Super skyscrapers, underwater cities, 3D-printed homes, and holidays in space will all be a reality in 100 years’ time, according to the SmartThings Future Living Report. The report presented findings from a survey conducted by Samsung’s SmartThings company with a group of experts on space, architecture, and urban planners. Several futurologists and adults of different occupations also took part in the survey.

The experts suggest that in a century’s time humans will be able to live in ‘Earth-scrapers‘, which will go up to 25 storeys underground. They also believe that ‘bubble cities’ will be created underwater making the depths habitable for humans. They say the way we live, work and play will be totally different to how we do these things today. The authors of the report say that 25 years ago, people could not imagine how the Internet and smartphones would change our lives. They have revolutionised the way we communicate, learn and do daily things. So, it is understandable that the changes in the next century would be even more unbelievable.

Researchers also questioned 2,000 adults about the predictions they thought were most likely to happen in the future. Respondents predict that in the future, few people will go to an office but will work from home and have virtual work meetings instead. People will have advanced 3D printers that will let us download a design for furniture or a food recipe and then ‘print’ the sofa, table or pizza at home. There will also be less need for visits to the doctor. We will all have a home health capsule which will tell us what the problem is and give us treatment. We will also go into space for holidays and to get resources that we have used up on Earth. A prediction that was missing was about the popularity of English – whether people would still need to study English or not.

Cities are built to survive and prosper. Over the years, we have learned to transform our surroundings according to our needs. We have cut through mountains to make more land and create artificial islands to make skyscrapers. City planning, as an organized profession, has existed for less than a century. However, a considerable amount of evidence (both archaeological and historical) proves the existence of fully planned cities in ancient times. Over the years, humans have made some mistakes in terms of using an excessive amount of resources for cities. This gives rise to the question of how sustainable the cities of the future would be.

We might be looking at smart cities in which street lights would only switch on when you are close by and traffic light would be eliminated by smart driving. The cities of the future would try to save our resources rather than deplete them.

An example of an advanced city is Kansas. Plans are in place to make Kansas a smart futuristic city in the future. Planners are considering introducing sensors to monitor the water mains. Warning would be issued to city officials when the infrastructure requires repair or replacement. In this way, the city would never be at risk of having broken pipes.

While the idea sounds fantastic, a large amount of rational critique has called this plan an oversold dream. Amy Glasmier is an urban planning professor at MIT. She is a smart city skeptic who that all the research and talk is great but gravely oversold.

The hanging gardens of Babylon were considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. They are believed to have been built by King Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century BC as a present (31) ____ his wife, Amytis.

The gardens were (32) ____ in layers - one on top of the other, much like a modern multi-storey car park although a lot more attractive to look at. Each layer was a large terrace filled with tropical flowers, plants and trees. The large (33) _____ of water which these plants required was pumped from the river Euphrates nearby. It is said that Nebuchadnezzar and his wife would sit in the shade of the gardens and look down on the city of Babylon below.

The gardens' fame quickly spread, and travelers would come from far and wide to admire them. Even thousands of years ago, people used to go (34) _____! The city of Babylon itself was also famous throughout the whole world for its beautiful buildings, huge tiled walls and magnificent gates made of brass.

Sadly, nothing (35) _____ today of the beautiful hanging gardens, and the city of Babylon lies in ruins in what is modern-day Iraq.

The professor decided to allow the students to take the examination a second time because the low scores