1 . Recently, the magazine Big Think asked top minds from a variety of fields to comment 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 (城市的) areas, and will have a much higher average age than people today. Cities theorist Richard Florida thinks urbanization will reinvent the education system of the United States, making our economy less real estate (房地产) driven and erasing(消除) 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 A larger version of driverless cars－driverless trucks － may make long-distance drivers out of date.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 McKibben 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 Planck 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 feature writer Mark Bittman thinks that people will eat fewer processed foods, and eat foods grown closer to where they live. And Anson Mills farmer Glenn Roberts thinks that more people will be aware of the “ethical(道德的) responsibility” to grow and preserve land-raised farm systems.

1. What may happen by 2050?

A．Most people will live in cities.	B．The aging population will drop.
C．Home education will become a trend.	D．The economy will be driven by real estate.

2. What do we know about technology in the future?

A．It will give cities a science-fiction appearance.

B．It will greatly change the way people live.

C．It will lead to an increase in the number of cars.

D．It will ensure faster transports with fast cars.

3. What does the underlined word “dire” in the fourth paragraph mean?

A．Interesting.

B．Daring.

C．Terrible.

D．Creative.

4. What does Mark Bittman think of foods in the future?

A．People will eat healthier and fresher foods.

B．Land-raised farm systems will be improved.

C．There will be more regional food operations.

D．Food supplies will become more limited than before.