搜索
12008年6月21日大学英语六级真题及答案Whatwilltheworldbelikeinfiftyyears?Thisweeksometopscientists,includingNobelPrizewinners,gavetheirvisionofhowtheworldwilllookin2056,frongas-poweredcarstoextraordinaryhealthadvances,JohnInghamreportsonwhattheworld’sfinestmindsbelieveourfutureswillbe.Forthoseofusluckyenoughtolivethatlong,2056willbeaworldofalmostperpetualyouth,whereobesityisaremotememoryandrobotsbecomeourcompanions.Wewillberubbingshoulderswithaliensandcolonizingouterspace.Betterstill,ourdescendantsmightatlastliveinaworldatpeacewithitself.Thepredictionisthatwewillhavefoundasourceofinexbaustible,safe,greenenergy,andthatsciencewillhavekilledoffreligion.Iftheyarerightwewillhaveremovedtwoofthemaincausesofwar-ourdependenceonoilandreligiousprejudice.Willwereally,astoday’sscientistsclaim,beabletoliveforeveroratleastcheattheageingprocesssothattheaveragepersonlivesto150?Ofcourse,allthesepredictionscomewithascientifichealthwarning.HarvardprofessorStevenPinkersays:“Thisisaninvitationtolookfoolish,aswiththepredictionsofdomedcitiesandnuclear-poweredvacuumcleanersthatweremade50yearago.”LivinglongerAnthonyAtala,directoroftheWakeForestInstituteinNorthCarolina,belivesfailingorganswillberepairedbyinjectingcellsintothebody.Theywillnaturallytostraighttotheinjuryandhelphealit.Asystemofinjectionswithoutneedlescouldalsoslowtheageingprocessbyusingthesameprocessto“tune”cells.BruceLahn,professorofhumangeneticsattheUniversityofChicago,anticipatestheabilitytoproduce“unlimitedsupplies”oftransplantablehumanorganswithouttheneededaneworgan,suchaskidney,thesurgeonwouldcontactacommercialorganproducer,givehimthepatient’simmuno-logicalprofileandwouldthenbesentakidneywiththecorrecttissuetype.Theseorganswouldbeentirelycomposedofhumancells,grownbyintroducingthemintoanimalhosts,andalloweingthemtodeveoopintoandorganinplaceoftheanimal’sown.ButProf.Lahnbelievesthatfarmedbrainswouldbe“offlimits”.Hesays:“Veryfewpeoplewouldwanttohavetheirbrainsreplacedbysomeoneelse’sandweprobablydon’twanttoputahumanbrainingananimalbody.”RichardMiller,aprofessorattheUniversityofMichigan,thinksscientistcoulddevelop“anthenticanti-ageingdrugs”byworkingouthowcellsinlargeranimalssuchaswhalesandhumanresistmanyformsofinjuries.Hesays:“It’sisnowroutine,inlaboratorymammals,toextendlifespanbyabout40%.Turningonthesameprotectivesystemsinpeopleshould,by2056,createthefirstclassof100-year-oldswhoareasvigorousandproductiveastoday’speopleintheir60s”2AliensConlinPillinger,professorofplanerarysciencesattheOpenUniversity,says:”IfancythatatleastwewillbeabletoshowthatlifedidistarttoevolveonMarswellasEarth.”Within50yearshehopesscientistswillprovethatalienlifecamehereinMartianmeteorites(陨石).ChrisMcKay,aplanetaryscientistatNASA’sAmesResearchCenter.believesthatin50yearswemayfindevidenceofalienlifeinancientpermanentforstofMarsoronotherplaners.Headds:”ThereisevenachancewewillfindalienlifeformshereonEarth.ItmightbeasdifferentasEnglishistoChinese.PricetonprofessorFreemanDysonthinksit“likely”thatlifeformouterspacewillbediscovereddefore2056becausethetoolsforfindingit,suchasopticalandradiodetectionanddataprocessing,areimproving.Heays:”Assoonasthefirstevidenceisfound,wewillknowwhattolookforandadditionaldiscoveriesarelikelytofollowquickly.Suchdiscoveriesarelikelytohaverevolutionaryconsequencesforbiology,astronomyandphilosophy.Theymaychangethewaywelookatourselvesandourplaceintheuniverse.ColoniesinspaceRichardGottprofessorofastrophysicsatPrinceton,hopesmanwillsetupaself-sufficientcolonyonMars,whichwouldbea“lifeinsurancepolicyagainstwhatevercatastrophes,naturalorotherwise,mightoccuronEarth.“TherealspaceraceiswhetherwewillcoloniseoffEarthontootherworldsbeforemoneyforthespaceprogrammerunsout.”SpinalinjuriesEllenHeber-Katz,aprofessorattheWistarInstitudeinPhiladelphia,foreseescuresforinijuriescausingparalysissuchastheonethatafflicatedSupermanstarChristopherReeve.Shesays:”Ibelievethatthedayisnotfaroffwhenwewillbeabletoprofescribedrugsthatcauseseveres(断裂的)spinalcordstoheal,heartstoregenerateandlostlimbstoregrow.“Peoplewillcometoexpectthatinjuredordiseasedorgansaremeanttoberepairedfromwithin,inmuchthesamewaythatwefixanapplianceorautomobile:byreplancingthedamagedpartwithamanufacturer-certifiednewpart.”Shepredictthatwithin5to10yearsfingersandtoeswillberegrownandlimbswillstarttoberegrownafewyearslater.Repariestothenervoussystemwillstartwithopticnervesand,intime,thespinalcord.”Within50yearswholebodyreplacementwillberoutine,”Prof.Heber-Katzadds.Obesity3SydneyBrenner,seniordistinguishedfellowoftheCrick-JacobsCenterinCalifornia,wonthe2002NoblelPrizeforMedicineandsaysthatifthereisaglobaldisastersomehumanswillsurvive-andevolitionwillfavoursmallpeoplewithbodieslargeenoughtosupporttherequiredamountofbrainpower.”Obesity,”hesays.”willhavebeensolved.”RobotsRodneyBrooks,professorofroboticeatMIT,saystheproblemsofdevelopingartificialintelligenceforrobotswillbeatleastpartlyovercome.Asaresult,”thepossibilitiesforrobotsworkingwithpeoplewillopenupimmensely”EnergyBillJoy,greentechnologyexpertinCalifomia,says:”Themostsignificantbreakthroughtwouldbetohave