Question

When growing old, most of us will get grey hair, wrinkles (皱纹), and suffer from weakness, loss of memory and illness. However, it isn’t all bad news. With ageing, we can gain wisdom and often become more emotionally stable (稳定的) and at ease with life. But the downsides seem to far outweigh the advantages. We live in a youth-oriented world.

California is a perfect example. There people don’t like being old, looking old and acting old so much that the Ageing Centre of the University of California in Los Angeles, after operating for many years, was renamed the Longevity Centre. “The name was changed to give it a more positive spin,” according to its director, Dr. Gary Small. “Ageism, prejudice (偏见) against old age, is a terrible problem,” says Dr. Small. “People need to understand that older people are just people. As soon as you understand that, you can get over ageism.”

Scientists have long been searching for the key to a long and healthy life and a stress-free existence is often put forward as a recipe (秘诀) for a long life. But it is refuted (反驳) by Dr. Lewis Terman at Stanford University, who refutes many commonly held beliefs about lifestyles and lifespans.

He researched about 1,500 people from childhood to death and the result was really surprising and against what we had heard before. People who were the most hard-working and achieved the most success — who often were stressed — usually stayed healthier and lived longer. On the contrary, people who said “I am not stressed and I take it easy” tended to die at a young age.

According to the study, the advantages enjoyed by people who lead a responsible (负责的) life were also highlighted. “They tend to have healthier habits,” the researcher said. “They’re less likely to smoke and drink to excess (无度). And we also found that people who were responsible tended to be more successful in careers, which is a good predictor of a long life.”

But the physical process of ageing continues to challenge scientists. We are all familiar with the way our bodies change, but the changes that occur at a cellular (细胞的) level are more complex. One area of research into ageing, at a cellular level, focuses on the role of telomeres (粒端染色体). They are the protective tips found at the end of chromosomes (染色体). Their role is to safeguard the end of the chromosome and to prevent the loss of genetic information during cell division. Telomeres shorten or become damaged every time a cell divides and cell replication stops altogether when telomeres become too short. Therefore, shorter telomeres have been linked with high risks for some diseases.

“Shortened telomeres are clearly bad,” says Coles. “Anything that one can do to lengthen them would be advantageous.”

There are a number of products on the market to lengthen telomeres. The producers claim that these products could lengthen people’s life because they can stop cells from ageing, although it has not been proved whether it could extend to an anti-ageing effect on the entire body.

1.Why is California mentioned in Paragraph 2?

A. To show we live in a world with youth focused.

B. To show the aging centre is important.

C. To show the advantages of being young.

D. To show how huge the elderly population is.

2.What problem does the old face, according to Dr. Small?

A. Prejudice.    B. Misunderstanding.

C. Illness.    D. Stress.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to Dr. Lewis Terman’s research?

A. Hard-working is important for people’s health.

B. Stress is a great disadvantage to longevity.

C. Successful people are often stressed.

D. Responsibility can affect people’s lifespan.

4.What can be inferred from Paragraph 6?

A. Long telomeres are the key to longevity.

B. Scientists have found the secret of aging.

C. That telomeres become short is unavoidable.

D. Damaged telomeres can cause some diseases.

5.Coles might think products to lengthen telomeres are _____.

A. useful    B. harmful

C. useless    D. criminal

6.Which is the best title of the passage?

A. The advantage of a long life

B. The science of a long life

C. How to treat the old

D. How to stop aging

Answer

1.A

2.A

3.D

4.C

5.A

6.B

【解析】

本文是一篇科普说明文，以人们对待变老的态度导入文章，我们生活的世界是一个面向青年的世界，人们对老年人有偏见，分析了导致变老的科学原因：主要是染色体的变化。

1.推理判断题。文章第一段最后一句We live in a youth-oriented world说明我现在生活在一个面向青年的世界。接着在第二段中就列举了the Ageing Centre of the University of California改名为the Longevity Centre的事情，是对第一段最后一句的说明，说明我们生活在一个关注年轻人的世界。故A项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段第四句“Ageism, prejudice (偏见) against old age, is a terrible problem,” says Dr. Small.可知偏见是老人们要面对的一个主要问题。故A项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据第五段第一句According to the study, the advantages enjoyed by people who lead a responsible (负责的) life were also highlighted.在生活中负责任的态度是很重要的，负责任的人不会过度抽烟喝酒，会过着相对健康的生活，也会更加长寿。也就是说责任会影响我们的寿命。故D项正确。

4.推理判断题。根据第六段最后两句Telomeres shorten or become damaged every time a cell divides and cell replication stops altogether when telomeres become too short. Therefore, shorter telomeres have been linked with high risks for some diseases.可知每次细胞分裂的时候，粒端染色体就会变短。而细胞分裂是一直发生的，也就是说粒端染色体的变短也是不可避免的。故C项正确。

5.推理判断题。根据第七段“Shortened telomeres are clearly bad,” says Coles. “Anything that one can do to lengthen them would be advantageous.”可知Coles认为延长粒端染色体是由好处的。故A项正确。

6.主旨大意题。作者以人们对待变老的态度导入文章，我们生活的世界是一个面向青年的世界，人们对老年人有偏见，分析了导致变老的科学原因：主要是染色体的变化。所以本文主要是关于长寿的科学原理。