1 . Japan's biggest airline is betting that the future of travel isn't traveling at all. For the last month, a married couple has been interacting with a robot—called an Avatar—that's controlled by their daughter hundreds of miles away. Made by ANA Holdings Inc., it looks like a vacuum cleaner with an iPad attached. But the screen displays the daughter's face as they chat, and its wheels let her move about the house as though she's really there.
“Virtual travel” is nothing new,of course.Storytellers, travel writers and artists have been stimulating the senses of armchair tourists for centuries. It's only in recent decades that frequent, safe travel has become available to the non- wealthy.
Yet even as the world's middle classes climb out of the armchair and into economy-class seat, there are signs of a post-travel society emerging. Concerns about environmental sustainability cause loss to airlines which release much carbon. And the aging of abundant societies is both restricting physical travel and creating demand for alternative ways to experience the world. For the travel industry, virtual reality offers an attractive response to these trends.
Of course, new technologies encourage far-out claims. ANA doesn't plan to start selling Avatars until next year. Profits, too, will probably be difficult to make: By one estimate, the global market for this kind of technology will be worth only about $300 million by 2023. By contrast, ANA's traditional travel business brought in more than $19 billion last year.
But if the business value for virtual vacations is still weak, the market for technologies that bridge physical distances between families and coworkers seems likely to only expand. ANA's robots may not replace its airplanes any time soon, but they ll almost certainly be a part of travel's high-tech future.
1. Why does the author use the example of a couple interacting with a robot?| A．To show the Japanese are crazy about travel. |
| B．To indicate virtual travel begins to enter people's real life. |
| C．To show the couple are very enthusiastic over robots. |
| D．To express the close relationship between the couple and their daughter. |
| A．Storytellers, travel writers and artists have been using it for centuries. |
| B．Frequent and safe travel has become available to the ordinary people. |
| C．People are worried about the air pollution caused by airlines. |
| D．More and more people lose interest in travel. |
| A．They will be put on the market soon. |
| B．They will bring ANA a lot of money, |
| C．They will replace ANA's airplanes soon. |
| D．They are almost unavoidable in travel's future. |
| A．Your Next Travel May Be Virtual |
| B．Easy Travel in the Future |
| C．Virtual Travel Benefits |
| D．Air Travel Disappearing |
2 . Elon Musk is famous for making bold claims and big bets. Here’s a look at some of his recent goals and how they’re shaking out.
1. Which of Elon Musk’s predictions has so far failed to come true?
| A．Trips to the moon. | B．Hyperloop and Loop. |
| C．Self-driving Tesla cars. | D．Brain computer interfaces. |
| A．create vacuum tubes | B．solve traffic problems |
| C．build tunnels over the world | D．speed up the SpaceX program |
| A．Autonomous robo-taxis are actually impractical. |
| B．Musk is concerned about the future of the world. |
| C．Musk’s Neuralink is suspected of doing something illegal. |
| D．Musk makes predictions merely to attract the world’s attention. |
3 . What will the schools of the future look like? With the introduction of 5G technology, we’re starting to find out.
The answer is smart campuses, with high-tech features to help students learn more effectively and safely. They also bring convenience to teachers and administrators (管理者).
The University of British Columbia has what is believed to be Canada’s first 5G-powered smart campus, according to The Star newspaper. The school has partnered with tech company Rogers Communications to install (安装) a massive 5G network on its campus. Researchers at the school can use the network to test real-time 5G applications, as well as access a data storage facility (设施) similar to “cloud” storage, the newspaper noted.
US tech company Amazon is also looking to get into the smart campus arena (舞台). Alexa, the company’s voice-activated (声控) smart assistant, is being aimed at teachers. They may help to run classes more efficiently, says Amazon. For example, if a teacher has to teach different classes in different rooms, Alexa can remember the teacher’s preferences, such as whether or not they need to use a projector (投影仪).
Smart technology can also be used to keep students and teachers safe. At the Global Indian International School in Singapore, CNET reports that facial recognition scanners (扫描器) allow teachers to automatically lock or unlock classroom doors, while students can store their textbooks in smart lockers linked to their student ID cards.
People often describe college campuses as “mini-cities”. After all, they have their own on-campus infrastructure (基础设施), including transport links, roads, shops, restaurants – even police. And just like the smart cities being designed around the world, many college campuses are adopting smart technology. The University of Michigan in the US, for example, has its own self-driving shuttle (班车) system, allowing students to go from classroom to classroom in a safe and efficient manner.
Unlike cities, universities are seen as a particularly good testing ground for smart technology because many of them have sole (单一的) control over their property (财产). “Cities are so big, and there are so many players and stakeholders (利益相关者), it can be difficult. But many universities around the world have control over their estates (房产). They own all their buildings ... so they can become like a living lab,” said Gemmy Ginty, a designer working on a smart campus development strategy for the University of Glasgow, UK, in a news report by the Guardian.
1. How is the text mainly developed?| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following the order of time. | D．By explaining causes and effects. |
| A．It offers free “cloud” storage to its users. |
| B．It is used to test real-time 5G applications. |
| C．It can help improve classroom efficiency. |
| D．It can help monitor students’ class performances. |
| A．Smart technology benefits students the most. |
| B．Universities are full of laboratories and researchers. |
| C．Sole control over their properties makes it easier to test new tech. |
| D．There are many players and stakeholders on university campuses. |
4 . According to a report by the United Nations，54 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas and it predicts that by 2050，this figure will have increased to around 70 percent.But as more and more people migrate from the countryside to the city to get better opportunities，they can end up with nowhere to live.
This is true in places such as Rio de Janeiro，where migrants can’t rent or buy a home，and they end up building their own communities and houses on unoccupied land.These are called shanty towns—poor communities where the houses are built out of cheap materials—and often don’t have any electricity or water supply.
These are，of course，not the megacities(大城市)of the future we want to see. Some serious urban planning is needed to make our cities of the future good，safe and modern places to live in. This involves improving the infrastructure(基础设施)，the housing conditions and also the opportunities for education and employment.
Something urban planners are looking at now is the creation of “smart cities”. According to John Rossant，founder and chairman of the non-profit organization New Cities Foundation ，technology is the way forward.He thinks that it’s generally accepted that“cloud computing, ubiquitous internet，robust 5G networks,etc，will transform our cities.” He says technology is really “a game changer” in urbanisation. It would collect large amounts of data about how a city is performing and may improve how a city functions.
This may sound like a utopian(乌托邦似的)view. For now，some big cities around the world are trying out more low—tech schemes to try and make them desirable places to live and work in. Building shared—ownership housing and improving public transport are some ways. And encouraging cycling and building bike lanes can keep the population healthy and cut down on smog. What would make your city a better place to live in?
1. What’s the text mainly about?| A．The city of the future. | B．The increase of the population. |
| C．Urban construction. | D．The function of smart cities. |
| A．To show the growth of the world population. |
| B．To show the problems in urbanization. |
| C．To show poor living conditions of the city. |
| D．To show financial trouble of the city. |
| A．Technology. | B．Urban planning. |
| C．The infrastructure of the city. | D．Opportunities for education. |
| A．High-tech plans can be easily realized. |
| B．Public transport is well developed in cities. |
| C．Shared-ownership houses make no sense. |
| D．Ways of low-tech are available at present. |
5 . Experts say farmers will need to produce about 70 percent more food by the middle of the century. They predict that 9 billion people will need to be fed worldwide by 2050. The prediction means experts will need to develop more effective farming methods that cause less harm to the environment to produce more food. Experts say living things called bacteria could help achieve that goal. A bacterium is an organism.It is so small that it can be seen only with a microscope.
Researchers are finding extremely small organisms in the ground. One gram of soil contains between 100 million and one billion bacteria. Bacteria are taking part in a healthy ex- change with the plants that share the soil. Around plant roots, bacteria change chemicals in the air and soil into food for the plants. The bacteria include the material known as fungi(真菌). Some bacteria act as bodyguards. They produce anti-bodies and other chemicals to fight harmful bacteria.
Plants make sugar through a process called photosynthesis (光合作用).This happens when a plant receiving light changes water and carbon dioxide into food. Much of the sugar is pumped down through the roots. There, it is turned into sugar-based food and released into the soil. That is done to get bacteria to help the plants grow better. Some of the organisms turn chemicals in the air and soil into food that the plants can eat.
The biosciences company Novozymes already sells one kind of fungi. It has found a way to produce it in very large quantities and offer it to farmers as.a bio-pesticide (生物农药).A bio-pesticide protects crops from animals and bacteria. If so, farmers can harvest more crops.
1. What do the experts’ statistics in paragraph 1 show?| A．Bacteria have a good effect on farming. |
| B．There will be more harmful bacteria in 2050. |
| C．There's no need to worry about the problem of future food. |
| D．More food will be needed to feed more people in the future. |
| A．Bacteria can't live without plants. | B．Plants get benefit from bacteria . |
| C．They make sugar cooperatively. | D．They compete for more sunshine. |
| A．It sells crops and animals. |
| B．It beautifies the environment. |
| C．It provides farmers with materials free of charge. |
| D．It produces fungi as a bio-pesticide. |
| A．Crops of High Quality Need Developing |
| B．Bacteria May Help Meet Food Needs of the Future |
| C．A Large Quantity of Farmland Should Be Improved |
| D．Diseases and Pests Can Be Controlled in the Future |
6 . While fossil fuels — coal, oil, gas — still produce roughly 85 percent of the world’s energy supply, it’s clearer than ever that the future belongs to renewable sources such as wind and solar. The move to renewables is picking up the development around the world: They now account for more than half of new power sources going in operation.
Some growth stems from a commitment by governments and farsighted businesses to fund cleaner energy sources. But increasingly the story is about the falling prices of renewables, especially wind and solar. The cost of solar panels has dropped by 80 percent and the cost of wind turbines（涡轮机）by close to one-third in the past eight years.
In many parts of the world renewable energy is already an important energy source. In Scotland, for example, wind turbines provide enough electricity to power 95 percent of homes. While the rest of the world takes the lead, especially China and Europe, the United States is also seeing an amazing shift. In March, for the first time, wind and solar power accounted for more than 10 percent of the power generated in the US, reported the US Energy Information Administration.
President Trump has underlined fossil fuels — especially coal — as the path to economic growth. In a recent speech in Iowa, he dismissed wind power as an unreliable energy source. But that message did not play well with many in Iowa, where wind turbines dot the fields and provide 36 percent of the state’s electricity generation — and where tech enterprise like Microsoft are being attracted by the availability of clean energy to power their data centers.
The question “what happens when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine?” has provided a quick remark for skeptics. But an increase in the storage capacity of batteries is making their ability to keep power flowing around the clock more likely.
The advance is driven in part by vehicle manufacturers, who are placing big bets on battery-powered electric vehicles. Although electric cars are still uncommon on roads now, this massive investment could change the picture rapidly in coming years.
While there’s a long way to go, the trend lines for renewables are zooming. The pace of change in energy sources appears to be speeding up — perhaps just in time to have a meaningful effect in slowing climate change. What Washington does — or doesn’t do — to promote alternative energy may mean less and less at a time of a global shift in thought.
1. According to Paragraph 3, the use of renewable energy in America ______.| A．has proved to be impractical | B．is as common as in Europe |
| C．faces many challenges | D．is progressing greatly |
| A．wind is a widely used energy source |
| B．wind energy has replaced fossil fuels |
| C．there is a shortage of clean energy supply |
| D．tech enterprises are investing in clean energy |
| A．Its application has increased battery storage. |
| B．Its continuous supply is becoming a reality. |
| C．It is commonly used in car manufacturing. |
| D．Its sustainable exploitation will remain difficult. |
| A．will bring the US closer to other countries |
| B．will accelerate global environmental change |
| C．is not really encouraged by the US government |
| D．is not competitive enough with regard to its cost |
7 . Scientists have discovered a new material that can hold the key to unlocking the potential of hydrogen-powered(氢动力) vehicles.
As the world looks towards a gradual move away from fossil-fuel-powered cars and trucks, greener alternative technologies are being explored, such as electric-battery-powered vehicles. Another “green” technology with great potential is hydrogen power. However, the major obstacles have been the size, complexity, and expense of the fuel systems—until now.
An international team of researchers, led by Professor David Antonelli of Lancaster University, has discovered a new material that offers a solution. The new material would be used to make molecular sieves(分子过滤器) within fuel tanks—which can store the hydrogen and work alongside fuel cells in a hydrogen-powered “system”. It makes the design of tanks far smaller, cheaper, more convenient and energy-denser than existing hydrogen fuel technologies, and significantly outperform battery-powered vehicles.
The cost of manufacturing this new material is so low, and the energy density it can store is so much higher, that the hydrogen fuel cell systems cost five times less than ordinary batteries as well as providing a much longer range—potentially enabling journeys up to around four or five times longer between fill-ups.
The new material makes the cooling system unnecessary. This is crucial because it means cooling equipment does not need to be used in vehicles, resulting in systems with the potential to be far more efficient than existing designs.
Although vehicles, including cars and heavy goods vehicles, are the most obvious application, this material can also be used in portable devices such as drones or within mobile chargers so people could go on week-long camping trips without having to recharge their devices. It could also be used to run a house or a remote neighborhood off a fuel cell.
1. What can we infer from paragraph 2?| A．Fossil fuel will soon run out. |
| B．It is impossible to conserve fossil fuel. |
| C．Electric cars will replace gasoline cars. |
| D．It is not economical to use hydrogen power now. |
| A．Lose control of. | B．Take the place of. |
| C．Be less successful than. | D．Perform better than. |
| A．It’s too complex to make. |
| B．It simplifies the cooling system. |
| C．It’s cheaper and more efficient. |
| D．It can be used only for vehicles. |
| A．Education. | B．Science. |
| C．Life. | D．Biology. |
8 . Swimming in an ocean of stars
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s my great honor to receive the Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society. Thank you.
I started writing sci-fi because I looked for a way to escape the dull life, and to reach out, with imagination, to the mysterious time and space that I could never truly reach. But then I realized that the world around me became more and more like science fiction, and this process is speeding up. Future is like pouring rain. It reaches us even before we have time to open the umbrella. Meanwhile, when sci-fi becomes reality, it loses all its magic, and that frustrates me. Sci-fi will soon become part of our lives. The only thing I can do, is to push my imagination further to even more distant time and space to hunt for the mysteries of sci-fi. As a sci-fi author, I think my job is to write things down before they get really boring.
This being said, the world is moving in the direction opposite to Clarke’s predictions. In 2001, A Space Odyssey, in the year of 2001, which has already passed, human beings have built magnificent cities in space, and established permanent colonies on the moon, and huge nuclear-powered spacecraft have sailed to Saturn. However, today, in 2018, the walk on the moon has become a distant memory. And the furthest reach of our manned space flights is just as long as the two-hour mileage of a high-speed train passing through my city.
As a sci-fi writer, I have been striving to continue Arthur Clarke’s imagination. I believe that the boundless space is still the best direction and destination for human imagination. I have always written about the magnitude and mysteries of the universe, interstellar expeditions, and the lives and civilizations happening in distant worlds. This remains today, although this may seem childish or even outdated. It says on Arthur Clarke’s epitaph,“He never grew up, but he never stopped growing.”
Many people misunderstand sci-fi as trying to predict the future, but this is not true. It just makes a list of possibilities of what may happen in the future, like displaying a pile of cobblestones for people to see and play with. Science fiction can never tell which scenario of the future will actually become the real future. This is not its job. It’s also beyond its capabilities. But one thing is certain: in the long run, for all these countless possible futures, any future without space travel is gloomy, no matter how prosperous our own planet becomes.
Sci-fi was writing about the age of digital information and it eventually became true. I now look forward to the time when space travel finally becomes the ordinary. By then, Mars and the asteroid belts will be boring places and countless people are building a home over there. Jupiter and its many satellites will be tourist attractions. The only obstacle preventing people from going there for good, will be the crazy price.
But even at that time, the universe is still unimaginably big that even our wildest imagination fails to catch its edge. And even the closest star remains out of reach. The vast ocean of stars can always carry our infinite imagination.
Thank you all.
1. What does the writer mean by the underlined sentence in the second paragraph?| A．Science technology has been developing fast before we realize it. |
| B．What happened in our life was mysterious and beyond our imagination. |
| C．We had a good outlook for the future and were desperate to realize our dream. |
| D．We managed to escape from the boring life and looked forward to the prosperous future. |
| A．What Clarke foresaw is childish and out of date, going against scientific theories. |
| B．It is feasible for human beings to fulfill challenging space missions that Clarke forecast. |
| C．Human beings have deserted imaging and exploring the attractive and boundless space. |
| D．Clarke’s predictions haven’t happened in real life and the reality won’t change very soon. |
| A．What is written in science fiction can never become a reality. |
| B．The writer considers it his duty to create sci-fi with author Clarke. |
| C．Science fiction provides readers with possibilities that future will bring about. |
| D．High price will likely stop humans from dreaming of living on other planets. |
| A．Curious | B．Passionate |
| C．Concerned | D．Suspicious |
9 . 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. |
10 . Electric vehicle sales will likely jump over the next two to three years as prices fall and more choices are made available, according to BlackRock’s global head of department investing.
Customers will have more opportunities to move away from traditional combustion engines(内燃机) to electric vehicles and their choices will not be restricted to only certain auto suppliers, Evy Hambro told CNBC’s “Squawk Box ” on Thursday.
“I think we’re at this tipping point of change,” Hambro said. “Over the next two years, we’re going to see price point of entry(入口) drop . We’re expecting to see a big lift in electric vehicle sales over the next two to three years.”
Different countries are at various stages of adopting electric vehicles, depending on regulatory environments and consumer preferences, according to Hambro. For its part, China is leading the way in many new business models around automation and electric vehicles, including in battery technology, he said.
In a bid to curb(遏制) air pollution, Beijing has aggressively pushed for new energy vehicles — that run partially or fully on electricity — through preferential policies, providing subsidies and by exercising its manufacturing(制造) power. It is also exploring autonomous driving technology.
On Wednesday, American chipmaker Nvidia signed separate deals with Chinese electric vehicle start-ups XPeng Motors, Singulato Motors and SF Motors to develop the self-driving technology, despite the ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
“We’re seeing China increasingly open up to international business,” Hambro said. “We’re now seeing high levels of ownership, majority ownership in some industries. We’re seeing licenses being given out to specific groups ... I think really we’re seeing some change there, maybe some of these trade tensions are starting to soften.” BMW also said Wednesday that it has obtained a license to provide ride-hailing services in the Chinese city of Chengdu, making the German automaker the first foreign company to do so in China. It will face heavy competition from local players including Didi Chuxing and Meituan Dache.
1. How will electric vehicle develop in the next two or three years?| A．Decline in sales. | B．Price fall. |
| C．Decline in ownership. | D．Reduction in suppliers. |
| A．To get high profits. | B．For transport development. |
| C．To protect the environment. | D．For the development of the city. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By giving an example. |
| C．By telling a story. | D．By asking questions. |
| A．New Development Trend of Electric Vehicles in China |
| B．Electric Vehicle Technology Looks Forward to New Progress. |
| C．New Trends of International Electric Vehicle Trade. |
| D．Electric Vehicle Sales to ‘See a Big Lift’ Over the Next 2 to 3 Years. |
