1 . New Scientist magazine’s chief reporter Adam recently published “Net-zero living: how your day will look in a carbon-neutral (碳中和) world”. Here, he imagines what a typical day would be like in the future — through the eyes of Isla, a child in 2050.
Isla lives in the south of the United Kingdom and her life looks pretty much like life does today: she has a house, a car, a job, and a cup of tea in the morning. There are great forests, and giant machines sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. It all sounds like a green and pleasant land, but it didn’t sound like the future to me.
It’s an interesting exercise, imagining what it will be like in about 30 years. I thought I would give it a try: here is some speculative fiction about Edie, living in Toronto, Canada in 2050.
Edie lives in the garage in an old house that is her apartment and workshop. She considers herself to be very lucky to have this garage in what was her grandparents’ house. The only people who live in houses these days either get the houses from their parents or are multi-millionaires from all over the world, desperate to move to Canada with its cooler climate and plentiful water and are able to afford the million-dollar immigrant visa fee.
Edie is lucky to be working. There are no office or industrial jobs anymore: Artificial Intelligence and robots took care of that. The few jobs left are in service, culture, craft, health care, or real estate (房地产). In fact, selling real estate has become the nation’s biggest industry.
There may be lots of electricity from wind and solar farms, but even running tiny heat pumps for cooling is really expensive at peak times. The streets are unpleasantly hot, so many people sleep through the midday.
Now Edie is checking the balance in her Personal Carbon Allowance (PCA) account to see if she has enough to buy another imported battery for her e-bike. If she doesn’t have enough then, she will have to buy carbon credits, and they are expensive. She sets her alarm for 6:00 p.m. when the streets of Toronto will come alive again on this hot November day.
1. What does the author think of Isla’s life?A.Desirable. | B.Unappealing. |
C.Unachievable. | D.Exciting. |
A.Many people will immigrate abroad. | B.Its climate will get colder and colder. |
C.Electricity will be very cheap to use. | D.The house prices will be extremely high. |
A.The house problem. | B.Being out of work. |
C.The balance of her bank account. | D.The energy consumption. |
A.To point out Adam’s unreasonable thinking. |
B.To compare the present life and the future life. |
C.To imagine the life after reducing carbon emissions. |
D.To raise people’s awareness of environmental protection. |
2 . 听下面一段较长对话,回答以下小题。
1. What did the program say about the life in the future?A.People’s way of consumption will change. |
B.More supermarkets will come into existence. |
C.More free time will be available for people. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Supportive. | C.Dismissive. |
3 . There’s a classic short story in which a young man travels years ahead and meets his future self. Narratives like this have always been related to science fiction. But what if you could meet your future self?
I’m a psychologist and professor. My research over the past 15 years isn’t far from this theme. I’ve largely focused on how people think about and relate to their future selves, and explored the reasons why we have such a hard time making long-term decisions. In my research, I’ve learnt that we often imagine our future selves like strangers, which can impede us in making long-term choices. One way to bridge the emotional gap is to think of future selves in more concrete and vivid ways, like writing letters to and from one’s future self, which can strengthen the connection between current and future selves.
Admittedly, having people engage in an imagined conversation is a far cry from actually meeting one’s future self. But it’s believed that far richer interactions may happen in the near future through artificial intelligence (AI). It wouldn’t be predicting exactly what choices you’d make. It’d be more about showing your potential, based on the lives of people similar to you: not just one possible life for you, but rather, the most possible life path for you. Such interactions could offer valuable insights into our potential future selves.
So, to return to my original question: if you could time-travel to meet your future self, what aspects of your life would you want to know more about? I realized, through thorough reflections, that the most powerful questions would be ones that helped me make better choices today —questions exploring personal growth, regrets and unfulfilled actions.
Actually, you don’t need to wait for time travel or advanced AI for answers that you can act on. Through my research, I’ve learnt that simply taking a bit of time to picture this meeting can help you make better choices now. All you need is a little imagination, and the willingness to put yourself in the shoes of a person you currently treat as a stranger.
1. Why is it difficult for people to make long-term decisions according to the author?A.Technology for time travel is not available. |
B.Strangers cannot help with decision-making. |
C.Writing letters to one’s future self is impractical. |
D.People find it hard to connect with their distant selves. |
A.contradictory to | B.very different from |
C.not as convenient as | D.less popular than |
A.Why hasn’t my hard work ever paid off? |
B.What can AI do to help people become better persons? |
C.If given the chance, what would you have done differently? |
D.How can I succeed without going through all the difficulties in life? |
A.Time travel: What if you met your future self? |
B.My research: How do people view their future selves? |
C.Emotional gap: Why can’t we talk with our future selves? |
D.Artificial intelligence: Is it possible to meet your future self? |
4 . 听下面一段较长对话,回答以下小题。
1. What is the woman?A.An interviewer. | B.A professor. | C.A fitness trainer. |
A.Physics. | B.Education. | C.Chemistry. |
A.He lost interest in it. | B.He got heart problems. | C.He had no time for training. |
A.It helps him relax. | B.It’s a new trend. | C.It’s a waste of time. |
5 . 听下面一段对话,根据所听内容将下列句子补充完整。
W: I can’t wait for the day when we won’t even need to
M: What do you mean?
W: Car companies have invested
6 . 听下面一段独白,回答以下小题。
1. How does the Japanese space holiday center look like?A.The moon. | B.A bicycle wheel. | C.A park. |
A.$100,000. | B.$1,000,000. | C.$10,000,000. |
A.Near the moon. | B.On the Mars. | C.On the moon. |
A.They will be cold. | B.They will be normal rooms. | C.They will be a little dirty. |
1. Why did people leave the earth for Mars?
A.The earth was seriously polluted. |
B.War made them lose their home. |
C.The earth failed to provide enough water. |
A.Pills and juice. | B.Bread and milk. | C.Meat. |
A.By car. | B.By plane. | C.By spaceship. |
A.The languages. | B.The ability of solving problems. | C.How to keep away from the pollution. |
1. What did the program say about the life in the future?
A.More time will be spent on people’s work. |
B.More free time will be available to people. |
C.More supermarkets will come into being. |
A.Approving. | B.Doubtful. | C.Unclear. |
1. What can robots do today?
A.Feed the cat. | B.Move easily. | C.Build cars quickly. |
A.Robots can play football. |
B.Robots can understand human languages. |
C.Robots can come into most homes around the world. |
A.In 2025. | B.In 2045. | C.In 2050. |
A.Humans and robots will keep a close relationship. |
B.Robots could be as clever as humans. |
C.Robots might control the world. |
1. Social media and video calls are presented as tools to connect with people from different countries.
A.True |
B.False |
A.True |
B.False |
A.True |
B.False |
A.True |
B.False |
A.True |
B.False |
A.True |
B.False |