1 . With the rapid development of science and technology, we don’t know how different our life will be in the future.
At first we think about human relationships. In the year 2050, we will use computers almost every day. We will be making new friends through the Internet — even our husbands or wives will be met in this way.
Computers will also help us in many other activities in 2050. For example, they will be used by the children at school to make their learning easier. In addition, there will be much more other machines which will play a similar role as computers, like robots which will do the housework for us.
We could expect that the faster technological progress would lead to a more polluted environment. But it isn’t true.
Although we can’t predict the exact changes which will be made in the world, we often think about them. We worry about our and our children’s future; we have expectations, hopes as well as fears. But I think we should be rather confident about our future.
| A．However, we are convinced of the following |
| B．We should be happy and believe good things will happen |
| C．We will pay more attention to protecting the environment |
| D．We can only imagine it |
| E．Spending holidays will also be completely different |
| F．It will be much faster and easier for us |
| G．Our environment will be more polluted |
2 . Space tourism is the term used to describe space travel for recreational or leisure purposes. What was once only a dream, as described in A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, is now becoming a reality.
Futurologists attempt to make predictions of what life will be like in the future. After the first man landed on the moon, they thought that hotels would be built on the moon by the year 2000. They also considered the possibility that, in the 21st century, families might go for a holiday on the moon. Neither of these predictions have come true yet-but the rapid development of technology may mean these predictions are possible in the years to come.
Space Adventures is currently the only company to have succeeded in sending paying passengers into space. It worked with the Federal Space Agency of Russia and Rocket and Space Corporation Energia to provide flights for the world’s first private space explorers. Each paid over $20 million for their 10-day trip to the International Space Station.
Following successful explorations into space, other companies are now considering the possibility of enabling tourists to visit space. To make it affordable, suborbital space travel is being considered by some companies, like Virgin Galactic. Passengers would be transported to a height of between 100 and 160 km above earth, experience 3 — 6 minutes of weightlessness and a view of the stars before back to earth. This is expected to cost around $200, 000 per person.
Whilst it could be an enriching experience, there are some disadvantages. Many critics say that a huge growth in the spaceflight industry could drastically speed up the process of global warming. The ozone layer would be damaged further and the polar regions would suffer. In addition, space travel is only really affordable for the super-rich, though Virgin Galactic claims to be ‘opening space to the rest of us’.
1. What do you know about space tourism?| A．It is nothing but a dream. | B．It’s only in some fairy tales. |
| C．It’s a sightseeing tour in space. | D．It’s a scientific expedition. |
| A．The future life on the moon. | B．Landing on the moon in 1969. |
| C．Predictions about trips to the moon. | D．The history of the moon exploration. |
| A．It’s cheaper. | B．It’s safer. | C．It’s greener. | D．It’s convenient. |
| A．Its safety. | B．Environmental effect. |
| C．Social equality. | D．Its expense. |
1. 有的人会到月球上度假；
2. 某些科学家会在海底生活；
3. 通过网络在家工作。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear editor,
I learned you are wanting articles on the theme of our future life. And I want to have a try
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I'm looking forward to receiving your early reply.
Yours.
Li Hua
4 . It’s 6 A.M., and the alarm clock is ringing earlier than usual. It’s not a malfunction (故障): the smart clock scanned your schedule and adjusted because you’ve got that big presentation first thing in the morning. The electric car is ready to go, charged by the solar panels on your roof. When you get home later, there’s an unexpected package waiting. You open it to find cold medicine. Turns out, health sensors embedded (嵌入) in your bathroom detected signs of an upcoming illness and placed an order automatically.
That, at least, is the ideal design of the smart home that exists 10 years out. But a decade from now, we’ll dip into the Internet of Things (IoT) totally.
A range of technological developments will drive smart—home technology well beyond what’s available on store shelves today. Innovations in AI stand to change almost everything in our lives. You might already be using some kind of AI—powered voice—assistant device to get the latest news or weather forecast every morning. IoT company Crestron, for example, is working on software that follows a person’s habits, like which music they want to hear in the morning or which lights they want to be on at a certain time of day. Then, once it gets the hang of a user’s preferences, it automatically plays just the right playlists or makes the lights less bright before bedtime.
All this learning that the smart home of the future will be doing may raise privacy concerns. In 2016, hackers took over hundreds of thousands of secure IoT devices, then used them to send fake Internet traffic, the incident broke Internet connections for a moment throughout parts of North America and Europe. A bill put forth by Virginia Senator Mark Warner would push the government to set up minimum security requirements for smart devices used by federal agencies; such requirements could eventually become standard for the industry at large.
You’re more likely than not to end up in a connected home one day, whether you mean to or not. Ultimately, people will come to see smart—home technology as essential as electricity, refrigeration or air-conditioning. People will rely on it.
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To reveal people’s busy life in ten years. |
| B．To display pollution-free homes in ten years. |
| C．To show how people will cure illness in the future. |
| D．To describe how smart the home can be in the future. |
| A．Push your preferences towards green living. |
| B．Play your favorite songs with voice control. |
| C．Provide the latest news and weather automatically. |
| D．Make home devices function according to your habits. |
| A．The IoT devices were of low quality. |
| B．The government made a law because of it. |
| C．Security problems from smart devices were urgent. |
| D．Hackers were common in North America and Europe. |
| A．It’s electrical and reliable. | B．It’s attractive and necessary. |
| C．It will not need much designing. | D．It will not be affected by evil hackers. |
5 . In search of a little quiet, I have spent some time wandering through the Australian town, Walhalla. If I had arrived about 150 years earlier, I would have found a(an)
When the gold ran out, most people
That night we have great dinner at Walhalla’s pub. We walk back in the dark. There are no street lights in the town so the stars
After a quick breakfast at the hotel the next morning, I walk down what was once a high street lined with
Leaney has invited me to ride an old-fashioned train that runs on the rebuilt train line from Walhalla to a nearby town. The views are
| A．empty | B．far-off | C．peaceful | D．busy |
| A．biggest | B．smallest | C．oldest | D．poorest |
| A．1onely | B．relaxed | C．nervous | D．regretful |
| A．moved away | B．hung around | C．flooded in | D．cheered up |
| A．temporary | B．happy | C．royal | D．permanent |
| A．sold out | B．taken over | C．deserted | D．shared |
| A．foundation | B．opponent | C．destination | D．possession |
| A．bounce | B．shine | C．emerge | D．strike |
| A．thankfully | B．suddenly | C．unluckily | D．anxiously |
| A．benefit | B．coverage | C．comparison | D．competition |
| A．factories | B．hospitals | C．museums | D．shops |
| A．spread | B．decorated | C．distributed | D．placed |
| A．track | B．site | C．street | D．town |
| A．planted | B．destroyed | C．burned | D．buried |
| A．boring | B．plain | C．heartbreaking | D．breathtaking |
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8 . “The past is a different country; they do things differently there," L.P. Hartley wrote in one of his best-known novels, The Go-Between. To the British novelist, the past was irrelevant. And one of my Chinese students once told me "I have no interest in the past. I'm only interested in the present and the future." I have to disagree. The "past" is a very interesting country, and the more we know about it, the more we will be able to understand the present and thus, prepare ourselves for the future.
An ideal place, as I see it, that can allow us to look back on the past is the museum. I prefer to visit museums as if you are sitting in the same room with some of the greatest men in history. While no museums can claim to offer a complete picture of human history, the lessons we can learn from the events and wonders of the past are of great value.
Thanks to modern technology, museums are being transformed from places of looking and learning to spaces of participation and interaction. A large number of immersive (沉浸式) multi-media displays, which allow visitors to engage with its exhibits during their visit, play a big part at the Shanghai Natural History Museum.
The rise in technology has also made museums more accessible than ever. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, traditional museums have started to think outside of the box in order to create new ways for visitors to experience their collections online. It is definitely good news for those who are fascinated by museums but are struggling to actually go there. However, you shouldn't expect to get the same experience that an in-person visit would provide, at least, that is, for now.
International Museum Day is observed on May 18 every year. This is a quick reminder that you should always spare some time to visit museums and appreciate the "must-see 'em" things that are an important part of the cultural heritage of humankind.
1. What does the writer think of “the past”?| A．Different. | B．Significant. | C．Unrelated. | D．Understandable. |
| A．It’s where to learn and reflect. |
| B．It’s where to learn about previous events. |
| C．It’s where to meet with great minds. |
| D．It’s where to appreciate ancient wonders. |
| A．Offering online exhibits. | B．Allowing more in-person visits. |
| C．Adding multi-media displays. | D．Showing a complete picture of history. |
| A．Technology Revives Museums | B．Observe International Museum Day |
| C．Museums Are “Must-see 'ems” | D．Visit Museums In-person or Online |
9 . By mid-century there will likely be 9 billion people on the planet, using ever more resources and leading ever more technologically complex lives. What will our cities be like? How much will artificial intelligence (AI) advance? Will global warming cause disastrous changes, or will we be able to engineer our way out of the climate change issues? Recently, the magazine Big Think asked top minds from a variety of fields to weigh in 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 areas and will have a much higher average age than people today. Cities theorist Richard thinks urbanization will transform the education system of, making our economy less houses driven and removing 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 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 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 writer Mark thinks that people will eat fewer processed foods and eat foods grown closer to where they live. And more people will be aware of the ethical responsibility" to grow foods.
1. What may happen by 2050 based on the magazine Big Think ?| A．Education will be driven by economy. | B．The majority of people will be taller. |
| C．AI will cause disastrous changes. | D．Most people will live in big cities. |
| A．It will make people live in science-fiction fantasy. |
| B．It will ensure safer transports due to faster cars. |
| C．It will greatly change the way in which people live. |
| D．It will increase the number of long-distance drivers. |
| A．Magical. | B．Terrible. | C．Ridiculous. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．People will eat healthier and fresher foods. |
| B．Land-raised farm systems will be improved. |
| C．There will be smaller regional food operations, |
| D．Food supplies will become much more limited. |
10 . With over 4.1 billion people, or around 55 percent of the world’s population, living in urban areas, cities and towns worldwide are getting increasingly jammed. In addition to spending hours stuck in traffic, residents are also exposed to high air pollution levels caused by transportation emissions(排放). Now, Saudi Arabia hopes to overturn urban living with “The Line”—a futuristic city designed around nature, without cars, roads and crowded places!
The totally different city, announced on January 10, 2021, is the brainchild of Saudi Crown Prince(王储)Mohammed bin Salman(MBS).Located in Neom, a 10, 000-square-mile high-tech planned development on the Red Sea coast. The Line will be the base of MBS’s Saudi Vision 2030. The strategic plan aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s oil-dependent economy into other fields, like tourism, and create exciting job opportunities for its citizens.
The 105-mile-long city, expected to cost between $100 billion and $200 billion, will be built along a straight line and comprise several self-sustaining communities. To ensure all services are within a short, five-minute walk, each community will feature a three-layer infrastructure(基础设施)．
There will be no cars or roads on the top “pedestrian layer”, so residents can freely walk and bike in the surrounding green spaces. The second “service layer”, will include all essential daily services, such as schools, medical clinics, leisure facilities, and grocery stores. The third “spine layer” will house ultra-high-speed transportation and autonomous vehicles transporting residents across communities in less than 20 minutes. The entire city will be powered with renewable clean energy sources such as solar and wind, and possibly even hydrogen．
If all goes according to the plan, construction of this groundbreaking, complex infrastructure project will start before the end of 2021. In addition to providing up to a million residents with a clean and stress-free living environment, the Line is expected to create 380, 000 new jobs, promote economic diversification, and contribute a shocking $48 billion to Saudi Arabia’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP)by 2030. More importantly, MBS believes it will provide governments worldwide a blueprint for how people and planet can co-exist in harmony.
1. Where can you purchase a bike if living in The Line?| A．Pedestrian layer. | B．Service layer. |
| C．Spine layer. | D．The green spaces. |
| A．Widely-accepted. | B．Ill-considered. |
| C．Risk-taking. | D．Mind-blowing. |
| A．To facilitate Saudi economic diversification. |
| B．To offer a model for nature-man integration. |
| C．To boost the government’s finances. |
| D．To create more job opportunities. |
| A．Saudi Vision for Environmental Protection |
| B．The Construction of The Line Is Underway |
| C．MBS：An Influential Leader of Saudi Arabia |
| D．MBS’ Vision of a Futuristic Zero Carbon City |
