1 . 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

2. The example of Seashore Primary School is given to show _______.

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

3. What does the underlined word “emphasis” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Lesson.

B．Score.

C．Attitude.

D．Focus.

4. Which of the following is the best title of the text?

A．The Schools in the Future	B．Great Changes in Technology
C．Seashore Primary School	D．Actual Schools to Be Replaced

3 . What do you plan to do when you retire? Keep working? Get more exercise? Or learn something new? You may put them on hold. There's a chance that, sooner or later, you might have to move further than you were thinking, as far as Mars.

On Thursday, National Geographic will show the first-ever Mars show home, giving earthlings (地球人)an idea of what their life could look like on the Red Planet. In the not-so-distant year of 2037, the igloo-shaped structure could be the home of your future.

It shows a house built using recycled spacecraft parts and Martian soil, called regolith, which has been microwaved into bricks. Some parts of the home are recognizable — a kitchen, a bedroom — but there are fundamental differences that are important to human survival.

As the Martian atmosphere is around one hundredth as thick as the Earth’s, people will need permanent (永久的) shelter from the sun；society will move largely indoors. Most buildings will be connected by underground passages and the houses won't have windows. The homes will have simulated solar lighting, or natural light that has been bent several times. Walls will need to be 10 to 12 feet thick, to protect people from dangerous rays (光线)that can pass through six feet of steel, and a double air-locked entrance to keep the home under proper pressure.

"We don’t think of our houses as things that keep us alive, but on Mars your house will be a survival centre, 99 says Stephen Petranek, author of How We’ll Live on Mars. This is not just the stuff of sci-fi. “10 to 20 years from now there will certainly be people on Mars,” Petranek says.

“We’ve had the technology for 30 years to land people on Mars, but we haven’t had the will, ”Petranek says. But two main factors have “completely swung public attitudes”.

The private companies’ participation has forced government agencies to speed up their game, and influential films such as Gravity and The Martian have caught society’s eye.

1. What do the underlined words "put them on hold" in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Put them off.	B．Give them away.
C．Carry them through.	D．Take them seriously.

2. What can we infer about the show home from the text?

A．It has no windows or doors due to security concern.

B．Its design presents the idea of environmental protection.

C．It has thick walls keeping the home under propel pressure.

D．Its underground passages connect all the buildings together.

3. According to Petranek, what has sped up the process of sending people to Mars?

A．The development of related technology.

B．The competition from private companies.

C．The great influence of the Mars show home.

D．The popularity of influential books on Mars.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Living on Mars: Possible or Not	B．Sending People to Mars: Yes or No
C．First-Ever Show Home: How Is It Made	D．Future Home on Mars: What Will It Be like