Text 3
Up until a few
decades ago, our visions of the future were largely - though by no means
uniformly - glowingly positive. Science and technology would cure all the ills
of humanity, leading to lives of fulfillment and opportunity for all.
Now utopia has grown
unfashionable, as we have gained a deeper appreciation of the range of threats
facing us, from asteroid strike to epidemic flu and to climate change. You
might even be tempted to assume that humanity has little future to look forward
to.
But such gloominess
is misplaced. The fossil record shows that many species have endured for
millions of years - so why shouldn't we? Take a broader look at our species'
place in the universe, and it becomes clear that we have an excellent chance of
surviving for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years. Look up Homo
sapiens in the "Red List" of threatened species of the International
Union for the Conversation of Nature (IUCN) ,and you will read: "Listed as
Least Concern as the species is very widely distributed, adaptable, currently
increasing, and there are no major threats resulting in an overall population
decline."
So what does our deep
future hold? A growing number of researchers and organizations are now thinking
seriously about that question. For example, the Long Now Foundation has its
flagship project a medical clock that is designed to still be marking time thousands
of years hence.
Perhaps willfully, it
may be easier to think about such lengthy timescales than about the more
immediate future. The potential evolution of today's technology, and its social
consequences, is dazzlingly complicated, and it's perhaps best left to science fiction
writers and futurologists to explore the many possibilities we can envisage.
That's one reason why we have launched Arc, a new publication dedicated to the
near future.
But take a longer
view and there is a surprising amount that we can say with considerable
assurance. As so often, the past holds the key to the future: we have now
identified enough of the long-term patterns shaping the history of the planet,
and our species, to make evidence-based forecasts about the situations in which
our descendants will find themselves.
This long perspective
makes the pessimistic view of our prospects seem more likely to be a passing
fad. To be sure, the future is not all rosy. But we are now knowledgeable
enough to reduce many of the risks that threatened the existence of earlier
humans, and to improve the lot of those to come.
31. Our vision of the
future used to be inspired by
[A] our desire for
lives of fulfillment
[B] our faith in
science and technology
[C] our awareness of
potential risks
[D] our belief in
equal opportunity
32. The IUCN’s “Red List” suggest
that human being are
[A] a sustained
species
[B] a threaten to the
environment
[C] the world’s dominant power
[D] a misplaced race
Text 3 (Now utopia)
31. B. our faith in
science and technology
32. A. sustained
species
33. D. our immediate
future is hard to conceive
34. C. draw on our
experience from the past
35. C. the
ever-bright prospects of mankind
33. Which of the
following is true according to Paragraph 5?
[A] Arc helps limit
the scope of futurological studies.
[B] Technology offers
solutions to social problem.
[C] The interest in
science fiction is on the rise.
[D] Our Immediate
future is hard to conceive.
34. To ensure the
future of mankind, it is crucial to
[A] explore our
planet’s abundant resources
[B] adopt an
optimistic view of the world
[C] draw on our
experience from the past
[D] curb our ambition
to reshape history
35. Which of the
following would be the best title for the text?
[A] Uncertainty about
Our Future
[B] Evolution of the
Human Species
[C] The Ever-bright
Prospects of Mankind
[D] Science,
Technology and Humanity
Text 3 参考答案:
31. B. our faith in
science and technology
32. A. sustained
species
33. D. our immediate
future is hard to conceive
34. C. draw on our
experience from the past
35. C. the
ever-bright prospects of mankind