1 . Being connected to the Internet has become a necessary part of modern life. Some people actually need it as they cannot do their jobs without it, and others simply feel they need it as they cannot imagine life without it.
To think that something that did not even exist 50 years ago has come to play a crucial role in our lives like this in just about 15 years makes one wonder–just what will the future bring?
In 2004, a survey was conducted in the US asking a group of technology experts their opinions on the Internet in the next ten years. 57% of them agreed that virtual classes will be more widely adopted in schools, allowing students to learn with those at the same level and with interests in the same subjects. It’s quite possible that, by the year 2030, every child in every school will do all their schoolwork on their own laptop with all their textbooks available (现成可使用的) on the Internet. No more heavy books to carry around and no more pens and paper!
At work, we already use email to deal with people both inside and outside our offices and video conferencing (电话会议) is occurring more frequently. This means that meetings can be held between offices in different countries without the trouble caused by business travel. Business travel will stop to exist in the future, and so will offices as people all start to work from home.
It has also become a trend for people to use pocket computers such as Blackberries. With this helpful equipment, people can send and receive emails, surf the Web, and read multimedia files from absolutely anywhere even if we are on a beach holiday.
The Internet will have a revolutionary (突破性的) effect on entertainment in the future. Already we can buy and download music and movies from the Internet but it is still possible for us to buy a CD or go to the DVD stores to rent the latest movies. However, it’s quite possible that in the future, CD shops and DVD rental stores will close and cinemas will no longer exist. Entertainment will become completely virtual although hopefully people will still want to get outside to play sports and entertain themselves in more healthy ways.
With the Internet we need only relax in the rocking chair. The Internet, however, has problems to be solved.
1. The expression “play a crucial role in” can be understood as “______”.| A．change a dull role into | B．play an interesting part in |
| C．have an important effect on | D．act a cruel character in |
| A．people won’t have to make business travel any more thanks to the video conference |
| B．virtual classes can make students’ dream of getting rid of their schoolbags come true |
| C．people can be kept informed anytime and anywhere with the help of convenient equipment |
| D．CD shops and cinemas will shut down as a result of the adoption of virtual entertainment |
| A．Bad effects the Internet can have on us. |
| B．The possible school life in the future. |
| C．More excitements the Internet will bring us. |
| D．The likely ways to solve the problems. |
| A．Virtual reality, our best friend! |
| B．What will future life be like with the Internet? |
| C．Goodbye, textbooks and offices! |
| D．How can human beings deal with the Internet? |
2 . I’m 16. On a recent night, while I was busy thinking about important social issues, like what to do over the weekend and who to do it with, I overheard my parents talking about my future. My dad was upset — not the usual stuff that he and Mom and, I guess, a lot of parents worry about like which college I’m going to, how far away it is from home and how much it’s going to cost. Instead, he was upset about the world his generation is turning over to mine, a world he fears has a dark and difficult future — if it has a future at all.
He sounded like this: “There will be a pandemic that kills millions, a devastating energy crisis, a horrible worldwide depression and a nuclear explosion set off in anger.”
As I lay on the living room couch, eavesdropping on their conversation, starting to worry about the future my father was describing, I found myself looking at some old family photos.
There was a picture of my grandfather in his Citadel uniform. He was a member of the class of 1942, the war class. Next to his picture were photos of my great-grandparents, Ellis Island immigrants. Seeing those pictures made me feel a lot better. I believe the world my generation grows into is going to get better, not worse. Those pictures helped me understand why.
I considered some of the awful things my grandparents and great-grandparents had seen in their life times: two worlds wars, killer flu, a nuclear bomb. But they saw other things, too, better things: the end of two world wars, the polio vaccine, passage of the civil rights laws. They even saw the Red Sox win the World Series—twice.
I believe that my generation will see better things, too — that we will witness the time when AIDS is cured and cancer is defeated; when the Middle East will find peace and Africa grain, and the Cubs win the World Series — probably, only once. I will see things as inconceivable to me today as a moon shot was to my grandfather when he was 16, or the Internet to my father when he was 16. Ever since I was a little kid, whenever I’ve had an awful day, my dad would put his arm around me and promise me that “tomorrow will be a better day.” I challenged my father once, “How do you know that?” He said, “I just do.” I believe him. My great-grandparents believed that, and my grandparents, and so do I.
1. On a recent night, the author’s dad was upset about________.| A．the high college tuition fees |
| B．the coming dark and difficult future |
| C．a different future for the author’s generation |
| D．the long distance between the college and the author’s home |
| A．People of different generations have every confidence in their future. |
| B．If you open your heart, you will see that goodness is everywhere. |
| C．Though the world was full of awful things, it would get better. |
| D．The terrible things around us could be a threat to the future generation. |
| A．Whatever hardships you are suffering, you can expect a better future. |
| B．Whenever possible, never hesitate to challenge your parents. |
| C．Whether you believe or not, wonders will definitely happen. |
| D．However challenging life is, try to take control of it. |
| A．Imperceptible. | B．Undebatable. | C． Unimaginable. | D．Unacceptable. |
3 . Dr. Donald Sadoway at MIT started his own battery company with the hope of changing the world's energy future．It's a dramatic endorsement（支持）for a technology most people think about only when their smartphone goes dark．But Sadoway isn't alone in boasting about energy storage as a missing link to a cleaner, more efficient, and more equitable energy future．
Scientists and engineers have long believed in the promise of batteries to change the world．Advanced batteries are moving out of specialized markets and creeping into the mainstream, signaling a tipping point for forward-looking technologies such as electric cars and rooftop solar propels．
The ubiquitous（无所不在的）battery has already come a long way, of course．For better or worse, batteries make possible our mobile-first．lifestyles, our screen culture, our increasingly globalized world．Still, as impressive as all this is, it may be trivial compared with what comes next．Having already enabled a communications revolution, the battery is now poised to transform just about everything else．
The wireless age is expanding to include not just our phones, tablets, and laptops, but also our cars, homes, and even whole communities．In emerging economies, rural communities are bypassing the wires and wooden poles that spread power．Instead, some in Africa and Asia are seeing their first light bulbs illuminated by the power of sunlight stored in batteries．
Today, energy storage is a $33 billion global industry that generates nearly 100 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year．By the end of the decade, it's expected to be worth over 50 billion dollars and generate 160 gigawatt-hours, enough to attract the attention of major companies that might not otherwise be interested in a decidedly pedestrian technology．Even utility companies, which have long viewed batteries and alternative forms of energy as a threat, are learning to embrace the technologies as enabling rather than disrupting．
Today's battery breakthroughs come as the world looks to expand modern energy access to the billion or so people without it, while also cutting back on fuels that warm the planet．Those simultaneous challenges appear less overwhelming with increasingly better answers to a centuries-old question: how to make power portable．
To be sure, the battery still has a long way to go before the nightly recharge completely replaces the weekly trip to the gas station．A battery-powered world comes with its own risks, too．What happens to the centralized electric grid, which took decades and billions of dollars to build, as more and more people become "prosumers," who produce and consume their own energy on site?
No one knows which——if any——battery technology will ultimately dominate, but one thing remains clear．The future of energy is in how we store it．
1. What does Dr. Sadoway think of energy storage?| A．It involves the application of sophisticated technology． |
| B．It is the direction energy development should follow． |
| C．It will prove to be a profitable business． |
| D．It is a technology benefiting everyone． |
| A．Mobile-first lifestyles will become popular． |
| B．The globalization process will speed up． |
| C．Communications will take more diverse forms． |
| D．The world will undergo revolutionary changes． |
| A．find digital devices simply indispensable |
| B．communicate primarily by mobile phone |
| C．light their homes with stored solar energy |
| D．distribute power with wires and wooden poles |
| A．It might become a thing of the past． |
| B．It might turn out to be a "prosumer"． |
| C．It will be easier to operate and maintain． |
| D．It will have to be completely transformed． |
The future of the press?
Interesting things are happening in press. Newspaper circulation in Europe is falling and Ireland and the UK have experienced the biggest drop.
The industry in Europe has made a number of changes, such as introducing more colour and moving from the big broadsheets to the much more user-friendly tabloid（娱乐小报）size. The greatest innovation has been the introduction of online newspapers, which have boomed since their introduction a little over ten years ago.
A growing number of people are reading electronic newspapers instead of the print press and with good reason. First of all, they can read the news whenever they want. Secondly, readers are free to explore a subject as much or as little as they want. Thirdly, it is the perfect medium for‘real-time’news.
The general view is that the future‘paper’will be a multimedia mix. Advanced technology and programming software will allow the user to create their own‘news package’. And it will arrive instantaneously, fed by superfast internet connections. The reader will receive up-to-the-minute news about everything from their local traffic problems to updates on news of specific interest to them. Nobody knows for sure what will happen, but as one expert put it,‘we won’t be saying“Here is the news”, we will be saying,“
| A．But are online papers here to stay? |
| B．The news is everywhere. |
| C．Take, for example, the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. |
| D．But how different are online papers from printed ones? |
| E．Despite this, the news isnt all bad for the industry. |
| F．Here is your news. |
In discussion of technological changes，the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells（细胞） are the basic units of all living things，and until recently，scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells，such as those of brain cells，would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100，medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so，people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs（器官）. The medicine，made up of the basic building materials of life，will build new brain cells，heart cells，and so on－in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence，but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
1. According to the passage，human death is now mainly caused by ________.
| A．diseases and aging | B．accidents and war |
| C．accidents and aging | D．heart disease and war |
| A．the Internet | B．medicine |
| C．brain cells | D．human organs |
| A．heart disease will be far away from us |
| B．human brains can decide the final death |
| C．the basic materials of cells will last forever |
| D．human organs can be repaired by new medicine |
| A．Over 100 years. |
| B．More than 120 years. |
| C．About 150 years. |
| D．The passage doesn’t tell us. |
