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?
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 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.小题2:. 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小题3:. ________ 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.
