核心词汇2300整理计划
attribute ['ætribju:t,ə'tribju:t]        n.属性,品质 v.(to)把…归于
audience ['ɔ:diəns]                     n.听众,观众,读者;谒见,会见
audio ['ɔ:diəu]                           adj. 音频的,声频的,声音的
author ['ɔ:θə]                            n.作者;创始人
authority [ə'θɔriti]                     n.权力,威信;权威者;(pl.)当局
auto ['ɔ:təu]                              n.汽车
automatic   [.ɔ:tə'mætik]    n.自动机构 a.自动的,无意识的,机械的
automation [.ɔ:tə'meiʃən]    n.自动(化)
automobile ['ɔ:təməbi:l]       n.汽车
autonomy [ɔ:'tɔnəmi]          n.自治
auxiliary   [ɔ:g'ziljəri]                a.辅助的,补助的
avail [ə'veil]                              n.效用,利益 v.有用于,有助于
available [ə'veiləbəl]            a.可用的,可得到的;可以见到的,随时可来的
aviation                                    n.航空,飞行
award [ə'wɔ:d]                         n.奖(品) v.授予,奖给
aware [ə'weə]                           a.(of)知道的,意识到的
beware [bi'wɛə]                 v.当心,谨防
unaware   ['ʌnə'wɛə]        a.不知道的；未觉察的
awful ['ɔ:ful]                            a.极度的,极坏的;威严的,可怕的 ad.十分
awkward ['ɔ:kwəd]                   a.笨拙的,不灵活的;棘手的,尴尬的
bake [beik]                               v.烤,烘,焙;烧硬,焙干
balance ['bæləns]                       v.称,(使)平衡 n.天平;平衡,均衡;差额,余款
bald [bɔ:ld]                               a.秃的,秃头的
 
阅读理解：
I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant, and ancient for a sportsman. Fifty is a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to have hung on me. Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age, but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means.

A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying, “Fifty is what forty used to be.” He had made an inspirational point. Am I over the hill? People keep telling me that the hill has been moved, and I keep telling them that the high-jump bar has dropped from the six feet I once easily cleared to the four feet that is impossible for me now.
“Your are not getting older, you are getting better.” says Dr. Joyce Brothers. This, however, is the kind of doctor who inspires a second opinion.

And so, as I approach the day when I cannot even jump over the tennis net, I am moved to share some thoughts on aging with you. I am moved to show how aging feels to me physically and mentally. Getting older, of course, is obviously a better change than the one that brings you eulogies. In fact, a poet named Robert Browning considered it the best change of all:

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be.
Whether or not Browning was right, most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for what is ahead being as good as what has gone by. I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher was right when he said. “Old is always fifteen years from now.”

1. The author seems to tell us in Paragraph 1 that ________.
A. time alone will tell
B. time goes by quickly
C. time will show what is right
D. time makes one forget the past
2. When the author turned fifty, people around him ________.
A. tried to comfort him
B. got inspiration with him
C. were friendlier with him
D. found him more talkative
3. We can infer from the passage that _______.
A. the old should led a simple life
B. the old should face the fact of aging
C. the old should take more exercise
D. the old should fill themselves with curiosity


参考译文：
我最近刚满五十岁，五十岁，对于一棵树来说正值青葱岁月，对于一头象则意味着步入中年，而对于运动员而言却已是垂垂老矣。在美国，五十是个吉祥的数字，它不仅是美国州的总数和，还是国家车速限制。但是我还没准备好与这个数字发生联系。五十应该是我父亲的年纪，但是现在我纠结于这个数字以及它所代表的一切。

几天前，我的一位朋友逗我开心，他说：“过去四十岁是怎么样的，现在五十岁也是怎么样。” 他的话令我犹如醍醐灌顶。我上年岁了吗？在走下坡路了吗？人们一直告诉我我没有变老；我一直告诉他们：我曾经可以轻松跳过六英尺高的跳高横木，可如今把它降到四英尺高我也跳不过去。

“你不是变老了，你是变得更好了，” Joyce Brothers医生说。这只是医生体贴安慰的话，想激发我有不同的想法。

总有一天，我会连网球网都跳不过去；当我离那天越来越近时，我就会与你分享一下我对年老的一些感悟。我会表现我的身心是如何感受年老的步伐。当然了，变老显然是比死亡更好的一个改变。事实上，一位名叫罗伯特•布朗宁的诗人认为最美妙的改变莫过于变老了：

与我偕老吧！

好景还在后。

不管布朗宁对错与否，我的前五十年的大部分时光都过得很精彩，所以我将满足于把将来的日子过得跟往日一样滋润。我发觉自己在前进的同时头脑中交织着一些古怪的想法，既抵抗又接受自己在变老，希望哲学家说的是对的：“从现在起的十五年后才算老。”

词汇及短语：
midlife:中年
eulogy: 悼词
philosopher: 哲学家
 
答案解析：
1.解析：B正确
作者在第一段中似乎要告诉我们什么？
第一段说到50岁对于树，大象和运动员的不同意义，也说到觉得50岁应该是他父亲的年纪，自己还无法接受已经到了50岁的年纪。有种感慨时光匆匆的感觉。所以B正确。

2.解析：A正确
作者到了50岁的时候，周围的人是怎么做的？
文中说到了他的一位朋友安慰他，医生也安慰他。
注意B的意思说的是和他一起获得灵感.。无论是他的朋友还是医生都是在inspire，即鼓舞，鼓励他，希望他转变对年老的想法。

3.解析：B正确
从文章我们可以推断出什么？
作者从头至尾是在表现自己对年老的看法的逐渐变化，从开头的无法接受，到慢慢的看开，想到年老的好处，接受变老的事实。用文中的话就是I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend of both fighting and accepting my aging。