【正文】 anati 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 m oved us on. G: And now l adi es and gentl em en, we are i n the “environm ent area”. Peopl e used to col l ect waste i n dustbi ns. Then the rubbish 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 machi ne, al ways greedy for m ore, swal ows al the waste avail abl e. The rubbi sh i s turned i nto several grades of useful m ateri al, such as “ferti li zer” for the fi el ds and “soul” for deserts. N othi ng i s wasted, and everythi ng, even pl asti c bags, is 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 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. Manufacturi ng 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 gods such as drugs, cl othes, furniture, hoveri ng carri ages, etc. There i s no waste, no pol uti on and no envi ronm ental dam age! H owever, the pani es have to trai n their representatives to l i ve and work i n space settl em ents. They have to m oni 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 “unfettabl e”, says new journal ist N ever wil l Zhou Yang (ZY) fet hi s fi rst assi gnm ent at the office of a popul ar Engli sh newspaper. Hi s di scussion wi th hi s new boss, H u Xi n (H X), was to strongl y i nfl uence hi s li fe as a journal ist. H X: Wel e. We?re deli ghted you?re i ng to work wi th us. Your fi rst job here wil l be an assi stant 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 ti l you?re m ore experi enced. Fi rst we?l l put you as an assi stant to an experi enced journali st. Later you can cover a story and subm i t the arti cl e yoursel f. ZY: Wonderful. What do I need to take wi th me? I al ready have a notebook and cam era. H X: N o ned 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 m ay be able to concentrate on photography l ater i f you ?re interested. ZY: Thank you. N ot onl y am I i nterested i n photography, but I tok an am ateur course at uni versity to update m y skil s. H X: Good. ZY: What do I need to remem 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 acqui re al l the i nformation you need to know. We say a good journali st m ust have a good “nose” for a story. That m eans you m ust be abl e to asess when peopl e are not teli ng the whol e truth and then try to di scover i t. They must use research to inform them sel ves of the mi ssi ng parts of the story. ZY: What shoul d I keep i n mi nd? H X: H ere es m y l i st of dos and don?ts: don?t mi ss your deadli ne, don?t be rude, don?t tal k too m uch, but m ake sure you li sten to the interviewee careful y. ZY: Why is l istening so important? HX: Wel , you have to li sten for detai led facts. Meanwhil e you have to prepare the next questi on depending on what the person says. ZY: But how can I l isten careful ly whil e taking notes? HX: Thi s i s a trick of the trade. If the intervi ewee agrees, you can use a recorder to get the facts straight. It?s also useful if a person wants to chal lenge you. You have the evi dence to support your story. ZY: 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 m ake the necesary adjustm ent to thi s new si tuati on, Wang Pi ng appeared. “Put on thi s m ask,” he advi sed. “It ?l l m ake you feel much better. ” H e handed i t to m e and imm ediately huri ed m e through to a sm al l room nearby for a rest. I fel t beter i n no tim e. Soon I was back on m y feet agai n and fl owi ng him to col l ect a hoveri ng carri age dri ven by puter. These carri ages fl oat 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 it. Soon I coul d fl y as fast as him. H owever, I l ost si ght of Wang Pi ng when we reached what l ooked l i ke a l arge m arket because of to m any carri ages fl yi ng by i n al l di recti ons. H e was swept up i nto the centre of them. Just at that m om ent I had a “ti m e lag” fl ashback and saw the area again as it had been i n the year AD 2020. I real i zed that I had ben transported i nto the future of what was stil l m y hom etown! Then I caught si ght of Wang Pi ng agai n and flew after hi m. Arri vi ng at a strangel oki ng house, he showed m e i nto a l arge, bright cl ean room. It had a green wal , a brown fl oor and soft li ghti ng. Suddenl y the wal m oved –it was m ade of trees! I found l ater that thei r l eaves provi ded the room wi th m uchneeded oxygen. Then Wang Pi ng flashed a swi tch on a puter screen, and a tabl e and som e chairs rose from under the fl oor as i f by m agi c. “Why not sit down and eat a l i tl e?” he sai d. “You m ay fi nd thi s di ffi cul t as i t i s your fi rst tim e travel tri p. Just rel ax, si nce there i s nothi ng pl anned on the tim etabl e today. Tom orow you?l l be ready for som e vi si ts. ” H avi ng sai d thi s, he spread som e food on the tab