SMART HOMES TO MAKE LIFE EASIER
Have you ever forgotten to lock the door of your house? Or, have you ever forgotten to switch off the TV or computer? These kinds of things happen to us all the time, waste resources, and can sometimes lead to problems. However, in the nottoodistant future, we will be living in smart homes that will lock the door for us when we are away and remember to switch off the TV when we forget. These smart homes will keep us secure, save us energy, and provide a more comfortable environment to live in.
Intelligent Controls
Today, we have to use switches for our lights, knobs for our appliances, and remote controls for our TVs and air conditioners. In the future, we will be using advanced technology every day for automatic control of just about everything in our home. The future home will use integrated sensors to tell when you leave home each morning, and then go into an energyefficient mode all by itself. You will no longer have to think about turning switches on and off yourself. Your home will also learn your daily routine and preferences, so everything will be ready for you when you get home each evening. Your lights will come on the instant you enter the door along with your favourite music or TV programmes, and you will find your dinner already prepared for you. All controls will respond to voice commands, so if you want to change your routine, you just say aloud what you want and the home system will obey.
Regular Health Checks
In addition, your smart home will be monitoring your health for you every day. Your bed, for example, will record how well you sleep every night. It will also be checking your body weight. If you start to have sleep or weight problems, it will send a warning to your phone. It will also give you suggestions on a healthier diet and how to sleep better. Smart toilets will be keeping constant track of your health as well. They can warn you early on if there is something abnormal or if you have a critical illness, such as cancer, and potentially save your life.
No More Disasters
Smart homes will be able to prevent serious damage from accidents. For example, if a water pipe starts leaking, or if there is a short in the electrical wiring, your smart home will detect
it and provide you with the relevant information. This way, you will be able to fix the problem before your home becomes flooded or catches fire.
This smart technology is not a fantasy. Many of these new innovations are already available and being used in some homes. In this sense, the home of tomorrow is already the home of today. Nevertheless, it will take some years before most new homes begin to use this new technology.
1. Match the main idea with each paragraph.| A．Smart homes will check people’s health regularly. B．Smart homes will prevent serious damage from accidents. C．Intelligent controls in the home system. D．Smart technology will be used widely in the future. E．Smart homes will bring us safe, energysaving and comfortable life in the future. |
2. What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Smart homes will focus on people’s health issues. |
| B．Smart homes are a new but controversial technology. |
| C．Smart homes will make our life easier in many ways. |
| D．Smart homes will make human beings lazy. |
| A．Sleeping too fast. |
| B．Waking all the night. |
| C．Worrying about nothing. |
| D．Stopping being stolen. |
| A．Some of the new technology has been used. |
| B．Smart homes have been spread widely now. |
| C．No one likes to have a smart home today. |
| D．Smart homes will be built in China soon. |
| A．To sell integrated sensors. |
| B．To change the old houses. |
| C．To decorate home with smart technology. |
| D．To give us an insight into smart homes. |
| A．Adults. | B．Scientists. |
| C．Predictors. | D．Home owners. |
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
2 . “May 17, 2157
Dear diary,
Today, Tommy found a real book!...”
“What’s it about?” Margie asked.
“School.” replied Tommy, turning the yellow pages.
“Why would anyone write about school? I hope they can take my geography teacher away.”
“It’s not our school. This is the old sort that they had centuries ago.”
“Anyway, they had a teacher.” Margie said, reading the book over his shoulder.
“Sure, they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
“A man? How could a man be a teacher?”
“Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them assignments and asked them questions.”
“A man isn’t smart enough.”
“Sure, he is. My father knows as much as my teacher.”
Margie wasn’t prepared to argue about that. She said, “I wouldn’t want a strange man in my house to teach me.”
Tommy laughed. “The teachers didn’t live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there.”
“And all the kids learned the same thing?”
“Sure, if they were the same age.”
“But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.”
“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read the book.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly.
They weren’t even half-finished when Margie’s mother called, “Margie! School!”
“Not yet, Mamma.”
“Now!” said Mrs. Jones.
Margie said to Tommy, “Can I read the book some more with you after school?”
“Maybe,” Tommy said.
Margie went into the schoolroom, right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on waiting for her.
The screen was lit up, and it said, “Please insert yesterday’s assignments in the proper slot.”
Margie was still thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another on the assignments and discussed them.
And the teachers were people…
1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?| A．Margie doesn’t like her school. |
| B．It’s common to read paper books in 2157. |
| C．Online learning is what Margie wants. |
| D．Tommy feels his father is smarter than his teacher. |
| A．There are only female teachers at school. |
| B．Teachers give no assignments to students. |
| C．A special building is constructed for teachers. |
| D．Students learn different things at their own pace. |
| A．Envelope. | B．Opening. |
| C．Screen. | D．Schoolroom. |
| A．Longing. | B．Objection. |
| C．Suspicion. | D．Tolerance. |
| available critical innovation integrate potential prediction prospect remote |
There are many
1．有些人可以到月球上度假而有些人可能在海底生活；
2．所有人都生活在智能家庭中，可以足不出户进行体检；
3．孩子们可以在家通过电脑和互联网接受教育；
4．家家都有机器人，可以为我们做家务。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. 新型城市产生的原因;
2. 新型城市的运作模式。
注意：1. 词数100左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯;
3. 开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。
Good morning, everyone. I’m glad to share my view on “the new city in the future”.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you!
6 . When people talk about the future, we like to think that we will be able to drive out of our garages and take to the
Most of us have printed out an electronic document on paper, but think about the
Imagine having your own Ironman suit. There are several companies trying to build a practical robot ‘exoskeleton’. This is a suit of robot arms and legs which follows your
| A．parking lot | B．valleys | C．skies | D．dimension |
| A．confirm | B．predict | C．prove | D．approve |
| A．neglecting | B．avoiding | C．changing | D．controlling |
| A．flows | B．crashes | C．organization | D．control |
| A．accidents | B．industry | C．failure | D．analysis |
| A．Also | B．Hence | C．However | D．Therefore |
| A．access | B．improvement | C．possibility | D．compliment |
| A．normal | B．home-made | C．special | D．imported |
| A．high | B．advanced | C．various | D．low |
| A．click | B．check | C．remove | D．download |
| A．shopping | B．bargaining | C．shipping | D．delivery |
| A．intentions | B．movements | C．instructions | D．advice |
| A．forceful | B．possible | C．obvious | D．doubtful |
| A．criticized | B．programmed | C．developed | D．commented |
| A．wavy | B．direct | C．wrong | D．straight |
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. |
8 . 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 |
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.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
