1 . 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 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 Tower in Dubai, measures 828 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 sensors.
C．Through switches.	D．Through mobiles.

2. What might happen to the future buildings in a disaster?

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.

3. What’s likely to be the advantage of Multi?

A．Seeing the scenes as you please.	B．Allowing vehicles to travel into buildings.
C．Connecting the earth with the space.	D．Making it possible to build high buildings.

4. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 3 most probably refer to?

A．Scientists	B．German engineers
C．Future buildings	D．Virtual screens.

2 . Futurologists predict that life will probably be very apparently distinct in 2050 in all the fields of activity, from entertainment to technology.

First of all, it seems that TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. Instead, people will choose a programme from a ”menu“ and a computer will send the programme directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programmes, newspapers and books will come to us by computer. We will also be able to see, smell and touch the things that we see on television.

In transport, cars will run on new, clean ”gas“ and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed of the car and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to where you want to go. Space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.

In technology, robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots-they do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere—in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.

Last but not least, medicine technology will have conquered many diseases. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people see again and hear again. Scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have.

1. What will happen to television by 2050 according to the passage?

A．It will completely disappear.

B．It will be mostly controlled by computers.

C．One can try the food one sees on television.

D．One can learn to switch on TV set from a ”menu“.

2. How does the transport benefit people most by 2050?

A．Cars will go at a very high speed on their own.

B．Computers will tell people where they are going.

C．There will be less pollution and no car accidents.

D．Space planes will fly all over the world in a short time.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．People will live more healthily and longer by 2050.

B．There will be no people working in factories by 2050.

C．There will be cloned people coming to power by 2050.

D．People can read newspapers through a computer by 2050.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards people’s life in future?

A．Doubtful.	B．Objective.
C．Critical.	D．Positive.