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Up until a few decades ago, our visions

考试题库2022-08-02  80
问题 Up until a few decades ago, our visions of the future were largely—though by no means uniformly — glowingly positive. Science and technology would cure all the ills of humanity, leading to lives of fulfillment and opportunity for all.　　Now utopia has grown unfashionable, as we have gained a deeper appreciation of the range of threats facing us, from asteroid strike to epidemic flu and to climate change. You might even be tempted to assume that humanity has little future to look forward to.　　But such gloominess is misplaced.The fossil record shows that many species have endured for millions of years — so why shouldn’t we? Take a broader look at our species’ place in the universe, and it becomes clear that we have an excellent chance of surviving for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years. Look up Homo sapiens in the “Red List” of threatened species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and you will read: “Listed as Least Concern as the species is very widely distributed, adaptable, currently increasing, and there are no major threats resulting in an overall population decline.”　　So what does our deep future hold? A growing number of researchers and organisations are now thinking seriously about that question. For example, the Long Now Foundation has as its flagship project a mechanical clock that is designed to still be marking time thousands of years hence.　　Perhaps willfully, it may be easier to think about such lengthy timescales than about the more immediate future. The potential evolution of today’s technology, and its social consequences, is dazzlingly complicated, and it’s perhaps best left to science fiction writers and futurologists to explore the many possibilities we can envisage. That’s one reason why we have launched Arc, a new publication dedicated to the near future.　　But take a longer view and there is a surprising amount that we can say with considerable assurance.A.s so often, the past holds the key to the future: we have now identified enough of the long-term patterns shaping the history of the planet, and our species, to make evidence-based forecasts about the situations in which our descendants will find themselves.　　This long perspective makes the pessimistic view of our prospects seem more likely to be a passing fad.To be sure, the future is not all rosy. But we are now knowledgeable enough to reduce many of the risks that threatened the existence of earlier humans, and to improve the lot of those to come.Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 5?A. The interest in science fiction is on the rise.B. Arc helps limit the scope of futurological studies.C. Technology offers solutions to social problems.D. Our immediate future is hard to conceive.
选项 A. The interest in science fiction is on the rise.
B. Arc helps limit the scope of futurological studies.
C. Technology offers solutions to social problems.
D. Our immediate future is hard to conceive.
答案 D
解析 考查考生理解细节信息以把握段落主旨的能力。由第五段第一句可知，人们也许更倾向于认为预测长远的未来比预测不久的将来更容易。科技发展及其带给社会的影响瞬息万变，难以预测，预测不久的将来的任务最好留给科幻小说家和未来学家去完成。故D项“人类不久的将来难以设想”与本段主旨一致，为正确答案。A项“对科幻小说的兴趣不断增长”和C项“技术为社会问题的解决提供方案”与本段细节无关。B项“《Arc》杂志有助于限制未来学研究的范围”与原文中关于(Arc)杂志创刊目的的细节也不符。
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