Question

What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make a guess, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today. For man is slowly changing all the time.

Let us take an example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on the average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively (相对地) short period of time, so we may suppose that man will continue to grow taller.

Again, in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain's capacity (容量.) As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more and finally we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too. The head, especially the forehead, will grow larger.

Nowadays our eyes are being used too much. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man's eyes will grow stronger.                      

On the other hand, we tend (有…的趋势) to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive (敏感的) because they are used a great deal in modern life.

What about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both men and women are probably to be hairless!

Perhaps, all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive (有吸引力的) person to look at! This may well be true. All the same, besides these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and feelings similar to our own.

1.Future man is probably to be different from us in ________ ways.

A. two    B. three    C. four    D. five

2.Future man’s head will grow larger because ________.

A. he will use his brain more and more as time goes on

B. he makes use only 80% of the brain's capacity

C. the other 80% of his brain will grow faster

D. his brain has grown larger over the past centuries

3.What will be probably TRUE about the man in the future?

A. He will have smaller eyes and will wear better glasses.

B. His fingers will grow weaker because he won't use them.

C. He will be hairless because hair is no longer useful.

D. He will think and feel in a different way.

4.What does the writer write the article for?

A. To give us some knowledge of future man.

B. To show that man's life will be different in the future.

C. To let us know future man will become shorter.

D. To tell us future man will not use legs.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.A

【解析】本文是一篇科幻类短文，是关于将来的人类将变成什么样子。我们的身高变得更高，脑袋变得更大，眼睛更强大，胳膊和腿会更弱，没有头发。

1.D

推理判断题。根据man will continue to grow taller.our brains,our eyes, arms and legs, hair可知我们在未来将在身高，大脑，眼睛，胳膊和腿，以及头发这五方面会有变化，故选D。

2.A

细节理解题。根据As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more and finally we shall need larger ones!可知因为随着时间的推移，我们将不得不越来越多的使用大脑，因此我们的脑袋会变得更大，故选A。

3.C

细节理解题。根据This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both men and women are probably to be hairless!可知因为头发没有用途，所以在未来我们可能没有头发，故选C。

4.A

推理判断题。根据What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now?可知本文主要介绍了未来人类将是什么样子，故选A。

点睛：根据题干要求，在文中寻找答案所在的语句和段落，进行分析理解，推理判断，词义猜测和概括归纳，选出正确的答案。例如小题2，根据As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more and finally we shall need larger ones!可知因为随着时间的推移，我们将不得不越来越多的使用大脑，因此我们的脑袋会变得更大，故选A。