英语范文背诵精华2.2 How to Grow Old

How to grow old
by Bertrand Russell
1、In spite of the title, this article will really be on how not to grow old,which,at my time of life,is a much more important subject.My first advice would be to choose your ancestors.My maternal¹ grandfather,it is true,was cut off in the flower of his youth at the age of sixty-seven,but my other three grandparents all lived to be over eighty.Of remoter ancestors I can only discover one who did not live to a great age,and he died of a disease which is now rare,namely,having his head cut off.
2、A great grandmother of mine,who was a friend of Gibbon,lived to the age of ninety-two,and to her last day remained a terror to all her descendants.My maternal grandmother,after having nine children who survived,one who died in infancy,and many miscarriages,as soon as she became a widow,devoted herself to woman\'s higher education.She was one of the founders² of Girton College,and worked hard at opening the medical profession to women.She used to relate how she met in Italy an elder gentleman who was looking very sad.She inquired the cause of his melancholy³ and he said that he had just parted from his two grandchildren."Good gracious"she exclaimed,"I have seventy-two grandchildren,and if I were sad each time I parted from one of them,I should have a dismal⁴ existence!""Mdaresnaturale,"he replied.But speaking as one of the seventy-two,I perfer her recipe.After the age of eighty she found she had some diffculty in getting to sleep,so she habitually⁵ spent the hours from midnight to 3 a.m. in reading popular science.I do not believe that she ever had time to notice that she was growing old.This,I think,is proper recipe for remaining young.If you have wide and keen interests and activities in which you can still be effective,you will have no reason to think about the merely statistical⁶ fact of the number of years you have already lived,still less of the probable brevity of you future.
3、As regards health I have nothing useful to say since I have little experience of illness.I eat and drink whatever I like,and sleep when I can not keep awake.I never do anything whatever on the ground that it is good for health,though in actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome⁷.
4、Psychologically there are two dangers to be guardsed against in old age.One of these is undue⁸ absorption in the past.It does not do to live in memories,in regrets for the good old days,or in sadness about friends who are dead.One\'s thoughts must be directed to the future and to things about which there is something to be done.This is not always easy:one\'s own past is gradually increasing weight.It is easy to think to oneself that one\'s emotions used to be more vivid than they are,and one\'s mind keener.If this is true it should be forgotten,and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.
5、The other thing to be avoided is clingling to youth in the hope of sucking vigor⁹ from its vitality¹⁰.When your children are grown up they want to live their own lives,and if you continue to be as interested in them as you were when they were young,you are likely become a burden to them,unless they are unusually callous¹¹.I do not mean that one should be without interested in them,but one\'s interest should be contemplative and if possible,philanthropic,but not unduely emotional. Animals become indifferent to their young as soon as their young can look after themselves,but human beings,owing to the length of infancy,find this difficult.

1 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

2 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

3 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

4 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

5 habitually   

ad.习惯地，通常地

参考例句：

• The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
• Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰，我来到他的椅子跟前。

6 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

7 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

8 undue   

adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的

参考例句：

• Don't treat the matter with undue haste.不要过急地处理此事。
• It would be wise not to give undue importance to his criticisms.最好不要过分看重他的批评。

9 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

10 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

11 callous   

adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的

参考例句：

• He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。
• She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢，而且往往冷酷无情。