Science Fiction
1. Amongst the most popular books being written today are those which are usually classified as science fiction. Hundreds of titles are published every year and are read by all kinds of people. Furthermore, some of the most successful films of recent years have been based on science fiction stories.
2. It is often thought that science fiction is a fairly new development in literature, but its ancestors can be found in books written hundreds of years ago. These books were often concerned with the presentation of some form of ideal society, a theme which is still often found in modern stories.
3. Most of the classics of science fiction, however, have been written within the last hundred years. Books by writers such as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, to mention just two well-known authors, have been translated into many languages.
4. Modern science fiction writers don"t write about men from Mars (火星) or space adventure stories. They are more interested in predicting the results of technical developments on society and the human mind; or in imagining future worlds which are a reflection of the world which we live in now. Because of this, their writing has obvious political undertones (含义).
5. In an age where science fact frequently overtakes (超过) science fiction, the writers may find it difficult to keep ahead of scientific advances. Those who are sufficiently clear-sighted to see the way we are going, however, may provide a valuable lesson on how to deal with the problems which society will inevitably face as it tries to its new technology. Science FictionModern science fiction ______.