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. |
1. What does the man think of life 100 years ago?
| A．Healthy. | B．Boring. | C．Simple. |
| A．The entertainment. | B．The clothes. | C．The food. |
3 . Forecasting the technological future is difficult at best. Back in the 1980s,the thought of carrying around a small, portable phone seemed to belong in the world of science fiction. Then in the 1990s, imagining a phone that would allow you to surf the Internet something that didn't even exist until 1990was unheard-of. Today, smartphones can surf the Web, run applications and play games, and those with a near field communication (NFC) chip can act as away to make purchases. Oh, and they can still make phone calls, too.
So what will phones look like in 2050? Based upon phone customer behavior, I imagine the future phones will rely more on combining our physical lives with our digital lives. They probably won't be similar to the ones we’re reusing now. They’ll be built into other devices and products. Imagine a pair of glasses that can display a digital overlay on top of your physical surroundings.
I don’t think video chat is taking off despite services like Skype and FaceTime. Rather, the trend seems to be toward asynchronous(非同步的）communication. That means the two or more people in a conversation complete а discussion over time.
We might even see the phone part of phones disappear. Recent phone customer behavior suggests that texting is a more popular way to communicate than telephone calls. Future phones will need a way to display messages but don’t necessarily include voice communication.
Since we’re talking about 2050 here, there’s even the possibility that research into brain-computer interfaces(脑机接口) will have reached a point in which we won’t need a physical screen or microphone at all. Electronics could be built into clothing. You’d link the devices to an interface connected to your brain and post messages just through thought. It’d be a form of telepathy(心灵感应).
But what do you think? Will we be wearing devices that let us communicate easily? Or will we be carrying around the iPhone 47 and answering texts between games of Angry Birds? Let us know your predictions.
1. What will future phones be like according to the author?| A．Texting may disappear. |
| B．NFC chips can be used for purchasing. |
| C．Phones may be built into other products. |
| D．Phones will combine our lives with our work. |
| A．telepathy between people may come true |
| B．we may send messages just through thought |
| C．clothing may be used as the screen of phones |
| D．phones can be connected directly to your brain |
| A．people started surfing the Internet in the 1980s |
| B．we will be carrying around the iPhone 47 in 2050 |
| C．the author’ s prediction about phones is based on phone customer behavior |
| D．the author is positive about the development of brain-computer interfaces |
4 . I arrive at the doctor’s office and then wait until a computer voice calls me into the examination room. A robotic nurse
I should say I really do like many aspects of
When I call my dentist’s office and actually get a human being on the line, I am
After all, human cashiers sometimes give you money-off coupons to
Machines can be
Call it the
| A．receives | B．adopts | C．detects | D．extracts |
| A．rushes | B．marches | C．steps | D．dashes |
| A．signals | B．symptoms | C．sculptures | D．symbols |
| A．leave | B．pay | C．mourn | D．bow |
| A．past | B．present | C．future | D．history |
| A．commerce | B．agriculture | C．literature | D．technology |
| A．sponsor | B．partner | C．opponent | D．fan |
| A．cut in | B．pass by | C．take over | D．break down |
| A．annoyed | B．thrilled | C．discouraged | D．embarrassed |
| A．warning | B．laughing | C．shouting | D．weeping |
| A．machine | B．human | C．animal | D．plant |
| A．save | B．obtain | C．make | D．collect |
| A．human-made | B．full-time | C．man-machine | D．real-life |
| A．brighten | B．darken | C．strengthen | D．widen |
| A．turning | B．stretching | C．resisting | D．struggling |
| A．urgent | B．artificial | C．efficient | D．consistent |
| A．Nevertheless | B．Because | C．Otherwise | D．Therefore |
| A．body | B．spirit | C．mode | D．routine |
| A．everything | B．nothing | C．anything | D．something |
| A．smile | B．call | C．laugh | D．stare |
