2021年6月英语六级真题 第1套

Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A）, B）, C）and D）. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

Humans are fascinated by the source of their failings and virtues. This preoccupation inevitably leads to an old debate: whether nature or nurture moulds us more. A revolution in genetics has poised this as a modern political question about the character of our society: if personalities are hard-wired into our genes, what can governments do to help us? It feels morally questionable, yet claims of genetic selection by intelligence are making headlines.
This is down to “hereditarian” （遗传论的）science and a recent paper claimed “differences in exam performance between pupils attending selective and non-selective schools mirror the genetic dif erences between them”. With such an assertion, the work was predictably greeted by a lot of absurd claims about “genetics determining academic success”. What the research revealed was the rather less surprising result: the educational benefits of selective schools largely disappear once pupils’ inborn ability and socio-economic background were taken into account. It is a glimpse of the blindingly obvious—and there’s nothing to back strongly either a hereditary or environmental argument.
Yet the paper does say children are “unintentionally genetically selected” by the school system. Central to hereditarian science is a tall claim: that identifiable variations in genetic sequences can predict an individual’s aptness to learn, reason and solve problems. This is problematic on many levels. A teacher could not seriously tell a parent their child has a low genetic tendency to study when external factors clearly exist. Unlike-minded academics say the inheritability of human traits is scientifically unsound. At best there is a weak statistical association and not a causal link between DNA and intelligence. Yet sophisticated statistics are used to create an intimidatory atmosphere of scientific certainty.
While there’s an undoubted genetic basis to individual difference, it is wrong to think that socially defined groups can be genetically accounted for. The fixation on genes as destiny is surely false too. Medical predictability can rarely be based on DNA alone; the environment matters too. Something as complex as intellect is likely to be affected by many factors beyond genes. If hereditarians want to advance their cause it will require more balanced interpretation and not just acts of advocacy.
Genetic selection is a way of exerting influence over others, “the ultimate collective control of human destinies,” as writer H. G. Wells put it. Knowledge becomes power and power requires a sense of responsibility.In understanding cognitive ability, we must not elevate discrimination to a science: allowing people to climb the ladder of life only as far as their cells might suggest. This will need a more sceptical eye on the science.As technology progresses, we all have a duty to make sure that we shape a future that we would want to find ourselves in.

人类对自己的缺点和美德的根源着迷。这种关注不可避免地导致了一场由来已久的争论：是天性还是后天培养更能塑造我们。遗传学的一场革命使这成为了一个关于我们社会特征的现代政治问题：如果个性是刻在基因里的，那么政府能做些什么来帮助我们？基因选择决定智力的说法从道德上讲有问题，但却成了头条焦点。
这一说法源于“遗传论”科学，[46] 最近的一篇论文称，“就读精英学校和非精英学校的学生在考试成绩上的差异反映了他们之间的基因差异”。[47] 有了这样的论断，不出所料，这项研究受到了许多支持“基因决定学术成功”荒谬说法的人士的欢迎。该项研究揭示了一个不那么令人惊讶的结果：一旦考虑到学生的先天能力和社会经济背景，精英学校的教育优势就基本上消失了。这只是对显而易见的事实的一瞥——无论是有关遗传还是环境的论点，都没有强有力的论据来支撑。
[47] 然而，论文的确说到，学校制度对学生进行了“无意识的基因选择”。“遗传论”科学的核心是一个荒诞的主张：基因序列中可识别的变异可以预测个体学习、推理和解决问题的能力。这在许多层面上都是有问题的。老师不能严肃地告诉家长他们的孩子缺乏学习的基因，因为明显存在外部因素。持不同观点的学者说，人类特质的可遗传性在科学上是不合理的。[48] DNA和智力之间充其量只有微弱的统计关联，没有因果关系。然而，复杂的统计数据被用来营造了一种令人生畏的科学确定性氛围。
虽然个体差异有遗传原因这一点毋庸置疑，但认为可以从基因角度来解释社会定义的群体是错误的。认为基因决定命运的观点也当然是错误的。医学上的可预测性很少能仅基于DNA；环境因素也很重要。像智力这样复杂的东西很可能会受到基因以外的许多因素的影响。[49] 如果“遗传论者”想推进他们的事业，就需要更加合理、公正的解释，而不仅仅是鼓吹。
基因选择论是对他人施加影响的一种方式，正如作家H. G.威尔斯所说，这种说法是对“人类命运的终极集体控制”。知识变成力量，力量需要责任感。[50] 在理解认知能力方面，我们决不能把歧视提升为一门科学：在人们攀登生命的阶梯时，只允许他们攀登到细胞允许的程度。这就需要我们对科学持有更多怀疑的态度。随着技术的进步，我们都有责任去确保我们塑造的未来中，我们自己也会包含在内。

Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Nicola Sturgeon’s speech last Tuesday setting out the Scottish government’s legislative programme for the year ahead confirmed what was already pretty clear. Scottish councils are set to be the first in the UK with the power to levy charges on visitors, with Edinburgh likely to lead the way.
Tourist taxes are not new. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has a longstanding policy of charging visitors a daily fee. France’s tax on overnight stays was introduced to assist thermal spa （温泉）towns to develop, and around half of French local authorities use it today.
But such levies are on the rise. Moves by Barcelona and Venice to deal with the phenomenon of “over tourism” through the use of charges have recently gained prominence. Japan and Greece are among the countries to have recently introduced tourist taxes.
That the UK lags behind is due to our weak, by international standards, local government, as well as the opposition to taxes and regulation of our aggressively pro-market ruling party. Some UK cities have lobbied without success for the power to levy a charge on visitors. Such levies are no universal remedy as the amounts raised would be tiny compared with what has been taken away by central government since 2010. Still, it is to be hoped that the Scottish government’s bold move will prompt others to act. There is no reason why visitors to the UK, or domestic tourists on holiday in hotspots such as Cornwall, should be exempt from taxation—particularly when vital local services including waste collection, park maintenance and arts and culture spending are under unprecedented strain.
On the contrary, compelling tourists to make a financial contribution to the places they visit beyond their personal consumption should be part of a wider cultural shift. Westerners with disposable incomes have often behaved as if they have a right to go wherever they choose with little regard for the consequences. Just as the environmental harm caused by aviation and other transport must come under far greater scrutiny, the social cost of tourism must also be confronted. This includes the impact of short-term lets on housing costs and quality of life for residents. Several European capitals, including Paris and Berlin, are leading a campaign for tougher regulation by the European Union. It also includes the impact of overcrowding, litter and the kinds of behaviour associated with noisy parties.
There is no “one size fits all” solution to this problem. The existence of new revenue streams for some but not all councils is complicated, and businesses are often opposed, fearing higher costs will make them uncompetitive. But those places that want them must be given the chance to make tourist taxes work.

[51] 尼古拉·斯特金上周二的发言阐述了苏格兰政府未来一年的立法计划，证实了苏格兰议会将成为英国第一个有权对游客收费的议会，这一趋势基本已成定局，爱丁堡可能会率先实施。
旅游税并不新鲜。喜马拉雅山脉的不丹王国长期以来一直实行向游客收取每日费用的政策。法国为了促进温泉小镇的发展，对过夜留宿的游客征税，现在大约有一半的法国地方当局征收该类税种。
但此类征税正在增加。巴塞罗那和威尼斯通过向游客收费来应对“过度旅游”现象的举措最近备受关注。最近开始征收旅游税的国家中包括日本和希腊。
英国之所以在开征旅游税上落后，是因为按照国际标准，我们的地方政府软弱，[52] 而且我们积极支持市场的执政党反对税收和监管。英国一些城市曾游说争取向游客收费的权力，但没有成功。此类征税并不是万能的补救措施，因为与2010年以来中央政府拿走的钱相比，（通过旅游税）筹集的金额微不足道。尽管如此，人们还是希望苏格兰政府这一大胆举措能促使其他地方政府采取行动。[53] 来到英国的游客或在康沃尔等热点地区度假的国内游客没有理由免税，尤其是在重要的当地服务系统（包括垃圾收集、公园维护和艺术文化支出）面临前所未有的压力时。
相反，迫使游客在个人消费之外为他们游览的地方做出经济贡献，应该是更广泛的文化转变的一部分。[54]拥有可支配收入的西方人通常表现得好像他们有权去任何他们选择的地方，而很少考虑后果。正如航空和其他交通工具对环境造成的危害必须受到更严格的审查一样，旅游的社会成本也必须得到正视。这包括短期租房对居民住房成本和生活质量的影响。包括巴黎和柏林在内的多个欧洲国家的首都正在发起一场运动，要求欧盟加强监管。（旅游的社会成本）还包括过度拥挤、乱扔垃圾以及与吵闹聚会有关的各种行为的影响。
这个问题没有一劳永逸的解决办法。[55] 对于一些地方议会（而不是所有的议会）来说，新的收入来源的存在很复杂，企业也往往反对，担心成本上升会使它们失去竞争力。但是，必须给那些想要征收旅游税的地方机会，让旅游税发挥作用。