高考真题英语新课标2及答案 .pdfVIP

高考真题英语新课标2及答案

高考真题英语新课标2及答案

(C)

TheProcessofAgeing

Attheageoftwelveyears,thehumanbodyisatitsmost

vigorous.Ithasyettoreachitsfullsizeandstrength,andits

ownerhisorherfullintelligence;butatthisagethepossibilityof

deathisleast.Earlier,wewereinfantsandyoungchildren,and

consequentlymorevulnerable(易受伤的);later,weshallundergo

aprogressivelossofourvigourandresistancewhich,though

vagueatfirst,willfinallybecomesosteepthatwecanliveno

longer,howeverwellwelookafterourselves,andhoweverwell

society,andourdoctors,lookafterus.

Thisdeclineinvigourwiththepassingoftimeiscalled

ageing.Itisoneofthemostunpleasantdiscoverieswhichweall

makethatwemustdeclineinthisway,thatifweescapewars,

accidentsanddiseaseweshalleventually“dieofoldage”,and

thatthishappensataratewhichdifferslittlefrompersonto

person,sothatthereareheavyoddsinfavorofourdying

betweentheagesofsixty-fiveandeighty.Someofuswilldie

sooner,afewwilllivelongeronintoaninthortenthdecade.

Butthechancesareagainstit,andthereisavirtuallimitonhow

longwecanhopetoremainalive,howeverluckyandphysically

strongweare.

Normalpeopletendtoforgetthisprocessunlessanduntil

theyareremindedofit.Wearesofamiliarwiththefactthatman

ages,thatpeoplehaveforyearsassumedthattheprocessof

losingvigourwithtime,ofbecomingmorelikelytodietheolder

weget,wassomethingself-evident,likethecoolingofahot

kettleorthewearing-outofapairofshoes.Theyhavealso

assumedthatallanimals,andprobablyotherorganismssuchas

trees,oreventheuniverseitself,mustinthenatureofthings

“wearout”.

Mostanimalswecommonlyobservedoinfactageaswedo,

ifgiventhechancetolivelongenough;andmec