2015年12月大学英语六级考试真题与答案下载(第三套)(Word版)

　　Passage One
　　Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.
　　More than a decade ago, cognitive scientists John Bransford and Daniel Schwartz, both then atVanderbilt University, found that what distinguished young adults from children was not the ability toretain facts or apply prior knowledge to a new situation but a quality they called "preparation for futurelearning." The researchers asked fifth graders and college students to create a recovery plan to protectbald eagles from extinction. Shockingly, the two groups came up with plans of similar quality(although the college students had better spelling skills ). From the standpoint of a traditionaleducator, this outcome indicated that schooling had failed to help students think about ecosystems andextinction, major scientific ideas.
　　The researchers decided to go deeper, however.They asked both groups to generate questionsabout important issues needed to create recovery plans.On this task, they found large differences.College students focused on critical issues of interdependence between eagles and their hab/tats (栖息地).Fifth graders tended to focus on features of individual eagles ( "How big are they?" and "What dothey eat?" ).The college students had cultivated the ability to ask questions, the cornerstone of criticalthinking.They had learned how to learn.
　　Museums and other institutions of informal learning may be better suited to teach this skill than elementary and secondary schools.At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, we recently studied howlearning to ask good questions can affect the quality of people's scientific inquiry.We found that when we taught participants to ask "What if?" and "How can?" questions that nobody present would knowthe answer to and that would spark exploration, they engaged in better inquiry at the next exhibit--asking more questions, performing more experiments and making better interpretations of their results.Specifically, their questions became more comprehensive at the new exhibit.Rather than merely askingabout something they wanted to try, they tended to include both cause and effect in their question.Asking juicy questions appears to be a transferable skill for deepening collaborative inquiry into thescience content found in exhibits.
　　This type of learning is not confined to museums or institutional settings.Informal learningenvironments tolerate failure better than schools.Perhaps many teachers have too little time to allowstudents to form and pursue their own questions and too much ground to cover in the curriculum.Butpeople must acquire this skill somewhere.Our society depends on them being able to make criticaldecisions about their own medical treatment, say, or what we must do about global energy needs anddemands.For that, we have a robust informal learning system that gives no grades, takes all comers,and is available even on holidays and weekends.

56.What is traditional educators' interpretation of the research outcome mentioned in the first paragraph ?
A.Students are not able to apply prior knowledge to new problems.
B.College students are no better than fifth graders in memorizing facts.
C.Education has not paid enough attention to major environmental issues.
D.Education has failed to lead students to think about major scientific ideas.
57.In what way are college students different from children?
A.They have learned to think critically.
B.They are concerned about social issues. 
C.They are curious about specific features.
D.They have learned to work independently.
58.What is the benefit of asking questions with no ready answers?
A.It arouses students' interest in things around them.
B.It cultivates students' ability to make scientific inquiries.
C.It trains students' ability to design scientific experiments.
D.It helps students realize not every question has an answer.
59.What is said to be the advantage of informal learning?
A.It allows for failures. 
B.It is entertaining.
C.It charges no tuition.
D.It meets practical needs.
60.What does the author seem to encourage educators to do at the end of the passage?
A.Train students to think about global issues.
B.Design more interactive classroom activities.
C.Make full use of informal learning resources.
D.Include collaborative inquiry in the curriculum.

　　Passage Two
　　Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
　　"There's an old saying in the space world: amateurs talk about technology, professionals talkabout insurance." In an interview last year with The Economist, George Whitesides, chief executive ofspace-tourism fu'm Virgin Galactic, was placing his company in the latter category.But insurance willbe cold comfort following the failure on October 31st of VSS Enterprise, resulting in the death of onepilot and the severe injury to another.
　　On top of the tragic loss of life, the accident in California will cast a long shadow over the future of space tourism, even before it has properly begun.
　　The notion of space tourism took hold in 2001 with a $ 20 million flight aboard a Russianspacecraft by Dennis Tito, a millionaire engineer with an adventurous streak.Just haft a dozen holiday-makers have reached orbit since then, for similarly astronomical price tags. But more recently,companies have begun to plan more affordable "suborbital" flights--briefer ventures just to the edge ofspace's vast darkness.Virgin Galactic had, prior to this week's accident, seemed closest to startingregular flights.The company has already taken deposits from around 800 would-be space tourists,including Stephen Hawking.
　　After being dogged by technical delays for years, Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic's founder,had recently suggested that a SpaceShipTwo craft would carry its first paying customers as soon asFebruary 2015. That now seems an impossible timeline. In July, a sister craft of the crashedspaceplane was reported to be about half-finished.The other half will have to walt, as authorities ofAmerica's Federal Aviation 　　　　Administration (FAA.and National Transportation Safety Board work out:what went wrong.
　　In the meantime, the entire space tourism industry will be on tenterhooks (坐立不安 ).The 2004Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, intended to encourage private space vehicles andservices, prohibits the transportation secretary (and thereby the FAA.from regulating the design oroperation of private spacecraft, unless they have resulted in a serious or fatal injury to crew or.passengers.That means that the FAA could suspend Virgin Galactic's licence to fly.It could also insiston checking private manned spacecraft as thoroughly as it does commercial aircraft.While that may:make suborbital travel safer, it would add significant cost and complexity to an emerging industry thathas until now operated largely as the playground of billionaires and dreamy engineers.
　　How Virgin Galactic, regulators and the public respond to this most recent tragedy will determinewhether and how soon private space travel can transcend that playground.There is no doubt that space flight entails risks, and to pioneer a new mode of travel is to face those risks, and to reduce them.with the benefit of hard-won experience.

61.What is said about the failure of VSS Enterprise?
A.It may lead to the bankruptcy of Virgin Galactic.
B.It has a strong negative impact on space tourism.
C.It may discourage rich people from space travel.
D.It has aroused public attention to safety issues.
62.What do we learn about the space-tourism firm Virgin Galactic?
A.It has just built a craft for commercial flights.
B.It has sent half a dozen passengers into space.
C.It was about ready to start regular business.
D.It is the first to launch "suborbital" flights.
63.What is the purpose of the 2004 Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act?
A.To ensure space travel safety.
B.To limit the FAA's functions.
C.To legalize private space explorations.
D.To promote the space tourism industry.64.What might the FAA do after the recent accident in California?
A.Impose more rigid safety standards.
B.Stop certifying new space-tourist agencies.
C.Amend its 2004 Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act.
D.Suspend Virgin Galactic's licence to take passengers into space.
65.What does the author think of private space travel?
A.It is worth promoting despite the risks involved.
B.It should not be confined to the rich only.
C.It should be strictly regulated.
D.It is too risky to carry on.