2011年12月英语六级真题及答案

2011年12月大学英语六级真题及答案PartIWriting(30minutes)Directions:Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledTheWaytoSuccessbycommentingonAbrahamLincoln'sfamousremark,Givemesixhourstochopdownatree,andIwillspend,thefirstfoursharpeningtheaxe.Youshouldwriteatleast150wordsbutnomorethan200words.TheWaytoSuccess注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。PartIIReadingComprehension(SkimmingandScanning)(15minutes)Directions:Inthispart,youwillhave15minutestogooverthepassagequicklyandanswerthequestionsonAnswerSheet1.Forquestions1-7,choosethebestanswerfromthefourchoicesmarkedA),B),C)andD).Forquestions8-10,completethesentenceswiththeinformationgiveninthepassage.Google'sPlanforWorld'sBiggestOnlineLibrary:PhilanthropyOrActofPiracy?Inrecentyears,teamsofworkersdispatchedbyGooglehavebeenworkinghardtomakedigitalcopiesofbooks.Sofar,Googlehasscannedmorethan10milliontitlesfromlibrariesinAmericaandEurope-includinghalfamillionvolumesheldbytheBodleianinOxford.Theexactmethoditusesisunclear;thecompanydoesnotallowoutsiderstoobservetheprocess.WhyisGoogleundertakingsuchaventure?Whyisiteveninterestedinallthoseout-of-printlibrarybooks,mostofwhichhavebeengatheringdustonforgottenshelvesfordecades?Thecompanyclaimsitsmotivesareessentiallypublic-spirited.Itsoverallmission,afterall,istoorganisetheworld'sinformation,soitwouldbeoddifthatinformationdidnotincludebooks.Thecompanylikestopresentitselfashavingloftyaspirations.Thisreallyisn'taboutmakingmoney.Wearedoingthisforthegoodofsociety.AsSantiagodelaMora,headofGoogleBooksforEurope,putsit:Bymakingitpossibletosearchthemillionsofbooksthatexisttoday,wehopetoexpandthefrontiersofhumanknowledge.DanClancy,thechiefarchitectofGoogleBooks,doesseemgenuineinhisconvictionthatthisisprimarilyaphilanthropic(慈善的)exercise.Google'scorebusinessissearchandfind,soobviouslywhathelpsimproveGoogle'ssearchengineisgoodforGoogle,hesays.Butwehaveneverbuiltaspreadsheet(电子数据表)outliningthefinancialbenefitsofthis,andIhaveneverhadtojustifytheamountIamspendingtothecompany'sfounders.Itiseasy,talkingtoClancyandhiscolleagues,tobesweptalongbytheirmissionarypassion.ButGoogle'sbook-scanningprojectisprovingcontroversial.Severalopponentshaverecentlyemerged,rangingfromrivaltechgiantssuchasMicrosoftandAmazontosmallbodiesrepresentingauthorsandpublishersacrosstheworld.Inbroadterms,theseopponentshavelevelledtwosetsofcriticismsatGoogle.First,theyhavequestionedwhethertheprimaryresponsibilityfordigitallyarchivingtheworld'sbooksshouldbeallowedtofalltoacommercialcompany.InarecentessayintheNewYorkReviewofBooks,RobertDarnton,theheadofHarvardUniversity'slibrary,arguedthatbecausesuchbooksareacommonresource–thepossessionofusall–onlypublic,not-for-profitbodiesshouldbegiventhepowertocontrolthem.ThesecondrelatedcriticismisthatGoogle'sscanningofbooksisactuallyillegal.ThisallegationhasledtoGooglebecomingmiredin(陷入)alegalbattlewhosescopeandcomplexitymakestheJarndyceandJarndycecaseinCharlesDickens'BleakHouselookstraightforward.Atitscentre,however,isonesimpleissue:thatofcopyright.Theinconvenientfactaboutmostbooks,towhichGooglehasarguablypaidinsufficientattention,isthattheyareprotectedbycopyright.Copyrightlawsdifferfromcountrytocountry,butingeneralprotectionextendsforthedurationofanauthor'slifeandforasubstantialperiodafterwards,thusallowingtheauthor'sheirstobenefit.(InBritainandAmerica,thispost-deathperiodis70years.)Thismeans,ofcourse,thatalmostallofthebookspublishedinthe20thcenturyarestillundercopyright–andthelastcenturysawmorebookspublishedthaninallpreviouscenturiescombined.Oftheroughly40millionbooksinUSlibraries,forexample,anestimated32millionareincopyright.Ofthese,some27millionareoutofprint.OutsidetheUS,Googlehasmadesureonlytoscanbooksthatareoutofcopyrightandthusinthepublicdomain(workssuchastheBodleian'sfirsteditionofMiddlemarch,whichanyonecanreadforfreeonGoogleBooksSearch).But,withintheUS,thecompanyhasscannedbothin-copyrightandout-of-copyrightworks.Initsdefence,Googlepointsoutthatitdisplaysonlysmallsegmentsofbooksthatareincopyright–arguingthatsuchdisplaysarefairuse.Butcriticsallegethatbymakingelectroniccopiesofthesebookswithoutfirstseekingthepermissionofcopyrightholders,Googlehascommittedpiracy.Thekeyprincipleofcopyrightlawhasalwaysbeenthatworkscanbecopiedonlyonceauthorshaveexpresslygiventheirpermission,saysPiersBlofeld,oftheSheilLandliteraryagencyinLondon.Googlehasreversedthis–ithassimplycopiedalltheseworkswithoutbotheringtoask.In2005,theAuthorsGuildofAmerica,togetherwithagroupofUSpublishers,launchedaclassactionsuit(集团诉讼)againstGooglethat,aftermorethantwoyearsofnegotiation,endedwithanannouncementlastOctoberthatGoogleandtheclaimantshadreachedanout-of-courtsettlement.Thefulldetailsarecomplicated-thetextalonerunsto385pages–andtryingtosummariseitisnoeasytask.Partoftheproblemisthatitisbasicallyincomprehensible,saysBlofeld,oneofthesettlement'smostvocalBritishcritics.Broadly,thedealprovidesamechanismforGoogletocompensateauthorsandpublisherswhoserightsithasbreached(includinggivingthemashareofanyfuturerevenueitgeneratesfromtheirworks).Inexchangeforthis,therightsholdersagreenottosueGooglei