2025 年 12 月大学英语六级考试真题（第 1 套）

By now, it is generally accepted that regular exercise comes with an assortment of health benefits for people who maintain the habit over time. But is it __26__ too late to start?

New research looked at people who increased their exercise levels after their 40s beyond levels they had when they were younger and those individuals showed declines in their risk of early __27__ which were similar to those of people who exercised consistently throughout their lives. This was a __28__ of 32% to 35% compared to people who did not exercise. Those who began exercising in middle age also saw reductions in their incidence of __29__ diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, which were similar to the steady exercisers.

So why bother exercising consistently throughout your life? The authors of the study __30__ that some might interpret the study's findings to mean that they can delay starting an exercise program, but this would be a mistake. There are other benefits, both mental and physical, to staying consistently active that we should not __31__. These real health benefits include better __32__ functioning and lowered risk of gaining weight. The latter is __33__ important given the global obesity epidemic. In addition, experts assert that starting younger is better because, if you make a habit of exercising when you are young, you are more likely to keep up those __34__ later in life. It is ideal, then, for people to start exercising when they are children or __35__, and it is good to maintain an active lifestyle at all times regardless of your age. However, this study does indicate that, if you have not been active, you can still benefit if you start becoming active in your 40s and 50s.

Many see friendships as a comfort blanket: a shoulder to cry on, a reliable soul to confide in. However, more often than not, in our eagerness to seek individual success, we lose friends along the way and that has become part of the process.

The chaos and never-ending turmoil that accompanies everyday life is an aggressive obstacle in the pursuit of stable friendships. As students, we use this excuse to shrug off losing people who we once thought to be loved ones.

Instead of viewing our lives as a race, where everyone is on their own path to some form of success, we must relearn to value the connections we make along the track. We must reevaluate the harm of radical, individual freedom.

Radical individualism elevates the freedom of the individual over the collective. It argues, for instance, that universal healthcare, an example of collectivism, threatened the dream of many Americans.

Many of us have fallen victim to an individualistic culture. Society tends to celebrate personal achievement and commend it based on the assumption that winning or succeeding is a consequence of working harder than the next person.

As a society, we idolize the concept of "losing friends on the road to success." I remember hearing in high school, "Don't worry about losing friendships, just focus on study and getting into college. That's all that will matter in the long run," a sentiment that is not unique to my experience. It's preached in many success stories, and it's embedded in the way we see growth. Motivational speakers will push their audience to be complacent to the inevitable end of losing friends. Spend too much time with friends? You're losing time better utilized on your achievements. Invest time in your relationships? Invest time in your work instead.

This constant need to succeed has blinded us from seeing through the whirlwind of change that accompanies our everyday lives. We are expected to tangibly succeed, earn awards, get higher positions, earn better grades. In order to succeed, we lose friends, and that has sadly become normalized.

We cannot be complacent with losing friendships because they are our anchors.

Yes, pursue success. Challenge yourself. Push limits. But contrary to all the self-proclaimed success experts, doing it alone does not make you more successful or any better than someone who achieved it with the help of others.

Put effort into fostering healthy relationships, and maintaining them through your busy schedule that seems like it leaves no time for anyone else. Although we may be living in a society that treasures the independent pursuit of achievement, having people to support and love you on the way is far more important than any end result.

During his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality."

More than five decades later, our society is still struggling to separate truth from fantasy, fact from fiction. From disputes over the climate change to debates about how slavery is taught, America is at a crossroads. And the battle for equity is at the heart of these vital conversations.

Study after study shows that inequity has had appalling consequences. A 2020 report by Citi indicated that "Black students could have increased their lifetime incomes $90-$113 billion" if equity issues related to higher education had been adequately addressed over the past two decades.

This statistic represents a flood of issues we've failed to confront as a nation. It also highlights one truth: We're missing out on valuable opportunities to bridge the differences that divide us. However, by honoring King's legacy, we can get our country back on the path toward true equity.

Students — and adults for that matter — simply cannot understand the conflicts we have today without understanding what caused them in the first place. That means we have a responsibility to help them make connections between U.S. history and current events. It also means giving them the tools they need to address inequity and bias in their own lives. Adherence to these principles, along with a commitment to truthful dialogue, can help every student better appreciate how far we've come and more clearly see the roads we have yet to travel.

With more truthful analysis of the need for more qualified, diverse educators, we can improve our recruiting, training, and retention strategies for schools across the country.

Unfortunately, our deeply rooted divisions are delaying these advancements. A recent survey found that 77 percent of Americans believe the nation is "more divided than ever before". But reports of increased polarization shouldn't persuade us to look away from one another. Instead, they should compel us to address our shared issues head-on.

We are not, as some would suggest, living in a "post-racial society". We simply cannot afford to keep our heads buried in the sand when it comes to racial inequity. Unless we get honest about intolerance, bias, and how these social diseases impact the ways we treat one another, injustice will continue to haunt us. But our children and our grandchildren deserve better.

On this Martin Luther King Day and beyond, let's commit to working together to disrupt the status quo. Let's continue to build a better, more inclusive nation; and in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., "A society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience."