2022年12月大学英语六级真题（第2套）及答案解析

M: Welcome to the Book Club. Today's guest is Susan Lane, the author of a new book on personal finances that has already sold half a million copies. Hi, Susan, your book is extremely successful. Why do you think that is? W: I think that's because of my message, which is making happiness a priority over money. So many of us in my generation have spent decades trying to earn more money, just to consume more, but it made us more miserable. M: You yourself were once caught in that cycle, working for two decades as an executive and earning a high salary, but still accumulating debt. W: I most certainly was. I earned millions, but by the time I quit my job four years ago to become a writer, I owed over $30,000. M: So how did you escape that pattern? And what would you advise other people to do? W: The first change is in what we value. We need to emphasize things that actually make us happy, like relationships, the environment or even our hobbies. Once we make the right things our priority, our goals will change and so will our financial behavior. M: How does that translate into practical action? Can you give our audience examples of what you are talking about on an everyday basis? W: The major areas for action are usually housing, food and transportation. So people might share a home with friends instead of living on their own, bring lunch from home instead of going to restaurants, and use public transport instead of owning a car. M: Those sound like major sacrifices, I could never share my home, I need my own space. W: But they aren't sacrifices. When people change their values, their desires change. So in the example of housing, if we value relationships, sharing a home isn't depriving ourselves of space, but giving us an opportunity to spend more time with our loved ones. M: Indeed it is.

W: Thank you for inviting me to the gallery, Christopher. I haven't visited here since your predecessor's retirement function. M: Would you like to see the newest additions to our collection first, Catherine? W: Are those the landscapes by Danielle Gregory? I absolutely adore her work. M: This first piece was a gift to the gallery from the artist herself, and it's quite exquisite. W: I love how she depicts the barren landscape. The colors complement each other perfectly. M: You can sense the desolation in the picture. This piece was inspired by Gregory's recent trek in the Gobi Desert. W: And how did you obtain her other piece over here? M: It was purchased at auction by an anonymous collector who lent it to the gallery for display. This composition is one of her most acclaimed paintings. W: It must have cost that collector a small fortune to purchase this. M: Obviously, I can't disclose the exact amount he paid, but it was substantial. W: There's so much detail in this painting. I feel like I can really immerse myself in the scene. I particularly like the symmetry created by the reflection of the mountain in the lake. M: This particular piece was the one that was nominated for a Gateway Award. I was lucky enough to attend the award ceremony as Gregory's guest. W: So you know her personally. I assume she's an eccentric artist. M: Quite the opposite. In fact, she's not at all eccentric. I would say she's one of the most easygoing and intelligent people I know. W: I'd love to be able to meet her. There are so many questions I'd like to ask. M: What a coincidence! I'm meeting her for dinner tonight. Would you like to come along? W: I'd love to. Thank you.

Forgiveness is the release of resentment or anger. Forgiveness doesn't mean reconciliation. We don't have to return to the same relationship, nor do we have to accept the same harmful behaviors from an offender. Forgiveness is vitally important for the mental health of certain victims. It propels people forward rather than keeping them emotionally engaged in an injustice or trauma. Carrying the hurt or anger of an offense leads the body to release stress chemicals. Eliminating the perpetual flow of those chemicals may also explain why forgiveness provides physical health benefits. There are scenarios in which forgiveness is not the best course. Sometimes the victim becomes more empowered when they give themselves permission not to forgive. Forgiveness can be challenging. This is especially true when the offending party offers an insincere apology, or maybe they haven't offered anything at all. However, it's often the healthiest path forward. It's important to cultivate forgiveness by developing compassion for the offender, reflect on whether the act was due to malicious intent, or whether it was caused by challenging circumstances in the offender's life. What about forgiving ourselves? We sometimes need to take responsibility for mistakes, but intense guilt and shame aren't a desirable outcome in the long run. Forgiving yourself may seem like an ambiguous process. You can begin by acknowledging that you are at fault, taking responsibility for the hurt you caused, then reflecting on why the event occurred. Draw the lessons you learned and try to avoid committing a similar offense in the future. mental health of certain victims.

The Glasgow subway first opened in 1896 as a cable-hauled system. It is generally recognised as the world's third underground railway, after London and Budapest. In its long history, it has never been expanded, remaining as a single loop line with a mere 15 stations. At its peak, it served the shipyard workers on the south side of the city. In the 1960s, there was a decline in the shipbuilding industry and the popularity of private transport grew. As a result, the subway saw a rapid decline in ridership. It ran with little further change until 1977 when its new operators closed it for major modernisation investment. Carriages were replaced, ventilation was improved, and the main depot was also renovated and fitted with connecting tracks to replace the outdated crane transfer mechanism. The subway in its present form reopened for operation in April 1980. Since its relaunch, the subway has seen a revival in its fortunes. It serves as a viable alternative to other forms of transport and has gone a long way to alleviate traffic jams in the city centre. In 1996, the system reached an important milestone—100 years. To commemorate this special event, the colour scheme of the train carriages was updated. Recently, high-tech systems such as smart card ticketing machines and smart gates are used across all subway stations. The smart card provides more convenient travel, and passengers simply top up their cards and tap them to get in and out the subway. Since its launch, the technology has been adopted by more than 100,000 subway customers. transport grew.

If you visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, chances are you will remember the roadside or campground bears above all else. Bears are the most popular animals in a number of our national parks. In these mountains, where the population of bears runs into the hundreds, opportunities to observe these large wild animals are plentiful during the summer. Since national parks are wildlife sanctuaries where no disturbance of the native animals is allowed, years of protection have served to break down the wild bears' fear of humans. Now, instead of depending on their own resources for a living, many bears patrol park roads and campgrounds. They give the garbage cans a frequent going over. An occasional offer of food from a park visitor, an illegal and dangerous practice, makes beggars of them. Bears are very often hungry and since they will feed on almost any kind of plant or animal, garbage is quite acceptable. Feeding them, however, represents misguided kindness because the bears come to expect such generosity from everyone and consequently, trouble could lie ahead. Park rules prohibit the feeding of bears. Violators are arrested. Every year, doctors who have offices near the park treat a number of cases of bear bites and bear scratches. Some of the accidents have come about in strange ways. One man was in the process of feeding two small cubs, when the mother bear appeared and insisted upon having some of the food. Shoving the big bear aside with one hand, the man continued feeding the cubs when suddenly he was struck a fierce blow in the face. A bear, prompted by the food that a lady kept offering to him, entered the car where the generous person was sitting. Her efforts to push the bear out of the car resulted in injuries. A man required medical attention after he applied a lighted cigarette to a bear's nose. Another man tried to boost a bear into the front seat of his car so that he might take a picture of a bear sitting beside his wife who was behind the wheel. Because bears prefer roads and campgrounds, the possibility of a hiker meeting up with a bear along park trails is small, but there's always that chance, for a bear seems to know if you are carrying a lunch or a candy bar. He may even insist on taking it. allowed, years of protection have served to break down the wild bears' fear of humans.

Why do we form opinions or attitudes about someone or something without really knowing much about them? Just hearing something good or bad about a person, a place or thing can influence our opinions positively or negatively. But letting the opinions of another person determine what our opinions will be is dangerous. Forming opinions about someone or something before really knowing them well is called prejudice. "Pre-" means before, and "judice" refers to judgment. Hence, prejudice means to judge before having adequate knowledge. We can be prejudiced toward or against someone or something. In either case, we are only allowing ourselves to see half of the picture. Very few people or things in this world are all good or all bad. Prejudiced attitudes are usually based on myths, half-truths or incorrect information, and they are dangerous because they can keep us from learning the truth about someone or something. People form prejudices against others for many reasons—differences in their race, religion, gender, or occupation. Prejudices keep people apart. They keep us from really knowing and understanding each other. We should feel proud of who we are and the group of people we represent. If feelings of pride begin to turn to feelings of superiority when we think that our group or our beliefs are better than those around us, however, then we begin to develop prejudiced attitudes that can be harmful. For example, the prejudiced attitudes of one group may keep another group from attending certain schools, from living in any neighborhood they want, or from getting a job or a promotion. Extreme feelings of prejudice have caused the deaths of innocent people. We are responsible for our own thoughts and opinions. When we let someone else tell us what to think about someone or something, we are giving up some control of our own lives. Before you form an attitude or opinion, find out for yourself about the person or the thing in question. Sometimes we don't realize that we hold prejudiced attitudes toward or against someone or something. We need to carefully examine our lives and our fears, and to ask ourselves whether our attitudes come from our personal knowledge and experience or from rumors and fear of the unknown. The good news about prejudice is that we are not born with it. Prejudiced attitudes and opinions develop over time. But with education and knowledge, we can replace our prejudices with cooperation and understanding. prejudice.

When I started high school, it was a shock. I had spent eight years fighting my way to be the most popular kid in the Catholic school student body. I had been a big, tough 8th grader and suddenly I was a lonely 9th grader bullied by the big, tough 12th grade seniors who ran the high school. I realized then that it's nice to strive for something, but that you also have to enjoy the moment you're in and be happy where you are. Rock and roll had always been an important part of my life. I remember my friends and I used to drive around until the late hours of the nights listening to the music of Rock and Roll legends. During those teenage years, I built friendships that I thought would last a lifetime. Most people that age think the same thing, but people drift apart. Jobs, families and tragedies separate people from those lasting friendships. The tragedy that separated me from my friends forever was the Vietnam War. A year after I graduated from high school, I left for Vietnam. I came back, burned out, and tired, as though I had lived 10 lifetimes in the short span of 14 months, the 14 months I was in the war. I couldn't relate to the friends I had had in high school. They still seemed childish, concerned with childish things that weren't important to me. I was still trying to cope with the death, destruction and evil I had seen in Vietnam. I felt like we had done terrible things to innocent people there and in turn, I had seen terrible things done to my friends. I withdrew from my friends and started college. Then I quit college and took many different jobs. I spent a lot of my time and money on alcohol and other drugs. Finally, in an effort to get my life going in the right direction again, I sold everything and took what little money I had and bought myself an airplane ticket to Israel. I went there to study history. While studying at Haifa University, I met my wife, who was also an American student. I now teach in a high school back in America. I look at my students and see them struggling with many of the very things I struggled with many years ago. As a teacher, I try to help them over the rough spots as best I can.