英语六级长篇阅读拟练习及答案详解
B. It wasn't until World War I that daylight savings were realized on a grand scale. Germany was the first state to adopt the time changes, to reduce artificial lighting and thereby save coal for the war effort. Friends and foes soon followed suit. In the U.S. a federal law standardized the yearly start and end of daylight saving time in 1918--for the states that chose to observe it.
C. During World War II the U.S. made daylight saving time mandatory(强制的) for the whole country, as a way to save wartime resources. Between February 9, 1942, and September 30, 1945, the government took it a step further. During this period daylight saving time was observed year-round, essentially making it the new standard time, if only for a few years. Many years later, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was enacted, mandating a controversial month-long extension of daylight saving time, starting in 2007.Daylight Saving Time: Energy Saver or Just Time Sucker?
D. In recent years several studies have suggested that daylight saving time doesn't actually save energy--and might even result in a net loss. Environmental economist Hendrik Wolff, of the University of Washington, co- authored a paper that studied Australian power-use data when parts of the country extended daylight saving time for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and others did not. The researchers found that the practice reduced lighting and electricity consumption in the evening but increased energy use in the now dark mornings-- wiping out the evening gains. That's because the extra hour that daylight saving time adds in the evening is a hotter hour. "So if people get home an hour earlier in a wanner house, they turn on their air conditioning," the University of Washington's Wolff said.
E. But other studies do show energy gains. In an October 2008 daylight saving time report to Congress, mandated by the same 2005 energy act that extended daylight saving time, the U.S. Department of Energy asserted that springing forward does save energy. Extended daylight saving time saved 1.3 terawatt ( 太瓦 ) hours of electricity. That figure suggests that daylight saving time reduces annual U.S. electricity consumption by 0.03 percent and overall energy consumption by 0.02 percent. While those percentages seem small, they could represent significant savings because of the nation's enormous total energy use.
F. What's more, savings in some regions are apparently greater than in others. California, for instance, appears to benefit most from daylight saving time--perhaps because its relatively mild weather encourages people to stay outdoors later. The Energy Department report found that daylight saving time resulted in an energy savings of one percent daily in the state.
G. But Wolff, one of many scholars who contributed to the federal report, suggested that the numbers were subject to statistical variability ( 变化) and shouldn't be taken as hard facts. And daylight savings' energy gains in the U.S. largely depend on your location in relation to the Mason-Dixon Line, Wolff said."The North might be a slight winner, because the North doesn't have as much air conditioning," he said. "But the South is a definite loser in terms of energy consumption. The South has more energy consumption under daylight saving."
Daylight Saving Time: Healthy or Harmful?
H. For decades advocates of daylight savings have argued that, energy savings or no, daylight saving time boosts health by encouraging active lifestyles--a claim Wolff and colleagues are currently putting to the test. "In a nationwide American time-use study, we're clearly seeing that, at the time of daylight saving time extension in the spring, television watching is substantially reduced and outdoor behaviors like jogging, walking, or going to the park are substantially increased," Wolff said. "That's remarkable, because of course the total amount of daylight in a given day is the same. "
I. But others warn of ill effects. Till Roenneberg, a university professor in Munich (慕尼黑), Germany, said his studies show that our circadian (生理节奏的 ) body clocks--set by light and darkness--never adjust to gaining an "extra" hour of sunlight to the end of the day during daylight saving time.
J. One reason so many people in the developed world are chronically (长期地) overtired, he said, is that they suffer from"social jet lag. "In other words, their optimal circadian sleep periods don't accord with their actual sleep schedules. Shifting daylight from morning to evening only increases this lag, he said. "Light doesn't do the same things to the body in the morning and the evening. More light in the morning would advance the body clock, and that would be good. But more light in the evening would even further delay the body clock. "
K. Other research hints at even more serious health risks. A 2008 study concluded that, at least in Sweden, heart attack risks go up in the days just after the spring time change. "The most likely explanation to our findings is disturbed sleep and disruption of biological rhythms," One expert told National Geographic News via email.
Daylight Savings' Lovers and Haters
L. With verdicts (定论) on the benefits, or costs, of daylight savings so split, it may be no surprise that the yearly time changes inspire polarized reactions. In the U.K., for instance, the Lighter Later movement--part of 10:10,a group advocating cutting carbon emissions--argues for a sort of extreme daylight savings. First, they say,move standard time forward an hour, then keep observing daylight saving time as usual--adding two hours ofevening daylight to what we currently consider standard time. The folks behind Standardtime.com, on the other hand, want to abolish daylight saving time altogether, calling energy-efficiency claims "unproven. "
M. National telephone surveys by Rasmussen Reports from spring 2010 and fall 2009 deliver the same answer.Most people just "don't think the time change is worth the hassle (麻烦的事 ). " Forty-seven percent agreedwith that statement, while only 40 percent disagreed. But Seize the Daylight author David Prerau said his research on daylight saving time suggests most people are fond of it."I think if you ask most people if they enjoy having an extra hour of daylight in the evening eight months a year, the response would be pretty positive."
46. Daylight savings' energy gains might be various due to different climates.
47. Disturbed sleep and disruption of biological rhythms may be the best explanation to higher heart attack risks in the days after the spring time change.
48. A research indicated that DST might not save energy by increasing energy use in the dark mornings, though it reduced lighting and electricity consumption in the evening.
49. Germany took the lead in saving wardme resources by adopting the time changes and reducing artificiallighting.
50. A university professor studied the effect of daylight saving time and sounded the alarm of its negative effects.
51. Social jet lag can partly account for people's chronic fatigue syndrome in developed countries.
52. The figure of a study in the U.S. suggested that DST could save a lot of energy nationally.
53. Supporters of daylight savings have long considered daylight saving time does good to people's health.
54. A group advocating cutting carbon emissions launches the Lighter Later movement to back a kind of extreme daylight savings.
55. A scholar contributing to a federal report suggested that the amount of saved energy had something to do with geographic position.
【参考译文】
夏令时
夏令时是如何开始的?何时开始的?
A.享有“早睡早起”声誉的本杰明·富兰克林显然是提出夏令时这一理念的第一人。当富兰克林在巴黎担任美国驻法大使时写道，早上6点起床时他惊奇地发现，太阳升起得比平时早了很多。他由此设想，如果自己和别人都少挑灯熬夜并在中午之前起床，那么就有可能节约资源。于是，他就以半开玩笑的口吻给一家报社写了信。
B.直到第一次世界大战夏令时才获得广泛认可。[49]德国是第一个采纳变化时间以减少人工照明从而为战事节约煤炭资源这一做法的国家。很快，不论敌国还是友邦都纷纷效仿。1918年，美国的一部联邦法律为那些选择遵守夏令时的州制定标准，规定了每年夏令时的起止日期。
C.二战期间，美国在全国强制执行夏令时，以此来节约战时的资源。在1942年2月9日至l945年9月30日期间，政府进一步推行夏令时。在这期间，全年都要遵守夏令时，这几年基本上都把它作为新的标准时间。多年以后，《能源政策法案》于2005年颁布，强制规定从2007年起将夏令时延长一个月。这个规定曾颇有争议。
夏令时：节能还是耗时?
D.近年来，有几项研究表明，夏令时并不能真正节约能源——甚至可能导致净亏损。华盛顿大学的环境经济学家亨德里克.沃尔夫与别人合著的一篇论文研究了溴大利亚的电能使用数据。当时，该国一部分地区为2000年的悉尼奥运会延长了夏令时而其他地区没有。[48]研究人员发现这种做法降低了杰盟的照明及电量消耗。但是却增加了晨间的用电量。因为现在早晨很昏暗——这就抵消了夜间节约的能源。这是因为夏令时在夜间所增加的一个小时正是很热的时候。“所以，如果人们提前一小时回家，回到比以往更热的房子里，他们就会打开空调。”华盛顿大学的沃尔夫如是说。
E.但是，其他研究确实发现夏令时可以带来节能收益。美国能源部在2008年10月份给国会的夏令时报告中称，把时间往前调确实能节约能源。这份报告同样是由2005年延长夏令时的能源法案所授权发布的。延长夏令时节约了1.3太瓦时的电量。[52]这个数字意味着。夏令时使美国年耗电量降低了0.03%，也使整体能耗减少了0.02%。尽管这些百分比看起来很小，但是，由于国家总能耗量很庞大，它们所代表的节能量还是很大的。
F.[46]此外，一些地区的节能量明显比其他地区要大。例如,加利福尼亚州似乎是从夏令时中获益最大的——可能是因为那里的气候相对温和，鼓励人们在户外待到更晚。能源部的报告发现，夏令时使这个州每日能耗量节约了1%。
G.但是作为为联邦报告撰稿的诸多学者之一，沃尔夫却表示，这些数字可能会受统计变动的影响，不应将其视为铁的事实。[55]沃尔夫表示，夏令时给美国带来的能源收益主要取决于某个地区与梅森一狄克森线的相对位置。他说：“北方在节能上可能略有优势，因为北方没有那么多空调。但是，南方在能耗上却是绝对的失利方。实行夏令时，南方会消耗更多能源。”夏令时：健康的还是有害的?
H.[53]几十年来，夏令时的倡导者一直宣称，不管夏令时能否节约能源，它都有利于健康，因为它倡导的是积极的生活方式——目前沃尔夫及其同事正在验证这种说法。“在对全美国时间使用的研究中，我们可以很清楚地看到，在春季夏令时延长时期，看电视大幅减少，而像慢跑、散步、逛公园这类的户外活动却大幅增多了。”沃尔夫说道，“这是很好的现象，当然这是因为某一特定日期的白昼长度是一样的。”
I.[50]但是其他人却警告人们夏令时所带来的负面影响。德国慕尼黑一所大学的教授蒂尔伦内伯格说。他的研究显示，我们的生物钟是根据白天和黑夜确定的，永远都适应不了夏令时期间白天快结束时所多出的那“额外”一小时的日光。
J.[51]他说，发达国家中的很多人长期感觉过度劳累，原因之一就是。他们遭受“社会时差”的折磨。换句话说，他们的最佳生理节奏睡眠期与他们实际的睡眠时间不一致。他还说，把日光从早晨转移到晚上只会加重这种时差。“光线对人体的作用在早上和晚上是不一样的。早上的光线更多会促进生物钟，这是有益的。但是，晚上的光线更多则会进一步推迟生物钟。”
K.其他研究暗示甚至还有更严重的健康危害。[47]2008年的一项研究总结道，至少在瑞典，在春季时间变化后不久，心脏病发病率就上升了。一位专家发电子邮件告诉《国家地理新闻》说：“根据我们的调查结果，最可能的解释是睡眠障碍及生物节奏紊乱。”
对夏令时是爱还是恨?
L.对夏令时所能带来的益处或造成的损失，大家意见不一。因此每年的时间变化都会引起两极分化的回应也就不足为奇了。例如，[54]在英国，“晚亮灯运动”——作为10：10(倡导降低碳排放量的一个组织)开展的运动的一部分——提倡一种极端的日光节约时制。他们说，首先要把标准时间提前一个小时，然后同以往一样遵守夏令时——这会给我们目前所认为的标准时间增加两个小时的夜间时间。另一方面，“标准时间”网的支持者则想完全废除夏令时。他们称那些节能的说法都是“未经证实的”。
M.拉斯姆森报告所做的从2010年春季和2009年秋季开始的全国电话调查也传达了同样的信息。大多数人只是“认为时间变化不值得人们如此烦恼”。47%的人赞同这一说法，而只有40%的人不赞同。然而，《一寸光阴一寸金》的作者戴维·普雷劳说，他对夏令时的研究表明，多数人是喜爱夏令时制的。“我想，如果你问多数人他们是否喜欢一年八个月中每天晚上多一个小时的日照时间，他们的回答将是十分肯定的。”
【答案解析】
46.F
解析：题干意为，夏令时带来的能源收益可能会因为不同的气候而有差异。注意抓住题干中的关键词daylight savings.energy gains，various和different climates。文章段落中，提到能源节约量与天气有关的内容在F段出现，该段前两句提到，一些地区的节能量明显比其他地区要大。例如，加利福尼亚州似乎是从夏令时中获益最大的——可能是因为那里的气候相对温和，鼓励人们在户外待到更晚。由此可知，题干对原文进行了概括和同义改写，故答案为F。
47.K
解析：题干意为，睡眠障碍和生物节奏紊乱可能是春季时间变化后心脏病发病率上升的最佳解释。注意抓住题干中的关键词disturbed sleep and disruption of biological rhythms，explanation和higher heartattack risks。文章段落中，提及睡眠障碍和生物节奏紊乱以及心脏病发病率上升的内容在K段出现，该段第二句提到，2008年的一项研究总结道，至少在瑞典，在春季时间变化后不久，心脏病发病率就上升了……接着第三句引用了一位专家的话：“根据我们的调查结果，最可能的解释是睡眠障碍及生物节奏紊乱。”由此可知，题干是对原文的同义改写，故答案为K。
48.D
解析：题干意为，一项研究表明，尽管实行夏令时能减少夜间照明及电量消耗，但却因为增加了晨间的用电量而可能无法节约能源。注意抓住题干中的关键词increasing energyuseinthedarkmornings和reduced lighting and electricity consumption in the evening。文章段落中，提到了增加晨间的用电量和减少夜间照明及电量消耗的是D段，该段第三句提到，研究人员发现这种做法减少了夜间照明及电量消耗，但是却增加了晨间的用电量，因为现在早晨很昏暗——这就抵消了夜间节约的能源。由此可知，题干对原文进行了同义改写，故答案为D。
49.B
解析：题干意为，德国率先通过采取时间变化和减少人工照明来节约战时资源。注意抓住题干中的关键词Germany，the time changes和artificiallighting。文章段落中，有关德国的内容在B段出现，该段第二句提到，德国是第一个采取时间变化以减少人工照明从而为战事节约煤炭资源的国家。由此可知，题千是对原文的同义转述，故答案为B。
50.I
解析：题干意为，一位大学教授研究了夏令时的作用并警示人们其带来的消极影响。注意抓住题干中的关键词auniversityprofessor和soundedthe alarmofits negative effects。文章段落中，提及夏令时会带来负面影响的内容在I段出现，该段首句指出，但是其他人却警告人们夏令时所带来的负面影响。第二句补充说，德国慕尼黑一所大学的教授蒂尔·伦内伯格说，他的研究显示，我们的生物钟是根据白天和黑夜确定的，永远都适应不了夏令时期间白天快结束时所多出的那“额外”一小时的日光。由此可知，题干是对原文的概述，故答案为I。
51.J
解析：题干意为，社会时差是发达国家的人们患长期疲劳综合征的部分原因。注意抓住题干中的关键词socialjetla9和chronicfatigue syndrome。文章段落中，提到社会时差和人们长期疲劳的内容在J段出现，该段第一句提到，发达国家中的很多人长期感觉过度劳累，原因之一就是，他们遭受“社会时差”的折磨。由此可知，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为J。
52.E
解析：题干意为，美国一项研究的数据表明实行夏令时能在全国范围内节约很多能源。注意抓住题干中的关键词figure，save alotofenergy和nationally。文章段落中，提到整个国家节能总量大的内容在E段出现，该段最后两句提到，这个数字意味着，夏令时使美国年耗电量降低了0.03%，也使整体能耗减少了0.02%。尽管这些百分比看起来很小，但是，由于国家总能耗量很庞大，它们所代表的节能量还是很大的。由此可知，题干是对原文的同义改写，故答案为E。
53.H
解析：题干意为，夏令时的支持者长期以来认为夏令时对人们的健康有好处。注意抓住题干中的关键词supporters ofdaylight savings和does good to people’s health。文章段落中，提及夏令时支持者以及夏令时与人类健康的关系的内容在，H段出现，该段第一句提到，几十年来，夏令时的倡导者一直宣称，不管夏令时能否节约能源，它都有利于健康，因为它倡导的是积极的生活方式。由此可知，题干是对原文的同义转述。故答案为H。
54.L
解析：题干意为，倡导降低碳排放量的一个组织发起了“晚亮灯运动”以支持一种极端的目光节约时制。注意抓住题干中的关键词a group advocating cutting carbon emissions，Lighter Later movement和akindofextremedaylight savings。文章段落中，提及“晚亮灯运动”的内容在L段出现，该段第二句提到。在英国，“晚亮灯运动”——作为10：10(倡导降低碳排放量的一个组织)开展的运动的一部分——提倡一种极端的日光节约时制。由此可知，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为L。
55.G
解析：题干意为，协助撰写联邦报告的一位学者表示，能源的节约量与所处的地理位置有关。注意抓住题干中的关键词a scholarcontributing to afederal report和geographic position。文章段落中，提及能源节约量和地理位置的关系的内容在G段出现，该段第二句提到，沃尔夫表示，夏令时给美国带来的能源收益主要取决于某个地区与梅森一狄克森线的相对位置。由此可知，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为G。