The Future

Reading exercise for the COVID-19 quarantine (activity 7)

SECOND PERIOD
PART 1 PRE-READING: match the FIELDS OF ENGINEERING to the
pictures.

1. energy 4

2. transport 6

3. construction 2

4. infrastructure 3

5. agriculture 8

6. computers 7

7. medicine 5

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 8. environment 1

PART 2 PRE-READING: fill the gaps in the following PREDICTIONS

ABOUT THE FUTURE using one of the words from the box.

available space Artificial renewable

technology intelligence
improved, Low carbon cure materials,
methods management

1. There will be a cure for cancer in the next few years.

2. The world will use only renewable energies within 50
years.
3. Improved crops and farming methods will mean we won’t
run out of food in the future.
4. By using space technology we will be able to fly from
London to Sydney in two hours.
5. Artificial intelligence will develop so that robots can do
most human jobs.
6. Basic water management and transportation will be available in
every poor country within 30 days.
7. New building materials and smart energy management
systems will optimize energy efficiency in homes and offices.
8. Low carbon technology will eliminate greenhouse gases by
2040.

PART 3 PRE-READING: now match the PREDICTIONS above to one of the

FIELDS OF ENGINEERING from part 1. The first is an example:

PREDICTION FIELD OF ENGINEERING

1. medicine
2. energy
3. agriculture
4. transport

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 5. computers
6. infraestructure
7. construction
8. environment

PART 4 READING/ WRITING: read the following text and then answer
the questions.

Reading: The world in 2050

We asked some college students to make predictions about the
future. Here is what they said!
Samuel, 22
I think a lot of things will change in 2050. India will overtake
China as the first largest economy in the world, but the
country will have many problems with its demographics. The
world will also have a lot of problems with the pollution and
the climate changing. We will need to find other resources,
because there will be more than nine billion people on Earth
in 2050. We will also need to build spaceships to travel to the
Moon and to Mars, because we will have to take resources
from these places.

Lea, 21
Our world won’t be the same in 2050. We will improve our
technology and everybody will be able to speak at least five
languages. People will live longer and we won’t have health
problems, because we will improve our knowledge on medicine.
We will also live in peace and the different countries won’t have
nuclear weapons anymore. We will also have a single world
government as we already have the IMF (International Monetary
Fund). I think 2050 will be a great year for mankind!

Mark, 24
I hope that the
world countries will be able to overcome the different issues
in 2050. We will live in peace and won’t have any wars
anymore. We will be able to explore the space and to find
other habitable planets. We will perhaps find other
intelligent Beings on other planets in 2050.

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Write an “S” for Steven, an “L” for Lea or an “M” for Mark next to the
predictions according to who said them.

People Who said…?

1. L , M The world will live in peace.

2. S , M Humanity will travel to space.

Samuel 3. S India will become a super economic power.

4. M We will find life on other planets.

5. L People will have a better life expectancy because

medicine will improve.
Lea

6. S There will be a lot of people in the world in 2050.

7. L There will be one unified government for the entire

world.

Mark
8. S We will have serious environmental problems.

Your turn! What do you think? What will the world look like in 2050?

I think that forests will disappear, food and water will be limited, the climate will change,
society will have to adapt to living limited and the average number of years of life will
decrease.