Lesson 37
The process of ageing
衰老过程
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What is one of the most unpleasant discoveries we make about ourselves as we get older?
At the age of twelve years, the human 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; 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 one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and disease we shall eventually 'die of old age', and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds 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 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 the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing|out of a pair 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 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 of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics (whether the whole universe does so is a moot point 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 watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself || it does not consist of living 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. Between twelve and eighty years we gradually lose this power; an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock us out, and another 700 for the survivors to be reduced by half again.
ALEX COMFORT The process of ageing
New words and expressions 生词和短语
likelihood
n. 可能性
infant
n. 婴儿
vulnerable
adj. 脆弱
imperceptible
adj. 感觉不到的
steep
adj. 急转直下
ageing
n. 老化
odds
n. 可能性
virtual
adj. 事实上的
robust
adj. 强健的
organism
n. 有机体
thermodynamics
n. 热力学
moot
adj. 争论未决的
run|down
adj. 破旧的
friction
n. 摩擦
参考译文
人体在12岁时是生命力最旺盛的时期。虽然这个时期人的身材、体力和智商还有待进步和健全，但在这个年龄死亡的可能性最小。再早一些，大家是婴幼儿和孩子子，身体较脆弱；再迟一些，大家就要历程生命力和抵抗力越来越衰退的过程。虽然这个过程起初很难觉察，但最后会急转直下，不管大家如何细心照顾大家自己，不管社会和大夫如何对大家进行细心照料，大家也没办法再活下去了。生命力伴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：人势必会衰老。既使大家能避开战争、意料之外的事故和各种疾病，大家最后也会老死；衰老的速度在人与人之间相差甚微，大家最可能死亡的年龄在65至80岁之间，有的人会死得早一些，少数人寿命会长一些 || 活到八十多大岁数或九十多大岁数，但这种可能性非常小。不管大家多么幸运，多么健壮，大家所期望的长寿事实上是有限度的。
衰老的过程，不经提起，正常人容易忘记；一经提醒，才会记起。大家对人一直要衰老的现象并很熟悉，多年来就已认识到。生命伴随时间流失而丧失活力，人伴随年龄的增长而接近死亡，这是不言而喻的，就像一壶热水早晚会凉不来，一双鞋日渐会磨破一样。大家不但认识到所有些动物，大概也认识到所有些有机物。如树木，甚至宇宙本身，从事物的本质上来讲都会磨损掉。大家一般看到的大部分动物，即便能让它们活得足够长久的话，也会像大家一样衰老的。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（整个宇宙否这样，现在沿有争论）。不过，这类衰老的状况同人并不相似。手表停了依旧是只手表，还可以重上好发条。然而一只老牙齿脱落的手表，磨损太厉害，老得一点儿不准了，最后不值得维修了。但，手表决不会自行维修，它不是由有生命的部件组成，而是由金属组成，而金属可以伴随磨擦而磨损殆尽。而大家人，在肯定时间内是可以自行修复的，除去暴病死或意料之外事故外，至少足以克服所有疾病和事故。在12岁至80岁之间，大家渐渐丧失这种能力。能使大家在12岁时病倒的疾病，到了80岁或许会使大家一厥不振而进入墓地。倘若大家能维持12岁时的旺盛生命力，那样大家当中的一半人过700年才会死去，剩下的一半人再过700年，才会又降低一半。
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