Marconi, an Italian inventor, who gave us the radio, probably didn’t know how much his great invention would have done for the world in the years to come. Radio has perhaps done as much as any other communication tool. Things of the world can be reported to people everywhere a few seconds after they happened. Travelers in out-of-the-way (偏僻的) places, ships at sea, and even astronauts round the earth are able to keep in touch with each other by radio.

Television is another important invention. It lets us see as well as hear the actor. Since it was invented, TV has done a great deal in the daily life of people everywhere. Many programs are now televised on TV.

Perhaps the most modern invention is “Telstar”, a “star” moving round the earth. It makes it possible for the people all over the world to be closer than ever before. Now on TV a family in Chicago can watch a motor car race in Italy, a table tennis competition in Beijing or a volleyball match in Japan as these events are actually happening!

What will the world of the next generation look like? Many people today are confident that technology is going to help solve some of the most challenging problems we have on Earth today. Other people are worried that while new technology may solve old problems, it may also create new ones. No technology is perfect.【小题1】

When we dream about the future, many of us like to think that we will be able to take to the skies in our own personal flying car. The advantages are clear. This technology would allow total freedom of movement. We could fly at 480 km per hour, avoiding traffic lights and busy roads. 【小题2】 If the cars become popular, there is likely to cause a very heavy traffic. And what will happen if the cars break down?

【小题3】 3D printers are already used to make life-size models of car parts, and man-made body parts, such as ears. As we move into the future, 3D printing will change the way we make things and the way we treat sick people. The disadvantage is that such a machine is very expensive.

【小题4】 Several companies are trying to build a practical robot suit. This is an electronic suit with robot arms and legs which follows the wearer’s movements. It allows you to lift heavy objects and walk long distances, even night help people walk again after disease or injury. However, one disadvantage at the moment is cost. Even a simple robot suit can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. 【小题5】 A heavy suit like this needs a lot of power, and battery (电池) life is short.

Looking ahead, it is not difficult to imagine a future. One day, we will be able to fly to work, print out a new pair of shoes or lift a car above our heads. Although there are some problems to solve before all of this is possible, we can certainly dream of a world where technology makes life easier and safer for millions of people.

When it comes to long-distance space travel, the biggest problem is that spaceships can only get as far as the fuel onboard allows. In 1964, a British writer Clarke came up with the idea of “solar sailing” in his science fiction. He wrote of large, mirror-like sails that collect power from the sun and free spaceships from the limitation of fuel.

This sci-fi idea was first successful brought to reality in 2010 by Japan’s IKAROS satellite. Ever since then, the technology has improved mission by mission, with the latest being NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail 3(ACS3). NASA has recently announced that it’s going to team up with Lithuania’s satellite-building company NanoAvionics to test its new sail in Low-Earth Orbit.

To many, a solar sail may look like a giant solar panel, but it actually works very differently. While solar panels take in energy from the sun and change it into power, solar sails use Photons given off by the sun to create direct power. Besides, solar panels are big and heavy to carry, while solar sails are just the opposite.

According to Abbott, the CEO of NanoAvionics, the upcoming Low-Earth Orbit trial with NASA, if successful, will be followed with deep-space missions that involve larger solar sails. These are ideal for low-cost and long-distance space travel because fuel will no longer be a problem.

“It started as a sci-fi dream,” Popular Mechanics reporter Jennifer Leman wrote. “Now it could be the future of space flight.”