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THE FUTURE THAT NEVER HAPPENED
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 In
the future your automobile will run on water instead fo gas! You will
be able to buy a supercomputer that fist in your pocket! You might
even drive a flying car!
These predictions are some of today`s best guesses about what technology
might bring tomorrow.Willthese past technology predictions shows that
the future ins`t always easy to guess.Many of the high-tech things
our parents thought we`d be using by now simply never appeared.
OK,not all past predictions have been proven wrong.A few of them
have been surprisingly accurate.Some great thinkers predicted the
arrival of the credit card, the fax machine and even the internet-years
before the happened.
But for eache prediction that has come true today,several others
have missed by a mile.Many of these predictions didn`t consider how
people would want to use the technology.Or ifpeople really needed
it in their lives or not.Let`s look at some predictions from the not-too-distant
past.
Robot Helpers
Where`s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere,of coures.And he`sprobably
not coming anytime soom.Robots do exist today,but mostly in factories
and other Manufacturing environments.
Back in the 1950s,however,people said htat by now personal robots
would be in most people`s home.
So why hasn`t happened? Probably because robots are still to expensive
and Clumsy.And maybe he idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing
our clothes is just too weird. At home we seem to be doing fine without
them.
In the 1950s and`60s, moon missions challenged or best scientists.The
excited people about the potential of new technology. But would we
soon be taking holidays on the moon, as some scientists predicted?
Today`s space technology makes visiting the moon possible, but certainly
not affordable. The journey would cost a fortune. And even the richest
people on Earcht can`t pay for the trip yet. The world`s space proguams
have other priorities besides entertaining rich people.
Man first landed on the moon in 1969. But we have`t been back since
1972!
Thelphones of tomorrow?
In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They
said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their
homes. But of course the idea hasn`t caught on yet.
Why? the technology worked fine, but it overlooked something obvious:
peoples desire for privacy. Would you want to have a video phone vonversation
withe someone after you just stepped out of the shower?
Probably not-it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology is
available doesn`t always mean people will want to use it.
And finally, how about that crazy prediction of the flying car?
it`s not so crazy anymore! Say hello to the Skycat, will suit public
taste. But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology
ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news-or perhaps
the sky outside your window-to see what the future will bring.
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Word bank
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| prediction |
(n) 预言；预测
Jeff said it woule rain today. But his Prediction was wrong.
It`s sunny!
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| high-tech |
(adj) 高科技的
Chris has a new high-tech phone. It can do almost anything
a computer can do.
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| accurate |
(adj) 准确的；正确的
Your Englist pronunciation is very accurate. You Make very
few mistakes.
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| miss something by a mile |
(exp) 误差很大；差距很大
Bill threw a rock at the tree,but he didn`t hit it. He missed
the tree by a mile.
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| manufacturing |
(n) 制造业
Car manufacturing is a very important business in Japan.
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| clumsy |
(adj)笨拙的
Donna is a very clumsy dancer. While I was dancing with her,
she stepped on my feet three times!
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| potential |
(n) 潜力
Mary is a very good piano player. She has the potential to
become noe of the best.
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| fortune |
(n) 一大笔钱；财富
Traveling in Europe is very expensive. We spent a fortune
on oru trip there.
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| catch on |
(v phr) 流行；变得风行
David invented a new kind of fast food. If it catches on,
he`ll become rich.
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| privacy |
(n) 隐私
I`d like some privacy. Please close the door.
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| delivery |
(n) 交货；运送
Jack bought some books on the Internet. Delivery only took
three days.
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| taste |
(n) 爱好；兴趣
I don`t want to see a war movie. Shooting and killing aren`t
my taste.
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More Information
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| supercomputer |
(n) 超级计算机
A supercomputer can do complicated tasks very quickly.
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| fax machine |
(n phr) 传真机
Please mail the information to me. My fax machine is broken.
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| robot |
(n) 机器人
Robots can do wrok that is dangerous, expensive or boring
for people to do.
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| video telephone |
(n phr) 可视电话 I wish we had video telephones
Then we could see each other when we talk on the phone.
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