1 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer to __________.A.show his magical power | B.pay for the delivery |
C.satisfy his curiosity | D.please his mother |
A.He wanted to have tea there. | B.He was a respectable person. |
C.He was treated as a family member. | D.He was fully trusted by the family. |
A.Nobody wants to be a milkman now. | B.It has been driven out of the market. |
C.Its service is getting poor. | D.It is not allowed by law. |
A.He missed the good old days. | B.He wanted to tell interesting stories. |
C.He needed it for his milk bottles. | D.He planted flowers in it. |
2 . Here is a page from a magazine called Future. Read the following information about things that may happen in twenty years.
Cars will run on solar power and will be much cleaner and safer. For example, if you are too close to another car or if you are driving dangerously, your car will slow down or stop by itself. It not only prevents the pollution of the environment but also decreases the rate road killers.
New cities will have to be built in the sea. Some cities on water will have two levels (层). People will live on the upper level; the lower level will be used for traffic, shops and factories, which will be a better way of solving the problem of increasing population and cities.
Biotechnology (生物技术) will make everything we eat better and healthier. Plants without insects or illnesses (病虫害) will be developed. The taste of fruit and vegetables will be better and food will be kept longer. At that time, people will have no need to worry about whether their diet is safe or not, because these foods have been tested again and again. They surely are safe.
Ways of curing illness
Many new ways to cure illnesses will be found. People will use products of genetic engineering (基因产品) to cure more illnesses. However, some new illnesses will appear.
A. New energy used on transportation
B. Green food
C. Ways of keeping healthy
D. Future living conditions
3 . What will man be like in the future-in 5,000 or even 50,000 years? We can only make guesses, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today, for man is slowly changing all the time.
Let us take an example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on average(平均),men are about three inches(英尺)taller. Again, in the modern world we use brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain’s capacity(容量).As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more, and eventually we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change to the head, especially the forehead, will grow larger.
Nowadays our eyes are used very often. In fact, we use them so much that they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man’s eyes will grow stronger.
On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.
But what about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald(光头的).
Perhaps all this shows that future man will not be a very attractive being to look at! This may well be true. No matter how great the change is, future man will still have a lot in common with us.
1. The passage mainly tells us that________.A.man’s life will be different in the future |
B.future man will look quite different from us |
C.man is growing taller as time passes |
A.weight and ears | B.brain and height | C.arms and legs |
A.he makes use only 20% of the brain’s capacity |
B.the other 80% of his brain will grow with time |
C.he will use his brain more and more as time goes on |
A.纤细的 | B.灵敏的 | C.笨拙的 |
A.He may be hairless because hair is no longer useful. |
B.He has smaller eyes and wears better glasses. |
C.His fingers grow weaker because he doesn’t have to make use of them. |
4 . In 2017,the United Arab Emirates announced its ambition to colonize Mars within the next 100 years. But architects are already imagining what a Martian city might look like-and planning to recreate it in the desert outside Dubai.
Mars Science City was originally scheduled to cover 176,000 square meters of desert-the size of more than 30 football fields-and cost approximately 135 million dollars. To create a space for Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) to develop the technology needed to colonize Mars,architects Bjarke Ingels Group were asked to design a prototype of a city suitable for sustaining life on Mars-and then adapt it for use in the Emirati desert.
For this unique commission,the architects first had to overcome the immense challenges of creating a design to make the severe environment of Mars habitable. Mars has a thin atmosphere and no global magnetic field,so there's little protection from harmful radiation. Temperature is another problem-the average on Mars is a chilly 63 degrees C. The thin atmosphere also means there's little air pressure,so liquids quickly evaporate into gas; despite freezing temperatures,an unprotected human's blood would boil on Mars.But according to Jonathan Eastwood,director of the Space Lab at Imperial College London,the biggest challenge in terms of a sustained presence on Mars is not the engineering or scientific challenge,but the human and personal one.More researches need to be done to test the effects of isolation on mental and physical health of astronauts.
The MBRSC hopes that,in future,such research could take place in Mars Science City.This is going to be our platform where we can develop the science and the technology that will help us in our future missions to Mars,said Adnan AlRais,Mars 27 Program Manager at MBRSC."We want to come up with a totally new facility that will help the international community.”
1. What information can you get about the Martian city?A.It is planned to be completed in the next 100 years. |
B.It occupies more than 30 football fields of Dubai. |
C.It has been put into use in the desert outside Dubai. |
D.It serves as a prototype for sustaining life on Mars. |
A.A thin atmosphere exposes people to harmful radiation. |
B.High temperature makes unprotected human's blood boil. |
C.Little air pressure causes liquid to turn into gas quickly. |
D.A long period of isolation may affect physical health. |
A.Positive | B.objective | C.critical | D.skeptical |
A.The research on the effects of living on Mars. |
B.A Martian city designed for the desert outside Dubai. |
C.The United Arab Emirates' ambition to colonize Mars. |
D.The challenges of surviving the inhabitable environment of Mars. |
5 . Do you want to travel back in time? What about traveling into the future? There’s an easy way to do it.
One way you can make a time travel journey is by writing a letter to your future self to be opened in the future. To your future self, the letter will be a visit to the past. What can be gained by writing a letter to yourself? It depends on how good your letter is. You have the chance to say something to your future self. What would you want to communicate? You’ll be able to talk to yourself 5, 10, 15 years down the road. There may be instructions for your future self, or you may have goals that you will want to check up on.
There are a lot of things you could include in your letter or letters to yourself. The more you include, the better the letter will be to you. Here are some ideas of things to include in your letter:
Your thoughts and feelings about life, religion, politics, society, etc; Your feelings for your family; Your likes and dislikes; Your dreams; The type of person you want yourself to become...
Be creative with what you put in your letter. Include a picture of yourself or family to show the period from which the letter came.
You can store your letter in a number of different ways. You can give your letter to a friend or family member to keep and mail to you. If you can get others to take part, have them write letters to themselves as well and ask someone to be the letter holder until it’s time to send the letters. You can also use a service online to store your letter and e-mail it to you.
Make the most of your letter writing, and you’ll help your future self make the most of the present.
1. How can you travel into the future?A.By traveling back in time. |
B.By writing a letter to your future self. |
C.By opening a letter from the past. |
D.By paying a visit to the future. |
A.Have the chance to say something to your future self. |
B.Talk to yourself 5,10,15years down the road. |
C.Write more about instructions for your future self. |
D.Include as many things as possible in your letter. |
A.To check up on your goals. |
B.To prove your feelings for your family. |
C.To show the time when the letter was written. |
D.To find out your thoughts and feelings now. |
A.How to Write a Letter to Your Future Self. |
B.What to Communicate with Your Future Self. |
C.What to Include in a Letter to Your Future Self. |
D.How to Make the Most of Your Letter. |
6 . After decades of playing catch-up with the U.S. and Russian space programs, China did something neither nation nor any other had done this December: land a spaceship on the dark side of the moon.
Strictly speaking, of course, the moon has no dark side. But because of the way it orbits Earth, our natural satellite shows us only one side - the other is hidden from our view. No one even saw the far side until 1959, when the Soviet Luna 3 spaceship flew around for a look and sent back photos. No astronaut or spaceship went there until this December, when the China National Space Agency (CNSA) launched a 2,500-pound lander called Chang’e-4 to the southern end of the lunar far side.
Chang’e-4 operated a small rover (探测车) to survey the geography there for the first time ever. By examining the geography of its landing area, Chang’e-4 could solve longstanding puzzles about the moon, including how it formed 4.5 billion years ago. Chang’e-4 also carried a very small ―lunar biosphere (生态圈) ‖ containing silkworm eggs and a tiny greenhouse designed to grow potatoes in order to study the growth of the seeds on the moon.
Besides Chang’e-4, China plans to launch Chang’e-5 in 2019. Its mission will be to gather moon rocks using an orbiter, a lander or collector, an ascent stage (上升器) and a capsule that will separate from the orbiter and return the rocks to the earth. ―With these missions, the Chinese will have shown complete mastery of flight in the space between the earth and the moon,‖ said Paul Spudis, an experienced lunar researcher based in Houston.
CNSA has already outlined ideas for Chinese astronauts to follow the robots to the moon. Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of CNSA’s Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center, told that China plans a permanent robotic lunar station in about 10 years and suggested a human presence on the moon another decade or so after that. Spudis said China’s ambitious Chang’e-4 and Chang’e-5 missions should send human’s plans for lunar return into rapid development.
1. What do we know about the dark side of the moon from the first two paragraphs?A.Two western countries have taken its photos. |
B.It is hidden from people’s view due to the earth’s orbit. |
C.China is the first country to land a spaceship there. |
D.It exists because the sun never shines there. |
A.To study the geography of the lunar dark side. |
B.To grow potatoes on the moon. |
C.To examine the growth of eggs and seeds. |
D.To survey the lunar biosphere. |
A.The lander. | B.The collector. |
C.The ascent stage. | D.The capsule. |
A.Cautious. | B.Disapproving. |
C.Ambiguous. | D.Favorable. |
7 . Do you want to live another 100 years or more?Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span.
“I think we are knocking at the door of immortality(永生),”said Michael Zey,a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. “I think by 2075 we will see it and that's a conservative estimate(保守的估计).”
At the conference in San Francisco,Donald Louria,a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nano technology(纳米技术)make it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what has been possible in the past. “There is a great push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years,” he said. “Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years.”
However, many scientists who specialize in aging are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less diseases, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live." It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life?" said Leonard Poon,director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Centre." At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all."
1. By saying “we are knocking at the door of immortality”, what does Michael Zey mean?A.they believe that there is no limit of living |
B.they are sure to find the truth about long living |
C.they have got some ideas about living forever |
D.they are able to make people live past the present life span |
A.people can live from 120 to 180 years |
B.it is still doubtful how long humans can live |
C.the human body is designed to last past about 120 years |
D.it is possible for humans to live longer in the future |
A.a great push | B.the idea of living from 200 to 300 years |
C.the idea of living beyond the present life span | D.the conservative estimate |
A.Living Longer or Not | B.Science,Technology and Long Living |
C.Healthy Lifestyle and Long Living | D.No Limit for Human Life |
注意:1.文中不得透露个人姓名、班级或学校名称;
2.词数100左右;
3.标题给出,不计入总词汇。
Future schools | |
Students | All ages from anywhere |
Courses | More courses to choose from Offered on the Internet |
Buildings and equipment | Modern Run by computer Easy to use |
Ways of learning | At school or at home Choose teachers |
Activities | Many different kinds |
School life | Richer and more interesting |
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注意:1. 词数100左右;文章的开头已经为你写好,不计入总词数;
2. 可以适当增加细节,使行文连贯;
3. 文中不得透漏个人姓名和学校名称。
School Life: different activities; richer and more interesting; teachers and students get along well |
Building and equipment: modern; easy to use; everything run by computer |
Subjects: more subjects to choose from; most subjects offered on the Internet |
Ways of learning: learn at school or at home; choose teachers |
Future Schools
In the future, schools will be different in many ways from what they are now.
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10 . Futurologists are making a lot of predictions about our future life and they are predicting how we will travel, work and live in the next 30 years. By 2048, some futurologists foresee that some talking" buildings will appear in our life.
By the middle of the century, it’s believed that buildings will be able to “talk" to people through various sensors when the heating needs to be turned on. As a result, there will be no switches. Instead, a lot of networks will appear, which can be compared to a human nervous system. In the next 30 years, buildings will be made from concrete plastics and shape-changing materials. All of them can heal themselves at that time. As architects (建筑师)are racing to develop the world's tallest buildings, there will be a need for new kinds of elevators, through which vehicles could even travel into the buildings. German engineers have already started working on such technology called Multi.
By mid-century, scientists believe that buildings will be miles tall. Some of them may be very large and they can function as small cities. By comparison,at present, the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, measures 829. 8 metres high. As the future building can rise through the clouds,their windows will be replaced by virtual screens. In this way, people can choose any view as they like.
At height extremes, a London Spaceport is also likely to come into being by 2048 as the space industry develops very quickly. There is a huge cost advantage going to space from as high a base as possible, so a spaceport is very likely to be over 10km and even as much as 30km, using carbon- based materials.
1. How will the heating system be controlled in the future?A.Through the net. | B.Through mobiles. |
C.Through sensors. | D.Through switches. |
A.They can recover by themselves. | B.They can seek help automatically. |
C.They can transport people into space. | D.They can protect people against harm. |
A.Seeing the beautiful scenery. | B.Allowing vehicles to travel into buildings. |
C.Connecting the earth with the space. | D.Making it possible to build high buildings. |
A.Be the Best Buildings with Carbon-based Materials |
B.The Higher the Building, the Better |
C.Smart Buildings in the Next 30 Years |
D.More Functions, Less Cost |