文章大意：本文是一篇说明文。文章从娱乐，环境，交通，科技和医学5个方面预测了未来的生活将会是什么样子的，直到2050年，我们的生活将会发生很大的变化，将会完全不同于现在。
2 . What picture do you have of the future? Will life in the future be better, worse or the same as now? What do you hope about the future?
Futurologists(未来学家) predict that life will probably be very different in 2050 in all the fields of activity, from entertainment to technology. First of all, it seems that TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers and books will come to us by computer.
In what concerns the environment, water will have become one of our most serious problems. Demand for water will increase ten times between now and 2050 and there could be serious shortages. Some futurologists predict that water could be the cause of war if we don’t act now.
In transport, cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed of the car and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination.
In the domain(领域)of technology，robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots-they do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere-in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Last but not least, medicine technology will have conquered many diseases. Today scientists have discovered how to control genes. They have already produced clones of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?
| A．To arouse the interest of the reader. |
| B．To tell the background of the passage. |
| C．To show the author’s doubts about the future. |
| D．To describe the pictures of the future. |
2. What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Computer will finally take the place of the media nowadays. |
| B．Robots will completely have replaced people in factories. |
| C．Not all diseases will be conquered by scientists. |
| D．The clones of animals have a long way to go. |
3. What’s the author’s attitude towards the life by 2050?
| A．Excited but pessimistic. |
| B．Optimistic but worried. |
| C．Eager but afraid. |
| D．Enthusiastic but cautious. |
4. Where can we find the passage on the web?
| A．Travel. |
| B．Sports. |
| C．Education. |
| D．Life. |
