Technology: Taking the good without the bad?

Very soon, unimaginably powerful technologies will remake our lives．This could have dangerous consequences, especially because we may not even understand the basic science underlyi ng them．There’s a growing gap between our technological capability and our basic scientific understanding．We can do very clever things with the technology of the future without necessarily understanding some of the science underneath, and that is very dangerous．

The technologies that are particularly dangerous over the next hundred years are nanotechnology （纳米技术）, artificial intelligence and biotechnology．The benefits that they will bring are beyond doubt．But they are going to be very, very dangerous．I’m working in the field of artificial intelligence．I have a model design for something that might be 50,000 million times smarter than the human brain．Target date is 2010．The only thing that's not possible in the film Terminator（终结者） is that the people win．If you're fighting against technology w hich is 50,000 million times smarter than you, you probably will not win．

Nanotechnology．We've all heard of the grey glue problem, that self-replicating nanotech devices might keep on copying until the world has become sticky glue．And certainly in biotechnology, we've really got a big problem because it's converging with nanotechnology and IT．Once you start mixing nanotech with organisms and you start feeding nanotech-enabled bacteria, we can really go an awful lot further than the Borg in Star Trek（星际迷航）．And those superhuman organisms might not like us very much．

Eventually these technologies will become routine．That’s a threat to humanity．I don’t think it’s possible to slow it down．So what we need to do is accelerate the scientific research and try to get some extra tools．The problems facing us in the future are getting bigger and bigger．I think if we don’t get some proper science done, the future is hopeless indeed．

1.From the text, we know that the author’s greatest concern is         ．

2.It can be inferred from the text that the author         ．

3.Why does the author say it is not possible in the film Terminator that the humans win?

This is time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents. Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.

       Littleton Children’s Home

       We don’t want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes in good condition would be very welcome.

       Also—we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests. You have so much—will you share it?

       Phone Sister Thomas on 55671.

       Children’s Hospice

       We look after a small number of very sick children. This important work needs skill and love. We cannot continue without gifts of money to pay for more nursing staff. We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games.

       Please contact The Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road.w.^w.k.s.5*u.c.#o@m

       Street Food

       In the winter weather, it’s no fun being homeless. It’s even worse if you’re hungry. We give hot food to at least fifty people every night. It’s hard work, but necessary. Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we urgently need some new saucepans. Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.

       Contact Street Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way, Littleton. Phone 27713.

       Littleton Youth Club

       Have you got an unwanted chair?—a record player?—a pot of paint?

       Because we can use them!

       We want to get to work on our meeting room!

       Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us.

       Thank you!

       The Night Shelter

       We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go. We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street. Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money. Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help.

       Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton. Please make check payable to Night Shelter.

Reading the passage, you might like to help these organizations which work for     

       A．homeless and sick children    

       B．less fortunate members of our society   

       C．hungry people who have no beds to sleep in 

       D．friendly members of our society to help others

If you like children and can offer a happy family to a homeless child, you may go to      .

A．Street Food  B．Night Shelter     C．Children’s Home   D．Children’s Hospice

We can infer that       .

       A．there are too many social problems in this country      

       B．people are very poor during the time for giving presents     

       C．warm-hearted people like to give away money     

       D．this passage is taken from a local newspaper

If your child has grown up, you may take the child’s things to        .         

       A．Children’s Home and Children’s Hospice  B．Youth Club and Children’s Home     

       C．Children’s Hospice and Night Shelter     D．Youth Club and Night Shelter

单词填空，每空填一词（满分5分）。

Keep indoors and don’t  ____________（暴露）your skin to the sun.

They have put f_____________ a plan for reducing the level of traffic.

Considering that he was always a careful person, we decided to __________(采纳) his idea at last.

_______ （除了） from school work, I spend my spare time in singing and angling.

Scientists foresee that bird flu and other epidemics will be w________ out with the development of science and technology.

Most disaster experts believe that there is _____________ (潜在的可能性 ) that things could get a lot worse.

 Yesterday I rented a f_____________ apartment, so I didn’t have to buy any desks or chairs.

Because the natural disasters occur at random times, it is difficult to warn people in a___________.

However, learning English as a foreign language is very difficult in the a_________ of a native language environment.

85. More and more people think that nature __________ ( 值得 ) our protection because we ourselves depend on it to live our lives.

Pushing children too hard is a really big social problem that seems to be getting worse．Now we have 6-month-olds in music classes and swimming classes．Parents fear that if other children are attending these classes，they will be holding their own children back if they do not enroll，too．

    The other extreme，simply taking a laissez-faire approach and letting children do—or refuse to do—whatever they want，is not the answer either，of course．

    Dr Taylor emphasizes that parents need to push their children based on what is best for the children，not what is best for themselves．If children understand that an activity is in their best interests，then they will accept it, he finds．

    Dr Taylor and other family experts remain pessimistic about the possibilities for widespread social change．“The force of our popular culture，driven by money and superficial（表面上的） values，cannot be resisted，” he says．But change can take place at a“micro-level,” in families and schools．

    When changes do occur，the rewards can benefit everyone in the family．One mother supporting this new approach toward parenting mentions the advantages her family experienced after her children cut back on activities．“The biggest thing is that since we have done this，we are rested,” she says．“Not only are our kids rested，because they're not in a ton of stuff, but my husband and I are rested，because we're not driving them everywhere．We weren’t living in the moment when we were always busy．We were living by the schedule．The return on our investment of spending time together has been enormous．”

One of the reasons why parents push children so hard is that they       

   A. believe in early development in children

   B. are too busy to take care of their children

   C. don't want their children to lag behindw(w w.ks&5 u.c*o m

   D. want to repeat what their parents did to them

The phrase“a laissez-faire approach”(in Line 1，Paragraph 2)most probably refers to      .

   A. denying them what they need

   B. controlling children in a flexible way

   C. developing a keen interest in children

   D. letting children do whatever they want

The best way to encourage children to work hard is           .

   A. to make them believe it’s in their best interests

   B. to consider the matter from parents' standpointw(w w.ks&5 u.c*o m

   C. to emphasize the importance of hard work from time to time

   D. to make it interesting and enjoyable to them

What the author doesn’t approve of in the essay is _______.

   A. achieving a balance between pushing the children too hard and leaving them alone

   B. going from one extreme of pushing children too hard to the other of leaving them alone

   C. involving children in activity that will probably contribute to their development

   D. enrolling them in music and swimming classes at the very early age

This is time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents. Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.

       Littleton Children’s Home

       We don’t want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes in good condition would be very welcome.

       Also—we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests. You have so much—will you share it?

       Phone Sister Thomas on 55671.

       Children’s Hospice

       We look after a small number of very sick children. This important work needs skill and love. We cannot continue without gifts of money to pay for more nursing staff. We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games.

       Please contact The Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road.w.^w..c.#o@m

       Street Food

       In the winter weather, it’s no fun being homeless. It’s even worse if you’re hungry. We give hot food to at least fifty people every night. It’s hard work, but necessary. Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we urgently need some new saucepans. Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.

       Contact Street Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way, Littleton. Phone 27713.

       Littleton Youth Club

       Have you got an unwanted chair?—a record player?—a pot of paint?

       Because we can use them!

       We want to get to work on our meeting room!

       Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us.

       Thank you!

       The Night Shelter

       We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go. We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street. Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money. Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help.

       Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton. Please make check payable to Night Shelter.

1.Reading the passage, you might like to help these organizations which work for     

       A．homeless and sick children                  

       B．less fortunate members of our society   

       C．hungry people who have no beds to sleep in                          

       D．friendly members of our society to help others

2.If you like children and can offer a happy family to a homeless child, you may go to      .

A．Street Food  B．Night Shelter                C．Children’s Home   D．Children’s Hospice

3.We can infer that       .

       A．there are too many social problems in this country                 

       B．people are very poor during the time for giving presents        

       C．warm-hearted people like to give away money                      

       D．this passage is taken from a local newspaper

4.If your child has grown up, you may take the child’s things to        .         

       A．Children’s Home and Children’s Hospice  B．Youth Club and Children’s Home     

       C．Children’s Hospice and Night Shelter          D．Youth Club and Night Shelter