Swimming in an ocean of stars
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s my great honor to receive the Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society. Thank you.
I started writing sci-fi because I looked for a way to escape the dull life, and to reach out, with imagination, to the mysterious time and space that I could never truly reach. But then I realized that the world around me became more and more like science fiction, and this process is speeding up. Future is like pouring rain. It reaches us even before we have time to open the umbrella. Meanwhile, when sci-fi becomes reality, it loses all its magic, and that frustrates me. Sci-fi will soon become part of our lives. The only thing I can do, is to push my imagination further to even more distant time and space to hunt for the mysteries of sci-fi. As a sci-fi author, I think my job is to write things down before they get really boring.
This being said, the world is moving in the direction opposite to Clarke’s predictions. In 2001, A Space Odyssey, in the year of 2001, which has already passed, human beings have built magnificent cities in space, and established permanent colonies on the moon, and huge nuclear-powered spacecraft have sailed to Saturn. However, today, in 2018, the walk on the moon has become a distant memory. And the furthest reach of our manned space flights is just as long as the two-hour mileage of a high-speed train passing through my city.
As a sci-fi writer, I have been striving to continue Arthur Clarke’s imagination. I believe that the boundless space is still the best direction and destination for human imagination. I have always written about the magnitude and mysteries of the universe, interstellar expeditions, and the lives and civilizations happening in distant worlds. This remains today, although this may seem childish or even outdated. It says on Arthur Clarke’s epitaph,“He never grew up, but he never stopped growing.”
Many people misunderstand sci-fi as trying to predict the future, but this is not true. It just makes a list of possibilities of what may happen in the future, like displaying a pile of cobblestones for people to see and play with. Science fiction can never tell which scenario of the future will actually become the real future. This is not its job. It’s also beyond its capabilities. But one thing is certain: in the long run, for all these countless possible futures, any future without space travel is gloomy, no matter how prosperous our own planet becomes.
Sci-fi was writing about the age of digital information and it eventually became true. I now look forward to the time when space travel finally becomes the ordinary. By then, Mars and the asteroid belts will be boring places and countless people are building a home over there. Jupiter and its many satellites will be tourist attractions. The only obstacle preventing people from going there for good, will be the crazy price.
But even at that time, the universe is still unimaginably big that even our wildest imagination fails to catch its edge. And even the closest star remains out of reach. The vast ocean of stars can always carry our infinite imagination.
Thank you all.
1.What does the writer mean by the underlined sentence in the second paragraph?
A.Science technology has been developing fast before we realize it.
B.What happened in our life was mysterious and beyond our imagination.
C.We had a good outlook for the future and were desperate to realize our dream.
D.We managed to escape from the boring life and looked forward to the prosperous future.
2.What can we learn from the third paragraph?
A.What Clarke foresaw is childish and out of date, going against scientific theories.
B.It is feasible for human beings to fulfill challenging space missions that Clarke forecast.
C.Human beings have deserted imaging and exploring the attractive and boundless space.
D.Clarke’s predictions haven’t happened in real life and the reality won’t change very soon.
3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A.What is written in science fiction can never become a reality.
B.The writer considers it his duty to create sci-fi with author Clarke.
C.Science fiction provides readers with possibilities that future will bring about.
D.High price will likely stop humans from dreaming of living on other planets.
4.What’s the writer’s attitude towards sci-fi creation?
A.Curious B.Passionate
C.Concerned D.Suspicious
Psychologists like Stephen Reicher from the University of St. Andrews in the U.K. suspect that crowds have a positive impact on the health of the individuals within them. Actually, what their research shows is that crowds are _________ to society. They help form our sense of who we are, they help form our relations to others — they even help determine our _________ well-being.
Reicher and his colleagues came to the largest Hindu festival, the Kumbh, to test the idea that crowds are beneficial and to confirm the healthful effects of the festival on its participants. Before the start of festival, his researchers went out into the Indian countryside to question a group of _________ attenders about their mental and physical health. They also questioned people who didn’t plan to attend. The researchers _________ to question both groups a month after the festival had ended. Those who stayed in their villages reported no real change over the period of the study. Those who attended it, on the other hand, reported a 10 percent _________ in their health, including less pain, less anxiety and higher energy levels. What’s more, the good effects lasted long afterward.
Why should belonging to a crowd improve your health? The psychologists think _________ identity is the cause. “You think in terms of ‘we’ rather than ‘I’,” explains a colleague of Reicher’s. This way of thinking _________ human relationships. Members of the crowd support one another, competition becomes cooperation, and people are able to achieve their goals in a way they wouldn’t be able to _________.
Unfortunately, in spite of the mutual support so _________ elsewhere at the Kumbh, 36 people died in a stampede (踩踏) at the train station there after the festival. Somehow the crowd had lost its ____________. Reicher wrote that one possible cause was that the people no longer formed a psychological crowd. They no longer saw those around them as fellows, but rather as ____________ for seats on a train.
____________, before this tragedy, Reicher had interviewed a villager who was asked to describe the feeling in the crowd at the station. “People think they are more powerful than you, they can push you around,” she said. She was then asked to describe the feeling in the Kumbh: “People ____________ you. They treat you in a polite manner.” The stampede was an example of what can happen when the psychological cooperation of a crowd ____________.
Incidents such as the stampede are rare at the festival, and this one is unlikely to discourage people from attending the event in the future. The police will undoubtedly learn from this experience and make the station safer. But in crowds as large as those at the festival, individuals must put their ____________ in the power of psychological cooperation. In other words, “Love thy (your) neighbor.” One day, it could even save your life.
1.A.appealing B.special C.critical D.instructive
2.A.financial B.physical C.developmental D.judgmental
3.A.average B.prosperous C.representative D.prospective
4.A.turned B.returned C.refused D.hesitated
5.A.improvement B.mystery C.understanding D.sign
6.A.particular B.unique C.shared D.personal
7.A.settles B.alters C.handles D.maintain
8.A.just B.late C.alone D.further
9.A.evident B.secure C.regular D.feasible
10.A.equality B.status C.spirit D.harmony
11.A.occupants B.participants C.competitors D.candidates
12.A.Inevitably B.Likewise C.Unfortunately D.Strangely
13.A.are cautious about B.are jealous of C.are suspicious of D.are concerned about
14.A.pops up B.breaks down C.goes on D.takes off
15.A.foundation B.interest C.faith D.personality
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word. For the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Do most British still keep the traditional activities such as afternoon tea?
Clearly you have been watching too many episodes of Downton Abbey. Anyway, afternoon tea is a snack between lunch and dinner 1. (accompany) by a cup of tea. We regular British people drink tea and eat snacks 2. we feel like it — 8 a.m., 9 p.m., 2 a.m.. In my house while I was growing up, we would have a big dinner at lunch time (weekends mainly) and then tea later. This would consist of a sandwich and a piece of cake that we ate in front of the telly. We were so full from the enormous lunch 3. all we could manage was small meal. Even now the meal after work/school is called tea whether you drink tea with it or not, and whether it consists of sandwiches or is a main meal.
However, if we visit someone in the afternoon 4. planned, they will make some scones, cake, sandwiches and other delicious food to be served and I suppose that is technically “afternoon tea”. If they were inviting you for dinner, they would say so. If they say nothing, you will absolutely be offered tea and scones/ sandwiches/ biscuits or 5. else they have.
Times and tastes 6. (change), but afternoon tea still exists.
Children come home from school at 4 p.m.. Parents will make them a drink and something to eat. Mum and Dad will probably join in. What do you call this? Afternoon tea!
I go shopping with friends to the town centre. We’ve looked in all the shops and now we need to sit down and think about 7. shops to return to for those final purchases. Look at that, it’s almost 4 p.m.. It may be that we sit down for a cappuccino and a couple of macarons but I can only think of one way to describe this…Afternoon tea!
We’re in the office. Boring! 8. we’ve more or less finished for the day, the clock says no. Someone puts the kettle 9. and we sit down for a chat about the next few days. Ooh someone found a box of cupcakes… Wow! We’ve just had afternoon tea!
We 10. not be using flowery teacups. We’re not dressed like characters from Downton Abbey either. We may not sit there for two hours. But do we still stop at 4 p.m. for a drink and something to eat? YES!
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
A Mother’s Love
My mom only had one eye. I hated her. She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family.
There was one day during elementary school (小学) when my mom came over to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.
How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, “Your mom only has one eye!”
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted (面对) her that day and said, “If you’re only going to make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?”
My mom did not respond. I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I took no notice of her feelings at all.
I wanted to be out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied really hard, and got a chance to go abroad for further education.
Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I shouted at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, “How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!”
And to this, my mother quietly answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address.” and she was soon out of sight.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion (同学聚会) came to my house. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old house just out of curiosity.
My neighbors said that she died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.
注意:
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
My dearest son,
I think of you all the time and I’m sorry that
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
You see, when you were very little,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With all my love to you.
Your mother
假设社会发展到了2080年,照顾老年人成了一个社会问题，科学家发明了一种家用机器人。请以“The Robot in the Future”为题写一篇80词左右的英语短文。
注意: 1.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
2.书写规范，语法正确，语句通顺。
The Robot in the Future
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
A 93-year-old war hero whose home was burglarized (失盗) earlier this week got another surprise Wednesday.
"The father of the two children 1. broke into my house, Jose Gonzalez, was here and he 2. (apologize)," said the old hero Wood.
Gonzalez stopped by as some volunteers began repairing Wood’s 3. (damage) home. He said he didn’t know what had caused his children 4. (break) into the house.
"I was telling them: Would you want somebody to do that to your grandparents?" said Gonzalez. "Whether they knew it was an older gentleman’s house or not, they were
5.(guilt) of what they had done."
The boys are accused of 6. (steal) several items from Wood’s home.
"Only when I went into that man’s house did I see what they had done," said Gonzalez. “7. wasn’t right for them to have done that.”
Gonzalez said he wanted his sons to be much 8. (good).
"Well, it helps me understand he's doing something instead of just forgetting it," said Wood.
"He came in and made an apology to my dad 9. their behavior, and I think it is 10. (admire)," said one of Wood's sons. "I also think it was the right thing to do."
