2 . The sea could be the food bowl of the future. In Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, seaweed, which is rich in fibre and omega 3, is grown and harvested.

Pia Winberg is a marine scientist who runs Australia's first food-grade fanned seaweed company. Her crop is grown alongside mussels (贻贝)and is used as an additive in pasta (意大利面)and other products.

Seaweed is also raised in large tanks, where it absorbs carbon dioxide waste from a wheat processing factory. The business is small, but could help to reduce the ecological footprint of traditional farming.

“We used ten percent of seaweed instead of wheat in breads and pastas, we've eliminated a million hectares of land, we've eliminated all of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with that, and we've also reduced the pressures on very precious fresh water.” said Pia Winberg.

Spiny sea urchins (多刺海胆虫)are another blue economy resource. They can destroy marine habitats, but a recent competition for environmental start-ups in Australia, saw them not as a pest but a delicacy (美味).

Martina Doblin, CEO of Sydney Institute of Marine Science, said, “By 2050 we will have some ten billion people on the planet, and about half the food they eat will come from the ocean. So, we really do need to pay attention to the way that we manage the blue economy-generating wealth from the ocean but in a sustainable (可持续的)way.”

Farming at sea has its challenges. Infrastructure (基础设施)has to be sound, as do supply chains and biosecurity. But get these things right, and the ocean might just be the next great economic frontier.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To lead to the main topic.

B．To describe a new kind of seaweed.

C．Tell how important the food safety is.

D．To explain the meaning of blue economy.

2. What can we learn from what Martina Doblin said in paragraph 6?

A．Ocean exploration has made little progress so far.

B．More and more people will die of hunger in the future.

C．More work is needed for a better use of the natural resources.

D．Sea farming will be a good way to solve the coming world food problem.

3. Which word can be used to describe the author's attitude towards sea fanning?

A．Skeptical.

B．Objective.

C．Tolerant.

D．Negative.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．How to Protect the Marine Animals

B．Measures to Develop Blue Economy

C．Farming the Sea for the Future of Food

D．Traditional Farming is Gradually Disappearing

3 . People have speculated (思索) for centuries about a future without work. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by inequality: A few wealthy people will own all the capital, and the masses will struggle in a wasteland. A different prediction holds that without jobs to give their lives meaning, future people will simply become lazy and depressed.

But it doesn’t necessarily follow from findings like these that a world without work would be filled with dissatisfaction. Such visions are based on the downsides of being unemployed in a society built on the concept of employment. In the absence of work, a society designed with other ends in mind could provide strikingly different circumstances for the future of labor and leisure.

These days, spare time is relatively rare for most workers. “When I come home from a hard day's work, I often feel tired,” says John Danaher, a lecturer at the National University of Ireland, adding, “In a world in which I don’t have to work, I might feel rather different — perhaps different enough to throw himself into a hobby with the enthusiasm usually reserved for professional matters.”

Daniel Everett, an anthropologist (人类学家) at Bentley University studied a group of hunter-gathers in the Amazon called the Piraha for years. According to Everett, while some might consider hunting and gathering work, hunter-gatherers don’t. “They think of it as fun,” he says. “They don’t have a concept of work the way we do.”

Everett described a typical clay for the Piraha: A man might get up, spend a few hours fishing, have a barbecue, and play until the evening. Does this relaxing life lead to the depression and purposelessness seen among so many of today’s unemployed? “I’ve never seen anything like depression there, except people who are physically ill,” Everett says. While many may consider work necessary for human life, work as it exists today is a relatively new invention in the course of human culture. “We think it’s bad to just sit around with nothing to do,” says Everett. “For the Piraha, it’s quite a desirable state.”

1. What might be some people’s attitude towards the work-free world?

A．Objective.	B．Negative.
C．Skeptical.	D．Cautious.

2. What does the underlined word “downsides” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to?

A．Risks.	B．Losses.
C．Challenges.	D．Disadvantages.

3. John Danaher might agree that _____.

A．work plays an important role in our future life

B．people don’t know how to balance work and life

C．people’s work-free future life will be full of charm

D．higher unemployment makes life tougher for workers

4. Why is Daniel Everett’s study mentioned?

A．To justify John Danaher’s opinion.	B．To show a future life without work.
C．To compare different views on work.	D．To introduce the Piraha in the Amazon.

4 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Search for a Human Face for Robots

Looking for a $130,000 payday? Geomiq, a British engineering and manufacturing firm is searching for a “kind and friendly” face to be the face of a robot once it goes into production. “This will entail（需要）the selected person’s face being reproduced on potentially thousands of versions of the robots worldwide,” Geomiq says in a blog post about the project.

Robots have been at the forefront of technology for decades, and are widely considered the future of our technological advancement. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, according to some estimates, robots designed to keep the elderly company are becoming increasingly common.     1    

They do things like responding to voice commands, offering proactive（积极主动的）notifications and advice and letting relatives monitor conditions at home. There is still a long way to go but new robotic products are coming into fruition all the time. Geomiq says the robot line has been in the works for five years and will result in a companion for seniors.

The designer has noted in an interview with a select press pool that they can’t release too many details at this stage.     2     The designer has also stressed that unsuccessful candidates will not be contacted. The company says the need for anonymity（匿名）is due to the secretive nature of the project. However, it believes the robot will soon be “readily available” to the public and hopes the campaign will create extra buzz ahead of its eventual release. “We know that this is an extremely unique request, and signing over the licenses to your face is potentially an extremely big decision,” Geomiq said.

    3     The designer has said that the project has been in development for five years, and in that time frame taken on investment from some independent venture capitals as well as a top fund based in Shanghai. the company says the robots’ purpose will be to act as a “virtual friend” for elderly people and is set to go into production next year.

The blog past doesn’t share age or gender parameters（参数）.     4     Candidates who make it to the next phase will get full details on the project. “The secrecy,” Geomiq says, “is due to non-disclosure agreement it’s signed with the robot’s designer and investors.”

A．A technology company wants to buy the rights to use someone’s face for its robots.

B．It just asks people who want to license their face to submit a photo via email for     the chance at $130,000.

C．It is a once - in - a - while opportunity for the right person.

D．They also serve a practical purpose.

E．The company is privately - funded.

F．However, ideal candidates will be given the specifics of the project.

5 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

How Much of the Jetsons' World Has Become a Reality?

For most of our readers, The Jetsons may be an unfamiliar name. However, for many Americans born in or before the 1980s, it is a name we fondly remember. The Jestsons was a popular cartoon that featured a family living in an advanced world     1    people settle in houses built in the sky, work only three days a week and drive flying cars that resemble flying saucers. While sky-high houses and three-day workweeks don’t appear to be on the horizon, other visions of the future     2    (turn) into practical realities.

Flying cars have been on the minds of scientists and inventors for decades. They are part of a typical imaging of the future fast-paced and luxurious,     3    (allow) us to speed through the skies. As     4     (see) in The Sky’s No longer the Limit, this flight of fancy may soon be a reality in Dubai. Aiming     5     (become) the world’s most advanced city, Dubai is currently testing the first-ever flying taxi.

    6     money still exists in its current cash-based form in The Jetsons, people today are looking toward a world where even cash is out-of-date. Bitcoin is a type of digital money that has taken the world by storm. Since its introduction, the money’s price     7     (increase) to rates as high as US$ 19,000. This, however, may not predict well for the future of digital currency, as experts warn that Bitcoin is a bubble and     8     crash soon. It’s possible that some dreams of the future may still be     9     our reach.

Other more probable technologies already exist, for example, future flying eye hospitals in A Hospital with Wings, unusual-engineered folding paper in Clever Folding and the population of endangered corals(珊瑚) in Lab-Bred Coral to the Rescue, etc. All these show     10    humans are already capable of. So, what else could the future have in store for us?