The Magic Birthday Candles in Space
(An excerpt from a science fiction)
My birthday was going to be extra special for two reasons. For one thing, like Commander Park said, “Nobody’s ever turned nine in space before, David.” Mom, my sister Rebekah, and I were moving to Mars for a year. We’d spent almost two weeks in the spaceship so far.
I was trying to keep the other reason secret. But the day before my birthday, Rebekah caught me with my cheeks puffed (膨胀) way out. “What are you doing? Practicing to blow out all the candles this year?” She laughed. “This time I will,” I said. “Everybody on the ship will be watching, so...”
“Oh, David,” my sister interrupted.
“Your cake can’t have candles. Fire on a spaceship is too dangerous.”
When I turned away, she patted my shoulder. “At least you don’t have to worry about blowing them all out.”
Our mother has an important job, maintaining the ship’s electrical systems. Besides, I wanted to act mature about this. If I couldn’t blow out the candles like I wanted, at least I was old enough not to complain about it.
After dinner on my birthday, Mom floated into the cafeteria, carrying my birthday cake. I was amazed. “Candles!” I shouted, staring at the nine shining on top of the cake. “I thought fire wasn’t allowed on a spaceship.” “Look closer,” my mother said. The candles were really electrical lights, with tiny flame-shaped bulbs.
“Awesome,” I said. “But I wish I could blow them out.”
She laughed, then made a blow, and all nine went out. Another puff, and they lit up again.
“Everybody, sing!” ordered Commander Park. Once the passengers and crew were done, I took my deepest ever breath. I’m nine now. I can do this! I thought. Everyone watched the candles. Whoosh! I blew as hard as I could. All the ship’s lights went out! Everyone gasped (倒抽一口气).
“You didn’t have to blow that hard, David,” said Rebekah. I laughed, and so did Commander Park. Someone asked, “What’s wrong? When is the backup power coming on?”
“I’ll take a look. Does anyone have a flashlight on them?” said Mom.
No one would ever think of taking a flashlight to a birthday party.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Back in my country, when I was a child, I used to go to “market day” with my mother. One day each week, farmers used to bring their fruit and vegetables into the city. They closed one street
The outdoor market was a wonderful adventure for a small child,
Everyone used to argue with the farmers
“What?” she said. She looked very surprised. “So expensive?”
The seller looked terribly hurt. “My dear lady!” he replied. “I’m a poor, honest farmer. These
They always argued for several minutes before
Physicist and professor
40,000 people will work in space
Dr Michio Kaku is a professor at the City College of New York and a graduate of Harvard University. His book, The Physics of the Impossible, is about how science fiction technology may be possible in the future.
“By 2030, space tourism will almost certainly be common and around 40,000 people will work in space. A company called the Space Island Group is planning to build an international space station with hotels, research facilities, restaurants and sports arenas (for new zero-gravity sports). Other companies are working on similar projects. And what language will people speak in space? Well, it probably won’t matter because there is likely to be a tiny computer that fits in your car and translates what you hear into your own language.”
Ray Kurzweil
Scientist, inventor, author and entrepreneur (企业家)
Our brains will merge (混合) with machines
Many of Ray Kurzweil’s predictions about the future have come true. For example, in the early 1990s he predicted the growth of the Internet. Now Kurzweil believes that robots and humans will one day merge.
“The future will be far more surprising than most people realize. By the end of the 2030s, robots will be more intelligent than humans. Before that time, humans and machines will start to merge. We have 100 trillion very slow connections in our brain. Tiny robots(nanobots) will be implanted in our brains to improve our memory and our thinking skills. These nanobots will allow our brains to talk directly to computers, and they will also allow our brains to communicate wirelessly with other brains. Billions of nanobots will also travel through our bodies. They will keep us healthy. As a result, we will be able to live forever.”
1. According to Dr Michio Kaku, what will no longer be a barrier for people working in space?| A．Time. | B．Internet. |
| C．Language. | D．Gravity. |
| A．They will help save some of our memories. |
| B．They will help some parts in our brain work better. |
| C．They will help us develop a logic way of thinking. |
| D．They will help detect what disease we are down with. |
| A．The Future Will Surprise Us |
| B．The Development of Science |
| C．Scientists Worried about Technology |
| D．Famous Quotes about Computers and the Internet |
4 . It’s a typical day at school. You’re playing soccer with your friends. One of them kicks you the ball and you run for it. You trip. You fly through the air. You land—hard, right on your face! The next moment, you’re in the nurse’s office. Your bleeding nose is being checked by laser sensors (激光传感器) that coming out of a...robot? Has the nurse’s office been taken over by sci-fi aliens (外星人) from outer space?
No. You’ve just been pushed forward 15 years into the future. And it’s a future that Susan Epstein, a computer science professor who teaches artificial intelligence, is really excited to think about. “I am crazy about this kind of thing! You could go up to the robot, put your nose in, and the machine would decide whether you needed to be treated, and how.”
Aside from being cool, an AI nurse has other advantages. It doesn’t need to take vacations. It doesn’t need to get paid a salary. And it might figure out what’s wrong with your nose faster than a human would. There are all kinds of ways that AI could be used to help make us healthier and researchers are studying how to use AI to diagnose (诊断) lung disease, cancer, and more.
Our robot nurse isn’t meant to completely take the place of humans, though. “It would work with real, live nurses and doctors,” says Epstein, “there are things humans are good at, like building trust among members of our own species or comforting someone who’s hurt or sick. A big part of medicine is the relationship between a doctor and a patient.”
Epstein points out that AI programs will never be perfect—no matter how much we might want them to be. But if AI can diagnose a deadly disease more precisely even 10 percent of the time, think of how many lives it could save. “Besides”, says Epstein, “I think there are probably patients who might prefer to have a machine for a doctor!” Would you?
1. What’s the function of para 1?| A．To introduce a scientific study. |
| B．To lead to the topic of the text. |
| C．To describe an experience of the writer. |
| D．To give an example to support an argument. |
| A．Humans are better at treating patients than AI doctors. |
| B．AI doctors alone can cure patients of most of the diseases. |
| C．Patients’ trust in doctors may affect their treatments positively. |
| D．Patients may receive as much comfort from AI doctors as from humans. |
| A．They are better at trust-building. |
| B．They will take over humans. |
| C．Their biggest strength is being cool. |
| D．They are life-saving if properly used. |
| A．Negative. | B．Favorable. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
5 . One morning soon, you’ll get on your bike and ride from one end of America to the other, because the Great American Rail Trail is 53% complete, making a cross-country bike ride closer to a reality.
The idea of a bike trail(小路) made up of scenic paths, trails and former rail lines from Washington DC to Washington State has been 30 years in the making. Now, with more than 50% of the trail up and running, the project, run by the Rails to Trails in cooperation with local authorities, is building up, with hundreds of miles of trails in development now. Though not entirely complete, the rail trail has drawn people of all types.
Last August, Ryan Gardill and a colleague biked 350 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. Their travels took them through some beautiful and historical parts of the American East. “The trail connected me to our revolutionary and industrial history. Most of the towns on the trail were once important to America.”
The major goal of the trail is to provide the American public with the opportunity to explore their beautiful country, without getting in their car. A secondary objective is to bring prosperity(繁荣) back to the small towns and cities that once prospered along the country’s now diminished rail system, according to National Geographic.
One of these is Muncie, Indiana, a city located on a former rail system and a part of the Rail Trail. The city is already seeing the economic benefits of the trail. “A large majority of our customers are local, but the Rail Trail could help grow tourism,” said Jason Allardt, owner of the historic Kirk’s Bike Shop.
This is the hope for many once-prosperous towns and cities all throughout America, though it may take nearly 20 years to get the entire trail up and running.
1. What has made the trail attractive to people?| A．It’s a bike trail with good scenery. | B．It’s a rail line across the country. |
| C．It offers good adventurous paths. | D．Its construction lasted 30 years. |
| A．They were the basic part of the U.S. railways. |
| B．They are mostly located in the mountains. |
| C．They enjoy great popularity as destinations. |
| D．They’re no longer important towns in America. |
| A．Enlarged. | B．Protected. | C．Decreased. | D．Destroyed. |
| A．The Trail will link its scenery to the outside. | B．The Trail will help its economic recovery. |
| C．It has bike paths designed for local citizens. | D．The railway has brought about its prosperity. |
Task: Write about what life will be in the year 2050.
In 2050, our life will be a lot different from nowadays in many aspects. The environment, transportation, education and people’s lifestyles will also change to a new level.
There are some reasons to be optimistic about life then. Along with development of scientific advances, people will have more means of transport. Solar-powered, wind-powered cars which are much more environment-friendly will be produced and used. Travelling to other planets will be more available to everyone physically, mentally and financially qualified.
In addition, everyone can afford to study in 2050. With the help of technologies, such as metaverse or something more advanced or revolutionary, we don’t need to go to school anymore.
Just stay at home and you can learn everything from online teachers, which will help us save money and commuting time. The schedule will be more optional for you to choose as long as it suits your time and your purposes.
However, there are also some reasons to worry about life in the year 2050. The more modern the technologies will be, the more polluted environment we will have. As I suppose, the future environment will have much pollution. Nevertheless, future scientists will pay more attention to this aspect so I think it will be improved soon.
Because of technologies, people will be much passive than at present. There will be robots helping people in many aspects of their lives. People won’t need to do housework or cook for meals because robots do them all. And since we can study at home, people will use computers almost every day, which may make them become much lazier and easier to be obese.
There will be a lot of changes in our life in the next decades. Whether it will be a better or worse life depends on what we will do with them and how they can influence our life…[ To be continued ]
1. This passage is probably taken from a website for _______.
| A．field research | B．essay reference |
| C．environmental protection | D．science fiction |
| A．Everyone will have the chance to experience interplanetary travelling. |
| B．Technological advances can help people to reduce the educational costs. |
| C．Our planet will be sure to be dirtier in 2050 due to moderner technologies. |
| D．People in 2050 are doomed to be fatter and lazier with robotic services. |
| A．Positive. | B．Pessimistic. |
| C．Mixed. | D．Ambitious. |
| A．people’s attempts to overcome the challenges that may occur in the future |
| B．the life that people in the future may encounter in underdeveloped areas |
| C．the advantages and drawbacks that technologies may bring to people |
| D．the government’s efforts to promote the development of smart cities |
Cash is king, or so they say. In one form or another, human beings have been carrying around money for hundreds of years. Metal was first coined into cash between 700 and 600 BC by the Lydians, and banknotes have been in circulation since
8 . My future happiness
When I imagine my future, I see myself as an adult who is confident in my abilities, doing a job I love and living my life responsibly. When I grow up, I will be enjoying more convenience brought by the advances in technology, with more time to pursue hobbies and enjoy the company of family and friends.
I will feel the happiest in the future because I will learn more about life and develop into the best person I can be.
Thanks to new technology, my future life is sure to improve in various ways. Homes will become smarter to the extent that they might be programmed to learn about our needs and monitor our health and activity. I can imagine hearing an AI voice remind me to buy groceries or do more exercise! There will also be enormous advancements in transport options. I will be riding in a self-driving car, and other new means of transport may be developed in the future.
My development into a mature adult and access to advanced technology will provide me with more free-time opportunities.
| A．I might be able to ride a flying bike to quickly meet up with my friends. |
| B．I will become more knowledgeable about the world and myself. |
| C．When I think about the future, I realize my happiest days are still ahead of me. |
| D．For these reasons, I look forward to the future as the happiest moment in my life. |
| E．With less work-related stress, I will also have more time and energy to do volunteer projects. |
| F．The working day will be only four hours long thanks to robots. |
| G．Technological advances will guarantee that I will be in good health and find true happiness. |
1.现在手机和电脑很普及，希望将来的手机和电脑会由太阳能或风能充电；
2.衣食住行的丰富多彩，希望将来穿上由特殊材料做成的衣服，生活质量更高；
3.……
注意：1.词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. 几十年前, 在一个寒冷、多雾的(misty)早晨, 书店的生意很冷清, 女销售员(saleswoman)无聊地坐在店里等顾客。
2. 而现在, 来书店看书的人非常多。
3. 一群(a bunch of)孩子坐在地上看着平板电脑(tablets), 没有人作声。
4. 在另一个房间, 有一个朗诵会(recital)正在进行着。
5. 时代变了, 人们读书的方式也发生了很大的变化。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
