In 1818 Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, the story of a scientist who tries to create a superior, being and instead creates a monster. In the last two centuries, this story     1     (tell) over and over again in countless variations. At first sight, the Frankenstein story appears to warn us that if we try to play God and engineer life we will be punished severely. Yet the story has a     2     (deep) meaning.

The Frankenstein myth confronts. Homo sapiens (智人) with the fact that the last days are fast approaching.     3     some nuclear or ecological disaster strikes, the pace of technological development will soon lead to the replacement of Homo sapiens by completely different beings who possess not only different physiques, but also very different cognitive and emotional worlds. This is something most Sapiens find extremely worrying. We like to believe that in the future people just     4     us will travel from planet to planet in fast spaceships. We don’t like to think about the     5     (possible) that in the future, beings with emotions and identities like ours will no longer exist, and our place will be taken by alien life forms     6     abilities beat our own.

We seek comfort in the fantasy that Dr. Frankenstein can create only terrible monsters, whom we would have to destroy in order to save the world. We like to tell the story that way because it implies that we are     7     best of all beings, that there never was and never will be anything better than us. Any attempt     8     (improve) us will inevitably fail, because even if our bodies might be improved, you cannot touch the human spirit.

We would have a hard time     9     (accept) the fact that scientists could engineer spirits as well as bodies, and that future Dr. Frankenstein could therefore create something     10     (true) superior to us, something that will look at us as condescendingly (居高临下地) as we look at the Neanderthals (穴居人).

Information technology has developed in ways that people would never have imagined. In the 1980s, telephones started to become popular in daily life. Nobody at that time imagined that 20 years later people     1     (have) phones in their pockets and     2    (use) them for many functions other than just making calls. In 1983, there were only 200 computers connected to the Internet. At that time, even scientists didn’t realise that one day people     3    (be able to) connect with family and friends anywhere through video chats. And most certainly, people back in the 1980s     4    (not understand) that clothing and delicious food     5    (send) to their homes by simply using an app on the phone.

The home of the future won't be     1    (complete) different and we will be living in houses and flats just as we do today.     2    (build) in different shapes, no two homes will look the same. People will be able to buy “house kits” containing a basic house structure, with adjustable walls, doors and windows. They will put together the different parts     3     (create) the home they want.

Space holidays will develop in the future, but these holidays won't be for everyone because they are     4     (expensive) than holidays on the earth. Short space trips will develop first, then the space hotels will go around the earth     5    it will be possible to have a longer vacation. By     6    end of the next century, there will be holiday centres on the moon with leisure facilities for families.

According to the laws of physics, the earth is going to    7    ( appear) 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    8    (explode).     9     a result,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    10    (choose).

Are all changes good?

It is a commonly held belief that as people get older, they become resistant to change. Their complaints that things used to be better in the past or     1     some new development is no good can be dismissed as the unavoidable thoughts of people who    2     (simple) don't like change and are therefore     3     (able) to see the benefits of progress.

But is this automatically true? Are the views of an older person on a new development always to be disregarded? This would suggest that every new development must be a good     4     and surely that cannot logically be    5     case.

Take    6     (architect) for example. In the 1950s and 1960s, many older British people were highly critical of the new concrete housing blocks that suddenly sprang up in cities,     7     (say) that they were ugly and depressing places to live in. They were     8     (tell) that they were simply being old-fashioned and that they were incapable of appreciating the advantages of these new buildings, which had replaced the streets of small houses that they were familiar with.     9     decades later, these very same blocks were being pulled    10    , as new generations decided they were both ugly and bad for society.

Once regarded as a geographical disadvantage, Shantang village in Zhejiang province has now become an     1     (attract) tourism destination. It     2     (locate)in the northeastern tip of Guangchen town. It was off the beaten track when the road was not in good condition. However, with transportation improved, the village is connected to Shanghai by a stone bridge     3     a river.

Tourists can enjoy     4     (they) by walking among trees and grasslands, taking in the view of the lake and getting a look at the past through old items such as     5     (sew) machines, radios and photos which are preserved in a museum converted (改造) from an old house. Buses connecting the village to neighboring provinces are up and running in     6     endless stream. Over the past few years, dragon boat competitions and local festivals have been     7     (regular) held to enrich visitor experience. Local authorities have also restored a street     8     dates back to the Qing Dynasty to promote rural tourism in the village.

Shantang now offers sightseeing, leisure and shopping     9     (activity). Favorable policies have been introduced to encourage locals     10     (set) up shops on the streets. Last year, the historical street had 400,000 tourist visits, earning more than 20 million yuan in tourism income.