英國人預測2025年人類將登上火星
Imagine waking up to a world where China is the world's leading superpower, astronauts are busy walking on Mars and a brand new political party is ruling the UK.
Well this could be the reality in 15 years if some of the predictions of 100,000 Britons are correct.
The massive survey asked the men and women of the UK how they pictured the world in 2025.
Nearly half believe Prince William will bypass Prince Charles to be crowned King of England although one in six think the monarchy will have been abolished.
On the world stage 60 per cent think China is set to become the world's leading superpower, while a third of us think Great Britain will be made up of four self-governed countries.
A quarter of those polled believe a new party will form the Government in 2025 although the same proportion think that Labour will be back in power.
Further afield four per cent are optimistic there will be a permanent human base on Mars while one in ten expect a colony of humans to be living in space. Meanwhile technology will have come on in leaps and bounds.
More than half questioned in the MSN study predict people will watch all their favourite shows via TV sets hooked up to the internet.
Two-thirds believe cosmetic surgery will have become common place and one in six think we will look after our own health using apps and gadgets rather than relying on the doctor.
But at least we can distract ourselves with the daily comings and goings of pop singers and reality stars, as more than half think that 'celebrity' will be a registered profession.
The Pulse of the Nation survey was carried out to mark MSN's 15 year anniversary.
Matt Ball, editor-in-chief at MSN UK, said: 'When MSN launched Toy Story came out and was the first completely computer generated film, John Major was Prime Minister and Barings bank collapsed.
'British life has changed remarkably since then. The depth and breadth of insight from our research demonstrates how passionate and opinionated people are about life in the UK.'
想象一下，有一天當你醒來時，發現中國成了世界領先的超級大國，宇航員們在火星上行走，而統治英國的是一個嶄新的政黨。
15年後這些情景可能都會成真——如果接受調查的那些英國人預測得準的話。該調查涵蓋了10萬名英國人。
這項大型調查問他們想象中的2025年的世界是什麼樣的。
有近一半的被調查者認爲威廉王子會越過其父查爾斯王子提前登基，成爲英國國王。但也有六分之一的人認爲到那時君主制已經被廢除了。
對於將來的世界格局，60%的人認爲中國定會成爲世界超級大國，而三分之一的人認爲英國會分解成四個自治的國家。
四分之一的被調查者相信2025年將會有一個新政黨來成立政府，但也有同樣比例的人認爲工黨會重新掌權。
有4%的人想得有點遠，他們樂觀地相信到時候火星上會有一個永久性人類基地，而十分之一的人認爲2025年會有人移民太空。同時，人們預計科技將會飛速發展。
這項MSN發起的調查顯示，過半的被調查者預測說到2025年人們可以在連着網絡的電視機上收看他們喜愛的節目。
三分之二的人認爲到時候整形手術會很普遍。六分之一的人認爲在2025年我們可以通過應用軟件和一些小設備來檢測健康狀況，而不用事事麻煩醫生。
但至少來來往往的流行歌手和真人秀明星能讓我們解悶，因爲過半的人認爲“明星”將會成爲一個註冊職業。這項“國家動向調查”是爲了紀念MSN的15週年生日而進行的。
MSN英國的主編麥特•保爾說：“15年前MSN剛推出的時候，第一部完全由電腦製作的電影《玩具總動員》剛剛上映，巴林銀行剛剛倒閉，當時任首相的還是約翰•梅傑。
“自那時起，英國人民的生活發生了翻天覆地的變化。調查所得見解的深度和廣度表現了人們對英國生活充滿熱情，並且對生活有自己的看法。”
Vocabulary:
in/by leaps and bounds: 飛躍地；突飛猛進
distract: to amuse or entertain 提供消遣；（使）娛樂
