The Virtues of Growing OlderBy Carol Siskin

Pre-reading questions

What, in your opinion, are the advantages and disadvantages of growing older?

What do you think are the virtues of being young?

poor memory

Will You Marry Me? A widower and widow had known one another for

a number of years. One evening there was a community supper in the big activity center. These two were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on, he made a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered up his courage to ask her, "Will you marry me?"

After about six seconds of 'careful consideration,' she answered. "Yes. Yes, I will."The meal ended and with a few more pleasant exchanges, they went to their respective homes.

Next morning, he was troubled. Did she say "yes" or did she say "no"? He couldn't remember. Try as he would, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory.

With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her. First, he explained to her that he didn't remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage, he then inquired of her "When I asked if you would marry me, did you say 'Yes' or did you say 'No'?"He was delighted to hear her say, "Why, I said, 'Yes, yes I will' and I meant it with all my heart." Then she continued, "And I am so glad that you called...because I couldn't remember who had asked me."

poor health

I'm Dead An older couple is lying in bed one

morning, having just awakened from a good night's sleep. He takes her hand and she responds, "Don't touch me.""Why not?" he asks.She answers back, "Because I'm dead."

The husband says, "What are you talking about? We're lying here in bed together talking to one another."She says, "No, I'm definitely dead."He insists, "You're not dead. What in the world makes you think you're dead?""Because I woke up this morning and nothing hurts."

poor hearing

Hearing Test An elderly gentleman feared his wife was getting

hard of hearing. So he called her doctor to make an appointment to have her hearing checked. The doctor made an appointment for a hearing test in two weeks, and meanwhile suggested the husband try a simple informal test to give the doctor some idea of the state of her problem.

'Here's what you do," said the doctor, "start out about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.“

That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he's in the living room. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens." Then in a normal tone he asks, 'Honey, what's for supper?"No response.

So the husband moved to the other end of the room, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, "Honey, what's for supper?" Still no response.Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, "Honey, what's for supper?"

Again he gets no response so he walks up to the kitchen door, only 10 feet away. "Honey, what's for supper?" Again there is no response, so he walks right up behind her. "Honey, what's for supper?"Finally he hears this response: "Damn it Earl - for the fifth time - chicken!"

Oil of Olay

Oil of Olay, a global business now, began in the home laboratory of chemist Graham Wulff in the early 1950s. Using his wife Dinah as his muse and research respondent, he began to truly understand what women really wanted: younger-looking and beautiful skin. It was with this understandi g that he was able to perfect his formula. Finally Oil of Olay came out.

Grecian Formula

Grecian Formula, first introduced in 1961, is a popular men’s hair coloring product in the United States. It is available as a clear liquid, cream and foam. One of the product’s main features is that it works gradually, so the color change is not as noticeable as with dye products. Some of the drawbacks are that it doesn’t work well with facial hair, and it must be used daily for the first week or two, which some people find inconvenient.

Middle age

Middle age is usually considered to be from around 40 to 60. many people in their 30s do not want to become middle-aged. When you are 40, you are no longer considered to be young. Middle-aged eople are often thought of by younger people as boring and old-fashioned in their attitudes and way of life.

Text Comprehension

(1) What is the writer’s attitude towards growing old?

(2) What are the main benefits of growing old listed in the text?

(3) What examples does the writer use to illustrate each of the benefits?

text structure

Part 1(Para.1-2): the two paragraphs make up the first part of the text.

Part 2(Para.3-5): the writer, in paragraph three, offers the first advantages of growing older – not being obsessed with one’s appearance.

The second advantage is discussed in paragraph 4—people in their forties are less uncertain than adolescents.

Paragraph 5 presents the third and the greatest benefit of growing older

Part 3(Para.6): after sharing her own experience in contrast to adolescents’ problems with the readers, in this paragraph the writer turns the issue to the similar to the one mentioned in the first paragraph: the validity of American values on the aging problem.

Part one （ 1-2 ）

1. Why do people want to hide their gray hair and delay the effect of aging?

2. What does the writer mean when she says “it’s un-American to say so”?

3. Does the writer deny the virtues of being young?

worship

1.to show respect and love for a god, especially by praying in a religious building. ( 做礼拜 )

a church where people have worshipped for hundreds of years

2.to admire and love someone very much （爱慕）

He absolutely worships her. 3. worship the ground somebody walks on 他爱她爱得如痴如醉

Hero-worship: great admiration for sb. who is thought to be very brave, good, skilful etc - often used to show disapproval 英雄崇拜

They bowed their heads in worship. Your/His Worship: to talk to or about a pub

lic official such as a mayor or magistrate （地方法官）

act of worship (=religious ceremony)

convince: v. to bring by the use of argument or evidence to firm belief or a course of action convince sb of …

除非你能说服我这次活动的安全性，否则我不会批准。 I won’t approve this operation unless you can co

nvince me of its safety. convincing & convinced. He is so ____ of his own theory that it is impossib

le to turn him around. I had to let him go, because his reasons are very

____.

jog

to run slowly and steadily, especially as a way of exercising

I go jogging every morning. to knock or push something lightly by mistake

[= bump] You jogged my elbow. jog somebody's memory to make someone

remember something

Dread to feel great fear or anxiety about E.g. I’ve got an interview with the bank manager tom

orrow – I’m dreading it. E.g. He always dreaded asking them for their rent b

ecause he knew it would end in an argument. Aging the process of growing old E.g. Our society is full of attitudes towards aging an

d old people.

Age bracket: the people between two particular ages, considered as a group [= age group] =age range

single people in the 40-50 age bracket the age of consent the age when someone

can legally get married or have a sexual relationship

the New Age movement: relating to spiritualbeliefs, types of medicine, and ways of

living that are not traditional Western ones Old age pension: money that is paid regularly

by the state to old people who do not work any more = social security

Distinct

noticeable; unmistakable E.g. There is a distinct possibility that she’ll b

e appointed manager of the company. clearly different or belonging to a different typ

e distinct types/groups/categories etc distinct from A distinct lack of enthusiasm

Para 3 The first advantage of growing older---not

being obsessed. The technique of contrast is used to project the difference between adolescents and people in their forties. They are focused on 2 aspects: the shape of their bodies and clothes. With her own experience, the writer drive home her point.

be apt to do something to have a natural tendency to do something

exactly right for a particular situation or purpose [= appropriate]

'Love at first sight' is a very apt description of how he felt when he saw her.

The punishment should be apt for the crime.

an apt pupil/student formal a student who is quick to learn and understand

Obsess: if something or someone obsesses you, you think or worry about them all the time and you cannot think about anything else - used to show disapproval

(be) obsessed with /by to have an unreasonably strong and continuous

interest in particular things or persons E.g. She became obsessed in her old age with

what to do with her immense wealth.

be obsessing about/over something/ somebody (informal) to think about something or someone much more than is necessary or sensible

Stop obsessing about your hair. It's fine. A lot of young girls are obsessed by their

weight

Mega-: a million - used with units of measurement; extremely; very big

1000 megawatts of electricity Her family is megarich! a megastore (giga-: a billion) Adj. very big and impressive or enjoyable Their first record was a mega hit.

diet V. to limit the amount and type of food that

you eat, in order to become thinner N. the kind of food that a person or animal

eats each day balanced/healthy/poor etc diet

Bamboo is the panda's staple diet (=main food).

a diet of something too much of an activity that you think is boring or has bad effects

Kids today are raised on a constant diet of pop music and television.

Plead: to ask for something that you want very much, in a sincere and emotional way [= beg]: plead with somebody (to do sth.)

plead guilty/not guilty/innocent She stayed home from work, pleading illness. The wife of one of the hostages appeared on

TV last night to plead for her husband’s life.

Freak: someone who is extremely interested in a particular subject so that other people think they are strange or unusual

a fitness / religious / computer freak someone who is considered to be very

strange because of the way they look, behave, or think [= weirdo]

These glasses make me look like a freak.

tailor: v. to fit or provide (a person) with clothes made to that person‘s measurements; to make, alter, or adapt for a particular end or purpose 我们应该使自己的知识符合社会的需要。

We should tailor our knowledge to the need of the society.

tolerate: v. tolerance (n), tolerant (adj.), tolerable (adj.), intol

erable (adj.) If I can be ____ of this monstrosity, then there is

nothing _____ to me.

Tolerant: adj. allowing people to do, say, or believe what they want without criticizing or punishing them

tolerant of/towards, a tolerant society Tolerable: a situation that is tolerable is not

very good, but you are able to accept it The heat in this room is barely tolerable.

Agony: very severe pain; a very sad, difficult, or unpleasant experience

extreme mental or physical pain or suffering E.g. He lay in agony until the doctor arrived. He was in agonies of remorse. Agony aunt: someone who writes an agony

column

Deny oneself not to allow oneself to have something that

one normally has; to decide not to have something that you would like, especially for moral or religious reasons:

E.g. He denied himself all small pleasures and luxuries in his effort to live a holy life.

deny that/doing something there's no denying (that/something)

为了保持身体苗条，她克制自己不吃冰激凌。To keep slim, she denied herself ice-cream.

to refuse to allow someone to have or do sth.

His parents denied him the opportunity to go to university.

She could deny her son nothing.

Lanky: someone who is lanky is tall and thin, and moves awkwardly [= gangling]:

Leggy: a woman is tall and attractive with long legs

Giant: a man is very tall, esp. when you are surprised.

mercy if someone shows mercy, they choose to

forgive or to be kind to someone who they have the power to hurt or punish

8. preferable: adj. more desirable or worthy than another; preferred

prefer: v. prefer A to B ：喜欢 A 多过 B 我喜欢在黑夜里游走而不是在白天徘徊 I prefer roaming at night to wondering in the dayti

me. preference: n. e.g. sexual preference, political pr

eference, etc. 9. critical: adj. very important, essential, urgent;

crucial, etc. e.g. a critical situation, a critical element, etc.

10. await vt. wait for 等待 (it is a vt.!!!) e.g. The committee is awaiting a decision from hea

d office before it takes any action. 11. pursue: v. to strive to gain or accomplish 追求 n. pursuit (in pursuit of…) 世人对名利的疯狂追求令我恶心。 The world’s mad pursuit of fame and fortune sicke

ns me. 12. sanity: n. the quality of being sane. 心智健全 sane: adj. insane e.g. You went all the way to him in the rain? That’s

just insane!

13. automatically: adv. 自动地 automatic. adj. automation: n. ( 自动化 ) 14. contradict v. to be opposite in nature to 同 ...

矛盾 , 同 ... 抵触 e.g. The results of his experiments seemed to co

ntradict the laws of physics. n. contradiction adj. contradictory e.g. Your eloquence doesn’t help a lot since your

theory is contradictory to common sense.

15. premise: n. 逻辑前提；房产 要先树立前提，然后才能得出结论。 You need to establish your premise first before you draw the

conclusion. These are premises of the big multi-national company. 16. contentment n. feeling contented 满意 , 知足 e.g. They finally found contentment in living a simple life. ant. Discontent 在这次会议上我终于有机会一吐胸中的不快。 I finally got a chance to give vent to my discontent at this con

ference.