1、大学英语六级模拟试卷 496及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 1接连发生的食品安全问题引起大家的密切关注，比如牛奶问题、鸡蛋问题等； 2请分析一下食品安全的重要性； 3你认为相关部门应采取什么措施加强食品安全。 二、 Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the ques
2、tions attached to the passage. For questions 1-4, mark： Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage; N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 2 Why Pop Music Soun
3、ds Perfect? If you havent been listening to pop radio in the past few months, youve missed the rise of two seemingly opposing trends. In a medium in which mediocre singing has never been a bar to entry, a lot of pop vocals suddenly sound great. Better than great: note- and pitch-perfect, as if there
4、s been an unspoken tightening of standards at record labels or an evolutionary leap in the development of vocal cords. At the other extreme are a few hip-hop singers who also hit their notes but with a precision so exaggerated that on first listen, their songs sound comically artificial, like a chor
5、us of 50s robots singing Motown. The force behind both trends is an ingenious plug-in called Auto-Tune, a downloadable studio trick that can take a vocal and instantly nudge it onto the proper note or move it to the correct pitch. Its like Photoshop for the human voice. Auto-Tune doesnt make it poss
6、ible for just anyone to sing like a pro, but used as its creator intended, it can transform a wavering performance into something technically flawless. “Right now, if you listen to pop, everything is in perfect pitch, perfect time and perfect tune,“ says producer Rick Rubin. “Thats how ubiquitous Au
7、to-Tune is.“ Auto-Tunes inventor is a man named Andy Hildebrand, who worked for years interpreting seismic data for the oil industry. Using a mathematical formula called autocorrelation, Hildebrand would send sound waves into the ground and record their reflections, providing an accurate map of pote
8、ntial drill sites. Its a technique that saves oil companies lots of money and allowed Hildebrand to retire at 40. He was debating the next chapter of his life at a dinner party when a guest challenged him to invent a box that would allow her to sing in tune. After he tinkered with autocorrelation fo
9、r a few months, Auto-Tune was born in late 1996. Almost immediately, studio engineers adopted it as a trade secret to fix flubbed notes, saving them the expense and hassle of having to redo sessions. The first time common ears heard Auto-Tune was on the immensely irritating 1998 Cher hit “Believe.“
10、In the first verse, when Cher sings “I cant break through“ as though shes standing behind an electric fan, thats Auto-Tune-but its not the way Hildebrand meant it to be used. The programs retune speed, which adjusts the singers voice, can be set from zero to 400. “If you set it to 10, that means tha
11、t the output pitch will get halfway to the target pitch in 10 milliseconds,“ says Hildebrand. “But if you let that parameter go to zero, it finds the nearest note and changes the output pitch instantaneously“-eliminating the natural transition between notes and making the singer sound jumpy and auto
12、mat-ed. “I never figured anyone in their right mind would want to do that,“ he says. Like other trends spawned by Cher, the creative abuse of Auto-Tune quickly went out of fashion, although it continued to be an indispensable, if inaudible, part of the engineers toolbox. But in 2003, T-Pain (Faheem
13、Najm), a little-known rapper and singer, accidentally stumbled onto the Cher effect while Auto-Tuning some of his vocals. “It just worked for my voice,“ says T-Pain in his natural Tallahassee drawl. “And there wasnt anyone else doing it.“ Since his 2005 debut album, T-Pain has sent a dozen slightly
14、raunchy, mechanically cheery singles into the Top 10. He contributed to four nominated songs at Grammy Award 2009, and his influence is still spreading. When Kanye West was looking for an effect to match some heartbroken lyrics, he flew T-Pain to Hawaii to see how many ways they could tweak Auto-Tun
15、e. Diddy gave a percentage of his upcoming albums profits to T-Pain in exchange for some lessons. Even Prince is rumored to be experimenting with Auto-Tune on his new record. “I know Auto-Tunebetter than anyone,“ says T-Pain. “And even Im just figuring out all the ways you can use it to change the m
16、ood of a record.“ Rubin, whos produced artists as diverse as the Dixie Chicks and Metallica, worries that the safety net of Auto-Tune is making singers lazy. “Sometimes a singer will do lots of takes when theyre recording a song, and you really can hear the emotional difference when someone does a g
17、reat performance vs. an average one,“ says Rubin. “If youre pitch-correcting, you might not bother to make the effort. You might just get it done and put it through the machine so its all in tune.“ Rubin has taken to having an ethical conversation before each new recording session. “I encourage arti
18、sts to embrace a natural process,“ he says. With the exception of Milli Vanillis, pop listeners have always been fairly indulgent (纵容的 ) about performers ethics. Its hits that matter, and the average person listening to just one pop song on the radio will have a hard time hearing Auto-Tunes impact;
19、its effectively deceptive. But when track after track has perfect pitch, the songs are harder to differentiate from one another-which explains why pop is in a pretty serious lull at the moment. It also changes the way we hear unaffected voices. “The other day, someone was talking about how Aretha Fr
20、anklin at the Inauguration was a bit pitchy,“ says Anderson. “I said, Of course! She was singing! And that was a musician talking. People are getting used to hearing things dead on pitch, and its changed their expectations.“ Despite Randy Jacksons stock American Idol critique-“A little pitchy, dawg“
21、-many beloved songs are actually off-pitch or out of tune. Theres Ringo Starr on “With a Little Help from My Friends,“ of course, and just about every blues song slides into notes as opposed to hitting them dead on. Even Norah Jones, the poster girl of pure vocals, isnt perfect. “Theres some wonderf
22、ul imperfections of pitch on Dont Know Why from Come Away with Me,“ says Anderson, “and most of the other tunes on the album as well. But I wouldnt want to change a single note.“ Lets hope that pops fetish for uniform perfect pitch will fade, even if the spread of Auto-Tune shows no signs of slowing
23、. A $99 version for home musicians was released in November 2007, and T-Pain and Auto-Tunes parent company are finishing work on an iPhone app. “Its gonna be real cool,“ says T-Pain. “Basically, you can add Auto-Tune to your voice and send it to your friends and put it on the Web. Youll be able to s
24、ound just like me.“ Asked if that might render him no longer unique, T-Pain laughs: “Im not too worried. I got lots of tricks you aint seen yet. Its everybody else that needs to step up their game.“ 2 Which of the following is described as a “Photoshop for the human voice“? （ A） Vocal cords. （ B） Hi
25、p-hop singers. （ C） Motown. （ D） Auto-Tune. 3 Before Andy Hildebrand retired, he worked for _. （ A） a record factory （ B） the oil industry （ C） a consultation company （ D） the advertising industry 4 Andy Hildebrand invented Auto-Tune _. （ A） when he was 40 （ B） in the year 1996 （ C） for financial pu
26、rpose （ D） for his own children 5 It can be inferred from the passage that Cher was _. （ A） a pop singer （ B） a studio engineer （ C） a sound technician （ D） a computer programmer 6 What has happened to T-Pain since 2005? （ A） He went out of fashion soon. （ B） He had to give up Auto-Tune. （ C） He bec
27、ame very successful. （ D） He held concerts worldwide. 7 Who once had to learn the Auto-Tune technique from T-Pain? （ A） Dixie Chicks. （ B） Metallica. （ C） Diddy. （ D） Prince. 8 According to Rubin, Auto-Tune may have a _ effect on singers. （ A） minor （ B） major （ C） positive （ D） negative 9 The issue
28、 of performers ethics has always been tolerated by_. 10 Aretha Franklin sounded “a bit pitchy“ at the Inauguration because her voice was_. 11 A special version of Auto-Tune was available at $99 for_. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.
29、 At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best
30、answer. （ A） She doesnt like to go out on Fridays. （ B） She would like to invite the man to the theater. （ C） She wont be able to come to the dinner. （ D） She is grateful to the man for giving her tickets. （ A） The woman will be happy to meet her cousin. （ B） The woman should go to the wedding cerem
31、ony. （ C） He plans to go travelling with the woman. （ D） He has never been to California for its far away. （ A） Keep looking for his wallet more carefully. （ B） Report the theft of his wallet as soon as possible. （ C） Make a phone call to the security office immediately. （ D） Be more careful with hi
32、s possessions in future. （ A） Mary doesnt have much talent for the piano. （ B） Mary taught herself to play the guitar. （ C） Mary prefers to play the guitar now. （ D） Mary got the guitar unexpectedly on her way home. （ A） Postpone his favorite course to the next semester. （ B） Ask the professor to he
33、lp him choose other courses. （ C） Request permission to take the courses together. （ D） Take the course from a different professor. （ A） Get prepared for her first campus interview. （ B） Polish her resume for more job opportunities. （ C） Visit a famous Electronics company next week. （ D） Apply for a
34、 job to the Electronics company. （ A） He has never taken part in a debate this year. （ B） He believes the team was eliminated already. （ C） He is too busy to go to the competition with her. （ D） He doesnt know if the team was successful. （ A） Wait and see how she feels in 24 hours. （ B） Go home imme
35、diately and take some medicine. （ C） Return to the grocery store to pick up some aspirin. （ D） Go to the nearby drug store to buy some aspirin. （ A） Organisms far below the Earths surface. （ B） New drilling methods. （ C） A hidden underground world. （ D） Rare and infectious bacteria. （ A） Modern expe
36、riments. （ B） Advanced technology. （ C） Precise statistics. （ D） Keen observation. （ A） They would be killed by the human immune system. （ B） They would die once brought to the surface. （ C） Many precautions and remedies are available. （ D） Drilling operations are always closely monitored. （ A） He h
37、ad thought Chicago was a young city. （ B） He had thought Chicago was very large. （ C） He had thought Chicago should be an old city. （ D） He had thought Chicago was totally destroyed by fires. （ A） Fort Dearborn was built in 1833 in the place that would become Chicago. （ B） Chicago didnt officially b
38、ecome a town in 1893. （ C） Only 350 people lived in Chicago when it officially became a town. （ D） Another 350 people moved into Chicago when it became a town. （ A） It was in 1893 when Chicago was still a small town. （ B） It broke out when Chicago wasnt even forty years old. （ C） It didnt affect Chi
39、cago significantly. （ D） It was in 1871 when Chicago was fourteen years old. （ A） They will review the seminar on Chicago together. （ B） They will attend Mr. Johnsons seminar again. （ C） They will attend a seminar on US economy. （ D） They will meet again on next Friday for a seminar. Section B Direc
40、tions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） From tram to trol
41、leybus to Routemaster. （ B） From trolleybus to Routemaster to red bus. （ C） From trolleybus to Routemaster to modern bus. （ D） From Routemaster to trolley to modern bus. （ A） It is full of renaissance favor. （ B） It is a star in a famous movie. （ C） It is one of the tourist hot spots. （ D） It is a s
42、ymbol of London. （ A） It is inconvenient to take the baggage onto it. （ B） It is difficult to spare the room for wheelchairs. （ C） It is dangerous to get in from both sides of it. （ D） It is easy to have an accident on a movable platform. （ A） To Michigan. （ B） To China. （ C） To Maryland. （ D） To Ca
43、nada. （ A） To clear up the eggs of insects. （ B） To help trees deliver water. （ C） To look for the signs of insects. （ D） To prepare for cutting down trees. （ A） Collect ash tree seeds for experiment. （ B） Preserve the healthy ash tree seeds. （ C） Set up a new seed bank for research. （ D） Develop a
44、new breed of ash tree. （ A） He explored the night life of New York. （ B） He collected used boxes from the streets. （ C） He joined many art-related activities. （ D） He organized an artistic group. （ A） He spent all the time working on it. （ B） He worked on it at night and slept during the day. （ C） H
45、e put the objects inside the boxes. （ D） He collected and rearranged pictures. （ A） About 40. （ B） Almost 200. （ C） Over 240. （ D） More than 72. （ A） A map of cups. （ B） Photos of sea animals. （ C） Two pipes for playing. （ D） A music box. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passag
46、e three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you ar
47、e required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the 37 A man steps on what seems like solid ground but discovers with horror that the ground is giving way beneath his feet. The man struggles 【 B1】 _ , but he is mer
48、cilessly 【 B2】 _ He cannot escape. Slowly he sinks deeper and deeper until at last he is gone, 【 B3】 _ in the treacherous earth. The solid ground was solid only in 【 B4】 _ It was actually quicksand, which is a deep 【 B5】 _ of fine sand mixed with water. How is quicksand formed? Water pushes up from
49、below the surface and is held by the sand. The 【 B6】 _ of sand are forced apart by the water. They cannot hold any weight. The subsurface water may have come from a spring, a river, or a stream. Sometimes pools of water near beaches become filled with sand. When the soil under these pools does not allow for good drainage, the sand can become 【 B7】 _ of quicksand. Is it true that a man who steps into quicksand i
