英语六级阅读真题，不仅强化词汇与句型理解，更提升阅读速度与综合分析能力。实战演练，让考生熟悉题型变化，掌握解题技巧，是冲刺六级高分不可或缺的宝贵资源。今天，小编将分享2023年3月大学英语六级阅读真题以及答案相关内容，希望能为大家提供帮助！

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Unthinkable as it may be, humanity, every last person, could someday be wiped from the face of the Earth. We have learned to worry about asteroids( 小行星) and super volcanoes, but the more likely _26_ , according to Nick Bostrom, a professor of philosophy at Oxford, is that we humans will destroy ourselves.

Professor Bostrom, who directs Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, has argued over the course of several papers that human _27_ risks are poorly understood and, worse still,_28_ underestimated by society. Some of these existential risks are fairly well known, especially the natural ones. But others are _29_ or even exotic. Most worrying to Bostrom is the subset of existential risks that _30_ from human technology, a subset that he expects to grow in number and potency over the next century.

Despite his concerns about the risks _31_ to humans by technological progress, Bostrom is no luddite(科技进步反对者). In fact, he is a longtime _32_ of trans-humanism— the effort to improve the human condition, and even human nature itself, through technological means. In the long run he sees technology as a bridge, a bridge we humans must cross with great care, in order to reach new and better modes of being. In his work, Bostrom uses the tools of philosophy and mathematics, in _33_ , probability theory, to try and determine how we as a _34_ might achieve this safe passage. What follows is my conversation with Bostrom about some of the most interesting and worrying existential risks that humanity might _35_ in the decades and centuries to come, and about what we can do to make sure we outlast them.

A) advocate 

B) arise  

C) emphasized  

D) encounter  

E) essential  

F) evaporation  

G) extinction  

H) obscure

I) particular

J) posed

K) scenario

L) severely

M) shrewdly

N) species

O) variety

Section B

Directions: 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 paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

San Francisco Has Become One Hug e Metaphor for Economic Inequality in America

A) The fog still chills the morning air and the cable cars still climb halfway to the stars. Yet on the ground, the Bay area has changed greatly since singer Tony Bennet left his heart here. Silicon Valley and the tech industry have led the region into a period of unprecedented wealth and innovation. But existing political and land limits have caused an alarming housing crisis and astronomical rise in social and economic difference.

B) While the residents of most cities display pride and support for their home industries, drastic market distortions in the San Francisco Bay Area have created boiling resentment in the region towards the tech industry. A vocal minority is even calling on officials to punish those who are benefitting from the economic and housing boom. If this boom and its consequences are not resolved, a drastic increase in social and economic difference may have a profound impact on the region for generations. A history and analysis of this transformation may hold invaluable insights about the opportunities. Perils of tech cities are currently being cultivated across the US, and indeed around the world.

C) According to a recent study, San Francisco ranks first in California for economic difference. The average income of the top 1% of households in the city averages $3.6 million. This is 44 times the average income of those at the bottom, which stands at $81,094. The top 1% of the San Francisco peninsula's share of total income now extends to 30.8% of the region's income. This was a dramatic jump from 1989, where it stood at15.8%.

D) The region's economy has been fundamentally transformed by the technology industry springing from Silicon Valley. Policies pushed by Mayor Ed Lee provided tax breaks for tech companies to set up shop along the city's long-neglected Mid-Market area. The city is now home to Twitter, Uber, Airbnb, Pinterest, Dropbox and others. In short, the Bay Area has become a global magnet for those with specialized skills, which has in turn helped fuel economic enthusiasm, and this economic growth has reduced unemployment to 3.4%, an admirable feat.

E) In spite of all that, the strength of the recent job growth, combined with policies that have traditionally limited housing development in the city and throughout the peninsula, did not help ease the affordability crisis. In2015 alone, the Bay Area added 64,000 in jobs. In the same year, only 5,000 new homes were built.

F) With the average house in the city costing over $1.25 million and average flat prices over $1.11 million, the minimum qualifying income to purchase a house has increased to $254,000. Considering that the average household income in the city currently stands at around $80,000, it is not an exaggeration to say that the dream of home ownership is now beyond the grasp of the vast majority of today's people who rent.

G) For generations, the stability and prosperity of the American middle class has been anchored by home ownership. Studies have consistently shown that the value of land has overtaken overall income growth, thus providing a huge advantage to property owners as a vehicle of wealth building. When home prices soar above the reach of most households, the gap between the rich and the poor dramatically increases.

H) If contributing factors leading to housing becoming less than affordable are not resolved over multiple generations, a small clite will control a vast share of the country's total wealth. The result? A society where the threat of class warfare would loom large. A society's level of happiness is tied less to measures of quantitative wealth and more to measures of qualitative wealth. This means that how a person judges their security in comparison to their neighbors' has more of an impact on their happiness than their objective standard of living. At the same time, when a system no longer provides opportunities for the majority to participate in wealth building, it not only robs those who are excluded from opportunities, but also deprives them of their dignity.

I) San Francisco and the Bay Area have long been committed to values which embrace inclusion and rejection of mainstream culture. To see these values coming apart so publicly adds insult to injury for a region once defined by its progressive social fabric. In the face of resentment, it is human to want revenge. But deteriorating policies such as heavily taxing technology companies or real estate developers are not likely to shift the balance.

J) The housing crisis is caused by two primary factors: the growing desirability of the Bay Area as a place to live due to its excellent economy, and our limited housing stock. Although the city is experiencing an unprecedented boom in new housing, more units are sorely needed. Protection policies were originally designed to suppress bad development and boost historic preservation in our urban areas. Now, too many developers are experiencing excessive delays. Meanwhile, there are the land limitations of the Bay Area to consider. The region is surrounded by water and mountains. Local governments need to aid development as well. This means increasing housing density throughout the region and building upwards while streamlining the approval process.

K) Real estate alone will not solve the problem, of course. Transportation, too, needs to be updated and infrastructure extended to link distant regions to Silicon Valley and the city. We need to build an effective high-speed commuting system linking the high-priced and crowded Bay Area with the low-priced and low- density Central Valley. This would dramatically reduce travel times. And based on the operating speeds of hovering trains used in countries such as Japan or Spain, high-speed rail could shorten the time to travel between San Francisco and California's capital, Sacramento, or from Stockton to San Jose, to under 30 minutes. This system would bring once distant regions within reasonable commute to heavy job centers. The city also needs to update existing transportation routes combined with smart home-building policies that dramatically increase housing density in areas surrounding high-speed rail stations. By doing so, we will be able to build affordable housing within acceptable commuting distances for a significant bulk of the workforce.

L) Our threatening housing crisis forces the difficult question of what type of society we would like to be. Will it be one where the elite command the vast bulk of wealth and regional culture is defined by an aggressive business world? We were recently treated to a taste of the latter, when local tech employee Justin Keller wrote an open letter to the city complaining about having to see homeless people on his way to work.

M) It doesn't have to be this way. But solutions need to be implemented now, before angry crowds grow from a nuisance to serious concern. It may take less than you might think. And in fact, the solutions to our housing crisis are already fairly clear. We need to increase the density of housing units. We need to use existing technology to shorten travel times and break the land limits. There is a way to solve complex social and economic problems without abandoning social responsibility. This is the Bay Area's opportunity to prove that it can innovate more than just technology.

36. San Francisco city government offered tax benefits to attract tech companies to establish operations in a less developed area.

37. The fast rise in the prices of land and houses increases the economic inequality among people.

38. San Francisco has been found to have the biggest income gap in California between the rich and the poor.

39. The higher rate of employment, combined with limited housing supply, did not make it any easier to buy a bouse.

40. When people compare their own living standard with others', it has a greater impact on their sense of contentment.

41. Improved transport networks connecting the city to distant outlying areas will also help solve the housing crisis.

42. Average incomes in the Bay Area make it virtually impossible for most tenant families to buy a home.

43. Innovative solutions to social and economic problems should be introduced before it is too late.

44. Residents of the San Francisco Bay Area strongly resent the tech industry because of the economic inequality it has contributed to.

45. One way to deal with the housing crisis is for the government to simplify approval procedures for housing projects.

Section C

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B). C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

The suggestion that people should ai m for dietary diversity by trying to eat a variety of foods has been a basic public health recommendation for decades in the United States and elsewhere. Now, however, experts are warning that aiming for a diverse diet may actually lead to just eating more calories, and, thus, to obesity. One issue is that people may not interpret“variety” the way nutritionists intend. This problem is highlighted by new research conducted by the American Heart Association. Researchers reviewed all the evidence published related to dietary diversity and saw a correlation between dietary diversity and a greater intake of both healthy and unhealthy foods. This had implications for obesity, as researchers found a greater prevalence of obesity amongst people with a greater dietary diversity.

One author of the new study explained that their findings contradict standard dietary advice, as most dietary guidelines around the world include a statement of eating a variety of foods. But this advice does not seem to be supported by science, possibly because there is little agreement about the meaning of“dietary diversity,” which is not clearly and consistently defined. Some experts measure dietary diversity by counting the number of food groups eaten, while others look at the distribution of calories across individual foods, and still others measure how different the foods eaten are from each other.

Although the findings of this new study contradict standard dietary advice, they do not come as a surprise to all of the researchers involved. Dr. Rao, one of the study authors, noted that, after 20 years of experience in the field of obesity, he has observed that people who have a regimented lifestyle and diet tend to be thinner and healthier than people with a wide variety of consumption. This anecdotal evidence matches the conclusions of the study, which found no evidence that dietary diversity promotes healthy body weight or optimal eating patterns, and limited evidence shows that eating a variety of foods is actually associated with consuming more calories, poor eating patterns and weight gain. Further, there is some evidence that a greater variety of food options in a single meal may delay people's feeling of fullness and actually increase how much they eat.

Based on their findings, the researchers endorse a diet consisting of a limited number of healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, and poultry. They also recommend that people simultaneously endeavor to restrict consumption of sweets, sugar and red meat. The researchers stress, however, that their dietary recommendations do not imply dietary diversity is never positive, and that, in the past, diversity in diets of whole, unprocessed food may have actually been very beneficial.

46. What has been a standard piece of dietary advice for decades?

A) People should diversify what they eat.

B) People should have a well-balanced diet.

C) People should cultivate a healthy eating habit.

D) People should limit calorie intake to avoid obesity.

47. What did the new research by the American Heart Association find?

A) Unhealthy food makes people gain weight more easily.

B) Dietary diversity is positively related to good health.

C) People seeking dietary diversity tend to eat more.

D) Big eaters are more likely to become overweight.

48. What could help to explain the contradiction between the new findings and the common public health recommendation?

A) There is little consensus on the definition of dietary diversity.

B) The methods researchers use to measure nutrition vary greatly.

C) Conventional wisdom about diet is seldom supported by science.

D) Most dietary guidelines around the world contradict one another.

49. What did Dr. Rao find after 20 years of research on obesity?

A) There is no clear definition of optimal eating patterns.

B) Diversified food intake may not contribute to health.

C) Eating patterns and weight gain go hand in hand.

D) Dietary diversity promotes healthy body weight.

50. What does the passage say about people who eat a great variety of food?

A) They are more likely to eat foods beneficial to their health.

B) They don't have any problems getting sufficient nutrition.

C) They don't feel they have had enough until they overeat.

D) They tend to consume more sweets, sugar and red meat.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

The ability to make inferences from same and different, once thought to be unique to humans, is viewed as a cornerstone of abstract intelligent thought. A new study, however, has shown that what psychologists call same- different discrimination is present in creatures generally seen as unintelligent: newborn ducklings(小鸭).

The study, published Thursday in Science, challenges our idea of what it means to have a birdbrain, said Edward Wasserman, an experimental psychologist at the University of Iow a who wrote an independent review of the study.

“In fact, birds are extremely intelligent and our problem pretty much lies in figuring out how to get them to‘talk’ to us, or tell us how smart they really are,” he said.

Antone Martinho and Alex Kacelnik, co-authors of the new paper, devised a clever experiment to better test bird intelligence.

First, they took 1-day-old ducklings and exposed them to a pair of moving objects. The two objects were either the same or different in shape or color. Then they exposed each duckling to two entirely new pairs of moving objects.

The researchers found that about 70% of the ducklings preferred to move toward the pair of objects that had the same shape or color relationship as the first objects they saw. A duckling that was first shown two green spheres, in other words, was more likely to move toward a pair of blue spheres than a mismatched pair of orange and purple spheres.

Ducklings go through a rapid learning process called imprinting shortly after birth— it's what allows them to identify and follow their mothers.

These findings suggest that ducklings use abstract relationships between sensory inputs like color, shape, sounds and odor to recognize their mothers, said Dr. Kacelnik.

By studying imprinting, the authors of this study have shown for the first time that an animal can learn relationships between concepts without training, said Jeffrey Katz, an experimental psychologist at Auburn University who was not involved in the study.

Previous studies have suggested that other animals, including pigeons, dolphins, honeybees and some primates(灵长类动物), can discern same from different, but only after extensive training.

Adding ducklings to the list— particularly untrained newborn ducklings— suggests that the ability to compare abstract concepts“is far more necessary to a wider variety of animals’ survival than we previously thought,” Dr. Martinho said. He believes the ability is so crucial because it helps animals consider context when identifying objects in their environment.

It's clear from this study and others like it that“animals process and appreciate far more of the intricacies in their world than we' ve ever understood,” Dr. Wasserman said. “We are in a revolutionary phase in terms of our ability to understand the minds of other animals.”

51. In what way were humans thought to be unique?

A) Being capable of same-different discrimination.

B) Being able to distinguish abstract from concrete.

C) Being a major source of animal intelligence.

D) Being the cornerstone of the creative world.

52. What do we learn from the study published in Science?

A) Our understanding of the bird world was biased.

B) Our communication with birds was far from adequate.

C) Our knowledge about bird psychology needs updating.

D) Our conception of birds' intelligence was wrong.

53. What did the researchers discover about most ducklings from their experiment?

A) They could associate shape with color. 

B) They could tell whether the objects were the same.

C) They preferred colored objects to colorless ones.

D) They reacted quickly to moving objects.

54. What was novel about the experiment in the study reported in Science?

A) The ducklings were compared with other animals.

B) It was conducted by experimental psychologists.

C) The animals used received no training.

D) It used a number of colors and shapes.

55. What do we learn from Dr. Wasserman's comment on the study of animal minds at the end of the passage?

A) Research methods are being updated.

B) It is getting more and more intricate.

C) It is attracting more public attention.

D) Remarkable progress is being made.

26. K) scenario(n.设想, 可能的情况; 场景)

语义判断：“我们人类将毁灭自己”是一种设想，由此可知，此处是说，“更可能的情况是⋯⋯”，将备选名词代入原文, 可知scenario符合语境。

27. G) extinction(n.灭绝)

语义判断：首段提及人类可能会从地球上消失，还有可能毁灭自己，由此可知，此处应指“人类灭绝的风险”, 故extinction符合语境。

28. L) severely( adv.严重地; 严厉地)

语义判断：由worse still(更糟糕的是)可知, 此处提出一种更糟糕的情况, 将备选副词severely、shrewdly分别代入原文，severely符合语境，即“被社会严重低估”。

29. H) obscure( adj.鲜为人知的; 复杂难懂的; 难处理的)

语义判断：前一句提及，这些生存风险中，有些是众所周知的，尤其是自然风险。根据But可知，此处所填单词语义应与“众所周知”相反，故obscure符合语境。

30. B) arise[ vi.(由······)产生, 引起; 出现]

语义判断：此处意为“由人类技术引起的生存风险”。arise from为固定短语，意为“由······引起，起因于⋯⋯”, 符合语境。

31. J) posed [v.造成(威胁、问题或困难); 提出(问题)]

语义判断：结合上一题的解析，上一段提及人类技术引起的生存风险，由此可判断，此处呼应上文，指的是“技术进步给人类带来的风险”，pose risks to sb.为固定搭配，意为“给某人带来风险”，故空格处应填入posed。

32. A) advocate(n.倡导者 v.提倡, 倡导)

语义判断：上一句提及，尽管博斯特罗姆担心技术进步给人类带来的风险，但他并不是科技进步的反对者。本句由In fact开始，是对前面内容“但他并不是科技进步的反对者”的进一步阐释。因此，本句承接上文指出，事实上，他是超人类主义的长期_____。将备选名词代入原文，可知advocate符合语境。

33. I) particular( adj.特别的, 特殊的)

语义判断：空格前面的mathematics和后面的probability theory(概率论) 是总一分关系, 或者说一般和具体的关系，概率论属于数学的范畴，是数学的一个分支。因此可判断，此处是说“在他的著作中，博斯特罗姆运用了哲学和数学工具，特别是概率论，试图确定⋯⋯”，in particular为固定短语，意为“尤其，特别是”。

34. N) species(n.物种)

语义判断：这里的we指的是我们人类，人类属于“物种”之一，故species符合语境，即“试图确定我们作为一个物种如何才能获得这一安全通行许可”。

35. D) encounter( vt.遇到; 邂逅)

语义判断：此处是说，接下来是我与博斯特罗姆的对话，讲述了人类在未来几十年和几个世纪可能会遇到的一些最有趣和最令人担忧的生存风险，显然，encounter符合语境。

36. D。由题干关键信息government offered tax benefits和 attract tech companies to establish operations定位到D段。该段第二句指出，由市长埃德·李推动的政策为科技公寓提供了税收优惠，以便在该市长期被忽视的中市场街地区创业。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的offered tax benefits对应原文中的provided tax breaks; 题干中的establish operations对应原文中的set up shop; 题干中的less developed area对应原文中的long-neglected Mid-Market area。

37.G。由题干关键信息fast rise in the prices of land and houses和economic inequality定位到G段。该段最后两句指出，研究一直表明，土地的价值已经超过了整体收入增长⋯⋯当房价飙升到超出大多数家庭的承受能力时，贫富差距就会急剧扩大。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的The fastrise对应原文中的soar(猛增; 飞涨) ; 题干中的economic inequality among people对应原文中的the gap between the rich and the poor; 题干中的increases是文中原词。

38.C。由题干关键信息have the biggest income gap in California定位到C段。该段首句指出, 根据近期的一项研究，旧金山的经济差距在加利福尼亚州排名第一。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的have the biggest income gap in California对应原文中的ranks first in California for economic difference。

39.E。由题干关键信息higher rate of employment、limited housing supply和did not make it any easier定位到E段。该段首句指出，尽管如此，最近就业增长的势头，加上长久以来限制城市和整个半岛住房开发的政策，并没有帮助缓解住宅负担能力危机。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的 higher rate of employment对应原文中的job growth; 题干中的did not make it any easier to buy a house对应原文中的did not help ease the affordability crisis。

40.H。由题干关键信息compare their own living standard with others'定位到H段。该段第五句指出, 这意味着，一个人如何将自己的生活保障与邻居的生活保障进行比较，比他们的客观生活水平对他们的幸福影响更大。由此可见, 题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的has a greater impact on their sense of contentment对应原文中的has more of an impact on their happiness; 题干中的living standard对应原文中的 standard of living。

41.K。由题干关键信息Improved transport networks和connecting the city to distant outlying areas定位到K段。该段前两句指出，当然，仅靠房地产并不能解决问题。交通也需要升级，基础设施也需要扩建，把偏远地区与硅谷和这座城市连接起来。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的Improved对应原文中的updated; 题干中的connecting对应原文中的link; 题干中的distant outlying areas对应原文中的distant regions。

42. F。由题干关键信息virtually impossible和most tenant families定位到F段。该段第二句指出, 考虑到目前该市的平均家庭收入药为8万美元，毫不夸张地说，如今绝大多数租房者都无法实现拥有住房的梦想。由此可见, 题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的virtually impossible对应原文中的beyond the grasp;题干中的most tenant families对应原文中的the vast majority of today's people who rent; 题干中的buy a home对应原文中的home ownership。

43. M。由题干关键信息should be introduced before it is too late定位到M段。该段第二句指出, 但在愤怒的人群从一件麻烦事发展成需要认真关注的问题之前，需要立即实施解决方案。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的before it is too late对应原文中的before angry crowds grow from nuisance to serious concern。

44. B。由题干关键信息Residents和strongly resent定位到B段。该段首句指出, 虽然大多数城市的居民都对当地的产业表示自豪和支持，但旧金山湾区严重的市场扭曲已经在该地区引发了对科技产业的强烈不满。由此可见, 题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的strongly resent对应原文中的boiling resentment。

45. J。由题干关键信息government和simplify approval procedures定位到J段。该段最后两句指出, 地方政府也需要援助开发，这意味着提高整个地区的住房密度，并在简化审批流程的同时把房子往高了建。由此可见, 题干是对原文的同义转述。题干中的simplify approval procedures对应原文中的 streamlining the approval process, 其中streamline意为“使(系统、机构等)效率更高”。

46.根据题干信息词dietary advice for decades可将答案线索定位至第一段第一句。

第一段第一句指出，几十年来，在美国和其他地方，人们应该通过设法吃多种食物来力求实现饮食多样性，这种说法一直是一项基本的公共健康建议。由此可知A项正确，题干中的for decades原词复现，dietary advice是对原文中的public health recommendation的同义转述。

47.根据题干信息词research by the American Heart Association可将答案线索定位至第一段第四句。

第一段第四句提及美国心脏协会的新研究，随后在下文具体介绍新发现，即饮食多样化与摄入更多的健康和不健康食品之间存在关联性，由此可知C项正确。

48.根据题干信息词contradiction、findings和 common public health recommendation可将答案线索定位至第二段第一句, common public health recommendation是对原文中的standard dietary advice的同义替换。

第二段第一句指出，这项新研究的一位作者解释说，他们的发现与标准的饮食建议相矛盾，因为世界各地的大多数饮食指南都包括摄入多种食物的说法。随后解释矛盾的原因：但是这种建议似乎没有科学支持，可能是因为对“饮食多样化”的含义没有什么一致的看法，它没有明确和一致的定义。因此A项正确。

49.根据题干信息词Dr. Rao和20 years of research on obesity可将答案线索定位至第三段第二句。

第三段第二句提及，在肥胖领域有20年的研究经验后，他(拉奥博士)观察到，生活方式和饮食严格控制的人往往比吃的种类多的人更瘦、更健康。由此可知B项正确。

50. 根据题干信息词eat a great variety of food可将答案线索定位至第三段最后一句。

第三段最后一句提及，此外，有一些证据表明，在一餐中有更多的食物选择可能会推迟人们的饱腹感，实际上会增加他们的食量, C项是对该句的同义转述。C项中的don't feel they have had enough同义替换原文的delay people's feeling of fullness, overeal同义替换原文中的increase how much they eat。

51. 根据题干信息词humans和unique可将答案线索定位于第一段。

首段首句便出现了题干关键词humans和unique，该句提到，从相同和不同的事物中做出推论的能力被视为抽象智慧思维的基石，这一能力曾经被认为是人类独有的。简言之，辨别相同和不同的能力曾经被认为是人类独一无二的能力，由此可知选项A为正确答案。

52.根据题干信息词Science可将答案线索定位于第二段。

第二段主要阐述了实验心理学家爱德华·沃瑟曼对这项研究的评论，他认为发表在《科学》杂志上的研究挑战了我们对拥有鸟脑意味着什么的看法；接着下文具体阐述了这项研究是如何测试鸟类智力的，得出的结论是，通常被视为不聪明的小鸭在没有经过训练的情况下能够辨别“相同”和“不同”的移动物体。所以，我们之前认为鸟类不聪明的观念是错误的。故选项D表述正确。

53. 根据题干信息词ducklings和their experiment可将答案线索定位于第五段和第六段。

第五段和第六段具体介绍了安东尼·马丁尼奥和亚历克斯·卡塞尔尼克设计的实验。第五段详述了实验的过程，第六段阐述了实验的结果，即大多数小鸭更喜欢朝着与它们第一次看到的物体一样，有相同的形状或颜色的关系的那对物体移动。很显然，小鸭能分辨出哪一对移动的物体具有相同的形状或相同的颜色，故选项B为正确答案。

54.根据题干信息词novel about the experiment可将答案线索定位于第九段。

第九段提到，实验心理学家杰弗里·卡茨表示，这项研究首次表明动物可以在没有经过训练的情况下学习概念之间的关系。接着第十段提到，先前的研究表明，其他一些动物只有经过大量的训练，才能分辨出相同和不同。这两部分内容前后对比，指出这项实验与先前研究相比的新奇之处，即使用的小鸭没有接受过训练，故选项C正确。

55.根据题干信息词Dr. Wasserman、animal minds和 at the end of the passage可将答案线索定位于最后一段。

最后一段最后一句提到，就我们理解其他动物的思维的能力而言，我们正处于一个变革的阶段。也就是说，我们关于动物思维能力的研究正在取得进步，故选项D正确。