1 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下对话。
1. What’s the man’s dream?| A．To be an artist. | B．To be a teacher. | C．To be a scientist. |
| A．It proved that the earth was still. |
| B．It was influenced by Newton and Einstein. |
| C．It is the basis of ideas about the universe today. |
| A．The earth. | B．The sun. | C．God. |
| A．He wasn’t sure of his theory until then. |
| B．He was afraid of being punished. |
| C．His friends told him not to publish it. |
2 . 
2050
My lights turn on automatically. It’s 6.50 a.m. and the house is waking me up. Still sleepy, I find my uniform in the wardrobe and put it on. It had been washed, ironed, and hung up the night before by Lina X15––my family’s housekeeper. When I was younger, she was my nanny. She’s been with me all my life. My parents didn’t have time for children then and Lina, advertised as a reliable helper, looked after me. That’s why my parents bought her. Almost everyone has an X15 today.
I enter the kitchen. My breakfast sits there, waiting for me. Always the same. Planned, with a controlled quantity. The government says our planet can’t deal with overpopulation. Food is grown in laboratories, and every house receives just enough food––no more, no less. Mum always talks about the old days when people had vegetable gardens and could go to the market to buy food. Animals actually lived in the wild and not in carefully controlled zoos. It’s all I’ve ever known.
Robots are everywhere now; they are usually referred to as “zoids.” When they first came on the market in 2030, everyone wanted one. Now, twenty years later, they’ve taken over. They do almost everything. They work in labs and factories, fix teeth and perform surgeries. My dad used to be a surgeon before they found that “zoids” could do surgery better than humans. Less room for error, I guess.
I walk to the window and look out over the landscape. All I see are buildings and interconnecting tunnels. Grey skyscrapers, all identical. I can spot my school—it is just over to the right, but it looks the same as every other building. Today we are having a lecturer from Los Angeles speak to us about the extinction of different species of animals, like the polar bear and the elephant. I find it strange that even with all our technology, we couldn’t save them.
I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around.
“It’s time for school,” Lina says, her metallic voice echoing around the room, “Don’t be late.”
“On my way,” I reply. “I’ll be back by 6 p.m.”
I rush out the door and go down 60 floors to join the other children in my building. We’ve always walked through the tunnels to get to school. We’ve always breathed recycled air. We are children who have never been outside. I wonder what it’s like. Perhaps Lina can explain it to me.
·Comprehension Plus
1. Complete the table with information from the text.
Predictions about the future
Aspects of future life | Predictions |
| Future housework | Robots will do most of the housework. |
| Future food | |
| Future jobs | |
| Future buildings | |
| Future environment |
Answer the questions.
2. Would you like to have an X15 at home? Why or why not?
3. Do you think the overpopulation problem mentioned in the text might arise in the future? Why or why not?
4. Do you think the animal extinctions mentioned in the text are likely to happen in the future? In your view, how likely is it that endangered animals will be saved with advances in technology?
5. The children breathe recycled air in the story. Do you think that will happen in the future? Why or why not?
6. What is the author’s attitude towards the future? How did you know that?
