Unit 2 Life in the Future
Lesson 8
Exercise 1.2
Welcome back to the show.
Our subject today is predictions for the future.
With me in the studio
I have Steve Hill and Chris Morgan.
Steve is an expert in technology and inventions.
Chris is the other of a book
called Past ideas of the Future.
Let's start with you ,Chris.
Tell us,what is your book about?
Basically,my book is about past predictions
for the future.
That is,
some people made predictions in the past
and some of those predictions have come true
and some have not.
I see.Where did you get your ideas?
Well,movies are one place.
It is very interesting to watch old movies
that describe a future world.
But what we often see is very different from
the way we live now.
Exercise 1.3
Why is this?
It's because some things
that people predicted in the past
have not come true ...
That's true.And,on the other hand,
other things
that people did not expect to happen
have developed so quickly.
Can you give me some examples?
Sure,In old movies about the future
you often see people traveling in flying cars.
Of course,this hasn't happened yet.
But maybe this will be possible in the future.
Hmm...I'm not sure about that.
Other movies show that
robots can do all the housework.
There are robots doing housework,
washing the clothes,that sort of thing ...
This may be possible some time in the future.
but for now..
For now.
We have to wash the clothes,right?
I don't think it will be possible for robots
to do all the housework--some jobs perhaps...
Maybe you're right.
Other things that we often see in old movies
about the future
are videophones in everybody's home.
This might happen soon,
but ask yourself,"How many people do you know
with a videophone in their house?"
Yes,I see your point.
And what about the things we have now
but people did not predict so much in the past?
Well.
I think the best example of this is the Internet
Every day,millions of people use e-mail,
or chat,or buy things or look for information.
I agree.It's amazing
how quickly the Internet has grown
and I don't think anybody predicted this.
Other things that have developed very quickly
are cell phones
-and all the amazing things that they can do.
You're right,I don't think people expected
these things develop so quickly
and become as common as they have.
Exercise 2.3
Do you know how to predict the future?
To make predictions for the future
is very difficult.
And in the world of fashion,music,etc,
It is almost impossible to predict
which things will be successful
and which things will not be successful
or will fail.
One well-known example is the Beatles.
At the start of their career,
the group tried to get a contract
but many record companies were not interested.
Finally,
a small company asked them to sign a contract.
The rest is history.
Another example is in the world of fashion.
Jeans have been popular for more than a century
In the 1850s,Levi Strauss thought
people needed strong canvas in California.
So he brought some there.
But when he got there,he knew he was wrong.
He didn't know what to do with the canvas.
But later he found the workers there
need strong pants,
so he used the canvas to make pants,
At that time,nobody knew that
his pants would be the fashion all over the
world for more than a hundred years.