阅读理解六级

Passage One

I'll admit I've never quite understood the obsession（难以破除的成见）surrounding genetically modified (GM) crops. To environmentalist opponents, GM foods are simply evil, an understudied, possibly harmful tool used by big agricultural businesses to control global seed markets and crush local farmers. They argue that GM foods have never delivered on their supposed promise, that money spent on GM crops would be better channeled to organic farming and that consumers should be protected with warning labels on any products that contain genetically modified ingredients. To supporters, GM crops are a key part of the effort to sustainably provide food to meet a growing global population. But more than that, supporters see the GM opposition of many environmentalists as fundamentally anti-science, no different than those who question the basics of man-made climate change.

For both sides, GM foods seem to act as a symbol: you're pro-agricultural business or anti-science. But science is exactly what we need more of when it comes to GM foods, which is why I was happy to see Nature devote a special series of articles to the GM food controversy. The conclusion: while GM crops haven't yet realized their initial promise and have been dominated by agricultural businesses, there is reason to continue to use and develop them to help meet the enormous challenge of sustainably feeding a growing planet.

That doesn't mean GM crops are perfect, or a one-size-fits-all solution to global agriculture problems. But anything that can increase farming efficiency一the amount of crops we can produce per acre of land一will be extremely useful. GM crops can and almost certainly will be part of that suite of tools' but so will traditional plant breeding, improved soil and crop management一and perhaps most important of all, better storage and transport infrastructure（基础设施）, especially in the developing world. (It doesn't do much good for farmers in places like sub-Saharan Africa to produce more food if they can't get it to hungry consumers.) I'd like to see more

non-industry research done on GM crops—not just because we'd worry less about bias, but also because seed companies like Monsanto and Pioneer shouldn't be the only entities working to harness genetic modification. I'd like to see GM research on less commercial crops, like com. I don't think it's vital to label GM ingredients in food, but I also wouldn't be against it一and industry would be smart to go along with labeling, just as a way of removing fears about the technology.

Most of all, though, I wish a tenth of the energy that's spent endlessly debating GM crops was focused on those more pressing challenges for global agriculture. There are much bigger battles to fight.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

56. How do environmentalist opponents view GM foods according to the passage?

A) They will eventually ruin agriculture and the environment.

B) They are used by big businesses to monopolize agriculture.

C) They have proved potentially harmful to consumers' health.

D) They pose a tremendous threat to current farming practice.

57. What does the author say is vital to solving the controversy between the two sides of the debate?

A) Breaking the GM food monopoly. B) More friendly exchange of ideas.

C) Regulating GM food production. D) More scientific research on GM crops.

58. What is the main point of the Nature articles?

A) Feeding the growing population makes it imperative to develop GM crops.

B) Popularizing GM technology will help it to live up to its initial promises.

C) Measures should be taken to ensure the safety of GM foods.

D) Both supporters and opponents should make compromises.

59. What is the author's view on the solution to agricultural problems?

A) It has to depend more and more on GM technology.

B) It is vital to the sustainable development of human society.

C) GM crops should be allowed until better alternatives are found.

D) Whatever is useful to boost farming efficiency should be encouraged.

60. What does the author think of the ongoing debate around GM crops?

A) It arises out of ignorance of and prejudice against new science.

B) It distracts the public attention from other key issues of the world.

C) Efforts spent on it should be turned to more urgent issues of agriculture.

D) Neither side is likely to give in until more convincing evidence is found.

Passage Two

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

When the right person is holding the right job at the right moment, that person's influence is greatly expanded. That is the position in which Janet Yellen, who is expected to be confirmed as the next chair of the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) in January, now finds herself. If you believe, as many do, that unemployment is the major economic and social concern of our day, then it is no stretch to think Yellen is the most powerful person in the world right now.

Throughout the 2008 financial crisis and the recession and recovery that followed, central banks have taken on the role of stimulators of last resort, holding up the global economy with vast amounts of money in the form of asset buying. Yellen, previously a Fed vice chair, was one of the principal architects of the Fed's $3.8 trillion money dump. A star economist known for her groundbreaking work on labor markets, Yeilen was a kind of prophetess early on in the crisis for her warnings about the subprime（次级债）meltdown. Now it will be her job to get the Fed and the markets out of the biggest and most unconventional monetary program in history without derailing the fragile recovery.

The good news is that Yellen, 67, is particularly well suited to meet these challenges. She has a keen understanding of financial markets, an appreciation for their imperfections and a strong belief that human suffering was more related to unemployment than anything else.

Some experts worry that Yellen will be inclined to chase unemployment to the neglect of inflation. But with wages still relatively flat and the economy increasingly divided between the well-off and the long-term unemployed' more people worry about the opposite, deflation（通货紧缩）that would aggravate the economy's problems.

Either way, the incoming Fed chief will have to walk a fine line in slowly ending the stimulus. It must be steady enough to deflate bubbles（去泡沫）and bring markets back down to earth but not so quick that it creates another credit crisis.

Unlike many past Fed leaders, Yellen is not one to buy into the finance industry's argument that it should be left alone to regulate itself. She knows all along the Fed has been too slack on regulation of finance.

Yellen is likely to address right after she pushes unemployment below 6%, stabilizes markets and makes sure that the recovery is more inclusive and robust. As Princeton Professor Alan Blinder says' "She's smart as a whip, deeply logical, willing to argue but also a good listener. She can persuade without creating hostility." AH those traits will be useful as the global economy's new power player takes on its most annoying problems.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

61. What do many people think is the biggest problem facing Janet Yellen?

A) Lack of money. B) Subprime crisis. C) Unemployment. D) Social instability.

62. What did Yellen help the Fed do to tackle the 2008 financial crisis?

A) Take effective measures to curb inflation.

B) Deflate the bubbles in the American economy.

C) Formulate policies to help financial institutions.

D) Pour money into the market through asset buying.

63. What is a greater concern of the general public?

A) Recession. B) Deflation. C) Inequality. D) Income.

64. What is Yellen likely to do in her position as the Fed chief?

A) Develop a new monetary program. B) Restore public confidence.

C) Tighten financial regulation. D) Reform the credit system.

65. How does Alan Blinder portray Yellen?

A) She possesses strong persuasive power.

B) She has confidence in what she is doing.

C) She is one of the world's greatest economists.

D) She is the most powerful Fed chief in history.

Part VI Translation (30 minutes)

2011年是中国城市化(urbanization)进程中的历史性时刻，其城市人口首次超过农村人口。在未来20年里，预计约有3.5亿农村人口将移居到城市。如此规模的城市发展对城市交通来说既是挑战，也是机遇。中国政府一直提倡“以人为本”的发展理念。强调人们以公交而不是私家车出行。它还号召建设“资源节约和环境友好型”社会。有了这个明确的目标，中国城市就可以更好地规划其发展，并把大量投资转向安全、清洁和经济型交通系统的发展上。

Passage One

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage．

Technology can make us smarter or stupider, and we need to develop a set of principles to guide oureveryday behavior and make sure that tech is improving and not hindering our mental processes．One ofthe big questions being debated today is: What kind of information do we need to have stored in our heads,and what kind can we leave "in the cloud," to be accessed as necessary?

An increasingly powerful group within education are championing "digital literacy"．In their view,skills beat knowledge, developing "digital literacy" is more important than learning mere content, andall facts are now Google-able and therefore unworthy of committing to memory．But even the mostsophisticated digital literacy skills won't help students and workers navigate the world if they don't have abroad base of knowledge about how the world actually operates．If you focus on the delivery mechanismand not the content, you're doing kids a disservice．

Indeed, evidence from cognitive science challenges the notion that skills can exist independentof factual knowledge．Data from the last thirty years leads to a conclusion that is not scientifically

challengeable: thinking well requires knowing facts, and that's true not only because you need somethingto think about．The very processes that teachers care about most--critical thinking processes—are intimately interwined (交织) with factual knowledge that is stored in long-term memory．

In other words, just because you can Google the date of Black Tuesday doesn't mean you understandwhy the Great Depression happened or how it compares to our recent economic slump．There is no doubtthat the students of today, and the workers of tomorrow, will need to innovate, collaborate and evaluate．But such skills can't be separated from the knowledge that gives rise to them．To innovate, you have toknow what came before．To collaborate, you have to contribute knowledge to the joint venture．And toevaluate, you have to compare new information against knowledge you've already mastered．

So here's a principle for thinking in a digital world, in two parts．First, acquire a base of factual

knowledge in any domain in which you want to perform well．This base supplies the essential foundation for building skills, and it can't be outsourced (外包) to a search engine．

Second, take advantage of computers' invariable memory, but also the brain's elaborative memory．Computers are great when you want to store information that shouldn't change．But brains are the superiorchoice when you want information to change, in interesting and useful ways: to connect up with other factsand ideas, to acquire successive layers of meaning, to steep for a while in your accumulated knowledgeand experience and so produce a richer mental brew．

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

56．What is the author's concern about the use of technology?

A．It may leave knowledge "in the cloud"．

B．It may misguide our everyday behavior．

C．It may cause a divide in the circles of education．

D．It may hinder the development of thinking skills．

57．What is the view of educators who advocate digital literacy?

A．It helps kids to navigate the virtual world at will．

B．It helps kids to broaden their scope of knowledge．

C．It increases kid's efficiency of acquiring knowledge．

D．It liberates kids from the burden of memorizing facts．

58．What does evidence from cognitive science show?

A．Knowledge is better kept in long-term memory．

B．Critical thinking is based on factual knowledge．

C．Study skills are essential to knowledge acquisition．

D．Critical thinking means challenging existing facts．

59．What does the author think is key to making evaluations?

A．Gathering enough evidence before drawing conclusions．

B．Mastering the basic roles and principles for evaluation．

C．Connecting new information with one's accumulated knowledge．

D．Understanding both what has happened and why it has happened．

60．What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

A．To warn against learning through memorizing facts．

B．To promote educational reform in the information age．

C．To explain human brains' function in storing information．

D．To challenge the prevailing overemphasis on digital literacy．

Passage Two

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage．

America's recent history has been a persistent tilt to the West--of people, ideas, commerce and evenpolitical power．California and Texas are the twin poles of the West, but very different ones．For most ofthe 20th century the home of Silicon Valley and Hollywood has been the brainier and trendier of the two．Texas has trailed behind: its stereotype has been a conservative Christian in cowboy boots．But twins canchange places．Is that happening now?

It is easy to find evidence that California is in a panic．At the start of this month the once golden state started paying creditors in IOUs (欠条)．The gap between projected outgoings and income for the current fiscal (财政的) year has leapt to horrible $26 billion．With no sign of a new budget to close this gulf, onecredit agency has already downgraded California's debt．As budgets are cut, universities will let in fewerstudents, prisoners will be released early and schemes to protect the vulnerable will be rolled back．

By contrast, Texas has coped well with the recession, with an unemployment rate two points belowthe national average and one of the lowest rates of housing repossession．In part this is because Texanbanks, hard hit in the last property bust, did not overexpand this time．Texas also clearly offers a differentmodel, based on small government．It has no state capital-gains or income tax, and a business-friendly andimmigrant-tolerant attitude．It is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state．

Despite all this, it still seems too early to hand over America's future to Texas．To begin with, thatlean Texan model has its own problems．It has not invested enough in education, and many experts rightlyworry about a "lost generation" of mostly Hispanic Texans with insufficient skills for the demands of theknowledge economy．Second, it has never paid to bet against a state with as many inventive people as California．Even ifHollywood has gone into depression, it still boasts an unequalled array of sunrise industries and the mostbrisk venture-capital industry on the planet．The state also has an awesome ability to reinvent itself--as itdid when its defence industry collapsed at the end of the cold war．

The truth is that both states could learn from each other．Texas still lacks California's great universitiesand lags in terms of culture．California could adopt not just Texas's leaner state, but also its more bipartisan(两党的)approach to politics．There is no perfect model of government: it is America's genius to have 50public-policy laboratories competing to find out what works best．

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

61．What does the author say about California and Texas in Paragraph 1?

A．They have been competing for the leading position．

B．California has been superior to Texas in many ways．

C．They are both models of development for other states．

D．Texas's cowboy culture is less known than California's．

62．What does the author say about today's California?

A．Its debts are pushing it into bankruptcy．

B．Its budgets have been cut by $26 billion．

C．It is faced with a serious financial crisis．

D．It is trying hard to protect the vulnerable．

63．In what way is Texas different from California?

A．It practices small government．

B．It is home to traditional industries．

C．It has a large Hispanic population．

D．It has an enviable welfare system．

64．What problem is Texas confronted with?

A．Its Hispanic population is mostly illiterate．

B．Its sunrise industries are shrinking rapidly．

C．Its education cannot meet the needs of the knowledge economy．

D．Its immigrants have a hard time adapting to its cowboy culture．

65．What do we learn about American politics from the passage?

A．Each state has its own way of governing．

B．Most states favor a bipartisan approach．

C．Parties collaborate in drawing public policies．

D．All states believe in government for the people．

中文热词通常反映社会变化和文化，有些在外国媒体上愈来愈流行。例如，土豪和大妈都是老词，但已获取了新的意义。土豪以前指欺压佃户和仆人的乡村地主，现在用于指花钱如流水或喜欢炫耀财富的人，也就是说，土豪有钱，但是没有品位。大妈是对中年妇女的称呼，但是现在特指不久前金价大跌时大量购买黄金的中国妇女。土豪和大妈可能会被收入新版的牛津(Oxford)英语词典，至今约有120中文加进了牛津英语词典，成了英语语言的一部

分。

Passage One

It is easy to miss amid the day-to-day headlines of global economic recession, but there is a less conspicuous kind of social upheaval(剧变)underway that is fast altering both the face of the planet and the way human beings live. That change is the rapid acceleration of urbanization. In 2008, for the first time in human history, more than half the world’s population was living in towns and cities. And as a recently published paper shows, the process of urbanization will only accelerate in the decades to come—with an enormous impact on biodiversity and potentially on climate change.

As Karen Seto, the led author of the paper, points out, the wave of urbanization isn’t just about the migration of people into urban environments, but about the environments themselves becoming bigger to accommodate all those people. The rapid expansion of urban areas will have a huge impact on biodiversity hotspots and on carbon emissions in those urban areas.

Humans are the ultimate invasive species—when the move into new territory, the often displace the wildlife that was already living there. And as land is cleared for those new cities—especially in the dense tropical forests—carbon will be released into the atmosphere as well. It’s true that as people in developing nations move from the countryside to the city, the shift may reduce the pressure on land, which could in turn be good for the environment. This is especially so in desperately poor countries, where residents in the countryside slash and burn forests each growing season to clear space for farming. But the real difference is that in developing nations, the move from rural areas to cities often leads to an accompanying increase in income — and that increase leads to an increase in the consumption of food and energy, which in turn causes a rise in carbon emissions. Getting enough to eat and enjoying the safety and comfort of living fully on the grid is certainly a good thing — but it does carry an environmental price. The urbanization wave can’t be stopped —and it shouldn’t be. But Seto’s paper does underscore the importance of managing tha t transition. If we do it the right way, we can reduce urbanization’s impact on the environment. “There’s an enormous opportunity here, and a lot of pressure and responsibility to think about how we urbanize,” says Seto. “One thing that’s clear is that we can’t build cities the way we have over the last couple of hundred years. The scale of this transition won’t allow that.” We’re headed towards an urban planet no matter what, but whether it becomes heaven or hell is up to us.

56. What issue does the author try to draw people’s attention to?

A. The shrinking biodiversity worldwide.

B. The rapid increase of world population.

C. The ongoing global economic recession.

D. The impact of accelerating urbanization.

57. In what sense are humans the ultimate invasive species?

A. They are much greedier than other species.

B. They are a unique species born to conquer.

C. They force other species out of their territories.

D. They have an urge to expand their living space.

58. In what way is urbanization in poor countries good for the environment?

A. More land will be preserved for wildlife.

B. The pressure on farmland will be lessened.

C. Carbon emissions will be considerably reduced.

D. Natural resources will be used more effectively.

59. What does the author say about living comfortably in the city?

A. It incurs a high environmental price.

B. It brings poverty and insecurity to an end.

C. It causes a big change in people’s lifestyle.

D. It narrows the gap between city and country.

60. What can be done to minimize the negative impact of urbanization according to Seto?

A. Slowing down the speed of transition.

B. Innovative use of advanced technology.

C. Appropriate management of the process.

D. Enhancing people’s sense of responsibility.

Passage Two

When Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched https://www.wendangku.net/doc/d33812460.html, in Feb. 2004, even he could not imagine the forces it would let loose. His intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website rapidly evolved into, ended up connecting the world.

To the children of this connected era, the world is one giant social network. They are not bound —as were previous generations of humans — by what they were taught. They are only limited by their curiosity and ambition. During my childhood, all knowledge was local. You learned everything you knew from your parents, teachers, preachers, and friends.

With the high-quality and timely information at their fingertips, today’s children are rising normally tame middle class is speaking up against social ills. Silicon Valley executives are being shamed into adding women to their boards. Political leaders are marshalling the energy of millions for elections and political causes. All of this is being done with social media technologies that Facebook and its competitors set free.

As does every advancing technology, social media has created many new problems. It is commonly addictive and creates risks for younger users. Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and elsewhere to seek and brainwash recruits. And it exposes us and our friends to disagreeable spying. We may leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but through social media we tell criminals exactly where we are, when we plan to return home, and howtoblackmail(敲诈)us.

Governments don’t need i nformers any more. Social media allows government agencies to spy on their own citizens. We record our thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on Facebook; we share our political views, social preferences, and plans. We post intimate photographs of ourselves. No spy agency or criminal organization could actively gather the type of data that we voluntarily post for them.

The marketers are also seeing big opportunities. Amazon is trying to predict what we will order. Google is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media profiles. We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to alleviate the dangers.

Regardless of what social media people use, one thing is certain: we are in a period of accelerating change. The next decade will be even more amazing and unpredictable than the last. Just as no one could predict what would happen with social media in the last decade, no one can accurately predict where this technology will take us. I am optimistic, however, that a connected humanity will find a way to uplift itself.

61. What was the purpose of Facebook when it was first created?

A. To help students connect with the outside world.

B. To bring university students into closer contact.

C. To help students learn to live in a connected era.

D. To combine the world into an integral whole.

62. What difference does social media make to learning?

A. Local knowledge and global knowledge will merge.

B. Student will become more curious and ambitious.

C. People are able to learn wherever they travel.

D. Sources of information are greatly expanded.

63. What is the author’s greatest concern with social media technology?

A. Individuals and organizations may use it for evil purposes.

B. Government will find it hard to protect classified information.

C. People may disclose their friends’ information unintentionally.

D. People’s attention will be easily distracted

from their work in hand.

64. What do businesses use social media for?

A. Creating a good corporate image.

B. Conducting large-scale market surveys.

C. Anticipating the needs of customers.

D. Minimizing possible risks and dangers.

65. What does the author think of social media as a whole?

A. It will enable human society to advance at a faster pace.

B. It will pose a grave threat to our traditional ways of life.

C. It is bound to bring about another information revolution.

D. It breaks down the final barriers in human communication.

Passage One

Question 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

Across the rich world, well-educated people increasingly work longer than the less-skilled. Some 65% of American men aged 62-74 with a professional degree are in the workforce, compared with 32% of men with only a high-school certificate. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-education well off and the unskilled poor. Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. The consequences, for individual and society, are profound.

The world is facing as astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity (长寿)translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuaded many observers that this shift will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.

But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the idle old misses a new trend, the growing gap between the skilled and the unskilled. Employment rates are falling among younger unskilled people, whereas older skilled folk are working longer. The divide is most extreme in America, where well-educated baby-boomers (二战后生育高峰期出生的美国人) are putting off retirement while many less-skilled younger people have dropped out of the workforce.

That even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding generation. Technological change may well reinforce that shift: the skills that complement computers, from management knowhow to creativity. Do not necessarily decline with age.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

56、what is happening in the workforce in rich countries?

A. younger people are replacing the elderly

B. well-educated people tend to work longer

C. unemployment rates are rising year after year

D. people with no college degree do not easily find work

57、what has helped deepen the divide between the well-off and poor?

A. Longer life expectancies

B. Profound changes in the workforce

C. rapid technological advance.

D. A growing number of well-graduated.

58、what do many observers predict in view of the experience of the 20th century?

A. Economic growth will slow down.

B. Government budgets will increase.

C. More people will try to pursue higher education

D. There will be more competition in the job market.

59、What is the result of policy changes in European countries?

A. Unskilled workers may choose to retire early.

B. more people have to receive in-service training.

C. Even wealthy people must work longer to live comfortably in retirement.

D. People may be able to enjoy generous defined-benefits from pension plans.

60、What is characteristic of work in the 21st century?

A. Computers will do more complicated work.

B. More will be taken by the educated young.

C. Most jobs to be done will be creative ones.

D. Skills are highly valued regardless of age.

Passage Two

Questions 61-65 are based on the following passage.

Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines.One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decline in the growth in y ields of some of the world’s major crops.A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.

The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat corn and soybeans(大豆). They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement in yields that tood place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.

There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous(人口多的) countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse.

Second, yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soyabeans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that “we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food secur ity in much of the world.”

The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued.

Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughted up for crops might be able to revert(回返)to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued

improvements in yields, which may not actually happen.

注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

61.What does the author try to draw attention to?

A)Food riots and hunger in the world. C)The decline of the grain yield growth.

B)News headlines in the leading media. D)The food supply in populous countries.

62.Why does the author mention India and China in particular?

A)Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets.

B)Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years.

C)Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns.

D)Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted.

63.What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts?

A)They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the 1980s.

B)They contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production.

C)They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world.

D)They focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains.

64.What does the Food and Agriculture Organisation say about world food production in the coming decades?

A)The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies.

B)The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution.

C)The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be reversed.

D)The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland.

65.How does the author view the argument of the Food and Agriculture Organisation?

A)It is built on the findings of a new study.

B)It is based on a doubtful assumption.

C)It is backed by strong evidence.

D)It is open to further discussion.

Translation (30 minutes)

在西方人心目中，和中国联系最为密切的基本食物是大米。长期以来，大米在中国人的饮食中占据很重要的地位，以至于有谚语说“巧妇难为无米之炊”。中国南方大多种植水稻，人们通常以大米为主食;而华北大部分地区因为过于寒冷或过于干燥，无法种植水稻，那里的主要作物是小麦。在中国，有些人用面粉做面包，但大多数人用面粉做馒头和面条。

大学英语六级阅读理解及答案

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