1 . Someone has put forward a dream home which is so advanced that its kitchen can suggest what to make with certain things. Also, a Microsoft home doesn’t just warn you when you’re out of milk — it can send you a fresh gallon.
But are these innovations just magic, or are they really coming soon to a neighborhood near you? To find out, US News asked some experts to get their opinions about the home of the not-so-distant future. Here’s a look at the innovations.
The housing boom was marked by mass-produced buildings filled with units which look the same. The coming years, however, will give way to a personalized approach to home construction, with houses as more of an instrument of self-expression. “The successful builders will be the ones that figure out how to change their production model enough to make the buyers feel like they are really getting something that is designed for them, not just a model,” says Kermit Baker, the chief economist at the American Institute of Architects.
Future homes will probably become smaller. “We will be building smaller but smarter houses,” says Ed MeMahon, a senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute. “Instead of having a room for just one use, consumers will demand homes that make better use of space,” says Susanka, whose best-selling book, The Not So Big House, has become increasingly influential in home design. Seldom-used quarters, such as dining and living rooms, will be replaced with space that can serve both functions. “The goal of his ‘right-size’ home is to fit its owners like a specially cut suit rather than a jacket you buy in a store,” says Susanka.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To present the main idea the passage. | B．To present what the future house is like. |
| C．To lead to the topic of the passage. | D．To show the history the housing. |
| A．Almost all the houses had no their own features. |
| B．The houses were designed according to owners’ idea. |
| C．The houses were smaller but smarter than before. |
| D．The houses could change production model easily. |
| A．Those that are much bigger and brighter. | B．Those that are much smaller but smarter. |
| C．Those that are much bigger and smarter. | D．Those that are environmental and energy saving. |
| A．Smart houses have a room for every use. | B．Smart houses can make better use of space. |
| C．Smart houses have very advanced furniture. | D．Smart houses can warn you when you’re out of milk. |
2 . Nowadays, everyone seems to hope to go into space and live on new planets. Instead of depending on another pre-existing planet, could we make a new planet by ourselves?
First of all, if we were to live on it, we should find a good place in space to put the new planet. We would want it to be in a habitable zone, which means the planet should be at the right distance from its star to make sure there would be perfect temperatures and most importantly, liquid water.
We’d also need the right materials to make the planet. Our Earth is made up of many different elements (元素). If we made our own new planet, we’d probably want it to have similar elements and a similar structure (结构). We’d also want enough water to form some oceans.
But even if we get all of the materials, creating a new planet like Earth could have many troubles. It might be something more like a huge space station. It would be pretty expensive if we wanted it to be super big.
We would probably also need a lot of food because there is going to be many scientists and astronauts out in space working on this project!
According to NASA, each astronaut uses about 0.83 kilograms of food per meal, including 0.12 kilograms of packaging (包装) material. Without the weight of the packaging material, we’d need about 780 kilograms of food just to feed one astronaut for a year.
Putting all these together could make it possible to make our own planet one day! In fact, creating a new planet would probably require a very modern technology and there would be tons of other things to think about. And if this is possible, it won’t likely happen within a very long time.
1. To create a new planet, which of the following should we first do?| A．To collect materials similar to Earth. | B．To prepare plenty of food for astronauts to eat. |
| C．To design its inner structure. | D．To find a proper place to set it. |
| A．About 0.12 kilograms. | B．About 0.71 kilograms. |
| C．About 0.83 kilograms. | D．About 0.95 kilograms. |
| A．It is a waste of time and money. |
| B．It may be a dangerous thing for humans. |
| C．It is impossible to come true in the near future. |
| D．It should be one of NASA’s next plans. |
3 . Life will probably be very different in 2050. First of all, it seems that TV channels will have vanished by 2050. Instead, people will choose a programme from a “menu” and a computer will send the programme directly to the television. By 2050, music, films, programmes, newspapers and books will come to us in the similar way.
In many places, agriculture is developing quickly and people are growing fruit and vegetables for export. This uses a lot of water. Therefore, there could be serious shortages of water. Some scientist predict that water could be the cause of wars if we don’t act now.
In the future, cars will run on new, clean fuels (燃料) and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed 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. Also, by 2050, space planes will fly people from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.
Some big companies now prefer to use robots that do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and work 24 hours a day. They are also easy to control. And they never argue with people. They can be easily used in a variety of places — factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Scientists will have discovered how to control genes (基因). Scientists have already produced clones (克隆) of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look and how they behave. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?
1. Which of the following best explains “vanished” underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Settled. | B．Spread. | C．Disappeared. | D．Decreased. |
| A．Robots can work in different places. |
| B．Robots have much to be improved. |
| C．Robots work for humans for free. |
| D．Robots have many advantages. |
| A．He probably disagrees with the idea of human cloning. |
| B．He is looking forward to using of cloning technology. |
| C．The scientists have already discovered how to control genes. |
| D．The scientists will face many difficulties of controlling genes. |
| A．High-tech Cars | B．Life in the Future |
| C．Is Cloning Really Good? | D．Are You Ready for the Future? |
4 . What life will be in 2050?
It’s hard to say definitively what life will be like in 2050. However, we can make some educated guesses based on the trends that are happening now. For instance, it’s likely that technology will play an even greater role in our lives than it does now. We might have flying cars, or robots to do our household chores.
The world population is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, so resources may be strained. People may live in smaller homes or even underground to conserve space and energy. We may also see drastic changes in the way we get our food. With advances in technology, it’s possible that we’ll be able to create artificial meat or grow food in laboratories.
In 2050, many aspects of our life will be very different from what they are now. People’s lives, the environment, transportation, and education all change at a new level.
There will be a lot of new jobs born to serve the development of society. And if you are good at using social media, you can be an online celebrity and make a lot of money. You can also choose to be a full-time housewife and take care of your family if you want.
Rockefeller University mathematical biologist Joel Cohen predicts that by 2050, the world will be majority urban dwellers with a high average age. In contrast, U.S. cities theorist Richard Florida believes that urbanization trends will result in a work-from-home economy and do away with divisions between home and work life. Other experts interviewed by Popular Mechanics envision a future in which solar energy is ubiquitous, 3-D printing has replaced traditional manufacturing and everyone has a personal assistant in the form of an AI.
However, there are also some reasons to be pessimistic about the future. The world will be a more dangerous place in 2050. Global warming will cause rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions that will make life difficult for people around the world.
| A．As technology continues to develop, so does the concern for environment. |
| B．By 2050, everyone will be able to afford higher education. |
| C．In addition, there will be new diseases that we have not yet seen. |
| D．In general, life in 2050 is more convenient, more comfortable and more fun. |
| E．There are some grounds for optimism in this scenario. |
| F．As a result, we will have a lot of health problems. |
5 . You are just waking up in the spring of 2030. Your Internet of Things (IoT) bedroom opens solar-powered e-windows and plays gentle music while your smart lighting displays a montage (蒙太奇) of beachfront sunrises from your recent vacation.
Your shower uses very little water or soap. It recycles your grey water and puts the extra heat back into your home’s integrated operating system. While you dress, your artificial intelligence (AI) assistant shares your schedule for the day and plays your favourite tunes.
You still start your day with caffeine but it comes from your IoT refrigerator which is capable of providing a coffeehouse experience in your home. A hot breakfast tailored to your specific nutritional needs (based on chemical analysis from your trips to the “smart toilet”) is waiting for you in the kitchen.
When it’s time to leave, an on-demand transport system has three cars waiting for you, your spouse and your kids. On the road, driverless cars and trucks move with mathematical precision, without traffic jams. Accident rates are near zero.
On route, you call your R&D team, who are wrapping up a day’s work in Shanghai. Your life-sized image will be projected, making your colleagues see you as if you were sitting with them. It’s a bit surreal (超现实的) for them to see you in the morning light given that it’s dark on the Bund, Shanghai’s water-front, though the novelty fades after a few uses.
You review the day’s cloud-based data from your Shenzhen manufacturing centre your pilot project in San Diego, and your QA team in Melbourme. The massive datasets are collected in realtime from every piece of equipment and have been beautifully summarized by your company’s AI. All these facilities are closely maintained and operated via a skilled predictive analytics platform. Pleased with the team’s progress, you end the call and ease into a good book.
This is the future and it will be here sooner than you think.
1. What will happen when you dress yourself according to the text?| A．Your breakfast is ordered and served. | B．E-windows open quickly. |
| C．Your favourite songs are played. | D．Your schedule is sent to your boss. |
| A．Produced specially. | B．Made in advance. |
| C．Mixed similarly. | D．Changed randomly. |
| A．Because you did it beforehand. | B．Because you were on the scene. |
| C．Because your images are wrapped up. | D．Because your life-sized picture is projected. |
| A．Why We Need AI Assistants | B．How Life Will Be in the Future |
| C．How AI Helps Us Succeed | D．How AI Does Meaningful Work |
6 . What if we had the power to control time, instead of moving from the past to the present to the future? What if we could jump and travel through time in a machine? What if we could go wherever and whenever we pleased?
This ability would allow us to witness historic wonders, change decisions and see people from the past. We could right wrongs and stop wars from starting.
The mysterious puzzle of time has kept people debating its nature for hundreds of years. Science fiction writers have turned it into imaginative stories. Some scientists have even attempted to explain it using math. This math tries to make the dream of time travel come true.
The scientist Albert Einstein said that time and space are one thing. He called it “spacetime”. Einstein said that there are three dimensions (维度) in space: height, width and depth. A scientist named Hermann Minkowski added time as a fourth dimension.
Einstein introduced two ideas that have led to theories about the possibility of time travel. The first is relativity (相对论). The idea of relativity is that the force of gravity causes space to bend, which causes time to twist. The second idea focuses on special relativity. The idea is that a traveler moving super-fast through flat spacetime will enter the future. Einstein considered time “relative” because it is measured based on where we are on Earth or in space.
Stephen Hawking is a famous scientist. He believes that a time machine will never be built. If it were possible, he thinks we would already know. If a time machine could be built, how come no one from the future has invaded us?
The first science fiction story with this theme is The Clock That Went Backward by Edward P. Mitchell, which was published in 1881. Since then, thousands of books, films and television shows have explored the idea of time travel, in which some tools such as phones, watches, photographs and old books take travelers backward and forward.
Will time travel ever happen? Who knows? Most important is to keep our eyes open and have a sense of wonder.
1. The three questions the author uses in Paragraph 1 are __________.| A．to show time and space are connected |
| B．to show people’s interest in time travel |
| C．to draw readers’ attention to time travel |
| D．to make people believe time travel is possible |
| A．Time travel is possible in the future. | B．People can’t move faster than light. |
| C．Time travel is against scientific rules. | D．Spacetime is not a real thing in theory. |
| A．The first science fiction story. | B．Some tools used in time travel. |
| C．Edward P. Mitchell, the pioneer. | D．Different works about time travel. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Approving. | C．Doubtful. | D．Hopeful. |
7 . What is the ideal physique(体形)? The answer is ever-changing. But it is to a large extent work of a single company that dominated the past 60 years of body image standards.
Since its creation in 1959, Barbie has been in the leading position of promoting hardly attainable body image standards, for which it was often heavily criticized. Scientific research shows that the probability of achieving a Barbie-like body shape is less than 1 in 100,000!
Mattel, the company behind the Barbie doll, has recognized that the 60s’ idea of good body image is long gone. In an effort to keep up with social change, Mattel is adjusting the dolls' body type and skin color, introducing special editions.
There is now a Barbie in a wheelchair. There is a Barbie Astronaut, Rescuer, or Engineer. In their latest Barbie special edition, Mattel honors the women fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, including Dame Sarah Gilbert. In the hope that Mattel is adapting to modern corporate standards just as well as it is to social change, we’re attracted by what the company's sustainability data may tell us.
What does the data tell us? To answer this question, we’ve launched a sustainability-focused beauty contest-with Mattel as one of the contestants. The company scores relatively well on environmental and social metrics(衡量标准).However, in terms of diversity, Mattel is well below its competitor, Hasbro. This being said, the judges advise that beauty should be equally defined by the inside and the outside.
What does this mean? Be body-positive! As we’re approaching the second quarter of the 21st century, the importance of a healthy relationship between mind and body is being recognized. And with this, body image standards are changing, allowing for more freedom of expression and identity.
Mattel’s efforts in product diversity are a welcome step in the right direction, as the doll has its very own influence. We believe that Barbie’s future lies in the empowerment(赋予力量)of today’s youth, contributing toward a generation of confident individuals.
1. How does scientific research evaluate a Barbie-like body shape?| A．It needs much luck to achieve it. |
| B．It's almost impossible to achieve it. |
| C．There is increasing probability of achieving it. |
| D．It's a breakthrough in attainable body image standards. |
| A．To score well on social metrics. |
| B．To launch a beauty contest. |
| C．To keep pace with the times. |
| D．To define what is real beauty. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Uncertain. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．The Future of Barb |
| B．New Metrics for Body Image |
| C．A Deep Dive into Barbie’s World |
| D．A Great Change in Body Image Standards |
8 . As Tiger King 2 appeals to viewers, some fans feel sad about having to pay much for another streaming service subscription. And they take pity on the once-hot video technology which is now more likely to be a temporary coaster (杯垫) for your coffee: DVDs were once the future, but now the industry can hardly be turned around.
DVD sales once reached $16.3 billion and were 64% of the U.S. home video market. That was 2005.
However, this year just 300 million DVDs are expected to be sold worldwide, down from an average of 2 billion every year between 2005 and 2009. Instead, a rise in customers buying on-demand and digital copies of films and the launch of streaming services are what have reduced the DVD industry to such a state.
But there are still 300 million of the things, even if your collection is gathering dust on the bookshelf. While pop psychology would suggest that older generations hold on to their love of the physical disc, instead, those aged 25 to 39 are more likely than most to watch DVDs. They’re often collectors.
“DVDs are a sign of our identity and our personality,” says Tony Gunnarsson, an analyst of TV, video, and advertising. That’s why England-based radio producer Tom Green still stores around 300 DVDs, including the whole seasons of The Simpsons. They represent a part of my life, and a part of me,” Green says. Others continue to keep DVDs because of the excellent audio (声音的) quality.
For DVDs, to undergo a renaissance (复兴) similar to that experienced by cassette tapes will require a big shift. “We need to wait for the generation that have a fascination with DVDs to control the mainstream culture, but it seems to be nowhere in sight,” says Tom Green. “And the public see DVDs as nothing but outdated media.” Even so, there is a solid group of DVD consumers. And that’s perhaps why producers keep making DVDs and why committed collectors collect their discs.
1. What does the author intend to stress in Paragraph 1?| A．The fall of DVDs. |
| B．A possible way of reusing DVDs. |
| C．A recent trend in the film industry. |
| D．The big expenses of video streaming services. |
| A．It celebrated a shift in digital copies of films. |
| B．It suffered from an oversupply of DVDs. |
| C．It entered 64% of the U. S. households. |
| D．Its sales reached the peak. |
| A．They both appreciate the charm of DVDs. |
| B．They are both professional DVD advertisers. |
| C．They are both passionate about collecting things. |
| D．They both praise the audio quality of streaming services. |
| A．They may control the mainstream culture. |
| B．They can greatly benefit many collectors. |
| C．They are as important as cassette tapes. |
| D．They are hard to make a comeback. |
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 2045, 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 2045, “smart clothes” contain particles (粒子) much smaller than the cells in your body. The particles can be programmed to change 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 2045, every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.
It’s time to go to work. In 2045, 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. What can we 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 change their pattern. |
| A．Milk will be harmful to health. |
| B．More drinks will be available for sale. |
| C．Food in the grocery store will carry electronic information. |
| D．Milk and meat in the grocery store 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 (自动地). |
| A．Future technology in daily life. |
| B．Medical treatment of the future. |
| C．Food and clothing in many years later. |
| D．The reason for the success of new technology. |
10 . Step into Moving to Mars, an exhibition of the Mars mission and colony design at London’s Design Museum, and immediately you have good reasons for not moving there.
Frightening glowing wall-texts announce that Mars wasn’t made for you, that there is no life and little precious water, that, dressed in a spacesuit, you will never touch, taste or smell the planet you now call “home”. As Lisa Grossman wrote for New Scientist a couple of years ago, “What’s different about Mars is that there is nothing to do there except try not to die.”
It is an odd beginning for such a celebratory exhibition, but it provides a valuable, dark background against which the rest of the show can sparkle(闪耀)—a show that is, as its chief manager Justin remarks, “not about Mars; this is an exhibition about people.”
Moving along, there is a quick yet clear flash through what the science-fiction writer Robinson calls “the history of Mars in the human mind”. A Babylonian clay tablet and a Greek vase speak to early ideas about the planet. A poster for the original Total Recall film reminds us of Mars’ psychological threat.
The main part of the show is our current plans for the Red Planet. There are real spacesuits and models of 3D-printed Martian settlements and suitable clothing and furniture. Mission architectures and engineering sketches line the walls. Real hammers meant for the International Space Station are wall-mounted beside a low-gravity table that has yet to leave, and may indeed never leave, Earth.
This, of course, is the great strength of approaching science through design: reality and assumptions can be given equal visual weight, drawing us into an informed conversation about what it is that we actually want from a future on Mars.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．How to move to Mars. |
| B．How to survive on Mars. |
| C．What preparations we made for Mars. |
| D．What the exhibition of Mars truly tells us. |
| A．It’s impossible to live on Mars. |
| B．It’s no good settling on Mars. |
| C．You have nothing to do living on Mars. |
| D．You can live on Mars in your spacesuit. |
| A．The current plans for Mars. |
| B．The advantages of living on Mars. |
| C．The early ideas about Mars. |
| D．The history of Mars in the human mind. |
| A．An experience. | B．An opinion. |
| C．A fantasy. | D．A solution. |
