【正文】 y. The onl y lim i tati on i s i f the user does not thi nk his or her message clearly, an uncl ear m essage m ay be sent. But we cannot bl ame the tool s for the faults of the user, can we? Duri ng the expl anati on I l ooked at the pair 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 m oved us on. G: And now ladi es and gentl em en, we are i n the “environm ent area”. People used to col l ect waste i n dustbi ns. Then the rubbi sh was sent to be buri ed or burned, am I ri ght?(We nodded. ) Wel l, 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 ows al the waste avail able. The rubbi sh i s turned i nto several grades of useful m ateri al , such as “fertil i zer” for the fi el ds and “soul” for deserts. N othi ng i s wasted, and everythi ng, even plastic bags, i s recycl ed. A great i dea, i sn?t it? I stared at the movi ng m odel of the waste m achi ne, absorbed by i ts effi ci ency. But agai n we m oved on. G: O ur thi rd stop shows the changes that have happened to work practi ces. Manufacturing no l onger takes pl ace on the earth but on space stati ons l i ke thi s one. A group of engi neers programm er robots to perform tasks i n space. The robots produce goods such as drugs, clothes, furni ture, hoveri ng cari ages, etc. There i s no waste, no pol ution and no envi ronm ental damage! H owever, the pani es have to trai n thei r representati ves to li ve and work i n space settl em ents. They have to moni tor the robots and the producti on. When the goods are ready they?re transported by i ndustri al 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 wil l Zhou Yang (ZY) fet his fi rst assi gnm ent at the office of a popul ar Engli sh newspaper. Hi s di scussion wi th hi s new bos, Hu Xin (H X), was to strongly i nfluence hi s li fe as a journal i st. H X: Wel e. We?re del i ghted you?re i ng to work wi th us. Your fi rst job here wil l be an assistant journali st. Do you have any questi ons? ZY: Can I go out on a story im m edi atel y? H X: (l aughi ng)That?s admi rabl e, but I?m afrai d i t woul d be unusual ! Wai t til l you?re m ore experienced. Fi rst we?l l put you as an assistant to an experi enced journal ist. Later you can cover a story and submi t the arti cl e yoursel f. ZY: Wonderful . What do I need to take wi th 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 wi th you to take photographs. You?l l fi nd your col l eagues very eager to assi st you, so you may be abl e to concentrate on photography l ater i f you ?re interested. ZY: Thank you. Not onl y am I i nterested in photography, but I took an am ateur course at uni versi ty to update m y skil l s. H X: Good. ZY: What do I need to rem em ber when I go out to cover a story? H X: You need to be curi ous. O nl y i f you ask m any di fferent questi ons wi l you acquire al l the i nform ation you need to know. We say a good journali st must have a good “nose” for a story. That m eans you must be abl e to asses when people are not tel li ng the whol e truth and then try to discover it. They must use research to i nform themselves of the missing parts of the story. ZY: What shoul d I kep in mind? HX: Here es my l ist of dos and don?ts: don?t mi s your deadl ine, don?t be rude, don?t tal k too much, but m ake sure you li sten to the intervi ewee careful ly. ZY: Why i s l isteni ng so i mportant? H X: Wel l, you have to li sten for detail ed facts. M eanwhi le you have to prepare the next questi on dependi ng on what the person says. ZY: But how can I l isten careful y whi le taki ng notes? HX: Thi s is a trick of the trade. If the i ntervi ewee agrees, you can use a recorder to get the facts strai ght. It?s also useful i f a person wants to chal lenge you. You have the evidence to support your story. ZY: i ts bi nation of gases had little oxygen left. Hit by a l ack of fresh air, my head ached. Just as I tried to make the necessary adjustm ent to this new situati on, Wang Pi ng appeared. “Put on this mask, ” he advised. “It?l l make you fel m uch better.” He handed i t to m e and i mmedi atel y hurri ed m e through to a smal room nearby for a rest. I fel t better in no time. Soon I was back on my feet again and flowi ng him to col ect a hovering carriage driven by puter. These carriages float above the ground and by bending or pressing down in your seat, you can move swi ftl y. Wang Pi ng fastened my safety belt and showed me how to use i t. Soon I could fl y as fast as hi m. However, I l ost si ght of Wang Ping when we reached what looked l ike a large market because of too many carriages flyi ng by i n al l di recti ons. He was swept up into the centre of them. Just at that moment I had a “time l ag” fl ashback and saw the area again as it had been in the year AD 2020. I real i zed that I had been transported into the future of what was sti l my hometown! Then I caught sight of Wang Pi ng again 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