First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What is one vpn软件免费 of the most unpleasant vpn免费下载 discoveries we make about ourselves as we get older?
At the age of vpn免费 twelve years, vpn软件免费 the human 免费vpn body is at its most vigorous. It has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her full intelligence; but at this age the likelihood of death is least. Earlier, we were infants and young children, and consequently more vulnerable; vpn免费 later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour and resistance which, though imperceptible at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us. This decline in vigour with the passing of time is called ageing. It is vpn免费 one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and diseases we shall eventually‘die of old age’, and that this happens at a vpn免费下载 rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds vpn免费 in favour of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer----on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are.
Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until vpn免费 they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that man ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigour with time, of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident, like 免费vpn the cooling of a hot kettle 免费vpn or the wearing-out of a pair vpn免费 of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of vpn软件免费 things‘wear out’. Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do, if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch, or the sun, do in fact run out vpn免费 of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics (whether the whole universe does so is a moot point vpn软件免费 at present). But these are not analogous to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old 免费vpn watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a vpn软件免费 watch could never repair itself----it does vpn软件免费 not consist of living 免费vpn parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could, at one time, repair ourselves----well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses and accidents. 免费vpn vpn免费 vpn免费下载 Between twelve and eighty years we vpn免费下载 gradually lose this power; an illness vpn软件免费 which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock 免费vpn us out, and into our grave. If we could stay as vigorous as we are at twelve, it vpn免费 would take about 700 years vpn免费下载 for half of us to die, and another 700 for the survivors to be reduced by half again.
Refer to the text to see how the following words have been used, then write sentences of your own using self-evident (1.15); moot (1.20); fatal (1.24).
Summary 摘要
Drawing your information from the second paragraph (lines 13-27), write a summary of the author's vpn软件免费 description of the process of ageing. Do not write more than vpn免费下载 100 words. Your answer should be in one paragraph.
Composition 作文
A Write a list of ideas in vpn免费 note form which could be used to discuss the following subject: Suggest reasons why we in the twentieth century can expect to live longer than people who lived in bygone times.
B Drawing on your list vpn软件免费 of ideas, write a composition of about 400 words.
Key vpn免费下载 structures 关键句型
A Supply the where necessary in the following sentences:
1 It is one of ______ most unpleasant discoveries which 免费vpn we all make. (11.6-7)
2 _______most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do. (11.17-18)
3 Death is something vpn软件免费 which ______most people fear.
4 Make ______most of what you've got.
5 ________ most of the things I've got were bought overseas.
B Compare the use of however in these sentences.
1 There is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are. (11.11-12)
2 No one will deny that many of the programmes shown on television are very poor. There are, however, a fair number which are very fine indeed.
Write two sentences using however in the ways shown above.
C Complete these sentences in any way you wish. Then compare what you have written with the sentences in the 免费vpn passage:
1 We shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour and resistance which, ____, will finally become so steep that ____(11.3-4)
2 We are so vpn软件免费 familiar with vpn免费下载 the fact that man ages, that____(11.13-14)
3 An old watch, by vpn软件免费 contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that____(11.21-22)
Special difficulties 难点
A Study the following pairs of vpn免费下载 words and then write sentences of your own bring out the difference.
1 infant (1.3)----baby
The State provides a programme of health 免费vpn checks for all infants up to a year old．(infant is only used in official contexts)
We were innoculated against diphtheria vpn免费 when we were babies.
2 imperceptible (1.4)----unperceived
The changes, at first so small as to be imperceptible, become more obvious as time 免费vpn passes.
So much money was involved that it was impossible for the forgery to remain unperceived.
3 alive----living
It was a surprise to learn vpn免费下载 that he had just died, since I hadn't realized he was still alive!
Until August 1977, the oldest living person was a French woman from Arles aged a hundred and twenty-two.
B Explain the meaning of the verbs in italics:
1 …we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour …however well we look after ourselves…(11.3-5)
2 Look out! There's a bus coming!
3 I am looking forward to the summer holidays.
4 Everybody looks on him as a leader.
5 If there are any words in the passage you don't understand, look them up in the dictionary.
6 Business was very slack before Christmas, but things are looking up now.
7 I shall certainly look up all my old friends 免费vpn when I go back home.
8 Why don't you look in next week. I'm sure he'll be back by then.
C Explain the meaning of the verbs in italics:
1 …mechanical systems…run out of energy…(11.18-19)
2 My vpn软件免费 new car hasn't vpn免费下载 been run in yet.
3 That little boy was nearly run over by a bus.
4 He ran through all the money he had inherited in less than a year.
5 While on holiday in Spain, we ran into our next-door neighbours.
6 Look at that lamp-post. It looks as if a car ran into it.
D Explain the meaning of the verbs in italics:
1 …an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock vpn免费 us out…(11.25-26)
2 There's so much work to do in the office these days, I never knock off vpn免费 before six o'clock.
Multiple choice questions 多项选择题
Choose the correct answers to the following questions.
Comprehension 理解
1 Our first twelve years ____.
a．are followed by a rapid vpn免费下载 decline
b．represent the peak of our development as human beings
c．are succeeded by a gradual ageing process
d．are the time when the human body is vpn免费下载 at its most vigorous
2 No matter how lucky and robust we are, we ____.
a．cannot avoid the ageing process
b．make unpleasant discoveries
c．will vpn软件免费 died between the ages 免费vpn of sixty-five and eighty
d．will all die at the same time
3 The process in humans and animals of losing vigour with time ____.
a．is something we would all like to forget
b．is not something we question very much
c．is like a watch that vpn软件免费 wears out
d．follows the second vpn免费 law of thermodynamics
4 Humans could live for very long periods indeed if they ____.
a．retained the capacity for self-repair they enjoyed at twelve
b．didn't become run 免费vpn down
c．survived the first 700 years
d．weren't worn down by friction
Structure 句型
5 ____reached its full size and strength. (11.1-2)
a．It hasn't before
b．It hasn't ever
c．It still hasn't
d．Yet it vpn免费下载 hasn't
6 At vpn软件免费 this age, the possibilities of death are ____.
a．few
b．fewer
c．the fewest
d．fewest
7 We can live no longer, ____we look after ourselves. (11.4-5)
a．whatever
b．no matter how much
c．how much
d．whichever way
8 So familiar____ with the fact that man ages, that…(11.13-14)
a．have we
b．we have
c．are we
d．we are
Vocabulary 词汇
9 The body has yet to arrive____ its full size. (1.1)
a．-
b．to
c．in
d．at
10 They run out of energy____ with the second law of thermodynamics. (1.19)
a．similar
b．in contrast to
c．in line with
d．in harmony with
11 Whether the whole universe runs out of energy is____ point. (1.20)
a．a mute
b．an undecided
c．a lost
d．a big
12 A watch could never repair vpn免费下载 itself----it is not made____ living parts. (11.22-23)
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