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时间:2023-11-20 23:31:10 下载该word文档
Lesson37Theprocessofageing衰老过程
Attheageoftwelveyears,thehumanbodyisatitsmostvigorous.Ithasyettoreachitsfullsizeandstrength,anditsownerhisorherfullintelligence;butatthisagethelikelihoodofdeathisleast.Earlier,wewereinfantsandyoungchildren,andconsequentlymorevulnerable;later,weshallundergoaprogressivelossofourvigourandresistancewhich,thoughimperceptibleatfirst,willfinallybecomesosteepthatwecanlivenolonger,howeverwellwelookafterourselves,andhoweverwellsociety,andourdoctors,lookafterus.Thisdeclineinvigourwiththepassingoftimeiscalledageing.Itisoneofthemostunpleasantdiscoverieswhichweallmakethatwemustdeclineinthisway,thatifweescapewars,accidentsanddiseasesweshalleventually„dieofoldage‟,andthatthishappensataratewhichdifferslittlefrompersontoperson,sothatthereareheavyoddsinfavourofourdyingbetweentheagesofsixty-fiveandeighty.Someofuswilldiesooner,afewwilllivelonger----onintoaninthortenthdecade.Butthechancesareagainstit,andthereisavirtuallimitonhowlongwecanhopetoremainalive,howeverluckyandrobustweare.Normalpeopletendtoforgetthisprocessunlessanduntiltheyareremindedofit.Wearesofamiliarwiththefactthatmanages,thatpeoplehaveforyearsassumedthattheprocessoflosingvigourwithtime,ofbecomingmorelikelytodietheolderweget,wassomethingself-evident,likethecoolingofahotkettleorthewearing-outofapairofshoes.Theyhavealsoassumedthatallanimals,andprobablyotherorganismssuchastrees,oreventheuniverseitself,mustint