2008.12六级真题

2008年12月大学英语六级考试真题PartIWriting（30minutes）Directions:Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledHowToImproveStudent'sMentalHealth?.Youshouldwriteatleast150wordsfollowingtheoutlinegivenbelow.1.大学生的心理健康十分重要2.因此，学校可以……3.我们自己应当……HowToImproveStudent'sMentalHealth?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________PartIIReadingComprehension(SkimmingandScanning)(15minutes)Directions:Inthispart,youwillhave15minutestogooverthepassagequicklyandanswerthequestionsonAnswerSheet1.Forquestions1-7,choosethebestanswerfromthefourchoicesmarked[A],[B],[C]and[D].Forquestions8-10,completethesentenceswiththeinformationgiveninthepassage.SupersizeSurpriseAskanyonewhythereisanobesityepidemicandtheywilltellyouthatit’saldowntoeatingtoomuchandburningtoofewcalories.Thatexplanationappealstocommonsenseandhasdominatedeffortstogettotherootoftheobesityepidemicandreverseit.Yetobesityresearchersareincreasinglydissatisfiedwithit.Manynowbelievethatsomethingelsemusthavechangedinourenvironmenttoprecipitate(促成)suchdramaticrisesinobesityoverthepast40yearsorso.Nobodyissayingthatthe“bigtwo”–reducedphysicalactivityandincreasedavailabilityoffood–arenotimportantcontributorstotheepidemic,buttheycannotexplainitall.Earlierthisyearareviewpaperby20obesityexpertssetoutthe7mostplausiblealternativeexplanationsfortheepidemic.Heretheyare.1.NotenoughsleepItiswidelybelievedthatsleepisforthebrain,notthebody.Couldashortageofshut-eyealsobehelpingtomakeusfat?Severallarge-scalestudiessuggesttheremaybealink.Peoplewhosleeplessthan7hoursanighttendtohaveahigherbodymassindexthanpeoplewhosleepmore,accordingtodatagatheredbytheUSNationalHealthandNutritionExaminationSurvey.Similarly,theUSNurses’HealthStudy,whichtracked68,000womenfor16years,foundthatthosewhosleptanaverageof5hoursanightgainedmoreweightduringthestudyperiodthanwomenwhoslept6hours,whointurngainedmorethanwhosewhoslept7.It’swellknownthatobesityimpairssleep,soperhapspeoplegetfatfirstandsleeplessafterwards.Butthenurses’studysuggeststhatitcanworkintheotherdirectiontoo:sleeplossmayprecipitateweightgain.Althoughgettingfiguresisdifficult,itappearsthatwereallyaresleepingless.In1960peopleintheUSsleptanaverageof8.5hourspernight.A2002pollbytheNationalSleepFoundationsuggeststhattheaveragehasfallentounder7hours,andthedeclineismirroredbytheincreaseinobesity.2.ClimatecontrolWehumans,likeallwarm-bloodedanimals,cankeepourcorebodytemperaturesprettymuchconstantregardlessofwhat’sgoingonintheworldaroundus.Wedothisbyalteringourmetabolic(新陈代谢的)rate,shiveringorsweating.Keepingwarmandstayingcooltakeenergyunlessweareinthe“thermo-neutralzone”,whichisincreasinglywherewechoosetoliveandwork.Thereisnodenyingthatambienttemperatures(环境温度)havechangedinthepastfewdecades.Between1970and2000,theaverageBritishhomewarmedfromachilly13Cto18C.IntheUS,thechangeshavebeenattheotherendofthethermometerastheproportionofhomeswithairconditioningrosefrom23%to47%between1978and1997.Inthesouthernstates–whereobesityratestendtobehighest–thenumberofhouseswithairconditioninghasshotupto71%from37%in1978.Couldairconditioninginsummerandheatinginwinterreallymakeadifferencetoourweight?Sadly，thereissomeevidencethatitdoes-atleastwithregardtoheating.Studiesshowthatincomfortabletemperaturesweuselessenergy.3.LesssmokingBadnews:smokersreallydotendtobethinnerthantherestofus,andquittingreallydoespackonthepounds,thoughnooneissurewhy.Itprobablyhassomethingtodowiththefactthatnicotineisanappetitesuppressantandappearstoupyourmetabolicrate.KatherineFlegalandcolleaguesattheUSNationalCenterforHealthStatisticsinHyattsville,Maryland,havecalculatedthatpeoplekickingthehabithavebeenresponsibleforasmallbutsignificantportionoftheUSepidemicoffatness.Fromdatacollectedaround1991bytheUSNationalHealthandNutritionExaminationSurvey,theyworkedoutthatpeoplewhohadquitinthepreviousdecadeweremuchmorelikelytobeoverweightthansmokersandpeoplewhohadneversmoked.Amongmen,forexample,nearlyhalfofquitterswereoverweightcomparedwith37%ofnon-smokersandonly28%ofsmokers.4.GeneticeffectsYourschancesofbecomingfatmaybeset,atleastinpart,beforeyouwereevenborn.Childrenofobesemothersaremuchmorelikelytobecomeobesethemselveslaterinlife.Offspringofmicefedahigh-fatdietduringpregnancyaremuchmorelikelytobecomefatthantheoffspringofidenticalmicefedanormaldiet.Intriguingly,theeffectpersistsfortwoorthreegenerations.Grandchildrenofmicefedahigh-fatdietgrowupfateveniftheirownmotherisfednormally-soyoufatemayhavebeensealedevenbeforeyouwereconceived.5.Alittleolder…Somegroupsofpeoplejusthappentobefatterthanothers.SurveyscarriedoutbytheUSnationalcenterforhealthstatisticsfoundthatadultsaged40to79werearoundthreetimesaslikelytobeobeseasyoungerpeople.Non-whitefemalesalsotendtofallatthefatterendofthespectrum:Mexican-Americanwomenare30%morelikelythanwhitewomentobeobsess,andblackwomenhavetwicetherisk.IntheUS,thesegroupsaccountforanincreasingpercentageofthepopul