1 . What picture do you have of the future? Will life in the future be better, worse or the same as now? What do you hope about the future?
Futurologists predict that life will probably be very different in 2050 in all the fields of activity, from entertainment to technology. First of all, it seems that TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. Instead, people will choose a program from a 'menu' and a computer will send the program directly to the television. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers and books will come to us by computer.
In what concerns the environment, water will have become one of our most serious problems. Demand for water will increase ten times between now and 2050 and there could be serious shortages. Some futurologists predict that water could be the cause of war if we don't act now.
In transport, cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed of the cars and there won't be any accidents. Today many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination.
In the domain of technology, robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots-they do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere — in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Last but not least, medicine technology will have conquered many diseases. Today scientists have discovered how to control genes. They have already produced clones of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have. Scientists will be able to do these things-but should they?
1. What's the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To arouse the interest of the reader. |
| B．To tell the background of the passage. |
| C．To introduce the topic of the passage. |
| D．To describe the pictures of the future. |
| A．computers will finally take the place of the media nowadays. |
| B．robots will completely have replaced people in factories. |
| C．computers will tell drivers exactly where they are in the future. |
| D．it is more convenient to choose programs sent by the computer. |
| A．Excited but pessimistic. |
| B．Optimistic but worried. |
| C．Eager but afraid. |
| D．Confident but cautious. |
| A．all diseases will not be conquered by scientists. |
| B．scientists have known the way to produce genes. |
| C．scientists have produced clones of people. |
| D．the clones of animals have a long way to go. |
2 . 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 |
3 . Let us suppose it is now about A.D. 2060. Let’s make believe it is about 45 years from now. Of course, things have changed and life is very different.
Voyages to the moon are being made every day. It is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in Europe. At a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built. The hotels are airconditioned, naturally. In order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window. Everything imaginable is provided for entertainment of young and old.
What are people eating now？People are still eating food. They haven’t yet started to take on heir (继承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power. They may some day. But many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants.
Since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet’s surface has to be filled. The deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests. The harvest is always good.
Farming, of course, is very highly developed. Very few people have to work on the farm. It is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.
People are now largely vegetarians (素食者). You see, as the number of people increases, the number of animal decreases. Therefore, people have to be vegetarians and we are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases. No one has to be ill any more.
Such would be our life in 2060.
1. When was the passage written?| A．In about A. D. 2060. | B．In about 1960. |
| C．In about 2014. | D．In about 2015. |
| A．Many other animals. |
| B．Many tourists. |
| C．Many plants. |
| D．A sea. |
| A．Biscuits in pill form. | B．Foods in pill form. |
| C．Foods in liquid form. | D．Foods in gas form. |
4 . Not only does “global warming” bring about an increase in the world's temperature， but also it causes sea levels to rise, which has resulted in the first escape of an island nation． The citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.
During the 20th century, the sea level rose 8﹣12 inches. As a result, Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water that has polluted the country's drinking water.
Paani Laupepa, a Tuvaluan government official, reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation has suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years. Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.
Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, which are a main cause of global warming. “By refusing to sign the agreement, the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluan's to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years,” Laupepa told the BBC.
Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries.
Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable（易受影响的） to rising sea levels, Maumoon Gayoon, president of the Maldives, told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Bad effects of global warming. |
| B．Reasons for lowland flooding. |
| C．Moving of a country to a new place. |
| D．Rapid changes in earth's temperature. |
| A．Rising sea levels. |
| B．Continuous global warming. |
| C．Higher surface water temperatures of the sea. |
| D．Greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations. |
| A．It didn't agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. |
| B．It didn't sign an agreement with Tuvalu. |
| C．It didn't allow Tuvaluans to move to the US. |
| D．It didn't believe the problems with Tuvalu were real. |
| A．Australia |
| B．New Zealand |
| C．The Maldives |
| D．The United States |
5 . Those who are concerned that robots are taking over the world can rest easy—for now. Though the androids have proved useful at performing ordinary tasks, they are not ready for the greatest time. At least that appears to be the case at Japan’s Henn-na Hotel chain where over half of the robot staff are being replaced by humans.
The first location of the unique hotel opened in July 2015 was at Nagasaki’s Huis Ten Bosch Theme Park. The hotel’s owner, Hideo Sawada, promised the hotel to be managed primarily by robots. Guests were greeted and checked-in by a dinosaur robot, while a cute android called Churi, placed inside each room, provided information about attractions. Not surprisingly, the lodging, recognized in 2016 as the world’s first robot-staffed hotel by Guinness World Records, drew in curious visitors from all around the world.
But as the years have passed, the hotel’s main draw is becoming less novel and more unsatisfactory. Also as the robots are “aging”, they are costing more to repair. Among the 283 androids being replaced are the chain’s two dinosaur receptionists. In addition to scaring young guests, they are also unable to photocopy guests’ passports, forcing human employees to step in each time. Also out are the cute Churi robots, which annoyed guests by interrupting their conversations. For example, one guest told The Wall Street Journal that Churi mistook his snoring for a command and kept asking him to repeat his request all night.
Sawada told The Wall Street Journal, “When you actually use robots you realize there are places where they aren’t needed—or just annoy people.” While Sawada may be cutting back on his use of androids, the recently-opened Smart LYZ Hotel and the Fly Zoo Hotel in China, are run entirely by robots, with not a human in sight. Whether the employees have more competence than those “hired” by the Henn-na Hotel chain remains to be seen.
1. What makes Japan’s Henn-na Hotel unique?| A．Its robot employees. | B．Its advanced equipment. |
| C．Its convenient location. | D．Its successful management. |
| A．To entertain readers. | B．To prove Churi’s drawback. |
| C．To introduce Churi’s functions. | D．To persuade people not to book the hotel. |
| A．Attractive. | B．Costly. |
| C．Pioneering. | D．Disappointing. |
| A．Robots Are Taking Over the World. |
| B．The Boom of Robots-staffed Hotel. |
| C．Robot Staff Are Fired For No Competence. |
| D．The First Robots-staffed Hotel Won Guinness World Record. |
6 . Mars(火星) appears to be flowing with small streams of salty water, at least in the summer, scientists reported Monday. “It suggests that it would be possible for there to be life today on Mars,” NASA’s science mission chief, John Grunsfeld, said at a news conference on September 28, 2015.
The streams are about 12 to 15 feet wide and 300 feet or more long, scientists said. “What we’re dealing with is wet soil, thin layers of wet soil, not standing water,” said Aifred McEwen of the University of Arizona at Tueson, the principal scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s high-resolution imaging experiment.
Because liquid water is essential to life, the findings could have major implications for the possibility of Martian life. The researchers said further exploration is needed to determine whether microscopic life exists on the planet.
The presence of liquid water could also make life easier for astronauts visiting or living on Mars. Water could be used for drinking and for creating oxygen and rocket fuel. NASA’s goal is to send humans there in the 2030s.
The evidence of flowing water consists largely of dark, narrow streaks(条痕) on the surface that tend to appear and grow during the warmest Martian months and fade the rest of the year.
Mars is extremely cold even in summer, and the streaks are in places where the temperature is as low as minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit. But salt can lower the freezing point of water and melt ice.
The source of the water is a mystery. Scientists noted it could be melting ice. It could be an underground aquifer, which is rock or sand that can hold water. It is possibly water vapor from the thin Martian atmosphere. Or it may be a combination Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars exploration program, said the only definitive way for now to determine whether there’s life on Mars is to collect rocks and soil for analysis on Earth—something a U. S. lander set for lift-off in 2020 will do.
1. According to John Grunsfeld, there seems to be on Mars.| A．salty water | B．standing water |
| C．rocket fuel | D．human beings |
| A．state | B．source |
| C．temperature | D．taste |
| A．The distance from the sun | B．The favorable climate |
| C．The gravity of the earth | D．The salt in it |
| A．Streams of Water Spotted on Mars |
| B．Astronauts will Land on Mars |
| C．NASA’s Mars Exploration Program |
| D．A Breakthrough in the Exploration of Mars |
7 . 
News anchors(主播) must have been reluctant to read out the following news: Xin Xiaomeng began working as the world’s first female artificial(人工的) intelligence news anchor at Xinhua News Agency on Sunday, three months after a male robot joined the profession.
Unlike previous news robots though, Xin does not read news like a cold machine; she reads it almost like a human being. The muscles on her face stretch and relax-and her reactions change-as she continues reading. That’s why many news anchors were worried: Will AI replace us in the near future?
To find the answer, we have to analyse the technologies that support Xin at her job. Three key technologies are used to support Xin. First, samples of human voices are collected and synthesized (合成). This is followed by the collection and synthesis of human muscle movement samples. And third the voices and movements are married in a way that when the Al news anchor reads, the micro -electric motors behind her face move to make her expressions seem more human.
Yet we need a thorough knowledge of deep leaning technology to make a robot imitate a person’s voice. The developer needs to collect tens of thousands of pieces of pronunciations, input them Into the machine and match them with the text or the Al to lean and read. The process for imitating facial movements is similar. The developer has to analyse the movements of the 53 muscles in the human face, make a model set from the collected data for the AI news anchor to lean, and imitate the movements of facial muscles via programs
Both the technologies used to make Xin’s performance impressive are mature. The real difficulty lies in the third -the technology to match the pronunciations with facial movements so that Xin expressions vary according to the content of the news report. In fact, Xins expressions don' t always change according to the content. As a result, her expressions look anything but human. Actually. AI is still no match for human qualities.
1. What does the underlined word "reluctant "in the first paragraph mean?| A．Delighted. | B．Unwilling. | C．Confused. | D．Optimistic. |
| A．They read news without expressions. | B．They looked like a human being |
| C．They could interview sports stars | D．They could interact with audience. |
| A．This technology is very perfect so far |
| B．This technology is quite popular now |
| C．This technology remains at the theoretical stage |
| D．This technology is far from mature. |
| A．human news anchors should learn from AT anchors to save their jobs |
| B．Al anchors perform much better than human news anchors at present |
| C．Al news anchors won 't replace human news anchors in the near future |
| D．Xin Xiaomeng s expressions vary so naturally that they are true to life |
8 . It‟s no secret that American infrastructure is aging. Concrete(混凝土) structures, in particular, are in desperate need of repair.
Cracks (缝隙) are very common due to various chemical and physical phenomena that occur during everyday use, which can be quite harmful as they provide an easy route in for liquids and gasses and the harmful substances they might contain. But continuous repair work is difficult because it usually requires a huge amount of labor and investment. So since 2013, I‟ve been trying to figure out how these harmful cracks could heal themselves without human involvement. The idea was originally inspired by the amazing ability of the human body to heal itself of cuts, bruises and broken bones. In the same way, can we provide necessary products to concrete to fill in cracks when damage happens?
My colleagues from Binghamton University and I have found an unusual candidate to help concrete heal itself: a fungus (真菌) called Trichoderma reesei. We initially screened about 20 different species of fungi in order to find one that could stand the difficult conditions in concrete. Of all the fungi we tested, only T. reesei could survive this environment. Despite the sudden PHincrease, its spores (孢子) developed into threadlike things and grew equally well with or without concrete.
We propose including fungal spores, together with nutrients, during the initial mixing process when building a new concrete structure. When the unavoidable cracking occurs and water finds its way in, the sleeping fungal spores will start to grow. They then will work as an activator within the calcium-rich conditions of the concrete to promote precipitation (析出) of calcium carbonatecrystals. These mineral deposits can fill in the cracks. If cracks form again and environmental conditions become favorable, the spores could wake up and repeat the process.
Our research is still in the initial stage and there’s a long way to go to make self-healing concrete practical and cost-effective. But the scope of American infrastructure’s challenges makes exploring creative solutions like this worthwhile.
1. Why does the author mention the self-healing of human body?| A．To show how amazing human body is. |
| B．To prove everything will turn out to be fine. |
| C．To provide a possibility of concrete healing itself. |
| D．To stress that it’s unnecessary to have medicines. |
| A．It has been applied to building a new concrete. |
| B．It can bear the tough conditions in concrete. |
| C．Its spores will be useless after one repair. |
| D．It poses potential risks to environment. |
| A．The challenges of American infrastructure. | B．The research on self-healing concrete. |
| C．The process of cracking. | D．The promotion of spores. |
| A．The Danger of Cracks | B．The Aging of American Infrastructure |
| C．The Most Powerful Fungus | D．Concrete Filling Its Own Cracks |
