Midway through The Matrix, Cypher feasts on an enormous steak, well aware that his reality is not real, part of a digital program telling his brain that the steak is a construction and that it is “juicy and delicious”. Two decades after the movie made its first appearance, something unexpected arises: The future of reality will not only be virtual but also synthetic (合成的). Cypher’s future meal will be a physical one, synthesized from animal cells.
And the synthesis goes beyond dinner. Starting with components from the natural world, scientists are learning to engineer microorganisms and build biocomputing systems. However, biology has a tendency to evolve in unexpected ways.
Synthesized meat is one case in point. The driving forces behind the meat movement are practical. It has been estimated that cultured (培育的) meat would require 7 to 45 percent less energy and produce 78 to 96 percent less greenhouse gas than conventional animals farmed for consumption. But once we’re able to synthesize meat, theoretically, we’ll have the capability to culture meat from any animal, even those we’d never consider eating today, like dolphins or chimpanzees, which will pose a new regulatory challenge for us.
Using synthetic biology, we can even edit and rewrite life, the technology of which is already in use. In 2021, scientists in some countries announced they had grown monkey embryos injected with human stem cells. Here comes the situation worth considering: such a monkey-human hybrid will demonstrate qualities that are somewhere between humans, on which experimentation isn’t allowed, and animals, which are often raised specifically for research. How will we decide when an animal becomes too human?
Depending on where you stand, the synthetic realities land somewhere between “really exciting” and “critically concerning”. As individuals, we undertake a shared responsibility to make good choices about this coming synthetic technology.
1. What do we know about Cypher’s steak in the movie?| A．It is enjoyed in a virtual world. | B．It is anything but appetizing. |
| C．It is synthesized from animal cells. | D．It is a construction made by himself. |
| A．It is more nutritious. | B．It is more energy-consuming. |
| C．It is more controllable in regulation. | D．It is more environment-friendly. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Favorable. | C．Negative. | D．Positive. |
| A．To popularize synthetic technology. |
| B．To indicate challenges of synthetic technology. |
| C．To stress the importance of synthetic technology. |
| D．To introduce the development of synthetic technology. |
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【推荐1】Scientists have already applied robots like Roomba to work in the agriculture (农业). A Roomba works because it has wheels that function well on flat ground. However, fields are full of rough and rocky environments, which means it is difficult for robots to work in the fields. Luckily, scientists thought of centipedes (蜈蚣). With tens to hundreds of legs, they can move on any places without stopping. If they stop moving their body parts and feet, they basically stop moving instantly.
A team led by Chong developed a theory that proposes that adding leg pairs to the robot increases its ability to move firmly over challenging environments.
To test this, Juntao conducted a series of experiments where he and Daniel Soto built models to simulate (模拟) different natural environments. He then tested the robot by increasing its number of legs by two each time, starting with six and finally increasing to 16. As the leg count increased, the robot could more easily move across the surfaces, even without sensors. Finally, they tested the robot outdoors on real environments, where it was able to move in a variety of environments.
The researchers are applying their discoveries to farming. Goldman has co-founded a company that wants to use these robots to weed (除草) farmland where weedkillers are ineffective. “It’s truly impressive to see the multilegged robot easily moves on both lab-based and outdoor environments,” Juntao said. “Now we are deciding the most suitable number of legs to achieve motion. In the future, we hope to apply them for space exploration, and even search and rescue.”
1. What can we learn about Roomba?| A．It can move on any places without stopping. |
| B．It can not work well in the rough farmlands. |
| C．It was newly invented and still in its early age. |
| D．It was inspired when scientists saw centipedes |
| A．Unpractical. | B．Amusing. | C．Ineffective. | D．Promising. |
| A．It will reach consumers soon. | B．It will increase farm production. |
| C．It will be used in many other fields. | D．It will take the place of weedkillers. |
| A．Centipedes Inspire Multilegged Robots’ Invention |
| B．Scientists Get a Huge Step in Studying Centipedes |
| C．Scientists Solved Challenges in Robots’ Creation |
| D．Multilegged Robots Brought Benefits to Farming |
【推荐2】So many things can keep you from seeing your loved ones in person, from busy schedules to long distances to a rather unexpected pandemic.
A new study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, found that communication interactions that included voice, like a phone call or video chat, created stronger social bonds than communication through typing, like text messaging or email. In the study, researchers used various experiments to estimate connectedness. In one, they asked 200 people to make predictions about what it would be like to reconnect with an old friend by email or by phone and then assigned people at random to do one or the other.
Sabrina Romanoff, a Harvard trained clinical psychologist based in New York City, says
| A．“Texting corresponds information exactly in the way people intend.” |
| B．“In reality, texting can make it hard to determine the true meaning behind a conversation.” |
| C．People held the view that a phone call was really awkward and reconnected with their friends by email. |
| D．Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, the people we miss are often only a phone call or text message away. |
| E．According to science, if you want to feel more connected to the people you're talking to, you should call them instead of texting. |
| F．In another experiment, the researchers had strangers connect by either texting, talking over video chat, or talking using only audio. |
| G．Although people anticipated that a phone call would be more awkward, hearing someone's voice actually made the experience better. |
【推荐3】Alongside in-depth original research that shows how families are wrestling with technology’s new realities, the goal of this book is to let you make good choices about technology in family life. The book is broken into three parts. In the introduction, it shares the tech-wise commandments, which serve as valuable conversation starters for families and provide guidelines on managing technology use. It later adds more details to these commandments in each chapter.
The first part of the book gives the family unit three key action steps in creating a “tech-wise family”. First, families can choose character by developing wisdom and courage together as a family. Second, they can shape spaces within the home for creativity, which helps a family create more than consume. Third, families can structure time so that they use their resources to develop a rhythm of work and rest. It connects these three concepts to technology by giving tangible steps such as turning off devices at least one hour a day, one day a week,and one week a year so that their family can pray, feast, play and rest together.
The second part explores deeply into daily aspects of life such as making sure that families use devices to benefit their lives, rather than allowing the devices to control their lives. It also shows how the writer’s family chooses to use car time for conversation rather than use devices to distract(使分心)them, how within their family there is no secrecy on devices and how families use technology intentionally in community instead of using it aimlessly alone.
The final part reads more like an expansion to the second and addresses how technology can distract us from what matters most. The writer argues,“We show up in person for the big events of life. We learn how to be human by being fully present at our moments of greatest vulnerability(脆弱).”These final chapters address how to show up and love people well through simply being truly present for loved ones.
1. What is the book aimed to help family members do?| A．Make career choices. | B．Live a simple lifestyle. |
| C．Put technology in its place. | D．Offer guidance on buying books. |
| A．Practical. | B．Latest. | C．Passive. | D．Double. |
| A．The distractions that often exist in families. |
| B．The secrets that should be kept in family life. |
| C．The ways the devices are used in everyday life. |
| D．The benefits individuals bring to their families. |
| A．By asking. | B．By quoting. |
| C．By listing statistics. | D．By making comparisons. |
【推荐1】Below are several things that will have happened by the mid-point of this century both for the good and bad.
Right now, people are focused on AI potentially causing job losses but the reality could be far worse. George Stakhov said, “By 2050, AI will have profoundly(深刻地) reshaped the world. There is a dark AI future where those who control AI will gain huge power, while 99 percent of the population will be disenfranchised(剥夺权利) .The AI lords will control the world’s data and turn the rest of us into their serfs. The alternative is a bright AI scenario, where everyone benefits from AI through better healthcare, faster transport and less pollution.”
Futurist and former Google engineer Ray Kurzweil says that people will merge with machines by 2025. In an event he describes as the “Singularity”, Kurzweil predicts that by 2045, people will connect their brains to machines. “I have set a date for the Singularity in 2045, which is when we will increase our effective intelligence a billionfold by merging with the intelligence we have created.”
Alien-hunting astronomer Seth Shostak bet fellow astronomers that we should find aliens within two dozen years. That means we could be in contact with ET by 2036. Shostak has since doubled down on his prediction, saying that newer measurements suggest there could be billions of Earth-like worlds. That means if the Earth is the only place with life, it’s like a winner in a lottery where the odds are a billion to one. That may be the strongest argument for life in space.
Soaring humidity (湿度) and heat will lead to heatwaves where it is almost impossible for humans to survive outdoors in areas including South Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. By 2070, this will also be true in areas of Brazil and China. “Wet bulb” temperatures refer to conditions where temperature and humidity are high, making it hard to survive outdoors. Humans can survive temperatures of up to 50℃ when humidity is low, but in high humidity, humans cannot survive because there is no way to cool down by sweating. Even extremely strong and fit people die within hours. Large areas of the Earth might be uninhabitable.
1. What is the dark AI future according to George Stakhov?| A．AI will hold power over humans. |
| B．Humans will earn a basic low wage. |
| C．Humans will have to serve as AI’s masters. |
| D．AI will become the owner of the Earth. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Approving. | C．Cautious. | D．Negative. |
| A．Heatwaves occur in most areas in the world. |
| B．High humidity causes people to sweat a lot. |
| C．Huge areas of the Earth might be uninhabitable. |
| D．People can’t live in low humidity for a long time. |
【推荐2】The practice of paying children an allowance became popular in America about 100 years ago. Nowadays, American kids on average receive about $ 800 per year in allowance. But the vast majority of American parents who pay tie it to the completion of housework. Although many parents believe that paying an allowance for completing chores (家务活) benefits their children, a range of experts expressed concern that tying allowance very closely to chores may not be ideal. In fact, the way chores work in many households worldwide points to another way.
Suniya Luthar, a psychologist, is against paying kids for chores. Luthar is not opposed to giving allowances, but she thinks it’s important to establish that chores are done not because they will lead to payment, but because they keep the household running. Luthar’s suggested approach to allowance agrees with that of writer Ron Lieber, who advises that allowances be used as a means of showing children how to save, give, and spend on things they care about.
Kids should do chores, he writes, “for the same reason adults do, because the chores need to be done, and not with the expectation of compensation.”
This argument has its critics, but considering the way chores are undertaken around the world may change people’s thinking. Professor David Lancy of Utah State University has studied how families around the world handle chores. At about 18 months of age, Lancy says, most children become eager to help their parents, and in many cultures, they begin helping with housework at that age. They begin with very simple tasks, but their responsibilities gradually increase. And they do these tasks without payment. Lancy contrasts this with what happens in America. “We deny our children’s bids to help until they are 6 or 7 years old,” Lancy says, “when many have lost the desire to help and then try to motivate them with payment. The solution to this problem is not to try to use money as a motive for doing housework, but to get children involved in housework much earlier, when they actually want to do it.”
1. What do some experts think about paying children for doing chores?| A．It may not be the best thing to do. | B．It may not help complete homework. |
| C．It may benefit children in the long term. | D．It may help children engage more in labor. |
| A．strengthen family ties | B．appreciate their help |
| C．motivate them to do more housework | D．teach them ways to manage money |
| A．They should learn to take family responsibilities |
| B．They are too young to request money for what they do. |
| C．They have a natural tendency to help around the house. |
| D．They need a little support to get involved in housework |
| A．Set a good example for children. | B．Accept children’s early bids to help. |
| C．Teach children how to do housework. | D．Reward children for doing housework. |
【推荐3】When the German psychologist Kurt Lewin moved to the U.S., he found his new home a little puzzling, especially when it came to friendships. “Compared with Germans, Americans seem to make quicker progress toward friendly relations early in the acquaintance process and with many more persons,” he wrote. “Yet this development often stops at a certain point and the quickly acquired friends will, after years of close relations, say goodbye as easily as after a few weeks of acquaintance.”
Lewin thought that this idea of friends as fast fashion might be encouraged by the United States’s high level of residential mobility (居住流动性).
Gillath and Keefer did studies where people took questionnaires about their willingness to things and their history of moving from place to place. They found that people who’d moved around a lot were more willing to get rid of objects, and being willing to get rid of things was connected with being willing to cut social ties.
Moving is a big life change, and not only with regard to place. The social circles they have easy access to are also likely to change. This isn’t to suggest that people view their friends as objects. “Moving also requires making choices about which relationships are worth keeping and which are not, which ties could be replaced and which ties should be kept,” Gillath and Keefer write.
Perhaps this tendency to keep friendships from getting too deep comes not only from an easy-come, easy-go attitude due to mobility, but also the knowledge of how hard it is to leave people. As John Reisman puts it, “Within a changing society, people could, by keeping their friendships at an associative level, protect themselves from the sadness and self-blame that can be brought about when they have to cut close relationships.”
1. What puzzled Kurt after he came to America?| A．Americans were friendly to Germans. |
| B．Americans easily won emotional friends. |
| C．Americans were likely to end friendships easily. |
| D．Americans considered it fashion to make friends. |
| A．Throw away | B．Put away | C．Take over | D．Break down |
| A．keep one’s former social circles |
| B．judge one’s friendship with others |
| C．choose the objects from old friends |
| D．test one’s long-distance relationships |
| A．To be ashamed of living in a changing society. |
| B．To feel less guilty of moving away all the time. |
| C．To keep themselves from being hurt by friends. |
| D．To reduce the pain of ending deep friendships. |
