Prediction(预言) has always been a serious business .In the old days ,astrologers(星占学家) were employed(从事于) to predict the future .Today futurologists(未来学家) make scientificall based predictions which are taken seriously .Basically ,the methods used in the past and those used today are similar.You look at what is happening in the present and then project(设想) into the future.

Take something like the motor-car ,for example .It's obviously wasteful , noisy ,dangerous , etc. So perhaps in the future it will have been replaced by something better. Projecting in the same way we can say that the common cold will have been cured; pollution will be got rid of; Antarctica will have been developed; money will have been replaced by credit cards; floating cities will have been built; the Jupiter(木星) will have been visited ;a cure for cancer will have been discovered .The world's mineral supplies will have been used up ,and so on .But only one thing is really certain：most of us will have been completely forgotten!?

1.What do astrologers and futurologists have in common??

A.They use scientific methods.?

B.They make predictions.?

C.They tell us something about the past.?

D.They tell us something about the present.?

2.Forecasts(预测)about the future are _______.?

A.based on the present

B.made by astrologers?

C.taken seriously

D.scientifically based?

3.As far as human beings are concerned,the only really certain thing is that_______.

A.pollution will be got rid of?

B.money will be replaced?

C.we will disappear from the world?

D.we will visit Jupiter?

4.Which is the best title for the passage??

A.The Past,the Present and the Future?

B.Astrologers and Futurologists?

C.The Changing World?

D.Tomorrow's World

Prediction(预言) has always been a serious business. In the old days, astrologers(星占学家) were employed(从事于)to predict the future. Today futurologists(未来学家) make scientifically-based predictions which are taken seriously. Basically, the methods used in the past and those used today are similar. You look at what is happening at the present and then project(设想) into the future.

Take something like the motor-car, for example. It’s obviously wasteful, noisy, dangerous, etc. So perhaps in the future it will have been replaced by something better. Projecting in the same way we can say that the common cold will have been cured,pollution will be got rid of,Antarctica will have been developed.money will have been replaced by credit cards,floating cities will have been built,the Jupiter(木星) will have been visited,a cure for cancer will have been discovered,the world’s mineral supplies will have been used up, and so on. But only one thing is really certain: most of us will have been completely forgotten!

1. What do astrologers and futurologists have in common?

A. They use scientific methods.

B. They make predictions.

C. They tell us something about the past.

D. They tell us something about the present.

2. Forecasts(预测) about the future are __________.

A. based on the present

B. made by astrologers

C. taken seriously

D. scientifically based

3. As far as human beings are concerned, the only really certain thing is that__________.

A. pollution will be got rid of

B. money will be replaced

C. we will disappear from the world

D. we will visit Jupiter

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A. The Past, the Present and the Future

B. Astrologers and Futurologists

C. The Changing World

D. Tomorrow’s World

Take something like the motor-car, for example. It’s obviously wasteful, noisy, dangerous, etc. So perhaps in the future it will have been replaced by something better. Projecting in the same way we can say that the common cold will have been cured,pollution will be got rid of,Antarctica will have been developed.money will have been replaced by credit cards,floating cities will have been built,the Jupiter(木星) will have been visited,a cure for cancer will have been discovered,the world’s mineral supplies will have been used up, and so on. But only one thing is really certain: most of us will have been completely forgotten!

1. What do astrologers and futurologists have in common?

A. They use scientific methods.

B. They make predictions.

C. They tell us something about the past.

D. They tell us something about the present.

2. Forecasts(预测) about the future are __________.

A. based on the present

B. made by astrologers

C. taken seriously

D. scientifically based

3. As far as human beings are concerned, the only really certain thing is that__________.

A. pollution will be got rid of

B. money will be replaced

C. we will disappear from the world

D. we will visit Jupiter

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A. The Past, the Present and the Future

B. Astrologers and Futurologists

C. The Changing World

D. Tomorrow’s World

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。

Health researchers have noticed that some groups of people are more consistently healthy than others, and wondered… Is it race? Income? Where you live? In the United States, these disagreements in health outcomes have been the focus of intense research for the past several decades.

Harvard University health policy researcher Ellen Meara says scholars have found some clues as to why some groups of people have more or less disease than others. She says one important factor in people’s health is the amount of education they have.

In her most recent paper, Meara looked at data from the United states census. These counts of people occur every 10 years. Meara and her colleagues examined data from several decades.

“We looked at life expectancy(预测寿命) at age 25,” Meara says.

“How many additional years can you expect to live if you arrive at age 25 and your education has stopped at high school, or sooner? Versus how many years, can you expect to live if you’ve reached aged 25 and you’ve gone on to at least some college…”

Meara says they found that in 1990, a 25-year-old who only had some secondary school could expect to live for a total of 75 years. In 2000, a 25-year-old with some secondary education could also expect to live to the age of 75.

In contrast, for a better educated 25-year-old, they could expect to live to the age of 80 in 1990. Someone with a similar education level in the year 2000, could expect to live to be more than 81 years, 81.6 years to be exact.

Meara says, not only do better-educated people live longer to begin with, but in the past ten years, more educated people have made gains in the length of their lives. Meanwhile, the life expectancy hasn’t changed for less educated people.

Some of these gains can be explained. Meara says researchers know that people who are more educated are more likely to quit smoking cigarettes, or not start at all, compared to people with less education.

“I think it’s a reminder not to be satisfactory,” Meara says. “Just because a population overall appears to be getting healthier, it doesn’t always mean that those advantages and successes that many people have enjoyed really extend into all parts of the population. And I think that’s something to really pay attention to regardless of whether you live in the US or elsewhere.”

Meara points out that education can often determine income---people with more education frequently make more money. This makes them aware of health care, and purchase other resources and services that can keep them healthier. But the data on income do NOT show that people who make more money are automatically healthier.

Meara says education is key. People need to be educated in order to take advantage of opportunities for better health.