1. What will life be like in the future?
| A．People will hold online meetings virtually. |
| B．More visits are needed to the doctor. |
| C．A few people will go to an office. |
| A．How tall today's buildings are. |
| B．How different the smartphone would be. |
| C．How the Internet would change our lives. |
| A．Order online. | B．Print at home. | C．Design by ourselves. |
| A．What life will be like in 100 years. |
| B．Where to go on holiday in the future. |
| C．How the 3D technology will help us. |
Scientists and engineers
Two American researchers, Andrew McKenzie from the University of Kansas and Jeffrey Punske of Southern Illinois University, have explored one possible problem with such travel. They considered the possibility
Languages naturally changes as communities grow more isolated from each other, the researchers noted in the paper. The long isolation of a community could lead to enough differences in language to make
The researchers noted that in addition to new words being used, the language of people traveling on spaceships and living in colonies
The researchers say one possible solution to
The home of the future won't be
Space holidays will develop in the future, but these holidays won't be for everyone because they are
According to the laws of physics, the earth is going to
4 . A parent’s hopes for 2030
When 2010 arrived, my son was only a year old—tiny and
A
I hope we finally get
I’m not sure what a warming planet will
The world is always going to be full of
The world of 2030 won’t
| A．special | B．generous | C．intelligent | D．dependent |
| A．athlete | B．adolescent | C．artist | D．engineer |
| A．month | B．century | C．year | D．decade |
| A．questions | B．experience | C．danger | D．change |
| A．worry | B．sacrifice | C．owe | D．arrange |
| A．particular | B．serious | C．optimistic | D．enthusiastic |
| A．for sure | B．as usual | C．no longer | D．till now |
| A．slow | B．record | C．complete | D．multiply |
| A．mean | B．obtain | C．share | D．seek |
| A．pick up | B．fight for | C．turn down | D．take part in |
| A．finished | B．continued | C．started | D．left |
| A．aims | B．examples | C．disagreements | D．results |
| A．escape | B．express | C．seek | D．affect |
| A．differ from | B．agree with | C．refer to | D．call for |
| A．explode | B．admire | C．prove | D．build |
Are all changes good?
It is a commonly held belief that as people get older, they become resistant to change. Their complaints that things used to be better in the past or
But is this automatically true? Are the views of an older person on a new development always to be disregarded? This would suggest that every new development must be a good
Take
6 . A robot with a sense of touch may one day feel “pain”, both its own physical pain and sympathy for the pain of its human companions. Such touchy-feely robots are still far off, but advances in robotic touch-sensing are bringing that possibility closer to reality.
Sensors set in soft, artificial skin that can detect both a gentle touch and a painful strike have been hooked up to a robot that can then signal emotions, Asada reported February 15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This artificial “pain nervous system,” as Asada calls it, may be a small building block for a machine that could ultimately experience pain. Such a feeling might also allow a robot to “sympathize” with a human companion’s suffering.
Asada, an engineer at Osaka University, and his colleagues have designed touch sensors that reliably pick up a range of touches. In a robot system named Affetto, a realistic looking child’s head, these touch and pain signals can be converted to emotional facial expressions.
A touch-sensitive, soft material, as opposed to a rigid metal surface, allows richer interactions between a machine and the world, says neuroscientist Kingson Man of the University of Southern California. Artificial skin “allows the possibility of engagement in truly intelligent ways”.
Such a system, Asada says, might ultimately lead to robots that can recognize the pain of others, a valuable skill for robots designed to help care for people in need, the elderly, for instance.
But there is an important distinction between a robot that responds in a predictable way to a painful strike and a robot that’s able to compute an internal feeling accurately, says Damasio, a neuroscientist also at the University of Southern California. A robot with sensors that can detect touch and pain is “along the lines of having a robot, for example, that smiles when you talk to it,” Damasio says. ‘It’s a device for communication of the machine to a human.” While that’s an interesting development, “it’s not the same thing” as a robot designed to compute some sort of internal experience, he says.
1. What do we know about the “pain nervous system”?| A．It is named Affetto by scientists. | B．It is a set of complicated sensors. |
| C．It is able to signal different emotions. | D．It combines sensors and artificial skin. |
| A．Delivered. | B．Translated. | C．Attached. | D．Adapted. |
| A．Robots can smile when talked to. |
| B．Robots can talk to human beings. |
| C．Robots can compute internal feelings |
| D．Robots can detect pains and respond accordingly. |
| A．Machines Become Emotional | B．Robots Inch to Feeling Pain |
| C．Human Feelings Can Be Felt | D．New Devices Touch Your Heart |
7 . Space exploration has always been the province of
In 1961, when President Kennedy declared that America would send a man to the moon by the
When the dust settled, the space dreamers lost out. There was no grand follow-up to the Apollo missions. The technologically compromised space shuttle program has just come to an end, with no
But human ingenuity struggles on. NASA is developing a series of robotic probes that will get the most bang from a buck. They will serve as modern Magellans,
The space dreamers end up benefiting all of us—not just because of the way they expand human knowledge, or because of the spin-off
| A．dreamers | B．explorers | C．astronomers | D．novelists |
| A．after | B．before | C．until | D．while |
| A．year | B．quarter | C．century | D．decade |
| A．inspiring | B．public | C．dream | D．freedom |
| A．attacked | B．industrialized | C．transformed | D．accessed |
| A．in conflict with | B．in line with | C．in common with | D．keeping pace with |
| A．aims | B．influences | C．concerns | D．terms |
| A．ancestor | B．successor | C．forefather | D．advocate |
| A．situations | B．securities | C．funds | D．schedules |
| A．just like | B．on condition that | C．as if | D．so that |
| A．making | B．figuring | C．sweeping | D．mapping |
| A．reach | B．management | C．control | D．knowledge |
| A．productions | B．chips | C．technologies | D．substitutes |
| A．go beyond | B．go through | C．go after | D．go over |
| A．in ignorance of | B．capable of | C．proud of | D．in favor of |
8 . In the 1960s and 1970s, the greatest fear was that the human race, and possibly all advanced life forms on the planet, could be wiped out by nuclear missiles. Today, however, environmental problems have taken over as the greatest risk to life on Earth. Scientists are thinking of ways to lower this risk, such as replacing coal and oil with forms of renewable energy. But they are also preparing for the worst: what can we do if the terrifying scenes in films such as The Day After Tomorrow happen in real life? What is our plan B for Earth?
One option is to explore other planets to see if we could live on them. The most likely choice is Mars, which is relatively close to Earth and has an environment less hostile than that of other planets. Mars has fascinated people since ancient times, and today our interest in Martian exploration is greater than ever before. Besides, more governments are making efforts to educate the public on the Red Planet.
There is no doubt that humankind is drawn towards Mars. However, sending people there will require all the skill, courage and intelligence. While the Moon can be reached within days, it would take months to reach Mars, travelling through dangerous solar radiation. And even if the first settlers do reach Mars safely, they may not be able to return to Earth — ever. Staying alive will be a daily challenge, but as proved by the Biosphere 2 experiment, not impossible. As early as the 1980s, scientists were building Biosphere 2 in the Arizona desert, consisting of a closed space in which people, animals and plants could live together. Although the two-year experiment was not a success, it did provide us with a better understanding of how humans might be able to live on another planet.
For now, human settlement of Mars is still decades away. Until we are finally able to live on another planet, we need to take much better care of our own. Right now, it's the only one we have!
1. What was the biggest threat to humans in the 1960s and 1970s?| A．Human race themselves. | B．All advanced life forms. |
| C．Nuclear missiles. | D．Environmental problems. |
| A．It's closest to the earth. |
| B．It has relatively appropriate living conditions. |
| C．It has drawn the public's attention in recent years. |
| D．It has a more hostile environment. |
| A．Humans have visited Mars. |
| B．The Biosphere 2 experiment proved to be valueless. |
| C．Humans will have to go and live on another planet. |
| D．Our Plan A includes developing renewable energy resources. |
| A．The Traveler. | B．Environmental Concerns. |
| C．All About Space. | D．Biology for Fun, |
9 . Farms of the Future
Skyscrapers(摩天大楼) are the ultimate symbol of urban life. By 2050, almost 80 percent of the earth’s population could live in cities. The human population could increase to 9.1 billion people yet the amount of land available for farming will be the same.
Vertical farms, where farmers could grow crops in environmentally friendly skyscrapers, could be the solution. In spite of concerns over high costs, experts want to make these urban farms a reality and use these skyscrapers to grow crops.
Vertical farms would have many advantages, experts say. The food would be grown with minimal effects on the environment. Unlike traditional farming, vertical farming would not force animals out of their habitats by taking over large areas of land, nor would it pollute the air with the use of heavy farming equipment.
Growing prosperity has led to many people demanding that all foods are available all year round. Indoor farming could produce crops constantly and crops would not suffer from weather-related problems like drought or flooding. In addition, the use of agricultural chemicals for controlling insects would be minimal.
Experts agree that the new farming practices are needed to support the planet’s need for more and more food at affordable costs, both to the farmer and to the consumer. Vertical farms may be a small-scale answer, but the best ideas could be yet to come.
| A．Still, there are some people who are critical of vertical farms. |
| B．That is where vertical farms are often needed for year-round crops. |
| C．So how to meet the increasing food needs of our planet could be a big problem. |
| D．For these reasons, natural light cannot be a workable solution for vertical farms. |
| E．Vertically grown food is grown in environmentally controlled conditions in big cities. |
| F．Those farms would also reduce the cost and negative effects of transporting food over distances. |
| G．They believe that we can increase the food production by changing our thinking from out to up. |
I have seen amazing things.
My first visit was to a space station considered the most modern in space. Described as an enormous round plate, it spins slowly in space to imitate the pull of the earth’s gravity. Inside was an exhibition of the most up-to-date inventions of the 31st century. A guide showed us around along a moveable path.
Guide: Good morning to all our visitors from 2008. First we’re going to examine one of the latest forms of communication among our space citizens! Messages can now be sent using a “thoughtpad”. You place the metal band over your head, clear your mind, press the sending button, think your message and the next instant it’s sent. It’s stored on the “thoughtpad” of the receiver. It’s quick, efficient and environmentally friendly. The only limitation is if the user does not think his or her message clearly, an unclear message may be sent. But we cannot blame the tools for the faults of the user, can we?
During the explanation I looked at the pair of small objects called “thoughtpad” on a table. They just looked like metal ribbon. So ordinary but so powerful! While I was observing them, the path moved us on.
Guide: And now ladies and gentlemen, we are in the “environment area”. People used to collect waste in dustbins. Then the rubbish was sent to be buried or burned, am I right?（We nodded.）Well, now there’s a system where the waste is disposed of using the principles of ecology. A giant machine, always greedy for more, swallows all the waste available. The rubbish is turned into several grades of useful material, such as “fertilizer” for the fields and “soil” for deserts. Nothing is wasted, and everything, even plastic bags is recycled. A great idea, isn’t it?
I stared at the moving of the waste machine, absorbed by its efficiency. But again we moved on.
Part 1
Our third stop shows the changes that have happened to work practices. Manufacturing no longer takes place on earth but on space stations like this one.
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Part 2
My mind began to wander. What job would I do? My motivation increased as I thought of the wonderful world of the future.
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