Life in the future（Period 1 Welcome to the Unit）
life in 2060let us suppose it is now about a.d.2060.let’s make believe it is about sixty years from now①.of course, things have changed and life is very different.voyages to the moon are being made every day.it is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in europe.at a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built.the hotels are air conditioned, naturally.in order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window.everything imaginable is provided for entertainment (娛樂) of young and old.what are people eating now?people are still eating food.they haven’t yet started to take on heir (繼承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power.they may some day.but many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants. since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet’s surface has to be filled.the deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests.the harvest is always good.farming, of course, is very highly developed.very few people have to work on the farm.it is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then②.people are now largely vegetarians (素食者).you see, as the number of people increases, the number of animals decreases.therefore, the people have to be vegetarians and we are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases.no one has to be ill any more.such would be our life in 2060.注釋..................① let’s make believe it is about sixty years from now.讓我們假設現在是大約60年以后。詞組make believe的意思是“假裝; 虛構”。② it is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.只是通過不時按幾個按鈕來管理整個農場已成為可能。
machine dreams!a deskless future?in an, interview, ray kurzweil, who helped invent the it present, explains how humans fit into the it future: the impact of automation on jobs, biotechnology, slowing the aging process, brain enhancement, etc.there won’t be computers on desks.we’ll eliminate most of that clutter, certainly by the end of this decade.future technology will be very mobile; it’ll be so small that it’ll be virtually invisible.everybody will be online.images will be written right to our retinas.and eventually, we’re going to have software processes running close to our bodies and, ultimately, inside our bodies, in our brains.