1 . “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. |
2 . SHOULD WE FIGHT NEW TECHNOLOGY?
This morning, I saw the shocking headline: “Passenger Dies When Car Crashes in Driverless Mode”.In the article, a lot of people said that the public should oppose the idea of developing driverless cars.They said that some advances in technology were unnecessary and could even be dangerous.Hence, we should cease accepting technology just because it is new.The newspaper reported that the car company had already apologized for the accident, but the families of the deceased said it was not enough.Nevertheless, the company still claimed that most people would be travelling in driverless cars one day soon.
On the one hand, there are many different groups of people around the world who live happily in the absence of new technology.Probably the most well known are the Amish, a group of Christians living in rural America.They do not own or drive cars, watch TV, or use the Internet.They have lived mainly as farmers since the 18th century, and they will probably be living the same way in the distant future.They advocate a simple life with an emphasis on hard work, family, and community.They think that is better than caring about luxuries or following the lives of the rich and famous.It could even be argued that the Amish’s quality of life is better since they live in and appreciate the natural environment rather than living in large, polluted cities.
On the other hand, new technology has provided people everywhere with many benefits over the years.For example, the latest weather-tracking computer programs give people lots of warnings about potential natural disasters, which saves many lives.Moreover, the Internet has made it possible for friends and family to keep in touch easily even if they are on opposite sides of the world.It has also made finding opportunities in life much easier, as it allows people to make larger networks of friends through using social media.
Personally, I have benefited quite a lot from technological advances.I found my career as an AI designer through a social media network.My health monitor, which I wear all the time, has also helped me get into the best shape of my life.Of course, when new technology changes the way we live, it can be a scary prospect.Nevertheless, I will always look on the positive side of change and accept it rather than resist it.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．A person died in an accident while driving his brand-new car. |
| B．The relatives of the victim would never accept the apology. |
| C．Many people took a negative attitude to this new technology. |
| D．The company was very concerned about the future of this new technology. |
| A．To persuade us to follow their natural living style. |
| B．To tell us the Amish prefer a harmonious and peaceful life. |
| C．To prove people can still live better without new technology. |
| D．To advocate a simple life with family and community by hard work. |
| A．Monitoring people’s physical health. |
| B．Providing chances in life more easily. |
| C．Predicting the earthquake and tsunami. |
| D．Helping people contact each other easily. |
| A．resistance | B．future | C．advance | D．positivity |
| A．The author wanted to praise the advantages of new technology. |
| B．The author wanted to show his supportive idea of new technology. |
| C．The author wanted to criticize the disadvantages of new technology. |
| D．The author wanted to arouse people’s concern about new technology. |
The journey to the moon has been the first step toward future exploration(探险) in space. The distance between the moon and the earth is very short indeed when compared with the distances between the earth and the other planets. Mars, one of the nearest planets to the earth, is millions of miles away. Travelling to the planets will be mans next aim. Such travels will be more challenging than the trip to the moon and certainly more adventurous.
Recently, two American spaceships, Vikings 1 and 2 landed on Mars trying to discover whether there is any life on the planet. So far the signs of life on Mars has neither confirmed nor ruled out.(排除)
Russians have discovered that the surface of Venus（金星）is so hot that it is almost certain that there is no life there. Also the atmosphere of Venus is extremely dense and the pressure is nearly a hundred times greater than that of the earth’s atmosphere.
Scientists believe man may find planets which have the same conditions as those we have on the earth, but man should realize the earth will be his only home for a long time and begin to love and care about it.
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4 . In the near future, IoT (Internet of Things) will drive huge innovation (革新) in the way our food is grown. Plants will have a “voice”, not a human voice, but a voice based on data that can tell people, computers, and machines when, for example, they are thirsty, or need more sun, medicine, etc.
Take vertical (垂直的) farms, for example. Farming is moving indoors where the growth of plants can be monitored and controlled. The facilities are built vertically, so growing areas can be put in piles. This greatly reduces the amount of land needed for farming.
From an IoT point of view, vertical farms are connected in two ways. First, small sensors (传感器) in the soil or connected to plants tell a control system exactly how much light, water, and nutrients are needed to grow the healthiest crops. Sensors will also tell vertical farmers when crops are nearing their peak for harvesting at just the right time to make sure it’s still fresh when it reaches its final destination.
Second, vertical farms will be connected to other networks and information systems, including databases that track local demand. For example, local restaurants may input when they need fresh food supplies. And vertical farmers could get that information so they know which crops to grow in what quantities. This type of IoT system would have been unimaginable a generation ago.
Today, vertical farms are being experimented. Yet, the numbers point to a bright future for the industry, especially as the world’s population continues to grow. For example, Green Sense Farms in Chicago is able to harvest crops 26 times a year using 85 percent less energy, one-tenth the water, and no pesticides. A side benefit of lower energy use is lower CO2 output of two tons per month, with the added benefit of creating 46 pounds of oxygen every day.
1. What is the main idea of the text?| A．Voice machines help plants speak up. |
| B．Farmers are all turning to vertical farming. |
| C．IoT has brought great innovation to our future life. |
| D．Vertical farms driven by IoT are a future for agriculture. |
| A．By recording farmers harvesting crops. |
| B．By monitoring farmers working their fields. |
| C．By analyzing information to preserve crops. |
| D．By passing information on to a control system. |
| A．expand the output of crops | B．match supply with demand |
| C．determine the needs of farmers | D．move restaurants onto farms |
| A．Negative. | B．Indifferent. | C．Optimistic. | D．Doubtful. |
5 . Jeff Bezos, the world’s wealthiest person, was just five when American astronauts stepped on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. However, he’s never forgotten the black-and-white footage from the historic moment. Since then, the moon has always been the center of his space dreams which are channeled through his spaceflight company, Blue Origin.
On May 9, 2019, at a meeting held in Washington, DC, Bezos came one step closer to achieving his dream of sending people there, when he presented a model of a lander, Blue Moon, designed to carry both humans and goods to the satellite.
Though details of how Blue Moon will be sent to space remain unclear, Bezos is confident it’ll be ready for its mission (使命) by 2024. He considers it unavoidable to settle in space given our ever-increasing population and fewer resources. Unlike those seeking a home on another planet, Bezos thinks humans will be living in orbital space settlements, which are similar to the International Space Station, except much bigger, each housing millions of people. Space taxis would make it easy for humans to travel between settlements.
But first we need to develop a cheaper way to travel between space and Earth. Bezos may have solved the problem partly by removing the biggest cost of spaceflights—single use rockets—with Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard rocket, which has made several trips to space and back since 2015.
To encourage future space dreamers, the company’s recently built a free online club that will keep members informed of its progress and challenge them to find solutions to help humans and save earth. It invites students of all ages to draw or write how they imagine humans living and working in space on a self-addressed, stamped postcard and send it to the “Club for the Future” by July 20, 2019. The first 10,000 postcards will be sent to space aboard the New Shepard rocket later this year. When it returns to Earth, the postcards, stamped “flown to space,” will be returned to their owners.
1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly talk about?| A．An impressive historic moment. |
| B．The beginning of Bezos’ space dream. |
| C．The exciting news of sending man to space. |
| D．Bezos’ secret of becoming the wealthiest person. |
| A．Overpopulated. | B．Solar-powered. |
| C．Energy-hungry. | D．Conveniently accessible. |
| A．Space taxis. | B．Single use rockets. |
| C．New Shepard rocket. | D．Orbital space settlements. |
| A．To help humans and save earth. |
| B．To challenge students of all ages. |
| C．To build a new way of sending postcards. |
| D．To encourage future space dreamers. |
A Capsule Fails the Test of Time
The US state of Oklahoma, the 48th state in the Union, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007. In a year full of official
The time capsule was a large concrete box. People said it was strong
Before the capsule was buried, officials ran a competition. Entrants had to guess what the population of Tulsa would be in 2007. The organizers recorded all the guesses and saved
7 . From self-driving cars to carebots for elderly people，the rapid development in technology has long represented a possible threat（威胁）to many jobs normally performed by people. But experts now believe that almost 50 percent of occupations（职业）existing today will be completely unnecessary by 2025 as artificial intelligence（AI）continues to change businesses.
“The next fifteen years will see a change in how we work，and a change will necessarily take place in how we plan and think about workplaces，”said Peter Andrew，director of Workplace Strategy for CBRE Asia Pacific. A growing number of jobs in the future will require creative intelligence，social skills and the ability to use artificial intelligence.
The report is based on interviews with 200 experts，business leaders and young people from Asia Pacific，Europe and North America. It shows that in the US technology already destroys more jobs than it creates. But the report states，“Losing occupations does not necessarily mean losing jobs—just changing what people do.”Growth in new jobs could occur as much，according to the research.“The growth of companies that have the speed and technological knowledge will directly challenge big companies，”it states.
A report by Pew Research Center found 52 percent of experts in artificial intelligence and robotics were optimistic about the future and believed there would still be enough jobs in the next few years.“The optimists pictured a future in which robots do not take the place of more jobs than they create，”according to Aaron Smith，the report’s co-author.
“Technology will continue to affect jobs，but more jobs seem likely to be created. Although there have always been people out of work，when we reach a few billion people there will be billions of jobs. There is no shortage of things that need to be done and that will not change，”Microsoft’s Jonathan Grudin told researchers.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The result of job reduction. |
| B．The fast development of Al. |
| C．The future life of elderly people. |
| D．The influence of technology on jobs. |
| A．Take the place of AI. |
| B．Work in a traditional way. |
| C．Take up jobs requiring creativity. |
| D．Enjoy life without working anymore. |
| A．More people will not have a job. |
| B．More jobs tend to appear in the future. |
| C．Job competition is likely to grow sharper. |
| D．Technology will have less control over jobs. |
| A．Are People Losing Their Jobs？ |
| B．The Requirements for Future Jobs |
| C．The Challenging Life in the Future |
| D．Does Technology Simplify Everything？ |
8 . Imagine being face-to-face with a woolly mammoth (猛犸象) . It would be quite a sight. Scientists believe it would tower above 11 feet tall and have a sloping back, a long, powerful trunk, and sharp, curved tusks that stretch up to 10 feet. Its thick hair would be up to three feet long. It would weigh six tons—about as heavy as a bus.
You’ve probably never seen a giant furry elephant before. Actually, you definitely haven’t. The species has been extinct for thousands of years.
But a few years from now, you might be able to see a woolly mammoth in person. Scientists believe they have the technology to recreate it.
A team of South Korean and Russian scientists plan to clone a woolly mammoth. How will they do it?
Several woolly mammoth bodies have already been discovered in Siberia, an icy region in Russia. The scientists plan to take cells from these frozen mammoths. In a laboratory, they’ll use them to create a new cluster (群) of cells called an embryo. The embryo will be placed into the womb of a living female elephant. That elephant will then give birth to a baby woolly mammoth.
The scientists believe the whole process will take five years. Many scientists and animal lovers can’t wait. It will be so exciting to be able to bring a creature that has been extinct for thousands of years back to life. People would travel from around the world for the chance to see a living woolly mammoth. By observing the way the creature looks and acts, scientists might make brand-new discoveries about the history of animal life.
Other experts aren’t so sure about the woolly mammoth project. One big question is what to do with a mammoth. The Earth has changed in the thousands of years since these animals roamed the planet. Where would the creature live, and would it be able to survive in today’s climate ? Some believe that the money being spent on the experiment could be better spent on other important scientific projects, such as fighting diseases.
But the South Korean and Russian scientists are sticking to their plan. They admit they have a big challenge ahead. There is no guarantee that they will succeed, but they’ re hopeful.
1. The first paragraph describes the mammoth’s ________.| A．habitat | B．food |
| C．appearance | D．lifespan |
| A．Whether they have enough money for the project. |
| B．Whether the mammoth can adapt to the new environment. |
| C．Whether the mammoth can survive the modern diseases. |
| D．Whether their plan wins support from the public. |
| A．negative | B．disapproving |
| C．optimistic | D．doubtful |
| A．Scientists are finding ways to deal with mammoths. |
| B．Scientists try to find out the history of animal life. |
| C．Scientists plan to bring the mammoth back to life. |
| D．Scientists pay little attention to the return of the mammoth. |
9 . For centuries，humans have wondered whether there is life on Mars.Scientists have asked why Mars is losing its atmosphere.Last week，the question was answered with a song.“The answer，is blowing in the wind，”said Michael Meyer，taking a line from a Bob Dylan song.Meyer is the lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program.It turns out solar winds from the sun are slowly blowing away Mars' atmosphere.
Today，Mars has a thin atmosphere.It is cold and dry，with a desert－like environment.Jakosky says it used to be much more different.“When we look at ancient Mars，we see a different type of surface.One that had valleys looked like they were carved by water，lakes that were standing for a long period of time.We see an environment that was much more able to support liquid water.”
Recently they found a kind of liquid water that flows with salt down a mountain area of the planet.But，it is not always there.Scientist Michael Meyer describes what they found：“We're seeing water，with the salt that's able to flow down the sides of the cliff.Why is this important？That means there is water on Mars，on the surface of Mars today.”
Scientists already knew that ice exists on Mars.So why is it important to find liquid water？Meyer explains：“It means that we have a resource.And when we're looking at sending humans to Mars，water is one of the key things that we need to have，not only for astronauts to drink，but also to make oxygen，to make fuel.”
Sending humans to Mars is still in the distant future.NASA is aiming for the 2030s.Both U．S.government and private industries are developing rockets and spacecraft to get people to Mars.
1. Why is the atmosphere of Mars disappearing?| A．Because the atmosphere is affected by the earth. |
| B．Because the atmosphere is blown away by the solar wind. |
| C．Because Mars has no condition to make the atmosphere exist. |
| D．Because Mars doesn't have water to keep the atmosphere. |
| A．Drinking for astronauts. |
| B．Producing oxygen. |
| C．Making fuel. |
| D．Watering plants. |
| A．Mars' atmosphere has changed a great deal since it existed. |
| B．Water can not appear on Mars because of its thin atmosphere. |
| C．Whether water exists on Mars or not isn't important to humans. |
| D．We can successfully send humans to Mars from now on. |
| A．Mars and Its Thin Atmosphere |
| B．Water Does Exist on Mars |
| C．Mars Has Conditions to Support Humans |
| D．Mars Is Strongly Influenced by the Solar Wind |
10 . NASA(美国宇航局) may be going to the same old moon soon，but it’s going to do something different this time—stay there.
According to NASA，it will set up an international camp on one of the moon’s poles(极)，and in 2020 astronauts will land on it.For the next four years，astronauts will only spend a week at a time there，but in 2024，NASA will have astronauts living on the moon for six months.
Very different from NASA’s moon tasks of the 1960s，the new plan stands for a new step of space exploration.
NASA’s tasks in the 1960s were all around the middle area of the moon.This time NASA has decided to go to the moon’s poles because they are the best for longer term(更长期的) research.NASA’s moon plan is not just for American astronauts—it includes space travellers from other countries，too.In 2004，the US announced a plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2020.Last year，NASA said it would cost $104 billion to get back to the moon，but NASA did not say what a permanent moon camp would cost.According to NASA，the time frame(期限) for its moon plan is：
2011—the first test of one of the spaceships.
2014—the first manned test flight(试飞)of the exploration vehicle with no moon landing.
2020—the first flight of four astronauts to the moon.
根据短文内容回答问题
1. When will astronauts stay on the moon for six months according to NASA?
2. What does NASA plan to do?
3. What does the underlined word “permanent” mean in Chinese?
4. What’s the main idea of the passage?
