1 . If you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would watch a performance of a Shakespeare's play in Elizabethan England? What about hanging out with Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period? Or maybe you'd voyage far ahead of the present day to see what the future holds.
The possibility of time travel is indeed appealing. Stories exploring the subject have been around for hundreds of years. Perhaps the best known example is science fiction novel The Time Machine, written by H. G. Wells and published in 1895 . It was adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now universally referred to a vehicle transporting people into the far future.
But could time travel actually be possible? Some scientists say yes, in theory. They propose using cracks in time and space called "wormholes", which could be used as shortcuts to other periods. Einstein's theory of relativity allows time travel in extreme circumstances. And Stephen Hawking says you could travel into the future with a really fast spaceship-going at nearly the speed of light. Though building such a spaceship wouldn’t of course be simple .
Even if you could travel into the past, there is something called the "grandfather paradox". It asks what would happen if a time traveler were to go back in time and have his own grandfather killed for some reason, and therefore prevent himself from being born. If the time traveler wasn't born, how would he travel back in time?
And would you really like to visit the future? In H. G. Wells' book, the main character travels into distant time where he arrives at a beach and is attacked by giant crabs. He then voyages 30 million years into the future where the only living thing is a black object with tentacles (触角).
If that's what's in store, maybe we are better just living in the present day after all.
1. The novel The Time Machine mentioned in Paragraph 2 aims to show________.| A．the long history of time travel |
| B．the contribution of H.G. Wells |
| C．the story's different features |
| D．people's interest in time travel |
| A．The Time Machine is one of the bestselling science fiction novels. |
| B．There are films, comic books and dramas adapted from the novel The Time Machine. |
| C．Works of Literature about time travel first appeared one hundred years ago. |
| D．It was H.G. Wells who invented the term "time machine". |
| A．suggest the possibility of time travel |
| B．have been proved wrong by some time travelers |
| C．have similarities because both are based on experiments |
| D．have pushed the invention of the first spaceship |
| A．the reunion of the traveler and his grandfather brings happiness |
| B．the grandfather's death makes the traveler's birth impossible |
| C．the traveler goes back in time to seek for his grandfather |
| D．the traveler is prevented from meeting his grandfather |
| A．Unclear. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unconcerned. |
2 . It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.
In recent years, many writers have begun to speak the ‘decline of class’ and ‘classless society’ in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class. But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification.
One unchanging aspect of a British person’s class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounded ‘educated’ and ‘soft’. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional (地区的) city accents. These accents were seen as ‘common’ and ‘ugly’. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.
In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song ‘Common People’ puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may ‘want to live like common people’ they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.
1. A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain ________.| A．it is time to end class distinction. |
| B．most people belong to middle class. |
| C．it is easy to recognize a person’s class. |
| D．people regard themselves socially different. |
| A．variety | B．division | C．authority | D．qualification |
| A．original | B．educated | C．prejudiced | D．unattractive. |
| A．The middle class is expanding. |
| B．A person’s accent reflects his class. |
| C．Class is a key part of British society. |
| D．Each class has unique characteristics. |
3 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. | C．Tolerant. | D．Negative. |
| 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 |
4 . 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. |
There is no doubt that humankind dreams of making Mars our second home. However, sending people there will require all the skills, courage and
As early as the 1980s, scientists were building Biosphere 2 in the Arizona desert. It consisted of a closed space
For now, human settlement of Mars is still
6 . Each of Apple’s products such as the iPhone and the iPad sounds cool and has become a fashion. Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i”, and many other brands are following suit. The BBC iPlayer, which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet, used the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and the UK — that plays music and video is called iTeddy. A simplified version of The Independent was launched in 2010 under the name i.
In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s sister paper I, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a” , “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, former Director of the Language Centre at King’s College London, “i” works because its meaning has become unclear. “When Apple uses ‘I’, no one knows whether it means the Internet, information, individual or interactive,” Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPad, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he said.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便),” added Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western world is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and they love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fashion. From the 1900s to the 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern.
However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared.
1. Why do people use iPlayer?| A．To listen to music. |
| B．To make a call. |
| C．To watch TV programs online. |
| D．To read newspapers. |
| A．Engineers. |
| B．Young readers. |
| C．Fashionable women. |
| D．Old readers. |
| A．easy to carry |
| B．environmentally friendly |
| C．advanced |
| D．personalized |
| A．“i” products are often of high quality. |
| B．Actually nobody likes products with “2000”. |
| C．Fashion is closely connected with time. |
| D．The popularity of “i” products may not last long. |
7 . When people find out that I am a journalist, they often ask me: What do you think about the future of newspapers?
I tell them that I think the future of communications is moving online. People expect me to be fearful for the future of print. After all, in some people's minds I wouldn't be able to build a career in journalism if it all moves online. However, strangely enough, I’m actually comforted by the fact that online journalism is becoming usual. I am a blogger who has always been able to find a home for my writing online.
Since I began writing blogs, I have become aware of how many people you can reach with online writing. Compare this to the newspapers circulation base, and you will have a strong reason for online journalism.
In her successful blog post titled The Job I have spent the last year learning is not the one I will have, author Jenny Surane states, "Print is an expensive product to love. And general managers, publishers and editors must now figure out a profitable way to get their news into readers' heads.” She goes on to state that people don't feel like picking up a newspaper now and would rather scroll(滚屏) through their Twitter feed, and get news from many different sources.
If print is dying, then a new form of communicating information is being born. The need for information has not died. If anything, it has increased. What has died, rather, is the way in which information is presented.
Now more than ever, in this age of information, there is a desire for stories on the same topic from different points of view. The printing industry can keep pate with the need of providing a variety of sources, if it chooses to.
Is the future of print grim? Maybe, But is the future of journalism of communicating information to people, grim as well? Definitely not.
1. According to Paragraph 2, the author feels .| A．confident about the future of his career |
| B．worried about the future of print |
| C．tired of being a newspaper journalist |
| D．embarrassed about online writing |
| A．Twitter is not very popular |
| B．It is hard to manage online journalism |
| C．Prim still has its advantages |
| D．People have more choices to get information |
| A．Promising | B．Depressing |
| C．Unforgiving | D．Encouraging |
| A．To explore the future of journalism |
| B．To analyze the cause of print decline |
| C．To explain the bright future of a journalist |
| D．To introduce a successful blog post about print |
