1 . Future living: what will the home of tomorrow look like?

What will our homes be like in the future? Growing cities, shrinking living spaces, and climate change are major challenges     1    (face) urban planners and architects. We’re sharing three trends with you     2     will shape the home we live in tomorrow.

Energy efficient and carbon neutral

One of the greatest challenges for homes of the future is our increasing energy consumption, something that cannot be covered by fossil fuels going forward.     3    the impact of climate change becoming notable, it’s perfectly understandable that the buildings of the future could function as environmentally friendly power plants. Solar collectors and heat storage systems allow     4     are known as ‘plus-energy buildings’ to produce 100 percent renewable energy for emission-free operation.

The trend to downsizing

Living more efficiently not only means improving energy use and reducing one’s own carbon footprint, but also building to save space. Rooms     5    (design) to be multifunctional when there’s not a dedicated room available for every potential purpose. Modular and flexible furnishing systems that can be adapted to the individual floor space and room zones will replace     6    (fix) structures, ensuring that there’s room for everything even in a small space.   

Trends for living and working under one roof

Over the last few months, the office     7    (become) a feature in many people’s homes. For a number of years now, the home office has been evolving from a make-do desk into a comfortable long-term solution. This development means we need to ask     8     how we should construct our living spaces to allow us to concentrate and work productively.   

    9     you rent or own your own home in the future, what’s clear is that the home of tomorrow will be smarter, more flexible, and more sustainable. It will offer us space     10    (live), sleep and work both indoors and outdoors.

Cities are    1     (excite) and wonderful places to live. I have always enjoyed     2     (live) in them, as there is so much     3     (do) and see. There are museums, cinemas, theatres, art galleries, parks, clubs and many other places where people can meet and exchange     4     (idea). But there are times     5     I need the peace and quiet of the countryside. Cities are     6     (interest), and they can be beautiful,     7     they are never beautiful in the way that the countryside is. By this I mean that they do not have the     8     (beautiful) of nature, trees and hills, lakes and streams. I love cities, but sometimes I need to get out into the countryside. I think that there     9     (be) many people who feel     10     same way.

Have you ever forgotten     1    (lock) the door of your house? Or, have you ever forgotten to switch off the TV     2    computer? These kinds of things happen       3     us all the time, waste resources, and can sometimes lead to       4     (problem). However,   in the not-too-distant future, we     5    (live) in smart homes     6     will lock the door for us when we       7     away and remember to switch off the TV when we forget. These smart homes will keep us     8     (security), save us energy, and provide     9     more comfortable environment     10     (live) in.

Stall holders (小摊贩) at     1     bustling night market in Dongyang, Zhejiang province, now have one less thing to worry about after the local trade union federation helped establish a child care center, which spend the same amount of time on a daily basis tending their youngsters as they do     2     (earn) bread and butter at night.

The center     3     (launch) in June on Zhenxing Road to help relieve the pressure on many of those running its 435 street stalls, many of     4     are migrant workers from around the country     5     local relatives to help take care of their children.

During a visit     6     (early) this year to the crowded and noisy market in the     7     (city) Wuning subdistrict, Mao Fenghua, head of the local trade union federation, found a child doing homework near a street stall. “The night market is noisy and crowded. It is hard for the children to keep their attention     8     (focus) on their studies with all the noise, and the parents will never be able to concentrate on their business     9     they have to look after their children,” she said.

Mao visited every stall along the road to learn about     10     (convenient) facing the parents. One of these was Xia Qiongfang, from Hubei province, who sells screen protectors for mobile devices at the night market alongside her husband.

Hutongs are the many little alleys that connect the courtyards of     1     (tradition) houses. They are a feature of ancient Chinese architecture. Nowadays, hutongs also refer to the courtyards and the communities there. Most of Beijing’s hutongs were built between the 13^th and 19^th    2     (century). The Emperors during these periods built hutongs to help keep control over the city. They were then able to place guards at the entrances of the     3     (vary) of hutongs, making it easier to keep     4     eye on people’s movements. People’s houses     5     (build) facing each other around courtyards,    6     people supported each other, and shared the joy and sorrow, and played together. Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, hutongs were built     7     (house) the increasing population, but they were     8     (poor) made. After the People’s Republic of China was founded, the government undertook the preservation of many hutongs. Hutongs,    9     (show) that Beijing is truly ancient     10     modern, are important and are loved by the tourists.

Back in my country, when I was a child, I used to go to “market day” with my mother. One day each week, farmers used to bring their fruit and vegetables into the city. They closed one street    1     all cars, and the farmers set up tables for their produce. This outdoor market was a great place to shop. Everything was fresher than produce in grocery stores    2     the farmers brought it in immediately after the harvest. My mother and I always got there early in the morning to get    3    (fresh)produce.

The outdoor market was a wonderful adventure for a small child,     4     was like a festival-full of colours and sounds. There are red tomatoes, yellow lemons, green lettuce, peppers, grapes, onions. The farmers did their own advertising. They all shouted loudly for customers to buy their produce. “Come and buy my beautiful oranges! They’re juicy and delicious and full of vitamins    5     (make)your children healthy and strong!”

Everyone used to argue with the farmers    6     the price of their produce. It was like a wonderful drama in a theatre; the buyers and sellers were the “actors” in this drama. My mother was an expert    7     this. First, she picked the freshest, most attractive tomatoes, for example. Then she asked the price. The seller told her.

“What?” she said. She looked very surprised. “So expensive?”

The seller looked terribly hurt. “My dear lady!” he replied. “I’m a poor, honest farmer. These    8    (be)the cheapest tomatoes on the market!”

They always argued for several minutes before    9    (agree)on a price. My mother took her tomatoes and left.     10     buyer and seller were satisfied. The drama was over.

When we think of green buildings, we tend to think of new ones — the kind of modern, solar-paneled masterpieces. But the US     1     (have) more than 100 million existing homes, and it would be incredibly wasteful to tear them all down.

An enormous amount of energy and     2     (resource) went into the construction of those houses. And it would take     3     average of 65 years for the reduced carbon emissions from a new energy-efficient home to make up for the resources       4     (lose) by destroying an old one. So in the broadest sense, the     5     (green) home is the one that has already been built. But at the same time, nearly half of US carbon emissions come from heating, cooling     6     powering our buildings. They can’t deal with climate change without dealing     7     existing buildings.

The oldest homes tend to be the least energy-efficient, mainly due to the tiny cracks and gaps that expand over time and let in more outside air.

    8     (fortune), there are a vast number of relatively simple changes     9     can green older homes. And efficiency upgrades can save more than just the earth; they can help protect property owners from     10     (rise) power costs.

This is the village     1     I was brought up,     2     is surrounded by trees and mountains. I still remember the days     3    I played with my little friends. We often went to a nearby river,    4    we caught fish. But we usually went home late. That’s the reason     5     I often was scolded by my parents. Although there were only three hundred people there, the people enjoyed     6     (them) and got along well     7     each other. They worked in the field,    8    a variety of crops were planted. The only school was     9     (locate) in the centre of the village,    10    which many students graduated.

Morgan’s Inspiration Island is a water park in San Antonio, Texas. It is accessible to people with disabilities. The attractions, which include Rainbow Reef, Shipwreck Island, and even a boat ride,    1     (be) all wheelchair accessible. Though all people are welcome, the park offers free     2     (admit) to anyone with a disability.

The water park    3    (found) by Gordon and Maggie Hartman. Their daughter, Morgan, has special needs, and they were     4    (concern) about how inaccessible many theme parks were to her. So they set out to create a park of their own    5    people with disabilities could play. Before the water park’s official opening, the Hartmans invited members of the disabled community     6     (try) out the park. Teaming up     7    doctors, theme park experts, and special education teachers, they’ve created a seriously creative experience.

The University of Pittsburgh helped create a new kind of wheelchair particularly for     8    park. To make it convenient for guests sensitive (敏感的) to the cold, the park has a feature that     9     (rapid) warms up the water. In addition, recycling the water it uses is one of the park’s     10    (way) to make the park environmentally friendly.

A 150,695-square-foot organic rooftop (屋顶) garden will open in the heart of Paris.

More than 30 different plant species will be grown on the roof and gardeners will be able to harvest lots of fruit every day. The fresh produce will be used     1     (feed) local communities and supply a restaurant in the building. The project will use     2    (advance) watering technology and doesn’t require soil, making the farming process     3    (incredible) resource-efficient.

This farming project will provide a window into a rapidly growing form of agriculture that could significantly improve global food security, fight against climate change, and reduce air    4    (pollute).

“The goal     5     (be) to make the farm a globally recognized model for sustainable production,” said Pascal Hardy, founder of Agripolis, the urbanfarming company behind the project.

    6    is obvious that urban farming has become increasingly popular in recent years. Countries such as Singapore are betting big    7    the success of urban farming to improve food security.

In 2016, the Parisian government     8    (launch) a program called Parisculteurs,    9     objective is to create 100 hectares (公顷) of green space in the capital by 2020.

Once Agripolis’ farms start producing fruits and vegetables, the city will be well on its way to     10    (achieve) this goal.