【正文】 i ts bi nati on of gases had li ttl e oxygen l eft. Hi t by a l ack of fresh ai r, m y head ached. Just as I tri ed to make the necessary adjustm ent to this new situati on, Wang Pi ng appeared. “Put on this m ask, ” he advi sed. “It?l l m ake you feel m uch beter.” H e handed i t to me and imm ediately huri ed m e through to a sm al l room nearby for a rest. I felt better i n no tim e. Soon I was back on m y feet agai n and flowi ng him to col ect a hoveri ng carri age dri ven by puter. These carri ages float above the ground and by bendi ng or pressi ng down i n your seat, you can m ove swi ftl y. Wang Pi ng fastened m y safety bel t and showed m e how to use i t. Soon I coul d fly as fast as hi m. H owever, I l ost si ght of Wang Pi ng when we reached what l ooked li ke a l arge market because of too m any carri ages flyi ng by i n al di recti ons. He was swept up i nto the centre of them. Just at that m om ent I had a “tim e l ag” fl ashback and saw the area agai n as it had been i n the year AD 2020. I reali zed that I had been transported into the future of what was sti l my hometown! Then I caught sight of Wang Pi ng agai n and fl ew after hi m. Arriving at a strangelooking house, he showed m e i nto a large, bright cl ean room . It had a green wal l, a brown fl oor and soft li ghti ng. Suddenl y the wal l moved –it was made of trees! I found l ater that their leaves provi ded the room with muchneeded oxygen. Then Wang Ping fl ashed a switch on a puter screen, and a tabl e and some chai rs rose from under the fl or as if by magic. “Why not sit down and eat a l ittle?” he sai d. “You may fi nd this di fficult as it i s your fi rst ti me travel tri p. Just rel ax, si nce there is nothing planned on the ti metable today. Tomorrow you?l be ready for som e visi ts. ” Having sai d this, he spread some food on the table, and produced a bed from the floor. After he l eft, I had a brief meal and a hot bath. Exhausted, I sl id into bed and fel l fast asl eep. More news l ater from your loving son, Li Qi ng I H AVE SEEN AMAZING TH INGS My fi rst vi sit was to a space stati on consi dered the m ost m odern i n space. Descri bed as an enorm ous round pl ate, it spi ns sl owl y i n space to imi tate the pul l of the earth?s gravi ty. Insi de was an exhi bi ti on of the m ost uptodate i nventi ons of the 31st century. A gui de(G) showed us around al ong a moveable path. G: Good m orni ng to al our vi si tors from 2020. Fi rst we?re goi ng to exami ne one of the latest form s of m uni cati on am ong our space citi zens. No m ore typi sts worki ng on a typewri ter or puter! No m ore postage or postcodes! Messages can now be sent usi ng a “thoughtpad”. You pl ace the m etal band over your head, cl ear your mi nd, pres the sendi ng button, think your m essage and the next i nstant it?s sent. It?s stored on the “thoughtpad” of the recei ver. It?s qui ck, efi ci ent and environm ental l y fri endl y. The onl y lim i tati on i s i f the user does not thi nk his or her m essage cl earl y, an uncl ear m essage may be sent. But we cannot bl am e the tol s for the faul ts of the user, can we? Duri ng the explanati on I looked at the pai r of sm al objects cal l ed “thoughjtpads” on a tabl e. They just l ooked li ke m etal ri bbons. So ordi nary but so powerful! Whil e I was observi ng them , the path moved us on. G: And now l adi es and gentlem en, we are in the “envi ronment area”. Peopl e used to col l ect waste i n dustbins. Then the rubbi sh was sent to be buri ed or burned, am I ri ght?(We nodded. ) Wel, now there?s a system where the waste i s di sposed of usi ng the pri nci pl es of ecol ogy. A gi ant m achi ne, al ways greedy for m ore, swal lows al l the waste avai l abl e. The rubbi sh i s turned into several grades of useful m ateri al , such as “fertil i zer” for the fi el ds and “soul ” for deserts. N othi ng is wasted, and everythi ng, even pl asti c bags, i s recycl ed. A great i dea, i sn?t i t? I stared at the m ovi ng m odel of the waste m achi ne, absorbed by i ts effi ciency. But agai n we m oved on. G: O ur third stop shows the changes that have happened to work practi ces. Manufacturi ng no l onger takes pl ace on the earth but on space stati ons li ke thi s one. A group of engineers programm er robots to perform tasks i n space. The robots produce goods such as drugs, cl othes, furni ture, hoveri ng carri ages, etc. There i s no waste, no pol l uti on and no envi ronmental dam age! H owever, the panies have to trai n thei r representati ves to l ive and work in space settlem ents. They have to m oni tor the robots and the producti on. When the goods are ready they?re transported by i ndustrial spaceshi p back to earth. My mi nd began to wander. What job woul d I do? My m oti vati on i ncreased as I thought of the wonderful worl d of the future. Uni t 4 MY FIRST WORK ASSIGNMENT “unfetabl e”, says new journali st N ever wi l Zhou Yang (ZY) fet hi s fi rst assignment at the ofi ce of a popul ar Engl ish newspaper. H is di scusi on wi th hi s new boss, H u Xi n (H X), was to strongl y i nfl uence hi s l i fe as a journali st. H X: Wel e. We?re deli ghted you?re i ng to work wi th us. Your fi rst job here wi l be an assi stant journal i st. Do you have any questions? ZY: Can I go out on a story im medi atel y? H X: (l aughi ng)That?s admi rabl e, but I?m afrai d it woul d be unusual! Wait til l you?re m ore experi enced. First we?l l put you as an assistant to an experi enced journali st. Later you can cover a story and subm it the arti cl e yoursel f. ZY: Wonderful . What do I need to take with m e? I al ready have a notebook and cam era. H X: N o need for a cam era. You?l l have a professi onal photographer with you to take photographs. You?l l fi nd your col l eagues very eager to assi st you, so you m ay be abl e to concentrate on photography l ater if you