英语六级长篇阅读模拟练习附答案解析
D) Some call the phenomenon that Zalasky’s fighting “grade inflation”—implying the boost isundeserved. Others say students are truly earning their better marks. Regardless, it’s a trendthat’s been building for years and may only be accelerating: many students are getting very goodgrades. So many, in fact, it is getting harder and harder for colleges to use grades as a measuringstick for applicants.
E) Extra credit for AP courses, parental lobbying and genuine hard work by the mostcompetitive students have combined to shatter any semblance of a Bell curve, one in which A，sare reserved only for the very best. For example, of the 47,317 applications the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles, received for this fall’s freshman class, nearly 23,000 had GPAs of 4.0 orabove.
F) That’s also making it harder for the most selective colleges—who often call grades the singlemost important factor in admissions—to join in a growing movement to lessen the influence ofstandardized tests.
G) “We，re seeing 30, 40 valedictorians at a high school because they don，t want to createthese distinctions between students,” said Jess Lord, dean of admission and financial aid atHaverford College in Pennsylvania. “ If we don’t have enough information, there’s a chance we’llbecome more heavily reliant on test scores, and that’s a real negative to me.”
H) Standardized tests have endured a heap of bad publicity lately, with the SAT raising angerabout its expanded length and recent scoring problems. A number of schools have stopped requiringtest scores, to much fanfare.
I) But lost in the developments is the fact that none of the most selective colleges havedropped the tests. In fact, a national survey shows overall reliance on test scores is higher inadmissions than it was a decade ago. “It’s the only thing we have to evaluate students that willhelp us tell how they compare to each other,” said Lee Stetson, dean of admissions at theUniversity of Pennsylvania.
J) Grade inflation is hard to measure, and experts，caution numbers are often misleadingbecause standards and scales vary so widely. Different practices of “weighting” GPAs for AP workalso play havoc. Still, the trend seems to be showing itself in a variety of ways.
K) The average high school GPA increased from 2.68 to 2.94 between 1990 and 2000,according to a federal study. Almost 23 percent of college freshmen in 2005 reported their averagegrade in high school was an A or better, according to a national survey by UCLA’s Higher EducationResearch Institute. In 1975, the percentage was about half that.
L) GPAs reported by students on surveys when they take the SAT and ACT exams have alsorisen—and faster than their scores on those tests. That suggests their classroom grades aren’t risingjust because students are getting smarter. Not surprisingly, the test-owners say grade inflationshows why testing should be kept: it gives all students an equal chance to shine.
M) The problems associated with grade inflation aren’t limited to elite college applicants. Morethan 70 percent of schools and districts analyzed by an education audit company calledSchoolMatch had average GPAs significantly higher than they should have been based on theirstandardized test scores—including the school systems in Chicago, Illinois, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,Denver, Colorado, San Bernardino, California, and Columbus, Ohio. That raises concerns aboutstudents graduating from those schools unprepared for college. “They get mixed in with studentsfrom more rigorous schools and they just get blown away,” said SchoolMatch CEO WilliamBainbridge.
N) In Georgia, high school grades rose after the state began awarding HOPE scholarships tostudents with a 3.0 high school GPA. But the scholarship requires students to keep a 3.0 GPA incollege, too, and more than half who received the HOPE in the fall of 1998 and entered theUniversity of Georgia system lost eligibility before earning 30 credits. Next year, Georgia is taking arange of steps to tighten eligibility, including calculating GPA itself rather than relying on schools, andno longer giving extra GPA weight to vaguely labeled “honors” classes.
O) Among those who work with students gunning for the more selective colleges, opinionsdiffer as to why there seem to be so many straight-A students. “I think there are more pressuresnow than there used to be, because 20 or 30 years ago kids with a B plus average got into some ofthe best colleges in the country,” said William Shain, dean of admissions and financial aid at BowdoinCollege in Maine. “It didn，t matter if you had a 3.9 instead of a 3.95. I don，t know if it mattersnow either, but people are more likely to think it does.”
P) Lord, the Haverford dean, sees grade inflation as the outcome of an irrational fear amongstudents to show any slip up—in grades or discipline. In fact, colleges like his are often moreinterested in students who have overcome failure and challenge than robots who have never beenanything less than perfect. “There，s a protection and encouragement of self-esteem that I don’tagree with, but I think it’s a lot of what’s going on here,” he said. “And the college admissionsprocess feeds into that.”
Q) Back in Minnesota, Edina may join a growing number of schools that no longer officially rankstudents—a move that could help students like Zalasky, who says he was told by Wisconsin his classrank makes him a longshot. “They feel they’re being left behind or not getting into the schools thatthey’re applying to because of a particular class rank,” says Edina counselor Bill Hicks. “And thereis some validity with respect to some certain schools that use certain formulas.”
R) But the colleges most popular with Edina students already know how strong the school is:students’ median verbal and math SAT scores are 1170 out of 1600. Hicks isn’t willing to blamethe concentration grades at the top on spineless teachers, or on grade-grubbing by parents andstudents. Expectations are high, and grades are based on student mastery of the material, not acurve. Wherever teachers place the bar for an A, the students clear it.
S) “Everyone here is like, ‘ if I can get a 98 why would I get a 93? said Lavanya Srinivasan, whowas ranked third in her Edina class last year. Far from being pushovers, she says, Edina teachers aretougher than those in a course she took at Harvard last summer. Zalasky agrees the students workhard for their high grades. “The mentality of this school is, if you’re not getting straight A，s you’renot doing well,” he said. “There’s just so much pressure on us day in and day out to get straight A’sthat everybody does.” Hicks compares the atmosphere at Edina to the World Series expectationsthat always surround the superstar lineup of the New York Yankees. “If they don’t win it,” he said, “then it’s failure.”
1. Nearly half of the applications that the University of California received this autumn had GPAsof 4.0 or above.
2. It，s also harder for the most selective colleges to lessen the effect of standardized tests.
3. More than 30 years ago, about 11.5 percent of college freshmen reported their averagegrade in high school was an A or better.
4. Because of the negative effects of standardized tests recently, a lot of universities have nolonger required test scores.
5. Some think Zalasky’s improvement unworthy, while others think his high grades win thepraise for him.
6. Because many of his classmates are so outstanding, Zalasky is nervous about his collegeapplication.
7. Some colleges would like to admit students who have conquered failure and challenge ratherthan those who have never been anything less than perfect.
8. In the next year, Georgia is taking a series of measures to tighten qualification, includingcalculating GPA itself and avoiding paying too much attention to vaguely labeled “honors” classes.
9. In Zalasky，s opinion, students are put under great pressure to work hard to get straightA"s, or they will be regarded as losers.
10. More and more schools no longer officially rank students by grade, which can help studentslike Zalasky.
内容概要
文章指出，目前美国大学在录取新生时，仍然比较看重分数。在一些学校里由 于奖学金政策的执行，学生的分数迅速攀升。考试的拥护者指出，考试有必要存在， 因为它给学生提供了展示自我的平台，而这也无疑会给学生带来巨大的压力。
答案解析
1. E 本题的出题点在E段的最后一句话，属于数字题。从原文可以看出，申请 者的人数为47,317，而获得4.0或者4.0以上分数者的人数接近23,000，由此 可知比例接近50%。
2. F 本题是F段的总结。原文提到，对学生的选拔最为严格的学校也越来越难 以参与到降低标准考试的影响的活动中来，也就是说，这些学校很难降低 标准考试的影响。
3. K 本题的出题点在K段的最后两句话，属于数字题。More than 30 years ago可推测应该是上世纪七八十年代，对应原文的1975年;从原文可以看出，在 大一新生中，2005年在高中取得A或者更好成绩的人数差不多是总人数的 !%%，而在1975年时此比例减半，大约为11.5%。
4. H 本题的出题点在H段。原文提到最近标准考试有一些负面影响，许多学校已经停止要求用考试分数来评判学生。题干的negative effects转述了原文 的bad publicity。
5. D 本题是对D段前两句话的同义转述。原文提到：有些人把Zalasky的努力这种现象称为“分数膨胀”，暗示他的这种进步不值得接受，而其他人认为那 些学生真正赢得了好的评价，题干中的win the praise for him同义转述了原 文中的earning their better marks。
6. B 本题的出题点在B段的第一句和第五句。原文提到even Zalasky is nervous about his prospects。接着在第五句中提到了原因：It’s that so many of his classmates are so good.由此可知题目是这两句的总结。
7. P 本题的出题点在P段的第二句话。题目中的Some colleges替换原文中的colleges like his;题目中的conquered和原文中的overcome属于同义词转换; 原文中的are more interested in换成了另一种说法would like to admit;原文中 的robots是一种比喻的说法，比喻那些完美得像机器人一样的学生。
8. N 本题的出题点在N段的最后一句话。题目中的In the next year替换原文中的Next year;题目中的a series of替换原文中的a range of;题目中的avoiding paying too much attention to替换原文中的no longer giving…weight to。
9. S 本题考查人物的观点。S段后半部分指出，Zalasky表示，学校的想法是，如果你没有得到全A的成绩，你就没有学得很好，学生们为了得到A都有很 大的压力。文章最后提到，Hicks将Zalasky所在的学校和纽约洋基队的情 况作了比较，“如果他们不能取胜，那么他们就失败了”，即对于学生来说 不能得到A就等于失败。
10. Q本题出题点在Q段的第一句话。题目表达意思与原句表述一致，题目用非限定性定语从句解释说明原文中破折号之后的内容;题目中的more and more schools和原文中的a growing number of schools属于同义转述。
以上长篇阅读的模拟题解析十分详细，希望考生练习完以后认真查看答案，弥补自己的不足。
How Ozone Pollution Works
A) The weather report on the radio or TV tells you that it is going to be sunny and hot and thatan orange ozone alert has been issued. What is ozone? What does an orange alert mean? Whyshould you be concerned about it? In this article, we will examine what ozone is, how it is produced,what health hazards it poses and what you can do to reduce ozone pollution.
B) Ozone is a molecule of three oxygen atoms bound together (O3). It is unstable and highlyreactive. Ozone is used as a bleach, a deodorizing agent, and a sterilization agent for air anddrinking water. At low concentrations, it is toxic. Ozone is found naturally in small concentrations inthe stratosphere, a layer of Earth’s upper atmosphere. In this upper atmosphere, ozone is madewhen ultraviolet light from the sun splits an oxygen molecule (O2), forming two single oxygenatoms. If a freed atom collides with an oxygen molecule, it becomes ozone. Stratospheric ozonehas been called “good” ozone because it protects the Earth’s surface from dangerous ultravioletlight.
C) Ozone can also be found in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere.Tropospheric ozone (often termed “ bad ” ozone) is man - made, a result of air pollution frominternal combustion engines and power plants. Automobile exhaust and industrial emissionsrelease a family of nitrogen oxide gases (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), by-products of burning gasoline and coal. NOx and VOC combine chemically with oxygen to formozone during sunny, high- temperature conditions of late spring, summer and early fall. High levelsof ozone are usually formed in the heat of the afternoon and early evening, dissipating during thecooler nights.
D) Although ozone pollution is formed mainly in urban and suburban areas, it ends up in ruralareas as well, carried by prevailing winds or resulting from cars and trucks that travel into ruralareas. Significant levels of ozone pollution can be detected in rural areas as far as 250 milesdownwind from urban industrial zones.
E) You can make ozone test strips to detect and monitor ozone levels in your own backyard oraround your school. You will need corn starch, filter paper (coffee filters work well) and potassiumiodide (can be ordered from a science education supplier such as Carolina Biological Supply orFisher Scientific). Basically, you make a paste from water, corn starch and potassium-iodide, andyou paint this paste on strips of filter paper. You then expose the strips to the air for eight hours.Ozone in the air will react with the potassium iodide to change the color of the strip. You will alsoneed to know the relative humidity, which you can get from a newspaper, weather broadcast orhome weather station.
F) When you inhale ozone, it travels throughout your respiratory tract. Because ozone is verycorrosive, it damages the bronchioles and alveoli in your lungs, air sacs that are important for gasexchange. Repeated exposure to ozone can inflame lung tissues and cause respiratory infections.
G) Ozone exposure can aggravate existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, reduceyour lung function and capacity for exercise and cause chest pains and coughing. Young children,adults who are active outdoors and people with respiratory diseases are most susceptible to thehigh levels of ozone encountered during the summer. In addition to effects on humans, thecorrosive nature of ozone can damage plants and trees. High levels of ozone can destroyagricultural crops and forest vegetation.
H) To protect yourself from ozone exposure, you should be aware of the Air Quality Index(AQI) in your area every day—you can usually find it in the newspaper or on a morning weatherforecast on TV or radio. You should also be familiar with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) guide for ozone-alert values.
I) What do the numbers in the AQI mean? The AQI measures concentrations of five airpollutants: ozone, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. The EPAhas chosen these pollutants as criteria pollutants, but these are not all of the pollutants in the air.These concentrations are compared to a standard set out in federal law. An index value of 100means that all of the criteria pollutants are at the maximum level that is considered safe for themajority of the population. To reduce your exposure to ozone, you should avoid exercisingduring afternoon and early evening hours in the summer.
J) There are several ways you can help to decrease ozone pollution. Limit using yourautomobile during afternoon and early evening hours in the late spring, summer and early fall. Donot use gasoline-powered lawn equipment during these times. Do not fuel your car during thesetimes. Do not light fires or outdoor grills during these times. Keep the engine of your car or boattuned. Make sure that your tires are properly inflated. Use environmentally safe paints, cleaning andoffice products (some of these chemicals are sources of VOC).
K) Besides personal attempts to reduce ozone pollution, the EPA has initiated more stringentair-quality standards (such as the Clean Air Act and its modifications) to reduce air pollution.Compliance with these standards by industries, manufacturers and state and local governments hassignificantly reduced the levels of many common air pollutants.
L) With continued conservation and reduction practices, adherence to ozone-pollutionwarnings, research and government regulation, ozone-pollution levels should
continue to fall. Perhaps future generations will not be threatened by this environmentalpollutant.
M) The thing that determines whether ozone is good or bad is its location. Ozone is‘‘good，，when it is in the stratosphere. The stratosphere is a layer of the atmosphere startingat the level of about 6 miles (about 10 kilometers) above sea level. The stratosphere naturallycontains about six parts per million of ozone, and this ozone is very beneficial because it absorbsUV radiation and prevents it from reaching us.
N) Ozone is “bad” when it is at ground level. Ozone is a very reactive gas that is hard on lungtissue. It also damages plants and buildings. Any ozone at ground level is a problem. Unfortunately,chemicals in car exhaust and chemicals produced by some industries react with light to producelots of ozone at ground level. In cities, the ozone level can rise to a point where it becomeshazardous to our health. That’s when you hear about an ozone warning on the news.
1. When ultraviolet rays from the sun separate an oxygen molecule into two single oxygenatoms in the stratosphere, the combination of a single oxygen atom and an oxygen moleculeforms ozone.
2. You can make ozone test strips by yourself to find out about ozone levels in your own locale.
3. Long-time exposure to ozone is badly harmful to our respiratory system.
4. Chemicals in industrial waste gas and vehicle exhaust react with light to form lots of ozoneat ground level.
5. Internal combustion engines and power plants cause the artificial tropospheric ozone, alsoknown as “bad” ozone.
6. Ozone is very helpful because it absorbs UV radiation and separates us from it.
7. Using gasoline-powered lawn equipment in the late spring, summer and early fall mayincrease ozone pollution.
8. Ozone pollution occurs in urban and suburban areas as well as in rural areas.
9. In order to decrease ozone pollution, the EPA has set up more rigorous air-qualitystandards.
10. Pay close attention to the Air Quality Index in your area every day can keep you away fromozone exposure.
内容概要
文章主要介绍了什么是臭氧，臭氧污染的形成、危害，以及臭氧有利的一 面。文章还具体介绍了如何自己手工制作检测仪;如何避免暴露在臭氧之下;如 何预防和减少臭氧污染等。
答案解析
1. B 本题答案的信息来自B段的倒数第二、三句话。原文中提到太阳紫外线将 氧分子分成了两个单独的氧原子，氧原子与氧分子再结合就生成了臭氧。 题干正好表达了这个意思。ultraviolet rays即是原文中的ultravioletlight。
2. E 本题答案的信息来自E段第一句话。题目中的find out about意为“弄清有关 的情况”，和原文中的detect and monitor含义相对应;题目中的inyour own locale和原文中的in your own backyard相对应。
3. F 本题答案的信息来自F段。F段提到人吸入臭氧后，它可以贯穿你的呼吸系统。接着提到它可能损害细支气管、肺部等呼吸系统的部位，故可知长期 暴露在臭氧下有损呼吸系统。
4. N 本题答案的信息来自N段第五句话，题干是对本句的同义转述。
5. C 本题答案的信息来自C段的第二句话。原句中先说“果”后说“因”，题目将
“因”提前，然后说“果”;原文中的man-made与题干中的artificial相对应; 原文中的termed与题干中的known as相对应。
6. M 本题答案的信息来自M段第二句和最后一句话。原文中第二句话首先提到
Ozone is “good” when it is in the stratosphere.，在最后一句中提到臭氧为什 么有益;原文中的beneficial与题干中的helpfUl相对应;题目中的separates from对应原文中的prevents from。
7. J 本题答案的信息来自J段第一、二、三句话。原文中J段的首句提到有几种可以降低臭氧污染的方法，接下来提到的一种方法是Do not use gasoline- powered lawn equipment during these times.由此推测Using gasoline-powered lawn equipment会导致臭氧污染增加;而由第二句话可推测出原文中的 duringthese times指的是in the late spring, summer and early fall。
8. D 本题答案的信息来自D段第一句话。原文提到臭氧污染主要在城市和城市郊区出现，但因为风和汽车、卡车运输的作用，农村也会发生臭氧污染， 题干是对此的归纳。
9. K 本题答案的信息来自K段第一句话。原文中的initiated和题目中的set up属于同义转换;原文中的stringent替换为了rigorous;原文中的reduce ozone pollution替换为了decrease ozone pollution。
10. H本题答案的信息来自H段第一句话。题目中的keep you away from对应原文的protect yourselffrom;题目中的Pay close attention to 对应原文的should be aware of。