2012年大学英语六级快速阅读冲刺题（1）

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:44

New York

For most of us, the word vacation conjures up (想象，推想) images of lounging (躺) on a Caribbean beach or touring the picturesque terrain of some European country. An urban center (like New York City) bustling with（熙来攘往）people, traffic and skyscrapers might not immediately come to mind. However, large cities often offer tourists an incredible variety of sights and activities. The City, as New York City is often referred to, is home to world-renowned museums and restaurants, exciting attractions, an array of entertainment and unbeatable shopping. If you are anything like the 29 million American travelers that visit "the Big Apple" annually, your next vacation spot just may be New York City.
As a travel destination, New York has something to offer almost every visitor. Though tourism has dropped since September 11, 2001, there are still lots of reasons to visit what many consider the greatest city in the world.
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City Overview

New York City (NYC) is located on the Eastern Atlantic coast of the United States. It rests at the mouth of the Hudson River. The city is often referred to as a "city of islands" . Greater NYC is made up of five distinct areas called boroughs（纽约行政区）. These boroughs include Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx. The boroughs are separated from each other by various bodies of water and are connected by subways, bridges and tunnels.

In terms of the geography of NYC, it is best to imagine the Greater New York area as a main center island (Manhattan) surrounded by outer islands (the other boroughs): Queens is located just east of Manhattan; Brooklyn is situated to the southeast of Manhattan; Staten Island is located southwest of Manhattan and the Bronx is located north of Manhattan.

Only Manhattan and Staten Island are on their own land masses. The Bronx is the only borough that is attached to the New York State mainland.

When people refer to New York City, they are usually talking about Manhattan. Most of NYC’s main attractions are located in this borough and the majority of visitors spend most of their vacation here.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:45

Manhattan

Manhattan is located between the Hudson River on the west side and the East River on the east side. The island is 22.7 square miles (58.8 square kilometers), 13.4 miles (21.6 kilometers) long and 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) wide at its widest point. Manhattan can be roughly divided into four quadrants（四分之一圆，扇形体）: the East Side, the West Side, Uptown and Downtown. The best way to understand how the geography of Manhattan is organized is in terms of the city’s street layout.

Whether walking or using public transportation, New York is a pretty simple city to navigate. This is because the city, for the most part, is a grid of intersecting avenues and streets. A street map of Manhattan looks very much like a sheet of graph paper.

The avenues run North and South, beginning with 1st Avenue on the East Side and spanning westward all the way to 12th Avenue. Streets run East and West, beginning with 1st street downtown and going as far as 220th Street at the northern tip of uptown Manhattan. Locations north of 14th Street are generally considered Uptown and anything lying below 14th Street is considered Downtown. The East Side is separated from the West Side by Central Park (from 59th Street to 110th Street) and by Broadway, the street below 59th Street.
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It’s important to remember that the distance between avenues is generally much larger than the distance between streets (roughly 3 times as long). So, walking east to west from 1st Avenue to 3rd Avenue, for example, will be roughly 3 times farther than walking south to north from 1st Street to 3rd Street.

When in New York, it is common to hear people shout out addresses that sound like a list of numbers. For example, let’s say you want to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s located at 82nd Street and 5th Avenue. If you were to hop in a taxi, you could simply say, "82nd and 5th" and the driver would know exactly where to go. That’s because when New Yorkers give addresses, they most often just say the street number and then the avenue number. Do not reverse the order of the numbers, though. The first number is where your destination is located and the second number is the nearest cross-street. When getting addresses in New York, it is always helpful to ask for the nearest cross-street.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:46

A Short History of the Big Apple

No discussion about New York would be complete without asking why New York is referred to as "the Big Apple". Like many things about New York, you’ll probably get a different answer depending on who you ask. According to the Museum of the City of New York , it is believed that in the 1920s, a sportswriter overheard stable (马房) hands in New Orleans refer to New York City’s racetracks (赛马场) as "the Big Apple". The phrase was most widely used by jazz musicians during the 1930s and 40s. They adopted the term to refer to New York City, and especially Harlem, as the jazz capital of the world.

The Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazano may have been the first European to explore the New York region in 1524. More than 80 years later, Englishman Henry Hudson sailed up the river that now bears his name. But it was Dutch settlements that truly started the city. In 1624, the town of New Amsterdam was established on lower Manhattan. Two years later, according to local legend, Dutchman Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the local Native Americans for 60 guilders (about $24) worth of goods.

Few people realize that New York was briefly the US capital from 1789 to 1790 and was the capital of New York State until 1797. By 1790, it was the largest US city. In 1825, the opening of the Erie Canal, which linked New York with the Great Lakes, led to continued expansion. A charter was adopted in 1898 incorporating all five boroughs into Greater New York.

New York has always been and remains a city of immigrants. Patterns of immigration are integral to the city’s history and landscape. Immigration, mainly from Europe, swelled the city’s population in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After World War II, many African-Americans from the South, Puerto Ricans, and Latin Americans migrated to the city as well. Because of the variety of immigrant groups, both historically and currently, New York is often referred to as a true "melting pot".

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:47

Attractions of the City

Few New York sites are as awe-inspiring as Statue of Liberty . A century ago, Lady Liberty held up her torch to welcome immigrants to America. Today, you can climb 354-steps to look out from her crown to see both the New York and New Jersey coasts.

New Yorkers call Times Square , the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street the "Crossroads of the World". It is the most recognized intersection on earth-millions of people see it on television every New Year’s Eve. Some people say it’s the best place in New York to people-watch. At night, the illuminated signs in Times Square make an amazing light show.

Empire State Building was built in 1931, this skyscraper was the tallest in the world for half a century. You’ll get a great view of the city from the art deco tower’s observation deck.

Who would have thought that a city filled with people, traffic and skyscrapers, could offer visitors such an incredible natural oasis（绿洲，避风港） as Central Park? The park is full of rolling meadows, trees, water bodies and stone bridges. It’s all free. Sunbathe on Sheep’s Meadow, stroll through the Shakespeare Garden, play softball on the Great Lawn or climb up to Summit Rock, the highest point in the park.

If you see only one museum in New York City, Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) should be the one. The museum houses over two million works of art ranging from Egyptian to Medieval to 20th Century. Make sure to plan ahead and get a free map of the museum inside-this makes it easier to navigate the Met’s meandering galleries.

You can’t miss the 188 nations’ flags flying high above First Avenue in front of the headquarters of United Nations . Tours take you through the Security Council and General Assembly Halls.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:48

1. What is said about the New York City?

A) It is a good place for traffic.

B) It is a good place for vacation.

C) It is a good place for planting apple trees.

D) It is a good place for building skyscrapers.

2. What is the geography of the New York City?

A) It includes five boroughs, with Queen as the center island.

B) It includes five boroughs, with Bronx in the center.

C) It includes five boroughs, with Brooklyn as the centre island.

D) It includes five boroughs, with Staten Island in the center.

3. The best way to understand the geography of Manhattan is by means of    .

A) the Hudson River and the East River

B) the New York city’s transportation

C) Manhattan’s four parts

D) the New York city’s street arrangement

4. How many streets and avenues are there in Manhattan in total?

A) There are twelve avenues and two hundred and twenty streets in Manhattan.

B) There are eleven avenues and two hundred and twenty streets in Manhattan.

C) There are twelve avenues and two hundred streets in Manhattan.

D) There are eleven avenues and two hundred streets in Manhattan.

5. The addresses in New York City are arranged in an order of       .

A) the avenue number and then the street number

B) the street number and then the avenue number

C) the street number and then the building number

D) the avenue number and then the building number

6. According to one explanation, New York began to be called "the Big Apple" in the 1930s and 40s by       .

A) pop musicians

B) opera musicians

C) jazz musicians

D) classical musicians

7. Certain legend accounts that, in 1626, a Dutchman bought the island of Manhattan with goods worth of       .

A) 60 guilders

B)24 guilders

C)60 dollars

D)20 dollars

8. From the 19th century immigrants have been coming in from various parts of the world, which is why New York is referred to as __________.

9. Many people are familiar with Times Square, perhaps because it appears on TV every __________.

10. To most people’s surprise New York boasts a place where they can relax and enjoy meadows, trees and water bodies, which is __________.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:49

文章梗概：

本文主要介绍了国家设立海关的目的和海关重点检查的一些物品。文章首先指出了海关的基本职责是对进出该国的物品施行管制，然后指出关税对国家的重要意义。此后，本文分别介绍了海关对于大宗货物和个体旅行者的检查方法。接下来文章依次介绍了被海关列为违禁品的商品。

答案解析：

1. 由题干关键词the most fundamental goal of a nation’s customs定位至第二段第二句At its most basic level, its purpose is to regulate what comes into and goes out of a country. 该句指出：从最基本的层面讲，一个国家设立海关的目的应该是管制进出该国的物品。因此D）"控制进出口货物"为答案。这里的regulate意为"控制，管理"。

2. 由题干关键词favor domestic goods定位至第三段末句To tilt the balance in favor domestic business, governments impose tariffs, also called duty, on foreign goods coming into the country. 该句指出：为了向国内贸易倾斜，政府采取了对进口货物征收关税的政策。故A）为正确答案。这里的tilt意为"倾斜，倾倒"。

3. 由题干关键词do business more freely定位至第四段倒数第二句Certain countries may join together to work out mutually beneficial trade agreements, enabling business in those nations to trade more freely …. 这句的主要意思是：有些国家联合起来制定互利贸易协定，这就使他们之间的贸易往来更为顺畅。因此答案为C）。

4. 由题干关键词huge in volume定位至第六段第三句They can’t check every bit of foreign cargo, of course, so agents pick certain boxes to inspect and certain shipments to scrutinize. 当然，他们不可能对每一件货物都进行检查，所以海关工作人员只选出某些集装箱或者某艘货轮进行仔细检查。由此可知答案为B）。

5. 由题干关键词individual travelers和bring home定位至第七段第三句In the United States and many other countries, the customs agency grants each traveler a nominal duty exemption to allow them to bring back a reasonable amount of goods without having to pay tariffs. 在美国和其他许多国家，海关准许个人旅游者携带符合规定数量的货物过关，并免除他们的关税。因此D）与文中表述相符。

6. 由题干关键词many years of experience定位至第九段第四句Other customs agencies decide who to search based solely on intuition.而紧接下来的一句就是对intuition的进一步说明:After many years on the job, a customs agent develops a keen eye for people who are up to no good. 多年的工作经验使海关工作人员仅凭直觉就可决定搜查对象。因此A）为正确答案。

7. 由题干关键词plants and animals定位至第十一段第三、四句In most countries, the importation of fruits…is heavily regulated due to the fear of disease or ecological imbalance. While it may seem strange that a piece of fruit is considered a threat to national security….大多数国家都严格控制肉类、水果和动植物的进口，因为它们可能携带病毒或破坏生态平衡，进而威胁国家安全。故答案为A）。

8. 由题干关键词an enemy country定位至第十二段第二句If country A is considered to be a national enemy of country B, or has a record of violating international law, country B (and other countries) might institute an embargo against that country. 如果甲国被乙国当作敌国，或者甲国有违反国际法的纪录，乙国或者其他国家可能对甲国实施禁运。题干中的imposed on是对句中institute的解释，故答案为an embargo。

9. 由题干关键词cultural artifacts定位到倒数第三段, 再由help the artifacts going back定位至最后一句Customs agencies have helped to restore many priceless artifacts to their rightful owners. 海关已经帮助把许多无价的工艺品归还给了它们合法的主人。划线处即为答案。

10. 由题干关键词ivory and dog or cat furs定位至倒数第二段第二句, 句首的For example显然说明本句是对前面一句的例证，那么这些货物被禁止的原因就应该是A country’s government might also ban importation of items based on ethics and morality. 一个国家的政府还可能根据伦理和道德原则禁止某些物品的进口。划线处即为答案。

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[六级阅读] 2012年大学英语六级快速阅读冲刺题（1）