四六级

　　真题在英语六级复习过程中的作用不可忽视，今天文都网校小编与大家分享的是英语六级卷二仔细阅读题的参考答案与题目解析，希望对大家备考12月份的考试有帮助。

　　Facing water shortages and escalating fertilizer costs, fanners in developing countries are usingraw sewage (下水道污水)to irrigate and fertilize nearly 49 million acres of cropland, accordingto a new report—and it may not be a bad thing.

　　While the practice carries serious health risks for many, those dangers are outweighed by thesocial and economic gains for poor urban farmers and consumers who need affordable food.

　　"There is a large potential for wastewater agriculture to both help and hurt great numbers ofurban consumers," said Liqa Raschid-Sally, who led the study.

　　The report focused on poor urban areas, where farms in or near cities supply relativelyinexpensive food. Most of these operations draw irrigation water from local rivers or lakes.Unlike developed cities, however, these areas lack advanced water-treatment facilities, andrivers effectively become sewers (下水道).

　　When this water is used for agricultural irrigation, farmers risk absorbing disease-causingbacteria, as do consumers who eat the produce raw and unwashed. Nearly 2.2 million peopledie each year because of diarrhea-related (与腹泻相关的) diseases, according to WHO statistics.More than 80% of those cases can be attributed to contact with contaminated water and alack of proper sanitation. But Pay Drechsel, an environmental scientist, argues that the socialand economic benefits of using untreated human waste to grow food outweigh the healthrisks.

　　Those dangers can be addressed with farmer and consumer education, he said, while the freewater and nutrients from human waste can help urban farmers in developing countries toescape poverty.

　　Agriculture is a water-intensive business, accounting for nearly 70% of global fresh waterconsumption.

　　In poor, dry regions, untreated wastewater is the only viable irrigation source to keep fannersin business. In some cases, water is so scarce that farmers break open sewage pipestransporting waste to local rivers.

　　Irrigation is the primary agricultural use of human waste in the developing world. Butfrequently untreated human waste harvested from lavatories is delivered to farms and spreadas fertilizer.

　　In most cases, the human waste is used on grain crops, which are eventually cooked,minimizing the risk of transmitting water-borne diseases. With fertilizer prices jumping nearly50% per metric ton over the last year in some places, human waste is an attractive, and oftennecessary, alternative.

　　In cases where sewage mud is used, expensive chemical fertilizer use can be avoided. The mudcontains the same critical nutrients.

　　"Overly strict standards often fail," James Bartram, a WHO water-health expert, said. "We needto accept that fact across much of the planet, so waste with little or no treatment will be usedin agriculture for good reason."

　　46. What does the author say about the use of raw sewage for farming?

　　A. Its risks cannot be overestimated.

　　B. It should be forbidden altogether.

　　C. Its benefits outweigh the hazards involved.

　　D. It is polluting millions of acres of cropland.

　　47. What is the main problem caused by the use of wastewater for irrigation?

　　A. Rivers and lakes nearby will gradually become contaminated.

　　B. It will drive producers of chemical fertilizers out of business.

　　C. Farmers and consumers may be affected by harmful bacteria.

　　D. It will make the farm produce less competitive on the market.

　　48. What is environmental scientist Pay Drechsel's attitude towards the use of untreatedhuman waste in agriculture?

　　A. Favorable.

　　B. Skeptical.

　　C. Indifferent.

　　D. Responsible.

　　49. What does Pay Drechsel think of the risks involved in using untreated human waste forfarming?

　　A. They have been somewhat exaggerated.

　　B. They can be dealt with through education.

　　C. They will be minimized with new technology.

　　D. They can be addressed by improved sanitation.

　　50. What do we learn about James Bartram's position on the use of human waste for farming?

　　A. He echoes Pay Drechsel's opinion on the issue.

　　B. He challenges Liqa Raschid-Sally's conclusion.

　　C. He thinks it the only way out of the current food crisis.

　　D. He deems it indispensable for combating global poverty.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

　　These days, nobody needs to cook. Families graze on high-cholesterol take-aways andmicrowaved ready-meals. Cooking is an occasional hobby and a vehicle for celebrity chefs.Which makes it odd that the kitchen has become the heart of the modem house: what thegreat hall was to the medieval castle, the kitchen is to the 21st-century home.

　　The money spent on kitchens has risen with their status. In America the kitchen market is nowworth $170 billion, five times the country's film industry. In the year to August 2007, IKEA, aSwedish furniture chain, sold over one million kitchens worldwide. The average budget for a"major" kitchen overhaul in 2006, calculates Remodeling magazine, was a staggering $54,000;even a "minor" improvement cost on average $18,000.

　　Exclusivity, more familiar in the world of high fashion, has reached the kitchen: Robinson& Cornish, a British manufacturer of custom-made kitchens, offers a Georgian-style onewhich would cost ￡145,000-155,000—excluding building, plumbing and electrical work. Its bigselling point is that nobody else will have it: "You won't see this kitchen anywhere else in theworld."

　　The elevation of the room that once belonged only to the servants to that of design showcasefor the modem family tells the story of a century of social change. Right into the early 20thcentury, kitchens were smoky, noisy places, generally located underground, or to the back ofthe house, and as far from living space as possible. That was as it should be: kitchens were forservants, and the aspiring middle classes wanted nothing to do with them.

　　But as the working classes prospered and the servant shortage set in, housekeeping became amatter of interest to the educated classes. One of the pioneers of a radical new way of thinkingabout the kitchen was Catharine Esther Beecher, sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe. In AmericanWoman's Home, published in 1869, the Beecher sisters recommended a scientific approach tohousehold management, designed to enhance the efficiency of a woman's work and promoteorder.

　　Many contemporary ideas about kitchen design can be traced back to another American,Christine Frederick, who set about enhancing the efficiency of the housewife. Her 1919 work,Household Engineering: Scientific Management in the Home, was based on detailedobservation of a housewife's daily routine. She borrowed the principle of efficiency on thefactory floor and applied it to domestic tasks on the kitchen floor.

　　Frederick's central idea, that stove, sink and kitchen table must be placed in such a relationthat useless steps are avoided entirely", inspired the first fully fitted kitchen, designed in the1920s by Margarete Schütter-Lihotsky. It was a modernist triumph, and many elementsremain central features of today's kitchen.

　　51. What does the author say about the kitchen of today?

　　A. It is where housewives display their cooking skills.

　　B. It is where the family entertains important guests.

　　C. It has become something odd in a modem house.

　　D. It is regarded as the center of a modem home.

　　52. Why does the Georgian-style kitchen sell at a very high price?

　　A. It is believed to have tremendous artistic value.

　　B. No duplicate is to be found in any other place.

　　C. It is manufactured by a famous British company.

　　D. No other manufacturer can produce anything like it.

　　53. What does the change in the status of the kitchen reflect?

　　A. Improved living conditions.

　　B. Women's elevated status.

　　C. Technological progress.

　　D. Social change.

　　54. What was the Beecher sisters' idea of a kitchen?

　　A. A place where women could work more efficiently.

　　B. A place where high technology could be applied.

　　C. A place of interest to the educated people.

　　D. A place to experiment with new ideas.

　　55. What do we learn about today's kitchen?

　　A. It represents the rapid technological advance in people's daily life.

　　B. Many of its central features are no different from those of the 1920s.

　　C. It has been transformed beyond recognition.

　　D. Many of its functions have changed greatly.

　　　　参考答案与解析：

　　46 [C]【定位】根据题目关键词 the use of raw sewage for farming 可知是问有关污水在农业上使用的信息，考查的是考生对整体篇章的理解能力，定位到全文。

　　【解析】C 项“其利大于弊”是对第 2 段“那些健康危险远不及社会效益和经济贡献重要”的同义转换，符合文意。

　　【干扰项排除】A 项“其风险不能被高估”和 B 项“应完全禁止”在原文中无法找到依据;D 项“正使许多农田受到污染”，以原词 cropland 作干扰，但原文说的是用未经处理的污水对大约 4900 万英亩农田进行灌溉和施肥，文中只是说这种做法有健康风险，不能直接得出结论“这些农田被这些污水污染了”，因此 D 项属过度推测。

　　47 [C]【定位】根据题目关键词 the use of wastewater for irrigation 可定位至第 5 段。

　　【解析】本题询问污水灌溉导致的主要问题,C 项“农民和消费者都可能受到有害细菌的影响”是对第 5 段首句的概括，符合文意。

　　【干扰项排除】A 项“附近的河流和湖泊都将逐渐受到污染”属过度推断，原文第 4 段第 2 句仅仅提到农田的灌溉水主要源于当地的河流或湖泊;原文虽有提及人们用人类排泄物代替化学肥料，但无法证明 B 项“利用污水灌溉会使化肥产商倒闭”;D 项“利用污水灌溉会减少农产品在市场上的竞争力”属于无中生有。

　　48[A]【定位】根据题干中的人名 Pay Drechsel 定位至第 5 段末句。

　　【解析】本题考查的是 Pay Drechsel 对将未经处理的人类排泄物用于农业的态度，原文第 5 段末句提到他认为使用未经处理的人类排泄物灌溉农田所带来的社会和经济效益比其带来的健康危害重要。说明他支持这一做法，A 项“赞同的”符合题意。

　　【干扰项排除】询问观点态度的题目宜采用直选法，考生需准确感知人物观点。B 项“怀疑的”、C 项“冷漠的”以及 D 项“负责的”在文中皆无依据证明。

　　49 [B]【定位】根据题干中的人名 Pay Drechsel 及 the risks 定位至第 6 段。

　　【解析】本题考查的是 Pay Drechsel 对未经处理的人类排泄物用于农业带来的风险的看法，第六段开头提到这个问题可以通过教育农民和消费者来解决,B 项的 dealt with 是原句 addressed 的同义转述，B 项“可通过教育规避其风险”是正确答案。

　　【干扰项排除】A 项“其风险有些被夸大”、C 项“利用新科技可使其风险最小化”和 D 项“其风险可通过改进卫生条件来规避”都不是 Pay Drechsel 对风险的看法。

　　50 [A]【定位】根据题干中的人名 James Bartram 定位至最后一段的最后一句。

　　【解析】本题考查的是 James Bartram 对人类排泄物用于农业的观点，原文最后他说稍加处理或没有经过处理的排泄物用于农业是有充分理由的，可见他认为将人类排泄物用于农业有其存在的合理性。而从原文第 5 段可知，Pay Drechsel 认为尽管这种做法有危害，但是它带来的社会和经济效益比其危害更重要。因此 A 项“在这个问题上他和 Pay Drechsel 的观点一致”为正确答案。

　　【干扰项排除】原文第 3 段提到 Liqa Raschid-Sally 认为污水灌溉利弊共存，James Bartram 也只是承认了有其存在的合理性而已，因此 B 项“他挑战 Iiqa Raschid-Sally 的结论”错误。C 项“他认为这是摆脱当前粮食危机的唯一方法”和 D 项“他认为这是战胜全球贫困所必需都不是 James Bartram 的观点，故排除。

　　51 [D]【定位】根据题目关键词 the kitchen of today 定位至第 1 段末句。

　　【解析】第 1 段末句提到厨房已成为现代家居的核心，D 项的 the center of a modem home 是原句 the heart of the modern house 的同义转述，表明 D 项“现在厨房被认为是现代家居的核心”为答案。

　　【干扰项排除】原文第 1 句提到现代人们无须下厨，因此 A 项“厨房是主妇展示厨艺的场所”与原文意思刚好相反;B 项“厨房是款待重要宾客的场所”在原文中没有提及;原文提到厨房已成为现代家居的核心的现象很奇怪，而不是说厨房本身奇怪，故排除 C 项。

　　52 [B]【定位】根据题目关键词 the Georgian-style kitchen 定位至第 3 段。

　　【解析】本题考查的是乔治王时代风格的厨房定价高的原因，第 3 段末句提到其主要卖点在于绝无仅有，你不会在世界其他地方见到这种厨房。B 项“不可能在世界其他地方找到复制品”为答案。

　　【干扰项排除】A 项“据说有极高的艺术价值”在原文中并未提及;C 项“由一家著名的英国公司制造”在文中虽有提及，但不是定价高的原因;D 项“其他的制造商都无法制造类似的厨房”属于易混淆项，但是原文说的是它的卖点在其他人买不到相同的，至于说制造商能否仿制，我们无法得知。

　　53 [D]【定位】根据题干中 the change in the status of the kitchen 定位至第 4 段第 1 句。

　　【解析】本题考查的是厨房地位的变化反映了什么，原文第 4 段第 1 句讲到厨房曾经只属于仆人，而今演变为现代家庭的设计展示间，这讲述了一个世纪的社会变革,D 项正确。

　　【干扰项排除】A 项“生活水平提高了”、B 项“女性地位的提高”和 C 项“技术进步”在原文都没有直接提及，属于主观臆测，故均排除。

　　54 [A]【定位】根据题干中的人名 Beecher sisters 定位至第 5 段末句。

　　【解析】本题考查比彻姊妹对厨房的看法，第 5 段末句讲到比彻姐妹推介了一种家庭管理的科学方法，旨在提高妇女的工作效率,A 项是对原文意思的高度概括，故为答案。

　　【干扰项排除】B 项“认为厨房是可以应用高科技的场所”无中生有;C 项“认为厨房是知识分子感兴趣的场所”，这一信息虽在第 5 段首句有提到，但并不是比彻姊妹的看法，而是作者的观点;第 5 段第 2 句提到该姊妹中的一人以激进的新方式对厨房进行思考，她思考的是怎样提高家务效率，而不是试验新想法，因此 D 项“认为厨房是实验新想法的场所”错误。

　　55 [B]【定位】根据题干可知本题考查的是对文章的整体感知理解能力，定位到全文。

　　【解析】原文提到 20 世纪 20 年代由玛格丽特设计的第一个配备齐全的厨房中，许多元素依然是今日厨房的中心特色，说明现代厨房的许多核心特色和 20 世纪 20 年代都具有相似性，因此 B 项“现代厨房的许多核心特色和 20 世纪 20 年代相比并无差别”正确。

　　【干扰项排除】A 项“现代厨房象征人们日常生活中快速的技术进步”和 C 项“现代厨房变得面目全非”在原文中均无提及。D 项“现代厨房的许多功能有很大改变”与原文最后一段末句意思刚好相反。