1 . In the movie “The Wrong Trousers”, a pair of futuristic trousers lets people walk on walls and ceilings. Inspired by the movie, researchers in England created “The Right Trousers”, a set of trousers embedded(嵌入) with electrical pumps to force air into tiny tubes that expand and can help elderly or disabled people with issues like getting up or improving blood flow. Now, material scientists, computer programmers and fabric designers are working to advance robotic clothing.
In June, researchers in Australia created robotic fibers, which can make fabric move automatically. Last year, scientists at MIT built fiber batteries that could be embedded into clothes and power robotic clothing. In recent years, Google partnered with brands like Levi’s and Adidas to put sensors in jackets, backpacks and shoes, letting users access their phones instantly. Researchers said they could soon unlock an era where clothing will act more like a computer, sensing how your body feels and telling your clothes how to help.
At the University of New South Wales in Australia, researchers are creating fabrics that can shape-shift. Thanh Nho Do, a senior lecturer at the school, said his team has created tiny tubes that can weave into sheets of fabric. These tubes can make fabric take various preprogrammed shapes. But challenges still remain for Do’s team, notably around making these robotic tubes smaller so they can weave easily with other fabrics.
Rebecca Kramer Bottiglio from Yale University agreed that many challenges remain before smart clothing “reaches their full potential.” It will be challenging to make these clothes, equipped with fibers and technology, strong enough to go through multiple cycles in the laundry, she said. Despite that, she says researchers will figure out a way forward. “Recent breakthroughs point toward a not-so-distant future where smart clothing will be a part of our everyday life.” she said.
1. What inspired the researchers to come up with “The Right Trousers”?A.A film. |
B.A blood issue. |
C.The way electrical pumps work. |
D.The way the elderly and disabled move. |
A.They put sensors in clothes. |
B.They created movable robotic fibers. |
C.They made batteries for robotic clothing. |
D.They released smart clothing connected to cellphones. |
A.Making robotic tubes smaller. |
B.Keeping robotic tubes properly shaped. |
C.Producing stronger robotic tubes. |
D.Programming the shape of robotic tubes. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Indifferent. | C.Worried. | D.Hopeful. |
2 . “May 17, 2157
Dear diary,
Today, Tommy found a real book!...”
“What’s it about?” Margie asked.
“School. ” replied Tommy, turning the yellow pages.
“Why would anyone write about school? I hope they can take my geography teacher away.”
“It’s not our school. This is the old sort that they had centuries ago.”
“Anyway, they had a teacher.” Margie said, reading the book over his shoulder.
“Sure, they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
“A man? How could a man be a teacher?”
“Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them assignments and asked them questions.”
“A man isn’t smart enough.”
“Sure, he is. My father knows as much as my teacher.”
Margie wasn’t prepared to argue about that. She said, “I wouldn’t want a strange man in my house to teach me.”
Tommy laughed. “The teachers didn’t live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there.”
“And all the kids learned the same thing?”
“Sure, if they were the same age.”
“But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.”
“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read the book.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly.
They weren’t even half-finished when Margie’s mother called, “Margie! School!”
“Not yet, Mamma.”
“Now!” said Mrs. Jones.
Margie said to Tommy, “Can I read the book some more with you after school?”
“Maybe,” Tommy said.
Margie went into the schoolroom, right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on waiting for her.
The screen was lit up, and it said, “Please insert yesterday’s assignments in the proper slot.”
Margie was still thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another on the assignments and discussed them.
And the teachers were people…
1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?A.It’s common to read paper books in 2157. | B.Margie doesn’t like her school. |
C.Online learning is what Margie wants. | D.Tommy feels his father is smarter than his teacher. |
A.There are only female teachers at school. | B.Teachers give no assignments to students. |
C.A special building is constructed for teachers. | D.Students are taught differently at school. |
A.window | B.Envelope | C.Screen | D.Schoolroom |
A.Longing | B.Objection | C.Doubt | D.Tolerance |
3 . Futurologists predict that life will probably be very apparently distinct in 2050 in all the fields of activity, from entertainment to technology.
First of all, it seems that TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. Instead, people will choose a programme from a “menu” and a computer will send the programme directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programmes, newspapers and books will come to us by computer. We will also be able to see, smell and touch the things that we see on television.
In transport, cars will run on new, clean “gas” and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed of the car and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to where you want to go. Space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.
In technology, robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots—they do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere-in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Last but not least, medicine technology will have conquered many diseases. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people see again and hear again. Scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have.
1. What will happen to the media in 2050?A.Televisions will disappear |
B.Computers will take the place of televisions. |
C.Computers will choose the programme for us. |
D.We can smell the dishes on television. |
A.They will be less polluted and more safe. |
B.They will be controlled by robots. |
C.Planes will fly all over the world in a short time. |
D.They will go at a very high speed and run on oil. |
A.Robots will ask for pay rises and go on strike in the future. |
B.There will be no people working in factories by 2050. |
C.There will be cloned people coming to power by 2050 |
D.More and more work will be done by robots by 2050. |
A.What our future life will be like. | B.TV channels will disappear in 2050. |
C.What cars will be like in the future. | D.Many diseases will disappear in 2050. |
4 . 2050 seems a long way away, but it is not impossible to predict the future though. With the speed we are moving now so many amazing things are going to happen in the future. So where is technology going in the future?
◇The Internet will be free for everyone.
The Internet is really a key driver these days. But it is not free for everyone yet. There have already been attempts like Facebook’s Free Basics.
◇Personal airplanes will be used widely for short journeys.
With the increasing population, it is not very hard to predict that common methods of transportation will not be enough.
◇Most cancers will be treated successfully.
◇
There will be great achievements in space research. In the year 2050, humans will be able to live on Mars. We will receive more intelligent signals from space. Chances are we will be able to find the next Earth — like planet.
A.Though it hasn’t happened yet |
B.Let’s start our predictions |
C.The world’s population will cross 9. 6 billion |
D.What do you think of my predictions of 2050 |
E.Humans will live on other planets |
F.There will be much heavier traffic on the road |
G.The number of deaths caused by cancers will be greatly reduced |
5 . A. Human feet will become just one big toe.
In a lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1911, a surgeon named Richard Clement Lucas made a curious prediction that the “useless outer toes” will become used less and less, so that “man might become a one-toed race” in the next century. Look and check your toes.
B. Our houses will be cleaned by hoses.
In a 1950 article titled “Miracles You’ll See in the Next 50 Years,” the New York Times’ longtime science editor Waldemar Kaempffert predicted that by the 21st century, all you’ll have to do to get your house clean is “simply turn the hose on everything.”
That’s because he imagined furniture would be made of synthetic fabric or waterproof plastic. “After the water has run down a drain in the middle of the floor” all you’d have to do is “turn on a blast of hot air” to dry everything. A mercy for housewife, right?
C. We’ll live in flying houses.
Inventor, science writer, and futurist Arthur C. Clark—who co-wrote the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey—believed that the boring houses of 1966 would be extremely different by the time we reached the 21st century. Evidently, the houses of the future would have nothing keeping them on the ground and they would be able to move to anywhere on the earth on a whim (异想天开). So easy to travel abroad!
D. We’ll eat candy made of underwear.
In Popular Mechanics, Waldemar Kaempffert predicted that all food would be delivered to our homes in the form of frozen bricks by the 21st century. “Cooking as an art is only a memory in the minds of old people,” he wrote. And, thanks to advances in cooking technology, Kaempffert predicted it would even be possible to take ordinary objects like old table cloth and “silk-like underwear” and bring them to “chemical factories to be made into candy.” No, thanks! Not at all!
1. How many toes would become useless and disappear in his left foot, according to the surgeon?A.Five. | B.Four. | C.Three. | D.Two. |
A.He likes it very much. | B.He thinks it acceptable. |
C.He completely rejects it. | D.He would like to have a try. |
A.They were all put forward by the greatest minds at their time. |
B.Although they sounded unbelievable, they were well received. |
C.They appeared in the same magazine almost around the same time. |
D.They were interesting predictions about the century we are living now. |
6 . Twenty-five years ago on July 1,1997, I woke up very late in my apartment in Singapore. l jumped out of bed in
Her mom had flown to Hong Kong several days earlier on assignment for a newspaper to
l had
The year, 1997, was
I later spent a few years working in Hong Kong, but my enduring memory of the days surrounding its return to China was the time I spent as a
A.panic | B.confusion | C.sorrow | D.excitement |
A.searched | B.worked | C.made | D.won |
A.Hopefully | B.Thankfully | C.Definitely | D.Eventually |
A.patting | B.hitting | C.washing | D.rubbing |
A.charge | B.interrupt | C.cover | D.change |
A.looked up | B.set out | C.broken away | D.taken off |
A.dress up | B.bring up | C.pick up | D.cheer up |
A.historic | B.economic | C.academic | D.comic |
A.how | B.when | C.why | D.where |
A.decline | B.witness | C.criticize | D.approve |
A.tense | B.comfortable | C.shameful | D.unavoidable |
A.embarrassment | B.delight | C.surprise | D.worries |
A.discovery | B.repeat | C.fortune | D.experiment |
A.ruined | B.protected | C.lowered | D.held |
A.babysitter | B.worker | C.adult | D.mother |
7 . Today, the original Beetle has largely disappeared from the world’s roads since Volkswagen stopped producing it in Germany in 1978. But the instantly recognizable car was once everywhere. From the 1970s to the 1990s, more than 21 million Beetles were produced worldwide. Many adults in their 40s or above have a story about the Beetle, or at least a memory.
Part of its universal appeal is its unique look. There’s something about the car that just makes people smile: its happy shape, its cheerful colors, and perhaps its small size. However, the smiles that beetles evoke, in people are not simply due to their design. It has a character almost. It has a sort of soul in a way. It’s beyond a machine. For the better part of a century this car has been a part in people’s lives. Seeing these cars on the road is like a time capsule. It opens people to memories and stories that might otherwise go untold. By allowing us to travel back in time, they remind us of what’s important. In today’s world, this car represents something very basic and earthy and genuine. Exactly the kind of travel we need right now.
“My parents had three, a white one, then a red one, and then an orange one. It was the car I grew up with,” said actor Ewan McGregor. “They would put us in the back of the Beetle in Scotland and drive to France for camping holidays in summer. My first car was a 1978 Beetle and now I own two, parked at my home in Los Angeles.”
McGregor thinks the car’s future is electric. He has recently turned his 1978 model into a fully electric car. “Moving forward, maybe we’ll just have to think; smaller cars, low emissions (排放), and something that makes us feel happy,” he says.
1. When was the production of Beetles stopped in Germany?A.In the 1990s. | B.In the 1980s. | C.In the late 1970s. | D.In the early 1960s. |
A.To keep an unpleasant feeling in one’s mind. |
B.To find out information about one’s character. |
C.To bring a feeling or a memory into one’s mind. |
D.To ask somebody to do something in a rude way. |
A.He wants to be reminded of his childhood. |
B.They are used to decorate his new home. |
C.He has too many children for just one car. |
D.His parents have left one of their cars to him. |
A.Advertisement. | B.Lifestyle. | C.Environment. | D.Economy. |
8 . Futurologists are making a lot of predictions about our future life and they are predicting how we will travel, work and live in the next 30 years. By 2048, some futurologists foresee that some “talking” buildings will appear in our life.
By the middle of the century, it’s believed that buildings will be able to “talk” to people through various sensors when the heating needs to be turned on. As a result, there will be no switches. Instead, a lot of networks will appear, which can be compared to a human nervous system. In the next 30 years, buildings will be made from concrete plastics and shape-changing materials. All of them can heal themselves at that time. As architects are racing to develop the world’s tallest buildings, there will be a need for new kinds of elevators, through which vehicles could even travel into the buildings. German engineers have already started working on such technology called Multi.
By mid-century, scientists believe that buildings will be miles tall. Some of them may be very large and they can function as small cities. By comparison, at present, the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai, measures 828 metres high. As the future building can rise through the clouds, their windows will be replaced by virtual screens. In this way, people can choose any view as they like.
At height extremes, a London Spaceport is also likely to come into being by 2048 as the space industry develops very quickly. There is a huge cost advantage going to space from as high a base as possible, so a spaceport is very likely to be over 10km and even as much as 30km, using carbon - based materials.
1. How will the heating system be controlled in the future?A.Through the net. | B.Through sensors. |
C.Through switches. | D.Through mobiles. |
A.They can recover by themselves. | B.They can seek help automatically. |
C.They can transport people into space. | D.They can protect people against harm. |
A.Seeing the scenes as you please. | B.Allowing vehicles to travel into buildings. |
C.Connecting the earth with the space. | D.Making it possible to build high buildings. |
A.Scientists | B.German engineers |
C.Future buildings | D.Virtual screens. |
9 . Life will probably be very different in 2050. First of all.It seems that TV channels will have vanished by 2050. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu”, and the computer will send the program directly to the television.By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers and books will come to us in the similar way.
In many places, agriculture is developing quickly and people are growing fruit and vegetables for export. This uses a lot of water. Therefore, there could be serious shortages of water. Some scientists predict that water could be the course of worse if we don’t act now.
In the future, cars will run on new clean fuels, and they will go very fast.Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any. Today many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050,the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination.Also, by2050, space planes will fly people from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.
Some big companies now prefer to use robots that do not ask for pay rises or go on strike and work 24 hours a day. They are also easy to control. And they never argue with people, they can be easily used the variety of places — factories, schools, hospitals, shops and homes.
Scientists will have discovered how to control genes. Scientists have already produced clones of animals.By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look and how they behave. Scientists will be able to do these things. But should they?
1. Which of the following best explains the underlined word vanished in paragraph one?A.Settled. | B.Spread. | C.Disappeared. | D.Decreased. |
A.Robots can work in different places. |
B.Roberts have much to be improved. |
C.Roberts work for humans for free. |
D.Robots have many advantages. |
A.He is looking forward to using cloning technology. |
B.He probably disagrees with the idea of human cloning. |
C.The scientists have already discovered how to control genes. |
D.The sun will face many difficulties of controlling genes. |
A.High tech Cars |
B.Life in the Future |
C.Is Cloning Really Good? |
D.Are You Ready for the Future? |
10 . Futurologists predict that life will probably be very apparently distinct in 2050 in all the fields of activity, from entertainment to technology.
First of all, it seems that TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. Instead, people will choose a programme from a ”menu“ and a computer will send the programme directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programmes, newspapers and books will come to us by computer. We will also be able to see, smell and touch the things that we see on television.
In transport, cars will run on new, clean ”gas“ and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed of the car and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to where you want to go. Space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.
In technology, robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots-they do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere—in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Last but not least, medicine technology will have conquered many diseases. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people see again and hear again. Scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have.
1. What will happen to television by 2050 according to the passage?A.It will completely disappear. |
B.It will be mostly controlled by computers. |
C.One can try the food one sees on television. |
D.One can learn to switch on TV set from a ”menu“. |
A.Cars will go at a very high speed on their own. |
B.Computers will tell people where they are going. |
C.There will be less pollution and no car accidents. |
D.Space planes will fly all over the world in a short time. |
A.People will live more healthily and longer by 2050. |
B.There will be no people working in factories by 2050. |
C.There will be cloned people coming to power by 2050. |
D.People can read newspapers through a computer by 2050. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Objective. |
C.Critical. | D.Positive. |