What Will Life in the Future Be like?

周旋

What will we be able to do 10， 20 or 30 years later？ Will it be much better than it is now？Lets just close our eyes and think！

Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering will help us create the perfect human. Babies will grow up to do slam dunks like Yao Ming. Also， we will be able to mix① plants and animals！ But do you want your dog to be a tree？

The Dead

In the future， we will be able to bring the dead back to life. Then each family can meet and talk with its dead family members. It will be like living with ghosts.

On television people will see Albert Einstein， Marilyn Monroe， Confucius， Elvis Presley， and Shakespeare talking with each other！

Long-Iiving People

Over the next 20 to 50 years， it will become harder to tell the difference between human and machine. All body parts will be replaceable. We will then be able to make fake② people.

We will make a copy of ourselves， so we will appear to be alive long after we are dead. A few decades later， people will find ways to transfer③ their spirit④ to the new body.

Nanobots⑤

We will be able to build nanobots to travel through our body. Also， nanobots will be used when we are sick.

For example， when we have a stomachache， we will swallow a very small robot and it will travel through our stomach， taking video of whats happening there. Then we can show the video to help the doctor diagnose⑥ our problem.

Computers

Computers help us remember， calculate， and enjoy ourselves. In the future， computers will be able to show their feelings. They will be able to think better than the human mind.

After television became popular， many people soon became couch potatoes. It is not surprising that many people have become overweight; and things will get worse in the future！

We will be more and more interested in computers and the Internet， spending more and more time in front of computers and forget what our real needs are. Many of us will become super couch potatoes and weight 250kg！

Notes： ① mix v. 雜交 ② fake adj. 假的 ③ transfer v. 轉(zhuǎn)移 ④ spirit n. 精神 ⑤ nanobot n. 納米機器人 ⑥ diagnose v. 診斷

【難句解析】

1. Will it be much better than it is now？

釋義：它將比現(xiàn)在好得多嗎？

點撥：much， far， by far， still， even， no， any， a lot， a little， a bit等經(jīng)常用來修飾形容詞或副詞的比較級形式，以示加強語氣。例如：

She drives still more carefully than her husband. 她開車比她丈夫更認真。

2. In the future， we will be able to bring the dead back to life.

釋義：在未來，我們將能夠把死去的人復(fù)活。

點撥：the與形容詞連用，表示一類具有某種特征或特性的人時，通常表示復(fù)數(shù)意義。若用作主語，謂語要用復(fù)數(shù)。例如：

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. 富者愈富，貧者愈貧。

The injured were carried away on stretchers. 用擔(dān)架把受傷的人抬走了。

3. It is not surprising that many people have become overweight.

釋義：許多人超重并不令人奇怪。

點撥：在此句中，it作形式主語，that many people have become overweight作真正的主語，還可以用不定式作真正的主語。例如：

It takes a lot of effort to recover the system. 恢復(fù)系統(tǒng)不是一件容易的事情。

4. ...forget what our real needs are.

釋義：……忘記我們真正的需求是什么。

點撥：在此句中，what引導(dǎo)賓語從句作forget的賓語。在賓語從句中，our real needs作主語，are是系動詞，what作表語。what引導(dǎo)名詞性從句時，在從句中作主語、賓語或表語。例如：

People are waiting to see what he will do. 人們正等著看他將做什么。（what作賓語）

I. Choose the right answer.

1. Which of the following dream can Genetic Engineering make come true？

A. Plants can be mixed with animals.??????????? B. The dead can come back to life.

C. All body parts will be replaceable.??????????? D. Computers can think.

2. People in the future will live longer because of the following reasons EXCEPT ____.

A. we can replace our broken parts by good ones

B. we can make a copy of ourselves

C. we can create perfect human

D. we can find ways to transfer our spirit

3. “Couch potatoes” refer to ____.

A. special potatoes

B. people who like eating potatoes

C. people who like sitting in couch

D. people who spend much time watching TV

4. What cause（s） peoples overweight in the future？

A. Genetic Engineering.? ????? B. Nanobots.????????? C. Computers. ?????? D. Potatoes.

II. Fill in the blanks.

1. This dictionary is even ____ ____ ____ （更有用） that one.

2. ____ ____ （老年人） are more likely to catch cold than the young.

3. Growing pains are necessary for us to ____ ____ （成長）.

4. ____ ____ （例如）， London is the United Kingdoms capital.

5. ____ ____ ____ ____ （它是重要的） treat people with respect and understanding.

6. I dont remember ____ ____ ____ （他所說的）.