2 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize in no more than 60 words the main idea of the passage and how it is illustrated. Use your own words as far as possible.

English in the Third Millennium

Two thousand years ago English did not exist. A thousand years ago it was a language used by less than two million people. Now it is the most influential language in the world spoken by more than a billion people on the planet, as their first second or third language. English currently dominates science, business, the mass media and popular culture. For example, 80% of emails on the Internet are in English. But where will English be at the end of the third millennium?

One view is that English is going to become even more important as a global language dominating the world’s trade and media while most other languages will become localized or just die out. At present over half the world’s 6500 languages are in danger of extinction. Another view is that English is already breaking up, as Latin did into several languages. There are already dictionaries of the 'New Englishes’ such as Australian English full of words that a British English speaker would not recognize.

Hopefully, neither of these things will happen. Although different varieties of English will continue to develop around the world, standard English will survive for international communication. In addition, the frightening prospect of a culturally uniform world totally dominated by one language is impossible. Already, other languages are fighting back against the iron grip of English on the Net. Governments around the world are also starting to protect smaller languages and recognize the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity. English will probably stay in control for a long time, at least while the USA remains the top superpower, but it definitely won’t become the only language in the world

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3 . 假定你是李华，某英文报社正在举行题为“科技改变我们的未来生活”的征文活动，要求同学们想象科技将如何改变我们的生活环境、工作和休闲方式，请根据你的畅想用英语写一篇短文。
注意：1.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
2.词数120左右。
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5 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
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.

2. What couldn't be imagined by people in 25 years ago?

A．How tall today's buildings are.

B．How different the smartphone would be.

C．How the Internet would change our lives.

3. What will we do if we need a table in the future?

A．Order online.

B．Print at home.

C．Design by ourselves.

4. What's the talk mainly about?

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.

7 . 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.

2. Why is Mars so attractive to scientists?

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.

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

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.

4. From which magazine would the passage probably be taken?

A．The Traveler.	B．Environmental Concerns.
C．All About Space.	D．Biology for Fun,

8 . 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.     1    

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.     2    

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.     3     These have been well recognized.

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.

    4     They point out that although crops growing in a tall glass building would get natural sunlight during the day, it wouldn’t be enough. The plants closest to the windows would grow much more quickly than the plants further inside. The plants growing away from the windows may not produce as many or as high quality vegetables.     5     They would need additional light sources.

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.

9 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。

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 31^st 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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10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

3D printing and virtual reality are cool, but when are we going to be able to clone ourselves? It'd be fantastic for    1    （we）to send our clone off to school or work and sit back and do    2    we really want to do. There have been important advances in cloning in the last several decades, leading to the    3    （success）cloning of various animals. So far, however, there    4    （be）no human clones.

In large part, cloning has been    5    victim of pop culture to the degree that the general public has grand notions of what it will be like. There is no    6    （possible）of cloning a grown version of ourselves in a matter of hours or days（like you see in the movies）.

    7    （general）, we already have the tools to make cloning happen today; we just have some moral problems     8    （overcome）before the world won't raise major alarms at scientists cloning someone. That leaves the question     9    us then, the general public, do you think cloning is okay? Would you clone a lost loved one to bring them back, or if you found yourself unable to have kids, would you clone yourself? These are the questions we must answer first before we succeed in    10    （create） human clones.