Question

Some people are pessimistic (悲观) when they think about the future. They say that, a hundred years from now, we will have used up most of the earth’s resources. We will have polluted our sea badly, and be unable to eat fish from it. We will have made air so dirty that we will need to wear masks. The world’s pollution will have doubled, and we will have used all the countryside for housing; there will be no farmland left.

Other people believe that man adapts very easily. They have a different idea of the future. However, in their views, will people be living in a hundred years’ time?

One architect believes that man will move off the land. He suggests that the city of the future will be a huge, pyramid­shaped building, which will be floating on the surface of the sea. About 5,000 families will be living there, and the building will contain shops and schools as well as homes. By living on the sea, we will give the farmers more land to grow crops.

As for oil, people will no longer need it: we will be heating our homes with power from the sun. And we will not be short of minerals, because there are plenty under our oceans. At the moment, we do not have the technology to get them out. But, in a hundred years’ time, the optimists (乐观者) say, the new sea cities will be using these resources.

What will be in the shops in the year 3000? What will people be wearing? How will people be traveling?

Scientists who make predictions about the future suggest that, by the year 3000, shops will no longer exist. Computers will have replaced them; and people will order goods from home.

People will be wearing very light, thin clothes. By this time, scientists will have invented a fabric that keeps us cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather.

As for travel, the experts say that most people will be using public transport. Electric cars will be traveling through the streets day and night. Anybody will be able to stop one and use it.

An interesting picture! Unfortunately, we will not be there if these predictions come true.

1.Pessimists believe that in the future ________.

A. seas and oceans will be full of houses

B. we’ll have used up most of the resources

C. we will have not enough fish to eat from the seas

D. we will have polluted the air not so badly that it will be possible for us to breathe

2.Scientists have made the predictions EXCEPT ________.

A. electric cars will be going along the streets continuously

B. the resources under the oceans will never be used up

C. people will order goods from home

D. people won’t suffer from cold any longer

3.What does the underlined word in the seventh paragraph refer to?

A. a kind of tool       B. a kind of energy

C. a kind of cloth       D. a kind of resource

4.We can learn from the article that ________.

A. we should be optimistic about the future

B. we should be pessimistic about the future

C. we shouldn’t think too much about the future

D. we have no idea of what will happen in the future

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.C

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：

介绍了人们对未来的看法，存在3种看法，乐观，悲观，无所谓；以及人们不同的描述。

1.B推理题。根据第一段第二行we will have used up most of the earths resources可知他们认为生活在地球上会很艰难。故选B。

2.B细节理解题。根据倒数第二段第二行Electric cars will be traveling through the streets day and night.电车日日夜夜在大街上穿行。可排除A项；根据倒数第四段people will order goods from home.人们可在家里预订商品。可排除C项；根据倒数第三段第二句keeps us cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather.热天让我们凉爽，冬天让我们暖和。综上所述，可知选B。

3.C词义猜测题。根据前面一句People will be wearing very light, thin clothes.人们将穿轻、薄的衣服。再根据划线单词后面的定语从句that keeps us cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather.它热天让我们凉爽，冬天让我们暖和。可知划线单词的意思是：一种衣服。故选C。

4.

【名师点睛】

猜测词义题解题技巧

1.事实上，阅读材料中的每个词与它前后的词语或句子甚至段落都有联系。我们可以利用语境（各种已知信息）推测、判断某些生词的词义。做这种类型的题切不可脱离语境想当然。

2.针对性解释是作者为了更好的表达思想，在文章中对一些重要的概念、难懂的术语或高深的词汇等所做的通俗化的解释。这些解释提供的信息明确具体，所使用的语言通俗易懂，利用它们来猜测词义就非常简单。如果生词有一个句子或段落来定义，那么理解这个句子或段落本身就是推断词义。5.C词义猜测题。根据前面一句People will be wearing very light, thin clothes.人们将穿轻、薄的衣服。再根据划线单词后面的定语从句that keeps us cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather.它热天让我们凉爽，冬天让我们暖和。可知划线单词的意思是：一种衣服。故选C。划线词后面是一个限制性定语从句，这就是词义的解释，应该从它入手。

考点：考查科普类阅读