阅读-大学英语六级考试710分快速突破

　　　　　前　言
    为适应我国高等教育新的发展形势，培养学生的英语综合应用能力，针对开始于1987年的
大学英语六级考试的改革势在必行。2004年初教育部高教司组织制定并在全国部分高校开始试
点《大学英语课程教学要求(试行)》。为了适应新的教学要求，全国大学英语四、六级考试改革
项目组和考试委员会制定了《(全国大学英语四、六级考试改革方案(试行)》，并据此设计了六级
考试新题型试测卷。2006年6月，进行了全国范围的四级考试试点，12月又进行了六级考试试
点。2007年6月，改革后的大学英语六级考试全面实施。
    《大学英语六级考试710分快速突破》系列丛书就是在此新形势下精心策划与编写的，目的
在于指导广大考生更好地备战新的大学英语六级考试，提高应试能力。
    本丛书严格遵照《大学英语六级考试大纲(2006修订版)》的精神，在题型设置上与大学
英语六级考试新题型完全一致，试题设计科学合理，体现了一定的梯度，中等难度和稍难的试
题占了一定比例，目的是希望广大考生在备战阶段能够从严训练，真正提高自己的应试能力和
英语综合应用水平。也只有进行从严和稍难的考前冲刺，才能有考场上“一览众山小”的自信
与从容。
    本丛书包括《模拟试题》、《阅读》、《听力)》以及《综合测试》共四册，每册选材新颖、设计
合理，具有以下共同特点：
    ·权威性：本书由北京高校长期从事大学英语教学与研究并且具有丰富的大学英语四、六
    级考试辅导经验的专家与一线教师精心编写，部分试题在六级培训中心与部分高校大学英
    语部试用，受到一致好评。
    ·实用性：本书在材料的选择与题型设置上尽量与样卷保持一致。试题不仅配有答案，而
    且还有详尽的解析，考生可以在没有老师指导的情况下进行自测。
    ·新颖性：本书完全按照新题型设计，在材料选择上突出了时尚性和新颖性。阅读材料、听
    力材料和写作练习涉及到很多热点问题，如2008年奥运会志愿者招募、星巴克在故宫开
    分店引发的争议等。
    《大学英语六级考试71 0分快速突破阅读》由以下内容组成：
    (1)大学英语六级考试阅读新题型解读。该部分对《大学英语六级考试大纲(2006修订版）》
进行了解读，尤其是改革后的阅读题型及考核趋势，重点介绍了快速阅读、仔细阅读、篇章选词
及简答题四大题型的应试方法。
    (2)快速阅读理解15篇。在此部分，作者设计了15篇长度在1，100—1,300词左右的快速阅

读文章，在每篇文章后严格按照新题型设计了相关练习，并在答案及解析部分对答案选项进行了
详细分析。建议练习者在规定时间内完成快速阅读，即每15分钟完成一篇快速阅读。
    (3)篇章阅读理解30篇。作者在该部分设计了400—450词左右的短篇阅读30篇，并严格
按照要求设计了相关练习，并在答案及解析部分对每道题进行了详细解答，以便于练习者切实提
高自身的阅读解答能力。这30篇文章共分成6个单元，希望练习者在每40分钟内完成一个单元。
    (4)篇章词汇理解10篇。在此部分，作者设计了250—300词左右的篇章共10篇，并按要
求设计了相应练习，在答案及解析部分提供了答案详解。
    (5)篇章简答10篇。在此部分，作者设计了400—450词左右的篇章共10篇，并按要求设
计了简答练习，在答案及解析部分提供了答案详解。
    (6)历年真题14篇。该部分为练习者提供了2005年12月至2007年6月共4套试题阅读部
分的真题共14篇，其中快速阅读2篇，传统仔细阅读12篇，以便练习者掌握历年真题难度及出
题类型，更好地做到“知己知彼，百战不殆”。
    感谢所有参与编写的老师，他们在进行日常教学工作的同时，严格认真、保质保量地完成了
本系列丛书的编写工作；他们以高度的责任心和丰富的专业知识对文稿进行了多次润色与修改，
使本系列丛书在质量上有了可靠的保障。
    *后，要特别感谢外语教学与研究出版社祝文杰先生、本书的责任编辑以及外研社其他各位
专家，是他们高效务实的工作作风和严谨的工作态度，使得该书保质保量并按时得以与广大读者
见面。
    时间仓促，以及水平有限，本书难免有错误和不足之处，希望得到教育界同仁和广大学生朋
友的不吝赐教。您的意见及建议请直接发往本人信箱：zhenglish@126．com，以便本书再版时进
行更正和完善。谢谢!

Passage 11
      If you don't have a Beenz in your virtual pocket, maybe you should. Beenz (the trademarked word is
both singular and plural) are a new kind of money that circulates exclusively on the Intemet. There are no
Beenz coins or Beenz bills. The only place you can earn Beenz is on the web, and until now, the web is the
only place you could spend them. Beenz are the product of a company called Beenz.com that hopes to make
them currency of the Intemet, and they may be the future of cash. "In five years," says Beenz.com founder
Charles Cohen, "I believe we'll start to see Beenz listed against other major currencies." This vision
moved closer to reality last month with the launch of a debit card allowing consumers to convert Beenz
for local currency--spending in real or no-line stores.
      Beenz aren't a currency in the strictest sense. But Beenz are one of the more successful attempts to
solve a problem that's as old as the web--that of finding an easy way to spend money online in small
amounts. Early attempts to create a practical alternative to credit cards for online financial transactions
have been slow to gain consumer confidence.
      Here's how Beenz work. First you open a free account with Beenz.com, a New York-based outfit
that's been in business since 1998. You earn Beenz by visiting certain websites that give Beenz away to
reward customer loyalty, in exchange for personal information or as a reward to surfers for just showing
up. Hence the name  "You get something just for having been there," explains Beenz.com chairman and
CEO Phiop Letts. Among the sites that offer Beenz are Excite UK, Dash and Fortune-City. Then, once
your virtual wallet is bulging, you can spend Beenz at any of some 200 e-commerce sites that accept Beenz
as a form of payment, including Flooz, JellyBeenz Gifts and MP3.com.
      Cohen founded Beenz.com, because he was fed up with existing customer-incentive programs. He
saw an opportunity to give consumers more of a choice in how companies reward them for purchases, and
to grease the wheels of the burgeoning Intemet economy. Beenz.com launched in March 1999, and by
August 150 companies were signed up to accept the new tokens.
     Beenz is now a global operation, with offices from New York to Stockholm to Sydney to Hong Kong.
And it' s getting to be a significant business: its technology partners include Oracle, Sun Microsystems
and Web-hosting giant Exodus. Almost 750 million Beenz are in circulation--roughly equivalent to the
currency float of a small country.
1. From Paragraph 1, we learn that
   A) Beenz are a kind of currency that can only be used locally
  B) Beenz are a form of payment with coins and notes
                                                                                                                                                                                                        ~
   C) Beenz are a kind of currency that can only be used online
  D) Beenz is a new type of currency that can be used in real and on-line stores

2. From Paragraph 2, we can infer that
  A) it can be sure that the customers will be confident of Beenz
  B) Beenz appear because people need a substitute for credit cards
  C) Beenz result in a big problem for online transaction
  D) Beenz is not very successful
3. Beenz get its name from
   A) best
   B) busy
   C) been
   D) business
4. The reason why Beenz.com was founded is that
   A) Cohen was fed up with stimulating customers
   B) Cohen found the chance to provide more choice in customer-incentive program
   C) the customers want more programs
   D) Cohen wants to push the development of the Intemet
5. What is the author's attitude towards Beenz's future?
   A) Puzzled.
   B) Indifferent.
   C) Pessimistic.
   D) Optimistic.
Passage 12
     The global economy is developing faster and more powerful every year. As it does so, the role of
education in reducing poverty and transforming the development prospects of poor countries around the
world can be clearer. Research shows that countries which invest a lot in quality education for their people
have higher economic growth and healthier citizens. Average wages in those countries go up, along with
trade development, and fewer of their people are left in grinding poverty.
      In order to make those less developed countries able to keep up with those advanced countries, the
global economy brings ample rewards, but the pace creates a widening education or knowledge gap.
Developing countries will have little success in reducing poverty and boosting economic growth unless
they can bridge this divide.
      States like Brazil, Chile, Ireland, Vietnam and Lithuania have prospered because of their strong
commitment to a process of lifelong education, beginning in early childhood and continuing until people
retire from the workplace. Such leaming spurs economic development, reduces poverty and encourages
opens and cohesive societies.
      Continuous education creates a country's intellectual and economic foundation, and enhances its

ability to acquire and use the new high-tech knowledge and skills increasingly demanded by the global
economy.
     The widening education gap between wealthy and poor countries explains why nearly five billion
people in developing and transition economies account for only 20 percent of global GDP. Helping
developing countries join the global knowledge economy is essential to closing the gap between them and
advanced countries. The key to bridging the knowledge divide is an all-encompassing system that
supports and recognized individual learning in both the formal and the non-formal components of the
education sector.
     The global economy increasingly relies on the use of ideas and technology in devising smarter ways
of working and doing business. Such knowledge is rapidly changing the relative economic positions of
countries and individuals. Finland, for instance, has switched from a natural resource-based economy to
a high-tech economy. The share of computer and telecommunications products in its total exports
increased to 30 percent in 2000 from less than 7 percent in 1990.
     The growth of the knowledge economy has not been confined to industrial economies but has spread
with remarkable speed to developing and transition economies, such as Lithuania, Brazil and Mauritius.
Countries that are able to take full advantage of these opportunities will be able to jump-start their
economies and eventually catch up with highly industrialized economies.
1. In what situations is a country able to develop quickly?
   A) When its people have higher economic growth.
   B) When it invests a lot in education.
   C) When it has healthier citizens.
   D) When fewer people are left in poverty.
2. What is correct about global economy in helping developing countries?
   A) It is very successful.
   B) Global economy brings little rewards.
   C) It results in education gap.
   D) We don't know from the, passage.
3. What is the main reason for the development of Brazil, Chile, and etc.?
   A) Learning spur.
   B) They encourage open and cohesive societies.
   C) Their engagement in lifelong education.
   D) They begin to educate people when they are very young.
4. Which of the following is correct?
   A) The economic difference leads to the education gap between wealthy and poor countries.
   B) The developing countries account for a small portion of transition economies.
   C) The education gap between wealthy and poor countries is due to historical reasons.
   D) Education is the key for developing countries to catch up with developed countries.