導語：我們的未來會是什麼樣子? 2144年可能發生什麼? 你的想象力可以讓你進入未來幾年? 看看新西蘭的報紙告訴我們什麼。
What will our future be like? What might happen in the year 2144? How far can your imagination take you into the future? Let's see what a newspaper in New Zealand tells us.
The Future
Will the future be one of robots and spaceships, or meditation and organic food? Today and next Wednesday The Post steps into the future, and asks the experts what they think the world of tomorrow will be like.
Imagine you are holding the December 11, 2144 edition of The Evening Post. It won't be made of paper, but a thin screen that can be folded up and put in your pocket or bag. You'll use the same screen tomorrow, when the day's news will be beamed to its tiny modem via satellite.
The modem will chatter away all day, updating stories from around the world as they happen, complete with moving pictures and sound. A retina scanner will follow your eye, scrolling each page as you get near the bottom. The paper's computer will record which stories interest you most and design a custom menu every time you switch it on.
Let's see what's happening today. Again, the big local story is the disappearing apartment blocks at Happy Valley. Built over an old landfill, this expensive new development is slowly sinking into the ground. Engineers suspect plastic milk bottles dumped with their caps screwed on in the late-20th century are bursting under the weight of the buildings. "People back then," says Wellington's Mayor in a live interview, "were pretty stupid."
Overseas a power failure at a cryo-prison in Alabama during the holiday weekend saw 50,000 inmates thawed prematurely, and in Bangladesh monsoon floods have wiped out hundreds of villages. Some things don't change.
In reality, we can't predict what the pages of this newspaper will contain 144 years from now because we can't predict the future. But in two weeks we will arrive in the new millennium, a date long held up as the future, but which will soon represent a new beginning.
Thirty years ago it was expected that by 2000 commuters would fly to work on highways in the sky, that robots with pinnies would do the vacuuming, that humans would have colonised our near planets and the moon.
Our cars are still stuck firmly on the ground, although even the most basic family runabout has a powerful electronic brain which tells it how much fuel to use and figures out in milliseconds how to save the occupants in a crash.
We still do the vacuuming ourselves, although our ovens tell us when food is ready. We can download whole libraries through our home computers and view snaps of friends on the other side of the world seconds after they are taken.
We have yet to live anywhere other than Earth, although missions into space have allowed us to develop new medicines, information chips and superconductors to make life better down here.
Who would have believed we'd be altering the genetic make-up of animals so they can grow replacement organs for us? Who'd have believed the drink machine in the foyer dials for supplies when it senses it's getting low?
At the dawn of the new millennium the future seems to be coming at us at a frightening pace, with the world seeming to change almost weekly.
What then, will it be like in 100 years? 500? 1000? Will it be a technological future with space hotels, rocket cars, genetically engineered people and automated homes? Or will it be an organic future with a new emphasis on spirituality and nature?
Will humankind still be blighted by war? Will we be able to cure cancer? Will we still get married? What sort of world will our children inherit?
Over the past few months The Post has been asking experts in their fields to take an educated, but fanciful, guess. None claims to be able to tell the future, but by tracking current trends they can give us an idea of what to expect in the world of tomorrow.
You won't be around to read the December 11, 2144 edition of The Evening Post, but this is the next best thing.
Welcome to the future.
New Wordsrobot
n. an automatic machine that can perform the actions of a person 機器人
spaceship
n. a vehicle used for travelling in space 航天器;宇宙飛船
organic
a. 1. not using artificial chemicals in the production of plants and animals for food 施有機肥料的
2. of, found in, or formed by living things 生物體的;有機體的
expert
n. a person with special knowledge, skill or training in a particular field 專家;能手
edition
n. one printing of a book, newspaper, etc. (書、報等的)版次
fold
vt. bend (sth.) so that one part is over another 摺疊
beam
vt. transmit (a signal) in a particular direction 定向發射(無線電信號等)
modem
n. (計算機)調制解調器
via
ugh 通過
* update
vt. make (sth.) more modern or up-to-date 更新
retina
n. 視網膜
scanner
n. 掃描器
scroll
vt. (on a computer display) move a cursor smoothly, causing new data to replace old on the monitor (象展開卷軸般)將文字顯示於屏幕
design
vt. plan or arrange so as to make sure that sth. fulfils your purpose 設計
custom
a. made specially for individual customers 定製的;定做的
switch
vt. turn (an electrical device) on or off 用開關把(電器)開啟(或關掉)
disappear
vi. cease to be seen 消失;不見
apartment
n. a set of rooms on one floor of a building 公寓;單元房
valley
n. a stretch of land between hills or mountains 谷，山谷
landfill
n. an area built up from deposits of solid garbage 用垃圾填築而成的地面
suspect
vt. believe without certain proof; guess 推測，猜想;認為
dump
vt. throw away (garbage, rubbish, etc.) in a heap or a place set apart for the purpose 傾倒(垃圾等)
screw
v. fasten (sth.) by turning or twisting 擰緊
mayor
n. the chief executive of a city or a town 市長
overseas
ad. across the sea; abroad 到海外;在國外
cryo-prison
n. 冰凍監獄
inmate
n. any of a number of people living together in an institution, esp. a prison (尤指監獄中的)被收容者
thaw
vi. change from a frozen to a liquid state 融化;化凍
* prematurely
ad. before the proper or usual time; too early 比(正常)時間提早地;過早地
monsoon
n. 季風
contain
vt. have or hold within itself 包含，容納
millennium
n. a period of 1000 years 一千年
highway
n. a main public road 公路;交通要道
pinny
n. 圍裙
vacuum
vi. clean with a vacuum cleaner 用吸塵器打掃
colonise
vt. make into a colony 在…開拓殖民地
firmly
ad. in a firm way 牢固地;穩固地;堅定地
runabout
n. 敞蓬小轎車
electronic
a. 電子的
millisecond
n. 毫秒
occupant
n. a person who occupies a car, house, etc. 佔用者，居住者
crash
n. an accident in which a vehicle hits sth., usu causing damage, and often injury or death (車輛等)碰撞;撞毀
oven
n. 烤箱
download
vt. transfer (a program, data, etc.) from a larger computer system to a smaller computer 下載(計算機程序、資料等)
snap
n. short for snapshot (口)快照，簡照
chip
n. 集成電路片;微(型)電路
superconductor
n. 超導體
alter
v. become or make different; change (使)改變;變更
* genetic
a. 基因的.
makeup
n. combination of things, people, etc. that form sth.; composition of sth. (事物、人等的)組合;構成
replacement
n. 1. the act of replacing 代替;替換
2. a person or thing that takes the place of another 接替者;替換物
organ
n. a part of an animal body or plant serving a particular purpose 器官
foyer
n. an entrance hall or large open space in a theatre, hotel, etc., where people can meet or talk (劇場、旅館等的)門廳，休息廳
pace
n. rate of progress or development (進步或發展的)速度;節奏
weekly
ad. once a week or every week 每星期;每週一次
technological
a. 技術的
rocket
n. 火箭;火箭發動機
genetically
ad. 因基因決定地
engineer
vt. 設計;建造
automate
vt. cause (sth.) to work automatically 使自動化
emphasis
n. stress 強調
spirituality
n. 精神性;靈性
humankind
n. 人類
blight
vt. spoil or ruin 損害
cancer
n. 癌症
inherit
vt. receive (property, a title, etc.) as a result of the death of the previous owner or be born with (a physical or mental quality) that a parent, grandparent or other relative has 繼承
fanciful
a. showing imagination rather than reason and experience 幻想的;想像的
track
vt. follow the course or movements of 跟蹤;追蹤
current
a. of the present time; happening now 現時的，當前的
trend
n. the way or direction things tend to go 趨勢;動向
Phrases and Expressions
step into
enter 走進，進入
fold up
make smaller in size by folding 摺疊
chatter away
clatter continuously from vibration (機器)不停地咯咯作響
switch on
turn on 打開(電燈、收音機等)
screw on
旋，擰;旋牢
wipe out
destroy completely 徹底摧毀;消滅
hold sb./sth. up
show sb./sth. as an example 舉某人(某事物)作為範例
other than
except 除…之外
come at
move towards in a threatening manner 衝向
Proper NamesNew Zealand
新西蘭(太平洋南部島國)
Wellington
惠林頓(新西蘭首都)
Alabama
亞拉巴馬州(美國州名)
Bangladesh
孟加拉國(國名)
學識谷
