2021年12月英语六级真题 第2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.

The trend toward rationality and enlightenment was endangered long before the advent of the World Wide Web. As Neil Postman noted in his 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death, the rise of television introduced not just a new medium but a new discourse: a gradual shift from a typographic (印刷的) culture to a photographic one, which in turn meant a shift from rationality to emotions, exposition to entertainment. In an image-centered and pleasure-driven world, Postman noted, there is no place for rational thinking, because you simply cannot think with images. It is text that enables us to “uncover lies, confusions and overgeneralizations, and to detect abuses of logic and common sense. It also means to weigh ideas, to compare and contrast assertions, to connect one generalization to another.”
The dominance of television was not confined to our living rooms. It overturned all of those habits of mind, fundamentally changing our experience of the world, affecting the conduct of politics, religion, business, and culture. It reduced many aspects of modern life to entertainment, sensationalism, and commerce. “Americans don't talk to each other, we entertain each other,” Postman wrote. “They don't exchange ideas; they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials.”
At first, the web seemed to push against this trend. When it emerged towards the end of the 1980s as a purely text-based medium, it was seen as a tool to pursue knowledge, not pleasure. Reason and thought were most valued in this garden—all derived from the project of the Enlightenment. Universities around the world were among the first to connect to this new medium, which hosted discussion groups, informative personal or group blogs, electronic magazines, and academic mailing lists and forums. It was an intellectual project, not about commerce or control, created in a scientific research center in Switzerland. And for more than a decade, the web created an alternative space that threatened television's grip on society.
Social networks, though, have since colonized the web for television's values. From Facebook to Instagram, the medium refocuses our attention on videos and images, rewarding emotional appeals—‘like’ buttons—over rational ones. Instead of a quest for knowledge, it engages us in an endless zest (热情) for instant approval from an audience, for which we are constantly but unconsciously performing. (It's telling that, while Google began life as a PhD thesis, Facebook started as a tool to judge classmates' appearances.) It reduces our curiosity by showing us exactly what we already want and think, based on our profiles and preferences. The Enlightenment's motto (座右铭) of ‘Dare to know’ has become ‘Dare not to care to know.’

早在万维网出现之前，向理性和启蒙发展的趋势就已濒临消失。正如尼尔·波兹曼在其1985年出版的《娱乐至死》一书中所指出的，［46］电视的兴起不仅带来了一种新的媒体，还引出了一种新的言论：印刷文化逐渐转变为影像文化，而这又意味着从理性到情感，以及从阐述到娱乐的转变。波兹曼指出，在一个以图像为中心、以娱乐为导向的世界中，没有理性思考的空间，因为人们根本无法用图像进行思考。［47］是文本使我们能够“发现谎言、混淆和过度概括，并察觉出逻辑和常识的滥用。它还意味着权衡想法、比较和对比断言以及将一种概论与另一种概论联系起来”。
电视的主导地位并不局限于我们的客厅。它还颠覆了所有的思维习惯，从根本上改变了我们对世界的体验，并影响了政治、宗教、商业和文化行为。它将现代生活的许多方面简化为娱乐、哗众取宠和商业行为。［48］“美国人不互相交谈，而是互相娱乐，”波兹曼写道。“他们不交换想法；他们交换图像。他们不为观点争论；他们为美貌、名人和广告争论不休。”
起初，万维网似乎与这种趋势相反。［49］当在20世纪80年代末作为一种纯粹基于文本的媒体出现时，网络被视作一种追求知识而非娱乐的工具。在这片“花园”中，人们最看重的是理性和思想——二者都源于启蒙运动。世界各地的大学是最早与这一新媒体产生联系的用户之一，互联网上开办了讨论组、信息丰富的个人或团体博客、电子杂志以及学术性邮件列表和论坛。这是一项在瑞士的某科研中心创建的智力工程，与商业或控制无关。十多年来，网络创造了一个替代空间，威胁着电视对社会的控制。
然而，社交网络从那时起就为了电视的价值而对网络进行了“殖民”。从脸书到照片墙，网络将我们的注意力重新集中在视频和图像上，奖励情感诉求——如“点赞”按钮——而不是理性诉求。［50］它不追求知识，而是让我们对受众的即时认同产生无尽的热情，为此我们不知不觉地持续进行着这种行为。（这如同在说，谷歌诞生于一篇博士论文，而脸书最初是一个评价同学外貌的工具。）它根据我们的个人资料和偏好，精准地向我们展示我们早就想要和思考的东西，从而减少我们的好奇心。启蒙运动的座右铭“敢于知道”已变成“不敢于想知道”。

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

According to a recent study, a small but growing proportion of the workforce is affected to some degree by a sense of entitlement. Work is less about what they can contribute but more about what they can take. It can lead to workplace dysfunction and diminish their own job satisfaction. I'm not referring to employees who are legitimately dissatisfied with their employment conditions due to, say, being denied fair pay or flexible work practices. I'm talking about those who consistently believe they deserve special treatment and generous rewards. It's an expectation that exists irrespective of their abilities or levels of performance.
As a result of that discrepancy between the privileges they feel they're owed and their inflated sense of self-worth, they don't work as hard for their employer. They prefer instead to slack off. It's a tendency which many scholars believe begins in childhood due to parents who overindulge their kids. This thereby leads them to expect the same kind of spoilt treatment throughout their adult lives. And yet despite how these employees feel, it's obviously important for their manager to nonetheless find out how to keep them motivated. And, by virtue of that heightened motivation, to perform well.
The research team from several American universities surveyed more than 240 individuals. They sampled managers as well as team members. Employee entitlement was measured by statements such as “I honestly feel I'm just more deserving than others”. The respondents had to rate the extent of their agreement. Employee engagement, meanwhile, was assessed with statements like “I really throw myself into my work.” The findings revealed ethical leadership is precisely what alleviates the negative effects of employee entitlement. That's because rather than indulging employees or neglecting them, ethical leaders communicate very direct and clear expectations. They also hold employees accountable for their behaviors and are genuinely committed to doing the right thing. Additionally, these leaders are consistent in their standards. They're also less likely to deviate in how they treat employees.
This means, when confronted by an entitled team member, an ethical leader is significantly disinclined to accommodate their demands. He or she will instead point out, constructively and tactfully, exactly how their inflated sense of deservingness is somewhat distorted. They'd then go further to explain the specific, and objective, criteria the employee must meet to receive their desired rewards. This shift away from unrealistic expectations is successful because entitled employees feel more confident that ethical leaders will deliver on their promises. This occurs because they're perceived to be fair and trustworthy. The researchers, however, exercise caution by warning no one single response is the perfect remedy. But there's no denying ethical leadership is at least a critical step in the right direction.

［51］根据最近的一项研究，一小部分劳动力在某种程度上受到了权益意识的影响，而且人数还在增加。工作对他们来说，不再是自己能贡献什么，而是能从中得到什么。这会导致工作场所运作不良，降低他们自己的工作满意度。我指的不是那些对自己的就业状况有正当不满的员工，比如说，因为不能拿到合理水平的工资或取消了通常的弹性工作制度。我说的是那些一贯认为自己应该得到特殊待遇和丰厚奖励的人。无论他们的能力或表现水平如何，这种期望都存在。
由于他们认为自己应得的特权与膨胀的自我价值感之间存在差异，因此他们不会为雇主努力工作。相反，他们宁愿怠工。［52］许多学者认为，这一趋势始于儿童时期，源于父母过于纵容自己的孩子。这进而导致他们在成年后的生活中期待同样被格外关照。［53］然而，不管这些员工是怎么想的，对他们的管理者来说，很明显，重要的是要找到让员工保持积极性的方法。而且，通过提高那份积极性，使员工表现更好。
来自美国几所大学的研究团队对240多个人进行了调查。他们对管理人员和团队成员进行了抽样。员工权益的衡量标准是诸如“老实说，我觉得自己比别人更值得”这样的说法。受访者必须对他们的认可程度进行评分。与此同时，员工敬业度的评估采用了“我真的全身心投入工作”这样的表述。研究结果表明，道德领导力正是减轻员工权益意识负面影响的因素。［54］这是因为，有道德的领导者不是纵容员工或忽视他们，而是传达非常直接和明确的期望。他们还要求员工对自己的行为负责，并真正致力于做正确的事情。此外，这些领导者的标准是一致的。他们对待员工的方式也不太可能出现偏差。

这就意味着，当遇到提出权益要求的团队成员时，一个有道德的领导者显然不愿意满足他们的要求。他或她会以富有建设性的和委婉的方式指出，他们膨胀的应得感是如何被扭曲的。然后，他们会进一步解释，员工必须满足具体的、客观的标准，才能获得他们想要的奖励。这种让员工对不切实际的期望转变态度的做法是成功的，［55］因为提出权益要求的员工更相信有道德的领导者会兑现他们的承诺。这是因为他们（领导者）被认为是做事公平和值得信赖的。然而，研究人员谨慎地警告说，没有哪一次回应是完美的解决办法。但不可否认，道德领导力至少是朝着正确方向迈出的关键一步。