During the twentieth century, cars, electric lights, space travel and amazing advances in medicine changed people’s lives. So what might this new century bring? There are hundreds of predictions flying around — let’s have a light-hearted look at some of them.
In a recent UK survey, teenagers were asked to make predictions about the year 2020. One of the most common predictions was that school uniforms won’t be around. They also predicted that both girls and boys will wear make-up more often, and more than 75% of men will wear skirts regularly. My dad is 65 next Saturday — I think I’ll buy him a skirt as a birthday present and tell him he’ll soon be in fashion!
Other predictions involve changing roles of men and women. By 2017, some people say that single men of working age will form more than 10% of all families. It is also predicted that washing powder advertisements will include more men because more of them will do housework. I’ll tell that to my husband when he gets home and see how keen he is to wash the dishes!
Many predictions are about crime and safety problems. Some people think that crime will improve and the world will become a more peaceful place. Others believe that crime is going to worsen and that people will stay at home becoming completely dependent on the Internet for shopping and work. It is also predicted that you will need an electronic card to get into parks as parents demand safe play areas for their children. This is old news for me --- our local government is going to introduce one this summer.
Technology is predicted to play an even more important role in our lives in the future. Some parents might have cameras at home so they can keep an eye on their children while they are out. Quick, kids, turn off the TV and do your homework!
Here’s another prediction. Researchers have concluded that cultural activity may add years to your life. The cinema, theatre and concerts may give us a longer life because they encourage strong feelings. Well, we’re watching Bridget Jones’ Diary this Friday night. Will that help us live longer?
Let’s finish up with my favourite prediction. In the future, elderly people are going to make up a larger proportion of the world’s population than ever before. In Britain, an estimated 100,000 people now in their thirties may live to be 100. And that includes me! I’ll have a big, big party, I promise!
1. The writer’s father ________ .
A. has just turned sixty-five
B. wears skirts
C. is very fashionable
D. is about to turn sixty-five
2.Why might more men do housework in the future?
A. Washing powder advertisements suggest it.
B. Men won’t want to work in offices any more.
C. Traditional roles of men and women will change.
D. Women will refuse to wash the dishes.
3.According to the passage, people might ________ , if crime worsens.
A. need electronic cards to get into their homes
B. stay at home and depend on the Internet
C. help to make the world a more peaceful place
D. work harder and make more money
4.Which of the following is NOT true？
A. It’s likely that the writer is to live to be 100.
B. The writer promises that she is going to hold a big, big party soon.
C. Without an electronic card, you can’t get into a park freely in the future.
D. The writer holds a positive attitude towards the changes in the new century.
5.From the passage, we may infer that the writer is probably ____ .
A. a professional news reporter.
B. a young and attractive sales girl.
C. a middle-aged British housewife.
D. a responsible government official.
“Everybody in this city wants a car, and I’m no exception. A car brings with it the freedom to travel”, said a friend of mine while reading a car magazine. I might not agree with him, but no doubt he was speaking for a rapidly growing number of middle-class Chinese. While it is true that all the waiting, walking, being part of a crowd, and sweating, are somewhat unpleasant, there are many problems which can arise when our lives rely too much on this invention.
First of all, in terms of polluting the environment, driving a car is the worst act an average person can commit. Beijing now finds itself at the top of the list of the most polluted capital cities in the world with Mexico City in the second place. Research also shows that by 2010 around 90% of total pollutants in Shanghai have come from cars. These pollutions are extremely dangerous to our health. They can damage the lungs, cause cancer, and damage the brain.
Apart from environmental problems, relying too much on cars also creates social problems such as traffic jams, road accidents, and noise pollution. The jeeps that proudly drive through the Hutongs in Beijing as if they are in a race often annoy me, and to make it worse, these drivers seldom respect cyclists.
Of course, we cannot forget the convenience that cars bring us when we need to travel far, but I often find it faster to cycle from one place to another within the city of Beijing, especially with the growing traffic jams.
Since people travel further and more frequently than before, cars will certainly be important in the future. At the same time, however, let us work hard to make sure that this invention brings us a more convenient lifestyle rather than trouble and disease. Let us make good use of cars.
1.What is this passage mainly about?
A. Environmental problems.
B. Traffic jams in Beijing.
C. Problems brought about by cars.
D. Benefits of using cars.
2. The underlined word commit in Paragraph 2 has the close meaning as ____ .
A. do something right or legal
B. do something wrong or illegal
C. do something good and meaningful
D. do something bad and meaningless
3.What do we know about the author?
A. The author doesn’t want a car.
B. The author agrees that a car offers freedom to travel.
C. The author suggests that we should rely on bicycles.
D. The author thinks that the invention of cars leads to many problems.
4.In Paragraph 3, what does the author mean by saying “The jeeps… often annoy me”?
A. The author is troubled by the way jeeps are driven in the Hutongs of Beijing.
B. The author thinks that Hutongs are too narrow for jeeps to drive through.
C. The author thinks that the jeeps are too noisy.
D. The author is worried that more accidents are caused by jeeps than any other cars.
5.What is the author’s idea in Paragraphs 4 and 5 ?
A. Cars are only convenient for people traveling far.
B. We should all give up cars and ride bicycles.
C. Cars have brought us more convenience than troubles.
D. We should choose between the car and the bicycle according to the situation.
What do you look for when you go shopping for clothes? Do you choose something 1. (fashion) or comfortable? Do you like to look different? Or do you wear the same clothes 2. your friends? Do you go for this year’s colours? Is it the logo — the company symbol — that
3. (catch) your attention? Or maybe film stars are wearing these clothes? 4. helps you choose the clothes you like?
Everyone spends money on clothes, and everyone has their personal look. The best-known clothing companies sell their “designer” clothes all over the world. 5. number of these big name companies is in fact very small, and the clothes they make are more expensive than the clothes made by some other companies less famous. 6. , many people still prefer them to ordinary but comfortable clothes. Why?
Many young people today care about the way they look. They often buy “designer” clothes 7. they think they look cool. Then the less famous companies make clothes 8. look the same. But they don’t sell as well because they don’t have the logo.
People also think “designer” clothes are better made. For example, many people think the right 9. (run) shoes will make you run faster or play better. Of course, this is not 10. true. It’s the training — not the trainers or the equipments — that improves your speed or your score.
We have known for a long time that flowers of different plants open and close at different times of day. This is so 1 that there seems to be no need to ask the reason for it. Yet no one 2 understands why flowers open and close like this at particular times. The process is not as 3 as we might think, as recent experiments have shown. In one study, flowers were kept in constant 4 . We might expect that the flowers, without any information about the time of day, did not open as they 5 do. As a matter of fact, they 6 to open at their usual time. This suggests that they have some mysterious(神秘的) way of knowing the 7 . Their sense of time does not 8 information from the outside world; it is, so to speak, inside them, a kind of “inner clock”.
This 9 may not seem to be very important. However, it was later found that not just plants but also 10 , including man, have this “inner clock” which 11 the working of their bodies and influences their activities. Men, then, are also influenced by this mysterious 12 . Whether we wish it or not, it affects such things in our life as our need for sleep, our need for food.
In the past, this did not really 13 because people lived in natural condition. In the 14 world, things are different; now there are spacemen, airplane pilots and, in ordinary life, a lot of people who have to work at night. It would be very 15 , then, to know more about the “inner clock”. Such things as flowers might help us understand more about ourselves.
1.A. familiar B. strange C. similar D. special
2.A. partly B. personally C. really D. willingly
3.A. complex B. simple C. mature D. meaningful
4.A. quietness B. darkness C. loneliness D. sadness
5.A. finally B. completely C. physically D. normally
6. A. refused B. decided C. continued D. failed
7.A. time B. secret C. process D. study
8.A. deal with B. add to C. give away D. depend on
9.A. discovery B. activity C. invention D. method
10.A. beasts B. animals C. strangers D. humans
11.A. controls B. studies C. measures D. destroys
12. A. world B. flower C. power D. experiment
13.A. happen B. exist C. matter D. work
14.A. ancient B. modern C. wonderful D. peaceful
15.A. hard B. expensive C. convenient D. important
句子翻译（共5小题，每小题3分，满分15分）请根据中文及括号内的提示翻译下列句子。
1.他很感激我为他做的一切并把我当最好的朋友对待。(be grateful to; treat)
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2. 实际上学好英语有很多简单的方法, 例如看英文电视或和外国朋友在线聊天。 (actually, a number of, such as)
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3.除非我们净化我们的环境，否则人类可能将无法生存。（clean up, survive）
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4.他谋求良好生活的能力受到了他缺乏教育的限制。(earn a good living, be limited by; lack of)
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5.杰克给了我一个坚定的眼神，这眼神表明他不会改变主意，也不会屈服。(determine, change one’s mind, give in，定语从句)
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完成句子 (共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分) 请根据句子的意思和汉语提示完成下列句子，每空只填一个单词。
1.A ______________ (平衡) state of mind is very important for those who want to live a healthy life.
2.The government encourages everyone in the society to ______________ (贡献) aid for victims (灾民) in Sichuan.
3.You can’ t leave the classroom without the teacher’s ____________________（许可）
4.He works in another city, so his parents are very ________________(关心；挂念) about him.
5. In my _________________( 意见，看法 ), it is of importance to read aloud in the morning.
6.We finally ___________________(成功) in finishing the work..
7.He has changed so much that I can hardly __________________ (认出) him.
8.The plane exploded and we could see the smoke even in the ______________(远处 ).
9.You will _________________ (有益于；受益) greatly if you regularly consult with your teacher.
10.We should be _________________ (乐观的) and always keep a positive attitude towards life.
