2008年CET6英语六级仿真题（试卷3）阅读

Section B

Passage One
Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

Some people say that the study of liberal arts is a useless luxury we can not afford in hard times. Students, they argue, who do not develop salable skills will find it difficult to land a job upon graduation. But there is a problem in speaking of "salable skills". What skills are salable? Right now, skills for making automobiles are , but they have been for decades and might be again. Skills are another example of varying salability, as the job market fluctuates. What's more, if one wants to build a curriculum exclusively on what is salable, one will have to make the courses very short and change them very often, in order to keep up with the rapid changes in the job market. But will not the effort be in vain? In very few things can we be sure of future salability, and in a society where people are free to study what they want, and work where they want, and invest as they want, there is no way to keep supply and demand in labor in perfect accord.

A school that devotes itself totally to salable skills, especially in a time of high unemployment, sending young men and women into the world armed with only a narrow range of skills, is also sending lambs into the lion's den. If those people gain nothing more from their studies than supposedly salable skills, and can't make the sale because of changes in the job market, they have been cheated. But if those skills were more than salable, if study gave them a better understanding of the world around them and greater adaptability in a changing world, they have not been cheated. They will find some kind of job soon enough. Flexibility, and ability to change and learn new things, is a valuable skill. People who have learned how to learn can learn outside of school. That is where most of us have learned to do what we do, not in school. Learning to learn is one of the highest liberal skills.

52. From the passage, we can learn that the author is in favor of_________ .
A) teaching practical skills that can be sold in the current job market
B) a flexible curriculum that changes with the times
C) a liberal education
D) keeping a balance between the supply and demand in the labor market

53. The word "fluctuate"(Line 5,Para.1) most probably means__________ .
A) remain steady B) change in an irregular way
C) follow a set pattern D) become worse and worse

54. According to the author, who of the following is more likely to get a job in times of high unemployment?
A) A person with the ability to learn by himself.
B) A construction worker.
C) A car repairman.
D) A person with quite a few salable skills.

55. According to the author, in developing a curriculum school should __________ .
A) predict the salability of skills in the future job market
B) take the current job market into consideration
C) consider what skills are salable
D) focus on the ability to adapt to changes

56. We can learn from the passage that____________________ .
A) liberal arts education is being challenged now
B) schools that teach practical skills fare better during hard times
C) extracurricular activities are more important than classroom learning
D) many students feel cheated by the educational system


Passage Two
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

Over the past decade, American companies have tried hard to find ways to discourage senior from feathering their own nests at the expense of their shareholders. The three most popular reforms have been recruiting more outside directors in order to make boards more independent, linking bosses'pay to various performance measures, and giving bosses share options, so that they have the same long-term interests as their shareholders.

These reforms have been widely adopted by American's larger companies, and surveys suggest that many more companies are thinking of following their lead. But have they done any good? Three papers presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Boston this week suggest not. As is usually the case with boardroom tinkering, the consequences have differed from those intended.

Start with those independent boards. On the face of it, dismissing the boss's friends from the board and replacing them with outsiders looks a perfect way to make senior managers more accountable. But that is not the conclusion of a study by Professor James Westphal. Instead, he found that bosses with a boardroom full of outsides spend much of their time building alliances, doing personal favors and generally pleasing the outsiders.

All too often, these seductions succeed. Mr.Westphal found that, to a remarkable degree, "independent" boards pursue strategies that are likely to favor senior managers rather than shareholders. Such companies diversify their business, increase the pay of executives and weaken the link between pay and performance.

To assess the impact of performance related pay, Mr.Westphal asked the bosses of 103 companies with sales of over $1 billion what measurements were used to determine their pay. The measurements varied widely, ranging from sales to earnings per share. But the researcher's big discovery was that bosses attend to measures that affect their own incomes and ignore or play down other factors that affect a company's overall success.

In short, bosses are quick to turn every imaginable system of corporate government to their advantage-which is probably why they are the people who are put in charge of things. Here is a paradox for the management theorists: any boss who cannot beat a system designed to keep him under control is probably not worth having.

57. What is the purpose of the large companies in recruiting outsiders and putting them on the board of directors?
A) To diversify the business of the corporation.
B) To enhance the cooperation between the senior managers and the board directors.
C) To introduce effective reforms in business management.
D) To protect the interests of the shareholders.

58. What does Professor James Westphal's study suggest?
A) Boardroom reforms have the desired result.
B) Outside board directors tend to be more independent.
C) With a boardroom full of outsiders, senior managers work more conscientiously.
D) Cooperation between senior managers and board directors suffered from the reforms.

59. The word "seduction"(Line 1,Para.4) probably means " ____________________ ".
A) efforts to conquer
B) attempts to win over
C) endeavors to increase profits
D) exertions to understand

60. Which of the following statements is true?
A) Corporate executives in general are worth the high pay they receive.
B) The income of corporate executives is proportional to the growth of corporate profits.
C) Corporate executives tend to take advantage of their position to enrich themselves.
D) The performance of corporate executives affects their own interests more than those of the shareholders.

61. How does the author feel about the efforts to control senior executives?
A) Doubtful. B) Optimistic. C) Positive. D) Approving.


Section B
Passage one

52. C 观点判断题本题测试对作者观点的理解，解题时应当根据各段大意判断。第一段首先介绍了反对学习文科的观点，然后分析"畅销技能"的多变性。第二段首先谈学校只提供"畅销技能"的危害性，然后谈比较好的做法。根据文章的结尾，尤其是最后一句（Learning to learn is one of the highest liberal skills），可知作者赞成文科教育。

53. B 猜测词义题问题问第一段中 "fluctuate"是什么意思。该词所在句的前一句作者列举了掌握汽车制畅销的例子,这一技能曾经畅销几十年并且或许还会畅销,接着作者说技能是销路变化的另一个例子,因为就业市场的变化。联系上下文语义,即可推知fluctuate是 "无规律变化"之意。

54. A 细节推断题解题依据为文章第二段第三句"But if those skills were more than salable...soon enough."其大意为：如果那些技能不仅仅有销路，如果学习能让周围世界并适应不断变化的世界，那他们就没有被骗。进而作者得出最后结论"Learning to learn is one of the highest liberal skills.(学会学习是文科最高技能之一。）"由此我们可推知，在失业率高的时候，有独立学习能力者最可能找到工作。

55. D 细节推论题解题依据为文章最后一段倒数第四句"Flexibility, and ability to change and learn new things, is a valuable skill."据此我们可推知作者认为学校在设置课程时, 应注重培养学生适应不断变化的世界的能力和学习新东西的能力, 也就是选项D所述之意。

56. A 推论判断题本题可用排除法解题。选项B(教实用技能的学校在困难时期过得更好)文章未提及; 选项C(课外活动比课堂学习更重要)文章也未提及; 选项D(许多学生感到被教育体制所骗)在文章中只是一种假设; 只有选项A(文科教育正受到挑战)正是文章讨论的话题,作者在最后提及了文科教育应教给学生们什么,由此可推知A正确。

Passage Two

57. D 细节理解题解题依据为本文第一段第一、二句"Over the past decade, American companies have tried hard to find ways to discourage senior from feathering their own nests at the expense of their shareholders. The three most popular reforms have been recruiting more outside directors in order to make boards more independent."此句大意为:在过去的十年里,美国公司力图寻求方法以阻止资深管理者以牺牲股东利益为代价损公肥私的行为。为此采取了最流行的三种改革措施，如招录外来董事以使董事会更加独立。由此我们可推知招录外来董事的目的是为了保护股东的利益。其中to feather their own nests意为"构筑自己的窝"；at the expense of their shareholders意为"以股东的利益为代价"。

58. A 细节推论题文章第二段最后一句"the consequences have differed from those intended"表明改革的结果是事与愿违，这是一个总的结论。第三、四、五段是具体说明，主要是引用了Westphal的调查结果。因此，本题答案应当是A。

59. B 词义判断题文章第三段最后讲外来董事会的老板们会花很多时间建立联盟,施惠于个人以讨好外来董事,第四段开始接着说这些手段通常是成功的,由此我们可以推知老板的这些手段是为了争取外来董事而结成联盟, 进而可推知B正确。

60. C 细节判断题本题可用排除法。选项A(公司高层应拿高薪)文章未提及; 选项B(公司高层的收入与公司增长的利润成比例)也未提及; 选项D(公司高层的表现比那些股东更会影响其自身利益)文章同样未提及; 选项C(公司高层倾肥己)与文章第五段最后一句所述之意相符。

61. A 观点态度题纵观全文,作者所述三项改革举措并未收到预期的效果,反而适得其反,事与愿违,由此我们可判断作者对其最终的结果显然持怀疑态度，故正确答案为A,B选项(乐观的)、C选项(肯定的)和D选项(赞成的)均排除。