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 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.
In what concerns the environment, water will have become 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 computers to control the speed of the car and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell the drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer 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 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.
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?. What may happen in the field of entertainment in the future?
| A．The programme made by yourself may be sent to TV. |
| B．A computer may choose TV programmes for you. |
| C．You may choose the channels from the menu in a computer. |
| D．What to broadcast on TV is decided by yourself. |
. After reading Paragraph 3, we can know _______.
| A．we should take measures to save water from now on |
| B．fruits will be more and more expensive |
| C．people will be short of supplies of vegetables |
| D．planting will need much less water in the future |
. ________ is the main factor that makes driving much safe in the future
| A．Good traffic condition | B．A good knowledge of driving skill |
| C．The role played by computer | D．The use of new fuel in cars |
. 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. |
B
MAP ARTIST PROGRAM
Map Artist is the perfect tool for creating customized maps to include in research projects and reports. Map Artist offers endless possibilities. It has a huge collection of map styles to choose from, and they can be customized to suit your special needs. In this program, we will assume you have been asked to create a map for a social studies report.
Step 1. When you open Map Artist, a world map will be displayed. Type “USA” in the dialogue box. Click GO. A map of USA will be displayed.
Step 2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the outline map of the state. Click on the type of map you need for your report.
· OUTLINE shows only the outline shape of the state with no highways or population centers indicated.
· TOPOGRAPHIC indicates elevations（海拔）as well as the location of major cities.
· SHADED RELIEF shows only natural landforms (mountains, valleys, rivers) and national parks.
· POLITICAL shows major cities, interstates, and major highways.
· HISTORICAL recalls the oldest maps on record.
For the purposes of this program, select OUTLINE. A map showing an outline of USA will be displayed.
Step 3. Click CUSTOMIZE on the menu bar down the left side of the screen.
CUSTOMIZE allows you to place custom data on the map you have selected.
1．Click on the button next to the appropriate symbol. For practice, click on the shovel, which symbolizes archaeology.
2．Next to the word TEXT, type “The Presidio”, which is an archaeological site near San Francisco.
3．Now use your mouse to click on the spot on the map where you would like this data to be placed.
4．You can add as many sites as you wish.
Step 4. Click SAVE if you would like to save the map to a file. Later, after opening the saved document, click on the map with your right mouse button and select COPY. And then PASTE it at the location where you want the map to appear.If your report is about Plants and Animals in New York, you may click on__________ map.
| A．HISTORICAL | B．SHADED RELIEF |
| C．TOPOGRAPHIC | D．POLITICAL |
Which function is required to place a specific location on a CUSTOMIZE map?
| A．Clicking on GO. | B．Cutting and pasting. |
| C．Clicking on the map. | D．Opening the file. |
Which of the following orders is true according to the Map Artist Program?
A
A young man returns to his hometown of Aractataca, Colombia. He visits the house where he lived as a child. Here, he remembers the most important memories of his childhood. Standing in front of his old house, the young man makes an important decision. He says to himself, “I will start my life over again. I will become a writer.”
This man is the world famous writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born on March 6, 1928. During his early life, Garcia Marquez’s grandmother and grandfather told him many stories. His grandmother would tell him legends as if they were real. Garcia Marquez says that his grandmother’s way of storytelling later influenced his own methods.
When Garcia Marquez was about 20 years old, he left Aractataca and attended university in Bogota. He began studying law because this was what his father wanted him to study. However, Garcia Marquez was not happy.
During this time Garcia Marquez returned to Aractataca. It was on this visit that he realized he must stop studying law. And he recognized that he must return to the dream of his childhood-writing. For the next few years, Garcia Marquez wrote for many different newspapers. And in 1955, he published his first book called “Leaf Storm”.
For many years, Garcia Marquez knew he wanted to write about his grandfather’s house in Aractataca. To write this book, Garcia Marquez and his wife had to sell almost all of their possessions to survive. But their act was worth it. The book, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” was immediately successful. And this book created a path for Garcia Marquez’s future success.
In 1982, Gabriel Garcia Marquez was given the Nobel Prize in Literature for his book “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, making him the first Colombian and the fourth Latin American to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.Who influenced Garcia Marquez’s writing style?
| A．His grandfather. | B．His father. |
| C．His grandmother. | D．His wife. |
Garcia decided to take up writing_________.
| A．when he worked for a newspaper |
| B．under the influence of his family |
| C．when he graduated from college |
| D．after a visit to his hometown |
Garcia’s book “One Hundred Years of Solitude” .
| A．was written in the 1950s |
| B．enjoyed a quick success |
| C．helped Garcia lead a better life |
| D．was about Garcia’s grandfather |
San Francisco(People's Daily Online)-- Apple Inc. Tuesday introduced its mobile payment service Apple Pay alongside the company's iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California.
What apple does is to replace consumers' wallet with its cell phone. Apple said it hopes to speed up the checkout process, make credit-card payments more secure and ultimately, to replace physical wallets.
With the near-field communication technology, Apple's gadgets like iPhone and Apple watch can transmit a radio signal between the device and a receiver when the two are in an inch apart. "To pay, just hold your iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID. You don’t even have to look at the screen to know your payment information was successfully sent," Apple says on its official website.
Apple said that each transaction (交易)would be authorized(授权) with a one-time, unique number, creating a security code that it said is more secure than the one on the back of your credit card because cashiers won’t see your name, card number or security code. The service will work with the three major payment networks — American Express, MasterCard and Visa — and Apple said that there are 220,000 merchant locations that accept these contactless payments.
When some applaud this disrupted service that will compete with Paypal and endanger other online payment companies, some others concern about its safety, especially when another retailer Home Depot confirmed a data opening yesterday and iCloud was reported exposing nude (裸体)pictures of celebrities (名人) a week ago.
Leo Zheng, a technology reporter in Silicon Valley said: "When Apple attracts consumers to put all their cards into one iPhone and promised the security, Jennifer Lawrence should say something."Which can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Apple announces mobile payment service to replace consumers' wallet. |
| B．Consumers can pay in cash through mobile phones. |
| C．Apple Inc. will introduce new models to the market. |
| D．Mobile payment will be popular soon. |
After reading the third paragraph, we know.
| A．Apple’s new products are popular |
| B．Apple can be used as an ID |
| C．Apple's gadgets can receive message easily |
| D．how Apple's gadgets work |
The attitude of the writer towards the mobile payment is .
| A．indifferent (冷漠的) | B．objective |
| C．skeptical | D．positive |
What could have happened to Jennifer Lawrence?
| A．She made great contributions to Apple. |
| B．She put all her cards into her iPhone. |
| C．Her nude pictures were spread online. |
| D．Her iPhone often broke down. |
For centuries, the body’s blood has been linked closely with the emotions. People who show no human emotions or feelings, are said to be cold-blooded killer. For example, the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer. He seems to kill for no reason, and no emotion, as if taking someone’s life as nothing.
Cold can affect other parts of the body. The expression “get cold feet” has nothing to do with cold or your feet. The expression means being afraid to do something you have decided to do. For example, you agree to be president of an organization. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned, and all the work of the organization will be your responsibility. You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation.
The expression “give someone the cold shoulder” probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face to face. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you. Or, to someone who has lied about you to others.
A cold fish is not a fish. It is a person. But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone. Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted. Now a cold-hearted person is someone who has no sympathy. Several popular songs in recent years were about cold-hearted men or cold-hearted women who, without feelings, broke the hearts of their lovers.
Out in the cold means not getting something that everybody else got. A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise--he was left out in the cold. And it is not a pleasant place to be.There are _____ expressions related to cold that are mentioned in the passage.
| A．3 | B．4 | C．6 | D．7 |
When you refuse to speak to a man and treat him in a distant way, you may express by “_________”.
| A．I give him the cold shoulder |
| B．I think he is a cold-blooded man |
| C．I think he is a cold fish |
| D．I’m likely to get cold feet |
If Sue shows absolutely no reaction to those awful pictures of starving children in Africa, you will say _________.
| A．she is a cold-blooded killer |
| B．she gets cold feet |
| C．she is a cold fish |
| D．she is out in the cold |
We can use the expression “__________” to describe a man who abandons or hurts his lover without mercy.
| A．cold-blooded | B．cold shoulder |
| C．cold feet | D．cold-hearted |
The topic of this passage is about _________.
| A．the relationship between cold and our body |
| B．some expressions about friendship |
| C．some expressions connected with cold |
| D．how cold weather comes into being |
“Have a nice day!” may be a pleasant gesture or a meaningless. When my friend Maxie says “Have a nice day” with a smile, I know she sincerely cares about what happens to me. I feel loved and secure since another person cares about me and wishes me well.
“Have a nice day. Next!” This version of the expression is spoken by a salesgirl at the supermarket who is rushing me and my groceries out the door. The words come out in the same tone (腔调) with a fixed procedure. They are spoken at me, not to me. Obviously, the concern for my day and everyone else’s is the management’s attempt to increase business.
The expression is one of those behaviors that help people get along with each other. Sometimes it indicates the end of a meeting. As soon as you hear it, you know the meeting is at an end. Sometimes the expression saves us when we don’t know what to say “oh, you may have a tooth out? I’m terribly sorry, but have a nice day.”
The expression can be pleasant. If a stranger says “Have a nice day” to you, you may find it heart-warming because someone you don’t know has tried to be nice to you.
Although the use of the expression is an insincere, meaningless social custom at times, there is nothing wrong with the sentence except that it is a little uninteresting. The salesgirl, the waitress, the teacher, and all the countless others who speak it without thinking may not really care about my day. But in a strange and comfortable way, it’s nice to know they care enough to pretend they care when they really don’t care all that much. While the expression may not often be sincere, it is always spoken. The point is that people say it all the time when they like.How does the author understand Maxie’s words?
| A．Maxie shows her anxiety to the author. |
| B．Maxie really wishes the author a good day. |
| C．Maxie encourages the author to stay happy. |
| D．Maxie really worries about the author’s security. |
By saying “Have a nice day,” a stranger may _____.
| A．try to be polite to you |
| B．express respect to you |
| C．give his blessing to you |
| D．share his pleasure with you |
According to the last paragraph, people say “Have a nice day”_______.
| A．sincerely | B．as thanks |
| C．as a habit | D．encouragingly |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Have a Nice Day—a Social Custom. |
| B．Have a Nice Day—a Pleasant Gesture. |
| C．Have a Nice Day—a Heart-warming Greeting. |
| D．Have a Nice Day—a Polite Ending of a Conversation. |