Life in the twenty-first century
The World Future Society is a group of people from more than 80 countries who are interested in how modern technology is making our world better, and who write reports about how it will change our lives.
The things that we will be able to do in the twenty-first century (since the year 2000) should help us live better lives in many ways, at home and at work, in our own country and around the world. Here are just some of them, put into five groups.
People
People may live for up to 120 years and use new technology to help when people go blind, deaf and have other problems. The number of people over a hundred years old could go from 135,000 today to 2.2 million people by 2050. By 2015 people think that 100 million workers will be able to work from home for a company in a different country by using the Internet.
Money
Worldwide e-business will become even more successful with online shops that sell special products for each person, which will be brought to their house the next day.
Environment
The technology for making energy from wind and the Sun is growing very quickly. In the future wind and Sun energy could become much cheaper and many more countries could use it. This would be very useful in poor countries. The air in big cities would also become much cleaner and healthier as a result.
Society and culture
The Internet will help to create more worldwide friendships. Families may spend more time together as people will be able to do 24-hour online banking and shopping.
Technology
The new science of “nanotechnology” (very small robots or machines) will make all sorts of products smaller and lighter. Very, very small machines could take away rubbish, make things in factories, and help inside the human body by taking away fat. By 2012 people will be able to wear these small machines that look like watches, which will give them lots of information about their body and keep them healthy.What does the World Future Society do?
| A．Look at how technology will make people happy. |
| B．Look at how technology will change the world. |
| C．Make technology work better for themselves. |
| D．Make small machines to make us healthier. |
How will technology help people?
| A．Help all people live for over 120 years. |
| B．Help disabled people to get jobs. |
| C．Make people healthier and live longer. |
| D．Help workers to use the Internet. |
How will people go shopping?
| A．In special shops. |
| B．Using the Internet at certain times. |
| C．Using the Internet any time of the day. |
| D．Using nanotechnology. |
How will technology help the environment?
| A．Poor countries will have enough energy. |
| B．Wind energy will be cheaper than Sun energy. |
| C．We will not need wind and Sun energy. |
| D．Wind and Sun energy will be cheaper. |
The new science of “nanotechnology” will ___________.
| A．drive small machines to work for people |
| B．make good-quality watches |
| C．allow people to eat more |
| D．make very small products |
Mom and Dad are two of the most important people in your life. Over your lifetime, they may influence you more than anyone else you will meet. So if your mom loves to read, you just might grow up carrying a book wherever you go, just as she does. But parents do a lot more than just pass on their hobbies. Moms and Dads need to care for their kids the minute their kids are born. Most parents will do this as long as they live.
Here are some ways you can stay close, get along well, and build a strong relationship(关系) with your parents.
Spend time together. Instead of playing computer games or watching TV, ask your mom and dad to play with you. Go outside together, or do some reading.
Be kind. Little things might mean a lot to your mom or dad. You can brighten a parent’s day with a hug, a card , or a joke. It’s also lovely when a kid cleans up his or her room without being asked. And if you try not to fight with your brothers or sisters, your parents will be so happy!
Do your best at whatever you do. You don’t have to be perfect, but when you do your best, you make your parents proud. It makes them happy to see how you’re turning into a great kid. Why? Because it lets them know they’re doing a good job.Who may influence you more than anyone else you will meet according to the passage?
| A．Teachers | B．Friends |
| C．Parents | D．Grandparents |
Which of the following can’t help you build a strong relationship with your parents?
| A．Spending time together |
| B．Being kind. |
| C．Doing your best at whatever you do. |
| D．playing computer games or watching TV |
Your parents will be unhappy if you __________.
| A．clean up his or her room without being asked |
| B．fight with your brothers or sisters |
| C．try your best to do something |
| D．give them a hug |
How many ways can you stay close, get along well, and build a strong
relationship with your parents?
| A．2 | B．3 | C．4 | D．5 |
If you have no special plans for your holidays, why not spend your time helping others?
Don’t listen to people who say the young people today often think only of themselves. It’s not true at all. More and more people in the USA volunteer（自愿）to spend their school holidays working for others. And they don’t do it for money. Here are some of their stories.
Alice Hamilton, 17
I’m going to help the Forest Centre build new hiking paths in the mountains. It’s going to be terrific—I’ll spend the whole summer living in the tent and breathing the clean mountain air. I’m going to sleep under the stars, It’ll be a nice sport, and I’ll be able to do something good at the same time.
Jason Moore, 18
This summer, I’m going to volunteer with Special House Program. They build good, low-cost houses and sell them to families that are not very rich. They’ll teach me what to do, so I’ll help people and also have a chance to learn how to build houses.
Trish Anderson, 16
I’m going to teach kids who have trouble reading. I’ll work for a program called “Reading for Life”. Every day, I’m going to help kids choose and read books that they like. I want to be a teacher and I love children and reading, so this is going to be a great experience for me.What does Alice volunteer to do in summer?
| A．To breathe the clean mountain air. |
| B．To spend the whole summer living in the tent. |
| C．To sleep under the stars. |
| D．To help build new hiking paths in the mountain. |
From the passage, we know that Special House Program helps____.
| A．children in poor families |
| B．workers who build houses |
| C．poor families that can’t afford（负担得起）houses |
| D．build hiking paths |
Which is the most possible title for this passage?
| A．Reading for Life | B．Special House Program |
| C．The Forest Centre | D．Young American volunteers |
Museum of Transport at Boylet St , Cheetham, Manchester
Enjoy a trip to the Museum of Transport, a working museum showing the development (发展) of road public transport in Manchester. There are over 80 buses from 1890 to 1980. Over 100 shows, from hours-bus to modern train. The museum has small shows describing the history of bus, coach and train. If you are interested in it, welcome to click here and you can see some pictures of them on the screen and get more information about them.
Opening hours and ticket prices
Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays
9:00 a.m. ~ 4:00 p.m. (Nov. ~ Feb. )
10:00 a.m. ~ 5:00 p.m. (Mar. ~ Oct.)
Adults $3. 00, Students $1.75, Children under 5 free.
Family ticket ( up to two adults and three children) $ 9.00
E-mail : www. gmts. co. ukYou may read this advertisement in __________.
| A．a radio program | B．a newspaper |
| C．a TV program | D．a website |
If you would like to visit the Museum of Transport , when will it be possible?
| A．At 9:30 a.m. on October 26th |
| B．At 2:00 p.m. on Tuesdays |
| C．At 4:30 p.m. on May Day |
| D．At 4:10 p.m. on New Year’s Day |
If you and your elder brother are both middle school students, your parents take both of you to visit the museum, you should pay at least __________ in all.
| A．$6 | B．$9 |
| C．$9.5 | D．$12 |
I never saw my father come home from work late or ill, nor did I ever see my father take a “night out with the boys”. He had no hobbies but just took care of his family.
For 22 years, since I left home for college , my father called me every Sunday at 9:00 am. He was always interested in my life----how my family was doing. The calls even came when he and my mother were in Australia, England or Florida.
Nine years ago when I bought my first house, my father, 67 years old, spent eight hours a day for three days, painting my house. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All he asked, was a glass of iced tea, and that I hold a paintbrush for him and talk to him. But I was too busy, for I had a law practice to run, and I could not take the time to hold the paintbrush, or talk to my father.
Five years ago, my 71-year-old father spent five hours putting together a swing set(秋千) for my daughter. Again, all he asked was that I get him a glass of iced tea, and talk to him. But again, I had laundry to do, and the house to clean.
The morning on Sunday, January 16, 1996, my father telephoned me as usual, this time he had seemed to have forgotten some things we had discussed the week before. I had to get to church, and I cut the conversation short.
The call came at 4:40 am. That day my father was sent to hospital in Florida. I got on a plane immediately, and I vowed(发誓) that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a nice long talk with him and really get to know him.
I arrived in Florida at 1:00 am, but my father had died at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, time to wait for me.
In the years since his death I have learnt much about my father, and even more about myself. As a father, he never asked me for anything but my time. Now he has all my attention, every single day.We know from the reading that the father .
| A．liked to paint houses |
| B．had no friends around him |
| C．was not healthy in his youth |
| D．thought of his family as his all |
When her father painted her first house, the daughter.
| A．could only afford a glass of iced tea |
| B．was too busy to talk to her father |
| C．could do nothing but hold a paintbrush |
| D．spent eight hours a day working with her father |
On January 16, 1996, the daughter felt that her father .
| A．seemed to be a little different |
| B．had no time to phone her as usual |
| C．became interested in church |
| D．had forgotten to discuss some things with her |
In the reading the underlined phrase “get to know him” most probably means .
| A．get him to know her | B．know more about him |
| C．get him to know himself | D．make him well-known |
Which is the best title of the reading?.
| A．Painting Houses |
| B．Daughter’s Family |
| C．Father and I |
| D．Father’s Phone Calls |
Once there was a man travelling in a faraway village. As he was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped. He found that these huge elephants were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains(锁链), no cages. It was clear that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their ropes but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn’t try to get away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they still believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free.”
How could it be? These animals could at any time break free from their ropes. But because they were always stuck(固定) right where they were, they believed they couldn’t.
Just like the elephants, how many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, just because we failed at it once before?
We should never give up the struggle(斗争) in life.What did the writer see in the village？
| A．Chains | B．Elephants. |
| C．Cages. | D．Farmers. |
Why do the elephants never try to break free from the ropes?
| A．Because they think they can not.. |
| B．Because they are too old to do it. |
| C．Because they like their living places. |
| D．Because they get on well with the trainer. |
How did the man feel after he heard what the trainer said?
| A．Moved. | B．Surprised. |
| C．Angry. | D．Nervous. |
Which of the following is the missing part(空白处) in the last paragraph?
| A．Failing is part of learning |
| B．We should be different from others |
| C．Helping animals is helping ourselves |
| D．Travelling always makes people relaxed |
What is the best title for this text?
| A．A Pleasant Trip | B．A Cruel Trainer |
| C．Elephant Training | D．The Elephant Rope |