The Future Life on Mars
Compared with the life we
Firstly, without pollution on Mars, people will be able to drink cleaner water
2 . If you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would watch an original 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 the science fiction novel The Time Machine, which was written by H. G. Wells and published in 1895 for the first time. 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 used to refer 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 British physicist Stephen Hawking said you could travel into the future with a really fast spaceship—going at nearly the speed of light. Though building such a spaceship would of course be no simple task.
Even if you could travel into the past, there is something called the “grandfather paradox”. It asks what would happen if a time traveller 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 traveller 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.people’s interest in time travel |
B.the special features of the book |
C.the long history of time travel |
D.the contribution of H. G. Wells |
A.have similarities in many ways |
B.push the invention of the first spaceship |
C.have proved wrong by some time travellers |
D.suggest the possibility to invent the time machine |
A.the traveller is prevented from meeting his grandfather |
B.the traveller goes back in time to seek for his grandfather |
C.the grandfather’s death makes the traveller’s birth impossible |
D.The reunion of the traveller and his grandfather brings happiness |
A.Unclear. | B.Skeptical. |
C.Supportive. | D.Unconcerned. |
1)未来梦想;2)努力方向;3)展望期待。
注意:1.词数100左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Together for a Shared Future
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4 . “We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds... Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I’m convinced that humans need to leave the earth.” These are the words of the famous scientist Stephen Hawking, spoken at a science festival in Norway in 2017, a year before his death.
Hawking was not alone in this view. Many experts feel that the only way for humanity to last far into the future is to colonise (移民于) other planets. That way, if a terrible disease, nuclear war or some other disasters strike the earth, civilisation as we know it would still have a chance. Mars is one of the most attractive destinations. NASA, the United Arab Emirates, the private company SpaceX, and the organisation Mars One all have plans to send humans there. “Either we spread the earth to other planets, or we risk going extinct,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said at a conference in 2013.
But not everyone agrees that colonising Mars or any other planet is such a great plan. The most common argument against going is that it’s just too expensive or dangerous. It will take huge amounts of money and other resources just to get people there,let alone set up a place for them to live. It’s not even clear if humans could survive on Mars. One of the biggest dangers is its deadly radiation that ruins the planet.
Maybe all the time and money people would pour into a Mars mission would be better spent on more urgent projects here on Earth, like dealing with poverty or climate change. Some experts argue that handling a problem like an asteroid (小行星) strike or a disease outbreak while staying here on Earth would be much easier and less expensive than surviving on a new planet.
In addition, moving to a new planet could harm or destroy anything that already lives there. Mars seems uninhabitable, but micro-organisms could exist on Mars. Human visitors may destroy these lives or permanently change or damage the Martian environment. Some feel that’s too much of a risk to take.
1. Why did the author mention NASA, the United Arab Emirates, SpaceX and Mars One?A.To stress the risk of dying out on Earth. |
B.To provide evidence for Hawking’s theory. |
C.To show growing intention of moving to Mars. |
D.To explain the advanced technology in astronomy. |
A.It is costly and risky to colonise Mars. |
B.Civilisation is difficult to maintain on Earth. |
C.Poverty is the most urgent problem to handle. |
D.All the time and money should be spent on Earth. |
A.Not steady to keep. |
B.Not fit to live on. |
C.Not easy to approach. |
D.Not safe to set foot on. |
A.Mars, Our Future Planet |
B.Moving to a New Planet |
C.Should We Colonise Mars? |
D.Stay Home or Outer Space? |
5 . Since time immemorial, people have been searching for the fountain of youth. Surprisingly, the dream of human immortality is, according to some scientists, not so far out of reach.
Professor Brian Cox, Google's Ray Kurzweil, and Tesla head Elon Musk all agree on not only the possibility of human immortality but also that it is not too far away. The solution, they say, is something called the “technological singularity”.
The singularity is a combination of humankind with computers, namely uploading the contents of one's brain onto a hard drive. In that way, a person's consciousness can stay alive after a physical body gets worse. This is based on the idea that a human brain is simply a machine, and there is, according to Professor Cox, “no reason at all why we cannot simulate (模拟) human intelligence,” using a computer.
Although Professor Cox did not say when the singularity would occur, Google's Ray Kurzweil predicts that the singularity will happen as early as 2045. By 2100, he says, human body parts will be replaceable by machine parts. Further, by uploading our brains onto a computer, we will be able to toy with it, and become “able to expand the scope of our intelligence a billion fold. ”
Elon Musk agreed with the asessments of the other scientists, even going so far as saying that the chances that we are not in a computer simulation right now are “one in billions” .
Google is preparing for a future where you can download personalities onto robots. For example, you might be able to download onto your robot a celebrity personality, or of the personality of your deceased grandmother.
The search engine giant filed a patent for this download process recently. So they definitely believe that the singularity is just around the corner. All you have to do is hold on until 2045, and soon you can effectively live in the cloud.
1. What does the underlined word “immortality” in paragraph 1 probably mean?A.Living forever. | B.Rebirth after death. |
C.Being perfect. | D.Continuous improvement. |
A.By giving examples. | B.By presenting quotations. |
C.By logically reasoning. | D.By making a description. |
A.Computers are much smarter than humankind. |
B.Computers can never surpass humankind at all. |
C.Computers and humankind are quite different. |
D.Computers can be another version of humankind. |
A.Physically and intelligently. | B.Individually and corporately. |
C.Psychologically and spiritually. | D.Emotionally and materially. |
6 . It's said that in China millions of legal cases are now being decided by "internet courts" that do not require citizens to appear in court.
The "smart court" includes non-human judges powered by artificial intelligence, or AI. People seeking legal action can register their case on the internet. They can then take part in a digital court hearing. The system gives users the chance to communicate and receive court decisions by text or through major messaging services. Users completed more than 3.1 million legal activities through the court system from March to October in 2019, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
China's first internet court was established in the eastern city of Hangzhou in 2017. Hangzhou is a center for major Chinese technology companies. Judicial officials recently invited reporters to the Hangzhou Internet Court to see how it operates. In one demonstration, citizens used video messaging to communicate with virtual, Al-powered judges.
"Does the defendant have any objection to the nature of the judicial block-chain (区块链) evidence submitted by the plaintiff 原告)?” a virtual judge asked during a pre-trial meeting. The non-human judge was represented in the system by an image of a man wearing a black robe. "No objection," the human plaintiff answered.
A Hangzhou court official told China's state-run CGTN television that the internet court system operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is designed to ease the workload of humans and improve the speed and effectiveness of the legal process. Court officials say that even though virtual judges are used, human judges observe the process and can make major rulings.
The internet court in Hangzhou only deals with cases involving legal disputes over digital matters. These include internet trade issues, copyright cases and disputes over online product sales. Digital court cases in China have seen a sharp increase in recent years, as the number of mobile payments and internet-based businesses has grown. The growth is tied to China's huge number of internet users --- about 850 million.
After establishing the court in Hangzhou, China launched similar operations in the cities of Beijing and Guangzhou.
1. What can we infer about the internet court?A.Human judges have played little role in the internet court. |
B.Citizens can only place their cases on file on weekdays. |
C.It will become a helper for the court system. |
D.It has enjoyed great popularity all over China. |
A.By Al-powered judges. | B.By receiving text messages. |
C.By attending a court hearing. | D.By registering the cases on the internet. |
A.Because there is a growing tendency in internet-based businesses. |
B.Because it is efficient to deal with cases in the internet court. |
C.Because legal disputes can only be handled in the internet court. |
D.Because China has the perfect digital court system. |
A.The Future of the China's Justice. | B.The Future Master of The Internet Court. |
C.The Growth of Digital Court Cases. | D.The Rise of China's "Internet Courts5. |
7 . Over the last 25 years, British society has changed a great deal – or at least many parts of it have.
In the past, the working-class tended to be paid less than middle-class people. The typical working man would collect his wages on Friday evening and then, it was widely believed, having given his wife her "housekeeping", would go out and squander the rest on beer and betting.
The old style of what a middle-class man did with his money was perhaps nearer the truth. He was-and still is - inclined to take a longer-term view. Not only did he regard buying a house as a most important thing, but he also considered the education of his children as extremely important.
A.Nowadays, a great deal has changed |
B.Both of these provided him and his family with security |
C.As a result, differences in life – styles and attitudes came into existence |
D.However, we still have a wide gap between the well – paid and the low - paid |
E.In recent years, the working – class people have begun to design long – term plans |
F.In some ways, however, very little has changed, particularly where attitudes are concerned |
G.The changes in both life – styles and attitudes are probably most easily seen among younger people |