轉眼2016下半年英語六級考試即將來臨，不少同學也正在準備2016下半年英語六級考試，以下是yjbys網小編整理的關於英語六級閱讀理解練習，供大家備考。
a return to the past
Faced with rapid change and the fear anduncertainty1 that go with it, individuals as well asnations sometimes seek to return to the ways of thepast as a solution. in the early 1980s the idea ofreturning to the ways of the past had a strongappeal 2 to many americans who increasinglyviewed their past as being better than their future. Two famous experts have observed that until the 1970 s americans generally believed that thepresent was a better time for their country than the past and that the future would be betterthan the present; by 1978, however, public opinion polls3 showed that many americans hadcome to believe that just the opposite 4 was true: the past had been better for the country thanthe present, and the present was better than the future would be.
The popular appeal of returning to the ways of the past as a solution to the problems of the1980s was demonstrated when ronald reagan5 was elected president of the united states in1980 . time magazine chose president reagan as its "man of the year" and said of him, "intellectually, emotionally, reagan lives in the past."
One of president reagan’s basic beliefs is that the united states should return as much aspossible to its pre-19307 ways. in those times business institutions were strong andgovernment institutions were weak. reagan believes that the american values of individualfreedom and competition are strengthened by business and weakened by government. therefore, his programs as president have been designed to greatly strengthen business andreduce the size and power of the national government. by moving in this way toward thepractices of the past, president reagan believed that the standard of living of americans wouldbegin to improve once more in the 1980s as it had done throughout most of the nation’shistory.
閱讀自測：
Ⅰ. add the correct prefix to the following words:
plan
bearable
expected
pay
certain
war
known
common
decided
Ⅱ. fill in the blanks with the words or phrases in the passage:
1. happiness doesn't necessarily ________( 伴隨) money.
2. traveling has a strong ________ ( 吸引力) to many young people nowadays.
3. bill clinton has ever been chosen as ________ ( 年度風雲人物) in the 1990s.
4. we all want to learn ________ ( 儘可能) to get a better future. 5. we are confident that the________ ( 生活水平) of china has been greatly improved since the open-up.
參考答案
Ⅰ. preplan / unbearable / unexpected prepay / uncertain / prewar unknown / uncommon / undecided
Ⅱ. 1. go with 2 . appeal 3 . man of the year 4. asmuch as possible 5. standard of living
參考譯文
迴歸
面對社會的急速變化及隨之而來的讓人擔憂而又難以預料的狀況, 國家和個人時常試圖按老辦法來解決問題。20 世紀80年代初期, 那些老辦法對許多美國人都有着強大的吸引力。他們總是越看越覺得昔日的生活比未來要美好。兩位著名的專家曾經說道, 直到 20 世紀70 年代, 美國人還普遍認爲他們的國家是“ 現在比過去好, 將來會比現在好”。然而, 到了1978 年, 民意測驗則顯示, 許多美國人已經清醒地認識到事實剛好相反: 過去的社 會狀況比現在更有利於國家發展, 而未來可能還不如現在。
1980 年, 在羅納德·里根當選爲美國總統時, 這種用老辦法來解決20 世紀80 年代出現的問題的流行思潮得到了很好的展示。《時代》週刊評選里根總統爲當年的“年度風雲人物”, 並評價道,“無論在思想上還是感情上, 里根都生活在過去。”
里根總統的基本信條之一就是美國應儘量回到20世紀30年代前期的狀態。在那個年代, 商業機構十分強大而政府則沒什麼權威。里根相信, 商業的發展可以增強美國人的個人自由和競爭的價值觀, 而政府機構的干預則會削弱這種價值觀。因此, 作爲總統, 他提出的計劃旨在極大地強化商業發展的同時, 削弱國民政府的規模和權力。通過求助於老方法, 里根總統當時相信: 正如美國歷史上大多數時候出現的情況那樣, 美國人民的`生活水平將在20 世紀80年代再次得到改善。
閱讀導評
列寧曾說過:“忘記過去就意味着背叛。”但是, 美國人這種用老辦法來解決新問題的思想到底是對過去黃金時代的懷念呢, 還是出於對現實的無奈? 上個世紀60、70 年代, 在經歷了越戰失敗和政府高層醜聞事件等一系列的打擊之後, 美國人不再如以前那般自信, 他們的生 活中充滿了挫敗和失望。正是在這種時代背景下, 美國人才打算用舊藥除新病, 而這纔是美國人迴歸思想的根源所在。然而, 這並不能根本解決問題, 畢竟, 新病還需新藥醫。
閱讀導釋
1.“不確定的事物, 讓人難以預料的事物”。聰明的你一定發現了這個詞語的獨特構成了吧。不難看出這個詞是由un-和certainty構成, un-是個很有用的否定前綴, 放在形容詞、名詞和動詞前構成該詞的反義詞。同樣的用法如:unable(不能);unbearable(不可忍受的); uncover(揭開); unknown (未知的, 陌生的) 。
