1 . Children’s Sci-fi Art Predicts Extraordinary Future
More than 80 sci-fi artworks are on display at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, showing a beautiful yet puzzling future. The “Brave New Sci-Fi World” exhibition features paintings and art installations (设备) by students from Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing and other cities. They imagine the future as a world where robots and human beings co-exist.
Ru Chen, from Shanghai New Putuo Primary School, has pictured a robot chameleon (变色龙) to be used in outer space to aid in the search and rescue of human beings in case of danger.
Li Jiaqi from Guangzhou Dongfeng East Road Primary School has painted a city where advanced technologies are everywhere, and even the city itself turns into a large robot.
Huang Yanrui from Beijing Shijingshan Gucheng No. 2 Primary School imagines his rubber, pencil box and such stationery (文具) becoming conscious robots, and beginning to design future human beings.
Wang Zhihan, from Shanghai Shangde Experimental School and her schoolmates, stick electronic components on stone faces as a metaphor (隐喻) for the increasingly unclear boundaries between the reality and virtual world. “We hope to remind people never lose yourself in a world with advanced technologies,” she said.
The exhibition will last till November 4.
Opening hours:
Tuesdays-Sundays 9: 00- 17: 15; legal holidays 8: 45- 18: 30.
Transportation Guide:
Metro: Metro Line 2: Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Station.
Metro Line 4, Metro Line 6 and Metro Line 9: change to Metro Line 2 at the Century Avenue Station.
Bus Routes: Bus 184, 640, 794, 983, 984, 987, 1023, 640 inter-zonal bus will take you there.
1. Whose artwork is related with space?| A．Ru Chen’s. | B．Li Jiaqi’s. | C．Huang Yanrui’s. | D．Wang Zhihan’s. |
| A．Shanghai. | B．Guangzhou. | C．Chongqing. | D．Beijing. |
| A．Metro Line 2. | B．Metro Line 4. | C．Metro Line 6. | D．Metro Line 9. |
2 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer to __________.| A．show his magical power | B．pay for the delivery |
| C．satisfy his curiosity | D．please his mother |
| A．He wanted to have tea there. | B．He was a respectable person. |
| C．He was treated as a family member. | D．He was fully trusted by the family. |
| A．Nobody wants to be a milkman now. | B．It has been driven out of the market. |
| C．Its service is getting poor. | D．It is not allowed by law. |
| A．He missed the good old days. | B．He wanted to tell interesting stories. |
| C．He needed it for his milk bottles. | D．He planted flowers in it. |
3 . My future happiness
When I imagine my future, I see myself as an adult who is confident in my abilities, doing a job I love and living my life responsibly. When I grow up, I will be enjoying more convenience brought by the advances in technology, with more time to pursue hobbies and enjoy the company of family and friends.
I will feel the happiest in the future because I will learn more about life and develop into the best person I can be.
Thanks to new technology, my future life is sure to improve in various ways. Homes will become smarter to the extent that they might be programmed to learn about our needs and monitor our health and activity. I can imagine hearing an AI voice remind me to buy groceries or do more exercise! There will also be enormous advancements in transport options. I will be riding in a self-driving car, and other new means of transport may be developed in the future.
My development into a mature adult and access to advanced technology will provide me with more free-time opportunities.
| A．I might be able to ride a flying bike to quickly meet up with my friends. |
| B．I will become more knowledgeable about the world and myself. |
| C．When I think about the future, I realize my happiest days are still ahead of me. |
| D．For these reasons, I look forward to the future as the happiest moment in my life. |
| E．With less work-related stress, I will also have more time and energy to do volunteer projects. |
| F．The working day will be only four hours long thanks to robots. |
| G．Technological advances will guarantee that I will be in good health and find true happiness. |
4 . Today, the original Beetle has largely disappeared from the world’s roads since Volkswagen stopped producing it in Germany in 1978. But the instantly recognizable car was once everywhere. From the 1970s to the 1990s, more than 21 million Beetles were produced worldwide. Many adults in their 40s or above have a story about the Beetle, or at least a memory.
Part of its universal appeal is its unique look. There’s something about the car that just makes people smile: its happy shape, its cheerful colors, and perhaps its small size. However, the smiles that beetles evoke, in people are not simply due to their design. It has a character almost. It has a sort of soul in a way. It’s beyond a machine. For the better part of a century this car has been a part in people’s lives. Seeing these cars on the road is like a time capsule. It opens people to memories and stories that might otherwise go untold. By allowing us to travel back in time, they remind us of what’s important. In today’s world, this car represents something very basic and earthy and genuine. Exactly the kind of travel we need right now.
“My parents had three, a white one, then a red one, and then an orange one. It was the car I grew up with,” said actor Ewan McGregor. “They would put us in the back of the Beetle in Scotland and drive to France for camping holidays in summer. My first car was a 1978 Beetle and now I own two, parked at my home in Los Angeles.”
McGregor thinks the car’s future is electric. He has recently turned his 1978 model into a fully electric car. “Moving forward, maybe we’ll just have to think; smaller cars, low emissions (排放), and something that makes us feel happy,” he says.
1. When was the production of Beetles stopped in Germany?| A．In the 1990s. | B．In the 1980s. | C．In the late 1970s. | D．In the early 1960s. |
| A．To keep an unpleasant feeling in one’s mind. |
| B．To find out information about one’s character. |
| C．To bring a feeling or a memory into one’s mind. |
| D．To ask somebody to do something in a rude way. |
| A．He wants to be reminded of his childhood. |
| B．They are used to decorate his new home. |
| C．He has too many children for just one car. |
| D．His parents have left one of their cars to him. |
| A．Advertisement. | B．Lifestyle. | C．Environment. | D．Economy. |
5 . Futurologists predict that life will probably be very apparently distinct 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 programme from a ”menu“ and a computer will send the programme directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programmes, newspapers and books will come to us by computer. We will also be able to see, smell and touch the things that we see on television.
In transport, cars will run on new, clean ”gas“ 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 where you want to go. Space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.
In 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. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people see again and hear again. Scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have.
1. What will happen to television by 2050 according to the passage?| A．It will completely disappear. |
| B．It will be mostly controlled by computers. |
| C．One can try the food one sees on television. |
| D．One can learn to switch on TV set from a ”menu“. |
| A．Cars will go at a very high speed on their own. |
| B．Computers will tell people where they are going. |
| C．There will be less pollution and no car accidents. |
| D．Space planes will fly all over the world in a short time. |
| A．People will live more healthily and longer by 2050. |
| B．There will be no people working in factories by 2050. |
| C．There will be cloned people coming to power by 2050. |
| D．People can read newspapers through a computer by 2050. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Objective. |
| C．Critical. | D．Positive. |
6 . With over 4.1 billion people, or around 55 percent of the world’s population, living in urban areas, cities and towns worldwide are getting increasingly jammed. In addition to spending hours stuck in traffic, residents are also exposed to high air pollution levels caused by transportation emissions(排放). Now, Saudi Arabia hopes to overturn urban living with “The Line”—a futuristic city designed around nature, without cars, roads and crowded places!
The totally different city, announced on January 10, 2021, is the brainchild of Saudi Crown Prince(王储)Mohammed bin Salman(MBS).Located in Neom, a 10, 000-square-mile high-tech planned development on the Red Sea coast. The Line will be the base of MBS’s Saudi Vision 2030. The strategic plan aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s oil-dependent economy into other fields, like tourism, and create exciting job opportunities for its citizens.
The 105-mile-long city, expected to cost between $100 billion and $200 billion, will be built along a straight line and comprise several self-sustaining communities. To ensure all services are within a short, five-minute walk, each community will feature a three-layer infrastructure(基础设施)．
There will be no cars or roads on the top “pedestrian layer”, so residents can freely walk and bike in the surrounding green spaces. The second “service layer”, will include all essential daily services, such as schools, medical clinics, leisure facilities, and grocery stores. The third “spine layer” will house ultra-high-speed transportation and autonomous vehicles transporting residents across communities in less than 20 minutes. The entire city will be powered with renewable clean energy sources such as solar and wind, and possibly even hydrogen．
If all goes according to the plan, construction of this groundbreaking, complex infrastructure project will start before the end of 2021. In addition to providing up to a million residents with a clean and stress-free living environment, the Line is expected to create 380, 000 new jobs, promote economic diversification, and contribute a shocking $48 billion to Saudi Arabia’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP)by 2030. More importantly, MBS believes it will provide governments worldwide a blueprint for how people and planet can co-exist in harmony.
1. Where can you purchase a bike if living in The Line?| A．Pedestrian layer. | B．Service layer. |
| C．Spine layer. | D．The green spaces. |
| A．Widely-accepted. | B．Ill-considered. |
| C．Risk-taking. | D．Mind-blowing. |
| A．To facilitate Saudi economic diversification. |
| B．To offer a model for nature-man integration. |
| C．To boost the government’s finances. |
| D．To create more job opportunities. |
| A．Saudi Vision for Environmental Protection |
| B．The Construction of The Line Is Underway |
| C．MBS：An Influential Leader of Saudi Arabia |
| D．MBS’ Vision of a Futuristic Zero Carbon City |
7 . Those 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 prime time. At least that appears to be the case at Japan’s cutting-edge Henn-na Hotel chain where over half of the robot staff is being replaced by humans.
The first Henn-na Hotel opened in July 2015, where guests were greeted and checked-in by either a family-friendly English-speaking dinosaur robot or a Japanese-speaking humanoid. Autonomous robots stood ready to help guests carry luggage to their rooms, while a cute doll-shaped android called Churi, placed inside each room, provided them with information about nearby attractions. Even the hotel’s garbage cans were robotic.
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 — its employees — are becoming less of a novelty (新颖) and more of a bother. Also as the robots are “aging”, they are costing more to repair and maintain. Earlier this month, the hotel chain’s parent company H. I. S. announced that it had decided to “fire” over half of the robot employees and replace them with humans. Among them are the chain’s two robot receptionists. In addition to scaring young guests, they are also unable to photocopy guests’ passports-a requirement when checking into a Japanese hotel--forcing human employees to step in each time. Also, out are the cute Churi robots, which have proved unable to answer even the simplest questions and annoyed guests by interrupting their conversations.
While this is a setback, the company’s officials are not discouraged. They plan to continue with their ambitious expansion plans and believe the human-robot interaction is a learning process.“When you actually use robots, you realize there are places where they aren’t needed.” said one of the officials.
1. What could robots in the first Henn-na Hotel do?| A．Offer guests traffic information. | B．Help guests pack their luggage. |
| C．Greet guests in English or Japanese. | D．Direct guests to check in at the front desk. |
| A．They cause trouble to customers. | B．They ignore instructions. |
| C．They annoy human employees. | D．They are beyond repair. |
| A．They think highly of their interaction with customers. |
| B．They are against the use of state-of-art equipment. |
| C．They plan to hire more cute Churi robots. |
| D．They’ve realized the limitations of robots. |
| A．Robot Employees-Ready for Prime Time |
| B．Japanese Hotel Chain Expands Ambitiously |
| C．Robot Employees-a New Novelty for Hotels |
| D．Japanese Hotel Chain “Fires” Robot Employees |
8 . What will the future school look like is difficult to make clear, but most experts agree that the school will be electronic in the future .
" Present-day schools will no longer exist in the next century," says a report in The Age. "At that time, future schools will become community-style centers, which run seven days a week,24 hours a day. ” At the same time, computers will surely become a central part of the school in the future.
According to The Age, the distant learning will be popular and students will listen to teachers on computers. Going into classrooms on their computers, students will study at any time, which is very easy for them. However, it is necessary for students to go to the actual school in order to develop some social skills.
The Seashore Primary School is an imaginary school in the future created by the Education Department of Australia. At this school, all the teachers and students have laptop computers . Teachers check messages and call students back on a special telephone system and students use telephones to search for information or speak to their experts who teach their lessons. Besides, all the lessons are related to all sorts of subjects and all the students have their own learning plans created by teachers .
As one headmaster says, a laptop computer is students5 library, data storage （数据存储）as well as the bridge to a wider world. Technology has changed the emphasis of future learning. Thus, well pay more attention to the learning of kids rather than the teaching.
1. According to the report in The Age, students in future schools will _______.| A．have no teachers | B．study at a set time |
| C．mainly study online | D．never go to actual school |
| A．telephones are important in Australia |
| B．how future schools will work |
| C．every student needs a learning plan |
| D．students enjoy getting in touch with teachers |
| A．The Schools in the Future |
| B．Great Changes in Technology |
| C．The Seashore Primary School |
| D．Actual Schools to Be Replaced |
9 . Welcome to your future life!
You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is firm and young-looking.
In 2035, medical technology is better than ever. Many people at your age could live to be 150, so at 40, you’re not old at all. And your parents just had an anti-aging (抗衰老的) treatment. Now, all three of you look the same age!
You say to your shirt, “Turn red.” It changes from blue to red. In 2035，“smart clothes” contain particles (粒子) much smaller than the cells in your body. The particles can be programmed to change your clothes’ color or pattern.
You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk, but a voice says, “You shouldn’t drink that!” Your fridge has read the chip (芯片) that contains information about the milk, and it knows the milk is old. In 2035，every article of food in grocery stores has such a chip.
It’s time to go to work. In 2035，cars drive themselves. Just tell your “smart car” where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve. Such “smart technology” is all around you.
So will all these things come true? “For new technology to succeed,”says scientist Andrew Zolli，”it has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already.”The Internet is one example —What will be the next?
1. We can learn from the text that in the future .| A．people will never get old |
| B．everyone will look the same |
| C．red will be the most popular color |
| D．clothes will be able to change their pattern |
| A．Milk will be harmful to health. |
| B．More drinks will be available for sale. |
| C．Food in grocery stores will carry electronic information. |
| D．Milk in grocery stores will stay fresh much longer. |
| A．Nothing can replace the Internet. |
| B．Fridges will know what people need. |
| C．Jacket sleeves can be used as a guide. |
| D．Cars will be able to drive automatically. |
10 . Some pessimistic experts feel that the automobile (机动车) is bound to fall into disuse. They see a day in the not-too-distant future when all autos will be abandoned (放弃) and allowed to rust. Other authorities, however, think the auto is here to stay. They hold that the car will remain a leading means of urban travel in the foreseeable future.
The car will undoubtedly change significantly over the next 30 years. It should become smaller, safer, and more economical, and should not be powered by the gasoline engine. The car of the future should be far more pollution-free than present types.
Regardless of its power source, the auto in the future will still be the main problem in urban traffic jams. One proposed solution to this problem is the automated (自动化的) highway system. When the auto enters the highway system, a retractable (可伸缩的) arm will drop from the auto and make contact with a rail, which is similar to those powering subway trains electrically.
Once attached to the rail, the car will become electrically powered from the system, and control of the vehicle will pass to a central computer. The computer will then monitor all of the car’s movements.
The driver will use a telephone to dial instructions about his destination (目的地) into the system. The computer will calculate the best route, and reserve space for the car all the way to the correct exit from the highway. The driver will then be free to relax and wait for the buzzer that will warn him of his coming exit. It is estimated (估计) that an automated highway will be able to handle 10,000 vehicles per hour, compared with the 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles that can be carried by a present-day highway.
1. One significant improvement in the future car will probably be _______.| A．its power source | B．its driving system |
| C．its monitoring system | D．its seating space |
| A．How to make automobiles pollution-free. |
| B．How to make smaller and safer automobiles. |
| C．How to solve the problem of traffic jams. |
| D．How to develop an automated subway system. |
| A．A rail. | B．An engine. |
| C．A retractable arm. | D．A computer controller. |
| A．keep in the right route |
| B．wait to arrive at his destination |
| C．inform the system of his destination by phone |
| D．keep in constant touch with the computer center |
