many of us can relate instances in which the clothing we wore changed the way we felt about ourselves and how we act ed. Perhaps you have used clothing to gain confidence when you anticipated a stressful situation, such as a job interview, or a court appearance.
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Every year television stations receive hundreds of complaints about the loudness of advertisements. However, federal rules forbid the practice of making ads louder than the programming. In addition, television stations always operate at the highest sound level allowed for reasons of efficiency. According to one NBC executive, no difference exists in the peak sound level of ads and programming. Given this information why do commercials sound so loud?
The sensation of sound involves a variety of factors in addition to its speak level. Advertisers are skilful at creating the impression of loudness through their expert use of such factors. ①One major contributor to the perceived loudness of commercials is that mush less variation in sound level occurs during a commercial. In regular programming the intensity of sound varies over a large range. However, sound levels in commercials tend to stay at or near peak levels.
②Other tricks of the trade are also used. Because low-frequency sounds can mask higher frequency sounds, advertisers filter out any noises that may drown out the primary message. In addition, the human voice has more auditory impact in the middle frequency ranges. Advertisers electronically vary voice sounds so that they stay within such a frequency band. ③Another approach is to write the script so that lots of consonants are used, because people are more aware of consonants than vowel sounds. ④Finally, advertisers try to begin commercials with sounds that are highly different from those of the programming within which the commercial is buried. Because people become adapted to the type of sounds coming from programming, a dramatic change in sound quality draws viewer an attention. For example, notice how many commercials begin with a cheerful song of some type.
The attention-getting property of commercials can be seen by observing one-to two-year-old children who happen to be playing around a television set. They may totally ignore the programming. However, when a commercial comes on, their attention is immediately drawn to it because of its dramatic sound quality.
