2021年12月大学英语六级考试真题（第3套）PartIWriting(30 minutes)Directions:For this part,you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay related to the shortpassage given below.In your essay,you are to comment on the phenomenon described in thepassage and suggest measures to address the issue.You should write at least 150 words but nomore than 200 words.Some parents in China are overprotective of their children.They plan everything for theirchildren,make all the decisions for them,and do not allow them to explore on their own in casethey make mistakes or get hurt.Part IIListening Comprehension(30 minutes)温馨提示：历年全国六级考试共考2套听力，第3套套真题听力与第2套内容完全相同，只是题目选项顺序不同，因此不再重复出现。Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section A温馨提示：2021年12月六级考试共考了2套阅读词汇理解，本套阅读词汇理解与第2套内容完全一样，因此在本套真题中不再重复出现。Section BDirections:In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraphfrom which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.Eachparagraph is marked with a letter.Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter onAnswer sheet 2.Why facts don't change our mindsA)The economist J.K.Galbraith once wrote,"Faced with a choice between changingone's mind and proving there is no need to do so,almost everyone gets busy with theproof."B)Leo Tolstoy was even bolder:"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the mostslow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already:but the simplest thingcannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knowsalready,without a shadow of a doubt,what is laid before him."C)What's going on here?Why don't facts change our minds?And why would someonecontinue to believe a false or inaccurate idea anyway?How do such behaviors serve us?Humans need a reasonably accurate view of the world in order to survive.If your modelof reality is wildly different from the actual world,then you struggle to take effectiveactions each day.However,truth and accuracy are not the only things that matter to thehuman mind.Humans also seem to have a deep desire to belong.D)In Atomic Habits,I wrote,"Humans are herd animals.We want to fit in,to bond with2021年12月真题第3套第1页共7页others,and to earn the respect and approval of our peers.Such inclinations are essentialto our survival.For most of our evolutionary history,our ancestors lived in tribesBecoming separated from the tribe-or worse,being cast out-was a death sentence."E)Understanding the truth of a situation is important,but so is remaining part of a tribe.While these two desires often work well together,they occasionally come into conflict.In many circumstances,social connection is actually more helpful to your daily life thanunderstanding the truth of a particular fact or idea.The Harvard psychologist StevenPinker put it this way,"People are embraced or condemned according to their beliefs,soone function of the mind may be to hold beliefs that bring the belief-holder the greatestnumber of allies,protectors,or disciples ()rather than beliefs that are most likelyto be true.”F)We don't always believe things because they are correct.Sometimes we believe thingsbecause they make us look good to the people we care about.I thought Kevin Simlerput it well when he wrote,"If a brain anticipates that it will be rewarded for adopting aparticular belief,it's perfectly happy to do so,and doesn't much care where the rewardcomes from-whether it's pragmatic(实用主义的)(better outcomes resulting frombetter decisions),social(better treatment from one's peers),or some mix of the two."G)False beliefs can be useful in a social sense even if they are not useful in a factual sense.For lack of a better phrase,we might call this approach "factually false,but sociallyaccurate."When we have to choose between the two,people often select friends andfamily over facts.This insight not only explains why we might hold our tongue at adinner party or look the other way when our parents say something offensive,but alsoreveals a better way to change the minds of others.H)Convincing someone to change their mind is really the process of convincing them tochange their tribe.If they abandon their beliefs,they run the risk of losing social ties.You can't expect someone to change their mind if you take away their community too.You have to give them somewhere to go.Nobody wants their worldview tomn apart ifloneliness is the outcome.I)The way to change people's minds is to become friends with them,to integrate theminto your tribe,to bring them into your circle.Now,they can change their beliefswithout the risk of being abandoned socially.J)Perhaps it is not difference,but distance,that breeds tribalism and hostility.Asproximity increases,so does understanding.I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln's quote,"I don't like that man.I must get to know him better."K)Facts don't change our minds.Friendship does.Years ago,Ben Casnocha mentioned anidea to me that I haven't been able to shake:The people who are most likely to changeour minds are the ones we agree with on 98 percent of topics.If someone you know,2021年12月真题第3套第2页共7页like,and trust believes a radical idea,you are more likely to give it merit,weight,orconsideration.You already agree with them in most areas of life.Maybe you shouldchange your mind on this one too.But if someone wildly different than you proposesthe same radical idea,well,it's easy to dismiss them as nuts.L)One way to visualize this distinction is by mapping beliefs on a spectrum.If you dividethis spectrum into 10 units and you find yourself at Position 7,then there is little sensein trying to convince someone at Position 1.The gap is too wide.When you're atPosition 7,your time is better spent connecting with people who are at Positions 6 and 8,gradually pulling them in your direction.M)The most heated arguments often occur between people on opposite ends of thespectrum,but the most frequent learning occurs from people who are nearby.The closeryou are to someone,the more likely it becomes that the one or two beliefs you don'tshare will bleed over into your own mind and shape your thinking.The further away anidea is from your current position,the more likely you are to reject it outright.When itcomes to changing people's minds,it is very difficult to jump from one side to another.You can't jump down the spectrum.You have to slide down it.N)Any idea that is sufficiently different from your current worldview will feel threatening.And the best place to ponder a threatening idea is in a non-threatening environment.As a result,books are often a better vehicle for transforming beliefs than conversationsor debates.In conversation,people have to carefully consider their status andappearance.They want to save face and avoid looking stupid.When confronted with anuncomfortable set of facts,the tendency is often to double down on their currentposition rather than publicly admit to being wrong.Books resolve this tension.With abook,the conversation takes place inside someone's head and without the risk of beingjudged by others.It's easier to be open-minded when you aren't feeling defensive.O)There is another reason bad ideas continue to live on,which is that people continue totalk about them.Silence is death for any idea.An idea that is never spoken or writtendown dies with the person who conceived it.Ideas can only be remembered when theyare repeated.They can only be believed when they are repeated.I have already pointedout that people repeat ideas to signal they are part of the same social group.But here's acrucial point most people miss:People also repeat bad ideas when they complain aboutthem.Before you can criticize an idea,you have to reference that idea.You end uprepeating the ideas you're hoping people will forget-but,of course,people can't forgetthem because you keep talking about them.The more you repeat a bad idea,the morelikely people are to believe it.P)Let's call this phenomenon Clear's Law of Recurrence:The number of people whobelieve an idea is directly proportional to the number of times it has been repeatedduring the last year-even if the idea is false.2021年12月真题第3套第3页共7页