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.
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．In special shops. |
| B．Using the Internet at certain times. |
| C．Using the Internet any time of the day. |
| D．Using nanotechnology. |
| 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. |
| A．drive small machines to work for people |
| B．make good-quality watches |
| C．allow people to eat more |
| D．make very small products |
Most people will rest and relax when they are old. They do not work. And most people are certainly not famous. But Grandma Moses is different. She starts a new job at the age of 76.
This is her story. She was born in a poor farmer's family in 1860. Her parents named her Anna Mary Robertson. She married Thomas Moses in 1887. He was a farm worker.
Now it is 1930. Anna Mary Moses is 70, and is a grandmother. She begins to paint pictures. She does paintings of country life. One day, her daughter takes her paintings to a store in town. Her paintings are put in the window. A man from New York sees the paintings in the window and
buys them. And he wants more!
The man likes Grandma Moses' paintings. He wants to help her. So he takes her paintings to galleries(美术馆) in New York City. Otto Kallir has a famous gallery there. He likes the paintings by Grandma Moses. Now it is 1940 and Grandma Moses' paintings are in Kallir's gallery. She is 80 years old.
Grandma Moses suddenly becomes famous. Everyone wants her paintings. So she paints more and more. She wins many prizes for her paintings. She becomes famous in the United States and Europe.
When she is 100 years old, the State of New York makes her birthday “Grandma Moses' Day". After her 100th birthday, she paints 6 more paintings. She dies at age 101 and a lot of people think she is amazing.How is Grandma Moses different from most other old people?
| A．She has more grandchildren. | B．She has her own art gallery. |
| C．She lives an easy life. | D．She starts a new job. |
Grandma Moses' paintings are first bought by _______.
| A．a man from New York | B．her daughter |
| C．Otto Kallir's gallery | D．the owner of a store in town |
The writer of the passage thinks that _______.
| A．Grandma Moses is too old to paint at age 100 |
| B．people like her paintings but do not like her |
| C．it is never too late to start a new job |
| D．many people prefer paintings by old ladies |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Grandma Moses and New York State | B．Grandma Moses and Painting |
| C．Grandma Moses' family | D．Grandma Moses' Day |
Everyone has worries. How do you deal with your worries? There is always something you can do to help yourself feel less worried. Sitting there worrying is no fun and it won't solve your problems.
Grades at school are often a top worry for kids, If you worry most about grades, ask yourself these questions:
●Why are grades important? What do grades mean to me?
●How do I get ready for class? Do I go over my notes even when there isn't a test?
●Do I have a good place to do my homework?
●Have I tried different ways of studying?
If your worry is about a fight you had with your friend, you might write down ail the things you could do-write a note to him or her, invite him or her to watch a basketball game, say sorry to him or her and so on. Once you have a list of things you could do, you can choose one thing that could get your friend back.
You can ask for help when you're worried. You can find someone to talk to, such as your parents, friends, and teachers,What do kids often worry most about?
| A．Their hobbies. | B．Their homework. |
| C．Their marks at school. | D．A fight with their friends. |
According to the passage, when you're worried, you'd better _______.
| A．work hard | B．talk to someone |
| C．get ready for class | D．write down your worries |
What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．Who is often worried. | B．When people are worried. |
| C．How to deal with worries, | D．What kinds of worries people have. |
One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, "Look! There's a horseshoe. Pick it up and put it in your bag." Thomas said, “It isn't worth the trouble." His father said nothing but picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries.
The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on, At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it.
After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost some time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.
And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the cherries, his father said to him, "My dear son, if you had bent down earlier to pick up that horseshoe, it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that anyone who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things,The farmer bought _______with the money after he sold the horseshoe.
| A．some food | B．some water | C．some cherries | D．some pennies |
The father dropped the cherries one by one, because _______.
| A．he wanted his son to eat them all | B．he wanted his son to do more exercise |
| C．he wanted to teach his son a lesson | D．he wanted his son to pick them up |
From the story, we can learn that _______.
| A．cherries are so delicious that most of us like to eat them |
| B．a horseshoe is so expensive that it can bring us a lot of money |
| C．if the boy wants to eat cherries, he must pick up the horseshoe |
| D．if we want to do some great things, we should start with some small ones |
Many places in the world need more fresh water. Every country is trying to find ways to turn salt water into fresh. Why aren’t there many factories like the Symi factory?
In some places the sun is not hot enough. Or it does not shine every day.
In such places other ways of heating sea water can be used. These ways cost more money, but they work faster than the sun. By boiling sea water with high heat a lot of fresh water can be made quickly.
But heating is not the only way to get fresh water from salt water. Other ways are tried.
One way is freezing. The fresh part of salt water freezes first. To get fresh water, the bits of ice are taken out.
Which way is the best? The one that gives the most water for the least money. It may be a different way for each place.
Symi’s way seems very good for small, hot places. It does not make much water at a time. But the factory is easy to build and costs little.
That is why people in many dry places talk about Symi.From the passage we know that fresh water _____________.
| A．is needed in many countries | B．is needed in every country |
| C．can be used in many ways | D．is very important for factories |
The Symi factory __________.
| A．turns salt water into fresh | B．can be built everywhere |
| C．can make much fresh water at a time | D．doesn’t need sunshine every day |
Which is the best way for small and hot places to get fresh water?
| A．Boiling the sea water. | B．Heating the sea water. |
| C．The Symi’s way. | D．Freezing the sea water. |
What fact doesn’t the passage mention (提到)?
| A．New ways of getting fresh water. |
| B．A lot of fresh water can be made quickly by heating. |
| C．The best way is to get the freshest water with the least money. |
| D．The Symi’s way doesn’t work in dry places. |
The Symi’s way is not suitable for _________ places according to the passage.
| A．small | B．hot | C．cool | D．dry |
Mr. Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea."
"OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn’t remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.
Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.
The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more."
The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?" "Burnt yesterday evening."Mr. Brown told his son that _____.
| A．he would be away from home for four days |
| B．he would be back in seven days |
| C．he would be back in a month |
| D．he liked a cup of tea |
Mr. Brown wrote the words down on ________.
| A．the wall | B．the door | C．a piece of paper | D．his son’s pocket |
A man came to visit the boy’s father on ________.
| A．the second day | B．the third day | C．the fourth day | D．the fifth day |
The man was very surprised because _________.
| A．he thought the child’s father was dead | B．the child didn’t ask him to sit down |
| C．the child gave him a cup of tea | D．he couldn’t find that piece of paper |
What was burnt? ___________.
| A．The piece of paper. | B．Mr. Smith. | C．The visitor. | D．The boy. |