2009年6月英语六级真题(A卷)

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2009 年 6 月英语六级真题(A 卷)

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay

entitled

On the Importance of a Name.

You should write at least 150 words

following the outline given below.

1. 有人说名字或名称很重要

2. 也有人觉得名字或名称无关紧要

3. 我认为

On the Importance of a Name

Part 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 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.

Helicopter Moms vs. Free-Range Kids

Would you let your fourth-grader ride public transportation without an adult?

Probably not. Still, when Lenore Skenazy, a columnist for the

New York Sun

wrote about letting her son take the subway alone to get back to her Manhattan

home from a department store on the Upper East Side, she didn’t expect to get

hit with a wave of criticism from readers.

“Long story short: My son got home, overjoyed with independence,” Skenazy

wrote on April 4 in the

New York Sun

. “Long story longer: Half the people

I’ve told this episode to now want to turn on in for child abuse. As if

keeping kids under lock and key and cell phone and careful watch is the right

way to rear kids. It’s not. It’s

debilitating

( 使虚弱 )—for us and for

them.”

Online message boards were soon full of people both applauding and condemning

Skenazy’s decision to let her son go it alone. She wound up defending herself

on CNN (accompanied by her son) and on popular blogs like the

Buffington Post

where her follow-up piece was ironically headlined “More From America’s Worst

Mom.”

The episode has ignited another one of those debates that divides parents into

vocal opposing camps. Are Modern parents needlessly overprotective, or is the

world a more complicated and dangerous place than it was when previous

generations were allowed to wander about unsupervised?

From the “she’s an irresponsible mother” camp came: “Shame on you for being

so careless about his safety,” in Comments on the

Buffington Post

. And there

was this from a mother of four: “How would you have felt if he didn’t come

home?” But Skenazy got a lot of support, too, with women and men writing in

with stories about how they were allowed to take trips all by them selves at

seven or eight. She also got heaps of praise for bucking the “helicopter

parent” trend: “Good for this Mom,” one commenter wrote on the

Buffington

Post

. “This is a much-needed reality check.”

Last week, encouraged by all the attention, Skenazy started her own blog—Free

Range, kids—promoting the idea that modern children need some of the same

independence that her generation had. In the good old days nine-year-old baby

boomers rode their bikes to school, walked to the store, took buses—and even

subways—all by themselves. Her blog, she says, is dedicated to sensible

parenting. “At Free Range Kids, we believe in safe kids. We believe in car

seats and safety belts. We do NOT believe that every time school-age children

go outside, they need a security guard.”

So why are some parents so nervous about letting their children out of their

sight? Are cities and towns less safe and kids more vulnerable to crimes like

child kidnap and sexual abuse than they were in previous generations?

Not exactly. New York City, for instance, is safer than it’s ever been; it’s

ranked 36th in crime among all American cities. Nationwide, stringer kidnaps

are extremely rare; there’s a one-in-a-million chance a child will be taken by

a stranger, according to the Justice Department. And 90 percent of sexual abuse

cases are committed by someone the child knows. Mortality rates from all

causes, including disease and accidents, for American children are lower now

than they were 25 years’ ago. According to Child Trends, a nonprofit research

group, between 1980 and 2003 death rates dropped by 44 percent for children

aged 5 to 14 and 32 percent for teens aged 15 to 19.

Then there’s the whole question of whether modern parents are more watchful

and nervous about safety than previous generations. Yes, some are. Part of the

problem is that with wall to wall Internet and cable news, every missing child

case gets so much airtime that it’s not surprising even normal parental

anxiety can be amplified. And many middle-class parents have gotten used to

managing their children’s time and shuttling them to various enriching

activities, so the idea of letting them out on their own can seem like a risk.

Back in 1972, when many of today’s parents were kids, 87 percent of children

who lived within a mile of school walked or biked every day. But today, the

Centers for Disease Control report that only 13 percent of children bike, walk

or otherwise t themselves to school.

The extra supervision is both a city and a suburb phenomenon. Parents are

worried about crime, and they are worried about kids getting caught in traffic

in a city that’s not used to pedestrians. On the other hand, there are still

plenty of kids whose parents give them a lot of independence, by choice or by

necessity. The After School Alliance finds that more than 14 million kids aged

5 to 17 are responsible for taking care of themselves after school. Only 6.5

million kids participate in organized programs. “Many children who have

working parents have to take the subway or bus to get to school. Many do this

by themselves because they have no other way to get to the schools,” says Dr.

Richard Gallagher, director of the Parenting Institute at the New York

University Child Study Center.

For those parents who wonder how and when they should start allowing their kids

more freedom, there’s no clear-cut answer. Child experts discourage a one-

size-fits-all approach to parenting. What’s right for Skenazy’s nine-year-old

could be inappropriate for another one. It all depends on developmental issue,

maturity, and the psychological and emotional makeup of that child. Several

factors must be taken into account, says Gallagher. “The ability to follow

parent guidelines, the child’s level of comfort in handling such situations,

and a child’s general judgment should be weighed.”

Gallagher agrees with Skenazy that many nine-year-olds are ready for

independence like taking public transportation alone. “At certain times of the

day, on certain routes, the subways are generally safe for these children,

especially if they have grown up in the city and have been taught how to be

safe, how to obtain help if they are concerned for their safety, and how to

avoid unsafe situations by being watchful and on their toes.”

But even with more traffic and fewer sidewalks, modern parents do have one

advantage their parents didn’t: the cell phone. Being able to check in with a

child anytime goes a long way toward relieving parental anxiety and may help

parents loosen their control a little sooner. Skenazy got a lot of criticism

because she didn’t give her kid her cell phone because she thought he’d lose

it and wanted him to learn to go it alone without depending on mom—a major

principle of free-range parenting. But most parents are more than happy to use

cell phones to keep track of their kids.

And for those who like the idea of free-range kids but still struggle with

their inner helicopter parent, there may be a middle way. A new generation of

GPS cell phones with tracking software make it easier than ever to follow a

child’s every movement via the Internet—without seeming to interfere or

hover. Of course, when they go to college, they might start objecting to being

monitored as they’re on

parole

(假释).

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。

1. When Lenore Skenazy’s son was allowed to take the subway alone, he

________.

A) was afraid that he might get lost

B) enjoyed having the independence

C) was only too pleased to take the risk

D) thought he was an exceptional child

2. Lenore Skenazy believes that keeping kids under careful watch

A) hinders their healthy growth

B) adds too much to parents’ expenses

C) shows traditional parental caution

D) bucks the latest parenting trend

3. Skenazy’s decision to let her son take the Subway alone has net with

________.

A) opposition from her own family

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