2 . In the future, people may travel to Mars（火星)by water-powered spaceship! Today's spaceships are fine for getting things into space, but they are not so good at travelling long distances. These spaceships burn chemical fuels(燃料)and they are very expensive. Scientists say that a water-powered spaceship could make the trip to Mars much cheaper. The idea is just in the planning stages now, but scientists think such a spaceship could be developed soon.

The key to the water-powered spaceship is the engine(发动机).Regular engines push spaceships by burning fuel. The water engine will use steam, created by solar panels(太阳能板)that heat water to a high temperature. Of course, the spaceship will have to carry a lot of water for the long trip to Mars.

Today's spaceships could not carry that much water. But scientists think that a spaceship blown up like a balloon will be able to.

One Us company has already developed a spaceship like this. These spaceships are made of a strong material. Two of them have already been sent up into space, using rockets and then later filed with air. “Balloon” spaceships could be very large and carry enough water for a long trip. With the “Balloon” spaceships, enough water could be carried to power the engines and grow food during the trip. And the people on the spaceship might even get to take a hot bath!

Scientists say the biggest advantage of such a spaceship would be cost. The “Balloon” spaceship uses water to push it through space and costs about one thirtieth of a normal spaceship. Such savings naturally encourage continued research into balloon spaceships and water engines. If these scientists are correct, we may soon be on our way to Mars in a spaceship powered by water.

3 . Have you ever forgotten to lock the door of your house? Or, have you ever forgotten to switch off the TV or computer?     1    , and can sometimes lead to problems. However, in the not-too-distant future, we will be living in smart homes that will help solve those problems.

Intelligent controls

Today, we have to use switches for your lights, and remote controls for our TVs and air conditioners. In the future, we will be using advanced technology every day for automatic control of just about everything in our home. You will no longer have to think about turning switches on and off yourself.     2    , so everything will be ready for you.

Regular Health Checks

In addition, your smart home will be monitoring your health for you every day. Your bed, for example, will record how well you sleep every night.     3    . If you start to have sleep or weight problems, it will send a warning to your phone. It will also give you suggestions on a healthier diet and how to sleep better.

No more disasters

    4    . For example, if a water pipe starts leaking, or if there is a short in the electrical wiring, your smart home will detect it and provide you with the relevant information. This way, you will be able to fix the problem before your home becomes flooded or catches fire.

This smart technology is not a fantasy.     5     and being used in some homes. In this sense, the home of tomorrow is already the home of today. Nevertheless, it will take some years, before most new homes begin to use this new technology.

4 . In the future we might live somewhere other than Earth, like Mars. Some people ask how this will be possible. Well, Mars is in fact a lot the same as the earth. The days are almost the same as those on the earth. However, the two planets vary in temperature.

Since there is mostly carbon dioxide on Mars, it would be quite difficult for a human to just land on it. So, special types of homes and space suits have to be designed. The space suits should be almost like the ones astronauts use now, and except that they have to be warmer so that the astronauts can survive the cold temperatures. The space suits must also be able to withstand (承受) high pressure and potentially dangerous radiation that can kill.

The houses should be similar to our homes today with a slight difference. All of the houses and other buildings should be built inside a large dome (圆顶状物) or bubble. The domes should be made out of glass, and would also be able to prevent radiation from affecting the people inside. The domes will be connected to a machine (like plants which turn carbon dioxide into oxygen).

With Mars’ population growing, how would the people on its surface get fresh food and water? Just like humans use domes, they can also use domes to grow plants. However, the domes where the plants are grown must be built to expand. Once we upgrade the domes to a larger size then we can grow more food by cultivating (种植) more plants. To get the food or come in connect with other domes, there will be long narrow tunnels like roads that connect to each dome separating them by several doors so that the pressure in each dome can remain the same.

On Mars, so many other things are available to us. As humans, we can have access to rare and fairly expensive metals that aren’t very easy to get hold of on Earth, and a colony on Mars enhances (提高) our chances of finding these metals. So when someone here on Earth says that going to Mars is impossible, please tell them that they’ll never know it until they try and they may try very soon. After all it’s our future. Why not make it on Mars?