I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant, and ancient for a sportsman. Fifty is a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to have hung on me. Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age, but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means.
A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying, “Fifty is what forty used to be.” He had made an inspirational (有灵感的) point. Am I over the hill ? People keep telling me that the hill has been moved, and I keep telling them that the high-jump bar has dropped from the six feet I once easily cleared to the four feet that is impossible for me now.
“You are not getting older, you are getting better.” Says Dr. Joyce Brothers. This, however, is the kind of doctor who inspires a second opinion.
And so as I approach the day when I cannot even jump over the tennis net, I am moved to share some thoughts on aging with you, I am moved to show how aging feels to me physically and mentally. Getting older, of course, is obviously a better change than the one that brings you eulogies(悼词). In fact, a poet name Robert Browning considered it the best change of all:
Grow old along with me !
The best is yet to me.
Whether or not Browning was right, most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for what is ahead being as good as what has gone by. I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend(混合) of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher(哲学家) was right when he said , “old is always fifteen years from now.”
【小题1】The author seems to tell us in Paragraph 1 that .A．time alone will tellB．time goes by quicklyC．time will show what is right D．time makes one forget the past.【小题2】When the author turned fifty, people around him .A．tried to fort himB．got inspiration with himC．were friendlier with himD．found him more talkative【小题3】The author considers his fifty years of life .A．peacefulB．ordinaryC．satisfactoryD．regretful【小题4】We can infer from the passage that .A．the old should lead a simple lifeB．the old should face the fact of agingC．the old should take more exerciseD．the old should fill themselves with curiosity【小题5】Which of the following statements is WRONG? . A．It’s hard for the author to jump over the six-feet high-jump bar now.B．The author is optimistic about his future.C．the author used to think 50 was far away from him.D．Most elephants live less than 50 years.B
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(答案→)B
解析：本文讲述了自己50岁的时候对生活的理解，慢慢接受了自己变老的现实，要好好生活。
【小题1】B 推理题。根据Fifty is a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to have hung on me. Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age, but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means.说明我没有想到自己这么快就到五十岁了，说明时间过得很快。故B正确。
【小题2】A 推理题。根据文章第二段A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying, “Fifty is what forty used to be.”和第三段“You are not getting older, you are getting better.” Says Dr. Joyce Brothers.说明我周围的人们都在安慰我，故A正确。
【小题3】C 推理题。根据文章最后一段前3行Whether or not Browning was right, most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for what is ahead being as good as what has gone by.说明他认为自己五十岁的生活是黄金的生活，故C项正确。
【小题4】B 细节题。根据文章最后一段3,4,5行I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend(混合) of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher(哲学家) was right when he said , “old is always fifteen years from now.”中的accepting my aging说明我们要接受自己变老的现实，故B正确。
【小题5】D 细节题。根据文章前2行I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant, and ancient for a sportsman.说明50岁对大象来说只是生命的一半，那么大象应该能过100岁左右，故D项的说法是错误的。