Audioscript Unit 4 "Future Technology"
You have been reading about evolution of technology. Today we are going to discuss future of technology. A team of experts in technology have made four predictions for the next twenty years.
Let’s start with the Internet. Experts all agree that in the near future the Internet will become more and more important. The most exciting changes will probably be in education. It’s possible that in the future each student will have a laptop – there probably won’t be paper or textbooks in thirty years and computers will certainly be cheaper! Students will go on day trips with their class to the Paris in France and visit the Taj Mahal – all by Internet and virtual reality. Students will also communicate with teachers and students all over the world by video-conferencing. There are many advantages to this. For example, a class of Japanese students learning French will have the chance to practice live with French students in a classroom in France. The second prediction is about nanorobots. Nanorobots are tiny machines that can travel throughout bodies and repair damage. Many scientists think that after 2020 they will probably be common in everyday life. For example, when you have a stomachache you can swallow a strawberry-flavoured robot which will make a video of the problems in your stomach. Then your doctor will watch the video and decide what the problem is. Future technology in medicine is also interesting. New drugs like Prozac are very successful at the moment. Some people think that in the next decade there may be new medicines which will stop violent or antisocial behavior. Experts believe this will certainly be cheaper than keeping people in prison. But this is very controversial – many people think it is wrong to use medicines to control people’s personalities and emotions. Finally, the prediction is about new transport technology. Some people think that big family cars might disappear in the next thirty years. It is possible that cars will have space for only one or two people. Computers will drive the car for you – so, for example, you might ‘drive’ from Paris to London while you sleep! Petrol definitely won’t be cheaper in the future, so more and more cars will probably use solar energy instead of petrol.