1、大学英语六级-180 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)三、Passage 1(总题数：1，分数：20.00)For those anxious about committing to a master“s degree, there is the post-baccalaureate (学士后) certificate. Usually a four- to seven-course, self-contained certificate provides 1 academic study, or job-specific skills training, with a
2、minimum 2 of time and money, and potentially significant payback. Nearly 51000 people earned the certificate in 2010a 46 percent increase in five years. For men, having the certificate adds an average 25 percent in earnings; for women, who tend toward less 3 fields such as teaching and health care,
3、the 4 is an average 13 percent, according to research from Georgetown University“s Center on Education and the Workforce. About 3 percent of the workforceor 4 million workershave certificates. Certificates are market-driven. Colleges and universities, alert to evolving workplace requirements (and bu
4、siness opportunities in higher education), 5 gaps in education and training that appeal to adult students looking for a way to stand out or retool (重新安排) their careers. In some fields, especially health care, education, counseling, engineering and technology, certificates provide compulsory training
5、 for certain jobs or promotions, or make one 6 for higher pay scales. In other fields (arts management, interior design, public relations), the certificate shows interest and acquired knowledge in an area that is likely helpful in performing a job. Other certificates reflect 7 in areas so new, or qu
6、ickly changing, that a demonstrated specialty can put a job applicant in front of the pack: homeland security, sports industry management. Some are purely 8 (African American studies), and some are training-specific (clinical research administration). If you can think of a specialty or job skill you
7、 want, there is probably a certificate, and a school-on-ground or onlinethat will qualify you in the subject. But it is a buyer-beware marketplace, education experts say. A certificate can run into the thousands of dollars (American University“s 15-credit online digital media skills certificate cost
8、s $12000), so job 9 and schools should be researched before 10 on. A. academic B. boost C. distinguish D. eligible E. identify F. insisting G. investment H. involvement I. limitations J. prospects K. signing L. specialized M. specified N. strengths O. technical（分数：20.00）四、Passage 2(总题数：1，分数：30.00)Cr
9、owdsourcing a Better WorldA. The crowdsourcing conceptcollecting contributions from many individuals to achieve a goalwas being used long before Wikipedia. The National Audubon Society has been organizing people to do an annual count of all the birds in the Western hemisphere since Christmas Day, 19
10、00. The Pilsbury Bake-Offcrowdsourcing for a commercial causeis now 62 years old. B. But online crowdsourcing is a relatively recent phenomenon, and the efficiencies it brings to communicating within a large group make it useful in many new ways. At it is bringing together fashion designers and fin
11、ancial backers. At it provides feedback on why people leave your Web site. It connects musicians and their fans to help organize private concerts at . I uses it to solve scientific and technological problems: Companies stuck on a problem put it up on the site and offer a cash prize for a solution.
12、But today, I“ll look at how crowdsourcing can help with something else: aggregating and organizing knowledge. C. Immediately after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors began to fail in Japan, people turned to official sources for information. What they heard were often bland (平淡乏味的) and vague assu
13、rances of safety. But people wanted specifics. They wanted to know the radiation levels in their areas, and did not trust the government sources. In response, several crowdsource sites sprang up to collect and map radiation levels in Japan and even on the west coast of the United States: rdtn.org,
14、and are three of them. D. These sites ask people with Geiger countersand if you happen to not own one, they tell you where to buy oneto measure radiation levels and send the information to their site. They aggregate and map the responses. E. One prototype for this kind of crowdsourcing is U. Ushahi
15、di, which means “testimony“ in Swahili, was developed in Kenya in 2008 to map numerous reports of post-election violence. Ory Okolloh, a blogger, simply asked her readers: “Guys looking to do something: Any techies out there willing to do a mash up of where the violence and destruction is occurring
16、using Google Maps?“ F. A few days later, Kenyans had a Web site that allowed people to text or e-mail reports and see them plotted on a Google map of the country. It became useful not only for rapid intervention, butas the name suggeststo document the deaths, injuries and destruction when virtually
17、all other media were blacked out. G. Since then, Ushahidi, led until recently by Okolloh, has become as ubiquitous (普遍存在的) in a disaster as the Red Cross. Just two hours after the earthquake in Haiti, Ushahidi set up a Haiti site and an Ushahidi techie who was studying at Tufts University in Massach
18、usetts worked with a student group to organize 300 volunteers. H. Haitian radio stations told their listeners to text 4 636 with their reports, which thousands of Creole-speaking volunteers in the US instantly translated. Any report that required actionabout or from a trapped person, for examplewas
19、mapped by the volunteers and sent to rescuers. I. Ushahidi has tracked reports of election fraud in Mexico, damage caused by the Gulf oil spill and critical shortages of important medicines at public health clinics in Uganda. During Washington“s Snowmageddon, Ushahidi was used to map obstacles like
20、stuck cars and toppled trees. The idea was not to just give information to official work crews, but to allow ordinary citizens to organize themselves. Anyone with a shovel (铁锹) and a strong back could check the map for a site nearby and go. It has since been used in snow emergencies in other cities,
21、 including New York. J. How can you be sure the information on a crowdsource site is trustworthy? Well, you can“t. But Ushahidi is taking a stab at vetting (审查) its data through, of course, crowdsourcing. Its Swift River project aggregates and plots on maps not only data sent or texted to Ushahidi,
22、but combines it with data from Twitter, YouTube and other sources. When data comes in, anyone can rate it for trustworthiness. The higher the rating it gets, the more prominently it is displayed. K. Crowdsourcing can aggregate ideas as well as data. The California-based design firm Ideo has a site c
23、alled , which posts various challenges: How can we get people to register to be bone-marrow donors? How can we use cell phones to improve maternal health in poor countries? How can we get kids more interested in eating fresh food? Each challenge has a financial sponsor: a group interested in solving
24、 the problemthe kids and food challenge, for example, was sponsored by British chef and healthy food crusader (拥护者) Jamie Oliver. L. The process collects random ideas from the public, winnows (筛选) them down by theme and then asks readers to refine the ideas. The public then votes. Jamie Oliver“s org
25、anization has launched a project with OpenIDEO, an initiative to help working people cook more. But this was not one of the winning ideas. “People want to be thought of as something other than a source of money. They want to be thought of as creative, thinking people,“ said Ethan Zuckerman, a senior
26、 researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. “It“s not hard to contribute ideas, but the question is how helpful it is.“ M. Crowdsourcing is also, of course, frequently used in journalism. Many media organizations now turn to readers for their experiences and for reporting
27、help, but few do so as consistently and productively as ProPublica, a nonprofit group that produces investigative journalism that is published in media around the country, including in The Times . ProPublica“s Distributed Reporting Project has asked for information and tips from people affected by a
28、 variety of issues, including the Gulf oil spill and the mortgage and loan crisis. N. A request for information from people who had tried to modify their home loans brought some 3000 responses, said Amanda Michel, ProPublica“s director of online engagement. Those contacted were asked to document the
29、ir claims. ProPublica was aware its sample was far from random, but that wasn“t the aim. “We can take a much more subtle and granular (颗粒状的) look at complex processes by learning about the experiences of several thousand people,“ said Michel. “We“re not relying on a government official to tell us wh
30、at is the average bad experience.“ O. Readers can not only provide information to reporters about their own experiences, they can be reporters. For example, for its Stimulus Spot Check, ProPublica recruited readers to “ rummage around (翻找) on the state“s Department of Transportation Web site and mak
31、e several follow-up calls over the next week“ to see how some 500 road and bridge projects were doing. They were given instructions on how to find out whether projects had been started, which companies had the contracts and how many jobs were produced.（分数：30.00）(1).The fact that crowdsource sites sh
32、owed up suddenly in Japan helped get the details of radiation levels.（分数：3.00）(2).As a British chef and healthy food crusader, Jamie Oliver sponsored a group interested in solving a problem concerning the kids and food.（分数：3.00）(3).Ushahidi. com was initially launched in Kenya to document the violen
33、ce and destruction after the election.（分数：3.00）(4).I uses online crowdsourcing to help companies solve certain scientific and technological problems.（分数：3.00）(5).Ethan Zuckerman holds that it“s relatively easy to contribute ideas, but to determine the usefulness of ideas matters.（分数：3.00）(6).The Swi
34、ft River project combines the data Ushahidi received with data from other sources in order to check the trustworthiness of the data.（分数：3.00）(7).ProPublica once recruited readers to search for information about road and bridge projects on the official Web site and made several follow-up calls.（分数：3.
35、00）(8).We can take a more subtle and close observation at complex processes by learning relative information offered by the public.（分数：3.00）(9).There are few media organizations as ProPublica that ask for information and tips from people consistently and productively.（分数：3.00）(10).Ushahidi. com gave
36、 information about road obstacles to the authorities and citizens during Washington“s Snowmageddon.（分数：3.00）五、Passage 3(总题数：1，分数：25.00)According to the most recent American Freshman survey, conducted annually by the University of California, Los Angeles, undergraduates“ chief objective in life is to
37、 be financially well-off. For this new crop of college students, attaining wealth ranks higher than raising a family and becoming an authority in their chosen field. Moreover, they listed their primary factor in choosing a school program as whether the graduates get good jobs. Long gone are the days
38、 of attending college to develop a “meaningful philosophy of life“, which was the top concern for freshmen in 1971. Now, students focus on employability and potential earnings, both reflected in the undergraduate majors they pursue. But are men and women“s choice of college majors equally stacked in
39、 terms of job openings and future salary? Close, but not quite. The most popular college major for both men and women, according to the US Department of Education“s latest figures, is business. In 2008 business degrees were awarded to 21% of the 1.6 million graduates who received a bachelor“s. And w
40、omen received nearly half (49%) of those practical business degrees. As an undergraduate major, business is broad enough to offer several career possibilities. It equips students to work in finance, sales, consulting, marketing and management positions. It“s also impressive enough to help graduates
41、land a job. However, men still dominate many of the majors with the highest earning potential. Engineering ranks at No. 3 on the list of men“s most popular majors, and 83.2% of students in the major are men. Meanwhile, it is absent from women“s top-10 list. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expec
42、ts the field of engineering to grow 11% by 2018 and estimates it pays an average $132000 to the top 10% of workers. Similarly, men make up the vast majority (82.4%) of computer and information science majors. This is another field that will be in demand and well-paid. The BLS projects job openings f
43、or computer and information scientists will increase 24% in the next decade. Top talent earns an average of $155000. As may be expected, women do still dominate many of the traditionally “soft“ majors. On the list of women“s most popular majors, education (No. 4), English (No. 9) and liberal arts (N
44、o. 10) rank far above their positions on men“s list. These fields of study lead themselves to careers like teaching, writing and editing, public relations or sales. While there are well-paid positions in these fields, median salaries range between $35000 and $55000. Interestingly, the appeal of stud
45、ying education seems to be slipping. Over the last decade education degrees have decreased 3%, though women still dominate the major and receive 85.4% of education degrees.（分数：25.00）(1).The American Freshman survey shows that nowadays undergraduates“ main purpose in life is to _.（分数：5.00）A.live a me
46、aningful lifeB.be financially successfulC.support the familyD.be experts in certain fields(2).What is the top factor for undergraduates in choosing a school program?（分数：5.00）A.Whether the program provides chances for promotion.B.Whether the program guarantees good job prospects.C.Whether the program
47、 offers a sense of accomplishment.D.Whether the program fits into their life philosophy.(3).Why is business the most popular college major for both men and women?（分数：5.00）A.Because business is comparatively easy for them to learn.B.Because business is broad enough for them to land a job in the futur
48、e.C.Because they all dream to be business leaders.D.Because colleges provide the best education in business major.(4).BLS predicts that men majoring in engineering and computer and information science will _.（分数：5.00）A.see a fast increase in the number of women taking the majorsB.witness a growth of
49、 over 10 percent in their annual incomeC.find an expansion in vacancies offered by related industriesD.see a large sum of investment in related industries(5).What can we learn from the last paragraph?（分数：5.00）A.Education appeals to an increasing number of male students.B.Education offers jobs with higher stability and salaries.C.Education offers students a wider range of job choices.D.Education is losing its attraction among undergraduates.六、Passag
