The home of the future won't be
Space holidays will develop in the future, but these holidays won't be for everyone because they are
According to the laws of physics, the earth is going to
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3.如何准备。
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1.词数100左右；
2.题目已为你写好。
题目:My Future Major
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Some scientists think
However, scientists will need to terraform Mars for people to be able to live. Terraforming means changing the environment on a planet so that it is similar to Earth's. One of the main goals of terraforming Mars is to warm it up
Another big concern for scientists is whether humans can move to Mars and still live
4 . On paper, hydrogen（H2）looks like a dream fuel. Coal, oil, and natural gas produce carbon dioxide, which warms the earth when burned, Hydrogen produces pure water. Hydrogen packs more energy into less space than a battery（but certainly less than petrol）. Also, empty tanks（燃料箱）can be refilled with hydrogen much faster than refilling empty batteries with electricity.
While in practice, things are trickier. Storing a meaningful amount of hydrogen gas requires pressing it several hundred-fold. Changing it into the liquid form is another option, but it should be cooled to-253C. Both processes require a heavy and strong tank. While a 700 bar tank is acceptable for a city bus or a truck, adapting it for use in small vehicles is very difficult because the pressure during refilling would be too great.
The solution? Powerpaste.
A German team of researchers, led by Marcus Vogt, have come up with an interesting "powerpaste", which can store hydrogen energy at atmospheric pressure, ready for release when needed. It is so named because it comes in tubes and looks like toothpaste（牙膏）, not in its traditional form of gas.
The main ingredient（原料）of the paste is magnesium hydride, a substance that reacts with water to form hydrogen. The escaped hydrogen can then be directed into a fuel cell, where it reacts with oxygen from the air to produce electric power.
Refueling is very simple, as instead of going to a filling station, drivers and riders can simply replace an empty tube with a new one and refill the water tank.
Given that powerpaste only begins to break down at temperatures of around 250℃ it remains safe even when a vehicle stands in the baking sun for hours.
However, we will have to be patient. Just because researchers have succeeded in developing a new fueling way does not mean that we can expect to see such vehicles on the road anytime soon. It will indeed be several years before this concept is turned into reality.
1. As a fuel, what is the advantage of hydrogen over oil?| A．Refilling empty tanks will be more convenient. |
| B．It is less likely to worsen global warming |
| C．More energy can be packed in the same space. |
| D．It will produce pure water for people to drink. |
| A．The practical difficulties to use hydrogen as fuel in small vehicles. |
| B．The detailed processes of adapting a strong tank in small vehicles. |
| C．The differences in fueling between large vehicles and small ones. |
| D．The tricks of building strong tanks in small vehicles. |
| A．inexpensive | B．powerful | C．convenient | D．environment-friendly |
| A．Powerpaste-driven vehicles sometimes move very slowly on the road. |
| B．Practical use of powerpaste-driven vehicles will not come very soon. |
| C．Powerpaste-driven vehicles can only work after being in the sun for hours |
| D．It will be years before the researchers work out the concept of powerpaste. |
5 . Unless you are like Nasty Gal’s founder Sophia Amoruso, the passwords you use to access your email and the endless other accounts you need for work aren’t filled with intention. With increasing security requirements, it’s likely your word/number combinations are becoming even less memorable. But new research suggests it may not be long before you won’t need to memorize passwords.
“Brainprint”, published in Neurocomputing, reveals that the brain’s reaction to certain words could be a unique identifying code — like a fingerprint — that could eventually replace passwords.
In a small experiment, the researchers measured the brains’ signals of 45 volunteers as they read through a list of 75 acronyms such as FBI and DVD. The word-recognition response differed so much between each participant that a second experiment using a computer program could identify each one with 94% accuracy.
It’s not enough to feel totally secure, but promising enough to hint at the future of securing sensitive information.
The advantage of using such a biometric system (生物识别系统) is that it can be used for continuous verification (验证), New Scientist points out. Passwords or fingerprints only provide a tool for one-off identification. Continuous verification could in theory allow someone to interact with many computer systems at the same time or even with a variety of intelligent objects, without having to repeatedly enter passwords for each device.
As Hollywood has illustrated, it’s simply a matter of cutting off a finger to steal that person’s identity. “Brainprints, on the other hand, are potentially cancellable,” said Sarah Laszlo, assistant professor of psychology and linguistics at Binghamton University and co-author of the study, “So, in the unlikely event that attackers were actually able to steal a brainprint from an authorized user, the authorized user could then ‘reset’ their brainprint.”
Until now, brain signals have been a challenge to understand. This experiment leaped over the obstacle by focusing on the brainwaves from the specific area that reads and recognizes words. The signal is therefore clearer and easier to measure.
The problem, so far, is that the brain signal is still not as accurate as scanning someone’s fingerprint, and initially requires sticking diodes (二极管) on your head in order to get a read. That’s ok, according to Zhanpeng Jin, assistant professor at Binghamton University and coauthor of the study, because brainprint isn’t going to be mass-produced any time soon. He says the researchers foresee its use at places such as the Pentagon, where the number of authorized users is small, and they don’t need to be continuously verified the way you do to access your mobile device or email.
Better keep your memory sharp, at least a little while longer.
1. In paragraph 5, “one-off identification” refers to the identification that _______.| A．happens as part of a regular series | B．interacts with intelligent objects |
| C．can be verified continuously | D．needs repeated verification |
| A．fingerprints can be canceled once stolen | B．brainprints are theft-proof and resettable |
| C．attackers can steal and replace brainprints | D．users have the authority to cancel brainprints |
| A．brainprints will sharpen users’ memory | B．brainprints will become easier to be measured |
| C．brainprints will receive narrow application | D．brainprints will eventually replace fingerprints |
| A．Brainprints: A New Way to Replace Passwords |
| B．Brainprints: A Unique Device to Identify Codes |
| C．Brainprints: A Quicker Way to Access Your Email |
| D．Brainprints: A Securer Device to Identify Brain Signals |
6 . 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 |
7 . 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. |
| A．Risks. | B．Losses. |
| C．Challenges. | D．Disadvantages. |
| 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 |
| 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. |
8 . European researchers say they have created a process that can produce oxygen from moon dust. The process could provide a major source of oxygen for humans taking part in moon exploration activities in the future. Researchers from the European Space Agency，or ESA，carried out the experiments at a laboratory in the Netherlands.
The team says ESA’s experimental“plant”was able to successfully produce oxygen from simulated moon dust. The dust is part of a material known as regolith，a top layer of dirt and rock pieces that sit on the surface of the moon. Samples of regolith returned from the moon have confirmed that the material contains about 45 percent oxygen by weight. However，the oxygen is chemically locked in the form of minerals or glass，so it is not easily available for use. Having real samples of regolith from the moon made it possible for the researchers to create the simulated moon dust material used during testing.
The oxygen extraction(提取)process is carried out using a method called molten salt electrolysis(熔盐电解). This includes first placing the regolith in a metal container. Calcium chloride salt is added to the mixture，which is then heated to 950 degrees Celsius. At this temperature，the regolith remains solid. Next，an electrical current is passed through the material. The researchers say it is this step that results in oxygen being extracted from the regolith. The study reported that up to 96 percent of oxygen in the simulated moon dust was extracted during the experiments.
ESA’s long-term goal is to design an oxygen-producing“pilot plant”to operate full-time on the moon. The first technology demonstration of the system is expected to take place in the middle 2020s. Beth Lomax，a lead researcher on the project，said，“Being able to acquire oxygen from resources found on the moon would obviously be hugely useful for future lunar settlers，both for breathing and the local production of rocket fuel. ”The researchers reported that“as a bonus，”the process also results in the production of usable metallic materials.
ESA and the US space agency NASA are both working on plans to return human beings to the moon. NASA has set a goal for 2024 with the aim to keep humans on the moon for long periods.
1. Why is oxygen from moon dust difficult to use?| A．It is tough for human beings to get moon dust. |
| B．It is chemically fixed in materials or glass. |
| C．The conditions of moon dust are terrible. |
| D．There exits only a little of it. |
| A．What molten salt electrolysis is. |
| B．Where the value of the study lies. |
| C．How oxygen is extracted from moon dust. |
| D．What is necessary in the oxygen extraction process. |
| A．Positive. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Cautious. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Recent Studies of Moon Dust by Researchers |
| B．How Researchers Extracted Oxygen from Moon Dust |
| C．Potential Significance of Oxygen Extracted from Moon Dust |
| D．Researchers Report Extracting Oxygen from Moon Dust Successfully |
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.
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.
The blog past doesn’t share age or gender parameters（参数）.
| 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. |
10 . Visitors to Henn-na, a restaurant outside Nagasaki, Japan, are greeted by an unusual sight: their food being prepared by a row of humanoid robots. The “head chef”, named Andrew, is using his two long arms; he stirs batter (面糊) in a metal bowl, then pours it onto a hot grill. In a nearby hotel, robots check guests into their rooms and help with their luggage.
CEO Hideo Sawada, who runs the restaurant and the hotel, predicts that 70% of the jobs at Japan’s hotels will be automated (自动化) in the next five years. He said, “Since you can work them 24 hours a day, and they don’t need vacation, eventually it’s more cost-efficient to use the robot.”
This is seemingly worrying. In fact, in America, automation helps the food-service and accommodation sector continue to grow. In the company Panera, because of its new kiosks, an app that allows online ordering, the chain is now processing more orders overall, which means it needs more total workers to meet consumer demand. Starbucks customers who use the chain’s app return more frequently than those who don’t, the company has said, and the greater efficiency that online ordering allows has boosted sales at busy stores during peak hours. Starbucks employed 8% more people in the U.S. in 2016 than it did in 2015, the year it launched the app.
Of course, whether automation is a net benefit for workers in restaurants and hotels, and not just a competitive advantage for one chain over another will depend on whether an improved customer experience makes Americans more likely to dine out and stay at hotels, rather than brown-bagging it or finding an Airbnb to book unique homes.
1. Why does the writer describe the unusual sight in Paragraph 1?| A．To promote robots. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To voice his opinion. | D．To show the background. |
| A．Automation may be a challenge to human jobs. |
| B．Automation may increase business costs. |
| C．Workers may fail to focus on their tasks. |
| D．Many companies may fail to survive. |
| A．The two companies are trying to take over the market competitively. |
| B．Automation could open up more job chances for humans. |
| C．Starbucks employed more people than Panera did in 2016. |
| D．Automation helps the shops become famous online. |
| A．Critical. | B．Negative. | C．Objective. | D．Indifferent. |
