（广东）初中英语2022-2023八年级下学期期末专项复习：阅读理解（2）

Technology is developing fast and it has become an important part of our life. Then what will he world be like in the future?

3-D food will be both delicious and nutritious. We can use 3-D printers（打印机）to print some basic materials. And we can go further. Scientists believe that we just need to turn on a printer in the kitchen and then we can enjoy our favourite food whenever we like.

5G network will allow many more people to get information. Big companies like China Mobile and China Unicom will start to offer 5G. It is said that promises download speeds 10 to 20 times faster than 4G. For example, we can download a film within just 1 second. But with a 4G network, it takes a few minutes. There will be much bandwidth（带宽）and we can get unlimited（无限的）information.

Underwater cities will provide more space. The earth is becoming more and more crowded. We may turn to underwater homes, which will be built as low as 15 kilometers below the sea. And the sea water can be used to provide power for the homes.

Space tour is a piece of cake. For us common people on the earth, the dream of travelling around space will come true. In the coming years, spacecrafts will be as popular as buses, trains and planes. We can leave our home and enter space to take an adventure. And even we will get used to living there.

A robot will be a part of life. Robots can do many of the same things as we humans do like driving cars. But they will be used in other areas as well. They will be able to think. They can tell the difference between right and wrong.

In a word, just as Jules Verne said, "Anything one man can imagine, other men can make it real."

Volunteers needed for a community maintenance shop (维修店)

Are you thinking about helping others? Are you good at talking with people? Come and join us.

Are you looking forward to the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic (残奥会) Winter Games? According to the Beijing Organizing Committee, 27, 000 volunteers will be needed for the Olympic Winter Games and 12, 000 for the Paralympic Winter Games. They will receive in-service training and help organizers with different types of work before and during the Games.

At the far end of Islington Road in Newton, Massachusetts lives a little girl who is close to the neighbourhood. Two-year-old Annie is deaf, but she loves to communicate with anyone who knows sign language.

"She's super active. She wants to talk with any body, "said her father, Raphael. "Her character changes when there is someone who can communicate with her," said her mother, Glenda.

To communicate with the deaf girl is not something easy. However, the whole community learns sign language just for the little girl. On their own, Annie 's neighbours got together, found an instructor, and are now fully immersed (专心于) in an American Sign Language class. The teacher, Rhys McGovern, says this is unbelievable because a lot of times even the parents of deaf children won't learn sign language. "But here Annie has a full community that's signing and communicating with her, "Rhys said.

Annie's parents say there aren't words in any language to express their thanks. "It's really shocking and beautiful. We are so lucky, "Glenda said. In fact, they said they already saw a difference in their daughter. "The first thing she says to us is 'friend'. We are all moved by her," said one neighbour.

Annie's story is really impressive(令人印象深刻的). It feels like America is losing its sense of community— but then you hear about a place like this, which reminds us that what makes a "good neighbourhood" is nothing more than good neighbours.

They look like common biscuits and don't taste bad, either. But if they are made with unusual things, like crickets(蟋蟀), do you still dare to try? Three students at Abertay University in Dundee, UK, are using ground-up(磨成粉的) crickets to make biscuits. They are trying to find more sustainable(可持续发展的) food sources to solve world hunger、reported Daily Mail.

The students are using Thailand house orickets flour(粉末)About 1, 100 crickets can make 100grams of flour. The cricket flour is then mixed with eggs. butter and wheat flour(全麦面粉). Finally, it is baked to make biscuits.

Anja Sieghartsleitner is leading the study. She said that insects are a lot more sustainable than other meats.

Insects are easier to raise. They use less water and land, and produce less greenhouse gasses than cows and pigs. They also have more protein(蛋白质) than beef, chicken and pork

In fact, in a 2013 report, the Untied Nations called on more people to eat insects to beat world hunger.

Scientists have found more than 1, 900 edible(可食用的) insects. Some of these include crickets, beetles(甲壳虫), grasshoppers(蚂蚱) and cicadas(蝉).

People may not want to eat a whole cricket, said Sieghartsleitner. But if it's hidden away in flour or biscuits, then they may be more likely to accept it. Cricket flour is already for sale on the market, she added.

"If we are seeking to feed 9 billion people by 2050, then we have to change our eating behavior, "She said.

Do you often find it is raining when you walk out? Have you ever got wet because you didn't find your umbrella? Or do you always buy umbrellas but leave them home when it rains? You might get upset about this problem. Now there is a new umbrella that could help solve the problem. 

The umbrella will not only tell you what the weather will be like, but also let you know whether you have left it somewhere. Do you know how it works? The umbrella will be able to send a message to your smart phone. It says, "Hey, it's going to rain in fifteen minutes, so it's best for you to take your umbrella. " Besides, even if you are forgetful, you may never leave the umbrella on a bus or somewhere else again. The umbrella will send a warning(警告) to your smart phone if you are careless and leave it behind. 

The report says the new umbrella is going to be on sale soon. 

Although it is a good idea and it looks pretty cool, the umbrella will cost you at least $85! For a common umbrella, this is a high price. Next time, why not check the free weather apps(应用程序) on your smart phone and take a simple umbrella with you when you walk out on possibly rainy days?

Sixteen is the age in the US when teenagers can begin to drive. It's a special age. There's often a special celebration for a girl's 16th birthday—a big party which is called Sweet-16. It is like adults' wedding (婚礼) party.

Last month was Caroline's 16th birthday. About a month before her Sweet-16, the girl's family sent out invitations to the guests. Her parents bought a special and wonderful present for the birthday girl. A Sweet-16 present usually costs $40 to $60. This is about $20 more than the usual cost of a birthday present. All the girl guests wore beautiful dresses to attend the party.

The party was not held at Caroline's own house. The hostess rented a beautiful and grand hall for the event. They prepared delicious food, different tastes of cakes and a famous DJ. The party started at around 6 o'clock in the evening. The guests came and had some greetings with the hostess. Then the girl and her father had a special father-daughter dance. After that, guests danced for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Then there came the most important part of the Sweet-16 party, named the candle-lighting ceremony. Caroline stood behind 16 unlit candles and gave each candle to her friends, family and anyone that she felt was important in her life. A lot of crying and hugging went on at that time. Everybody was so moved at that moment.

Afterwards, people sat and ate with joy. Most guests left at around 11 o'clock that night. Caroline loved the party and felt very excited. She could not believe that she's an adult now.

    If you have time to have fun, here are some films for you to enjoy.

    An Inside Job (In July)

    Directed by: Pete Docter

    From Monday to Wednesday, at 8;00 p. m.

    It took five years to make the film. Writing and rewriting took about three years. The production is about two years. To work on this film, Pete Docter learned a lot from a lot of experts.

    Ticket Prices: RMB35

    Brick by Brick (in July)

    Directed by: Kief Davidson and Danial Junge

    From Wednesday to Friday, at 8:00 p. m.

    In the film, there were about 10 children playing for a competition at Brick world. It's wonderful for children to enjoy.

    Ticket Prices: RMB40

    Minion Madness (in July)

    Directed by: Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin

    From Friday to Sunday, at 7:30 p. m.

    The story mostly took place in 1968. It followed the three main characters. It was a mix of Spanish, French, English, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese The idea was to make these characters as international as possible.

    Ticket Prices: RMB30(Half on Sunday for children)

    Kobe Bryant died with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people in a helicopter crash （直升机坠毁）in California. Lots of people were surprised at the news and very sad about losing the great basketball player.

    Kobe Bryant was born on August 23, 1978 with basketball already in his blood. When Kobe was six years old, his dad started playing basketball in Europe, so his family moved to Italy. Then Kobe started playing basketball.

    The family moved back to the United Stated when Kobe was 13. Though his grades were good, he still chose to join the NBA Al-Star Game for the first time in 1998. Kobe was an 18-time All-Star player. He won five NBA championships（冠军）and two Olympic gold medals. People think he was one of the greatest basketball players during his 20-year life with the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe retired（退役）in 2016. In 2018, he won an Academy Award for a short film about his dreams of playing basketball.

    Although Kobe died, we will always remember his story and spirit.