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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,mustinthenatureofthingswearout‟.Mostanimalswecommonlyobservedoinfactageaswedo,ifgiventhechancetolivelongenough;andmechanicalsystemslikeawoundwatch,orthesun,doinfactrunoutofenergyinaccordancewiththesecondlawofthermodynamics(whetherthewholeuniversedoessoisamootpointatpresent.Butthesearenotanalogoustowhathappenswhenmanages.Arun-downwatchisstillawatchandcanberewound.Anoldwatch,bycontrast,becomessowornandunreliablethatiteventuallyisnotworthmending.Butawatchcouldneverrepairitself----itdoesnotconsistoflivingparts,onlyofmetal,whichwearsawaybyfriction.Wecould,atonetime,repairourselves----wellenough,atleast,toovercomeallbutthemostinstantlyfatalillnessesandaccidents.Betweentwelveandeightyyearswegraduallylosethispower;anillnesswhichattwelvewouldknockusover,ateightycanknockusout,andintoourgrave.Ifwecouldstayasvigorousasweareattwelve,itwouldtakeabout700yearsforhalfofustodie,andanother700forthesurvivorstobereducedby
halfagain.人体在12岁时是生命力最旺盛的时期。虽然在这个时期人的身材、体力和智力还有待发展和完善,但在这个年龄死亡的可能性最小。再早一些,我们是幼儿和小孩子,身体较脆弱;再迟一些,我们就要经历生命力和抵抗力逐步衰退的过程。虽然这个过程起初难以觉察,但最终会急转直下,不管我们怎样精心照料我们自己,不管社会和医生怎样对我们进行精心照顾,我们也无法再活下去了。生命力随时间的流失而衰退叫做衰老。人类发现的最不愉快的一个事实是:人必然会衰老。既使我们能避开战争、意外的事故和各种疾病,我们最终也会老死衰老的速度在人与人之间相差甚微,我们最可能死亡的年龄在6580岁之间,有些人会死得早一些,少数人寿命会长一些——活到八十几岁或九十几岁,但这种可能性很小。不管我们多么幸运,多么健壮,我们所希望的长寿实际上是有限度的。
衰老的过程,不经提起,正常人容易忘记;一经提醒,才会记起。我们对人总是要衰老的现象并不陌生,多年来就已认识到。生命力随着时间流失而丧失活力,人随着年龄的增长而接近死亡,这是不言而喻的,就像一壶热水迟早会凉下来,一双鞋渐渐会磨破一样。人们不但认识到所有的动物,大概也认识到所有的有机物,如树木,甚至宇宙本身,从事物的本质上来说都会磨损掉。我们通常看到的大多数动物,
即使能让它们活得足够长久的话,也会像我们一样衰老的。像上紧发条的手表那样的机械装置,或太阳,也都会消耗完其能量(整个宇宙是否如此,目前尚有争论)。不过,这些衰老的情况同人并不相似。手表停了依然是只手表,还可以重上好发条。然而一只老掉牙的手表,磨损太厉害,老得一点儿也不准了,最终会不值得修理了。但是,手表决不会自行修理,它不是由有生命的部件组成,而是由金属组成,而金属可以随着磨擦而磨损殆尽。而我们人,在一定时间内是可以自行修复的,除了暴病而死或意外事故外,至少足以克服一切一般疾病和事故。在12岁至80岁之间,我们逐渐丧失这种能力。能使我们在12岁时病倒的疾病,到了80岁可能会使我们一蹶不振而进入坟墓。假如我们能保持12岁时的旺盛生命力,那么我们当中的一半人过700年才死去,剩下的一半人再过700年,才会又减少一半。
Lesson39Whateverywriterwants作家之所需
Ihaveknownveryfewwriters,butthoseIhaveknown,andwhomIrespect,confessatoncethattheyhavelittleideawheretheyaregoingwhentheyfirstsetpentopaper.Theyhaveacharacter,perhapstwo;theyareinthatconditionofeagerdiscomfortwhichpassesforinspiration;alladmitradicalchangesofdestinationoncethejourneyhasbegun;one,tomycertainknowledge,spentninemonthsonanovelaboutKashmir,thenresetthewholethingintheScottishHighlands.Ineverheardofanyonemakingaskeleton’,asweweretaughtatschool.Inthebreakingandremaking,inthetiming,interweaving,beginningafresh,thewritercomestodiscernthingsinhismaterialwhichwerenotconsciouslyinhismindwhenhebegan.Thisorganicprocess,oftenleadingtomomentsofextraordinaryself-discovery,isofanindescribablefascination.Ablurredimageappears;headdsabrushstrokeandanother,anditisgone;butsomethingwasthere,andhewillnotresttillhehascapturedit.Sometimestheyeastwithinawriteroutlivesabookhehaswritten.Ihaveheardofwriterswhoreadnothingbuttheirownbooks;likeadolescentstheystandbeforethemirror,andstillcannotfathomtheexactoutlineofthevisionbeforethem.Forthesamereason,writerstalkinterminablyabouttheirownbooks,winklingouthiddenmeanings,super-imposingnewones,beggingresponsefromthosearoundthem.Ofcourseawriterdoingthisismisunderstood:hemightaswelltrytoexplainacrimeoraloveaffair.Heisalso,incidentally,anunforgivablebore.Thistemptationtocoverthedistancebetweenhimselfandthereader,tostudyhisimageinthesightofthosewhodonotknowhim,canbehisundoing:hehasbeguntowritetoplease.AyoungEnglishwritermadethepertinentobservationayearortwobackthatthetalentgoesintothefirstdraft,andtheartintothedraftsthatfollow.Forthisreasonalsothewriter,likeanyotherartist,hasnorestingplace,nocrowdormovementinwhichhemaytakecomfort,nojudgmentfromoutsidewhichcanreplacethejudgmentfromwithin.Awritermakesorderoutoftheanarchyofhisheart;hesubmitshimselftoamoreruthlessdisciplinethananycriticdreamedof,andwhenheflirtswithfame,heistakingtimeofffromlivingwithhimself,fromthesearchforwhathisworldcontainsatitsinmost
point.
我所认识的作家寥寥无几,然而凡是我所认识和尊敬的作家,都立即承认在他们动笔时,不清楚要写什么,怎么写。他们心中有一个或两个角色。他们处于急切不安的状态,而这被当作是灵感。他们无不承认,一旦旅程开始,目的地常有急剧的变化。据我所知,有位作家花了9个月的时间写了一部有关克什米尔的小说,后来却把整个故事背景换成了苏格兰高地。我从未听说过任何一位作家像我们在学校学的那样,动笔前先列什么提纲。作家在剪裁修改、构思时间、穿插情节、以至从头重写的过程中,会领悟到素材中有很多东西是他刚动笔时所未意识到的。这种有机的加工过程往往达到不寻常自我发现的境界,具有难以言表的构思魅力。一个朦胧的形象出现在作家的脑海里,他左添一笔,右添一笔,形象反而消逝了;可是,好像还有什么东西存在着,不把它捕捉到,作家是不会罢休的。有时,一个作家一本书写完了,但

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