1 . 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. |
2 . When people find out that I am a journalist, they often ask me: What do you think about the future of newspapers?
I tell them that I think the future of communications is moving online. People expect me to be fearful for the future of print. After all, in some people's minds I wouldn't be able to build a career in journalism if it all moves online. However, strangely enough, I’m actually comforted by the fact that online journalism is becoming usual. I am a blogger who has always been able to find a home for my writing online.
Since I began writing blogs, I have become aware of how many people you can reach with online writing. Compare this to the newspapers circulation base, and you will have a strong reason for online journalism.
In her successful blog post titled The Job I have spent the last year learning is not the one I will have, author Jenny Surane states, "Print is an expensive product to love. And general managers, publishers and editors must now figure out a profitable way to get their news into readers' heads.” She goes on to state that people don't feel like picking up a newspaper now and would rather scroll(滚屏) through their Twitter feed, and get news from many different sources.
If print is dying, then a new form of communicating information is being born. The need for information has not died. If anything, it has increased. What has died, rather, is the way in which information is presented.
Now more than ever, in this age of information, there is a desire for stories on the same topic from different points of view. The printing industry can keep pate with the need of providing a variety of sources, if it chooses to.
Is the future of print grim? Maybe, But is the future of journalism of communicating information to people, grim as well? Definitely not.
1. According to Paragraph 2, the author feels .| A．confident about the future of his career |
| B．worried about the future of print |
| C．tired of being a newspaper journalist |
| D．embarrassed about online writing |
| A．Twitter is not very popular |
| B．It is hard to manage online journalism |
| C．Prim still has its advantages |
| D．People have more choices to get information |
| A．Promising | B．Depressing |
| C．Unforgiving | D．Encouraging |
| A．To explore the future of journalism |
| B．To analyze the cause of print decline |
| C．To explain the bright future of a journalist |
| D．To introduce a successful blog post about print |
3 . Let us suppose it is now about A.D. 2060. Let’s make believe (假设；虚构) it is about sixty 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 air-conditioned, 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 (娱乐) 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 animals decreases. Therefore, the 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. According to the passage, what will be on the moon in about A.D. 2060?| A．Many tourists. | B．Many other animals. |
| C．Many plants. | D．A sea. |
| A．Biscuits in pill form. | B．Foods in pill form. |
| C．Foods in water form. | D．Foods in gas form. |
| A．there are fewer population | B．there are more pests |
| C．there is less water | D．the crops are getting better |
| A．Because they don’t eat meat. |
| B．Because doctors advise them not to eat meat. |
| C．Because the number of animals decreases. |
| D．Because all the animals have died of diseases. |
