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  3. Up until a few decades ago, our visions of the future were largely—though by no means uniformly— glowingly positive. Science and

Up until a few decades ago, our visions of the future were largely—though by no means uniformly— glowingly positive. Science and

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问题     Up until a few decades ago, our visions of the future were largely—though by no means uniformly— glowingly positive. Science and technology would cure all the ills of humanity, leading to lives of fulfillment and opportunity for all.
    Now Utopia has grown unfashionable, as we have gained a deeper appreciation of the range of threats facing us, from asteroid strike to pandemic flu to climate change. You might even be tempted to assume that humanity has little future to look forward to.
    But such gloominess is misplaced. The fossil record shows that many species have endured for millions of years—so why shouldn’t we? Take a broader look at our species’ place in the universe, and it becomes clear that we have an excellent chance of surviving for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years(see "100,000 AD: Living in the deep future"). Look up Homo sapiens in the IUCN’s "Red List" of threatened species, and you will read; "Listed as Least Concern as the species is very widely distributed, adaptable, currently increasing, and there are no major threats resulting in an overall population decline. "
    So what does our deep future hold? A growing number of researchers and organisations are now thinking seriously about that question. For example, the Long Now Foundation, based in San Francisco, has created a forum where thinkers and scientists are invited to project the implications of their ideas over very long timescales. Its flagship project is a mechanical clock, buried deep inside a mountain in Texas, that is designed to still be marking time thousands of years hence.
    Then there are scientists who are giving serious consideration to the idea that we should recognise a new geological era: the Anthropocene. They, too, arc pulling the camera right back and asking what humanity’s impact will be on the planet—in the context of stratigraphic time.
    Perhaps perversely, it may be easier to think about such lengthy timescales than about the more immediate future. The potential evolution of today’s technology, and its social consequences, is dazzlingly complicated, and it’s perhaps best left to science-fiction writers and futurologists to explore the many possibilities we can envisage. That’s one reason why we have launched Arc, a new publication dedicated to the near future.
    But take a longer view and there is a surprising amount that we can say with considerable assurance. As so often, the past holds the key to the future: we have now identified enough of the long-term patterns shaping the history of the planet, and our species, to make evidence-based forecasts about the situations in which our descendants will find themselves.
    This long perspective makes the pessimistic view of our prospects seem more likely to be a passing fad. To be sure, the future is not all rosy: while our species may flourish, a great many individuals may not. But we arc now knowledgeable enough to mitigate many of the risks that threatened the existence of earlier humans, and to improve the lot of those to come. Thinking about our place in deep time is a good way to focus on the challenges that confront us today, and to make a future worth living in.
Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 5?
选项 A、Arc helps limit the scope of futurological studies.
B、Technology offers solutions to social problem.
C、The interest in science fiction is on the rise.
D、Our immediate future is hard to conceive.
答案D
解析 段落推断题。由本题的题干可以锁定本题的答案在文章的第五段。该段首句为段落中心句：“与思考眼前的未来相比，对如此之长的时间跨度进行思考似乎更为容易”，反过来思考也就是说，眼前的未来更难思考，符合D选项含义“我们眼前的未来很难去设想”。A选项“Arc帮助缩小了未来学研究的范围”，该选项在文中出现在该段的最后一句话“这就是为什么我们可以发行Arc这样一个致力于研究近期未来的全新出版物”，和题目含义有很大出入，故排除。B选项“技术为社会问题提供了解决方法”，段中并未提到。C选项“对科幻小说的兴趣与日俱增”，该段中虽在第二句提到科幻小说家，但并未提及对科幻小说的兴趣，故排除。正确答案为D项“Our immediate future is hard to conceive”。
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