Robots will have taken over most jobs within 30 years leaving humanity facing its “biggest challenger ever” to find meaning in life when work is no longer necessary according to experts.
Professor Moshe Vardi, who works in Rice University, says that many middle-class professionals will be assisting the work of machines within the next few decades leaving workers more leisure（休闲）time than they have ever experienced and as a result, the rise of robots could lead to unemployment rate greater than 50 percent.
“We are approaching a time when machines will be able to do better than humans at almost any task,” said Vardi, “Robots are doing more and more jobs that people used to do. I believe that society needs to face question before it’s upon us. If machines can do almost any work humans can do, what will humans do? The question I want to put forward is, ‘Does the technology we are developing finally benefit mankind?’”
Prof. Vardi said existing robotic and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies were already getting rid of a growing number of middle-class jobs and that pace of advancement in the field is increasing.
But Prof. Vardi is not sure that a workforce of human like robots will be good for mankind. “A typical answer is that if machines will do all our work, we will be free to pursue leisure activities,” he said. “I do not find this a promising future, as I do not find the idea of leisure-only life appealing. I believe that work is essential to human well-being.” He added, “Humanity is about to face perhaps its greatest challenge ever, which is finding meaning in life. If machines can do all the work or even 50 percent of the jobs that we used to do, what will people do?”
1. According to the text, what is human’s “biggest challenge ever”?| A．The most challenging jobs. |
| B．Seeking the significance of life. |
| C．The rise of unemployment rates. |
| D．No necessary work for humanity. |
| A．Whether robotic and AI technologies are good for humans. |
| B．Whether robots can rule humans within 30 years. |
| C．The unemployment rate is increasing greatly. |
| D．The development of robots is rapid enough. |
| A．Realistic and comfortable. |
| B．Unpleasant and unattractive. |
| C．Entertaining and pleasing. |
| D．Disgusting and annoying. |
| A．will be in short of labor force |
| B．can have a surplus of products |
| C．have to face fierce competition |
| D．may lose the value of life |
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【推荐1】Life in the future will be different from life today.Between then and now many changes will happen. But what will the changes be?
The population is growing fast. There will be many people in the world and most of them will live longer than people live now.
Computers will be much smaller and more useful, and there will be at least one in every room.And computer studies will be one of the important subjects in schools then.People will work fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and travel.Traveling will be much cheaper and easier. And many more people will go to other countries for holidays.
There will be changes in our food, too. More land will be used for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat it every day.Instead they will eat more fruit and vegetables. Maybe people will be healthier.
Work in the future will be different, too.Robots will do dangerous and hard work.Because of this, many people will not have enough work to do. This will be a problem.
1. In the future there will be ________.| A．much more fruit | B．more people | C．less vegetables | D．less people |
| A．work long hours | B．work fast | C．walk on foot | D．eat meat |
| A．fruit | B．fish | C．meat | D．rice |
| A．many people don't have to work | B．many people will not be able to find work |
| C．people have to work fast | D．all the work will be done by robots |
【推荐2】In the Hollywood movie The Martian, actor Matt Damon plays an astronaut who grows food on Mars(火星)to survive alone on the red planet.
After seeing the movie, Washington State University physicist Michael Allen and University of Idaho food scientist Helen Joyner decided to carry out a case study helping students figure out how to farm on Mars. In the case study, students have to imagine they are mining(采矿) on Mars and decide how to feed themselves there before starting on the journey. They get advice from Allen and Joyner on how to select crops and take the challenges of growing crops over long periods on Mars. Students use a scoring system to select three foods to plant on Mars.
Allen found the results impressive: among 30 students, “no two people have ever gotten the same answer”, he said.
Human travelers to Mars will likely have to make use of resources on the planet rather than take everything they need with them on a spaceship. This means farming their own food on another planet, one that has a very different ecosystem (生态系统) from Earth’s.
One challenge for those who would like to live on Mars is the fact that there can be no farming tools. Like real astronauts, students taking part in the study cannot take a lot of farming tools with them. As Joyner put it to his student astronauts, “You are starting with nothing.”
Besides, students also have to deal with a very limited choice of diet. “If I had to eat a single food for the rest of my life, could I do it?” Joyner asked.
But Allen believes the case study is about more than farming and eating on the Red Planet.
“I’m not teaching about growing food on Mars,” Allen said. “I’m teaching about living with choices. I’m teaching about problem solving.”
1. In the case study, students have to __________.| A．watch the movie to know the conditions on Mars |
| B．decide which crop to grow on Mars with the help of the teachers |
| C．design different types of diets on Mars for them to choose |
| D．understand how to farm on Mars with their favorite farming tools |
| A．increases students’ knowledge about farming |
| B．helps student know more about Mars |
| C．develops students’ skills of solving problems |
| D．teaches students how to make proper choices |
| A．to describe a research on how to farm on Mars |
| B．to prepare us to deal with problems on Mars |
| C．to teach us how to survive on Mars alone |
| D．to introduce a Hollywood movie, The Martian |
【推荐3】Since several organisations plan to put the first man on Mars by 2030, new trips to the Moon will take place around 2025. If you go to the Moon, you need a place to stay in. So what will it be like? Maybe the following article can give us some inspiration.
August 23, 2025—Today a new chapter in space travel was written. Rod Markham and his wife-to-be Susan Millster arrived safely on the Moon to spend 5 nights as the first guests at the Starbright Hotel that was set up for this purpose two years ago.
Not only are they the first hotel guests on the Moon, but they also set a new record for expensive accommodation since the price was $3.7 million per night, per person. However, the move from the Earth to the hotel is included in the price.
The hotel itself will probably have a hard time just to try to gain one star in any hotel rating system, because there is no room service. The guests have to do the cleaning of the room themselves and there is no bathroom in it. However. they have more stars than they need just outside their windows.
Rod and Susan will get married by linking their local minister in San Diego, California at 9:00 p.m. EST tonight, and the wedding will be broadcast live by several major TV networks in a 1-hour special report, including the preparations for the trip.
Six astronauts are along with them and during the stay they’ll set up further accommodations for the guests who have made reservations at the Starbright Hotel next year. The hotel has no employees, only some workers when guests stay at it.
1. What does the new chapter in space travel refer to according to paragraph 2?| A．That humans landed on Mars for the first time. |
| B．That the first hotel on the Moon was set up. |
| C．That the first hotel guests landed on the Moon. |
| D．That the hotel on Mars welcomed its first guests. |
| A．They can't find much help. |
| B．They will get five-star service. |
| C．They have to cook food themselves. |
| D．They can use the bathroom in their room. |
| A．It will last for an hour. |
| B．It can be watched live on the Earth. |
| C．A minister on the Moon will host it. |
| D．Their relatives and friends will be present. |
| A．Accept reservations from others. |
| B．Improve room service for the couple. |
| C．Look for several employees for the hotel. |
| D．Prepare accommodations for future guests. |
【推荐1】People duck responsibility for reasons ranging from simple laziness or a fear of failure, through to a sense of feeling frightened by the scale of a problem or a situation. Whatever the reason, if people fail to take responsibility, they’ll fail in their jobs, they’ll fail their teams, and they’ll fail to grow as individuals. All of this makes it important to address the issue.
Signs of not being responsible
There are several signs to watch out for. These include:
Lacking interest in their work, and in the well-being of the team
Blaming others for mistakes and failures
Missing deadlines
Avoiding challenging tasks and projects, and not taking risks
Regularly complaining about unfair treatment by team leaders and members and engaging in self-pity
Avoiding being dependent on others for work, advice and instructions
Lacking trust in team members and leaders
Ways to encourage responsibility
Start by talking
Your first step is to talk to the individuals concerned. Are there circumstances that are contributing to the situation, or problems that you can deal with?
Communicate roles, responsibilities and objectives
Your people need to know clearly what their roles and responsibilities are. Ensure that you have an up-to-date job description for each team member, and be as detailed as possible about every responsibility that they have.
Re-engage people
Your people will be more engaged if their work is supported with their values. Talk to them to find out what they are. Then, illustrate how their daily tasks and responsibilities go with those values.
Give plenty of praise
Finally, be sure to give your people plenty of praise when they do take responsibility. And help them improve by providing them with regular, effective and fair feedback.
1. What will happen if John fails to take responsibility?| A．He can complete his jobs. |
| B．His teams may suffer. |
| C．His growth will continue. |
| D．He will lose his life. |
| A．“It’s not my fault.” |
| B．“I’ll have it completed tomorrow.” |
| C．“It’s tough, but I can manage it.” |
| D．“I need resources to solve the problem. ” |
| A．Let him know their specific tasks. |
| B．Get them to find out the values of work. |
| C．Praise them for their good jobs. |
| D．Have a chat with him to find out problems. |
【推荐2】James Langston Hughes finally arrived in New York on September 4, 1921 to attend Colombia University. Langston felt frustrated at Colombia due to the discrimination of his white classmates. His grades began to suffer and finally he left and looked for a job.
Job were still hard to come by for most blacks. He longed to work on a ship that would sail abroad. After much persistence, he headed to Africa on a freighter ( 货船 ). Hughes was disturbed by the African tribes’ lack of political and economical freedom. The Africans considered him white because of his brown skin and stranded dark hair. It was here that he met a mulatto （白黑混血）child who was ignored by the Africans and the whites. This was a sourced of inspiration for his play, “Mulatto”.
Hughes found work on another freighter and ended up in Pairs. While there he worked at a night club that featured southern cooking and jazz performers. While moving on to Italy, Hughed was robbed and left stranded (helpless) wanting to return to the United States. He tried to get a job on a ship heading for the U.S.A. but was told they only hired the white. In this depressed state of mind he wrote, “I, Too, Sing America.”
He returned to America and found the Harlem Renaissance was spreading across racial boundaries（种族界线）. Many black poets and authors were now published in mainstream publications. Hughes was warmly welcomed by his peers （同辈）and recognized for the poetry he wrote while traveling.
1. What inspired James Hughes to write the play “Mulatto”?| A．Neither the African nor the whites took care of a mulatto child he met. |
| B．The African did not like white people. |
| C．Blacks found it hard to find a decent job. |
| D．There was no political nor economical freedom in Africa. |
| A．He sold his poems. | B．He got a job on ship. |
| C．He worked for a night club. | D．His African friends gave him some money. |
| A．His white classmates were kind and helpful to him. |
| B．He was recognized as a promising poet. |
| C．He graduated with honors. |
| D．He was very disappointed. |
【推荐3】Cheating is considered to be a major problem in colleges and universities. Colleges and universities across the US have decided to do more than talk about the rise in student cheating.
We frequently hear about “the good old days”, when Americans were better, happier, and more honest. But were they more honest? Maybe yes, a long time ago when life was very different from what it is today.
School children used to know the story of how Abraham Lincoln walked five miles to return a penny he’d overcharged a customer. It’s the kind of story we think of as myth. But in the case of Lincoln, the story is true — unlike the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. Washington’s first biographer invented the tale of little George saying to his father, “I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my ax.” What is important in both stories, however, is that honesty was seen as an important part of the American character.
And these are just two stories out of many. Students in the last century usually didn’t read “fan” stories. They read stories that taught moral values. Such stories pointed out quite clearly that children who lied, cheated, or stole came to bad ends.
Parents may have further reinforced those values. It’s difficult to know. We do know that children didn’t hear their parents talk of cheating the government on income taxes — there weren’t any. The vast majority of Americans still believe that honesty is an important part of the American character. For that reason, there are numerous watch-dog committees at all levels of society.
Although signs of dishonesty in school, business, and government seem much more numerous in recent years than in the past, could it be that we are getting better at revealing such dishonesty? There is some evidence that dishonesty may ebb and flow (起伏). When times are hard, incidents of theft and cheating usually go up. And when times get better such incidents tend to go down.
Cheating in school also tends to ebb and flow. But it doesn’t seem linked to the economy. Many educators feel that as students gain confidence in themselves and their abilities, they are less likely to cheat. Surprisingly, some efforts to prevent cheating may actually encourage cheating — a person may feel “they don’t trust me anyway,” and be tempted to “beat the system.” Distrust can be contagious (传染的). But, so can trust!
1. Why does the author mention the two stories of Lincoln and Washington?| A．To show Lincoln is more admired than Washington. |
| B．To introduce the topic to be discussed. |
| C．To compare them with the presidents today. |
| D．To prove honesty used to be very important in American character. |
| A．Those who do something evil will have to answer for it. |
| B．Those who steal will be put to prison. |
| C．Those who cheat will be sentenced. |
| D．Those who don’t behave themselves will die young. |
| A．Family life. |
| B．Fun stories. |
| C．Economic condition. |
| D．School education. |
| A．Distrust will result in dishonesty sometimes. |
| B．The measures to stop cheating in schools are badly taken. |
| C．Dishonesty is a long-time discouragement. |
| D．There will never be an effective way to stop cheating. |
| A．High grades. |
| B．Self-confidence. |
| C．Discipline. |
| D．Strong wills. |
【推荐1】Some people have glibly（轻率地）called it the "Chinese burger." But roujiamo, a food that has its origins in northern China's Shaanxi Province, is different from what you'd order at Burger King, with a far longer 2,000-year-old history. Roujiamo is a thing of beauty — a soft but chewy bun filled with small pieces of braised（炖）pork.
Most amazingly, some customers might show their respect for the pork in this little bun, which was just bathed in the soup that is older than them. Among a sea of tough competition, Lijiarongxi, a restaurant recognized as the best roujiamo place in town, should owe its success to the soup used to slow-cook its meat, which has been braised on the stove since the founder, Mr. Li, first braised it 27years ago. In fact, most restaurants of good fame have an exclusive heritage recipe（家传秘方）for their soups that often date back to decades ago. The soup in Fanji Roujiamo, one of Xi'an's best-known roujiamo restaurants, is believed to be more than 80 years old!
You might eat the bun quickly in seconds, but like all good things, it should be given time to enjoy. Chefs braise the pork in its decade-old soup for hours and let it sit overnight, making the meat more tender. Such tenderly cooked meat is what lends this dish the nickname "lao han xi" in Xianyang. That's because the best roujiamo meat is so soft that it should melt in your mouth without having to chew it — imagining the elderly customers in question, without a perfect set of teeth.
It's also worth noting that like most types of regional Chinese food, roujiamo varies depending on the city and community. Buns come baked or pan-fried, and for the meat, Muslim communities in Shaanxi often use beef, while people in Ningxia usually choose lamb.
1. What is right about roujiamo?| A．A soft but chewy bun with meat. |
| B．A pork bun with a history less than 2,000 years. |
| C．A kind of food ordered at Burger King. |
| D．A typical burger originating in Shaanxi Province. |
| A．A sea of fierce competition. | B．The softness of the meat. |
| C．The soup used to braise the meat. | D．Its exclusive heritage recipes. |
| A．The decade-old soup is so attractive that the old feel like bathing in it. |
| B．The meat gets soft and is friendly for the old to eat, making them happy. |
| C．The meat turns tough after being braised in its decade-old soup for hours. |
| D．The meat melts in the mouth of the old, who sigh for not tasting it successfully. |
| A．Humorous and affectionate. | B．Ridiculous and religious. |
| C．Serious but affectionate. | D．Humorous but ridiculous. |
【推荐2】There are many idioms in English. An idiom is a phrase that we can’t understand from the meaning of each word. The following are some of them.
As the crow flies
When a bird flies from place to place, it takes the most direct route. But when people drive, they have to follow roads and often go farther. When people give a distance “as the crow flies”, they mean the shortest distance between the two points, not the distance you would have to travel by following roads.
As Dan and his mum drove along the river, they could see the beach on the opposite side, Dan asked “How far is it to the beach?”
“It’s only about a quarter of a mile as the crow flies,” his mother said.
Blow hot and cold
In one of Aesop’s Fables, a man blows on his fingers to warm them up and then blows on his soup to cool it down. In both cases, the man is opening his mouth, but what comes out is different. If a person says one thing and later says the opposite, we say that the person is blowing hot and cold.
“Is Felicia going to tryout for the soccer team this year?” Stacy asked.
“I don’t know,” Tricia replied.” Last week she was saying yes, but this week she’s saying no. She’s really blowing hot and cold.”
Break the ice
Nowadays people use the phrase to refer to ending an awkward silence by beginning a conversation.
It was the first day of summer camp. The four girls began to make their beds in silence. None of the girls knew each other, and no one knew what to say. Finally, one of them broke the ice by saying “Hey, where’s everybody from?”
Bury the hatchet
In native American culture, when two nations agreed to end their war, they buried the hatchet. So to bury the hatchet is to make peace with someone else.
Colin could not excuse his sister for breaking his tennis racket. Finally, his sister said, “Colin, can’t we bury the hatchet?”
1. What does “as the crow flies” mean?| A．By plane. |
| B．At top speed. |
| C．In a straight line. |
| D．In the smoothest way. |
| A．As the crow flies. |
| B．Blow hot and cold. |
| C．Break the ice. |
| D．Bury the hatchet. |
| A．In a fiction story. |
| B．In an academic essay. |
| C．In a students’ magazine. |
| D．On a commercial brochure. |
【推荐3】These days, if there’s something you’re scared about while traveling, from insect bites to having your credit card stolen on the beach, there’s a piece of technology to deal with it.
The Smart Suitcase
An IndieGogo campaign has produced the Bluesmart, a suitcase for people who like every part of their travel life to be connected — and the features are pretty impressive. The Bluesmart can be locked and unlocked via your phone, tracked worldwide, weigh its own contents, charge your devices, and warn you if it’s separated from you. It costs $329.00.
The Portable Water Sterilizer
If you’ve ever had Delhi Belly or any kind of waterborne disease while travelling, this will seem like a complete life saver. The SteriPen is a handheld UV water purifier, and can kill 99.9percent of waterborne bacteria and diseases in whatever water you stick it in. It can purify a full liter of water in 90 seconds. It’s also pretty reasonable at $69.95.
The RealTime Translator
Sigmo is designed to be a small, handheld realtime translator for 25 languages. It’s tiny—barely the size of a square of chocolate— and can be used with earphones or speakers and during phone calls. Right now, they’re predicting that it will be $65.00, but keep an eye on the developers for news.
The Cooling TeeShirt
Sol Cool is designed for people hiking around in heat. The fabric of the clothes has significant cooling functions when it comes to human body heat, creating a nice cool sense next to the skin. The fabric is also very highwicking and UV protected, so you can still wear clothes in extreme heat without boiling. A woman’s shirt costs $60.00.
1. What should be bought for those sensitive to bacteria?| A．Bluesmart. | B．SteriPen. | C．Sigmo. | D．Sol Cool. |
| A．$329.00. | B．$69.95. | C．$65.00. | D．$60.00. |
| A．They are techfriendly. | B．They protect your luggage. |
| C．They can drive away insects. | D．They make you cool in summer. |
【推荐1】They go up and they go down. They take people from one floor of a building to the exact same spot on another floor. A new technology will break elevators free from their vertical (垂直的) prisons, allowing them to move side to side, at an angle (角度), even go outside into a city. German company Thyssenkrupp has developed a new kind of elevator that uses maglev (磁悬浮) technology to move elevator cabins. Called Multi, these elevators are no longer limited to a single vertical path.
A funny thing happens when elevators can go anywhere. Tall buildings, which are designed to work around elevators, can start taking on different shapes. They can go wide, add towers or go in unusual directions, and make room for green spaces that otherwise would have been an inconvenience. A single elevator can run from the east side of the first floor to the far west side of the 30th, no transferring or walking necessary. It gets even more interesting when an elevator leaves the building. Patrick Bass, Thyssenkrupp’s North America CEO, has worked in the elevator industry for 26 years. He thinks these elevators will create new transportation networks to support the cities of the future. As more people go into cities, there’s a renewed interest in creating energy efficient spaces. Moving people around quickly is a huge part of that.
He imagines Multi working perfectly with other Thyssenkrupp technology like the Accel moving walkway. Accel, which also uses maglev technology, speeds up after you step on and can go twice the speed of a regular moving walkway. It was the first use of maglev technology outside of a train. The Accel is already in use in some cities now.
1. Compared with traditional elevators, Multi can __________.| A．go more smoothly | B．go in any directions |
| C．go up and down freely | D．go directly from floor to floor |
| A．They will hold more people. |
| B．They will become much higher. |
| C．They will be in different shapes. |
| D．They will be connected to one another. |
| A．They save space in cities. |
| B．They help avoid the rush hours. |
| C．They help people save money. |
| D．They help move people around quickly. |
| A．To show how Multi works. |
| B．To show the importance of the Accel. |
| C．To tell us other products by Thyssenkrupp. |
| D．To explain the wide use of maglev technology. |
【推荐2】Hundreds of villagers took matters into their own hands by digging miles of trenches（沟壕）to install their own cables(电缆). The tiny village in Michaelston-y-Fedw, with a population of 300, clubbed together after being unable to download films, stream music or connect to online banking. Farmers, teachers and even the village pub owners put in thousands of hours of volunteering to dig miles of trenches and now have super fast broadband(宽带).
The project cost around ￡250,000 with villagers paying￡150,000 of their own money to secure their super fast connection speed. They were also able to obtain￡100,000 from EU funding and the Welsh Government Access Broadband Cymru scheme.
The idea was produced in the local pub when villagers were complaining about their Wi-Fi connections. Ben Longman, owner of the Cefn Mably Arms, said, “We were in the pub and we were all complaining about how bad the Wi-Fi was. I had just paid for high speed broadband and realized it would not work.”
One of the organizers, Carina Dunk, 61, said it was fantastic what the village had achieved. She said, “It used to take a few days to download a film; now it takes less than a minute. Communities have tended to be more distant and separated but not here anymore. Sometimes we have to take a step back and achieve something.”
A year after the project, most of the 300 villagers are now united in a 1,000mps broadband connection.
However, Richard Raybould, 59, is still waiting for his house to be connected on the edge of the village and said he cannot wait. He said, “It is amazing what skills people in the community have. There are experts and farmers who dig trenches. I have met at least 30 people who I had never spoken to before.”
1. What can we learn about the villagers?| A．They had no access to the Internet. |
| B．They usually didn’t have much free time. |
| C．They didn’t know how to use the Internet correctly. |
| D．They considered their Internet connection disappointing. |
| A．partly cover the cost |
| B．employ workers to dig trenches |
| C．donate ￡100,000 to EU funding |
| D．get the local government’s permission |
| A．Explain the cause of the project. |
| B．Explain the process of the project. |
| C．Show the benefits from the project. |
| D．Show the villagers’ attitudes toward the project. |
| A．Villagers obtain access to the Internet |
| B．Villagers dream of super fast broadband |
| C．Villagers volunteer to install super fast broadband |
| D．Villagers are suffering from bad Wi-Fi connections |
Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished. For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns(角) had not yet developed. A century later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle. By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.
Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from early nineteen hundreds. A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.
The Green Revolution is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs. Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling, jealousy(嫉妒). The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space. It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants. A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay rise and he does not.
1. A greenhorn now refers to ____.
| A．a person who is new in a job | B．a new solider |
| C．a young horse | D．a cow without horns |
| A．who is good at growing plants | B．whose thumbs are of green color |
| C．whose garden is greener than others’ | D．who is younger than his neighbors |
| A．colors | B．language | C．politics | D．agriculture |
| A．In about the 16th century, a greenhorn meant an experienced soldier. |
| B．The Green Revolution may have some connection with green thumbs. |
| C．The green-eyed monster was probably created by William Shakespeare. |
| D．The green-eyed monster can be used to describe a person who is jealous. |
