Unit 9 How to Grow Old 练习问题详解.docVIP

Unit 9 How to Grow Old Consolidation Activities I. Text Comprehension 1. Decide which of the following best states the author’s purpose To explore the reasons why people usually fear death in old age. To supply some medical information about health and genetic influence on one’s longevity. To offer suggestions on how to keep open-minded and make some psychological adjustments in the process of growing old. Key [ C ] 2. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false. 1). With a few exceptions, most of the author’s ancestors lived to a great age. [ T ] 2). The author is very particular about his diet and careful in his lifestyle. [ F ] 3). If you left your grown-up children alone, they would become very callous because of your indifference. [ F ] 4). It is obvious that those who do not have strong impersonal interests will unduly concern themselves with their children and grandchildren to fill the void in their lives. [ T ] 5). With the decay of vitality and increase of weariness, the fear of death in the old people is inevitable and justifiable. [ F ] II. Writing Strategies In the last paragraph the author compares one’s life to a river with its different phases. Now try to describe how this metaphor works for the theme of the essay. The metaphor is used to illustrate particular characteristics of an individual human existence in three different phases: 1) When people are young, they are more vigorous and energetic (“rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls”), but less experienced (“small,” “contained within its banks”). 2) When they reach their middle age, they have got more experience and wisdom (“Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede ...”) and their pace of life becomes more gentle but steady (“... the waters flow more quietly ...”). 3) As their sense of fulfillment increases in old age, their sense of individuality decreases, and their lives become increasingly blended with the universal life (“beco