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 fulfilment 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 epidemic flu and 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. Look up Homo sapiens in the “Red List” of threatened species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 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 has as its flagship project a mechanical clock that is designed to still be marking time thousands of years hence.

Perhaps willfully, 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. But we are now knowledgeable enough to reduce many of the risks that threatened the existence of earlier humans, and to improve the lot of those to come. 

1.Our vision of the future used to be inspired by _________

A our desire for lives of fulfillment.

B our faith in science and technology.

C our awareness of potential risks.

D our belief in equal opportunity.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据题目定位到第一段，可知一直以来我们对未来都很乐观，是源于科学和技术治愈了人类的所有弊病，故选B。

2.The IUCN’s “Red List” suggests that human beings are _________

A a sustained species.

B the world’s dominant power.

C a threat to the environment.

D a misplaced race.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据IUCN’s “Red List”定位到第三段最后一句，可知世界自然保护联盟濒危物种红色名录中的“智人”被定义为“无危物种”，因为该物种分布非常广泛，适应性强，目前数量日益增加，且没有导致总体数量下降的严重威胁。可知人类暂时是没有面临危险的可持续的物种，故选A。

3.Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 5?

A The interest in science fiction is on the rise.

B Arc helps limit the scope of futurological studies.

C Technology offers solutions to social problems.

D Our immediate future is hard to conceive.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据题目定位到第五段，根据第一句可知，考虑如此长时间跨度的未来比考虑即将到来的未来更容易，即考虑即将到来的未来更难些，D符合原文，故选D。

4.To ensure the future of mankind, it is crucial to _________

A adopt an optimistic view of the world.

B draw on our experience from the past.

C explore our planet’s abundant resources.

D curb our ambition to reshape history.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据crucial定位到第六段第二句，可知过去掌握着未来的钥匙，我们现在已经充分认识到塑造这个星球（地球）和我们物种历史的长期模式，使得我们能对我们的后代将面临的处境做出有据可循的预测。即保证未来的关键在于“过去”，B符合原文，故选B。

5.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A The Ever-bright Prospects of Mankind.

B Science, Technology and Humanity.

C Evolution of the Human Species.

D Uncertainty about Our Future.

解析：选A。A主旨大意题。根据全文关键词future可知是关于未来的，根据最后一句可知我们现在已经有足够的知识来减少威胁人类的风险并改善这些风险，即作者认为人类未来前景乐观，A符合原文，故选A。