BEFORE YOU READ

Work in pairs. Discuss the following questions.

(Làm việc từng đôi. Thảo luận những câu hỏi sau.)

1. Do you think life will be better in the future ? Why/ Why not?

(Bạn có nghĩ cuộc sống sẽ tốt hơn trong tương lai? Tại sao / Tại sao không?)

2. List three things that might happen in the future.

(Liệt kê ba điều có thể xảy ra trong tương lai.)

WHILE YOU READ 

Read the text and do the tasks that follow.

(Đọc đoạn văn và làm bài tập kèm theo.)

What will life be like in the future? Different people have different answers to this question; some are pessimistic while others optimistic.

Things will be much worse than they are nowadays, pessimists say. The whole world will experience a period of economic depression. Many large corporations will be wiped out and millions of jobs will be lost. The security of the earth will be threatened by terrorism as terrorist groups will become more powerful and more dangerous. On the contrary, optimists believe that life will be far better than it is today. We will be living in a much cleaner environment, breathing fresher air and eating healthier foods. We will also be better looked after by a more modern medical system. Domestic chores will no longer be a burden thanks to the inventions of labour-saving devices.

For better or worse, it is certain that in the future some things will be very different. Developments in micro technology - computers and telecommunication are bound to have a huge influence on various aspects of our lives. Take work, for instance. Robots will do most of the work in factories, so they will be cleaner places for fewer people to work in them. Offices, too, will go electronic with the result that paper will almost completely disappear. More people will work from home on computers linked to a head office. As for travel, it is likely that space-shuttle technology will be used in normal air travel achieving speeds of up to 15,000 kph. Cars will still be with us, but, instead of petrol, they will run on anything from electricity to methane gas. They will also be fitted with computers to tell us how efficiently we are driving and if there is anything wrong on the road ahead.

Whatever we expect from the future, remember that progress has never moved in straight lines, and history is full of unexpected developments. However, we are confident that the future is in our hands, and it is our responsibility to contribute to bettering our own lives.

1. Find words or phrases in the passage which have the following meanings.

(Tìm những từ hay cụm từ trong đoạn văn có nghĩa sau.)

1. People who always expect bad things to happen: __________

2. People who always expect good things to happen: __________

3. A period when there’s little economic activity and many people are poor or without jobs: __________

4. The use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act: __________

5. Be destroyed or removed completely: __________

6. Spacecraft designed to be used for travelling between the earth and a space station: __________

2. Answer these following questions.

(Trả lời những câu hỏi sau.)

1. What will happen in an economic depression?

(Điều gì sẽ xảy ra trong thời kỳ kinh tế suy thoái?)

2. Why, according to pessimists, will the security of the earth be threatened?

(Tại sao, theo những người bi quan, an ninh của Trái Đất sẽ bị đe dọa?)

3. What will life be like in the future, according to optimists?

(Theo những người lạc quan sẽ sống như thế nào trong tương lai?)

4. What are the most important factors that will bring about dramatic changes in different aspects of our lives?

(Những yếu tố quan trọng nhất sẽ mang lại những thay đổi đáng kể trong các khía cạnh khác nhau của cuộc sống của chúng ta?)

3. Complete the notes about how technology will influence our life in the future.

(Hoàn chỉnh những ghi chú về phương cách kĩ thuật sẽ ảnh hưởng cuộc sống chúng ta trong tương lai.)

- work: _________________________

- travel:______________________

AFTER YOU READ

Work in groups. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of robots.

(Làm việc từng nhóm. Thảo luận những điều lợi và bất lợi của người máy.)