What picture do you have of the future? Will life in the future be better, worse of the same as now? What do you hope about the future?
Futurologists predict that life will probably be very different 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 puter 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 puter thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programmes, newspapers and books will e to us by puter.
In what concerns the environment, water will have bee one of our most serious problems. In many places, agriculture is changing and they are growing fruit and vegetables to export. This uses a lot of water. Demand for water will increase ten times between now and 2050 and there could be serious shortages. Some futurologists predict that water could be the cause of war if we don’t act now.
In transport, cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have puters to control the speed of the car and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have puters that tell the drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the puter will control the car and drive it to your destination. On the other hand, space planes will take people half way around the world in two hours. Nowadays, the United States Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again. By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angels to Tokyo in just two hours.
In the field of technology, robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big panies 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.
In particular, medicine technology will have conquered many diseases. Today, there are electronic devices that connect directly to the brain to help people hear. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people see again and hear again and scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have. Scientists will be able to do these things — but should they?
【小题1】. What may happen in the field of entertainment in the future? A．The programme made by yourself may be sent to TV.B．A puter may choose TV programmes for you.C．You may choose the channels from the menu in a puter.D．What to broadcast on TV is decided by yourself.【小题2】. After reading Paragraph 3, we can know .A．we should take measures to save water from now onB．fruits will be more and more expensiveC．people will be short of supplies of vegetablesD．planting will need much less water in the future【小题3】. is the main factor that makes driving much safe in the futureA．Good traffic conditionB．A good knowledge of driving skillC．The role played by puterD．The use of new fuel in cars【小题4】. The following statements are wrong EXCEPT according to the text.A．The future world will be controlled by robots.B．People won’t be blind or deaf in the future.C．Fewer and fewer workers are needed in the future in factories.D．Scientists have the right to clone people of different kinds.D
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(答案→)D
解析：本文是关于未来生活的一篇文章，非常有趣，能引起读者的阅读兴趣！
【小题1】Ｄ 细节题。第二段最后三行可知未来电视节目可以由电脑来控制。
【小题2】Ａ 推理题。根据文章第三段，尤其是最后一句Some futurologists predict that water could be the cause of war if we don’t act now.可知水可能是未来战争的原因，所以现在就应该采取措施了。
【小题3】Ｃ 细节题文章第四段可以知道未来的车辆是由电脑控制的。
【小题4】Ｃ 推理题文章倒数第二段可以得知在未来的工厂里将由机器人代替人类。