题目内容

By 2050, a completely new type of human evolve as a result of extremely new technology, behavior, and natural selection. This is according to Cadell Last, a researcher at the Global Brain Institute, who claims mankind is undergoing a major “evolutionary transition”.

In less than four decades, Mr. Last claims we will live longer, have children in old age and rely on artificial intelligence to do ordinary and boring tasks. This shift is so significant, he claims, it is comparable to the change from monkeys to apes, and apes to humans. “Your 80 or 100 is going to be so radically different than your grandparents,” Mr. Last says, who believes we will spend much of our time living in virtual reality. Some evolutionary scientists believe this age could be as high as 120 by 2050.

Mr. Last claims humans will also demonstrate delayed sexual maturation, according to a report by Christina Sterbenz in Business Insider. This refers to something known as life history theory which attempts to explain how natural selection shapes key events in a creature’s life, such as reproduction. It suggests that as brain sizes increase, organisms need more energy and time to reach their full potential, and so reproduce less.

Instead of living fast and dying younger, Mr. Last believes humans will live slow and die old. “Global society at the moment is a complete mess,” he told MailOnline. “But in crisis there is opportunity, and in apocalypse (启示) there can be transformation. So I think the next system humanity creates will be far more sophisticated, fair, and abundant than our current civilization.”

“I think our next system will be as different from the modern world, as our contemporary world is from the medieval (中世纪的) world. The biological clock isn't going to be around forever,” he added, and said that people could pause it for some time using future technology.

The change is already happening. Today, the average age at which a woman in Britain has her first baby has been rising steadily stands at 29. 8. In the US, just one percent of first children were born to women over the age of 35 in 1970. By 2012, that figure rose to 15 percent.

“As countries become socio-economically advanced, more and more people, especially women have the option to engage in cultural reproduction,” Mr. Last added. And as well as having more child-free years to enjoy leisure time, he believes artificial intelligence will make up the need for low-skill jobs. We may also spend a large amount of time living in virtual reality. “I’m not quite sure most people have really absorbed the implications of this possibility,” Mr. Last said.

His views are detailed in a paper, titled “Human Evolution, Life History Theory, and the End of Biological Reproduction" published Current Aging Science.

1.According to Cadell Last, a completely new type of human will appear because of ________.

① artificial intelligence ② new technology ③ natural selection ④ mundane tasks ⑤ behavior

A. ②③⑤ B. ①②③ C. ③④⑤ D. ①②⑤

2.Which statement is compared by Mr. Last to the change from monkeys to apes, and apes to humans?

A. We have diseases and die young.

B. We spend less time in virtual reality.

C. We give birth to a child when we are young.

D. We use intelligent robots to do everyday housework.

3.The underlined words in the third paragraph most probably mean “________”.

A. Reproduction.

B. Reproduce less.

C. Natural selection shapes key events.

D. Organisms need more energy and time to ripen.

4.In the next system Mr. Last explained we can infer that ________.

A. women are engaged in careers or hobbies instead of giving birth to babies

B. women are engaged in playing computer games rather than working

C. women are engaged in cultural reproduction in place of men

D. women are engaged in living in virtual reality without options

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It's true that many dads in the wild aren't interested in parenting, but there are some that work pretty hard to give their little ones a good start. Maybe one of these dads will make you remember your own dad!

The male giant water bug doesn’t seem to mind a heavy load on his back for his kids. The female puts about 100 to 150 eggs on the back of the male, and then she leaves. Once the female is gone, the male has to look after the eggs. It usually takes one to two weeks for the eggs to hatch. The father giant water bug jumps around to make sure the growing eggs get enough air and water. All this time he can't fly because of the weight of the eggs growing rapidly on his back.

Now let's turn to the male stickleback fish. When the mother leaves after laying her eggs, the father tends his young. If the young fish go too far away, their father helps with their safe return by carrying them back in his mouth. The male stickleback looks after all his young — as many as 100 — until they can live on their own.

A similar example can be found in emperor penguins living in cold areas. The male emperor penguin goes without food while looking after his egg until it hatches. For about 62 to 67 days, the egg stays on top of the father's feet, in very cold temperatures that drop down to -39° C. As a result, the father may lose nearly 50 percent of his body weight while waiting for his baby penguin to be born!

1. What do we know about the giant water bug?

A. It is unable to fly.

B. The eggs grow on the father's back.

C. The male must keep still to hatch the eggs.

D. The female looks after her eggs together with the male.

2. During the hatching period, the male emperor penguin _______________.

A. is unable to eat

B. is fed by the female

C. tries to lose some weight

D. can't stand the cold weather

3.What is the best title for the text?

A. Mr. Moms in the Wild

B. Animals Do Have Feelings

C. Nature Loves Us like Our Dad

D. Childbirth in the Animal Kingdom

The rules about how to talk, eat and sit, which are highly limited, are observed in most Western restaurants and homes. 1. Many Westerners have no idea how to act at the Chinese dinner table. No forks or knives for them to use! The Chinese host makes great, sweeping arm movements that go over large sections of the table, passing over both food and friends alike. 2. However, it leaves many foreigners at a loss for what to do.

In my childhood home, dinner was enjoyed with low voices, and the topics that we could discuss were very limited. 3. If I had to leave the table to use the toilet, I had to excuse myself without mentioning what it was that I was going to do. “May I be excused, please? I need to wash my hands.” I would say. My mother would say, “Sure.” My father would often play a joke on me by saying, “ 4.

As for eating, we did it quietly. No eating noises were allowed. Everything must be done as quietly as possible. If any sound was created by eating food or drinking, it would be considered as bad manners!

5. He is to sit up straight with the recessive hand (usually the left) in one’s lap holding a napkin while the dominant hand (usually the right) holds the fork or spoon. The only time one is allowed to have both hands on the table is when he is using a knife to cut something.

A. How one sits at the table is also prescribed.

B. We were not allowed to talk about anything that made listeners uncomfortable.

C. Can't you think up a better excuse than that?

D. They’re completely different from what we find here in China.

E. Your hands don’t look dirty!

F. The scene is fantastic.

G. In general they were all strictly forbidden topics.

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