You are going to read a newspaper article about the future. Explain words in bold. For the questions 1-5 after the text choose the best answer.

MODULE 9

Topic 7. Future society predictions. Life on another planet

TEXT 1

FUTERE SOCIETY

1. Look at the pictures and describe them. Which of the following do you think will happen in your lifetime?

a We'll make contact with aliens.

b Robots will be doing the housework.

c We'll be travelling to other planets.

d We'll be living in cities under the sea.

2. Read the sentences and underline the correct word.

1. People will make friends through the TV/Internet.

2. Children will be using computers/rulers in schools.

3. Man will regularly visit Venus/Mars.

4. There will be no buses/cars in the city centres.

5. We will have a much healthler/unhealthier society.

You are going to read a newspaper article about the future. Explain words in bold. For the questions 1-5 after the text choose the best answer.

Can you imagine what our lives will be like in the year 2050? Perhaps you will be flying off for a holiday on the moon, or maybe you will be taking your dog for a walk in virtual reality. We recently carried out a survey of 1,000 people from different countries to find out what they think life will be like in the future. The results clearly demonstrate both our hopes and fears.

The survey suggests that friendship – one of the most important human relationships – will have changed dramatically. People will make friends through the Internet. What is more, a large number of people will even come across their future husbands or wives in this way! Computers will have become absolutely essential by 2050. Even now, some people describe them as their best friend! Others, however, say that we wilt become much more isolated from each other because we will have little real human contact.

Education will have changed a lot too. As more and more children will be using computers in schools, certain abilities, such as mentalarithmetic, won’t be necessary since there will be computer programs for most calculations. Even writing by hand will have become a thing of the past.

According to the survey, home life will be better. Most people believe that by 2050 robots will be doing the housework and we will be eating ready-made food. A lot of people think that we might only cook for fun in the future.

Space exploration will become increasingly popular. Fifty percent of the people we talked to believe that man will regularly visit Mars. They also believe that travel on our own planet probably change. Almost everyone thinks that there will be no cars in the city centres. Some even think that environmentally-friendly electric or solar-powered cars will have replaced the cats we use nowadays.

Pollution is something that seems to worry many people. Some fear that it will continue to get worse, and that our planet will become impossible lo live on. Others even foresee that one day we'll have to pay for clean air just like we do now for clean water.

On the other hand, people seem to be quite optimistic about the benefits of genetic engineering, as they think scientists will use it to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS. If scientists manage to find a cure for these, we'll have a much healthier society.

Some people worry about the future, while others are full of hope and enthusiasm. No matter how dark or bright it may seem, it is up to us to look after our planet and try to make it a better place to live.

1. Many people believe that in 2050

A. we will not pay for computers.

B. we will never leave our homes.

C. we will not have any friends.

D. we will find partners through computers.

2. The article suggests that in 2050

A. students will write typewriters.

B. fifty percent of people will have travelled to Mars.

C. lessons will be very different.

D. everyone will learn to cook.

3. As far as cars are concerned, some people believe that

A. we will not have any.

B. they won’t run on petrol.

C. they will be even more harmful to the environment.

D. people won’t be able to afford them.

4. Some people believe that pollution will have

A. disappeared.

B. killed everyone on the planet.

C. become an even bigger problem.

D. made our planet better place to live.

5. Many people think that by 2050

A. there will be a cure for cancel and AIDS.

B. people will have stopped dying.

C. scientists will have replaced doctors.

D. people won’t get diseases.