Ms Hanh/Reading & Speaking/4th Oct 2021

READING 2
Part 2: Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE
word in each space. Write your answers in the answer box below. (10 points)
PROBLEMS OF LONGEVITY
It is our nature to try to prolong life, but we should also face (1)________ to the distinct
diffculties that we would also encounter if we succeed. If a successful longevity treatment (2)
_______ to emerge suddenly out of all the new developments of medical science, tacking on
extra decades or even centuries to our lives, the results could be disastrous.
This could be true even for the individual lucky enough to receive the treament. Presumably any
treatment that conferred long life would keep people generally healthy, but the extra years would
be a (3.)_________ of medical balancing act, akin to the jugglers who dash about keeping plates
spinning on top of poles. It would be nerve-racking (4.)________ best.
(5.)_________ if the treatments did little or nothing to help one’s memory? This is a crucial
point that is (6.)_________ overlooked in discussions of longevity. The brain is by
(7.)_________ the most complex organ known to us, and the workings of memory are
(8.)_________ really understood. Keeping the body alive might be possible before we could do
anything to strengthen or restore lost memories. Even the ordinary lifetime often seems too
(9.)_________ for human memory to hold or recall, and if decades were tacked on, the long
middle of a life might be substantially forgotten, leaving (10.)_________ dim memories of
childhood and recent events.
Your answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.