advanced future life

7/24/2019 Advanced Future Life

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expressing probability; discussing issues; reading comprehension

evolution, future of mankind

PRINT & TEACH LESSON OCTOBER 2009

advanced

upper-interme

intermediate

pre-intermedi

focus on vocabularyActivity 1. Look at the following expressions.Which of them express a high (HP) and a lowprobability (LP)?

www.english-4u.com page 1

! there is a distinct possibilitythat somethingwill happen

! something looks inevitable

! there!s not the remotest chance ofsomethin

! something seems unlikelyin the foreseeablfuture

! prospectsof something look slim

! there!s no waysomething will happen

! something is certainto happen

! there!s little likelihoodof something

! something is bound to happen

! there!s little likelihoodof something

! it is extremely doubtful whethersomething whappen

! something might/couldhappen

THE FUTURE OF HUMANS


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Activity 2.Look at the following scenarios of what might happen in the future. How likely are they?

Discuss each scenario in pairs or small groups. Use the expressions from Activity 1.

focus on talking

THE HUMANSOF TOMORROW

Will we become larger or smaller, smarter or dumber

How will the emergence of new diseases and the ris

in global temperature shape us? Will a new human

species arise one day?

SCENARIO 1: .................................................

Evolution will be still at work. But instead of diverging,our gene pool will continue to converge in the future.Human society will become more interconnectedglobally and more homogeneous.When we get more homogeneous, we will be moresusceptible to quick-spreading diseases becausegenetic variability protects us against suffering frommassive epidemics.

SCENARIO 2: .................................................

Catastrophes ranging from super-floods to plagues tonuclear war to asteroid strikes will erase civilization as

we know it, leaving remnants of humanity who will bedivided into separate populations and will go their ownevolutionary ways.

If different populations develop in isolation over manythousands of generations, its conceivable that separatespecies would emerge.

SCENARIO 3: .................................................

Developments in the fields of genetics andpharmacology will lead to a new form of evolution. Theevolution which will move much more quickly than

biological evolution or cultural evolution. According tosocial commentator Joel Garreau, this new wave ofevolution will spawn three kinds of superhumans:

the enhanced - those who will have the money and enthusiasm

to make themselves live longer, be smarter, look sexier

the naturals- those who will eschew enhancements for higher

reasons, just as vegetarians forgo meat

the rest- those who will not get enhanced only because they

wont be able to afford it


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www.en lish-4u.com page 3

SCENARIO 4: ............................................

In order to make an enhancement inheritable,scientists will have to have a new code spliced into

ones germline stem cells. Not only will suchpractices create an ethical controversy oftranscendent proportions, but it could conceivablyproduce a superhuman species in a singlegeneration. Tinkering with the germline could alsoconceivably create a race of monsters.

SCENARIO 5: ............................................

The rapid pace of cybernetic change has led someexperts to worry that artificial intelligence mayoutpace Homo sapiens natural smarts. in somefields, artificial intelligence has already bested

humans - with Depp Blues 1997 victory over worldchess champion Garry Kasparov providing a vividexample.

Computer scientist Bill Joy argues that we wouldsoon face challenges from intelligent machines aswell as from other technologies including weaponsof mass destruction. Joy speculates that a trulyintelligent robot may arise by the year 2030. And

once the intelligent robot exists, it is only a smallstep to a robot species - to an intelligent robot thatcan make evolved copies of itself.

SCENARIO 6: ............................................

If humans survive long enough, theres one sureway to grow new branches on our evolutionaryfamily tree: by settling on other planets.

However, starting a new home on a distant planetwill not be easy. Currently, the closest star systemthought to have a planet is Epsilon Eridani, 10.5light-years away. Even if spaceships could travel at1 percent the speed of light - an incredible 6.7million mph - it would take more than a millenniumto get there.

Even Mars might be far enough: If humansestablished a permanent settlement there, theradically different living conditions would changethe evolutionary equation. For example, those whoare born and raised in one-third of Earths gravitycould never feel at home on the old home planet.It wouldnt take long for the new Martians tobecome a breed apart.


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Activity 3.Read the text again and match the scenarios with their headings.

focus on comprehension

1. .....................................................

2. ....................................................

3. ....................................................

4. ....................................................

5. ....................................................

6. ....................................................

7. ....................................................

8. ....................................................

9. ....................................................

10. ....................................................

11. ....................................................

12. ....................................................

13. ....................................................

14. ....................................................

consisting of parts of people which are similar to each otheror are of the same type

to become different

to become similar

easily influenced or harmed by something

the end of the world, or a time when something very bad will

happena small piece or amount of something that is left from alarger original piece or amount

to cause something new, or many new things

to avoid something intentionally, or to give something up

to join things into one entity

greater, better, more important

to make small unimportant changes to something, especiallyin an attempt to repair or improve it

to move or develop faster than someone or something else

intelligence

to defeat someone in a fight or competition

A. CYBORGS

B. DOOMSDAY SCENARIO

C. SUPERHUMANS

D. ASTRANS

E. HOMOGENEOUS SOCIETY

F. INSTANT SUPERHUMANS

Activity 4.Find these words in the text on pages 2 and 3.

focus on vocabulary

advanced future life

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