1、单元话题阅读Passage 1主题未来的机器人体裁说明文生词0In some science fiction movies,people in the future have their own robots.These robots are just like humans.They help with the housework and do the most unpleasant jobs.Some scientists believe that there will be such robots in the future.However,they agree it may take
2、hundreds of years.Scientists are now trying to make robots look like people and do the same things as us.Japanese companies have already made robots walk and dance.This kind of robot will also be fun to watch.But robot scientist James White disagrees.He thinks that it will be hard for a robot to do
3、the same things as a person.For example,its easy for a child to wake up and know where he or she is.Mr. White thinks that robots wont be able to do this.But other scientists disagree.They think that robots will be able to talk to people in 25 to 50 years.Robot scientists are not just trying to make
4、robots look like people.For example,there are already robots working in factories.These robots look more like huge arms.They do simple jobs over and over again.People would not like to do such jobs and would get bored.But robots will never get bored.In the future,there will be more robots everywhere
5、,and humans will have less work to do.New robots will have many different shapes.Some will look like humans,and others might look like snakes.After an earthquake,a snake robot could help look for people under buildings.That may not seem possible now,but computers,space rockets and even electric toot
6、hbrushes seemed impossible a hundred years ago.We never know what will happen in the future! Passage 2主题其他星球上的智力物种体裁说明文生词7Is there intelligent(有智力的)life on other planets?For years,scientists said “no.”or“we dont know.”But today this is changing.Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers(天文学家
7、).They believe intelligent life exists(存在)somewhere in the universe.They also think we will soon contact these beings(人;生物).Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets?The first reason is time.Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old.“This is long e
8、nough for other planets to have intelligent life,”say Shostak and Barnett.The second reason is sizethe universe is huge.“Tools like the Hubble Telescope(哈勃望远镜)have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies,” says Shostak.“And our galaxy,the Milky Way,has at least 100 billion stars.Some plan
9、ets going around these stars might be similar to Earth.”In the past,it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe.But now,powerful telescopes(高倍望远镜)allow scientists to discover smaller planetsthe size of Mars or Earthin other solar systems.These planets might have intelligent lif
10、e.Have beings from space already visited Earth?“Probably not,”says Shostak.“Its a long way away.However,intelligent beings may contact us in other ways ,such as radio signals(信号).In fact,they may be trying to communicate with us now,but we dont have the right tools to receive their messages.However,
11、this is changing.By 2025,we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.”Passage 3主题动物的文化体裁说明文生词3Do animals have a culture? What do we mean by “culture”? Recently social scientists have begun to ask if culture is found just in humans, or if some animals have
12、 a culture too. When we speak of culture, we mean a way of life that a group of people have in common. Culture is the forms of behavior (行为) that help people to live together. It is also the forms of behavior that make one group of people different from another group.Human beings use tools, cooperat
13、e with one another, and communicate with language. But these aspects (方面) of human behavior, or “culture”, can also be found in the lives of certain animals. Animals can make tools, for example. We used to think that the ability to use tools was the dividing line between human beings and other anima
14、ls. Lately, however, we have found that this is not the case. Chimpanzees (黑猩猩) can not only use tools but actually make tools themselves. Animals can also share knowledge with each other and use their own language to communicate. So it may be important for us to know that the line dividing us from
15、animals is not as clear as we used to think. Passage 4主题地球日体裁说明文生词2Earth Day is a special day to learn about our planet and how to take care of it. On Earth Day, some people listen to speeches about the environment. Others help clean up their offices or save water and electricity at home. Your paren
16、ts may even decide to take a day off from driving their cars.The idea for Earth Day came from a U.S. senator (参议员), who was worried about the pollution and the health of plants and animals. And the idea quickly caught on. In 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated. More than 20 million people all o
17、ver the U.S. took part. Since then, Earth Day has been used to educate people about their role in taking care of our planet.Now, Earth Day has become a global celebration. In 1990, 200 million people from 140 countries took part in clean-ups, tree planting and other environmental events on Earth Day.2
