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Is the Prospect of Growing Old a Bleak One?

时间:2005-05-04 16:00来源:互联网 提供网友:hwmy   字体: [ ]
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Lesson 27

                 Is the Prospect1 of Growing Old a Bleak2 One?

                                        Text

                  The Prospect of Growing OId Is Horrifying3

    My father has an organic brain disease. It's Parkinson's disease, and in his case it has led to the additional trauma4 of Parkinsonian dementia. He is in and out of reality. At times, he is as clever as can be--until he sees snakes or space stations or trucks in his room.
    My mother and I together could no longer handle him at home. He required physical assistance for every move and his behavior became too unpredictable. At home, he never slept and neither did we. He also suffers from a narrowing of his spinal5 column, which pinches the nerves in his back and leaves him unable to find a painless position in bed.

    We brought him to the hospital, where he stayed for seven weeks, until its utilization6 review board decided7 he no longer needed hospital care. They kicked him out.
    We put him in a nursing home, recommended as top of the line, with one nursing aide for every 15 patients(if everyone shows up for work). My father cannot feed himself nor get to and from the bathroom. One nurse's aide with 15 patients cannot attend to his needs.


    So my mother spends seven to eight hours each day at the nursing home. My father cries, yells and does all he knows to keep her there. He thinks he is home and can't understand why she leaves him each evening. He thinks she has other men.
    He tells her she is boring a hole in his heart. She cries. The nursing home costs $ 45, 000 per year. My father is lucky: Unlike most Americans, he has a decent union pension. But his pension, added to his Social Security paymet, puts him over the income eligibility8 levei for Medicaid in Florida. Not only is he disqualified from receiving Medicaid itself, his insurance only pays for claims certified9 by Medicaid.


    None of the diseases afflicting10 my father are fatal. He is 69 year's old, and both his parents lived to be 90. My family could be spending $ 45, 000 a year for the next 20 years. It's money we don't have.
    My mother is heartsick. They worked and saved and bought insurance all their lives so that they could grow old in peace Now she doesn't know how she will live, let alone how to take care of him.
    A lawyer suggested to my mother that she divorce my father. Yet she is the one who feeds him, cleans him and loves him. Now, after 48 years of marriage, she is being counseled to divorce him so she can keep some funds back from the nursing home. We think about canceling his pension, but then neither of them would have any income.


II . Read
    Read the following passages. Underline the important viewpoints while reading.

                                 l. About Old Age

  Day:   - Professor McKay, can you tell me what you think your report on old peoplewill achieve?
Mckay:   We hope that it will help to change people's feelings about old age. The.
problem is that far too many of us believe that most old-.people are poor,sick, lonely and unhappy. As a result, we tend to find old people, as agroup,unattractive. And this is very dangerous for our society.
Day:   But surely we cannot escape the fact that many old people are lonely andmany are sick.
Mckay:   No, we can't. But we must, also remember that the proportion of such peopleis no greater among the 60 to 70 age group than amongthe 50 to 60 age group.
Day:   In other vords, there is no more mental illness, for example, among the60's to 70's than among the 50's to 60's?
Mckay:   Right. And why should there be? Why should we expect peopleto suddenly change when they reach their 60th or 65th birthday any more thanthey did when they reached their 2lst? Now that the computer age hasarrived in industry, the normal age for retirementmay be lowered to 60 or even 55. Shall we then say that old age begins at55?
Day:   But one would expect there to be more physical illness among old people,surely?
Mckay:   Why should one expect this? After all, those people who reach the age of 65or 70 are the strong among us. The weak die mainly in childhood,then intheir 40's and 50's. Furthermore, by the time people reach 60 or 65, theyhave learnt how to look after themselves they keep warm, sleep regularand eat sensibly. Of course, some old people do suffer from physical  whoillnesses, but these do not suddenly develop on their 65th birthday.Peopleare healthy in middle age tend to be healthy in old age, just as one wouldexpect.
Day:   Are people's mental abilities affected12 by old age?
Mckay:   Certain changes do take place as we grow older, but this happensthroughout life. These changes are very gradual, and happen at differenttimes with different people. But, in general, if you know a person well inhis middle age and have seen how he deals with events and problems, you willeasily recognize him in old age.
Day:   So that someone who enjoys new experiences--travel, education, and so on--inhis middle years will usually continue to do so into old age?
Mckay:   Exactly. We have carried out some very interesting experiments in which agroup of people aged13 60 to 70 and a group aged 30 to 40 had to learn thesame things. For example, in one experiment they began learning a newlanguage. In another, they learnt how to use three machines in order to makea piece of furniture. The first thing we discovered was that the younggroup tended to be quicker at learning than the old group. However,although the old group took longer to learn, eventually they   performedas well as the young group. And when we tested the two groups several weekslater, there was again no difference between the two groups.
Day:   That's very interesting indeed. What else did your experiments show?
Mckay:   Well, one group of old people agreed to attend evening classes for a year tostudy English and Mathematics. In fact, most of this group became sointeiested in their studies that they continued them for another year.
Anyway, we discavered that they did best in the English classes, and thatmost of them steadily14 improved their ability to communicate in both thewritten and the spoken language. This didn't really surprise us becauseother studies have had similar results. And, of course, you can think of adozen writers who continued working almost to the day they died.
Day:   What about the group who studied Mathematics?
Mckay:   Well, that's a different story. There seems to be no doubt that people findmaths more difficult as they grow older. Though why this is so, I cannotsay.
Day:   Perhaps cheap pocket computers will solve this problem.
Mckay:   I think you're right. In fact, I'm sure that you are.

                      2. The Oldest People in the World

    Thousands of people in the world are a hundred years old--or more. There are about two thousand centenarians in Britain alone, and certain parts of the world are famous for the long lives of their inhabitants: Georgia in the Soviet15 Union, the Vilacamba Valley in Ecuador, and the home of the Hunzas in the Himalayas. But the oldest person in the world is Japanese. In 1983 Mr.

 Shigechiyo Izumi, aged 118, held first place in The Guinness Book of Records . He was born on June 29th, 1865 and beat the previous record on his 114th birthday. Before Mr. Izumi broke the record, the longest life was that of an American woman, Mrs. Eveline Filkins. She lived for 113 years, 214 days, from 1815 to 1928. During her lifetime she saw the invention of the first camera, the first telephone, the first car, the first aeroplane and the first television. There are official papers to prove the date of birth of Mr. Izumi and Mrs. Filkins, but many other people claim to be as old or older.

 

                         3. The Secret of a Long Life

    Why do so many people live to a healthy old age in certain parts of the world? What is the secret of their long lives? Three things seem to be very important: fresh air, fresh food and a simple way of life. People work near their homes in the clean, mount.ain air instead of travelling long distances to work by bus, car or train. They do not sit all day in busy offices or factories, but work hard outdoors in the fields. They take more exercise and eat less food than people in the cities of the West. For years the Hunzas of the Himalayas did not need policemen, lawyers or doctors. There was no crime, no divorce and not much illness in thier society. They were a happy, peaceful people, famous all over India for their long, healthy lives.

 

                         4. How Long Will You Live?

    Do you want to live to be a hundred? Here are some rules for success. First, choose your parents and grandparents carefully. If they lived to a good old age, so will you. Secondly16, live in the right place. If you were not born in Georgia or Ecuador, there are other healthy places in the world, like East Anglia in Britain. Thirdly, c.hoose the right kind of job. Doctors, dentists and bus-drivers die young. Farmers, priests and orchestral conductors live much longer. If you are in the wrong kind of job, you can still improve your way of life.


    An old man in the Caucasus was talking about his past life. "I was young then," he said, as he described his 87th year. His secret and his advice was: "Think young and stay young.?An old woman from Missouri, USA, gives this advice . "Drink a little whisky and some warm beer every day." An English lady centenarian just said, "Take a cold bath every morning." On her 102nd birthday Miss Julia Thompson 2xplained the secret of her long and happy life. "Never have anything to do with men," she said. The shortest, simplest piece of advice came from Mr.Jim Chapman, aged 103. "Just keep breathing," he told reporters. What about Mr. Izumi? "I watch TV," he said, "and I never worry."
    But do you really want to be a hundred? What's wrong with the old saying, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die."?

 

                    5. Colleges for Old People Blooming

    China has set up 916 colleges for senior citizens, educating about 200,000 people in the pastfive years.
    The colleges offer more than 60 courses ranging from calligraphy17, painting and gardening to qigong, massage18 and foreign languages.
    The students are mainly retired19 government functionaries20 but, according to an official from the Association of Colleges for the Elderly, the colleges are trying to serve senior citizens from the whole of society.


    Some institutions are already giving courses in gardening, crop planting and animal husbandry to old people from the countryside. According to a poll conducted by the Harbin senior citizens college in China's northeastern province of Heilongjiang, of its first 200 graduates, 71 per cent had recovered from chronic21 diseases since their registration22, and 85 per cent were "very confident" that they will live longer.
    Many of the students are again working for the society instead of being just consumers. During each semester, about 60 per cent of the students of the college serve society while studying.

 

                      6. The Fulfilment of One's Dreams

    It's only natural to look forward to something better. We do it all our lives. Things may never really improve, but at least we always hope they will. It is one of life's great ironies23 that the longer we live, the less there is to look forward to. Retirement11 may bring with it the fulfilment of a lifetime's dreams. At last there will be time to do all the things we never had time for. From then on, the dream fades. Unless circumstances are exceptional, the prospect of growing really old is horrifying. Who wants to live long enough to become a doddering wreck24? Who wants to revert25 to that most dreaded26 of all human conditions, a second childhood?


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 prospect P01zn     
n.前景,前途;景色,视野
参考例句:
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
  • The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
2 bleak gtWz5     
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的
参考例句:
  • They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
  • The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。
3 horrifying 6rezZ3     
a.令人震惊的,使人毛骨悚然的
参考例句:
  • He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
  • The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了,真不堪细想。
4 trauma TJIzJ     
n.外伤,精神创伤
参考例句:
  • Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
  • The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。
5 spinal KFczS     
adj.针的,尖刺的,尖刺状突起的;adj.脊骨的,脊髓的
参考例句:
  • After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天,就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
  • Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。
6 utilization Of0zMC     
n.利用,效用
参考例句:
  • Computer has found an increasingly wide utilization in all fields.电子计算机已越来越广泛地在各个领域得到应用。
  • Modern forms of agricultural utilization,have completely refuted this assumption.现代农业利用形式,完全驳倒了这种想象。
7 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
8 eligibility xqXxL     
n.合格,资格
参考例句:
  • What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么? 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
  • Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。
9 certified fw5zkU     
a.经证明合格的;具有证明文件的
参考例句:
  • Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
  • The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。
10 afflicting ozfzfp     
痛苦的
参考例句:
  • Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是困扰现代社会的严重问题之一。
  • Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是危害社会的弊病之一。
11 retirement TWoxH     
n.退休,退职
参考例句:
  • She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
  • I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。
12 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
13 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
14 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
15 Soviet Sw9wR     
adj.苏联的,苏维埃的;n.苏维埃
参考例句:
  • Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
  • Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。
16 secondly cjazXx     
adv.第二,其次
参考例句:
  • Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二,动脑筋提出自己的见解。
  • Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次,需要确定所作用的载荷。
17 calligraphy BsRzP     
n.书法
参考例句:
  • At the calligraphy competition,people asked him to write a few characters.书法比赛会上,人们请他留字。
  • His calligraphy is vigorous and forceful.他的书法苍劲有力。
18 massage 6ouz43     
n.按摩,揉;vt.按摩,揉,美化,奉承,篡改数据
参考例句:
  • He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
  • Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。
19 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
20 functionaries 90e939e920ac34596cdd9ccb420b61fe     
n.公职人员,官员( functionary的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Indian transmitters were court functionaries, not missionaries. 印度文化的传递者都是朝廷的官员而不是传教士。 来自辞典例句
  • All government institutions functionaries must implement state laws, decrees and policies. 所有政府机关极其工作人员都必须认真执行国家的法律,法规和政策。 来自互联网
21 chronic BO9zl     
adj.(疾病)长期未愈的,慢性的;极坏的
参考例句:
  • Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
  • Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。
22 registration ASKzO     
n.登记,注册,挂号
参考例句:
  • Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
  • What's your registration number?你挂的是几号?
23 ironies cb70cfbfac9e60ff1ec5e238560309fb     
n.反语( irony的名词复数 );冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事;嘲弄
参考例句:
  • It was one of life's little ironies. 那是生活中的一个小小的嘲弄。
  • History has many ironies. 历史有许多具有讽刺意味的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
24 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
25 revert OBwzV     
v.恢复,复归,回到
参考例句:
  • Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
  • Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈,好吗?
26 dreaded XuNzI3     
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
  • He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》
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