衰老的过程
课文学习台
The Process of Ageing
区分观点、依据、例子与限制，用自己的话准确重建论述。
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第1段
At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. It has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her full intelligence; but at this age the likelihood of death is least. Earlier, we were infants and young children, and consequently more vulnerable; later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour and resistance which, though imperceptible at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us. This decline in vigour with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and diseases we shall eventually "die of old age", and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favour of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer—on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are.
12岁时，人体的生命力最为旺盛。 人的身材和力量尚未发育完全，身体的主人，亦未具备完全的智力；但这个岁数，死亡的可能性最小。再年幼一些，我们是婴儿和儿童，身体自然更脆弱；而12岁以后，我们就要经历生命力和抵抗力的衰退过程。 虽然这个过程在开始阶段难以觉察，但最终会急转直下，活不下去了。不管我们怎样精心照顾自己，也不管社会和医生怎样照顾我们。生命力随着时间的流逝而衰退被称之为衰老。衰老是人类作出的最不愉快的一个发现。人的生命力必然会随时间降低。 即使我们躲过了战争、意外和疾病，我们仍逃不过“因老而死”； 不同人衰老的速度相差甚微，最可能的死亡年龄在65至80岁之间。我们有些人命短，少数人命长一些— —活到八九十岁。但这种可能性不大，而且不管我们多么幸运和健壮，我们所希望的寿命有着实际的限制。
第2段
Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that man ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigour with time, of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things "wear out". Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do, if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch, or the sun, do in fact run out of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics whether the whole universe does so is a moot point at present. But these are not analogous to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself—it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could, at one time, repair ourselves— well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses and accidents. Between twelve and eighty years we gradually lose this power; an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock us out, and into our grave. If we could stay as vigorous as we are at twelve, it would take about 700 years for half of us to die, and another 700 years for the survivors to be reduced by half again.
正常人习惯于忽视衰老的过程，一经提醒，才会想起。1我们对人总要衰老的事实如此熟悉，以致于多年来就已认识到生命力会随着时间的流逝而丧失，人也会随着年龄的增长而更易死亡，这是不言而喻的，就像一壶热水会变凉，一双鞋也会穿破。人们也认识到所有的动物，以及可能其他的有机物，如树木，甚至宇宙本身，从事物的本质上来说都会 “磨损掉”。我们通常看到的大多数动物，如能有机会活很久，实际上跟我们一样会衰老。 像上紧发条的手表那样的机械装置，或太阳，实际上也会依据热力学第二定律耗尽能量（整个宇宙是否如此，目前尚有争论）。不过，这些耗尽的情况跟人的衰老还不一样。手表停了依然还是手表，可以重上发条。一只用旧了的手表就不一样了，磨损严重，走时不准，以致于最后都不值得修理了。但是，手表决不会修理自己，它并非由有生命的部件组成，只是金属而已，而金属会因摩擦而损耗。而我们一度可以自我修复得很好，至少足以抵御绝大多数疾病和意外，只有那些几乎立即致命的情况除外。在12岁到80岁之间，我们的自我修复能力逐渐丧失。在我们12岁时所生的疾病，在80岁时可以让我们彻底病倒，进入坟墓。 假如我们能保持12岁时的旺盛生命力，那么需要700年我们才会死一半，而剩下的人，再过 700年才会再死一半。
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译文与解析据吴应时整理资料及本站首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第158—163页，2022年2月第2版。