2022年12月大学英语六级真题（第1套）及答案解析

M: How's your dissertation going? I'm proofreading my first draft and will submit it to my professor tomorrow. W: Oh, I haven't even started writing mine yet, so I'm really worried about finishing by the end of next semester. M: You mean you haven't even begun yours yet? The final draft is due in five months. W: Of course I've started it, but I can't get to the writing yet as I haven't found enough resources to use, so I'm still researching the topic. M: Maybe the problem is the way you're doing your research. I started by talking to my professor about where to look for information, and based on that, I found books in the library and a lot of reputable journal articles on the Internet. W: I've tried all that, but don't have enough to write the dissertation as my department's minimum length is 70 pages. I think the problem is that my topic isn't viable. And honestly, my professor did warn me at the beginning that I might not be able to find enough material. But I was so interested in the topic that I didn't let his advice turn me. M: Well, I suggest you find a new topic. After all, our professors are here to guide us, so it's best to listen to them. W: In retrospect, I wish I had listened to him, but I didn't. And now I don't want to give up my topic as I've already invested so much time and energy. M: If you're committed to your current topic, maybe you could make some adjustments rather than abandon it completely. What is your topic? W: It's "Depictions of Femininity in Folklore from the South of the Country". M: That's pretty narrow. You could find more material if you made the topic broader, maybe by including other kinds of depictions. W: Broadening the topic is a great idea, I'll start by including folklore from other regions of the country. end of next semester.

W: Today, on Book Talk, we are lucky enough to host John Robbins and discuss his new book, Why Americans Are Fat and How We Can Lose Weight. John isn't just a respected writer; he's also one of the rare celebrity authors writing about science today. M: Thanks for having me, Rebecca, but I'm hardly a celebrity. W: That's very modest of you to say, considering that your four books have sold a total of seven million copies worldwide, and they've been translated into 12 different languages. What makes people so fascinated with your work? M: Well, people read my books because more than 60% of Americans are overweight, or obese. And other countries are facing similar problems. Basically, we all want to know how to fix things. W: We certainly do. I've read your new book, and it's fabulous, especially when it comes to the way you make difficult science easy for laymen to understand. That's no small achievement. M: I'm glad to hear you find my work accessible, because I was worried when I wrote it that discussing the science might make the book more suited for a specialist audience. My last book was written primarily for the medical community. But this time, I want to help ordinary people take control of their weight. W: And how do you suggest they do that? Can you give us the basics of your advice for people who want to lose weight? M: Briefly, I argue that every person needs to consider their metabolism and eat what suits their body's needs. I don't advocate one single diet. Some people should eat more carbohydrates than others. And different people need different amounts of protein and fat. W: But you do have some recommendations for everyone, including eating ten servings of vegetables and three of fruit a day. We'll talk about those recommendations next, but now we need to take a short break for a message from our sponsor. million copies worldwide, and they've been translated into 12 different languages.

Stress is often depicted as negative, but research shows that moderate amounts of it can be beneficial for your brain and your body. First, the benefits for the brain. Studies have shown that short periods of stress can actually bolster cognitive functioning. Researchers discovered that placing rats in a stressful situation for just a few hours doubled the growth of new brain cells. The rats also did better on a memory test later on. Scientists think the same thing happens in humans. But how does stress improve memory? It's simple. When your brain cells multiply, your memory can improve. Viewed from a biological perspective, this makes sense, because animals that are better at remembering dangerous situations can avoid them in the future. If an animal encounters a predator and escapes, for example, it's important to remember where and when that encounter happened. Experts assert that the same principle applies to humans. Now, let's turn to how stress benefits the body. This may come as a surprise to laymen. But experts say that stress can keep you from getting sick. Scientists concede that chronic stress can make you more prone to illness. But research shows that short periods of stress can actually provide some protection against getting sick, because it increases your immune functioning. One study shows that rats that experienced brief stress had a surge of immune cell response, which makes the immune system better prepared to fight illness. For humans, there's even evidence that experiencing stress before getting vaccinated could help make vaccines more effective. the growth of new brain cells.

For many managers and people who work in leadership positions, dealing with emails is a dilemma. It's likely the "unpredictable, uncontrollable and ongoing nature of day-to-day email in terms of volume, importance and urgency" contributes to their levels of anxiety and to diminished leadership skills. That's because it's not unusual for many leaders to prioritize email management over people management. An obsession with managing their inbox prevents them from dealing with their employees. As a result, they ignore the issues that might only be mild problems at first, until unfortunately, they inevitably transform into a major problem or crisis by virtue of neglect. As leaders, they are expected to motivate and inspire their team in pursuit of longer-term strategic goals and also, less ambitiously but more practically, to monitor their daily output, to set clear expectations and to give regular feedback. When presented with a choice between the appeal of their inbox and other more important activities, many sacrifice the latter. Daily email demands have a negative impact on their goal progress. This is because leaders must divert resources from other tasks to check, filter and respond to emails. The solution is cultivating self-control which is like a muscle—it can be strengthened or improved over time through exercise. Some suggestions include making space in your diary for the only periods during which you'll be checking emails, setting a timer for yourself so you don't become distracted by your inbox for too long, turning off email alerts so you're not interrupted by them. activities, many sacrifice the latter.

In last week's lecture, we talked about the problems caused by poor eating habits, focusing on how medical professionals are trying to solve these problems. Today, we'll continue with the topic, but focus on research from a different field—marketing. Now, what can marketing tell us about improving nutrition? Well, a team of marketing professors has studied the importance of the visual aspect of food and how that influences food choices. Those marketing experts assert that the impact of the appearance of food is greater than we might presume, and might hold the key to encouraging better eating. So how important is the appearance of food? Research shows that just seeing an appealing photograph of a hamburger in an advertisement, for example, can cause individuals to imagine the taste or smell of that hamburger. This can make them more likely to purchase and consume it. Of course, that's the point of advertisements. So isn't that a good thing? Well, the marketing professors argue that this is actually a problem, because the combination of pleasing aesthetics of and easy access to unhealthy foods, such as hamburgers and pizza, may be contributing to a worldwide health crisis. In fact, statistics show that 39% of all adults in the world weigh too much and another 13% are obese. Now, as we discussed last time, medical professionals have tried to fight the obesity epidemic by focusing on the nutrients found in different foods, emphasizing things like carbohydrate, fat, sugar and calorie content. But they've had limited success. The marketing professors believe that the real solution to obesity is making food look appealing and focusing on the pleasure of both looking at and eating that food. That pleasure can be used as a tool to promote healthy food choices. In fact, the research done by the team showed that associating healthy food with pleasant images, experiences and emotions led to greater interest in purchasing or eating it. "This is a better strategy," they claim, than reminding consumers that a certain food is good for them. But are they right? Well, the researchers cited a marketing campaign designed to reverse the sales decline of carrots. The campaign didn't emphasize the carrots' healthy qualities, but embraced their beauty and the pleasure derived from eating them. For example, the ads focused on the bright, beautiful orange color and crisp texture of the carrots. The campaign led to an impressive increase in product sales of more than 10%. The researchers believe that other companies could bolster sales of healthy foods with similar ads, depicting their products as attractive and a source of pleasure. and how that influences food choices.

The household cleaning products industry really began to take off in the 1950s. Prior to that, resourceful housewives who had grown up in a less prosperous era relied on substances that they used in their kitchens such as vinegar used to clean windows. Today, the household cleaning products industry is worth billions of dollars a year and is dominated by large global companies. In recent years, however, many countries have witnessed a surge in the number of small businesses and companies offering more environment-friendly cleaning products, and they're doing good business too. One reason for this is that consumers are becoming more aware of environment and sustainability issues. They also want to make their home a safe place, free from toxic chemicals. The third reason is people's awareness of and knowledge about technology has never been greater. In the past, people might have been skeptical of a new product claimed to be able to achieve amazing cleaning results, but they now have faith in technology's ability to do what was once thought impossible. There is perhaps no better example of this than a patented cloth sold by one company, which remarkably uses only water rather than traditional cleaning products. The company claims its cloth lifts, traps and removes dirt and bacteria. And considering that people don't see these products in shops, or advertised on TV or in the press, it has been a pretty steep rise. Many of the people behind these companies began testing the viability of their products by selling them at local markets. Then, in many cases, customers are doing the marketing for these products by leaving threads of comments on social media, praising their virtues. There are also TV shows and books dedicated to maintaining home tidiness and cleanliness and the benefits of having a clean home. Having a safe and clean home might be one thing people feel they can control in an increasingly out- of-control world. And there are social media celebrities. One woman in Britain has become a social media sensation with more than two million followers for her cleaning tips page. businesses and companies offering more environment-friendly cleaning products, and they're doing good business too.

Throwing spare change into a fountain is a time-honored ritual: throw a penny into the water, and your wish might come true. But all that money has to go somewhere. Otherwise, the growing piles of pennies, quarters and euros could clog up the fountains' works. Today, I'm going to talk about where all the coins go. Well, the coins collected can go to all sorts of different places—from fountain maintenance to charity or public service. In New York City, for example, coins collected from fountains in public parks often go towards the fountains' maintenance itself, though entrepreneurs who don't mind getting their hands wet often get to it first. There are over 50 beautiful decorative display fountains in New York City parks. They are cleaned by the parks' staff every few weeks. But most of the coins have already been removed by entrepreneurial New Yorkers and there is not a significant amount left to be collected. Other cities, though, can pull in a much more serious haul. Take for example, Rome's famous Trevi fountain: for hundreds of years, visitors have thrown coins over their shoulder into the fountain to ensure that they will return. So many tourists toss in coins that Roman officials have the fountain cleaned every night, reportedly getting as much as $4,000 in loose change from around the world each day. Most of the money collected each night goes towards running a supermarket for the needy. And collecting that cash is serious business. Roman officials have been known to be tough on anyone caught skimming coins from the fountain. In one case in 2005, police arrested four fountain cleaners after they were spotted slipping coins into their own pockets after collecting them. Authorities finally caught one notorious thief named Thomas Morgan and banned him from the fountain after he fished out thousands of dollars in change over 34 years using a magnetic stick. For the most part, money collected from privately-owned fountains in the United States also goes to charity. The fountain in New York City's Bryant Park is owned and operated by a not-for-profit corporation, which puts the cash collected by cleaners towards the fountain's own maintenance. Tens of thousands of dollars in coins removed from wishing wells, fountains and ponds in Florida's Walt Disney World are donated each year to support foster children living in the state. Whether or not your wish comes true after tossing a coin into a fountain, you can rest assured knowing that the change is likely going to someone who needs it. fountains' works.