Direction: In this part, there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer.
Passage 1
Because in the next century one in four of our population will be over 60, maintaining the health and quality of life of the elderly will be a crucial issue for all of us. At the moment a man who reaches 60 can expect to live another 20 years, a woman another 25 years. The bad news is that many disabling conditions like heart disease and stroke, arthritis, osteoporosis and dementia become commoner as we get older. What we need therefore to try to ensure is that those ‘retirement years’ are characterized by good health, autonomy and fulfillment.
A major priority is reducing — or at least postponing — the onset of disability by preventing chronic diseases. We know more and more about the way or genes affect our predisposition to disease, so these days we can influence gene expression by altering our patterns of behavior. The great bulk of chronic diseases are preventable and we can do a lot in terms of lifestyle and diet to avoid them. Because of that the population appears to be getting healthier: todays average 60yearold two decades ago.
Medically, the next few decades are about adding life to years as much as years to life: compressing the span of disability and morbidity, preserving mental and physical health, and enhancing the individuals ability to function independently away from residential care.
Loneliness is currently one of the biggest problems facing the elderly, but here I expect technology to contribute a lot to quality of life, especially for the house — or bedbound. Economically, the affluent elderly represent an enormous potential market, albeit one that has been ignored until now. All that is going to change. Indeed the fastest growing market for internet users in the United States is now among the over 60s.
With about a quarter of our lives to enjoy after 60, how can the individual make best use of their “retirement years” and experience of older people? Here we need nothing less than a major redesign in our attitudes, as well as in our institutions, which evolved to support populations, with a very different age structure.
Marked regional variations in timescales are apparent too: Northern Europe has been ageing over the last century, but in Singapore of the population over 60 to double from 9 to 18 per cent. This means even less time to face up major social changes. Perhaps Singapore in the end be more successful than we are?
Every aspect of society, including employment, health, taxation, pensions and education, needs looking at. For whatever recipe we opt for, profound changes in age structure can only mean profound social changes ahead.
1. According to the passage， why it is important to main the health and quality of life of the elderly?
A. Humans can only live several years after 60.
B. The elderly often suffer from these disabling conditions.
C. We should show our respect to the elderly.
D. There is large population in old age.
2. Which of these following statements is right?
A. The most important thing is to find a way to cure these chronic disease.
B. We can rearrange our genes.
C. We can alter our habits to reduce the rate of chronic disease.
D. There is no relationship between our life style and the chronic disease.
3. What is the meaning of the first sentence in paragraph 3?
A. Live the longer the better.
B. We should live in high quality; even our lives are not long enough.
C. We should live longer and healthier.
D. We should lead a live of different style.
4. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Pay more attention to the elderly B. Bodies
C. Live healthily D. The world is becoming older
5. What is the authors attitude?
A. We should use the elderly — the enormous potential market to earn more money.
B. There will be a big change in our society for there are more and more elders.
C. Singapore will be more successful in dealing with elders.
D. A person who is more than 60 years old should enjoy their retirement years rather than work.
