2 . Most of the 20th century has been a development on the Industrial Revolution taken to an extreme（极端）: people now own more products than ever before; there are enough nuclear weapons to destroy the earth several times over; there is hardly any forest left and pollution has got to the point where we buy water. Within a few years I predict you will be able to buy air—there once was a time when you didn't need to buy food or shelter either.

Important developments in the last century are the breaking down of the class structures left over from the Industrial Revolution stage, bringing with it the empowerment（授权）of the "common man": the working day is set by law to only 8 hours a day; everyone has the vote; the media has less obvious government control; people have landed on the moon, sent spacecraft to Mars and so on. Families have also been shrinking; the nuclear family came about, and especially in the last half of the 20th century, one-parent families are becoming more common. The smaller size of the family shows the increased independence of people—once upon a time people had to live in large groups to survive.

Humans have realized their personality and independence and taken their control of the world to an extreme. In many countries the land is almost completely used in the production of food and as living space. People live in small cities which are entirely human constructed ,made from materials which are also entirely human constructed（concrete bricks）with hardly any remains of nature. Weeds are poisoned because they are messy; even parks have trees grown in tidy lines; grass is mowed to keep it short and soon. I think the massive drug "problem" troubling people is a result of too much of this influence, humans needing to escape the dull world they have created by entering fantasy worlds.

Over the last 100 years, the 20th century consciousness has spread throughout the world. Most of Asia has been thoroughly "Westernized", and most of the Third World is being over-run by Western ways of doing things and living.

3 . Let us suppose it is now about A.D. 2060. Let's make believe it is about 47 years from now. Of course, things have changed and life is very different.

Voyages to the moon are being made every day. It is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in Europe. At a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built. In order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window. Everything imaginable is provided for entertainment of young and old.

What are people eating now? People are still eating food. They haven't yet started to take on heir(继承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power. They may some day. But many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants.

Since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet's surface has to be filled. The deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests. The harvest is always good.

Farming, of course, is very highly developed. Very few people have to work on the farm. It is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.

We are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases. No one has to be ill any more.

Such would be our life in 2060.

5 . HYDROGEN­POWERED cars have had a rough ride. Back in 2003, they were sold as “one of the most encouraging, innovative technologies of our times” by US president at the time George W. Bush. Then the Tesla revolution came along and they were left in the dust by their battery­driven electric rivals.

Now, there are signs of a comeback. A recent survey of more than 900 global automotive executives by consulting firm KPMG found that 52 percent rated hydrogen(氢) fuel cell vehicles as a leading industry trend. Japan has announced plans to put 40,000 hydrogen vehicles on the road in the next five years, and South Korea 16,000. Germany wants to have 400 refueling stations for hydrogen vehicles by 2025 and California has already opened 35.

This renewed push has its doubts. Tesla chief Elon Musk, for example, has dismissed hydrogen cars as being “extremely silly”. But Joan Ogden at the University of California, Davis, sees a future in which hydrogen and electric vehicles play complementary(互补的) roles. “There are arguments for having both,” she says.

Like electric cars, hydrogen vehicles produce zero pollutants, so they don't damage our health or the climate. The main difference is that hydrogen cars use a fuel cell instead of a battery to power an electric motor. Hydrogen is stored in a tank and fed into the fuel cell, where its chemical energy is changed into electrical energy.

Hydrogen cars are finally becoming commercially practical because fuel cells have become smaller and lighter, says Matthew Macleod at Toyota, which began selling the Mirai, one of the first mass­market hydrogen cars, in 2014 for $60,000.

We are also figuring out better ways to transport and store hydrogen, says Michael Dolan at Australia's national science organization, the CSIRO. Last month, his team showed that hydrogen gas can be changed into liquid ammonia(氨) for transportation, then changed back. Liquid ammonia takes up less space and is less flammable than hydrogen gas, making it easier to ship to refueling stations.

The ability to rapidly refuel is one of the main advantages hydrogen vehicles have, says Macleod. Filling up a hydrogen car takes about the same time as filling a petrol one, rather than the hours it typically takes to recharge an electric car's battery. You can also go further on a full tank of hydrogen—about 500 kilometers, compared with 300 kilometers for a standard fully charged battery.

But although hydrogen reacts cleanly—the only thing coming out is water—hydrogen vehicles are more energy­consuming than electric ones if you take fuel production and transport into consideration, says Jake Whitehead at the University of Queensland, Australia.

At the moment, most hydrogen is from natural gas—a fossil fuel. “Green” hydrogen can be made by splitting water using solar or wind power, but this involves multiple steps, each using energy along the way. In contrast, a single energy step is required to directly recharge a car battery at home.

6 . For the growing number of Chinese heading west to work and study, there's plenty they find surprising. Upon arrival in the West, many Chinese find they have to firstly put on the brakes. Li Yifeng, raised in northern China and now based in England, agrees.“The only thing Chinese people would be shocked by in Britain is how long it takes to do things，” he says. “For instance in China if you want to open a bank account, you don't wait, you just do it at the counter.” Out­of­hours and weekend work is standard in China, but in Britain, the weekend is for family and friends.

Jack Chen, who left his homeland 12 years ago and is now   a lawyer in Belgium says office politics are simpler in Europe, partly because the hierarchy (等级制度) is less rigid than in China, where the boss really is the boss and social class in the office is very obvious and important. As a result, staff in a Chinese company think very carefully about how to present their views and ideas. Employees in the West can share their opinions more freely. In China you should have the wisdom to say something in an appropriate way. But in Europe you can just say what you want.

The newest Chinese arrivals have a very different view to previous generations, according to Sharon Jin, who moved to the US 20 years ago and is now an American citizen. “Almost 100% of people of my generation who came to the States want to get a green card，” she says. “But today younger Chinese plan to work for 10 years here and then return to China to buy a house or look after their parents.” While a record number of 523,700 students left China to study elsewhere in 2015, roughly 70%～80% of students abroad have been returning in recent years because of the attractive job market at home, according to the Chinese Ministry of Education (CME)．