1 . Someone has put forward a dream home which is so advanced that its kitchen can suggest what to make with certain things. Also, a Microsoft home doesn’t just warn you when you’re out of milk—it can send you a fresh gallon.
But are these innovations(创新)just magic, or are they really coming soon to a neighborhood near you? To find it out, US News asked some experts to get their opinions about the home of the not-so-distant future. Here’s a look at the innovations.
The housing boom(迅速发展)was marked by mass produced buildings filled with units which look the same. The coming years, however, will see a personalized approach to home building, with houses as more of an instrument of self-expression. “The successful builders will be the ones that figure out how to change their production model enough to make the buyers feel like they are really getting something that is designed for them, not just a model,” says Kermit Baker, the chief economist at the American Institute of Architects.
Future homes will probably shrink. “We will be building small but smarter houses,” says Ed McMahon, a senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute. “Instead of having a room for just one use, buyers will need homes that make better use of space,” says Susanka, whose best-selling book. The Not So Big House, has become increasingly influential in home design. Seldom used quarters, such as dining and living rooms, will be replaced with space that can serve both functions(功能). “The goal of his ‘right-size’ home is to fit its owners like a specially cut suit rather than a jacket you buy in a store,” says Susanka.
1. Why does the writer mention a dream home and a Microsoft home?| A．To lead to the topic of the passage. |
| B．To tell us what kind of house to buy. |
| C．To stress the importance of technology. |
| D．To show what future houses will look like. |
| A．They will be in mass production. |
| B．They will have a lot of things in common. |
| C．They will express the owners’ personalities. |
| D．They will be designed by the owners themselves. |
| A．Become cleaner. | B．Become brighter. |
| C．Become smaller. | D．Become more comfortable. |
| A．Houses that have a room for every use. |
| B．Houses that can make better use of space. |
| C．Houses that have very advanced furniture. |
| D．Houses that can warn you when you’re out of milk. |
2 . Since several organisations plan to put the first man on Mars by 2030, new trips to the Moon will take place around 2025. If you go to the Moon, you need a place to stay in. So what will it be like? Maybe the following article can give us some inspiration.
August 23, 2025—Today a new chapter in space travel was written. Rod Markham and his wife-to-be Susan Millster arrived safely on the Moon to spend 5 nights as the first guests at the Starbright Hotel that was set up for this purpose two years ago.
Not only are they the first hotel guests on the Moon, but they also set a new record for expensive accommodation since the price was $3.7 million per night, per person. However, the move from the Earth to the hotel is included in the price.
The hotel itself will probably have a hard time just to try to gain one star in any hotel rating system, because there is no room service. The guests have to do the cleaning of the room themselves and there is no bathroom in it. However. they have more stars than they need just outside their windows.
Rod and Susan will get married by linking their local minister in San Diego, California at 9:00 p.m. EST tonight, and the wedding will be broadcast live by several major TV networks in a 1-hour special report, including the preparations for the trip.
Six astronauts are along with them and during the stay they’ll set up further accommodations for the guests who have made reservations at the Starbright Hotel next year. The hotel has no employees, only some workers when guests stay at it.
1. What does the new chapter in space travel refer to according to paragraph 2?| A．That humans landed on Mars for the first time. |
| B．That the first hotel on the Moon was set up. |
| C．That the first hotel guests landed on the Moon. |
| D．That the hotel on Mars welcomed its first guests. |
| A．They can't find much help. |
| B．They will get five-star service. |
| C．They have to cook food themselves. |
| D．They can use the bathroom in their room. |
| A．It will last for an hour. |
| B．It can be watched live on the Earth. |
| C．A minister on the Moon will host it. |
| D．Their relatives and friends will be present. |
| A．Accept reservations from others. |
| B．Improve room service for the couple. |
| C．Look for several employees for the hotel. |
| D．Prepare accommodations for future guests. |
1．科技发展改变生活；
2．过去和现在购物生活的变化；
3．畅想未来的购物方式。
注意：
1．词数80左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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1. 职业选择理由；
2. 职业特点：
3. 如何准备。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear teacher and classmates,
I am glad to have the chance to talk about my future career
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your listening.
5 . Rich as a King
William I, who conquered England some 930 years ago, had wealth, power and an army. Yet although William was very rich by the standard of his time, he had nothing like a flush toilet (抽水马桶), or riding lawn mower (除草机). How did he get by ?
History books are filled with wealthy people who were poor compared to me. I have storm windows, Croesus did not. Entire nations trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldn’ t buy cat food. Czar Nicholas lacked an electric saw.
Given how much better off I am than so many famous dead people, you’ d think I’d be content. The trouble is that, like most people, I compare my wealth with that of living persons: neighbors, school classmates, famous TV people. The greed I feel toward my friend Howard’ s new kitchen is not reduced by the fact no kings ever had a refrigerator with glass doors.
There is really no rising or falling standard of living. Over the centuries people simply find different things to feel sad about. You’ d think that simply not having disease would put us in a good mood, but no, we want a hot bath too.
Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to realize that even by today’ s standards the things I own are pretty nice. My house is smaller than the houses of many investment bankers, but even so it has a lot more rooms than my wife and I can keep clean.
Besides, to people looking back at our era from a century or two in the future, these bankers’ fancy counter tops and my own worn Formica will seem equally shabby. I can’t keep up with my neighbors right now. But just wait.
1. What can be inferred from paragraph 1&2 ?| A．What a luxury life they once led! |
| B．There were so many great rulers in history. |
| C．They could easily gain wealth than average people. |
| D．They might not live in a satisfactory way in the eyes of the writer. |
| A．2. | B．3. | C．4 | D．5 |
| A．tell us to be content with life | B．encourage us to struggle for wealth |
| C．recommend living in a simple way | D．teach us to learn lessons from life |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Cautious. | C．Uncertain. | D．Positive. |
6 . What will the future school look like is difficult to make clear, but most experts agree that the school will be electronic in the future.
“Present-day schools will no longer exist in the next century,” says a report in The Age. “At that time, future schools will become community-style centers, which run seven days a week, 24 hours a day.” At the same time,computers will surely become a central part of the school in the future.
According to The Age, the distant learning will be popular and students will listen to teachers on computers. Going into classrooms on their computers, students will study at any time, which is very easy for them. However, it is necessary for students to go to the actual school in order to develop some social skills.
The Seashore Primary School is an imaginary school in the future created by the Education Department of Australia. At this school, all the teachers and students have laptop computers. Teachers check messages and call students back on a special telephone system and students use telephones to search for information or speak to their experts who teach their lessons. Besides, all the lessons are related to all sorts of subjects and all the students have their own learning plans created by teachers.
As one headmaster says, a laptop computer is students' library. data storage as well as the bridge to a wider world. Technology has changed the emphasis of future learning. Thus, we'll pay more attention to the learning of kids rather than the teaching.
1. What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?| A．Present-day schools are more practical than future schools. |
| B．Students can't have discussions in future schools. |
| C．Future schools will be open to students all the time. |
| D．The number of teachers in future schools will become larger. |
| A．It has fewer desks and chairs. |
| B．Students study at a set time. |
| C．It has no teachers and books. |
| D．Students will go to actual school when necessary. |
| A．was built by the Education Department of Australia |
| B．is not a real school, but a virtual school at present |
| C．is very popular among teachers and students in Australia |
| D．is a successful example of the future school in the world |
| A．Objective. | B．Supportive. | C．Critical. | D．Contradictory. |
7 . When people see machines that respond like humans, or computers that perform amazing feats of strategy, they sometimes joke about a future in which humanity will need to accept robot overlords. But buried in the joke is a seed of unease. Science fiction writing and popular movies have shown us about artificial intelligence (AI) that exceeds the expectations of its creators and escapes their control, eventually outcompeting and enslaving humans or targeting them for extinction(灭绝).
Even in the real word, not everyone is ready to welcome AI with open arms. In recent years, as computer scientists have pushed the boundaries of what AI can accomplish, leading figures in technology and science have warmed about the frightening dangers that artificial intelligence may pose to humanity, even suggesting that AI capabilities could destroy the human race.
But why are people so frightened about the idea of AI?
Elon Musk is one of the famous voices that have raised red flags about AI, In July 2017. Musk told attendees at a meeting of the National Governors Association, I have exposured to the very cutting-edge Al,and I think people should be really concerned about it.I keep sounding the alarm bell. But until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don't know how to react, because it seems so impossible."
Earlier, in 2014, Musk had labeled AI "our biggest existential threat," and in August 2017, he declared that humanity faced a greater risk from AI than the terrorists. Physicist Stephen Hawking, who died on March14, also expressed concerns about AI, telling the BBC in 2014 that "the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.
1. What are top scientists in AI worried about?| A．Its ability of impressive fests. | B．It contributes too much to movies. |
| C．It may end the human race some day. | D．It's capability to bury our seeds in jokes. |
| A．Questions. | B．Warnings |
| C．Complaints. | D．Wonders. |
| A．be a great threat to human beings. | B．learn the human emotions like fear. |
| C．predict the future of the human race. | D．compose horrible tales into scary stories. |
| A．Technology | B．Health |
| C．Planet earth. | D．Human nature. |
