单选题
Hardly a week goes by without some advance in technology that would have seemed incredible 50 years ago. And we can expect the rate of change to accelerate rather than slow down within our lifetime. The developments in technology are bound to have a dramatic effect on the future of work. By 2010, new technology will have revolutionized communications. People will be transmitting messages down telephone lines that previously would have been sent by post. Not only postmen but also clerks and secretaries will vanish in a paperfree society. All the routine tasks they perform will be carried on a tiny silicon chip so that they will be as obsolete as the horse and cart after the invention of the motor car. One change will make thousands, if not millions, redundant. Even people in traditional professions, where expert knowledge has been the key, are unlikely to escape the effects of new technology. Instead of going to a solicitor, you might go to a computer which is programmed with all the most up-to-date legal information. Doctors, too, will find that an electronic competitor will be able to carry out a much quicker and more accurate diagnosis and recommend more efficient courses of treatment. In education, teachers will be largely replaced by teaching machines far more knowledgeable than any human being. Most learning will take place in the home via video conferencing. Children will still go to school though, until another place is created where they can make friends anti develop social skills. What can we do to avoid the threat of unemployment? We shouldn't hide our heads in the sand. Unions will try to stop change but they will be fighting a losing battle. People should get computer literate as this just might save them from professional extinction. After all, there will be a few jobs left in law, education and medicine for those few individuals who are capable of writing and programming the software of the future. Strangely enough, there will still be jobs like rubbish collection and cleaning as it is tough to programme tasks which are largely unpredictable.
单选题
According to the writer, the rate of change in technology. A. will remain the same B. will slow down C. will speed up D. can not be predicted
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题。答案信息对应于第一段第二句：And we can expect the rate of change to accelerate rather than slow down within our lifetime，即作者认为变革会一直加速而不是缓慢下来，选[C] 。
单选题
The writer expects that by 2010 new technology will have revolutionized communications and ______. A. bookshops will not exist B. the present postal system will have disappeared C. people will no longer send letters D. the postmen will have been replaced by the motor cars
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】细节题。第一段后半部分作者展望了未来新技术所带来的通讯革命，由该段倒数第三句可知他认为邮递员(也即邮政系统)会消失,．Not only postmen but also…will vanish，因此答案为[B] 。
单选题
From the passage, we can infer that ______. A. professionals won't be affected by new technology B. doctors won't be as efficient as computers in the future C. computers can not replace lawyers in the future D. experts will know less in the future
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】细节题。文章第二段展望了传统职业受到新技术的影响，其中第三句涉及的是医生这个职业，指出：an electronic competitor(即电脑)will be．．．more efficient courses of treatment，反过来就是[B] 的意思。其余三项都与文意不符。
单选题
The passage tells us that in the future ______. A. children will not be taught in schools B. no teachers will be needed C. teachers will be less knowledgeable D. children will learn life skills at school
单选题
In the writer's view, ______. A. people should be prepared for the future B. there exists no threat of unemployment C. unions can stop the unfavorable change D. people had better become cleaners