首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
职业资格
Move over Methuselah. Future generations could be living well into their second century and still doing Sudoku, if life expectan
Move over Methuselah. Future generations could be living well into their second century and still doing Sudoku, if life expectan
admin
2015-06-17
26
问题
Move over Methuselah. Future generations could be living well into their second century and still doing Sudoku, if life expectancy predictions are true. Increasing by two years every decade, they show no signs of flattening out. Average lifespan worldwide is already double what it was 200 years ago. Since the 1980s, experts thought the increase in life expectancy would slow down and then stop, but forecasters have repeatedly been proved wrong.
The reason behind the steady rise in life expectancy is "the decline in the death rate of the elderly", says Professor Tom Kirkwood from Newcastle University. He maintains that our bodies are evolving to maintain and repair themselves better and our genes are investing in
this process
to put off the damage which will eventually lead to death. As a result, there is no ceiling imposed by the realities of the ageing process. "There is no use-by-date when we age. Ageing is not a fixed biological process," Tom says.
A large study of people aged 85 and over carried out by Professor Kirkwood discovered that there were a remarkable number of people enjoying good health and independence in their late 80s and beyond. With people reaching old age in better shape, it is safe to assume that this is all due to better eating habits, living conditions, education and medicine.
There are still many people who suffer from major health problems, but modern medicine means doctors are better at managing long-term health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. "We are reaching old age with less accumulative damage than previous generations. We are less damaged," says Professor Kirkwood. Our softer lives and the improvements in nutrition and healthcare have had a direct impact on longevity.
Nearly one-in-five people currently in the UK will live to see their 100th birthday, the Office for National Statistics predicted last year. Life expectancy at birth has continued to increase in the UK—from 73.4 years for the period 1991 to 1993 to 77.85 years for 2007 to 2009. A report in Science from 2002 which looked at life expectancy patterns in different countries since 1840 concluded that there was no sign of a natural limit to life.
Researchers Jim Oeppen and Dr. James Vaupel found that people in the country with the highest life expectancy would live to an average age of 100 in about six decades. But they stopped short of predicting anything more.
"This is far from eternity: modest annual increments in life expectancy will never lead to immortality," the researchers said.
We do not seem to be approaching anything like the limits of life expectancy, says Professor David Leon from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "There has been no flattening out of the best of the best—the groups which everyone knows have good life expectancy and
low mortality
, "he says.
These groups, which tend to be in the higher social and economic groups in society, can live for several years longer than people in lower social groups, prompting calls for an end to inequalities within societies.
Within populations, genes also have an important role to play in determining how long we could survive for—but environment is still the most important factor.
It is no surprise that healthy-living societies like Japan have the highest life expectancies in the world. But it would still be incredible to think that life expectancy could go on rising forever. "I would bet there will be further increases in life expectancy and then it will probably begin to slow," says Tom, "but we just don’t know."
Which statement below is TRUE concerning life expectancy according to the passage?
选项
A、Life expectancy goes on rising forever.
B、There could be further increases in life expectancy.
C、Life expectancy has slowed down since 1980s and it will stop.
D、Life expectancy in Japan doubles what it was 200 years ago.
答案
B
解析
根据文章大意可推知人类的平均寿命在未来一段时间内可能会继续增长,但不会永远无限期地增长。因此正确答案为B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/kaCv777K
本试题收录于:
英语学科知识与教学能力题库教师资格分类
0
英语学科知识与教学能力
教师资格
相关试题推荐
阅读下面的材料,回答问题。某教师在讲授郡县制的过程中,当讲到秦始皇采纳了李斯的意见、废除分封制时,引用了《史记》中的一段文字:“廷尉李斯议曰:周文武所封子弟同姓甚众,然后属疏远,相攻击如仇雠,诸侯更相诛伐,周天子弗能禁止。今海内赖陛下神灵一统,皆为郡县,
根据材料设计教学片段。春秋战国时期,中国社会发生了重大变革。原来社会地位较低的士,在社会生活中活跃起来,受到各诸侯国统治者的重用。他们代表本阶层或政治派别的利益和要求,提出自己的主张。政治和经济大变动,导致教育和学术领域也发生变化,贵族
Whenateacherintendstointroduceanewgrammaritem,whichofthefollowingstrategiescanbeusedtogetstudentstonotice
WhichofthefollowingsetsofphoneticfeaturescharacterizestheEnglishphoneme?
根据题目要求完成下列任务。用中文作答。下面是某教师的课堂教学片段。T:...Now,let’smakeourownwisheswith"ifonly".Butpleasedon’tforgettogivead
Americawillneveragainhaveasanationthespiritofadventureasit______beforetheWestwassettled.
Whichofthefollowingbelongstolearningoutcomes?
Wefindthatbrightchildrenarerarelyheldbackbymixed-abilityteaching.Onthecontrary,boththeirknowledgeandexperienc
Thenoticehasbeentoldeveryone______apartywillbeheldintheopenairtomorrow.
______isatypeofactivityinwhichtheteacherreadsoutapassageinnormalspeedfortwoorthreetimesandstudentsareto
随机试题
请简要地写出QC小组活动的主要步骤。
变压器不能进行以下()变换。
如何理解人民民主专政的内涵?
A.短暂性脑缺血发作B.脑出血C.蛛网膜下腔出血D.脑血栓形成E.脑栓塞常可引起双侧瞳孔不等大
膀胱癌的典型临床表现为
中骨盆平面的横径平均长为
甲公司2×17年自财政部门取得以下款项:(1)2月20日,收到拨来的以前年度已完成重点科研项目的经费补贴260万元;(2)6月20日,取得国家对公司进行扶改项目的支持资金3000万元,用于购置固定资产,相关资产于当年12月28日达到预定可使用状态,预计使用
下列关于人民法院受理行政案件的说法,正确的是()。
中共二大通过的民主革命当前阶段纲领的内容包括()。
DictationListentothepassage.Forquestions21-25,fillintheblankswiththeexactwordsorphrasesyouhear.Every
最新回复
(
0
)