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《at the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous.任务型阅读》由会员上传分享,免费在线阅读,更多相关内容在应用文档-天天文库。
1、Attheageoftwelveyears,thehumanbodyisatitsmostvigorous.任务型阅读 Attheageoftwelveyears,thehumanbodyisatitsmostvigorous.Ithasyettoreachitsfullsizeandstrength,anditsownerhisorherfullintelligence;butatthisagethelikelihoodofdeathisleast.Earlierwewereinfantsandyoungchil
2、dren,andconsequentlymorevulnerable;later,weshallundergoaprogressivelossofourvigourandresistancewhich,thoughnotfeltatfirst,willfinallybecomesosuddenandquickthatwecanlivenolonger,howeverwellwelookafterourselves,andhoweverwellsociety,andourdoctors,lookafterus.This
3、declineinvigourwiththepassingoftimeiscalledaging.Itisoneofthemostunpleasantdiscoverieswhichweallmakethatwemustdeclineinthisway,thatifweescapewars,accidentsanddiseasesweshalleventuallydieofoldage,andthatthishappensataratewhichdifferslittlefrompersontoperson,soth
4、atthereareheavyoddsinfavourofourdyingbetweentheagesofsixty-fiveandeighty.Someofuswilldiesooner,afewwilllivelonger--onintoaninthortenthdecade.Butthechancesareagainstit,andthereisavirtuallimitonhowlongwecanhopetoremainalive,howeverluckyandstrongweare. Normalpeop
5、letendtoforgetthisprocessunlessanduntiltheyareremindedofit.Wearesofamiliarwiththefactthatmanages,thatpeoplehaveforyearsassumedthattheprocessoflosingvigourwithtime,ofbecomingmorelikelytodietheolderweget,wassomethingself-evident,likethecoolingofahotkettleorthewea
6、ring-outofapairofshoes.Theyhavealsoassumedthatallanimals,andprobablyotherorganismssuchastrees,oreventheuniverseitself,mustinthenatureofthings‘wearout’.Mostanimalswecommonlyobservedoinfactageaswedoifgiventhechancetolivelongenough;andmechanicalsystemslikeawoundwa
7、tchorthesun,doinfactrunoutofenergyinaccordancewiththesecondlawofthermodynamics(whetherthewholeuniversedoessoisamatteraboutwhichtheremaybedisagreementoruncertaintyatpresent).Butthesearenotsimilartowhathappenswhenmanages.Arun-downwatchisstillawatchandcanberewound
8、.Anoldwatch,bycontrast,becomessowornandunreliablethatiteventuallyisnotworthmending.Butawatchcouldneverrepairitself,itdoesnotconsistoflivingparts,onlyofmetal,whichwearsawayby