1 . New Science Books in Brief
Volume Control
By David Owen || $18. 23
“ For a deaf child, having hearing parents can be a serious disadvantage," notes Owen in this sensitive study of hearing. He suffers from tinnitus. Combining the science with individual experiences, Owen discusses hearing aids, sign language, Thomas Edison and noise levels in US cities—all in absorbing detail.
Reality Ahead of Schedule
By Joel Levy || $29. 04
This picture-packed book tours scientific advances sparked by ideas in science fiction. For example, Levy shows how H. G. Wells? s 1903 story The Land Ironclads inspired Winston Churchill to promote the development of the military tank. The title comes from a definition of sci-fi by Sydney Mead, an industrial designer widely known for his designs for science-fiction films.
Jet Stream
By Tim Woollings || $32. 95
The jet stream was discovered in the 1920s. In this analysis of its complex influence on weather, Woollings relates how the Japanese used the jet stream to launch trans — Pacific balloons in 1944. Today, the jet stream is very likely to be threatened by another product of human activity: rising carbon dioxide emissions.
Adventures of a Computational Explorer
By Stephen Wolfram || $22. 46
Stephen Wolfram, designer of the technical-computing system Mathematica, offers good stories in this collection of biographical essays. For example, he recalls himself as a six-year-old spotting a bite
taken out of the sun: a solar eclipse, something unknown to the other children.
1. What can we learn from Volume Control?| A．The science of hearing. | B．Practical ways to cure tinnitus. |
| C．Thomas Edison's great inventions. | D．Winston Churchill's great achievements. |
| A．Joel Levy. | B．H. G. Wells. |
| C．Sydney Mead. | D．Tim Woollings. |
| A．$18. 23. | B．$22. 46. | C．$29. 04. | D．$32. 95. |
2 . You are just waking up in the spring of 2030. Your Internet of Things bedroom opens solar powered e-windows and plays gentle music while your smart lighting displays a montage (剪辑的)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 operating system. While you dress, your artificial intelligence (Al) assistant shares your schedule for the day and plays your favorite tunes.
You still start your day with a coffee but it comes from your lot 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 wife (or husband) and your kids. On the road, driverless cars and trucks move with mathematical accuracy, without traffic jams, routine maintenance or road rage. Accident rates are near zero.
On the way, you call your R&D team, who are enveloping a day's work in Shanghai. Your life-sized image is projected (投射)into the China Innovation Centre and your colleagues see you as if you were sitting in the room. It’s a bit surreal for them to see you in the morning light given that it's dark on the Bund, Shanghai's waterfront, though the novelty disappears after a few uses.
You review the day's cloud-based data from your Shenzhen manufacturing center, your pilot project in San Diego, and your QA team in Melbourne. The large amounts of datasets were collected in real-time from every piece of equipment and have been beautifully summarized by your company's AL All these facilities are closely maintained and operated through a advanced 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. How can we describe the life in the future?| A．Artificial | B．Accurate | C．Remarkable | D．Intelligent |
| A．We can have a bath without using water. |
| B．We can drive to work without concerning any accidents. |
| C．We can enjoy the coffeehouse experience without going there. |
| D．We can deal with all our work at home without turning to others for help. |
| A．In time order. | B．In logical order. |
| C．By comparing. | D．By offering examples. |
| A．To attract us to use the Al system. |
| B．To introduce the life in the future. |
| C．To teach us how to use the Al system. |
| D．To encourage us to study hard for the future. |
3 . Let us suppose it is now about A.D. 2060. Let’s make believe it is about 45 years from now. Of course, things have changed and life is very different.
Voyages to the moon are being made every day. It is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in Europe. At a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built. The hotels are airconditioned, naturally. In order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window. Everything imaginable is provided for entertainment of young and old.
What are people eating now？People are still eating food. They haven’t yet started to take on heir (继承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power. They may some day. But many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants.
Since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet’s surface has to be filled. The deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests. The harvest is always good.
Farming, of course, is very highly developed. Very few people have to work on the farm. It is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.
People are now largely vegetarians (素食者). You see, as the number of people increases, the number of animal decreases. Therefore, people have to be vegetarians and we are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases. No one has to be ill any more.
Such would be our life in 2060.
1. When was the passage written?| A．In about A. D. 2060. | B．In about 1960. |
| C．In about 2014. | D．In about 2015. |
| A．Many other animals. |
| B．Many tourists. |
| C．Many plants. |
| D．A sea. |
| A．Biscuits in pill form. | B．Foods in pill form. |
| C．Foods in liquid form. | D．Foods in gas form. |
4 . All the efforts you put into studying at university may not have been enough—because robots could be coming for your job. A new study finds that as many as 800 million workers could be replaced by robots by 2030.
The study from the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that between 400 million and 800 million individuals could be replaced by automation(自动化) or robots and need to find new jobs by 2030 around the world. It estimates that 30 percent of the hours people spend on working globally could have been automated by that time.
Those most affected will be people who work in predictable environments doing tasks such as operating machines and preparing fast food. Those who make a living by collecting and processing data also face a high risk of being replaced by robots. But people who work in less predictable environments such as gardeners, plumbers, and childcare staff face a smaller risk, because their roles are technically difficult to be automated and often command relatively lower wages, which makes automation a less attractive business proposition(商业提议).
However, it’s not all doom for the future of employment. The Study notes that automation sometimes allows workers to remain employed in a different position. “Even when some tasks are automated, the employment rate in those occupations may not decline because workers may perform new tasks,” McKinsey &Company wrote in a release on its website.
It noted that China has the largest number of employees who would need to switch occupations, up to 100 million if automation was adopted rapidly, or 12 percent of the 2030 workforce. The numbers are higher in more advanced economies, with up to one-third of the 2030 workforce in America and Germany needing to switch occupations, along with nearly half of the 2030 workforce in Japan. Countries which fail to prepare workers for transition to new jobs will feel the impact of a rise in unemployment and depressed wages, according to the study.
1. Why will lots of people need to find new jobs by 2030 around the world?| A．They don’t put efforts into their study at university. |
| B．The world’s working population is on the steady rise. |
| C．They will be paid less with the development of technology. |
| D．Robots or automation will take the place of their positions. |
| A．Machine operation. | B．Fast food cooking. |
| C．Childcare in kindergarten. | D．Data collection. |
| A．Estimated figures. | B．Public opinions. |
| C．Financial reports. | D．Website contents. |
| A．Education. | B．Business. | C．Lifestyle. | D．Technology. |
5 . 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 |
6 . Cloud computing will be in use by about 80 percent of about 600 companies. The trend suggests that data management and storage are moving to cloud computing sellers on a large scale.
Touting(兜售)cloud computing as a way to get rid of the costs of buying and maintain in on-site information-technology equipment, sellers offer it in the form of Software AsA. Service(SAAS), a delivery model in which software applications are delivered to customers over a web-based network. SAAS can serve the needs of entire companies through huge, web-based platforms. As cloud computing rapidly bccomes the delivery channel for software developers of all shapes and sizes to get their products to market, offering applications in a cloud is now the rule not the exception. A. relatively small number of sellers are able to offer SAAS to big companies that want company-wide cloud computing, and only the sellers need apply. Although market-share data are hard to come by, the list of company’s large enough to offer cloud-computing on this scale is short: Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Salesforce, Rackspace and not many others.
The concentration of data and virtual (虚拟)computing in the hands of relatively few sellers raises an important risk for their customers if the Internet-based systems of any one seller are hacked, the result could be security problems across entire industries in which their customers do
Can this small group of cloud-computing sellers effectively respond to the needs of their customers to quickly fix such a problem and, most importantly, cut off the damage to these companies' own customers? Don't think such things can't happen. If hackers can penetrate the Department of Defense, the risk that they will penetrate Microsoft or google cannot be ruled out Compromise of just one of these sellers---even one with a modest market share---possibly could shut down, at least temporarily, a sizable part of the U. S. economy.
1. What can cloud computing do？| A．Reduce the cost of computers. |
| B．Provide software service. |
| C．Market various products. |
| D．Help companies design websites. |
| A．It works under SAAS. |
| B．It covers a large part of market-share. |
| C．Most companies can provide it. |
| D．Most sellers apply for it. |
| A．To warn people of the hackers' power. |
| B．To show relationship between it and microsoft. |
| C．To give an example of the country's loss. |
| D．To present the real picture of the U.S.economy. |
| A．The Unthinkable risks of the cloud. |
| B．Cloud Computing and Smart Sellers. |
| C．SAAS and changing Companies. |
| D．The Cloud Computing Age. |
7 . Everything about nuclear energy seems terrifically big: the cost, construction and decommissioning -- and the fears of something going badly wrong. The future, however, may well be much smaller. Dozens of companies are working on a new generation of reactors that, they promise, can deliver nuclear power at lower cost and reduced risk. These small - scale plants will on average generate between 50 MW and 300 MW of power compared with the 1,000 MW - plus from a conventional rector. They will draw on modular manufacturing techniques that will reduce construction risk, which has plagued larger 0 scale projects. Supporters believe these advanced modular reactors (AMRs) -- most of which will not be commercial until the 2030s -- are critical if atomic power is to compete against the rapidly falling costs of solar and wind.
“The physics hasn’t changed. it’s about much cleverer design that offers much needed flexibility in terms of operation,” said Tim Stone, long-term industry adviser and chairman of Nuclear Risk Insurers, which insures nuclear sites in the UK. Since the Fukushima meltdown in Japan in 2011, safety fears have threatened nuclear power. But the biggest obstacle today is economic. In western Europe, just three plants are under construction: in the UK at Hinkley Point C in somerset; at Flaman-ville in France; and at Olkiluoto in Finland. All involve the European Pressurized reactor technology of EDF that will be used at Hinkley Point. All are running years late and over budget. In the US, the first two nuclear projects under way for the past 30 years are also blowing through cost estimates .
The UK, which opened the world’s first commercial nuclear reactor in 1956, is one of the few western nations committed to renewing its ageing fleet to ensure energy security and meet tough carbon reduction targets. It is seen as a proving ground, by many in the industry, of nuclear power’s ability to restore confidence. However, the country’s under severe criticism over its cost. The government is looking at different funding models but said it still sees nuclear power as vital to the country’s future energy mix. Small reactors, it believes, have the potential to generate much - needed power from the 2030s.
1. What can be learned from the passage about the advanced modular reactors (AMRs)?| A．They don’t work on the same principles as traditional reactors. |
| B．They haven’t been widely used for business purposes. |
| C．They are at a critical stage of being manufactured. |
| D．They operate more flexibly than wind generators. |
| A．show that the advanced technology of EDF is mature |
| B．argue against the popular use of nuclear power |
| C．prove that their construction costs more than available |
| D．suggest a possible solution to budget problems |
| A．The UK government is reducing its funding for ageing nuclear facilities. |
| B．Some people have lost their confidence in the use of unclear power. |
| C．People are more supportive of solar and wind energy than nuclear energy. |
| D．The UK is decreasing the impact of nuclear power on its economy. |
| A．Large - scale nuclear plants will be a big hit |
| B．Traditional reactors boom with new mini ones |
| C．The government should reflect on nuclear safety |
| D．Nuclear power looks to shrink its way to success |
8 . What defines an eco-house? There are two features to take into consideration. Firstly, the energy efficiency and carbon emissions associated with running the house, and then the type of construction materials used, their associated emissions and the raw materials required.
At Baufritz, we have won awards relating to the sustainability of our houses. This is because as a company we had decided to put environmental stewardship at the core of our values way back in the 1960s. So how do we do it?
Heating is the biggest emissions factor for any house. It is really rather simple to solve this problem — make a house extremely energy efficient and this will no longer be a factor. Ultra low energy houses have become known as Passive houses, where a certain set of design characteristics help to improve efficiencies. You need a very high level of insulation in the walls and roof. Glass should be suitably positioned to optimize solar gaintucmrr (heat from the sun). The house needs to be very well engineered so no heat is lost through cracks or poorly fitted windows and doors. At Baufritz we manufacture Kit houses, and use Modern Manufacturing Methods in our factory to engineer our houses in such a way that leaks are minimized.
We have also developed “HOIZ” insulation. Manufactured from natural wood waste products, HOIZ is placed between the inside and outside layers of our timber framed houses to create the highest level of insulation. Our windows and doors use triple glazing to minimize heat loss. Overheating is one of the biggest challenges Passive houses face and our architects use some very clever ventilation systems to manage internal environmental conditions. All houses still have energy-consuming appliances, but with the addition of solar for both electricity generation and water heating, the carbon footprint of the homes we produce are further reduced.
Embedded carbon in building manufacturing materials such as concrete, as well as a historic tendency to send materials to landfills, results in a high carbon footprint and natural resource exploitation. Baufritz addresses this problem in a number of ways. Our primary manufacturing material is wood. We source from sustainable certified forests where felled trees are replanted. In fact, we believe all building materials should be as natural as possible. We say no to PU construction foams, chemical insulation materials, toxic adhesives and laminate flooring. A house constructed using only natural materials creates a healthy living environment for its residents. As all our houses are manufactured in our state-of-the-art factory, waste is kept to an absolute minimum. At the end of their life-cycle, our houses can also be recycled. Today, demolition（拆除）firms clearing the site for the new build are able to recycle nearly all of the building materials, therefore closing the manufacturing loop.
My house is old, so why is this relevant? There are still lots of things which can be done. Improve your insulation. When your appliances expire, replace based on efficiency. Consider heat pumps instead of gas boilers and explore solar to deliver electricity and water heating. By designing and building houses to ultra low energy standards, and by using natural sustainably sourced materials and recycling the waste products from our manufacturing processes, we are able to deliver Carbon Neutral Houses. This means that the total carbon footprint throughout the life-cycle of each house is zero, which is why we call ourselves eco-house pioneers. All houses are prefabricated at our state-of-the-art factory in Erkheim, Germany, and then assembled on site.
1. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT associated with the sustainability of eco-houses?| A．The raw materials used. |
| B．Energy efficiency of the house. |
| C．Carbon emissions released by house designers. |
| D．Construction materials used and their emissions. |
| A．fail to optimize solar gain |
| B．need to be carefully engineered to trap heat |
| C．use more energy-consuming appliances than Kit houses |
| D．could have less comfortable environmental conditions inside them |
| A．House recycling is an additional service provided free by Baufritz. |
| B．Building materials are obtained from factories to ensure their quality. |
| C．Man-made materials are applied to reduce their impact on the environment. |
| D．The houses are all manufactured in their factory so as to reduce costs and waste. |
| A．argue for the necessity of eco-houses |
| B．advertise Baufritz, an eco-house builder |
| C．explain the underlying values of eco-houses |
| D．expand people’s knowledge of what eco-houses are |
9 . Forging a 5G future
The future in sci-fi movies seems so close, yet so far away. Delightfully, 5G technology makes that future look easily achievable. Schools, hospitals, transportation, factories—even our homes will soon use this powerful wireless network. Last year, China started testing 5G mobile networks in its several cities. So what is 5G? It's the latest generation of cellular (蜂窝状的) network technology.
5G's benefits mainly come from speed and connectivity (连接).
So what about 5G's connectivity?
"New things become possible when you can move information at a massive scale," Gordon Smith, CEO of telecom equipment reseller Sagent, told The Telegraph. "5G becomes the great enabler. "
No matter where it is implemented, it looks like 5G will bring us a more exciting and convenient future.
| A．We may develop "smart" environments with it. |
| B．Such speed helps other technologies, too. |
| C．5G will make this possible. |
| D．It connects people's lives in various ways. |
| E．It is faster and more stable than 4G, the previous generation. |
| F．With 5G, people can conveniently solve many problems. |
| G．The advantage of higher speeds is obvious. |
10 . The home of the future won't be completely different and we will be living in houses and flats just as we do today. But people will want to shape their homes to match their dreams. No two homes will be the same. People will be able to buy "house kits" containing a basic house structure, with movable walls, doors and windows. They will put together the different parts to create the home they want.
Many jobs that we do today will disappear, others will still exist but will change and new jobs will be created. Skilled workers such as builders, gardeners and electricians won't disappear because machines can't replace them. Teachers will still exist because students need human contact. But they will be using modem technology in class more and students will be working more at home. The medical technology revolution and space travel will create new jobs which we can only imagine today.
Space holidays will develop in the future, but these holidays won't be for everyone because they won't be cheap. Short space trips will develop first; then space hotels will orbit the earth where it will be possible to have a longer vacation. By the end of the next century, there will have been holiday centres on the moon with leisure facilities（休闲设施）for families.
Paper won't exist in the future. Instead, there will be e-paper which people will be able to use over and over again. This will develop in order to save natural resources. E-newspapers and e-magazines will replace traditional newspapers and magazines and we will download information and news articles from the Internet every day onto our reusable paper.
The laws of physics tell us that the earth is going to disappear some time in the future. This isn't going to happen tomorrow but scientists predict that it will happen in five billion years when our sun explodes. We will have to explore the universe and find another home. At some point in the distant future, either we stay on the earth and die with it, or we leave and move to another planet. There won't be any other choice.
1. Homes of the future will .| A．be completely different from those of today |
| B．be very similar to our homes |
| C．all be different from one another |
| D．be movable as you want |
| A．Skilled workers will face great challenges. |
| B．The future will witness job changes. |
| C．Technology will totally replace workforce. |
| D．An unimaginable life will come into being. |
| A．become a very common way to spend holidays |
| B．be the best holiday options for families |
| C．attract a lot of people |
| D．be still only for very rich people |
| A．it will be a symbol of fashion |
| B．it won't waste natural resource |
| C．it will be cheaper to produce |
| D．it will be convenient to carry |
