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PASSAGEONE(1)Attheageoftwelveyears,thehumanbodyisatitsmostvigorous.Ithasyettoreachitsfullsizeandstrength,anditsownerhisorherfullintelligence;butatthisagethelikelihoodofdeathisleast.Earlier,wewereinfantsandyoungchildren,andconsequentlymorevulnerable;later,weshallundergoaprogressivelossofourvigorandresistancewhich,thoughimperceptibleatfirst,willfinallybecomesosteepthatwecanlivenolonger,howeverwellwelookafterourselves,andhoweverwellsociety,andourdoctors,lookafterus.(2)Thisdeclineinvigorwiththepassingoftimeiscalledageing.Itisoneofthemostunpleasantdiscoverieswhichweallmakethatwemustdeclineinthisway,thatifweescapewars,accidentsanddiseaseweshalleventually"dieofoldage",andthatthishappensataratewhichdifferslittlefrompersontoperson,sothatthereareheavyoddsinfavorofourdyingbetweentheagesofsixty-fiveandeighty.Someofuswilldiesooner,afewwilllivelonger—onintoaninthortenthdecade.Butthechancesareagainstit,andthereisavirtuallimitonhowlongwecanhopetoremainalive,howeverluckyandrobustweare.(3)Normalpeopletendtoforgetthisprocessunlessanduntiltheyareremindedofit.Wearesofamiliarwiththefactthatmanages,thatpeoplehaveforyearsassumedthattheprocessoflosingvigorwithtime,ofbecomingmorelikelytodietheolderweget,wassomethingself-evident,likethecoolingofahotkettleorthewearing-outofapairofshoes.Theyhavealsoassumedthatallanimals,andprobablyotherorganismssuchastrees,oreventheuniverseitself,mustinthenatureofthings"wearout".(4)Mostanimalswecommonlyobservedoinfactageaswedo,ifgiventhechancetolivelongenough;andmechanicalsystemslikeawoundwatch,orthesun,doinfactanoutofenergyinaccordancewiththesecondlawofthermodynamics(热力学)(whetherthewholeuniversedoessoisamootpointatpresent).Butthesearenotanalogoustowhathappenswhenmanages.Arun-downwatchisstillawatchandcanberewound.Anoldwatch,bycontrast,becomessowornandunreliablethatiteventuallyisnotworthmending.Butawatchcouldneverrepairitself—itdoesnotconsistoflivingparts,onlyofmetal,whichwearsawaybyfriction.Wecould,atonetime,repairourselves—wellenough,atleast,toovercomeallbutthemostinstantlyfatalillnessesandaccidents.Betweentwelveandeightyyearswegraduallylosethispower;anillnesswhichattwelvewouldknockusover,ateightycanknockusout,andintoourgrave.Ifwecouldstayasvigorousasweareattwelve,itwouldtakeabout700yearsforhalfofustodie,andanother700forthesurvivorstobereducedbyhalfagain.23.Whatisageing?

题型：单选题

选项

A. It is usually a phenomenon of dying at an old age.

B. It is a fact that people cannot live any longer.

C. It is a gradual loss of vigor and resistance.

D. It is a phase when people are easily attacked by illness.

正确答案：

名词解析

[C]根据ageing及各选项内容定位到第1、2段。细节概括题。根据第2段第1句对ageing的概括以及第l段第3句后半部分对 ageing的诠释，可知C为本题答案。A、D实际上是衰老过程的两个方面，因此A、D表述都是相对片面的，可排除;通过文中的叙述可知，衰老是一个过程，而不仅是一个简单事实，故B项不恰当，也可排除。