1 . I read with interest a recent article on Galactocorp’s planned Shuttlejet flight later this year. I cannot imagine more stupid thing than this, so-called space tourism, and can’t help wondering what on earth humanity is coming to if this can be successful business.

Many may think that space travel is the highest human achievement, which may be the condition when scientific endeavor (努力) is the aim. However, when it comes to space tourism, think we may have found the top of human stupidity. Consider the high cost of getting into space, the billions of dollars wasted on building the Shuttlejet, and the many thousands spent by the passengers—and for what? So that forty fat cats can have a first-class meal along with six minutes of weightlessness, before returning to earth? Never before has so much money been spent for so little benefit (利益). I invite all space tourists to come around to my house. I can treat them to a big dinner and they can have jump on the trampoline (蹦床), and they’ll only need to pay me half the price of Galactocorp.

Further, the money can be used in a smarter way. Think of the many worthy causes that would benefit from the money that has been thrown away on this project already. There are many medical programs in those poor countries. A few hundred thousand dollars could make a big difference to the lives of thousands of people. The benefits would last far longer than six minutes.

Not only is the Shuttlejet a terrible waste of money, it’s also a terrible waste of resources (资源). Think about the materials required to build and the things required to drive the Shuttlejet. Do we really want to pollute the environment for such a pointless exercise and waste so much money for such a pointless exercise?

In a word, we all need to come back down to earth and forget this stupid dream of space tourism.

1. What’s the author’s purpose in writing this text?

A．To ask for advice.	B．To stop project.
C．To share his idea.	D．To express his interest.

2. What offer does the author make in Paragraph 2?

A．Helping the fat cats lose weight.

B．Asking people to have fun in his house.

C．Providing a trampoline for space tourists.

D．Preparing first-class-meal for the forty cats.

3. What is the author’s main idea against space tourism?

A．It costs space tourists a lot of money.

B．It is just a scientific aim.

C．It is bad for the environment.

D．It causes a lot of waste in money and resources.

4. What does the author mean by saying“come back down to earth”in the last paragraph?

A．The project is unrealistic.	B．The project is unscientific.
C．The money should be spent on earth.	D．Space is nothing compared with earth.

2 . People have always wanted to know what the future will look like. Then, how can we?     1       The world has changed a lot in the last 150 years, but we humans are driven by the same basic needs as we were 150 years ago, such as food, sleep, the feeling of being appreciated and loved.     2     No. In addition, generally speaking, the inventions for the last 150 years have been a human effort for freedom and communication, to be able to get in control of the time and world. Since there is still much to do in this area, this will be the focus at least for the next 150 years.

But why do we need to predict the future? Predicting the future is important for two reasons: First, we need to start to think about what kind of future we would like for ourselves and to pass on to the next generation.     3    

How about the virtual worlds? It might be in the future to experience the sand between your toes, and hear the waves, just lying in your bed at home.     4     So, even if a great invention is there for an affordable price, it’ll never take the place of the common experience if it is not real.

    5     What we’ll see in the next 50 years is the transition (过渡) from an oil-dependent society to a new society. Here there’ll be new medicine, continued exploration of space, challenges in the climate change, and new inventions that make life a little easier.

A．So what will the future look like then?

B．Will this change in the next 150 years?

C．Predicting the future can help us in many ways.

D．However, you’ll never get the feeling of being there.

E．Well, to understand the future, you must know the past.

F．However, no matter how real the experience will feel, it doesn’t happen for real.

G．Then we need to know what decisions we need to make today that will give the best result in the future.

3 . "If popular culture has taught us anything, it is that someday mankind must face and destroy the growing harm caused by robots." Author Daniel Wilson's description of How to Survive a Robot Uprising seems like it is straight out of a robot disaster movie. "The problem with cleverly-designed robots is that we become dependent on them," says Wilson.

The classic movie Westworld describes an amusement park where, after a safety error, the robots spend a killing period of time. Yet in reality, statistics show that as technology improves there is a trend towards increased safety. Similarly, public transport systems using computers and machines are believed to be more reliable than those in human control, and a robot-assisted operation is more precise and results in fewer medical problems.

But where does the idea of robots being cruel and harmful come from? "Robots were pop culture figures before they existed," says Wilson. "They were frightening creatures in novels. When robots really started existing, they already had this image(形象) set up not based on reality. That's exactly what happened—a movie monster became real."

Recent reports talked of a robot "attack" on a worker in Sweden. Even if these references to an attack rather than an error are meant in joke, this only makes the problem worse. "We're so interested in the robot-attack storyline that it can influence the way real robot-safety problems are discussed," says one journalist. But with robots becoming increasingly advanced, is it going to come a time when an error could become an unkind and cruel attack?

"Robots are just a bunch of metal," says one engineer. "If you are scared, then you are scared of the people building them." So what do engineers think we should be afraid of? Nanotechnology is the science which involves developing and making extremely small but very powerful machines. Some engineers suggest that with these new developments come "severe dangers" if they are used inappropriately. Its theory goes that "the small size and rapid potential of nano-built weaponry（武器）will make it difficult to control and hard to keep out of the hands of terrorists. "And this is a view shared by some artificial intelligence experts. "With robots...if it makes an error, you can unplug it and shut it down. But if you have lots of nano-built weapons, which are extremely small, there is no way you can do the same thing."

1. In the first paragraph, Daniel Wilson ________.

A．confirms the existence of robots

B．introduces the development of robots

C．states that robots are potentially dangerous

D．suggests that we should be dependent on robots

2. People have come to think of robots as something bad because ________.

A．designers of the first robots spread this idea

B．reality shows they are the same as in the movies

C．movie audience continue to give this impression

D．they were originally described this way in novels

3. The author believes that the report of the robot attack in Sweden ________.

A．is intended as a joke

B．serves as a serious warning

C．presents the technical problem

D．expresses sympathy for the worker

4. What are experts afraid of when considering nanotechnology?

A．Robots could use it inappropriately.

B．It could make robots harder to control.

C．It could be more dangerous than robots.

D．There'll be more terrorist attacks because of it.

4 . The plan: turn Mars into a blue world with streams and green fields, and then fill it with creatures (生物) from the earth.
This idea may sound like something from a science fiction (科幻小说), but it is actually being taken seriously by many researchers. This suggests the future for the "red planet" will be the main topic for discussion at an international conference hosted by NASA (美国宇航局) this week. Leading researchers as well as science fiction writers will attend the event.
Turning Mars into a little earth has long been a topic in science fiction,” said Dr Michael Meyer, NASA's senior scientist for astrobiology (太空生物学)．“Now, with scientists exploring the reality, we can ask what are the real possibilities of changing Mars.”
Most scientists agree that Mars could be turned into a little earth, although much time and money would be needed to achieve this goal.
But many experts are shocked by the idea. "We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed and now we are talking about ruining another planet," said Paul Murdin from the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK.
Over the past months, scientists have become increasingly confident .They will find Martian life forms. Europe and America's robot explorers have found proof that water, mixed with soil, exists in large amounts on the planet.
1. The passage is about________.

A．Mars supporting life

B．finding water in the Mars

C．a plan turning Mars into a little earth

D．the necessity of changing Mars

2. Those who agree to turn Mars into a little earth______.

A．are short of confidence

B．will gain the support of NASA

C．are asking for advice on how to carry it out

D．realize that it’s not easy to achieve their goal

3. What’s Paul Murdin’s attitude to the plan?

A．He is for the idea.

B．He is active in the idea.

C．He is against the idea.

D．He doesn’t care about it.

4. What can we know about the scientists from the last paragraph?

A．They have no idea about the plan.

B．They will find Martian lives very soon.

C．They may achieve their goals some day.

D．They have found much proof of Martian lives.