2024年3月16日发(作者：频立人)
2021年1月大学英语六级阅读理解真题及答案
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
Birds that are literally half-asleep—with one brain
hemisphere alert and the other sleeping—control which side of
the brain remains awake, according to a new study of sleeping
ducks.
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide
range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into
the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye
controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the
wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert. Birds also can
sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide
range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into
the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye
controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the
wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert. Birds also can
sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Decades of studies of bird flocks led researchers to predict
第 1 页
共 15 页
extra alertness in the more vulnerable, end-of-the-row
sleepers, Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully
on the side away from their companions. Ducks in the inner spots
showed no preference for gaze direction.
Also, birds dozing（打盹）at the end of the line resorted to
single-hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more
often than inner ducks did. Rotating 16 birds through the
positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found outer birds
half-asleep during some 32 percent of dozing time versus about
12 percent for birds in internal spots.
“We believe this is the first evidence for an animal
behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness simultaneously
in different regions of the brain,” the researchers say.
The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing
supposition that single-hemisphere sleep evolved as creatures
scanned for enemies. The preference for opening an eye on the
lookout side could be widespread, he predicts. He’s seen it
in a pair of birds dozing side-by-side in the zoo and in a single
pet bird sleeping by mirror. The mirror-side eye closed as if
the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed open.
Useful as half-sleeping might be, it’s only been found in birds
and such water mammals（哺乳动物）as dolphins, whales, and seals.
第 2 页
共 15 页
Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping
animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning.
Studies of birds may offer unique insights into sleep. Jerome
M. Siegel of the UGLA says he wonders if birds’ half-brain sleep
“is just the tip of the iceberg（冰山）”. He speculates that
more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other
species.
11. A new study on birds’ sleep has revealed that ____________.
A) birds can control their half-brain sleep consciously
B) birds seldom sleep with the whole of their brain at rest
C) half-brain sleep is found in a wide variety of birds
D) half-brain sleep is characterized by slow brain waves
12. According to the passage, birds often half sleep because
______________.
A) they have to constantly keep an eye on their companions
B) the two halves of their brain are differently structured
C) they have to watch out for possible attacks
D) their brain hemisphere take turns to rest
13. The example of a bird sleeping in front of a mirror indicates
that _____________.
A) birds prefer to sleep in pairs for the sake of security
B) the phenomenon of birds dozing in pairs is widespread
第 3 页
共 15 页
C) a single pet bird enjoys seeing its own reflection in the
mirror
D) even an imagined companion gives the bird a sense of
security
14. While sleeping, some water mammals tend to keep half awake
in order to __________.
A) avoid being swept away by rapid currents
B) emerge from water now and then to breathe
C) alert themselves to the approaching enemy
D) be sensitive to the ever-changing environment
15. By “just the tip of the iceberg” (Line 2, Para.8), Siegel
suggests that ____________.
A) half-brain sleep is a phenomenon that could exist among
other species
B) most birds living in cold regions tend to be half sleepers
C) the mystery of half-brain sleep is close to being solved
D) half-brain sleep has something to do with icy weather
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:
A nine-year-old schoolgirl single-handedly cooks up a
science-fair experiment that ends up debunking（揭穿．．．的
真相）a widely practiced medical treatment. Emily Rosa’s target
第 4 页
共 15 页
was a practice known as therapeutic（治疗）touch (TT for short),
whose advocates manipulate patients’ “energy field” to make
them feel better and even, say some, to cure them of various
ills. Yet Emily’s test shows that these energy fields can’
t be detected, even by trained TT practitioners（行医者）.
Obviously mindful of the publicity value of the situation,
Journal editor George Lundberg appeared on TV to declare, “Age
doesn’t matter. It’s good science that matters, and this is
good science.”
Emily’s mother Linda Rosa, a registered nurse, has been
campaigning against TT for nearly a decade. Linda first thought
about TT in the late ’80s, when she learned it was on the
approved list for continuing nursing education in Colorado. Its
100,000 trained practitioners (48,000 in the U.S.) don’t even
touch their patients. Instead, they waved their hands a few
inches from the patient’s body, pushing energy fields around
until they’re in “balance.” TT advocates say these
manipulations can help heal wounds, relieve pain and reduce
fever. The claims are taken seriously enough that TT therapists
are frequently hired by leading hospitals, at up to $70 an hour,
the smooth patients’ energy, sometimes during surgery.
Yet Rosa could not find any evidence that it works. To provide
第 5 页
共 15 页
such proof, TT therapists would have to sit down for independent
testing—something they haven’t been eager to do, even though
James Randi has offered more than $1 million to anyone who can
demonstrate the existence of a human energy field. (He’s had
one taker so far. She failed.) A skeptic might conclude that
TT practitioners are afraid to lay their beliefs on the line.
But who could turn down an innocent fourth-grader? Says Emily:
“I think they didn’t take me very seriously because I’m a
kid.”
The experiment was straightforward: 21 TT therapists stuck
their hands, palms up, through a screen. Emily held her own hand
over one of theirs—left or right—and the practitioners had
to say which hand it was. When the results were recorded, they’
d done no better than they would have by simply guessing. if
there was an energy field, they couldn’t feel it.
16. Which of the following is evidence that TT is widely
practiced?
A) TT has been in existence for decades.
B) Many patients were cured by therapeutic touch.
C) TT therapists are often employed by leading hospitals.
D) More than 100,000 people are undergoing TT treatment.
17. Very few TT practitioners responded to the $1 million offer
第 6 页
共 15 页
because ____________.
A) they didn’t take the offer seriously
B) they didn’t want to risk their career
C) they were unwilling to reveal their secret
D) they thought it was not in line with their practice
18. The purpose of Emily Rosa’s experiment was ____________.
A) to see why TT could work the way it did
B) to find out how TT cured patient’s illness
C) to test whether she could sense the human energy field
D) to test whether a human energy field really existed
19. Why did some TT practitioners agree to be the subjects of
Emily’s experiment?
A) It involved nothing more than mere guessing.
B) They thought it was going to be a lot of fun.
C) It was more straightforward than other experiments.
D) They sensed no harm in a little girl’s experiment.
20. What can we learn from the passage?
A) Some widely accepted beliefs can be deceiving.
B) Solid evidence weighs more than pure theories.
C) Little children can be as clever as trained TT practitioners.
D) The principle of TT is too profound to understand.
第 7 页
共 15 页
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
What might driving on an automated highway be like? The answer
depends on what kind of system is ultimately adopted. Two
distinct types are on the drawing board. The first is a special
—purpose lane system, in which certain lanes are reserved for
automated vehicles. The second is a mixed traffic system: fully
automated vehicles would share the road with partially
automated or manually driven cars. A special-purpose land
system would require more extensive physical modifications to
existing highways, but it promises the greatest gains in
freeway（高速公路）capacity.
Under either scheme, the driver would specify the desired
destination, furnishing this information to a computer in the
car at the beginning of the trip or perhaps just before reaching
the automated highway. If a mixed traffic system was in place,
automated driving could begin whenever the driver was on
suitably equipped roads. If special-purpose lanes were
available, the car could enter them and join existing traffic
in two different ways. One method would use a special onramp
（入口引道）. As the driver approached the point of entry for
the highway, devices installed on the roadside would
electronically check the vehicle to determine its destination
第 8 页
共 15 页
2024年3月16日发(作者：频立人)
2021年1月大学英语六级阅读理解真题及答案
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
Birds that are literally half-asleep—with one brain
hemisphere alert and the other sleeping—control which side of
the brain remains awake, according to a new study of sleeping
ducks.
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide
range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into
the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye
controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the
wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert. Birds also can
sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide
range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into
the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye
controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the
wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert. Birds also can
sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Decades of studies of bird flocks led researchers to predict
第 1 页
共 15 页
extra alertness in the more vulnerable, end-of-the-row
sleepers, Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully
on the side away from their companions. Ducks in the inner spots
showed no preference for gaze direction.
Also, birds dozing（打盹）at the end of the line resorted to
single-hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more
often than inner ducks did. Rotating 16 birds through the
positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found outer birds
half-asleep during some 32 percent of dozing time versus about
12 percent for birds in internal spots.
“We believe this is the first evidence for an animal
behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness simultaneously
in different regions of the brain,” the researchers say.
The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing
supposition that single-hemisphere sleep evolved as creatures
scanned for enemies. The preference for opening an eye on the
lookout side could be widespread, he predicts. He’s seen it
in a pair of birds dozing side-by-side in the zoo and in a single
pet bird sleeping by mirror. The mirror-side eye closed as if
the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed open.
Useful as half-sleeping might be, it’s only been found in birds
and such water mammals（哺乳动物）as dolphins, whales, and seals.
第 2 页
共 15 页
Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping
animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning.
Studies of birds may offer unique insights into sleep. Jerome
M. Siegel of the UGLA says he wonders if birds’ half-brain sleep
“is just the tip of the iceberg（冰山）”. He speculates that
more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other
species.
11. A new study on birds’ sleep has revealed that ____________.
A) birds can control their half-brain sleep consciously
B) birds seldom sleep with the whole of their brain at rest
C) half-brain sleep is found in a wide variety of birds
D) half-brain sleep is characterized by slow brain waves
12. According to the passage, birds often half sleep because
______________.
A) they have to constantly keep an eye on their companions
B) the two halves of their brain are differently structured
C) they have to watch out for possible attacks
D) their brain hemisphere take turns to rest
13. The example of a bird sleeping in front of a mirror indicates
that _____________.
A) birds prefer to sleep in pairs for the sake of security
B) the phenomenon of birds dozing in pairs is widespread
第 3 页
共 15 页
C) a single pet bird enjoys seeing its own reflection in the
mirror
D) even an imagined companion gives the bird a sense of
security
14. While sleeping, some water mammals tend to keep half awake
in order to __________.
A) avoid being swept away by rapid currents
B) emerge from water now and then to breathe
C) alert themselves to the approaching enemy
D) be sensitive to the ever-changing environment
15. By “just the tip of the iceberg” (Line 2, Para.8), Siegel
suggests that ____________.
A) half-brain sleep is a phenomenon that could exist among
other species
B) most birds living in cold regions tend to be half sleepers
C) the mystery of half-brain sleep is close to being solved
D) half-brain sleep has something to do with icy weather
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:
A nine-year-old schoolgirl single-handedly cooks up a
science-fair experiment that ends up debunking（揭穿．．．的
真相）a widely practiced medical treatment. Emily Rosa’s target
第 4 页
共 15 页
was a practice known as therapeutic（治疗）touch (TT for short),
whose advocates manipulate patients’ “energy field” to make
them feel better and even, say some, to cure them of various
ills. Yet Emily’s test shows that these energy fields can’
t be detected, even by trained TT practitioners（行医者）.
Obviously mindful of the publicity value of the situation,
Journal editor George Lundberg appeared on TV to declare, “Age
doesn’t matter. It’s good science that matters, and this is
good science.”
Emily’s mother Linda Rosa, a registered nurse, has been
campaigning against TT for nearly a decade. Linda first thought
about TT in the late ’80s, when she learned it was on the
approved list for continuing nursing education in Colorado. Its
100,000 trained practitioners (48,000 in the U.S.) don’t even
touch their patients. Instead, they waved their hands a few
inches from the patient’s body, pushing energy fields around
until they’re in “balance.” TT advocates say these
manipulations can help heal wounds, relieve pain and reduce
fever. The claims are taken seriously enough that TT therapists
are frequently hired by leading hospitals, at up to $70 an hour,
the smooth patients’ energy, sometimes during surgery.
Yet Rosa could not find any evidence that it works. To provide
第 5 页
共 15 页
such proof, TT therapists would have to sit down for independent
testing—something they haven’t been eager to do, even though
James Randi has offered more than $1 million to anyone who can
demonstrate the existence of a human energy field. (He’s had
one taker so far. She failed.) A skeptic might conclude that
TT practitioners are afraid to lay their beliefs on the line.
But who could turn down an innocent fourth-grader? Says Emily:
“I think they didn’t take me very seriously because I’m a
kid.”
The experiment was straightforward: 21 TT therapists stuck
their hands, palms up, through a screen. Emily held her own hand
over one of theirs—left or right—and the practitioners had
to say which hand it was. When the results were recorded, they’
d done no better than they would have by simply guessing. if
there was an energy field, they couldn’t feel it.
16. Which of the following is evidence that TT is widely
practiced?
A) TT has been in existence for decades.
B) Many patients were cured by therapeutic touch.
C) TT therapists are often employed by leading hospitals.
D) More than 100,000 people are undergoing TT treatment.
17. Very few TT practitioners responded to the $1 million offer
第 6 页
共 15 页
because ____________.
A) they didn’t take the offer seriously
B) they didn’t want to risk their career
C) they were unwilling to reveal their secret
D) they thought it was not in line with their practice
18. The purpose of Emily Rosa’s experiment was ____________.
A) to see why TT could work the way it did
B) to find out how TT cured patient’s illness
C) to test whether she could sense the human energy field
D) to test whether a human energy field really existed
19. Why did some TT practitioners agree to be the subjects of
Emily’s experiment?
A) It involved nothing more than mere guessing.
B) They thought it was going to be a lot of fun.
C) It was more straightforward than other experiments.
D) They sensed no harm in a little girl’s experiment.
20. What can we learn from the passage?
A) Some widely accepted beliefs can be deceiving.
B) Solid evidence weighs more than pure theories.
C) Little children can be as clever as trained TT practitioners.
D) The principle of TT is too profound to understand.
第 7 页
共 15 页
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
What might driving on an automated highway be like? The answer
depends on what kind of system is ultimately adopted. Two
distinct types are on the drawing board. The first is a special
—purpose lane system, in which certain lanes are reserved for
automated vehicles. The second is a mixed traffic system: fully
automated vehicles would share the road with partially
automated or manually driven cars. A special-purpose land
system would require more extensive physical modifications to
existing highways, but it promises the greatest gains in
freeway（高速公路）capacity.
Under either scheme, the driver would specify the desired
destination, furnishing this information to a computer in the
car at the beginning of the trip or perhaps just before reaching
the automated highway. If a mixed traffic system was in place,
automated driving could begin whenever the driver was on
suitably equipped roads. If special-purpose lanes were
available, the car could enter them and join existing traffic
in two different ways. One method would use a special onramp
（入口引道）. As the driver approached the point of entry for
the highway, devices installed on the roadside would
electronically check the vehicle to determine its destination
第 8 页
共 15 页