首页
在线考试
章节闯关
谁正在考试
学习应用
听写训练
背单词
情景会话
口语模仿
擂台赛
每日英语
资料下载
作文批改
注册
您的位置：
在线考试首页
>
章节闯关
>
英语六级
>
阅读理解
>
历年真题
>
第3关
00:00:00
已做
0
项(正确
0
项，错误做
0
项)/共10项，剩余
10
项未作答
结束作答
答案解析
上一题
下一题
返回
阅读理解
收藏
纠错
The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was just as gloomy as anticipated.Unemployment in January jumped to a l6-year high of 7.6 percent，as 598,000 jobs were slashed from US payrolls in the worst single-month decline since December, 1974. With 1.8 million jobs lost in the last three months, there is urgent desire to boost the economy as quickly as possible.But Washington would do well to take a deep breath before reacting to the grim numbers.
Collectively，we rely on the unemployment figures and other statistics to frame our sense of reality.They are a vital part of an array of data that we use to assess if we're doing well or doing badly，and that in turn shapes government policies and corporate budgets and personal spending decisions.The problem is that the statistics aren't an objective measure of reality; they are simply a best approximation. Directionally, they capture the trends, but the idea that we know precisely how many are unemployed is a myth. That makes finding a solution all the more difficult.
First, there is the way the data is assembled.The official unemployment rate is the product of a telephone survey of about 60,000 homes.There is another survey, sometimes referred to as the "payroll survey," that assesses 400,000 businesses based on their reported payrolls.Both surveys have problems.The payroll survey can easily double-count someone: if you are one person with two jobs，you show up as two workers.The payroll survey also doesn't capture the number of self-employed，and so says little about how many people are generating an independent income.
The household survey has a larger problem.When asked straightforwardly，people tend to lie or shade the truth when the subject is sex，money or employment.If you get a call and are asked if you’re employed, and you say yes，you're employed.If you say no，however，it may surprise you to learn that.You are only unemployed if you've been actively looking for work in the past four weeks; otherwise，you are "marginally attached to the labor force" and not actually unemployed.
The urge to quantify is embedded in our society.But the idea that statisticians can then capture an objective reality isn't just impossible.It also leads to serious misjudgments.Democrats and Republicans can and will take sides on a number of issues，but a more crucial concern is that both are basing major policy decisions on guesstimates rather than looking at the vast wealth of raw data with a critical eye and an open mind.
1
What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A.
The U.S. economic situation is going from bad to worse.
B.
Washington is taking drastic measures to provide more jobs.
C.
The U.S. government is slashing more jobs from its payrolls.
D.
The recent economic crisis has taken the US by surprise.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
推理判断题。文章开篇首句指出，来自劳工统计局的报告正如预料的那样糟糕：一月份的失业率达到了l6年以来的最高水平。这说明美国经济状况恶化，故答案为A。
2
What does the author think of the unemployment figures and other statistics?
A.
They form a solid basis for policy making.
B.
They represent the current situation.
C.
They signal future economic trend.
D.
They do not fully reflect the reality.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
细节辨认题。文章第二段主要指出作者对失业率的数字和其他数据的看法。文中提到，我们依靠失业率的数字和其他数据来作出评价，但问题是这些数据并没有客观反映现实，它们只是最接近现实而已，所以选D。
3
One problem with the payroll survey is that___.
A.
it does not include all the businesses
B.
it fails to count in the self-employed
C.
it magnifies the number of the jobless
D.
it does not treat all companies equally
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
细节辨认题。由题干中的problem和payroll survey定位到第三段第四至六句，定位句指出，电话调查和工资单调查都存在问题：工资单调查的问题在于很容易把某人“算重”及无法获知个体经营者的数量，故B为答案。
4
The household survey can be faulty in that___.
A.
people tend to lie when talking on the phone
B.
not everybody is willing or ready to respond
C.
some people won't provide truthful information
D.
the definition of unemployment is too broad
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
C
系统解析：
细节辨认题。由题干中的household survey定位到第四段，最终定位到第二句，定位句指出，当人们被直接询问的时侯，如果话题涉及性、金钱和工作，人们通常会撒谎或者掩盖事实，即人们不会提供真实的信息，故C为答案。
5
At the end of the passage，the author suggests that___.
A.
statisticians improve their data assembling methods
B.
decision makers view the statistics with a critical eye
C.
politicians listen more before making policy decisions
D.
Democrats and Republicans cooperate on crucial issues
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
推理判断题。文章末句指出，一个更关键的问题在于两党的重大决策都是基于大致估计，而并非用批判的眼光和开放性思维来审阅大量的原始数据资料。言下之意是指决策者应该用批判的眼光和开放性思维看待失业率数字，故B为答案。
At some point in 2008，someone，probably in either Asia or Africa, made the decision to move from the countryside to the city.This nameless person pushed the human race over a historic threshold, for it was in that year that mankind became，for the first time in its history，a predominantly urban species.
It is a trend that shows no sign of slowing.Demographers (人口统计学家) reckon that three-quarters of humanity could be city-dwelling by 2050，with most of the increase coming in the fast-growing towns of Asia and Africa.Migrants to cities are attracted by plentiful jobs，access to hospitals and education，and the ability to escape the boredom of a farmer's agricultural life.Those factors are more than enough to make up for the squalor(肮脏)，disease and spectacular poverty that those same migrants must often at first endure when they become urban dwellers.
It is the city that inspires the latest book from Peter Smith.His main thesis is that the buzz of urban life, and the opportunities it offers for co-operation and collaboration, is what attracts people to the city， which in turn makes cities into the engines of art，commerce，science and progress. This is hardly revolutionary, but it is presented in a charming format. Mr. Smith has written a breezy guidebook，with a series of short chapters dedicated to specific aspects of urbanity—parks，say，or the various schemes that have been put forward over the years for building the perfect city.The result is a sort of high-quality, unusually rigorous coffee-table book，designed to be dipped into rather than read from beginning to end.
In the chapter on skyscrapers，for example，Mr. Smith touches on construction methods, the revolutionary invention of the automatic lift，the practicalities of living in the sky and the likelihood that, as cities become more crowded，apartment living will become the norm. But there is also time for brief diversions onto bizarre ground，such as a discussion of the skyscraper index (which holds that a boom in skyscraper construction is a foolproof sign of an imminent recession).
One obvious criticism is that the price of breadth is depth; many of Mr. Smith's essays raise as many questions as they answer.Although that can indeed be frustrating，this is probably the only way to treat so grand a topic.The city is the building block of civilisation and of almost everything people do; a guidebook to the city is really, therefore，a guidebook to how a large and ever—growing chunk of humanity chooses to live.Mr. Smith's book serves as an excellent introduction to a vast subject，and will suggest plenty of further lines of inquiry.
6
In what way is the year 2008 historic?
A.
For the first time in history, urban people outnumbered rural people.
B.
An influential figure decided to move from the countryside to the city.
C.
It is in this year that urbanisation made a start in Asia and Africa.
D.
The population increase in cities reached a new peak in Asia and Africa.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
语义理解题。由题干中的the year 2008定位到首段，该定位段指出，2008年人类来到一个历史性的起点，因为在那一年人类在历史上第一次成为城市人口占主导的种群，即城市人口远超农村人口。故A为答案。
7
What does the author say about urbanisation?
A.
Its impact is not easy to predict.
B.
Its process will not slow down.
C.
It is a milestone in human progress.
D.
It aggravates the squalor of cities.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
细节辨认题。文章第一段提出城市化的话题。第二段第一句指出，这个趋势没有减缓的迹象，B中will not slow down是对原文中shows no sign of slowing的同义转换，故B为答案。
8
How does the author comment on Peter Smith's new book?
A.
It is but an ordinary coffee-table book.
B.
It is flavoured with humourous stories.
C.
It serves as a guide to arts and commerce.
D.
It is written in a lively and interesting style.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
推理判断题。文章第三段第三、四句提到，史密斯先生的书以一种迷人的模式呈现出来；又提到这是一本让人如沐春风的指导书，它主要包含公园及多年来提出的让城市变得完美的各种各样的项目。换言之，它生动有趣，故D为本题的答案。
9
What does the author say in the chapter on skyscrapers?
A.
The automatic lift is indispensable in skyscrapers.
B.
People enjoy living in skyscrapers with a view.
C.
Skyscrapers are a sure sign of a city's prosperity.
D.
Recession closely follows a skyscraper boom.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
细节辨认题。由题干中的the chapter on skyscrapers定位到第四段。由定位段可知，史密斯先生在摩天大楼那一章，阐述了建筑方法、自动电梯等问题，同时谈及一些稀奇的理论，比如关于摩天大楼指数的结论，即建筑摩天大楼的热潮很明显地预示着即将发生的衰退，故D为答案。
10
What may be one criticism of Mr. Smith's book?
A.
It does not really touch on anything serious.
B.
It is too long for people to read from cover to cover.
C.
It does not deal with any aspect of city life in depth.
D.
It fails to provide sound advice to city dwellers.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
C
系统解析：
末段首句提到，对史密斯先生的书的一个显著的批评是：文章涉及内容过于广泛，而深度不够，未能对城市生活进行深入探讨，故C为答案。
我的笔记
最大支持140字
收藏
0
好题
0
烂题
0
提交纠错
请输入您发现的错误详情
用户：
