Unit9HowtoGrowOld.doc

Unit 9 How to Grow Old
Learning Objectives 2
Section One Pre-reading Activities 2
I. Picture Activation 2
II. Pre- reading Questions 2
Section Two Global Reading 2
I. Text Introduction 2
II. Culture Notes 2
III. Author 3
IV. Structural Analysis 3
Section Three Detailed Reading 3
I. Analysis 5
II. Questions for Paragraphs 6
III. Language Work of Paragraphs 7
IV. Chinese Translation of Paragraphs 11
Section Four Consolidation Activities 12
I. Text Comprehension 12
II. Writing Strategies 13
III. Language Work 13
IV. Translation 17
V. Oral Activities 19
VI. Research Paper Writing 20
Section Five Further Enchantment 23
I. Lead-in Questions 23
II. Text II 23
III. Text II: Comprehension 25
IV. Notes of Text II 27
V. Fun Time & Memorable Quotes 29
Learning Objectives
l Rhetorical skill: metaphor
l Key language & grammar points
l Writing strategies: metaphor for the theme of the essay
l Theme: how to keep young and face death
Section One Pre-reading Activities
I. Picture Activation

Do you find “growing old” a terrifying process? Why or why not?

II. Pre- reading Questions

1. An aging population has become a serious problem in China, especially in big cities like Shanghai. After decades of hard work, old people deserve to live a happy life in their twilight years. Do you think old people in China are taken good care of? What do your grandparents usually do every day? Do they enjoy their life?
Open for discussion.

2. With the improvement of living standards and medical services, now people have a longer life expectancy than before. In this connection, some people propose that our retirement age should be postponed. Do you agree with this idea?
Open for discussion.
Section Two Global Reading
I. Text Introduction

This is one of the essays in Bertrand Russell’s Portraits from Memory, which was published in 1956. As is indicated in the title, the essay deals with the issue of aging. In a light and humorous style, the author turns this social issue into a personal discussion on two topics: How to keep oneself psychologically young and how to perceive death in one’s old age.

II. Culture Notes
Gibbon (Paragraph 1)
Edward Gibbon (1737–1794), English historian. He wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–1788).

Girton College (Paragraph 1)
The first residential college for women of Cambridge University, it was established in 1869. It is about two and a half miles northwest of the center of Cambridge next to the village of Girton. It became mixed in 1977 with the arrival of the first male Fellows and male undergraduates have been admitted since 1979.

III. Author

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was a British philosopher and mathematician who combined scholarship with literary skill and had a rare talent for popularization both in writing and as a broadcaster. On politics and education he held unorthodox opinions. In 1918 he was galled for pacifism. Undeterred by age, he was active in nuclear disarmament demonstrations, which led to another spell in prison.
He left Cambridge in the summer of 1894
In the autumn of 1920 he went to China to lecture on philosophy at the Peking University, analyzing the strength and weaknesses of that ancient civilization attempting to industrialize, and warned of the dangers of imperial powers interfering in China affairs.
In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."

IV. Structural Analysis

Part 1
(Paras. 1-2) description of the healthy life style of author’s ancestors and himself, which reflects his attitude towards life
Part 2
(Paras. 3-4) two things elderly people should avoid, namely living in memories and clinging to youth
Part 3
(Paras. 5-6) importance of developing impersonal interests, and a correct attitude towards death in old age
Section Three Detailed Reading

HOW TO GROW OLD
Bertrand A. 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 carefully. Although both my parents died young, I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors. My maternal 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. 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 women’s higher education. She was one of the founders of Girton College, and worked hard at opening the medical profession to women. She used to relate how she met in Italy an elderly gentleman who was looking very sad. She inquired the cause of his melancholy 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 dismal existence!” “Madre snaturale,” he replied. But speaking as one of the seventy-two, I prefer her recipe. After the age of eighty she found she had some difficulty in getting to sleep, so she habitually 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 the 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 statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived, still less of the probable brevity of your future.

2. 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 cannot 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 wholesome.

3. Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One of these is undue 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 a 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 more keen. If this is true it should be forgotten, and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.

4. The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth in the hope of sucking vigour from its vitality. 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 to become a burden to them, unless they are unusually callous. I do not mean that one should be without interest in them, but one’s interest should be contemplative and, if possible, philanthropic, but not unduly 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.

5. I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have strong impersonal interests involving appropriate activities. It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful, and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive. It is no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes, both because they will not believe you, and because mistakes are an essential part of education. But if you are one of those who are incapable of impersonal interests, you may find that your life will be empty unless you concern yourself with your children and grandchildren. In that case you must realise that while you can still render them material services, such as giving them an allowance or knitting them jumpers, you must not expect that they will enjoy your company.

6. Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows, and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of death is somewhat abject and ignoble. The best way to overcome it — so at least it seems to me — is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river — small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.

I. Analysis

Paragraph 1 Analysis

In this paragraph the author begins the essay with a humorous answer to the question “how not to grow old” — “to choose your ancestors carefully.” Then he tells us some anecdotes about one of his ancestors — his maternal grandmother, who enjoyed a long life partly because she had a healthy attitude towards life.

Paragraph 2 Analysis

In this paragraph the author gives us a very brief description of his healthy lifestyle, which reflects his attitude towards life.

Paragraphs 3-4 Analysis

After talking about his ancestors’ longevity and his own healthy lifestyle, the author directs his discussion to the two things elderly people should avoid, namely living in memories and clinging to youth, which are interrelated, because undue absorption in the past would inevitably lead to clinging to youth.

Paragraph 5 Analysis

In this paragraph the author stresses the importance of developing impersonal interests. With such interests one will have a fulfilling old age without making his grown-up children feel oppressed. Otherwise, he will either feel empty or unduly concern himself with his children.

Paragraph 6 Analysis

The last paragraph expounds on a correct attitude towards death in old age. According to the author, death should not be an oppressive problem for “an old man who has known human joys and sorrows.” He compares one’s life to a river that will eventually be merged with the sea. This metaphor suggests that death is inevitable and, more important, it is part of “the universal life.”

II. Questions for Paragraphs

Paragraph 1: Questions

1. What does the author mean when he says that “But speaking as one of the seventy-two, I prefer her recipe”?
The author means that as one of her seventy-two grandchildren, he prefers the way she chose to deal with being separated from her family for periods of time.

2. How, according to the author, can one be relieved from the worry of aging?
According to the author, if you have wide and keen interests and you participate in activities which you are still capable of, just as his maternal grand-mother did, you will have no time to notice that you are growing old and thus you will have no reason to worry about your old age and the probable brevity of your future.

Paragraph 3 Question

How could one get out of undue absorption in the past?
To get oneself out of undue absorption in the past, one must direct one’s thought to the future and to the things about which there is something to be done.

Paragraph 4 Question
How, according to the author, should an elderly person show his concern for his children?
Detailed Reading
According to the author, an elderly person should avoid showing too much interest in his children when they are grown up and want to live their own lives. He should be thoughtful and be ready to give them help only when they need it.

Paragraph 5 Question

What, according to the author, should “those who are incapable of impersonal interests” realize?
Detailed Reading
According to the author, those who are incapable of impersonal interests should realize that their undue interest in their children is unwelcome, though their “material services” are still appreciated.

Paragraph 6 Question

What is the best way for an old person to overcome the fear of death?
First of all, he should realise that death is inevitable. The best way to overcome the fear of death is to develop strong impersonal interests involving appropriate activities, so that he will painlessly lose his individual being (i.e. his ego) and his life will become merged in the universal life.

III. Language Work of Paragraphs

Paragraph 1

“Although both my parents died young, I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors.”
Paraphrase: Although both my mother and my father died when they were still young, my other ancestors lived long lives. Here the author means that genetically he did quite well.
respect n. an aspect of something
e.g. In most respects, the new film is better than the original.
The house is in a fairly good condition and, in this respect, contrasts with the rest of the street which is in a state of disrepair.
as regards: in connection with
e.g. Are you optimistic or pessimistic as regards the future?
This is especially true as regards women, given that, of the world’s one billion poorest people, three-fifths are women and girls.

“My maternal 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.”
Paraphrase: My mother’s father died at an early age of sixty-seven, but my other three grandparents enjoyed long lives. They all died in their eighties.
cut off: to remove something by cutting it; to prevent someone from having something that they need or want
e.g. The aim was to cut off the enemy’s escape route.
I’m glad the bartender cut Tommy off — he’s already had too