Futurologists predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.

TV channels will have disappeared. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers, and books will come to us by computer.

Cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Space planes will take people halfway around the world in 2 hours. Today, the United States Space Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again. By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just 2 hours.

Robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots — they don’t ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere — in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.

Medical technology will have conquered many diseases. Today, there are devices（设备）that connect directly to the brain to help people hear. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people to see and hear again.

Scientist will have discovered how to control genes（基因）. Scientists have already produced clones of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people, and decide how they look, how they behave and how clever they are. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?

1.We can learn from the passage that some big companies prefer robots to human workers, because human workers __________.

2.The underlined word “conquered” in Paragraph 5 most probably means ________.

3.It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that _________.

4.What is the author’s attitude towards the cloning technology?

5.According to the passage, which of the following can be realized today?

Your genetic makeup plays a big part in determining your size and weight. If both your parents are tall, there is a good chance you’ll be tall. But if your parents are smaller than average, you may want to rethink that professional basketball career!
The same goes for your body type. Have you ever heard someone say a person is “big boned?” It’s a way of saying the person has a large frame, or skeleton(骨骼). Big bones usually weigh more than small bones. That’s why it’s possible for two kids with the same height, but different weight, to both the right weight.
Being overweight can run in someone’s family, but it may not be because of their genes. Poor eating and exercise habits also run in families and these may be the reasons the members of a family are overweight. And even though some kids gain weight more easily than others, when they eat right and exercise, most kids can have a healthy weight that’s right for them. It’s true- the way you live can change the way you look.
How much your weight is a balance between the calories you eat and the calories you use. If you eat more calories than your body needs to use, you will gain too much weight. If you spend you free time watching TV, your body won’t use as many calories as it would if you played basketball, skated, or went for a walk. But if you eat more and exercise less, you may become overweight. On the other hand, if you eat less and exercise more, you may lose weight.
【小题1】 Which one can be used as the best title of this passage?

After Mom died, I began visiting Dad every morning before I went to work. He was frail（衰弱） and moved slowly, but he always had a glass of freshly squeezed（挤榨的） orange juice on the kitchen table for me, along with an unsigned note reading, “Drink your juice.” Such a gesture（表示）, I knew, was as far as Dad had ever been able to go in expressing his love. In fact, I remember, as a kid I had questioned Mom “Why doesn’t Dad love me?” Mom frowned（皱眉）, “Who said he doesn’t love you?”“Well, he never tells me,” I complained. He never tells me either,” she said, smiling. “But look how hard he works to take care of us, to buy us food and clothes, and to pay for this house. That’s how your father tells us he loves us.”
I nodded slowly. I understood in my head, but not in my heart. I still wanted my father to put his arms around me and tell me he loved me. Dad owned and operated a small scrap（小片） metal business, and after school I often hung around while he worked. Dad handfed scrap steel into a device（装置） that chopped （切）it as cleanly as a butcher（屠夫） chops a rack of ribs（肋骨）. The machine looked like a giant pair of scissors（剪刀）, with blades（刃） thicker than my father’s body. If he didn’t feed those terrifying blades just right, he risked serious injury. “Why don’t you hire someone to do that for you?” Mom asked Dad one night as she bent over him and rubbed（搓） his aching shoulders with a strong smelling liniment（涂剂）. “Why don’t you hire a cook?” Dad asked , giving her one of his rare smiles.
Many years later, during my first daily visit, after drinking the juice my father had squeezed for me, I walked over, hugged him and said, “I love you, Dad.” From then on I did this every morning. My father never told me how he felt about my hugs, and there was never any expression on his face when I gave them.
【小题1】What would be the best title for the passage?
A I just couldn’t understand my father      B My father never loved me
C Silent fatherly love      D My hard-working father
【小题2】The author’s father always prepared a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for him because ______.
A that was the author’s favorite      B he was sure the author would be thirsty
C the author was always complaining      D that was a gesture of love
【小题3】The author’s father didn’t hire a helper because ______.
A his job was too dangerous      B his job required high skills
C he wanted to save money      D he was not good at communicating with others
【小题4】We may infer from the passage that ______.
A the author’s father lacked a sense of humor
B the author quite understood his father as time went on
C the author’s father didn’t love him very much
D the author’s father was too strict with him

完形填空(共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was no wonder I was not looking forward to entering ninth grade. High school is well-known for being a battleground, where everyone seems to be  36  through physical changes, emotional mood swings, and low self-respect. For me,  37  was my punishment.
I had always felt insecure and out of 38 as one of the  39  members of my class, standing a head above the other girls and bending at the  40  of the line to avoid sticking  41 .
I especially hate being around large groups of people, like during the social hour after services at my church.  42  the prayers were finished, I would leave as quickly as possible so I could  43  other well-meaning congratulations, "Ruthie! Look how tall you' re getting!"
My grandfather would watch me  44  increasingly uncomfortable, but he did not  45  at my self--consciousness or try to comfort me.  46 , he would remind me. "Stand straight and tall," he would say, as I unsuccessfully tried to shrink (使缩小) myself. Moreover, each time, I would embarrassedly obey. Even at age 15, I understood that his advice was about  47  than just feet and inches.
My grandfather grew up in war-torn Europe. When German soldiers  48  his hometown, he wound up joining the Soviet army to fight  49  his country's freedom. "Stand straight, stand tall," meant something else back then.
_50  the war, he boarded a boat for  51  , and on January 27, 1947, he stepped onto the dock in Manhattan. He was hungry and  52  from seasickness. All alone in a new country, he was  53  about his future. Still, he marched head-on into the streets of New York. Soon he met  54  European immigrants, each of them trying to find his or her own way. If they could do it, why couldn't he? "Stand straight, stand tall," he would remind himself. He felt his faith  55 . When he walked into the church that first time, he walked in proudly.
36. A. going                     B. getting            C. looking               D. putting
37. A. age                        B. sex                    C. height               D. face
38. A. place                    B. order              C. control              D. date
39. A. younger                    B. shorter                    C. fatter              D. taller
40. A. head                  B. bottom            C. back                D. side
41. A. to                    B. out                C. with                D. off
42. A. Until                  B. Unless             C. Once               D. Before
43. A. avoid                 B. receive               C. accept             D. refuse
44. A. change                B. grow                C. sense              D. make
45. A. look                   B. stare             C. stay                 D. laugh
46. A. Instead               B. Besides       C. However              D. Therefore
47. A. other                  B. more          C. less               D. rather
48. A. fought                 B. developed    C. occupied                D. marched
49. A. against                          B. for              C. with                D. to
50. A. Before                 B. During               C. Without              D. After
51. A. German                B. Australia             C. America             D. Canada
52. A. coming                B. learning            C. suffering             D. differing
53. A. frightened              B. excited              C. serious              D. sorrowful
54. A. few                   B. more               C. most               D. other
55. A. increasing              B. returning              C. gaining               D. disappearing

26. –Look! How terrible his situation is! Could you help him?

--I’d like to help, but ____ I can’t.