1. What are the speakers talking about?
| A．The future way of working. |
| B．How to find a satisfying job. |
| C．The development of computers. |
| A．He would get much more done at home. |
| B．Working at home may not be for him. |
| C．He would like to watch TV at home. |
2 . What will our world really be like 20 years from now? What does the future hold for the food we eat, the technology we use and the homes we live in? It would be beyond imagination--food pills, flying cars and bases on the moon--but the reality will probably be less exciting. The world in 2040 will probably be much like it is today, but smarter.
The future of food
The next major food change will be vertical farming (垂直农业) in which we grow food in AI-controlled vertical buildings rather than horizontal land. We could be eating insects in 2040. Insects are rich in proteins, low in fat and a good source of calcium.
The future of love
The Internet has forever changed the way people meet and fall in love. Online dating and location-based services have opened up possibilities that allow people to look beyond their friends, friends of friends, and co-workers.
The future of technology
We’re heading into a future where improved battery technology will make better electric cars, personal flying machines, and private space tourism possible.
The future of work
Rather than humans working with machines, robots are likely to reduce some jobs. Taxi drivers will be replaced by self-driving cars, for example. Clearly, there will also be new jobs created: the computer engineer, mechanics who fix the self-driving taxis, programmers, space tour guides and vertical farmers. Technology will continue to disturb businesses and get rid of some jobs, creating new professions we can’t yet imagine.
The future of health
Hospitals are the costliest part in the health system, Prevention will become the center of attention as we gain greater control of our health information.
1. What is the food in 2040 like?| A．People will not eat pork or beef then. |
| B．Insects will become the main food then. |
| C．The food will mainly exist in the form of pills. |
| D．Part of the food will come from vertical farming. |
| A．New professions will appear. | B．Boring jobs will be abandoned. |
| C．Most jobs will be done by robots. | D．Humans will work with machines. |
| A．Hospital treatment. | B．Health systems. |
| C．Prevention. | D．Health information. |
3 . When was the last time you used a telephone box? I mean to make an actual phone call — not to shelter from the rain. Ages ago, right? The last time I used a phone box for its intended purpose was…2006. I was conducting auditions (试演) for my play in my tiny old shared house in London. Hoping to impress some talented actors to come and work for me for nothing, I spread some throws over the sofas and lit candles to make it seem a bit more ”young professional”.
As I rushed outdoors to empty the wastepaper baskets, the door swung shut behind me. Suddenly I was locked outside. My mobile phone was inside, but luckily there was a telephone box across the street. So, I called Directory Assistance, got put through to our landlady’s managing agent, and had a spare key sent to me with just enough time to get back in before the actors arrived.
As it has been many years since I last used one, I should hardly be surprised that then are no longer any public telephones near my house. The last one standing has just been turn into a “mini community library”: any passer-by can “borrow” a book from its shelves return it later, or replace it with another title from their own collection.
For a few months after the “library” opened, I didn’t bother taking a look, as I had assumed that it would be stuffed full of cheese love stories. Then I noticed fork conducting spring cleans dropping boxes of voluminous books on various subjects there. And these books were free. This unbeatable price-point encouraged me to experiment with dozens of titles that I would never normally consider buying. And I’ve discovered some great books!
If I ever get trapped outside my house again, my local telephone box will, sadly no longer be able to connect me with my keys. But it can certainly keep me entertained while I wait for my wife to rescue me.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refer to?| A．The play. | B．The shared house. |
| C．The sofa. | D．The telephone box. |
| A．To place an urgent call. | B．To put up a notice. |
| C．To shelter from the rain. | D．To hold an audition. |
| A．It provides phone service for free. | B．Anyone can contribute to its collection. |
| C．It is popular among young readers. | D．Books must be returned within a month. |
| A．He wanted to borrow some love stories. |
| B．He was encouraged by a close neighbour. |
| C．He found there were excellent free books. |
| D．He thought it was an ideal place for reading. |
Today, environmental problems have been the greatest risk to life on Earth. Scientists are thinking of ways to
Dust storms are common throughout the year and cover the entire planet for weeks, blocking sunlight from reaching the surface. Perhaps more
To live on Mars, we should find permanent shelter that
For now, human settlement of Mars is decades away. Regardless, it seems that humans
5 . Welcome to your future life!
You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is firm and young-looking. In 2045, medical technology is better than ever. Many people at your age could live to be 150, so at 40, you’re not old at all. And your parents just had an anti-aging (抗衰老的) treatment. Now, all three of you look the same age!
You say to your shirt, “Turn red.” It changes from blue to red. In 2045, “smart clothes” contain particles (粒子) much smaller than the cells in your body. The particles can be programmed to change clothes’ color or pattern.
You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk, but a voice says, “You shouldn’t drink that!” Your fridge has read the chip (芯片) that contains information about the milk, and it knows the milk is old. In 2045, every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.
It’s time to go to work. In 2045, cars drive themselves. Just tell your “smart car” where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve. Such “smart technology” is all around you.
So will all these things come true? “For new technology to succeed,” says scientist Andrew Zolli, “it has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already.” The Internet is one example—what will be the next?
1. What can we learn from the text that in the future?| A．People will never get old. | B．Everyone will look the same. |
| C．Red will be the most popular color. | D．Clothes will change their pattern. |
| A．Milk will be harmful to health. |
| B．More drinks will be available for sale. |
| C．Food in the grocery store will carry electronic information. |
| D．Milk and meat in the grocery store will stay fresh much longer. |
| A．Nothing can replace the Internet. |
| B．Fridges will know what people need. |
| C．Jacket sleeves can be used as a guide. |
| D．Cars will be able to drive automatically (自动地). |
| A．Future technology in daily life. |
| B．Medical treatment of the future. |
| C．Food and clothing in many years later. |
| D．The reason for the success of new technology. |
6 . If you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would watch an original performance of a Shakespeare’s play in Elizabethan England? What about hanging out with Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period? Or maybe you’d voyage far ahead of the present day to see what the future holds.
The possibility of time travel is indeed appealing. Stories exploring the subject have been around for hundreds of years. Perhaps the best known example is the science fiction novel The Time Machine, which was written by H. G. Wells and published in 1895 for the first time. It was adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term “time machine”, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to a vehicle transporting people into the far future.
But could time travel actually be possible? Some scientists say yes, in theory. They propose using cracks in time and space called “wormholes”, which could be used as shortcuts to other periods. Einstein’s theory of relativity allows time travel in extreme circumstances. And British physicist Stephen Hawking said you could travel into the future with a really fast spaceship—going at nearly the speed of light. Though building such a spaceship would of course be no simple task.
Even if you could travel into the past, there is something called the “grandfather paradox”. It asks what would happen if a time traveller were to go back in time and have his own grandfather killed for some reason, and therefore prevent himself from being born. If the time traveller wasn’t born, how would he travel back in time?
And would you really like to visit the future? In H. G. Wells’ book, the main character travels into distant time where he arrives at a beach and is attacked by giant crabs. He then voyages 30 million years into the future where the only living thing is a black object with tentacles (触角). If that’s what’s in store, maybe we are better just living in the present day after all.
1. The novel The Time Machine mentioned in Paragraph 2 aims to show .| A．people’s interest in time travel |
| B．the special features of the book |
| C．the long history of time travel |
| D．the contribution of H. G. Wells |
| A．have similarities in many ways |
| B．push the invention of the first spaceship |
| C．have proved wrong by some time travellers |
| D．suggest the possibility to invent the time machine |
| A．the traveller is prevented from meeting his grandfather |
| B．the traveller goes back in time to seek for his grandfather |
| C．the grandfather’s death makes the traveller’s birth impossible |
| D．The reunion of the traveller and his grandfather brings happiness |
| A．Unclear. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Unconcerned. |
7 . What the future school will look like is difficult to make clear, but most experts agree that the school will be electronic in the future.
“Present-day schools will no longer exist in the next century,” says a report in The Age. “At that time, schools will become community-style centers, which run seven days a week, and 24 hours a day.” At the same time, computers will surely become a central part of the school in the future.
According to The Age, the distance learning will be popular and students will listen to teachers on computers. Going into classrooms on their computers, students will study at any time, which is very easy for them. However, it is necessary for students to go to the actual school in order to develop some social skills.
Seashore Primary School is an imaginary school in the future created by the Education Department of Australia. At this school, all the teachers and students have laptop computers. Teachers check messages and call students back with a special telephone system and students use telephones to search for information or speak to their teachers who give their lessons. Besides, all the lessons are related to all sorts of subjects and all the students have their own learning plans created by teachers.
As one headmaster says, a laptop computer is a student’s library, data storage(数据存储) device as well as the bridge to a wider world. Technology has changed the emphasis of future learning. Thus, we’ll pay more attention to the learning of kids rather than the teaching.
1. According to the report in The Age, students in future schools will ________.| A．mainly study online | B．study at set times |
| C．have no teachers | D．never go to actual schools |
| A．telephones are important in Australia |
| B．how future schools will work |
| C．every student needs a learning plan |
| D．students enjoy getting in touch with teachers |
| A．Lesson. | B．Score. | C．Attitude. | D．Focus. |
| A．The Schools in the Future | B．Great Changes in Technology |
| C．Seashore Primary School | D．Actual Schools to Be Replaced |
8 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer to __________.| A．show his magical power | B．pay for the delivery |
| C．satisfy his curiosity | D．please his mother |
| A．He wanted to have tea there. | B．He was a respectable person. |
| C．He was treated as a family member. | D．He was fully trusted by the family. |
| A．Nobody wants to be a milkman now. | B．It has been driven out of the market. |
| C．Its service is getting poor. | D．It is not allowed by law. |
| A．He missed the good old days. | B．He wanted to tell interesting stories. |
| C．He needed it for his milk bottles. | D．He planted flowers in it. |
9 . Now that nobody knows for sure what the world will look like in the near future, it can be fun to picture some jobs we might be able to apply for in the coming decade!
Distant drone (无人驾驶飞机)drivers and pilots
How cool would it be to deliver packages from the comfortable office? That’s the way of the future with delivery drones and self-driving trucks. Zach Howard says, “Many delivery companies will soon need lots of drones and a large number of skilled pilots who can run the drones.”
Rewilders
To save Mother Nature, someone will need to remove the damage humans have done to the environment. Through the Jobs of 2030 project, an organization guesses we will need rewilders to remove the damage to the countryside caused by people, factories, cars and farming. These workers will be responsible for removing walls to give flight paths back to birds and replacing roads with forests.
Gamification (游戏化)marketing experts
This future expert will need to make online shopping feel like a game; that is, gamification is about keeping customers more delighted during shopping. The gamification marketing expert will help keep online buyers’ attention by making their experiences more playful and exciting.
1. According to Zach Howard, distant drone drivers and pilots ________| A．can earn lots of money. |
| B．are required to work outdoors. |
| C．need update drones regularly. |
| D．will be in great need. |
| A．keeping track of birds’ health. |
| B．returning the roads to forests. |
| C．constructing more roads for villagers. |
| D．preserving the cultural heritage. |
| A．By creating fun online shopping experiences. |
| B．By reducing the competition between stores. |
| C．By decreasing their daily cost of playing games. |
| D．By making them more likely to communicate. |
10 . Recently, the magazine Big Think asked top minds from a variety of fields to comment on what the future holds 40 years from now. The result is as follows.
It’s likely that by 2050 the majority of the people in the world will live in urban (城市的) areas, and will have a much higher average age than people today. Cities theorist Richard Florida thinks urbanization will reinvent the education system of the United States, making our economy less real estate (房地产) driven and erasing(消除) the divisions between home and work.
And rapidly advancing technology will continue ever more rapidly. Cities of the future won’t look like “some sort of science-fiction fantasy”, but it’s likely that technological advances and information overlays (VR and AR) will greatly change how we live. Self-driving cars will make the roads safer and provide faster transports. A larger version of driverless cars－driverless trucks － may make long-distance drivers out of date.
Some long view predictions are completely dire. Environmentalist Bill McKibben says that if we don’t make great progress in fighting global warming, it’s likely we could see out-of-control rises in sea levels, huge crop shortfalls, and wars over limited freshwater resources.
In terms of how we will eat, green markets founder and “real food” supporter Nina Planck believes that there will be more small milk processing plants, and more regional food operations and we’ll be healthier as a result. New York Times feature writer Mark Bittman thinks that people will eat fewer processed foods, and eat foods grown closer to where they live. And Anson Mills farmer Glenn Roberts thinks that more people will be aware of the “ethical(道德的) responsibility” to grow and preserve land-raised farm systems.
1. What may happen by 2050?| A．Most people will live in cities. | B．The aging population will drop. |
| C．Home education will become a trend. | D．The economy will be driven by real estate. |
| A．It will give cities a science-fiction appearance. |
| B．It will greatly change the way people live. |
| C．It will lead to an increase in the number of cars. |
| D．It will ensure faster transports with fast cars. |
| A．Interesting. | B．Daring. | C．Terrible. | D．Creative. |
| A．People will eat healthier and fresher foods. |
| B．Land-raised farm systems will be improved. |
| C．There will be more regional food operations. |
| D．Food supplies will become more limited than before. |
