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(未来学家) 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 car 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(领域)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 show the author’s doubts about the future. |
| D．To describe the pictures of the future. |
| A．Computer will finally take the place of the media nowadays. |
| B．Robots will completely have replaced people in factories. |
| C．Not all diseases will be conquered by scientists. |
| D．The clones of animals have a long way to go. |
| A．Excited but pessimistic. |
| B．Optimistic but worried. |
| C．Eager but afraid. |
| D．Enthusiastic but cautious. |
| A．Travel. |
| B．Sports. |
| C．Education. |
| D．Life. |
2 . “May 17, 2157
Dear diary,
Today, Tommy found a real book!...”
“What’s it about?” Margie asked.
“School.” replied Tommy, turning the yellow pages.
“Why would anyone write about school? I hope they can take my geography teacher away.”
“It’s not our school. This is the old sort that they had centuries ago.”
“Anyway, they had a teacher.” Margie said, reading the book over his shoulder.
“Sure, they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
“A man? How could a man be a teacher?”
“Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them assignments and asked them questions.”
“A man isn’t smart enough.”
“Sure, he is. My father knows as much as my teacher.”
Margie wasn’t prepared to argue about that. She said, “I wouldn’t want a strange man in my house to teach me.”
Tommy laughed. “The teachers didn’t live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there.”
“And all the kids learned the same thing?”
“Sure, if they were the same age.”
“But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.”
“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read the book.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly.
They weren’t even half-finished when Margie’s mother called, “Margie! School!”
“Not yet, Mamma.”
“Now!” said Mrs. Jones.
Margie said to Tommy, “Can I read the book some more with you after school?”
“Maybe,” Tommy said.
Margie went into the schoolroom, right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on waiting for her.
The screen was lit up, and it said, “Please insert yesterday’s assignments in the proper slot.”
Margie was still thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another on the assignments and discussed them.
And the teachers were people…
1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?| A．Margie doesn’t like her school. |
| B．It’s common to read paper books in 2157. |
| C．Online learning is what Margie wants. |
| D．Tommy feels his father is smarter than his teacher. |
| A．There are only female teachers at school. |
| B．Teachers give no assignments to students. |
| C．A special building is constructed for teachers. |
| D．Students learn different things at their own pace. |
| A．Envelope. | B．Opening. |
| C．Screen. | D．Schoolroom. |
| A．Longing. | B．Objection. |
| C．Suspicion. | D．Tolerance. |
3 . Up until a few decades ago, our visions of the future were largely—though by no means uniformly—glowingly positive. Science and technology would cure all the ills of humanity, leading to lives of fulfillment and opportunity for all.
Now utopia has grown unfashionable, as we have gained a deeper appreciation of the range of threats facing us, from asteroid strike to epidemic flu and to climate change. You might even be tempted to assume that humanity has little future to look forward to.
But such gloominess is misplaced. The fossil record shows that many species have endured for millions of years—so why shouldn’t we? Take a broader look at our species’ place in the universe, and it becomes clear that we have an excellent chance of surviving for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years. Look up homo sapiens (智人) in the “Red List” of threatened species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and you will read: “Listed as Least Concern as the species is very widely distributed, currently increasing, and there are no major threats resulting in an overall population decline.”
So what does our deep future hold? A growing number of researchers and institutions are now thinking seriously about that question. For example, the Long Now Foundation has its flagship project a mechanical clock that is designed to still be marking time thousands of years hence.
Perhaps willfully, it may be easier to think about such lengthy timescales than about the more immediate future. The potential evolution of today’s technology, and its social consequences, is dazzlingly complicated, and it’s perhaps best left to science fiction writers and futurologists to explore the many possibilities we can conceive (构想). That’s one reason why we have launched Arc, a new publication dedicated to the near future.
But take a longer view and there is a surprising amount that we can say with considerable assurance. As so often, the past holds the key to the future: we have now identified enough of the long-term patterns shaping the history of the planet, and our species, to make evidence-based forecasts about the situations in which our descendants (后代) will find themselves.
This long perspective makes the pessimistic view of our prospects seem more likely to be a passing fad (狂热). To be sure, the future is not all rosy. But we are now knowledgeable enough to reduce many of the risks that threatened the existence of earlier humans, and to improve the lot of those to come.
1. Our vision of the future used to be influenced by ________.| A．our desire for lives of fulfillment | B．our faith in science and technology |
| C．our awareness of potential risks | D．our belief in equal opportunity |
| A．a sustained species | B．a misplaced race |
| C．a threat to the environment | D．the world’s dominant power |
| A．Arc helps limit the scope of futurological studies. |
| B．Technology offers solutions to social problem. |
| C．The interest in science fiction is on the rise. |
| D．Our immediate future is hard to imagine. |
| A．explore our planet’s abundant resources | B．adopt an optimistic view of the world |
| C．draw on our experience from the past | D．control our ambition to reshape history |
4 . It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.
In recent years, many writers have begun to speak the ‘decline of class’ and ‘classless society’ in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class. But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification.
One unchanging aspect of a British person’s class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounded ‘educated’ and ‘soft’. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional (地区的) city accents. These accents were seen as ‘common’ and ‘ugly’. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.
In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song ‘Common People’ puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may ‘want to live like common people’ they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.
1. A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain ________.| A．it is time to end class distinction. |
| B．most people belong to middle class. |
| C．it is easy to recognize a person’s class. |
| D．people regard themselves socially different. |
| A．variety | B．division | C．authority | D．qualification |
| A．original | B．educated | C．prejudiced | D．unattractive. |
| A．The middle class is expanding. |
| B．A person’s accent reflects his class. |
| C．Class is a key part of British society. |
| D．Each class has unique characteristics. |
5 . Farms of the Future
Skyscrapers(摩天大楼) are the ultimate symbol of urban life. By 2050, almost 80 percent of the earth’s population could live in cities. The human population could increase to 9.1 billion people yet the amount of land available for farming will be the same.
Vertical farms, where farmers could grow crops in environmentally friendly skyscrapers, could be the solution. In spite of concerns over high costs, experts want to make these urban farms a reality and use these skyscrapers to grow crops.
Vertical farms would have many advantages, experts say. The food would be grown with minimal effects on the environment. Unlike traditional farming, vertical farming would not force animals out of their habitats by taking over large areas of land, nor would it pollute the air with the use of heavy farming equipment.
Growing prosperity has led to many people demanding that all foods are available all year round. Indoor farming could produce crops constantly and crops would not suffer from weather-related problems like drought or flooding. In addition, the use of agricultural chemicals for controlling insects would be minimal.
Experts agree that the new farming practices are needed to support the planet’s need for more and more food at affordable costs, both to the farmer and to the consumer. Vertical farms may be a small-scale answer, but the best ideas could be yet to come.
| A．Still, there are some people who are critical of vertical farms. |
| B．That is where vertical farms are often needed for year-round crops. |
| C．So how to meet the increasing food needs of our planet could be a big problem. |
| D．For these reasons, natural light cannot be a workable solution for vertical farms. |
| E．Vertically grown food is grown in environmentally controlled conditions in big cities. |
| F．Those farms would also reduce the cost and negative effects of transporting food over distances. |
| G．They believe that we can increase the food production by changing our thinking from out to up. |
6 . SHOULD WE FIGHT NEW TECHNOLOGY?
This morning, I saw the shocking headline: “Passenger Dies When Car Crashes in Driverless Mode”.In the article, a lot of people said that the public should oppose the idea of developing driverless cars.They said that some advances in technology were unnecessary and could even be dangerous.Hence, we should cease accepting technology just because it is new.The newspaper reported that the car company had already apologized for the accident, but the families of the deceased said it was not enough.Nevertheless, the company still claimed that most people would be travelling in driverless cars one day soon.
On the one hand, there are many different groups of people around the world who live happily in the absence of new technology.Probably the most well known are the Amish, a group of Christians living in rural America.They do not own or drive cars, watch TV, or use the Internet.They have lived mainly as farmers since the 18th century, and they will probably be living the same way in the distant future.They advocate a simple life with an emphasis on hard work, family, and community.They think that is better than caring about luxuries or following the lives of the rich and famous.It could even be argued that the Amish’s quality of life is better since they live in and appreciate the natural environment rather than living in large, polluted cities.
On the other hand, new technology has provided people everywhere with many benefits over the years.For example, the latest weather-tracking computer programs give people lots of warnings about potential natural disasters, which saves many lives.Moreover, the Internet has made it possible for friends and family to keep in touch easily even if they are on opposite sides of the world.It has also made finding opportunities in life much easier, as it allows people to make larger networks of friends through using social media.
Personally, I have benefited quite a lot from technological advances.I found my career as an AI designer through a social media network.My health monitor, which I wear all the time, has also helped me get into the best shape of my life.Of course, when new technology changes the way we live, it can be a scary prospect.Nevertheless, I will always look on the positive side of change and accept it rather than resist it.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．A person died in an accident while driving his brand-new car. |
| B．The relatives of the victim would never accept the apology. |
| C．Many people took a negative attitude to this new technology. |
| D．The company was very concerned about the future of this new technology. |
| A．To persuade us to follow their natural living style. |
| B．To tell us the Amish prefer a harmonious and peaceful life. |
| C．To prove people can still live better without new technology. |
| D．To advocate a simple life with family and community by hard work. |
| A．Monitoring people’s physical health. |
| B．Providing chances in life more easily. |
| C．Predicting the earthquake and tsunami. |
| D．Helping people contact each other easily. |
| A．resistance | B．future | C．advance | D．positivity |
| A．The author wanted to praise the advantages of new technology. |
| B．The author wanted to show his supportive idea of new technology. |
| C．The author wanted to criticize the disadvantages of new technology. |
| D．The author wanted to arouse people’s concern about new technology. |
7 . In the near future, IoT (Internet of Things) will drive huge innovation (革新) in the way our food is grown. Plants will have a “voice”, not a human voice, but a voice based on data that can tell people, computers, and machines when, for example, they are thirsty, or need more sun, medicine, etc.
Take vertical (垂直的) farms, for example. Farming is moving indoors where the growth of plants can be monitored and controlled. The facilities are built vertically, so growing areas can be put in piles. This greatly reduces the amount of land needed for farming.
From an IoT point of view, vertical farms are connected in two ways. First, small sensors (传感器) in the soil or connected to plants tell a control system exactly how much light, water, and nutrients are needed to grow the healthiest crops. Sensors will also tell vertical farmers when crops are nearing their peak for harvesting at just the right time to make sure it’s still fresh when it reaches its final destination.
Second, vertical farms will be connected to other networks and information systems, including databases that track local demand. For example, local restaurants may input when they need fresh food supplies. And vertical farmers could get that information so they know which crops to grow in what quantities. This type of IoT system would have been unimaginable a generation ago.
Today, vertical farms are being experimented. Yet, the numbers point to a bright future for the industry, especially as the world’s population continues to grow. For example, Green Sense Farms in Chicago is able to harvest crops 26 times a year using 85 percent less energy, one-tenth the water, and no pesticides. A side benefit of lower energy use is lower CO2 output of two tons per month, with the added benefit of creating 46 pounds of oxygen every day.
1. What is the main idea of the text?| A．Voice machines help plants speak up. |
| B．Farmers are all turning to vertical farming. |
| C．IoT has brought great innovation to our future life. |
| D．Vertical farms driven by IoT are a future for agriculture. |
| A．By recording farmers harvesting crops. |
| B．By monitoring farmers working their fields. |
| C．By analyzing information to preserve crops. |
| D．By passing information on to a control system. |
| A．expand the output of crops | B．match supply with demand |
| C．determine the needs of farmers | D．move restaurants onto farms |
| A．Negative. | B．Indifferent. | C．Optimistic. | D．Doubtful. |
8 . Jeff Bezos, the world’s wealthiest person, was just five when American astronauts stepped on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. However, he’s never forgotten the black-and-white footage from the historic moment. Since then, the moon has always been the center of his space dreams which are channeled through his spaceflight company, Blue Origin.
On May 9, 2019, at a meeting held in Washington, DC, Bezos came one step closer to achieving his dream of sending people there, when he presented a model of a lander, Blue Moon, designed to carry both humans and goods to the satellite.
Though details of how Blue Moon will be sent to space remain unclear, Bezos is confident it’ll be ready for its mission (使命) by 2024. He considers it unavoidable to settle in space given our ever-increasing population and fewer resources. Unlike those seeking a home on another planet, Bezos thinks humans will be living in orbital space settlements, which are similar to the International Space Station, except much bigger, each housing millions of people. Space taxis would make it easy for humans to travel between settlements.
But first we need to develop a cheaper way to travel between space and Earth. Bezos may have solved the problem partly by removing the biggest cost of spaceflights—single use rockets—with Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard rocket, which has made several trips to space and back since 2015.
To encourage future space dreamers, the company’s recently built a free online club that will keep members informed of its progress and challenge them to find solutions to help humans and save earth. It invites students of all ages to draw or write how they imagine humans living and working in space on a self-addressed, stamped postcard and send it to the “Club for the Future” by July 20, 2019. The first 10,000 postcards will be sent to space aboard the New Shepard rocket later this year. When it returns to Earth, the postcards, stamped “flown to space,” will be returned to their owners.
1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly talk about?| A．An impressive historic moment. |
| B．The beginning of Bezos’ space dream. |
| C．The exciting news of sending man to space. |
| D．Bezos’ secret of becoming the wealthiest person. |
| A．Overpopulated. | B．Solar-powered. |
| C．Energy-hungry. | D．Conveniently accessible. |
| A．Space taxis. | B．Single use rockets. |
| C．New Shepard rocket. | D．Orbital space settlements. |
| A．To help humans and save earth. |
| B．To challenge students of all ages. |
| C．To build a new way of sending postcards. |
| D．To encourage future space dreamers. |
9 . From self-driving cars to carebots for elderly people，the rapid development in technology has long represented a possible threat（威胁）to many jobs normally performed by people. But experts now believe that almost 50 percent of occupations（职业）existing today will be completely unnecessary by 2025 as artificial intelligence（AI）continues to change businesses.
“The next fifteen years will see a change in how we work，and a change will necessarily take place in how we plan and think about workplaces，”said Peter Andrew，director of Workplace Strategy for CBRE Asia Pacific. A growing number of jobs in the future will require creative intelligence，social skills and the ability to use artificial intelligence.
The report is based on interviews with 200 experts，business leaders and young people from Asia Pacific，Europe and North America. It shows that in the US technology already destroys more jobs than it creates. But the report states，“Losing occupations does not necessarily mean losing jobs—just changing what people do.”Growth in new jobs could occur as much，according to the research.“The growth of companies that have the speed and technological knowledge will directly challenge big companies，”it states.
A report by Pew Research Center found 52 percent of experts in artificial intelligence and robotics were optimistic about the future and believed there would still be enough jobs in the next few years.“The optimists pictured a future in which robots do not take the place of more jobs than they create，”according to Aaron Smith，the report’s co-author.
“Technology will continue to affect jobs，but more jobs seem likely to be created. Although there have always been people out of work，when we reach a few billion people there will be billions of jobs. There is no shortage of things that need to be done and that will not change，”Microsoft’s Jonathan Grudin told researchers.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The result of job reduction. |
| B．The fast development of Al. |
| C．The future life of elderly people. |
| D．The influence of technology on jobs. |
| A．Take the place of AI. |
| B．Work in a traditional way. |
| C．Take up jobs requiring creativity. |
| D．Enjoy life without working anymore. |
| A．More people will not have a job. |
| B．More jobs tend to appear in the future. |
| C．Job competition is likely to grow sharper. |
| D．Technology will have less control over jobs. |
| A．Are People Losing Their Jobs？ |
| B．The Requirements for Future Jobs |
| C．The Challenging Life in the Future |
| D．Does Technology Simplify Everything？ |
10 . Imagine being face-to-face with a woolly mammoth (猛犸象) . It would be quite a sight. Scientists believe it would tower above 11 feet tall and have a sloping back, a long, powerful trunk, and sharp, curved tusks that stretch up to 10 feet. Its thick hair would be up to three feet long. It would weigh six tons—about as heavy as a bus.
You’ve probably never seen a giant furry elephant before. Actually, you definitely haven’t. The species has been extinct for thousands of years.
But a few years from now, you might be able to see a woolly mammoth in person. Scientists believe they have the technology to recreate it.
A team of South Korean and Russian scientists plan to clone a woolly mammoth. How will they do it?
Several woolly mammoth bodies have already been discovered in Siberia, an icy region in Russia. The scientists plan to take cells from these frozen mammoths. In a laboratory, they’ll use them to create a new cluster (群) of cells called an embryo. The embryo will be placed into the womb of a living female elephant. That elephant will then give birth to a baby woolly mammoth.
The scientists believe the whole process will take five years. Many scientists and animal lovers can’t wait. It will be so exciting to be able to bring a creature that has been extinct for thousands of years back to life. People would travel from around the world for the chance to see a living woolly mammoth. By observing the way the creature looks and acts, scientists might make brand-new discoveries about the history of animal life.
Other experts aren’t so sure about the woolly mammoth project. One big question is what to do with a mammoth. The Earth has changed in the thousands of years since these animals roamed the planet. Where would the creature live, and would it be able to survive in today’s climate ? Some believe that the money being spent on the experiment could be better spent on other important scientific projects, such as fighting diseases.
But the South Korean and Russian scientists are sticking to their plan. They admit they have a big challenge ahead. There is no guarantee that they will succeed, but they’ re hopeful.
1. The first paragraph describes the mammoth’s ________.| A．habitat | B．food |
| C．appearance | D．lifespan |
| A．Whether they have enough money for the project. |
| B．Whether the mammoth can adapt to the new environment. |
| C．Whether the mammoth can survive the modern diseases. |
| D．Whether their plan wins support from the public. |
| A．negative | B．disapproving |
| C．optimistic | D．doubtful |
| A．Scientists are finding ways to deal with mammoths. |
| B．Scientists try to find out the history of animal life. |
| C．Scientists plan to bring the mammoth back to life. |
| D．Scientists pay little attention to the return of the mammoth. |
