In the future your automobile will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a supercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!

   For each prediction that has come true today, several others have missed by a mile. Many of these predictions didn’t consider how people would want to use the technology, or if people really needed it in their lives or not. Let’s look at some predictions from the not-too-distant past.

    Robot Helpers

   Where’s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he’s probably not coming anytime soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other manufacturing environments.

   Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people’s homes.

   So why hasn’t it happened?  Probably because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And maybe the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too weird. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.

    Telephones of Tomorrow

   In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn’t caught on yet.

   Why? The technology worked fine, but it over—looked something obvious: people’s desire for privacy. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just step out of the shower?  Probably not---it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology available doesn’t always mean people will want to use it.

   And finally, how about that crazy prediction of the flying car? It’s not so crazy anymore! But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news, or perhaps the sky outside your window, to see what the future will bring.

64. The whole passage is mainly about ________________.

   A. predictions that have come true.

   B. predictions that haven’t come true.

   C. why predictions don’t come true easily.

   D. what technology will bring about.

65. The author of this passage won’t believe that _________________.

   A. predictions needn’t consider people’s practical use of technology.

   B. the future isn’t always easy to guess.

   C. not all past predictions have come true.

   D. many of the high—tech things our parents thought we’d be using by now simply never appeared.

66. The underlined word “weird” probably means __________.

   A. wonderful   B. stupid    C. practical    D. strange

67. What does the author think of the flying car?

   A. It is too difficult to imagine.

   B. It is too crazy an idea.

   C. It is likely to be made.

   D. It is often reported in the news. 

C

Andreea,18,from Romania, sent a photograph of the view from her window and included a brief apology, “Sorry, this picture is plain and boring. No one would like it.”

    At home in New Jersey, US, Coreen Burke,16, clicked on the same image on the internet. She saw a village with its rooftops and walls painted in reds and yellows, a distant chimney(烟囱) giving off smoke. “Isn’t this amazingly different from my country?” She thought to herself.

    Burke, a teenager with a skill for computers, saw beauty in that photo. She posted it to her blog, Outside My Window, which features a daily snapshot(快照) of someone’s window view around the world.

    The concept is simple: We can all relate to the act of staring through a piece of glass, onto the scene on the other side. “Maybe if we understood the way people from all over the world live,” she explained, “we would all get along better than we have been lately.”

With a click of a mouse, you can see Frederic’s window in the south of France, looking out on sailboats anchored (抛锚) in a peaceful harbor. Or Virginia’s view in Canada, a winter scene with trees laced in white.

Like most high school students, Burke has traveled the world. But she says someday she hopes to collect stamps in her passport, starting with Greece and India. Her recent break was devoted to launching the site with a blogger account and recruiting(招募) contributors from deviant ART, an online art community. She posted the first window view from Switzerland, a sunset photographed by an 18-year-old. Then others came flowing in by email, up to seven a day, from as far as Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

Contributors are marked on maps pinned on her bedroom wall: a blue dot indicates their country and a pink dot shows their city, if they provide it. The most responses have come from Europe – Estonia, Poland, Italy, Germany and Sweden, to name a few. She is crossing her fingers, thinking that she’ll receive a photo from Africa or Antarctica, which are unrepresented so far.

    While she’s become a cyber crusader(网络革新者) for appreciating the beauty outside our own windows, get this: She has no windows in her bedroom. She has a nice skylight(天窗), though.

51. What does Burke think of the picture she received from Andreea?

A. Boring      B. Charming    C. Strange    D. Plain

52. Outside My Window is a blog intended to show_______.

A. the view from Burke’s window

B. pictures of rural New Jersey

C. photos of window views taken by people all over the world

D. beautiful scenes of famous places of interest

53. We can conclude from the article that Burke _______.

A. believes we should reach out to people of different cultures

B. has traveled around the world and taken many pictures

C. is a member of an online art community

D. has made a lot of money by selling beautiful pictures

54. Which of the following is not true?

A. Burke is likely to receive a photo from Africa or Antarctica.

B. Burke is a junior middle school student.

C. Burke has photos from many countries in the world, including Kazakhstan.

D. Burke wants a photo of window view from Africa or Antarctica.

55.What is the best title of this passage?

A. World Windows

B. Beautiful Pictures

C. Pictures on the Internet

D. Windows in Bedrooms

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