To one who has recently reached the advanced age of forty-six, the rapidly approaching prospect(前景)of old age is both exciting a

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问题     To one who has recently reached the advanced age of forty-six, the rapidly approaching prospect(前景)of old age is both exciting and terrorizing(可怕的). My children will be grown; my life will once again be my own. That is exciting.
    But I am not altogether reassured by some of the elderly people I see around me, who spend a good deal of their extra leisure visiting hospital, going to the funerals of old friends, and restlessly looking for something to do with idle time. That’s if one is doing relatively well. Many of the elderly are in nursing homes. The prospect that I might end my days in one of those places-staring at walls or even fixing my eyes upon a television-terrifies me, but only slightly more than the prospect of aging itself.
    I am also puzzled. History has delivered at least two conflicting images of old age. There is the image of lost youth, declining power, creeping decay, and a final loneliness passing on. There is also the image of a peak(顶峰)of life, respect and honor, the loving circle of one’s grown children with their children, and a peaceful death enhanced by the knowledge that a full and worthy life has been lived. No doubt both images are true. Yet no one has satisfactorily explained to me why some of the aging realize one image and some the other.
    Or consider the job market. Perhaps it is reasonable that the elderly should be forced into retirement at a certain age and that youth should be given their chance to take over. But that is a different matter from the other message our culture also delivers; if one is not a "productive"(that is, a money-making)member of society, then one is a pure burden.
According to the author, the elderly people in nursing homes spend their time______.

选项 A、looking for excitement
B、waiting for relatives
C、watching TV
D、talking and laughing

答案C

解析
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