12月英語六級考試真題試卷附答案(完整版第1套)Part

I

Writing

(30

minutes)

Directions:

For

this

part,

you

are

allowed

30minutes

to

write

an

essay

based

on

the

picturebelow.

You

should

start

your

essay

with

a

brief

description

of

the

picture

and

then

discusswhether

there

is

a

shortcut

to

learning.

You

should

give

sound

arguments

to

support

your

viewsand

write

at

least

150

words

but

no

more

than

200

words.

注意：此部分試題請在答題卡1上作答。Part

II

Listening

Comprehension

(30

minutes)注意：此部分試題請在答題卡1上作答。

1.

A)

The

man's

tennis

racket

is

good

enough.B)

The

man

should

get

a

pair

of

new

shoes.

C)

She

can

wait

for

the

man

for

a

little

while.D)

Physical

exercise

helps

her

stay

in

shape.

2.

A)

The

woman

will

skip

Dr.

Smith's

lecture

to

help

the

man.

B)

Kathy

is

very

pleased

to

attend

the

lecture

by

Dr.

Smith.

C)

The

woman

is

good

at

doing

lab

demonstrations.

D)

The

man

will

do

all

he

can

do

assist

the

woman.

3.

A)

The

woman

asked

the

man

to

accompany

her

to

the

party.

B)

Steve

became

rich

soon

after

graduation

from

college.

C)

Steve

invited

his

classmates

to

visit

his

big

cottage.

D)

The

speakers

and

Steve

used

to

be

classmates.

4.

A)

In

a

bus.

B)

In

a

clinic.

C)

In

a

boat.

D)

In

a

plane.

5.

A)10:10.

B)9:50.

C)9:40.

D)9:10.

6.

A)

She

does

not

like

John

at

all. B)

John

has

got

many

admirers.

C)

She

does

not

think

John

is

handsome. D)

John

has

just

got

a

bachelor's

degree.

7.

A)

He

has

been

bumping

along

for

hours.B)

He

has

got

a

sharp

pain

in

the

neck.

C)

He

is

involved

in

a

serious

accident.D)

He

is

trapped

in

a

terrible

traffic

jam.

8.

A)

She

is

good

at

repairing

things.B)

She

is

a

professional

mechanic.

C)

She

should

improve

her

physical

condition.D)

She

cannot

go

without

a

washing

machine.

Questions

9

to

11

are

based

on

the

conversation

you

have

just

heard.

9.

A)

Some

witnesses

failed

to

appear

in

court.B)

The

case

caused

debate

among

the

public.

C)

The

accused

was

found

guilty

of

stealing.D)

The

accused

refused

to

plead

guilty

in

court.

A)

He

was

out

of

his

mind.B)

He

was

unemployed.

C)

His

wife

deserted

him. D)

His

children

were

sick.

11.

A)

He

had

been

in

jail

before. B)

He

was

unworthy

of

sympathy.

C)

He

was

unlikely

to

get

employed. D)

He

had

committed

the

same

sort

of

crime.

Questions

12

to

15

are

based

on

the

conversation

you

have

just

heard.

12.

A)

Irresponsible.

B)

Unsatisfactory.

C)

Aggressive.

D)

Conservative.

13.

A)

Internal

communication. B)

Distribution

of

brochures.

C)

Public

relations. D)

Product

design.

14.

A)

Placing

advertisements

in

the

trade

press.B)

Drawing

sketches

for

advertisements.

C)

Advertising

in

the

national

press. D)

Making

television

commercials.

15.

A)

She

has

the

motivation

to

do

the

job. B)

She

is

not

so

easy

to

get

along

with.

C)

She

knows

the

tricks

of

advertising. D)

She

is

not

suitable

for

the

position.Section

B 注意：此部分試題請在答題卡1上作答。

Passage

One Questions

16

to

18

are

based

on

the

conversation

you

have

just

heard.

16.

A)

The

cozy

communal

life. B)

Innovative

academic

programs.

C)

The

cultural

diversity. D)

Impressive

school

buildings.

17.

A)

It

is

very

beneficial

to

their

academic

progress.

B)

It

helps

them

soak

up

the

surrounding

culture.

C)

It

is

as

important

as

their

learning

experience.D)

It

ensures

their

physical

and

mental

health.

18.

A)

It

offers

the

most

challenging

academic

programs.

B)

It

has

the

world's

best-known

military

academies.

C)

It

provides

numerous

options

for

students.D)

It

draws

faculty

from

all

around

the

world.

Passage

Two Questions

19

to

21

are

based

on

the

passage

you

have

just

heard.

19.

A)

They

try

to

give

students

opportunities

for

experimentation.

B)

They

are

responsible

merely

to

their

Ministry

of

Education.

C)

They

strive

to

develop

every

student's

academic

potential.

D)

They

ensure

that

all

students

get

roughly

equal

attention.

A)

It

will

arrive

at

Boulogne

at

half

past

two.B)

It

crosses

the

English

Channel

twice

a

day.

C)

It

is

now

about

half

way

to

the

French

coast.D)

It

is

leaving

Folkestone

in

about

five

minutes

21.

A)

Opposite

the

ship's

office. B)

At

the

rear

of

B

deck.

C)

Next

to

the

duty-free

shop. D)

In

the

front

of

A

deck.

Passage

Three Questions

22

to

25

are

based

on

the

passage

you

have

just

heard.

22.

A)

It

is

the

sole

use

of

passengers

travelling

with

cars.

B)

It

is

much

more

spacious

than

the

lounge

on

C

deck.

C)

It

is

for

the

use

of

passengers

travelling

with

children.

D)

It

is

for

senior

passengers

and

people

with

VIP

cards.

23.

A)

It

was

named

after

its

location. B)

It

was

named

after

a

cave

art

expert.

C)

It

was

named

after

its

discoverer. D)

It

was

named

after

one

of

its

painters.

24.

A)

Animal

painting

was

part

of

the

spiritual

life

of

the

time.

B)

Deer

were

worshiped

by

the

ancient

Cro-Magnon

people.

C)

Cro-Magnon

people

painted

animals

they

hunted

and

ate.

D)

They

were

believed

to

keep

evils

away

from

cave

dwellers.

25.

A)

They

know

little

about

why

the

paintings

were

created.

B)

They

have

difficulty

telling

when

the

paintings

were

done.

C)

They

are

unable

to

draw

such

interesting

and

fine

paintings.

D)

They

have

misinterpreted

the

meaning

of

the

cave

paints.

Section

C 注意：此部分試題請在答題卡1上作答。

If

you

are

attending

a

local

college,

especially

one

without

residence

halls,

you'll

probably

liveat

home

and

commute

to

classes.

This

arrangement

has

a

lot

of

__26__.

It's

cheaper.

Itprovides

a

comfortable

and

familiar

setting,

and

it

means

you'll

get

the

kind

of

home

cookingyou're

used

to

instead

of

the

monotony

(單調(diào))

that

__27__

even

the

best

institutional

food.

However,

commuting

students

need

to

__28__

to

become

involved

in

the

life

of

their

collegeand

to

take

special

steps

to

meet

their

fellow

students.

Often,

this

means

a

certain

amount

ofinitiative

on

your

part

in

__29__

and

talking

to

people

in

your

classes

whom

you

think

youmight

like.

One

problem

that

commuting

students

sometimes

face

is

their

parents'

unwillingness

torecognize

that

they're

adults.

The

__30__

from

high

school

to

college

is

a

big

one,

and

if

youlive

at

home

you

need

to

develop

the

same

kind

of

independence

you'd

have

if

you

were

livingaway.

Home

rules

that

might

have

been

__31__

when

you

were

in

high

school

don't

apply.

Ifyour

parents

are

__32__

to

renegotiate,

you

can

speed

the

process

along

by

letting

yourbehavior

show

that

you

have

the

responsibility

that

goes

with

maturity.

Parents

are

morewilling

to

__33__

their

children

as

adults

when

they

behave

like

adults.

If,

however,

there's

somuch

friction

at

home

that

it

__34__

your

academic

work,

you

might

want

to

considersharing

an

apartment

with

one

or

more

friends.

Sometimes

this

is

a

happy

solution

whenfamily

__35__

make

.Part

III

Reading

Comprehension

(40

minutes)

Section

A Questions

36

to

45

are

based

on

the

following

passage.

Children

are

natural-born

scientists.

They

have

__36__

minds,

and

they

aren't

afraid

to

admitthey

don't

know

something.

Most

of

them,__37__.

lose

this

as

they

got

older.

They

becomeself-conscious

and

don't

want

to

appear

stupid.

Instead

of

finding

things

out

for

themselvesthey

make

__38__

that

often

turn

to

be

wrong.

So

it's

not

a

case

of

getting

kids

interested

in

science.

You

just

have

to

avoid

killing

the__39__

for

learning

that

they

were

born

with.

It's

no

coincidence

that

kids

start

desertingscience

once

it

becomes

formalised.

Children

naturally

have

a

blurred

approach

to

__40_knowledge.

They

see

learning

about

science

or

biology

or

cooking

as

all

part

of

the

same

act—it's

all

learning.

It's

only

because

of

the

practicalities

of

education

that

you

have

to

startbreaking

down

the

curriculum

into

specialist

subjects.

You

need

to

have

specialist

teacherswho

__41__what

they

know.

Thus

once

they

enter

school,

children

begin

to

define

subjectsand

erect

boundaries

that

needn't

other-wise

exist.

Dividing

subjects

into

science,

maths,

English,

etc.

is

something

we

do

for

__42__.

In

the

endit's

all

learning,

but

many

children

today

__43__

themselves

from

a

scientific

education.

Theythink

science

is

for

scientists,

not

for

them.

Of

course

we

need

to

specialise

__44__.

Each

of

us

has

only

so

much

time

on

Earth,

so

we

can'tstudy

everything.

At

5

years

old,

our

field

of

knowledge

and

__45__

is

broad,

coveringanything

from

learning

to

walk

to

learning

to

count.

Gradually

it

narrows

down

so

that

by

thetime

we

are

45,

it

might

be

one

tiny

little

comer

within

science.

注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2上作答。

A)accidentally B)acquiring C)assumptions D)convenience

E)eventually F)exclude G)exertion H)exploration

I)formu1as J)ignite K)impart L)inquiring

M)passion N)provoking O)unfortunatelySection

B

Meaning

Is

Healthier

Than

Happiness

[A]

For

at

least

the

last

decade,

the

happiness

craze

has

been

building.

In

the

last

threemonths

alone,

over

1,000

books

on

happiness

were

released

on

Amazon,

including

HappyMoney,

Happy-People-Pills

tor

All,

and,

for

those

just

starting

out,

Happiness

for

Beginners.

[B]

One

of

the

consistent

claims

of

books

like

these

is

that

happiness

is

associated

with

allsorts

of

good

life

outcomes,

including

-

most

promisingly

-

good

health.

Many

studies

havenoted

the

connection

between

a

happy

mind

and

a

healthy

body

-

the

happier

you

are,

thebetter

health

outcomes

we

seem

to

have.

In

an

overview

of

150

studies

on

this

topic,researchers

put

it

like

this:"Inductions

of

well-being

lead

to

healthy

functioning,

and

inductionsof

ill-being

lead

to

compromised

health."

[C]

But

a

new

study,

just

published

in

the

Proceedings

of

the

National

Academy

of

Sciences(PNAS)

challenges

the

rosy

picture.

Happiness

may

not

be

as

good

for

the

body

as

researchersthought.

It

might

even

be

bad.

[D]

Of

course,

it's

important

to

first

define

happiness.

A

few

months

ago,

T

wrote

a

piece

called"There's

More

to

Life

Than

Being

Happy"

about

a

psychology

study

that

dug

into

whathappiness

really

means

to

people

It

specifically

explored

the

difference

between

a

meaningfullife

and

a

happy

life.

[E]

It

seems

strange

that

there

would

be

a

difference

at

all.

But

the

researchers,

who

looked

ata

large

sample

of

people

over

a

month-long

period,

found

that

happiness

is

associated

withselfish

"taking"

behavior

and

that

having

a

sense

of

meaning

in

life

is

associated

with

selfless"giving"

behavior.

[F]"Happiness

without

meaning

characterizes

a

relatively

shallow,

self-absorbed

or

evenselfish

life,

in

which

things

go

well,

needs

and

desire

are

easily

satisfied,

and

complicatedrelationships

are

avoided,"

the

authors

of

the

study

wrote."If

anything,

pure

happiness

is

linkedto

not

helping

others

in

need."

While

being

happy

is

about

feeling

good,

meaning

is

derivedfrom

contributing

to

others

or

to

society

in

a

bigger

way.

As

Roy

Baumeister,

one

of

theresearchers,

told

me,"Partly

what

we

do

as

human

beings

is

to

take

care

of

others

andcontribute

to

others.

This

makes

life

meaningful

but

it

does

not

necessarily

make

us

happy."

[G]

The

new

PNAS

study

also

sheds

light

on

the

difference

between

meaning

and

happiness,but

on

the

biological

level.

Barbara

Fredrickson,

a

psychological

researcher

at

the

University

ofNorth

Carolina-

Chapel

Hill,

and

Steve

Cole,

a

genetics

and

psychiatry

(精神病學(xué))

researcher

atUCLA,

examined

the

self-reported

levels

of

happiness

and

meaning

in

80

research

subjects.

[H]

Happiness

was

defined,

as

in

the

earlier

study,

by

feeling

good.

The

researchers

measuredhappiness

by

asking

subjects

questions

like

"How

often

did

you

feel

happy?","How

often

did

youfeel

interested

in

life?"

and

"How

often

did

you

feel

satisfied?"

The

more

strongly

peopleendorsed

these

measures

of

"hedonic

(享樂主義)

well-being,"

or

pleasure,

the

higher

they

scoredon

happiness.

[I]

Meaning

was

defined

as

an

orientation

to

something

bigger

than

the

self.

They

measuredmeaning

by

asking

questions

like

"How

often

did

you

feel

that

your

life

has

a

sense

of

directionor

meaning

to

it?","How

often

did

you

feel

that

you

had

something

to

contribute

to

society?"The

more

people

endorsed

these

measures

of

"eudaimonic

(幸福論)

well-being"—

or,

simplyput,

virtue

—

the

more

meaning

they

felt

in

life.

[J]

After

noting

the

sense

of

meaning

and

happiness

that

each

subject

had,

Fredrickson

andCole,

with

their

research

colleagues,

looked

at

the

ways

certain

genes

expressed

themselvesin

each

of

the

participants.

Like

neuroscientists

who

use

fMRI

(功效磁共振成像)

scanning

todetermine

how

regions

in

the

brain

respond

to

different

stimuli,

Cole

and

Fredrickson

areinterested

in

how

the

body,

at

the

genetic

level,

responds

to

feelings

of

happiness

andmeaning.

[K]

Cole's

past

work

has

linked

various

kinds

of

chronic

adversity

to

a

particular

geneexpression

pattern.

When

people

feel

lonely,

are

grieving

the

loss

of

a

loved

one,

or

arestruggling

to

make

ends

meet,

their

bodies

go

into

threat

mode.

This

triggers

the

activation

ofa

stress-related

gene

pattern

that

has

two

features:

an

increase

in

the

activity

of

pro-inflammatory

(促炎癥)

genes

and

a

decrease

in

the

activity

of

genes

involved

in

anti-viralresponses.

[L]

Cole

and

Fredrickson

found

that

people

who

are

happy

but

have

little

to

no

sense

ofmeaning

in

their

lives

have

the

same

gene

expression

patterns

as

people

who

are

responding

toand

enduring

chronic

adversity.

That

is,

the

bodies

of

these

happy

people

are

preparingthem

for

bacterial

threats

by

activating

the

pro-inflammatory

response.

Chronicinflammation

is,

of

course,

associated

with

major

illnesses

like

heart

disease

and

variouscancers.

[M]"Empty

positive

emotions"-

like

the

kind

people

experience

during

manic

(狂喜)

episodesor

artificially

induced

euphoria

(欣快)

from

alcohol

and

drugs

-"

are

about

as

good

for

you

foras

adversity,"

says

Fredrickson.

[N]

It's

important

to

understand

that

for

many

people,

a

sense

of

meaning

and

happiness

inlife

overlap;

many

people

score

jointly

high

(or

jointly

low)

on

the

happiness

and

meaningmeasures

in

the

study.

But

for

many

others,

there

is

a

dissonance

(不一致)—

they

feel

thatthey

are

low

on

happiness

and

high

on

meaning

or

that

their

lives

are

very

high

in

happiness,but

low

in

meaning.

This

last

group,

which

has

the

gene

expression

pattern

associated

withadversity,

formed

a

75

percent

of

study

participants.

Only

one

quarter

of

the

studyparticipants

had

what

the

researchers

call

"eudaimonic

predominance"—

that

is,

their

sense

ofmeaning

outpaced

their

feelings

of

happiness.

[O]

This

is

too

bad

given

the

more

beneficial

gene

expression

pattern

associated

withmeaningfulness.

People

whose

levels

of

happiness

and

meaning

line

up,

and

people

who

have

astrong

sense

of

meaning

hut

are

not

necessarily

happy,

showed

a

dc-activation

of

the

adversitystress

response.

Their

bodies

were

not

preparing

them

for

the

bacterial

infections

that

we

getwhen

we

are

alone

or

in

trouble,

but

for

the

viral

infections

we

get

when

surrounded

by

a

lot

ofother

people.

[P]

Fredrickson's

past

research,

described

in

her

two

books,

Positivity

and

Love

2.0,

has

mappedthe

benefits

of

positive

emotions

in

individuals.

She

has

found

that

positive

emotions

broadena

person's

perspective

and

help

protect

people

against

adversity.

So

it

was

surprising

to

herthat

hedonic

well-being,

which

is

associated

with

positive

emotions

and

pleasure,

did

so

badly

inthis

study

compared

with

eudaimonic

well-being.

[Q]"It's

not

the

amount

of

hedonic

happiness

that's

a

problem,"

Fredrickson

tells

me,"It's

thatit's

not

matched

by

eudaimonic

well-being.

It's

great

when

both

are

in

step.

But

if

you

havemore

hedonic

well-

being

than

would

be

expected,

that's

when

this

[gene]

pattern

that'ssimilar

to

adversity

emerged."

[R]

The

terms

hedonism

and

eudaimonism

bring

to

mind

the

great

philosophical

debate,which

has

shaped

Western

civilization

for

over

2,000

years,

about

the

nature

of

the

good

life.Does

happiness

lie

in

feeling

good,

as

hedonists

think,

or

in

doing

and

being

good,

as

Aristotleand

his

intellectual

descendants,

the

virtue

ethicists

(倫理學(xué)家),

think?

From

the

evidence

ofthis

study,

it

seems

that

feeling

good

is

not

enough.

People

need

meaning

to

thrive.

In

thewords

of

Carl

Jung,"The

least

of

things

with

a

meaning

is

worth

more

in

life

than

the

greatestof

things

without

it."

Jung's

wisdom

certainly

seems

to

apply

to

our

bodies,

if

not

also

to

ourhearts

and

our

minds.

注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2上作答。

46.

The

author's

recent

article

examined

how

a

meaningful

life

is

different

from

a

happy

life.

47.

It

should

be

noted

that

many

people

feel

their

life

is

both

happy

and

meaningful.

48.

According

to

one

survey,

there

is

a

close

relationship

between

hedonic

well-being

measuresand

high

scores

on

happiness.

49.

According

to

one

of

the

author

of

a

new

study,

what

makes

life

meaningful

may

not

makepeople

happy.

50.

Experiments

were

carried

out

to

determine

our

body's

genetic

expression

of

feelings

ofhappiness

and

meaning.

51.

A

new

study

claims

happiness

may

not

contribute

to

health.

52.

According

to

the

researchers,

taking

makes

for

happiness

while

giving

adds

meaning

to

life.

53.

Evidence

from

research

shows

that

it

takes

meaning

for

people

to

thrive.

54.

With

regard

to

gene

expression

patterns,

happy

people

with

little

or

no

sense

of

meaning

inlife

are

found

to

be

similar

to

those

suffering

from

chronic

adversity.

55.

Most

books

on

happiness

today

assert

that

happiness

is

beneficial

to

health.Section

CPassage

One Questions

56

to

60

are

based

on

the

following

passage.

Nothing

succeeds

in

business

books

like

the

study

of

success.

The

current

business-book

boomwas

launched

in

1982

by

Tom

Peters

and

Robert

Waterman

with

In

Search

of

Excellence.

Thetrend

has

continued

with

a

succession

of

experts

and

would-be

experts

who

promise

to

distilthe

essence

of

excellence

into

three

(or

five

or

seven)

simple

rules.

The

Three

Rules

is

a

self-conscious

contribution

to

this

type

of

writing;

it

even

includes

abibliography

of

"success

studies".

Michael

Raynor

and

Mumtaz

Ahmed

work

for

a

consultancy,Deloitte,

that

is

determined

to

turn

itself

into

more

of

a

thought-leader

and

less

a

corporaterepairman.

They

employ

all

the

tricks

of

the

success

books.

They

insist

that

their

conclusionsare

"measurable

and

actionable"—

guides

to

behaviour

rather

than

analysis

for

its

own

sake.Success

authors

usually

serve

up

vivid

stories

about

how

exceptional

businesspeople

stampedtheir

personalities

on

a

company

or

rescued

it

from

a

life-threatening

crisis.

Messrs

Raynor

andAhmed

are

happier

chewing

the

numbers:

they

provide

detailed

appendices

on

"calculating

theelements

of

advantage"

and

"detailed

analysis".

The

authors

spent

five

years

studying

the

behaviour

of

their

344"exceptional

companies",

onlyto

come

up

at

first

with

nothing.

Every

hunch

(直覺)

led

to

a

blind

alley

and

every

hypothesisto

a

dead

end.

It

was

only

when

they

shifted

their

attention

from

how

companies

behave

to

howthey

think

that

they

began

to

make

sense

of

their

voluminous

material.

Management

is

all

about

making

difficult

tradeoffs

in

conditions

that

are

always

uncertain

andoften

fast-changing.

But

exceptional

companies

approach

these

tradeoffs

with

two

simplerules

in

mind,

sometimes

consciously,

sometimes

unconsciously.

First:

better

before

cheaper.Companies

are

more

likely

to

succeed

in

the

long

run

if

they

compete

on

quality

orperformance

than

on

price.

Second:

revenue

before

cost.

Companies

have

more

to

gain

in

thelong

run

from

driving

up

revenue

than

by

driving

down

costs.

Most

success

studies

suffer

from

two

faults.

There

is

"the

halo

(光環(huán))

effect",

whereby

goodperformance

leads

commentators

to

attribute

all

manner

of

virtues

to

anything

andeverything

the

company

does.

These

virtues

then

suddenly

become

vices

when

the

companyfalters.

Messrs

Raynor

and

Ahmed

work

hard

to

avoid

these

mistakes

by

studying

large

bodiesof

data

over

several

decades.

But

they

end

up

embracing

a

different

error:

stating

the

obvious.Most

businesspeople

will

not

be

surprised

to

learn

that

it

is

better

to

find

a

profitable

niche

(縫隙市場)

and

focus

on

boosting

your

revenues

than

to

compete

on

price

and

cut

your

way

tosuccess.

The

difficult

question

is

how

to

find

that

profitable

niche

and

protect

it.

There,

TheThree

Rules

is

less

useful.

注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2上作答。

56.

What

kind

of

business

books

are

most

likely

to

sell

well?

A)

Books

on

excellence. B)

Guides

to

management.

C)

Books

on

business

rules. D)

Analyses

of

market

trends.

57.

What

does

the

author

imply

about

books

on

success

so

far?

A)

They

help

businessmen

one

way

or

another.B)

They

are

written

by

well-recognised

experts.

C)

They

more

or

less

fall

into

the

same

stereotype.

D)

They

are

based

on

analyses

of

corporate

leaders.

58.

How

does

The

Three

Rules

differ

from

other

success

books

according

to

the

passage?

A)

It

focuses

on

the

behavior

of

exceptional

businessmen.

B)

It

bases

its

detailed

analysis

on

large

amounts

of

data.

C)

It

offers

practicable

advice

to

businessmen.D)

It

draws

conclusions

from

vivid

examples.

59.

What

does

the

passage

any

contributes

to

the

success

of

exceptional

companies?

A)

Focus

on

quality

and

revenue. B)

Management

and

sales

promotion.

C)

Lower

production

costs

and

competitive

prices.

D)

Emphasis

on

after-sale

service

and

maintenance.

60.

What

is

the

author's

comment

on

The

Three

Rules?

A)

It

can

help

to

locate

profitable

niches.

B)

It

has

little

to

offer

to

businesspeople.

C)

It

is

noted

for

its

detailed

data

analysis.

D)

It

fails

to

identify

the

keys

to

success.

Passage

Two Questions

61

to

65

are

based

on

the

following

passage.

Until

recently,

the

University

of

Kent

prided

itself

on

its

friendly

image.

Not

any

more.

Over

thepast

few

months

it

has

been

working

hard,

with

the

help

of

media

consultants,

to

play

down

itscosy

reputation

in

favour

of

something

more

academic

and

serious.

Kent

is

not

alone

in

considering

an

image

revamp

(翻新).

Changes

to

next

year's

fundingregime

are

forcing

universities

to

justify

charging

students

up

to

￡9,000

in

fees.

Nowadays

universities

are

putting

much

more

of

a

focus

on

their

brands

and

what

their

valuepropositions

are.

While

in

the

past

universities

have

often

focused

on

student

social

life

andattractions

of

the

university

town

in

recruitment

campaigns,

they

are

now

concentrating

onmore

tangible

(實在)

attractions,

such

as

employment

prospects,

engagement

withindustry,

and

lecturer

contact

hours,

making

clear

exactly

what

students

are

going

to

get

fortheir

money.

The

problem

for

universities

is

that

if

those

benefits

fail

to

materialise,

students

notice.

Thatworries

Rob

Behrens,

who

deals

with

student

complaints."Universities

need

to

be

extremelycareful

in

describing

what's

going

to

happen

to

students,"

he

says."As

competition

is

going

toget

greater

for

attracting

gifted

students,

there

is

a

danger

that

universities

will

go

the

extramile."

One

university

told

prospective

engineering

students

they

would

be

able

to

design

a

car

andrace

it

at

Brands

Hatch,

which

never

happened,

he

says.

Others

have

promised

use

ofsophisticated

equipment

that

turned

out

to

be

broken

or

unavailable."If

universities

spentas

much

money

on

handling

complaints

and

appeals

appropriately

as

they

spend

on

marketing,they

would

do

better

at

keeping

students,

and

in

the

National

Student

Survey

returns."

he

says.

Ongoing

research

tracking

prospective

students

suggests

that

they

are

not