1、大学英语六级改革适用（阅读）-试卷 215及答案解析(总分：60.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：8，分数：60.00)1.Part III Reading Comprehension_2.Section A_Bargain book shoppers must have been pleased looking at Amazons bestseller list this weekend: The online bookseller had dropped prices on some of its top-selling hardcove
2、rs, as much as 64% off 1. While people are used to seeing deals at Amazon, the present 2is unusually deep. The booksellers newsletter Shelf Awareness 3a rare Saturday issue about them, writing that the discounts were at “levels weve never seen in the history of Amazon.“ And according to Jack Mckeown
3、, president of Books 1,000 firms in the Standard 1,000 firms in the Standard & Poors 1,500-stock composite index between 1998 and 2008 and found that most companies that spent on politicsincluding lobbying and campaign donations had lower stock market returns. GAnother study published this year by e
4、conomists at the University of Minnesota and the University of Kansas found that companies that contributed to political action committees and other outside political groups between 1991 and 2004 grew more slowly than other firms. These companies invested less and spent less on research and developm
5、ent. Notably, the study determined that corporate donations to the winners in presidential or Congressional races did not lead to better stock performance over the long term. Indeed, the shares of companies that engaged in political spending underperformed those of companies that did not contribute.
6、 HAnd the relationship between politics and poor performance seems to go both ways: underperforming companies spend more on politics, but spending on politics may also lead companies to underperform. Campaign spending by politically active concerns and their executives increased sharply after the Su
7、preme Courts decision to remove limits on corporate donations. “These results are inconsistent with a simple theory in which corporate political activity can be presumed to serve the interests of shareholders,“ wrote John Coates of the Harvard Business School. IThese conclusions dont generally apply
8、 to companies in heavily regulated sectorswhere political contributions might make sense. Mr. Coates pointed out that it was difficult to reach conclusions about the effectiveness of spending in these areas, like banking or telecommunications, because the companies all spend so much supporting candi
9、dates and lobbying. JBut the recent performance of the financial industry suggests that political spending can be harmful even in the most highly regulated industries. A study at the International Monetary Fund found that the banks that lobbied most aggressively to prevent laws lirniting predatory l
10、ending(掠夺性贷款)and mortgage securitization engaged in riskier lending, experienced higher misbehavior rates and suffered a bigger shock during the financial crisis. KPolitical investments can damage a companys reputation, or anger supporters of the “other side.“ Darcy Burner, a former Microsoft progra
11、mmer running as a Democrat for Washington States 1st Congressional District, has even proposed an iPhone app that would allow shoppers to scan a bar code to check the political spending of the companies making the products on the shelf and their top executives. LCampaign watchdogs fear that undisclo
12、sed contributions to independent groups supporting candidates will allow companies to hide their political activity. Companies worry that nondisclosure will allow independent groups to blackmail them into supporting the candidates they represent. MThe Conference Board, a trade organization grouping
13、the biggest businesses in the nation, has published an analysis of the new landscape of political spending. The title is “Dangerous Terrain.“ The Conference Board report suggests that “most companies will continue to play the game because their competitors are staying in.“ This is a reason that poli
14、tical contributions yield so little for individual firms: political spending becomes a meaningless arms race between companies trying to buy an edge over their rivals. NBut thats not the only reason. Corporate executives often spend on politics not to improve their companies profitability but to ser
15、ve their own objectivesfrom supporting a personal ideological agenda to building a future career in politics. This kind of spending does little for their companies. OThink of all the former corporate executives in the last couple of administrations. Goldman Sachs alone gave us Robert E. Rubin, Jon S
16、. Corzine and Henry M. Paulson Jr. More than one in 10 chief executives get political jobs after they retire. Unsurprisingly perhaps, Mr. Coates found that the biggest political contributions came from firms with weak corporate governing, where shareholders had little control over their top executiv
17、es actions. Poor governing explains, in part, why political spenders have worse results. But political activity itself could lead to poor business decisions. Executives involved in politics might lose strategic focus. And their political contributions might influence investments in a way that does s
18、hareholders no good. PRemember AT&Ts attempt to buy rival T-Mobile last year for $39 billion? By the standard metrics used by antitrust(反垄断)regulators to assess market concentration, the deal was bound to“ be rejected. It would have taken out one of only three competitors to AT&T in the national mar
19、ket for mobile telecommunications. It would have sharply reduced competition in the nations top cities. QAT&T could count on perhaps the strongest network of political connections in corporate Americanurtured with $58 million in campaign contributions since 1990, plus $306 million in lobbying expens
20、es, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the House, 76 Democrats signed a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department supporting the deal. Letters supporting it poured in from liberal-leaning beneficiaries of AT&Ts largess-including the Gay and Lesbian A
21、lliance Against Defamation, the N.A.A.C.P. and the National Education Association. RPolitical alliances, however, were not enough to win the day, as the government rejected the deal. AT&T and its shareholders had to pay about $6 billion in breakup fees. Over all, it was a bad deal.（分数：20.00）(1).It i
22、s implied in a report that the reason why most companies keep political spending is that their competitors are in it too.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：M）解析：解析：根据 implied，report 和 competitors定位到 M段。该段第 3句提到，世界大型企业联合会的报告显示，很多公司继续玩这个游戏(保持政治支出)是因为其竞争者也在玩。本题句子是对原文的同义转述。(2).The executives from a company can
23、 donate to the election campaigns through corporate political action committees.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：D）解析：解析：根据 executives和 corporate political action committee定位到 D段。D 段中心句是首句：很难确切知道有多少钱投到大选中。接着分析原因。末句指出，即使公司没有直接赞助选举活动，公司的管理人员也许这样做，通常通过企业政治活动委员会进行。本题句子的 donate to对应原文的contributeto。(3).Some co
24、rporate executives spend on politics only for their own future careers, not for the benefit of the companies.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：N）解析：解析：根据 corporate executives spend on politics和 future career定位到 N段。该段第 2句提到，公司管理人员通常进行政治支出并不是为了提高公司的盈利，而是为了自己的目标从支持个人的意识形态目标到建立自己的政治事业。本题句子的 benefit对应原文的 profi
25、tability。(4).Involvement in politics might distract company executives from making their business decisions.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：O）解析：解析：根据 involvement in politics和 business decisions定位到 O段。该段倒数第 2、3 句提到，政治行为可能会导致不良商业决策，涉足政治的管理人员可能对战略性重点失去把握。本题句子是对这两句话的概括。(5).A study looked into almost one th
26、ousand firms for their market performance over a course of a decade.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：F）解析：解析：根据 A study，one thousand firms 和 a decade定位到 F段。该段提到，去年夏天，两所大学的学者开展了一项研究，审视近 1000家公司从 1998年到 2008年的证券综合股指，发现大多数有政治开支的公司包括拉票和竞选捐赠股市回报较低。本题句子的 a course of a decade对应原文的 between 1998 and 2008。(6).Poli
27、tical alliances were not enough to get what the company wanted.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：R）解析：解析：根据 political alliances和 were not enough定位到 R段。上文提到 AT&T虽然得到多个政治团体的支持，但收购 T-Mobile仍以失败告终；本段得出结论：政治同盟并不足以获胜。本题句子是对 R段首句的同义转述。(7).Underperforming companies tend to contribute more to political campaigns.（
28、分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：H）解析：解析：根据 underperforming companies定位到 H段。该段首句提到，表现不佳的公司在政治上花费更多，但在政治上的花费也许也导致公司表现不佳。本题句子与原文信息一致。(8).A former Microsoft programmer planned an app that would tell the customers the political spending of the producers.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：K）解析：解析：根据 A former Microsof
29、t programmer定位到 K段。该段第 2句提到，一位前微软程序设计师甚至提交了一个 iPhone应用软件的方案，这个软件可以使购买者扫描货架上的产品条形码，查询制造公司和高管的政治支出。本题句子的 planned与原文的 proposed对应，producers 对应 the companiesmaking the products。(9).Campaign finance watchdogs are concerned that corporate contributions will create a harmful relationship between those who a
30、re elected and those who finance them.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：E）解析：解析：根据 campaign finance watchdogs，harmful 和 those who finance them定位到 E段。该段 第 2句提到，竞选财务监察委员会担心公司现金的涌入会使政治活动变得腐败重构政治版图，在被选举的官员和赞助者之间形成有害关系。本题句子的 are concerned与原文的 worry对应，relationships对应原文的 bonds。(10).Someone said it was difficult
31、to say whether political spending is effective in heavily regulated industries.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_ （正确答案：正确答案：I）解析：解析：根据 difficult和 heavily regulated定位到 I段。该段第 2句提到，Coates 先生指出，在诸如银行或者通讯领域的支出是否有效很难得出结论，因为这些公司全都花重金赞助候选人以及拉票活动。本题句子的 effective与原文的 the effectiveness对应，difficult to say 对应 difficult to reach
32、 conclusions about。5.Section C_解析：Mercedes estate cars and Fiat runarounds(轻便小汽车)are being used to test up to 22 different monitors designed to detect if a driver is falling asleep at the wheel and trigger a series of devices designed to wake them up. The aim of the project, funded by 4 million of E
33、uropean Union money as well as private investment, is to reduce the estimated 30% of fatal accidents which are caused in Europe each year by drivers drifting off at the wheel. The test cars have been fitted with infrared cameras which monitor eye movement, touch-pad sensors that measure the drivers
34、grip on the steering wheel and chassis(汽车底盘)monitors which check for veer(转向). Should drivers start to doze off they can be quickly woken by a sudden blast of air-conditioned cold air. At the same time a vibrating alarm will sound and the drivers seat will be made to shake. Daimler Chrysler, owner o
35、f Mercedes, as well as Fiat, will own the patent of the awake system, which could be installed in cars as soon as this year. If the trials are successful the EU is considering introducing a directive which would make the system compulsory in long-distance lorriesa leading cause of road accidents. Ac
36、cording to transport department figures, more than 300 people die each year in Britain in accidents thought to be caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Ten people died in the Selby rail crash last year when a car driver fell asleep on a motor-way, crashed onto a railway line and derailed(使脱
37、轨)a passenger train. Motoring organizations said the new system might prevent accidents such as Selby but were cautious as to whether it would prove practical. The safety system also monitors braking frequency and can detect eye movement towards the rear and side mirrors. As no one drives in exactly
38、 the same way, the system must “learn“ the individual characteristics of its owner or owners. The researchers had considered systems that squirted(喷射)a refined version of smelling salts at the dozy motorist, opened the windows and activated the brakes automatically. However, such ideas have been aba
39、ndoned as potentially dangerous, startling a driver and leading to sudden changes in steering.（分数：10.00）(1).According to the passage, if a driver falls asleep in one of the test cars, _.（分数：2.00）A.the car brake will be activated automatically to prevent an accidentB.a refined version of smelling sal
40、t will be sprayed at the driverC.the window will be opened to let in fresh airD.a vibrating alarm will sound to wake the driver up 解析：解析：第 2段最后两句分别提到了两种唤醒打瞌睡的驾驶者的方法，选项 D是其中之一，在该段末句提到。(2).The second paragraph talks most clearly about _.（分数：2.00）A.the causes of fatal road accidentsB.the mechanism of t
41、he awake system C.the ways to awake the dozing driversD.the schedule of developing the awake system解析：解析：第 2段包含两个主要内容，第 1句指出了研究唤醒系统的目的，第 2句至末句介绍了该系统的运作机制，将四个选项与此对比，即可发现选项 B为本题答案。(3).According to the passage, road accidents in Europe are mainly caused by _.（分数：2.00）A.drivers falling asleep at the whe
42、elB.long-distance lorry driving C.cars without a safety systemD.drivers sudden changes in steering解析：解析：第 3段末句指出公路事故的主要肇事者是长途货车，故而正确答案选 B。(4).The author may agree that the Selby crash _.（分数：2.00）A.triggered the development of the awake systemB.happened because the train driver drifted off at the whe
43、elC.highlighted the advantages of installing the awake system D.caused researchers concern about the practicality of the awake system解析：解析：本文介绍了唤醒系统的研发，结合第 4段末句可以知道，作者提到 Selby撞车事故是为了表明唤醒系统可以避免这种事故的发生，即它的好处，由此可见，选项 C为本题答案。(5).The EUs attitude towards the awake system can be best described as “_“.（分数：
44、2.00）A.cautious optimism B.insufficient supportC.sheer confidenceD.fitful uncertainty解析：解析：第 2段首句指出欧盟在经济上对系统的研究给予了很大的支持，第 3段末句指出欧盟会考虑颁布指令，强行让长途货车安装该系统，这些表示它对系统是有信心的；另一方面，第 3段末句中的条件从句和 considering一词表明欧盟对该系统持审慎的态度，因此选项 A最能概括欧盟对该系统的态度。A recent case in Australia shows how easily fear can frustrate an in
45、formants good intentions. In December, a woman wrote anonymously to the countrys antitrust watchdog, the ACCC, alleging that her employer was colluding with others in breach of the Trade Practices Act. Her evidence was sufficient to suggest to the ACCC that fines of A$10m could be imposed on “a larg
46、e company“. But the agency needed more details. So just before Christmas it advertised extensively to try and persuade the woman to come forward again. Some days later her husband rang the ACCC, but he hung up before disclosing vital information. Now the agency is trying to contact the couple again.
47、 In America, there is some evidence that the events of September 11th have made people more public-spirited and more inclined to blow the whistle. The Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based group, received 27 reproaches from potential informants in the three months before September 11
48、th, and 66 in the three months after. Many of these complaints were about security issues. They included a Federal Aviation Adnunistration employee who claimed that the agency had repeatedly failed to respond to known cases of security violations at airports. Legislation to give greater protection to people who expose corporate or government misbehavior externally(aft
