1 . 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. |
2 . 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 |
3 . 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 nanotechnology(纳米技术) make it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what was possible in the past. “There is a great effort 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 disease, 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”,Michael Zey means_________.| A．they have got some ideas about living forever |
| B．they believe that there is no limit of living |
| C．they are able to make people live past the present life span |
| D．they are sure to find the truth about long living |
| A．the human body is designed to last past about 120 years |
| B．it is possible for humans to live longer in the future |
| C．it is still doubtful how long humans can live |
| D．people can live from 120 to 180 |
| A．a great effort |
| B．the conservative estimate |
| C．the idea of living from 200 to 300 years |
| D．the idea of living beyond the present life span |
| A．No Limit for Human Life |
| B．Living Longer or not |
| C．Science,Technology and Long Living |
| D．Healthy Lifestyle and Long Living |
Robots have been widely used in our daily life. They can be
增加：在此处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出修改的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在其下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从十一处起）不计分。
I often imagine what I will be in the future. I desire to work as a computer program designer, for I am crazy about designing computer programs and had won first prize in software designing contests three time. Besides, I find it excited to work out a program for which is beneficial to our life. What makes us satisfied with this job is because it will provide me with flexible time. As result, I can spare time to keeping my family company. No matter how hardly it is, I will ever give up halfway.
6 . These days, it seems like everyone wants to go out into space and live on new planets.Rather than depend on another pre-existing planet, could we make a new, proper planet ourselves?
To start with, if we do want to be living on it, we should find a good place in space to put the new planet. We’d want it to be in a habitable zone, meaning the planet should be at the right distance from its star to make sure there would be perfect temperatures and most importantly, liquid(液态的) 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 since there s 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 reality, 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 even possible, it likely won’t happen for a very long time.
1. What's the first thing we should do if we want to create a new planet?| A．To prepare enough food. |
| B．To design its inner structure. |
| C．To find a proper place to set the planet. |
| D．To collect materials similar to our Earth. |
| A．Our Earth. | B．Outer space. |
| C．The new planet. | D．The ocean water. |
| 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 money and time. | B．It should be one of NASA’S next plans. |
| C．It is not a good idea for humans. | D．It won’t come true in the near future |
7 . Each of Apple’s products such as the iPhone and the iPad sounds cool and has become a fashion. Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i”, and many other brands are following suit. The BBC iPlayer, which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet, used the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and the UK — that plays music and video is called iTeddy. A simplified version of The Independent was launched in 2010 under the name i.
In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s sister paper I, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a” , “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, former Director of the Language Centre at King’s College London, “i” works because its meaning has become unclear. “When Apple uses ‘I’, no one knows whether it means the Internet, information, individual or interactive,” Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPad, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he said.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便),” added Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western world is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and they love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fashion. From the 1900s to the 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern.
However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared.
1. Why do people use iPlayer?| A．To listen to music. |
| B．To make a call. |
| C．To watch TV programs online. |
| D．To read newspapers. |
| A．Engineers. |
| B．Young readers. |
| C．Fashionable women. |
| D．Old readers. |
| A．easy to carry |
| B．environmentally friendly |
| C．advanced |
| D．personalized |
| A．“i” products are often of high quality. |
| B．Actually nobody likes products with “2000”. |
| C．Fashion is closely connected with time. |
| D．The popularity of “i” products may not last long. |
1.家庭：
2．工作：
3.业余生活。
注意：1.词数100左右：
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯：
3.开头语已为你写好。
I often imagine what my life will be like in the future._______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
9 . In the far future, robots live on Earth as humans but the population of humans is smaller than a thousand. This is a story of a repair robot R-62.
One day, a car came to the repair factory and a human stepped out of the car.
“Wow, a human! I have never seen a real one,” said R-62.
“Humans are quite clever. They’re able to do any action they want to. They’re even able to harm other human beings or organize wars, which they have been doing a lot in the history. Also they don’t even have to follow orders if they don’t want to,” said another robot T-59 quietly to R-62.
“How terrible it is! And almost all robots seem afraid of him and don’t look at him directly,” said R-62.
The human then sat down and asked if there had been any problems in the last 10 years and he only got a quick answer, “No, sir.”
Then suddenly, R-62 said loudly, “I have one question for you.”
The human said, “Yes”, a bit unhappy for not getting “sir”.
“Why do human create so many robots?” asked R-62.
Silence followed the question and he then said, “I don’t need to answer questions from robots!” He then went into his car and drove away quickly.
“I really don’t understand why humans replaced (取代)themselves with robots,” asked R-62.
“Because they thought that robots were more advanced(先进的) than humans. They created us to support themselves,” answered T-59.
“But there are so few humans on Earth. What they should do is take away the robots or at least make them stop doing the work which humans are supposed to do,” said R-62.
“I agree. But we can do nothing about it. And now we have to finish repairing this car,” said T-59.
“All right, let’s continue.”
1. In T-59’s opinion, humans are ________.| A．stupid | B．polite |
| C．dangerous | D．smart |
| A．dared not look at the human directly | B．decided to give up its job |
| C．was not friendly to the human | D．hope to live on Earth |
| A．R-62 doesn’t know what human beings look like. |
| B．T-59 knows a lot about human beings. |
| C．T-59 doesn’t want to support human beings. |
| D．R-62 and T-59 are brothers and do different jobs. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Excited. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Supportive. |
10 . For the growing number of Chinese heading west to work and study, there's plenty they find surprising. Upon arrival in the West, many Chinese find they have to firstly put on the brakes. Li Yifeng, raised in northern China and now based in England, agrees.“The only thing Chinese people would be shocked by in Britain is how long it takes to do things，” he says. “For instance in China if you want to open a bank account, you don't wait, you just do it at the counter.” Outofhours and weekend work is standard in China, but in Britain, the weekend is for family and friends.
Jack Chen, who left his homeland 12 years ago and is now a lawyer in Belgium says office politics are simpler in Europe, partly because the hierarchy (等级制度) is less rigid than in China, where the boss really is the boss and social class in the office is very obvious and important. As a result, staff in a Chinese company think very carefully about how to present their views and ideas. Employees in the West can share their opinions more freely. In China you should have the wisdom to say something in an appropriate way. But in Europe you can just say what you want.
The newest Chinese arrivals have a very different view to previous generations, according to Sharon Jin, who moved to the US 20 years ago and is now an American citizen. “Almost 100% of people of my generation who came to the States want to get a green card，” she says. “But today younger Chinese plan to work for 10 years here and then return to China to buy a house or look after their parents.” While a record number of 523,700 students left China to study elsewhere in 2015, roughly 70%～80% of students abroad have been returning in recent years because of the attractive job market at home, according to the Chinese Ministry of Education (CME)．
1. What do many Chinese find surprising while in Britain?| A．That they drive faster than the drivers in Britain. |
| B．That they can open a bank account at any time. |
| C．That working extra hours in Britain is very common. |
| D．That working pace in Britain is less fast than at home. |
| A．Jack Chen has been a lawyer in Belgium for 12 years |
| B．employees in the West show less respect for their boss. |
| C．Chinese employees are cautious when presenting ideas |
| D．people in Europe express themselves in a modest way |
| A．it's hard for them to get a green card |
| B．it's easy for them to buy a house at home |
| C．they will have to look after their parents |
| D．there are more job opportunities in China |
| A．By interviewing students abroad. |
| B．By comparing the differences. |
| C．By discussing some facts. |
| D．By listing some figures. |
