题目列表(包括答案和解析)
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How Long Can People Live?
She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the
neighborhood on her 121st birthday.
When it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world's recordholder. She lived to the ripe old age
of 122. So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span (寿命)? If scientists come up with some sort of pill
or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150-or beyond?
Researchers don't entirely agree on the answers. "Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn't surprise me if
someone alive today reaches 130 or 135," says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas.
Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees. "People can live much longer than we think," he says.
"Experts used to say that humans couldn't live past 110. When Calment blew past that age, they raised the
number to 120. So why can't we go higher?"
The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it's all just guessing. "Anyone can make
up a number," says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan. "Usually the scientist who picks the highest
number gets his name in Time magazine."
Won't new anti - aging techniques keep us alive for centuries? Any cure, says Miller, for aging would
probably keep most of us kicking until about 120. Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the
life span of mice by 50 percent at most. So, if the average human life span is about 80 year, says Miller,
"adding another 50 percent would get you to 120."
So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers? That life span is flexible
(有弹性的), but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington. "We can get flies to
live 50 percent longer," he says. "But a fly's never going to live 150 years." Of course, if you became a new
species (物种), one that ages at a lower speed, that would be a different story, he adds.
Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve (进化) their way to longer life? "It's pretty cool to
think about," he says with a smile.
Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school."
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6.a.m. five nights a week for just￡90, before tax and insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get a bit extra."
The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful."
The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags."
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other. people when she tells them what she does for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."
54. Margaret left her job as a nurse because_______.
A. she needed the right time to look after her children
B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure
C. she wanted to earn more money to support her family
D. she felt tired of taking care of patients
55. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because_______.
A. they never clean their offices B. they look down upon cleaners
C. they never do their work carefully D. they always make a mess in their offices
56. When at work, Margaret feels_______.
A. tired because of the heavy workload
B. happy because the building is fully lit
C. light-hearted because of her fellow workers
D. bored because time passed slowly
57. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would_______.
A. help care for her children B. feel disappointed in her
C. show sympathy (同情) for her D. regret what they had said
Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school."
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6.a.m. five nights a week for just￡90, before tax and insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get a bit extra."
The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful."
The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags."
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other. people when she tells them what she does for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."
54. Margaret left her job as a nurse because_______.
A. she needed the right time to look after her children
B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure
C. she wanted to earn more money to support her family
D. she felt tired of taking care of patients
55. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because_______.
A. they never clean their offices B. they look down upon cleaners
C. they never do their work carefully D. they always make a mess in their offices
56. When at work, Margaret feels_______.
A. tired because of the heavy workload
B. happy because the building is fully lit
C. light-hearted because of her fellow workers
D. bored because time passed slowly
57. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would_______.
A. help care for her children B. feel disappointed in her
C. show sympathy (同情) for her D. regret what they had said
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