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1、知己知彼百战百胜 全国英语六级历年真题1 / 312012 年 12 月大学英语六级(CET-6)真题试卷Part I Writing (30 minutes)Direction: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay entitled Man and Computer by commenting on the saying, The real danger is not that the computer will begin to think like man, but that man will begin
2、 to think like the computer. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.On Maintaining TrustPart II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet
3、 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Rates are low, but consumers wont borrowThe US Federal Reserve(Fed)s announcement last week that it intended to keep cred
4、it cheap for at least two more years was a clear invitation to Americans: Go out and borrow. But many economists say it will take more than low interest rates to persuade consumers to take on more debt. There are already signs that the recent stock market fluctuations, turbulence in Europe and the U
5、S deficit have scared consumers. On Friday, preliminary data showed that the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index had fallen this month to lower than it was in November 2008, when the United States was deep in recession. Under normal circumstances, the Feds announcement mi
6、ght have attracted new home and car buyers and prompted credit card holders to rack up fresh charges. But with unemployment high and those with jobs worried about keeping them, consumers are more concerned about paying off the loans they already have than adding more debt. And by showing its hand fo
7、r the next two years, the Fed may have thoughtlessly invited prospective borrowers to put off large purchases. Lenders, meanwhile, are still dealing with the effects of the boom-gone-bust and are forcing prospective borrowers to go to extraordinary lengths to prove their creditworthiness. 知己知彼百战百胜 全
8、国英语六级历年真题2 / 31I dont think lenders are going to be interested in extending a lot of debt in this environment, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moodys Analytics, a macroeconomic consulting firm. Nor do I think households are going to be interested in taking on a lot of debt. In housing, consumers
9、 have already shown a slow response to low rates. Applications for new mortgages have decreased this year to a 10-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Sales of furniture and furnishings remain 22% below their pre-recession peak, according to Spending Pulse, a research report by M
10、asterCard Advisors. Credit card rates have actually gone up slightly in the past year. The one bright spot in lending is the number of auto loans, which is up from last year. But some economists say that confidence among car buyers is hitting new lows. For Xavier Walter, a former mortgage banker who
11、 with his wife, Danielle, accumulated$20 000 in credit card debt, low rates will not change his spending habits. As the housing market topped out five years ago, he lost his six-figure income. He and his wife were able to modify the mortgage on their four-bedroom house in Medford, New Jersey, as wel
12、l as negotiate lower credit card payments. Two years ago, Mr. Walter, a 34-year-old father of three, started an energy business. He has sworn off credit. Im not going to go back in debt ever again, he said. If I cant pay for it in cash, I dont want it. Until now, one of the biggest restraints on con
13、sumer spending has been a debt aftereffect. Since August 2008, when household debt peaked at$12.41 trillion, it has declined by about$1.2 trillion, according to an analysis by Moodys Analytics of data from the Federal Reserve and Equifax, the credit agency. A large portion of that, though, was simpl
14、y written off by lenders as borrowers defaulted on loans. By other measures, households have improved their position. The proportion of after-tax income that households spend to remain current on loan payments has fallen. Still, household debt remains high. That presents a paradox: many economists a
15、rgue that the economy cannot achieve true health until debt levels decline. But credit, made attractive by low rates, is a time-tested way to increase consumer spending. With new risks of another downturn, economists worry that it will take years for debt to return to manageable levels. If the econo
16、my contracts again, said George Magnus, senior adviser at UBS, then you could find a lot of households in a debt trap which they probably can never get out of. Mortgage lenders, meanwhile, burned by the housing crash, are extra careful about approving new loans. In June, for instance, Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage buyer in the United States, said that borrowers whose existing debt e
