It’s exciting to imagine how future humans will have solved the problems we have now, or what amazing new inventions will make our lives more convenient and interesting. We asked top scientists to share their predictions on what the world will be like in a century. If they’re right, the 2114 is going to be really cool.
1. Robots will do your chores and more
Robots will be doing most of our jobs, from building homes to teaching math. There are already robots that clean floors and pump gas. In the future they will be more complicated and useful. Unfortunately, with robots taking all the jobs, unemployment will be high.
2. You will read minds.
Speaking of being social, we will communicate in an entirely different way. Forget texts and emails. Mind-reading technology will allow us to send thoughts to each other without speaking a word. We will also be able to send thoughts to objects around us. (Instead of pressing “start” on the microwave, you could just think “start.”) Meanwhile, chips implanted（植入in our brains will improve memory and intelligence.
3. Your car will drive you
Today, around 30,000 Americans die in car accidents each year. One hundred years form now, accidents will be a thing of the past. According to Mark Safford, consultant or the U.S. Department of Transportation, future cars will drive themselves. These electric cars will communicate with other cars on the road to travel safely in close formation at high speeds.
4. You will eat fake meat.
Raising animals is not an efficient way to produce food, and it harms the environment: Cows, chickens, and pigs eat a lot, and then we have to deal with all that poop（粪便. What’s more, that poop can up poisoning lakes, rivers, and streams. Today, scientists can “grow” meat in a lab from animal cells, but it’s expensive and not very delicious. In the future, they will have perfected the process. You’ll order hamburgers that come from factories, not cows. Scientists may even find ways to make lab-grown meat tastier and healthier than the real thing.According to the passage, what is likely to happen when robots become more common in the future?
| A．People will be much lazier. |
| B．More people will lose their jobs. |
| C．People may become physically weaker. |
| D．More people may become less intelligent. |
Mind-reading technology will help people to _______.
| A．have a good memory |
| B．talk to other creatures |
| C．read books efficiently |
| D．convey messages silently |
According to the passage, in the future cars will be__________.
| A．less popular |
| B．more expensive |
| C．much easier to operate |
| D．much smaller and lighter |
Future meat will be ________.
| A．much more affordable |
| B．less tasty but healthier |
| C．more organic and delicious |
| D．more environmentally friendly |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The history of human life. |
| B．The predictable future life. |
| C．The development of science. |
| D．The latest scientific findings. |
(C)
Read the advertisements carefully .Then answer the questions that follow.
| INTERESTED IN CHILDCARE? Qualified person of preschool teacher needed for busy childcare center , south of the river . Full-time work guaranteed .Immediate start necessary . The candidate must be able to work as a co-operative team member. Phone 63452345 for an interview and fax resume to 6345 2311 |
WE NEED OFFICE CLEANERS Three people are required for professional cleaning in the CBD area. Working hours from 5:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Approximately five hours per shift. A good record is necessary. Experience preferred . Phone 6345 7843 now. |
| WANT TO WORK AS A DENTAL NURSE? This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified dental nurse with a confident and cheerful personality to work in the School Dental Health Scheme. You must be able to get along well with children because work involves talking to groups about dental health practices. For further information, visit our website at : schooldentalservices@gov. sg . And fax your resume to 6234 454. |
FLORIST WANTED Are you a creative and trained florist with at least two years of experience? Then this may be just what you are seeking. The city’s leading Florist Artist Studio needs another part-time member on their wedding team. Please phone 6098 7888 now! |
63. You may find the above advertisements
A. in a store window B. in a school magazine
C. in a newspaper D. on a company notice – board
64. The position of a(n) is a part – time job.
A. florist B. artistC. preschool D. dental nurse
65. Which of the following is the most important for the childcare job?
A. Cooking skills B. Childcare experience.
C. The ability to start work in two weeks
D. The ability to work well with other people.
66. The office cleaners will be required to work about hours a week.
A. 5 B. 10 C. 15 D. 20
(B)
How many people have I met who have told me about the book they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time? Far too many .
This is Life , all right , but we do treat it like a rehearsal (排演) and , unhappily ,we do miss so many of its best moments.
We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do . Then , at 60 or 65 , we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for real life to come along were in fact real life.
In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English :“ Have a nice day ”they speak slowly and seriously in their shops , hotels and sandwich bars . I think it is a wonderful phrase , reminding us , in effect , to enjoy the moment : to value this very day .
How often do we say to ourselves , “I’ll take up horse-riding (or golf , or sailing ) as soon as I do get a higher position ,”only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position .
When I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper . At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be his completely abnormal (反常的) mental state . How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area ? I wanted to know .
Now I am a little older and possibly wiser , I see the sense in it . In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure . He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his sitting on Southern Region trains.
60. The first paragraph of the passage tell us that___________________.
A. we always try to find some time to write a book
B. we always make plans but seldom fulfill them
C. we always enjoy many of life’s best moments
D. we always do what we really want to do
61.The underlined phrase “ turn his back on ”( Paragraph 6 ) most probably means______________.
A. leave for B. return to C. give up D. rely on
62. What is probably the best title for the passage ?
A. Provide Homes For Our Family B. Take Up Horse-riding
C. Value This Very Day D. Stay Alive
四、阅读理解（共20小题。每小题2分；满分40分）
第一节阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
(A)
In the course of working my ways through school , I took many jobs I would rather forget . But none of these jobs was as dreadful （可怕的）as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard ; the pay was poor ; and, most of all , the working conditions were terrible.
First of all , the job made huge demands on my strength . For ten hours a night , I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck . Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night .
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time — two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay , I felt eager to get as much as possible . I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home more than $ 100 a week.
But even more than the low pay , what made me unhappy was the working conditions . During work I was limited to two ten—minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch .Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures
. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left , I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months , all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money , and the conditions under which I worked . By the time I left , I was determined never to go back there again.
56. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time ?
A. To pay for his schooling B. To save for his future
C. To support his family D. To gain some experience
57. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT_____.
A. loading boxes in the freezing cold B. having limited time for breaks
C. working and studying at the same time D. getting no pay for lunch time
58.What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The writer’s unhappy school life.
B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.
C. The writer’s experience as a full-time worker.
D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.
59. How is the text organized?
A. Topic — Argument — Explanation
B. Opinion— Discussion — Description
C. Main idea — Comparison —Supporting examples
D. Introduction— Supporting examples — Conclusion
E
Wouldn’t it be great if you could just look up at the sky and read the weather forecast right away? Well, you can. The forecast is written in clouds. If you can read that writing, you can tell something about the atmosphere. With some practice, you can become a pretty good weather forecaster. Who knows, you might even do as well as meteorologists.
Meteorologists use much more information than just the appearance of the clouds to make their forecasts. They collect data from all over the world. Then they put it into powerful, high-speed computers.
This does give meteorologists an advantage, because they can track weather patterns as they move from west to east across the country.
But you have an advantage, too. You can look at the sky and get your data directly. A meteorologist uses a computer forecast that takes several hours to make a local forecast.
What are you seeing when you look at a cloud? “A picture of what moisture is doing in the atmosphere,” says meteorologist Peter Leavitt. There’s moisture throughout the atmosphere. Most of the time you don’t see it ,because it’s in the form of an unseen gas called water vapor.
Sometimes, the temperature of the air gets cold enough to cause the water vapor to change into liquid water. That’s called condensation, and we see it happen all the time(for example, when damp air hits the cold glass of a mirror). When enough water vapor condenses, tiny drops form in the air. These drops spread light. A cloud is seen. Watching clouds over a day or two tells you a lot more than a single cloud about the weather to come. Changes in clouds show changes in the atmosphere.
You should begin to notice patterns. Certain clouds, following each other in order, can signal a coming storm. But don’t take our word for it; see for yourself.
57．This passage mainly tells us about how to_______.
A．become a meteorologist B．keep an eye on the weather
C．be an assistant to a meteorologist D．change water vapor into liquid water
58．According to the passage, ordinary people might do as well as meteorologists in weather forecast________.
A．with the help of the high-speed computers
B．through a complex process of calculation
C．with simple practice looking up at the sky
D．asking for information from weather station
59．Your advantage in weather forecasts is that______.
A．you have more powerful computers at home
B．your brain works as well as a high-speed computer
C．you observe the sky and obtain your data directly
D．meteorologists give their data to you as soon as they get them
60．What causes vapor to change into water?
A．A lot of moisture. B．Thick clouds.
C．Warm atmosphere. D．Cold air temperature.
D
The advantages and disadvantages of a large population have long been a subject of
discussion among economists. It has been argued that the supply of good land is limited. To feed a large population, poor land must be cultivated and good land made full use of. Thus, each person produces less and this means a lower average income than could be obtained with a smaller population. Other economists have argued that a large population gives more opportunities for specialization such as ports, roads, and railways, which are not likely to be built unless there is a big demand to justify them.
One of the difficulties in carrying out a world-wide birth control program lies in the fact that official attitudes to population growth vary from country to country depending on the level of industrial development and the availability of food and raw materials. In a developing country where a vast expanding population is pressing hard upon the limits of food, space and natural resources, it will be the first concern of the government to place a limit on the birthrate, whatever the consequences may be. In a highly industrialized society the problem may be more complex. A decreasing birthrate may lead to unemployment because it results in a declining market for products. When the pressure of the population on housing declines, prices also decline and the building industry is weakened. Faced with considerations such as these, the government of a developed country may well prefer to see a slowly increasing population, rather than one which is stable or in decline.
54．According to the first paragraph, a smaller population may mean______ if land is limited.
A．lower productivity, and a lower average income
B．lower productivity, but a higher average income
C．higher productivity, and a higher average income
D．higher productivity, but a lower average income
55．In a developed country, people will perhaps go out of work if the birthrate_______.
A．goes up B．goes down C．remains stable D．is limited
56．It is not easy to carry out a worldwide birth-control program because______.
A．there are too many underdeveloped countries in the world
B．developing countries are short of food and raw materials
C．even developed countries may have some complex problems of population
D．different governments show quite opposite views to the population