1 . When it came to imaging the future, Arthur C. Clarke stubbornly refused to take credit for any predictions. The Internet, 3-D printers, email: he may have described them all long before they existed. As a science fiction writer, he came up with the idea of a “personal transceiver” that is small enough to be carried about, able to contact with anyone in the world and perform global positioning, making getting lost a thing of the past. Elsewhere, he predicted everything from online banking to reusable spacecraft. His best remembered fictional work of all is 2001: A Space Odyssey. It also happened to forecast the iPad, computer software that is able to read lips, and space stations.

Interestingly, his vision of the future has barely aged. For example, life in Sri Lanka inspired his 1979 novel, featuring a “space elevator”, a planet-to-space transportation system that would do away with the need for rocket travel. Those human settlements on Mars or Venus are decidedly behind schedule(we humans were expected to have set foot on both by 1980), and we’re still looking for the key that should have fully unlocked the languages of whales and dolphins by 1970.

It’s a way of thinking that was likely fuelled by his inability to be anything other than utterly absorbed in all that interested him. At the very start of his career, he shared a flat on London’s Gray’s Inn Road with fellow science fiction writers who nicknamed him “Ego” because of his talent for turning out (关掉) distraction. Once he’d become a big enough name to be interviewed, he’d send journalists home loaded with research papers.

He once said, “Trying to predict the future is a discouraging and risky occupation.” If a prediction sounds at all reasonable, technological progress is sure to leave it seeming “ridiculously conservative”. But if, by a miracle, a person were to be able to describe the future exactly as it will unfold, “His predictions will sound so absurd and far-fetched that everybody would laugh him to scorn (轻蔑).”

1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?

A．Clarke is an imaginative science fiction writer.	B．Clarke is crazy about the future devices.
C．Clarke is expert at telling one’s fortune.	D．Clarke is a rarely talented inventor.

2. The examples in Paragraph 2 prove ________.

A．there is no need for rocket travel in future

B．unlocking the languages of animals is ahead of time

C．humans were expecting to settle on Mars by 1980

D．Clarke’s predictions still seem impossibly distant

3. Why was Clarke called “Ego” by his fellows?

A．He could focus all his mind on something.	B．He cared more about himself than others.
C．He was absorbed in what interested him.	D．He was proud of being a big name.

4. What does Clarke stress in the last paragraph?

A．The rapid progress of technology.	B．The absurdness of some predictions.
C．The difficulty of predicting the future.	D．The miracle of dependable predictions.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Today, environmental problems have been the greatest risk to life on Earth. Scientists are thinking of ways to     1    (low) this risk. There is no doubt     2     humankind is drawn towards Mars, with dreams of making     3     our second home. However, radiation is the biggest problem we will have to solve in order to settle on Mars. Radiation levels on the surface of Mars are two and a half times     4    (high) than those on the International Space Station.     5    (expose) to high levels of radiation may increase the risks of contracting cancer and other diseases.

Dust storms are common throughout the year and cover the entire planet for weeks, blocking sunlight from reaching the surface. Perhaps more     6    (important), these storms, made up of fine dust     7    (catch) in the atmosphere, can affect energy production for long periods.

To live on Mars, we should find permanent shelter that     8    (offer) long-term protection from radiation. We could build a special structure near the Red Planet’s freezing north pole. It would protect us against radiation and keep inner atmospheric pressure constant as well.

For now, human settlement of Mars is decades away. Regardless, it seems that humans       9    (live) on Mars may well happen a lot sooner     10     most people believe. Until we are finally able to live on Mars, we need to take much better care of our own.

3 . Who has no regrets about things done in the past? Wouldn’t it be nice if, somehow, we could go back to change a couple of bad decisions? This sounds like science fiction.

The laws of physics prohibit traveling back in time for many reasons. If we did travel back in time and changed the course of events, we would be altering the course of history. An example often cited is the grandfather’s paradox (悖论): If your grandfather died when he was still a high school student, he wouldn’t have met your grandmother and your father and you wouldn’t exist.

Putting humans or consciousness traveling back in time aside for the moment, is there anything in science even similar? Surprisingly, yes. At the level of quantum particles (量子粒子), there is something called Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiments that show that actions in the present can influence the past. The experiments use something called the wave-particle duality (波粒二象性) of light and of matter. The fact that the physical nature of quantum objects is undetermined until it is measured. In other words, this means that a particle of light or of matter can behave either as a wave (spreading out in space) or as a particle (staying together) depending on the measuring devices. Long and ongoing discussions about the nature of quantum physics are still trying to work out what this actually means. Do our minds determine the nature of physical reality?

Should we offer food for thought for the future or the past? Unfortunately, these experiments say very little about how we could interfere with the past in events relevant to the human scale. Better to think carefully about decisions than to try to fix them backwards.

1. What’s the purpose of mentioning the paradox?

A．To show it is interesting.

B．To explain Wheeler’s tests.

C．To demonstrate time is different from what we have known.

D．To show it’s impossible to travel back in time.

2. What can we infer from paragraph 3?

A．Consciousness traveling back in time was tried in the experiments.

B．Different measuring devices have the same result.

C．More research is needed in the future.

D．These experiments can determine the nature of matter.

3. Which can best summarize the last paragraph?

A．We should focus on the present.

B．The future food is more nutritious.

C．We can change the past from the experiments.

D．It is never too late to make up for mistakes.

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

A．Is changing the past wise?

B．Can we change the past?

C．Do our minds determine the future?

D．Do the laws of physics ban traveling back?

5 . 人工智能时代已悄然来临，科技的进步给人们的生活带来了许多的变化。假如你是李华，将参加2023年广州科技活动周的英语演讲比赛活动。请你按以下要求完成一篇演讲稿。内容包括：
1. 描述或畅想未来人工智能的发展状况；
2. 你对这些变化的看法。
Ladies and gentlemen,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What will control the tree house’s temperature?

A．The roof.

B．The leaves.

C．The soil.

2. What is the most important design of a lizard house?

A．Changing colors.

B．Collecting sunlight.

C．Producing energy.

3. Why can the chimney be a useful air conditioner?

A．It allows cool air to come in.

B．It is easy for hot air to flow out.

C．It can protect the house from strong heat.

9 . Being connected to the Internet has become a necessary part of modern life. Some people actually need it as they cannot do their jobs without it, and others simply feel they need it as they cannot imagine life without it.

To think that something that did not even exist 50 years ago has come to play a crucial role in our lives like this in just about 15 years makes one wonder–just what will the future bring?

In 2004, a survey was conducted in the US asking a group of technology experts their opinions on the Internet in the next ten years. 57% of them agreed that virtual classes will be more widely adopted in schools, allowing students to learn with those at the same level and with interests in the same subjects. It’s quite possible that, by the year 2030, every child in every school will do all their schoolwork on their own laptop with all their textbooks available (现成可使用的) on the Internet. No more heavy books to carry around and no more pens and paper!

At work, we already use email to deal with people both inside and outside our offices and video conferencing (电话会议) is occurring more frequently. This means that meetings can be held between offices in different countries without the trouble caused by business travel. Business travel will stop to exist in the future, and so will offices as people all start to work from home.

It has also become a trend for people to use pocket computers such as Blackberries. With this helpful equipment, people can send and receive emails, surf the Web, and read multimedia files from absolutely anywhere even if we are on a beach holiday.

The Internet will have a revolutionary (突破性的) effect on entertainment in the future. Already we can buy and download music and movies from the Internet but it is still possible for us to buy a CD or go to the DVD stores to rent the latest movies. However, it’s quite possible that in the future, CD shops and DVD rental stores will close and cinemas will no longer exist. Entertainment will become completely virtual although hopefully people will still want to get outside to play sports and entertain themselves in more healthy ways.

With the Internet we need only relax in the rocking chair. The Internet, however, has problems to be solved.

1. The expression “play a crucial role in” can be understood as “______”.

A．change a dull role into	B．play an interesting part in
C．have an important effect on	D．act a cruel character in

2. According to the passage, people are satisfied with all the following changes EXCEPT that ______.

A．people won’t have to make business travel any more thanks to the video conference

B．virtual classes can make students’ dream of getting rid of their schoolbags come true

C．people can be kept informed anytime and anywhere with the help of convenient equipment

D．CD shops and cinemas will shut down as a result of the adoption of virtual entertainment

3. What will the writer probably discuss after the last paragraph?

A．Bad effects the Internet can have on us.

B．The possible school life in the future.

C．More excitements the Internet will bring us.

D．The likely ways to solve the problems.

4. What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．Virtual reality, our best friend!

B．What will future life be like with the Internet?

C．Goodbye, textbooks and offices!

D．How can human beings deal with the Internet?

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

No one can foretell the future of technology exactly, because no one can see the future. However, there are reasonable arguments     1    (base) on the advances and trends in technology in the past. For example, it is reasonable to predict that computers     2    (continue) to become more powerful, numerous and     3    (cheap). Areas with huge potential that are just beginning to be made use of today, like biotechnology, will continue to bear fruit.

Technology in general will probably continue to improve,     4    (create) both promises and risks. In the area of computers, someone might interact with hundreds of embedded microchips (嵌入式微芯片) throughout the home and the office. In     5     future, it will be many thousands. Increasing bandwidth and decreasing costs will lead to     6    some have called “ubiquitous computing”—computers everywhere helping us with everything. Some viewers, especially Bill Gates, believe the next few     7    (decade) will be characterized by long-awaited revolutions in robotic technology. Other futurists see trends in automation technology leading to desktop factories that allow users     8    (make) objects from simple original parts.

Apart from above areas, there are dozens if not hundreds of areas that will continue to advance technologically. One thing is     9    sure: the future will have better technology than the past did. But will we put     10     to better use? Only time and effort will tell.