单选题 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 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 Conversation 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 organizations are now thinking seriously about that question. For example, the Long Now Foundation has 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. As 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.

单选题 Our vision of the future used to be inspired by
A. our desire for lives of fulfillment.
B. our faith in science and technology.
C. our awareness of potential risks.
D. our belief in equal opportunity.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据根据关键词our vision of the future定位至第一段，第一句说几十年前，人们对未来的态度还是乐观的。第二句解释了原因，即科技会治愈人类的弊病。因此B项正确。A项和D项都错在因果倒置，“lives of fulfillment”以及“opportunity for all”都是科学、技术带来的结果，并非原因。C项“对潜在危险的意识”，本段并未提及。
单选题 The IUCN's "Red List" suggest that human beings are
A. a sustained species.
B. the world's dominant power.
C. a threat to the environment.
D. a misplaced race.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。根据关键词ICUN "Red List"定位至第三段。最后一句话引号中部分是对人类这个“物种”的描述，根据there are no major threats resulting in an overall population decline可以判断出人类不会轻易的灭绝，即A项a sustained species。B项“世界的主宰力量”，原文未提，属于过度推断。C、D两项原文均未提及。
单选题 Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 5?
A. Arc helps limit the scope of futurological studies.
B. Technology offers solutions to social problem.
C. The interest in science fiction is on the rise.
D. Our immediate future is hard to conceive.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。本题可用排除法。A项“Arc帮助限定了未来学研究的范围”，B项“技术为社会问题提供了解决办法”，C项“对科幻小说的兴趣在上升”，原文均未提及，属于过度推断。D项“不久的将来是不好设想的”。根据第五段首句it may be easier to think about...than about the more immediate future可知，D项正确，conceive意为“构思，想象，设想”，相当于原文的think about。
单选题 To ensure the future of mankind, it is crucial to
A. explore our planet's abundant resources.
B. adopt an optimistic view of the world.
C. draw on our experience from the past.
D. curb our ambition to reshape history.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。按照出题顺序定位到第六段。此段有一句As so often, the past holds the key to the future, 即过去是预测未来的钥匙，draw on our experience from the past与其同义重复，因此C项正确。A项“探测地球的丰富资源”、B项“对世界采取乐观看法”、D项“控制我们的野心来改造历史”，原文均未提及。
单选题 Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Uncertainty about Our Future
B. Evolution of the Human Species
C. The Ever-bright Prospects of Mankind
D. Science, Technology and Humanity
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨题。一篇文章的主旨一般来说体现在开头和结尾。本文开头两段引出话题，结尾段则点题。根据末段最后两句可以看出作者对未来的乐观态度，因此C项“人类光明的前景”正确。A项“对未来不确定”与作者的乐观态度不符。B项“人类的进化”，这应是讲人类的发展史的，与文章不符。D项“科学，技术和人类”太过笼统，不能准确概括文章主旨。