2016年12月大学英语六级真题第3套PartⅡListening Comprehension(30 minutes)<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<特别说明六级考试每次仅考两套听力<<第三套听力试题同第一套或第二套试题一致Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section,there is a passage with ten blanks.You are required to select one word foreach blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage.Read thepassage through carefully before making your choices.Each choice in the bank is identifiedby a letter.Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with asingle line through the centre.You may not use any of the words in the bank more thanonce.Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.Small communities,with their distinctive character-where life is stable and intensely human-are disappearing.Some have 26 from the face of the earth,others are dying slowly,but all have27 changes as they have come into contact with an 28 machine civilization.The merging ofdiverse peoples into a common mass has produced tension among members of the minorities and themajority alike.The Old Order Amish,who arrived on American shores in colonial time,have 29 in themodern world in distinctive,small communities.They have resisted the homogenization 30 moresuccessfully than others.In planting and harvest time one can see their bearded men working thefields with horses and their women hanging out the laundry in neat rows to dry.Many Americanpeople have seen Amish families,with the men wearing broad-brimmed black hats and the women inlong dresses,in railway or bus 31.Although the Amish have lived with 32 America forover two and a half centuries,they have moderated its influence on their personal lives,their families,communities,and their values.The Amish are often 33 by other Americans to be relics of the past who live a simple,inflexible life dedicated to inconvenient out-dated customs.They are seen as abandoning both modern34 and the American dream of success and progress.But most people have no quarrel with theAmish for doing things the old-fashioned way.Their conscientious objection was tolerated in wartime,for after all,they are good farmers who 35 the virtues of work and thrift.A)accessingprogressB)conveniencesrespectiveC)destinedK)survivedD)expandingL)terminalsE)industrializedM)undergoneF)perceivedN)universalG)practiceO)vanishedHprocessSection BDirections:In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Eachstatement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph fromwhich the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.Eachparagraph is marked with a letter.Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letteron Answer Sheet 2.Countries Rush for Upper Hand in Antarctica[A]On a glacier-filled island with fjords (and elephant seals,Russia has built Antarctica's firstOrthodox church on a hill overlooking its research base.Less than an hour away by snowmobile,Chinese labourers have updated the Great Wall Station,a vital part of China's plan to operate fivebases on Antarctica,complete with an indoor badminton court and sleeping quarters for 150people.Not to be outdone,India's futuristic new Bharathi base,built on stilts (using 134interlocking shipping containers,resembles a spaceship.Turkey and Iran have announced plans tobuild bases,too.[B]More than a century has passed since explorers raced to plant their flags at the bottom of theworld,and for decades to come this continent is supposed to be protected as a scientific preserve,shielded from intrusions like military activities and mining.But an array of countries are rushingto assert greater influence here,with an eye not just towards the day those protective treatiesexpire,but also for the strategic and commercial opportunities that already exist.[C]The newer players are stepping into what they view as a treasure house of resources.Some of theventures focus on the Antarctic resources that are already up for grabs,like abundant sea life.South Korea,which operates state-of-the-art bases here,is increasing its fishing of krill ()found in abundance in the Southern Ocean,while Russia recently frustrated efforts to create oneof the world's largest ocean sanctuaries here.[D]Some scientists are examining the potential for harvesting icebergs from Antarctica,which isestimated to have the biggest reserves of fresh water on the planet.Nations are also pressing6·2ahead with space research and satellite projects to expand their global navigation abilities.[E]Building on a Soviet-era foothold,Russia is expanding its monitoring stations for Glonass,itsversion of the Global Positioning System (GPS).At least three Russian stations are alreadyoperating in Antarctica,part of its effort to challenge the dominance of the American GPS,andnew stations are planned for sites like the Russian base,in the shadow of the Orthodox Church ofthe Holy Trinity.[F]Elsewhere in Antarctica,Russian researchers boast of their recent discovery of a freshwaterreserve the size of Lake Ontario after drilling through miles of solid ice."You can see that we'rehere to stay,"said Vladimir Cheberdak,57,chief of the Bellingshausen Station,as he sipped teaunder a portrait of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen,a high-ranking officer in the ImperialRussian Navy who explored the Antarctic coast in 1820.[G]Antarctica's mineral,oil and gas wealth are a longer-term prize.The treaty banning mining here,shielding coveted(令人垂诞的)reserves of iron ore,.coal and chromium,comes up for review in2048.Researchers recently found kimberlite(金伯利岩)deposits hinting at the existence ofdiamonds.And while assessments vary widely,geologists estimate that Antarctica holds at least36 billion barrels of oil and natural gas.[H]Beyond the Antarctic treaties,huge obstacles persist to tapping these resources,like driftingicebergs that could jeopardise offshore platforms.Then there is Antarctica's remoteness,withsome mineral deposits found in windswept locations on a continent that is larger than Europe andwhere winter temperatures hover around minus 55 degrees Celsius.[I]But advances in technology might make Antarctica a lot more accessible three decades from now.And even before then,scholars warn,the demand for resources in an energy-hungry world couldraise pressure to renegotiate Antarctica's treaties,possibly allowing more commercial endeavourshere well before the prohibitions against them expire.The research stations on King GeorgeIsland offer a glimpse into the long game on this ice-blanketed continent as nations assertthemselves,eroding the sway long held by countries like the United States,Britain,Australia andNew Zealand.[J]Being stationed in Antarctica involves adapting to life on the planet's driest,windiest and coldestcontinent,yet each nation manages to make itself at home.Bearded Russian priests offer regularservices at the Orthodox church for the 16 or so Russian speakers who spend the winter at thebase,largely polar scientists in fields like glaciology and meteorology.Their number climbs toabout 40 in the warmer summer months.China has arguably the fastest-growing operations inAntarctica.It opened its fourth station last year and is pressing ahead with plans to build a fifth.Itis building its second ice-breaking ship and setting up research drilling operations on an ice dome13,422 feet above sea level that is one of the planet's coldest places.Chinese officials say theexpansion in Antarctica prioritises scientific research,but they also acknowledge that concerns6·3