Pathways 4

Academic Reading and Writing

Unit 8 Living Longer

Full name:…………………………………………..Class:…………………….. Date:……………………….……………….

LISTENING & READING EXTENSION

Task 1. Write S if the sentences have the same meaning. Write D if they have a different meaning.
1. _______________
A. The testimony of the witnesses undermined the lawyer's arguments.
B. What the witnesses said supported the lawyer's arguments.

2. _______________
A. For ve years, and perhaps even beyond that, this plan will be in effect.
B. This plan may be in effect for even more than ve years.

3. _______________
A. The ratio of women to men in the medical school is two to one.
B. There are twice as many men as women in the medical school.

4. _______________
A. The novel allowed him to gain insight into the daily lives of people in the Middle Ages.
B. He was able to get a good understanding of everyday life in the Middle Ages from the book.

5. _______________
A. The conclusions that the two critics drew about the movie were contradictory.
B. The critics had very similar opinions about the movie.

6. _______________
A. All butter ies have a short life span.
B. No butter ies live for very long.

7. _______________
A. The black boxes on board airplanes are usually intact even after the most serious accidents.
B. In the most serious accidents, an airplane's black box is usually destroyed.

8. _______________
A. Genes in uence longevity, and conversely, they also hasten the aging process.
B. Long life is in uenced by genes, and in the opposite sense, they also make people age more
quickly.

Task 2. Watch the video and write the correct phrases into the spaces to complete the summary. Two
phrases are extra. Complete all items.
an urban area a tourist destination the effects of tourism live longer
help the economy enjoy visiting contribute to longevity

1. This video is about the reasons behind longevity in Bama and ___________________________ there.
2. Hereditary, cultural, and environmental factors all ___________________________ in Bama.
3. Tourism may ___________________________ in Bama, but there are also disadvantages such as
pollution.

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 Pathways 4
Academic Reading and Writing
Unit 8 Living Longer

4. Chang Shou village is ___________________________ because of the number of centenarians who

live there.
5. Tourists ___________________________ scenic Bama for picnicking, taking photos, and swimming.

Task 3. Watch the video again and choose the correct answer for each item. Complete all items.
1. Choose the best option to complete the statement. In Bama County, … than in the rest of China.
A. people are seven times less likely to die of heart disease
B. the proportion of centenarians is seven times higher
C. people live seven years longer on average

2. The main reason tourists are coming to Bama County is for ________.
A. the museums and cultural places
B. the region’s booming economy
C. the clean air

3. The village in this scene is currently "untainted by the in ux of tourists."

What does untainted by mean in this context?
A. not pro ting from B. not impacted by C. not prepared for

4. Huang Zhongkang hasn’t moved to a big city because ________.

A. he doesn’t like the heat or crowds
B. he is waiting for an invitation from his son
C. he doesn’t think he will nd work there

5. The narrator suggests that "tensions are rising" because residents ________.
A. don’t all agree that tourism is good for the village
B. are stressed by changes which may affect their lifestyle
C. are physically ill from environmental changes

Task 4. Read the passage and choose the correct answer for each item. Complete all items.
Going Strong at 100
[1] People in most parts of the world are living longer and longer, thanks to great leaps in medicine
and sanitation over the last century. But these growing life expectancies bring with them a sense of
unease. The biggest worry is the possibility that medical advances are arti cially prolonging life with
little regard for its quality. Old age, after all, brings with it an increased risk of chronic diseases such
as cancer, as well as both physical and mental decline.

[2] This is not just a moral question, but an economic one too. The "oldest-old" are the fastest growing
demographic in Western countries. If this expanding part of the population is indeed becoming more
and more dependent on care from relatives or the state, the costs to society will start to skyrocket.
But new research from Denmark suggests that this grim vision of the future is a ctitious one.

[3] Kaare Christensen and colleagues from the University of Southern Denmark found that the
proportion of elderly Danes who manage to remain independent holds steady at about 30–35 percent
between the ages of 90 to 100. Individual people certainly risk losing their independence as they get
older but the unhealthiest ones tend to pass away earlier despite improvements in medicine. This
means that from society’s point of view, exceptional long-life won’t lead to exceptional levels of
disability.

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 Pathways 4
Academic Reading and Writing
Unit 8 Living Longer

[4] The scale of Christensen’s study is unprecedented. It exploited the fact that Denmark has kept a
record of everyone living in it since 1968. Each person is assigned with a 10-digit identi cation
number that links all their information across o cial registries. In 1998, Christensen’s team used this
resource to contact every one of the 3,600 people who were born in Denmark in 1905 and were still
alive.

[5] About two-thirds of this group of ninety-somethings agreed to take part in the research.
Christensen assessed their physical strength, their ability to get on with daily life, their mental agility
and whether they showed any symptoms of depression. His team then caught up with them again in
2000, 2003, and 2005. At every stage, there were some drop-outs due mostly to deaths and terminal
illness and by 2005, only 166 volunteers remained, all of whom were 100-years old.

[6] The drop-outs tend to pose problems for studies like these that follow groups of people over time.
But in this case, it gave the researchers a chance to compare the health of those who stayed with the
study and those who didn’t. As you might expect, they found that the drop-outs tended to have weaker
physical and mental abilities and were more likely to show signs of depression than those who stuck
with it.

[7] At each of the four assessment years, the team found that the proportion of survivors who
remained physically and mentally independent stayed remarkably stable. Even among the
centenarians interviewed in 2005, a third were self-su cient.

[8] To picture this more clearly, imagine a group of 90 friends all of whom are at a ripe old age. About
30 of them (a third) are fully independent and enjoying the best of health, while another 30 or so are
severely disabled and very ill. Skip forward a decade or so and this very disabled fraction have passed
away, leaving behind 60 of their friends. But the health of some of these survivors has also taken a
turn for the worse; now only 20 people (out of the 60) are fully independent and another 20 have taken
seriously ill. Note that while overall, the health of the group is failing, the proportion of independent
people is still the same—a third!

[9] So as the population ages, the most disabled people are likely to die off sooner, leaving behind a
steady proportion of good health. That’s good news for Western societies because it suggests that
extending lives isn’t going to cost an exorbitant amount in terms of healthcare. Even with lives
reaching beyond the 90-year mark, it’s hardly the case that entire sections of society will be
bedridden. Indeed, a recent study of 32 Americans aged 110 and over found that 40% of these
"supercentenarians" could look after themselves.

[10] Christensen’s conclusions are backed up by another study by James Lubitz published in 2003.
Lubitz looked at the relative healthcare costs of looking after people aged 70 for the rest of their lives.
His team found that healthcare costs for healthy 70-year-olds were lower than those with partial
disabilities, even though they lived for a longer time.

[11] Christensen says that his research might seem like good news for society and bad news for the
individual, but that there’s reason to be optimistic. The study shows that people who survive to the
highest ages have "a health pro le that is similar in many aspects to most individuals who are 7 to 8
years younger." He also notes that while his study looked at people who were born in 1905, other
research suggests that disability could be kicking in even later for people born in subsequent years.

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 Pathways 4
Academic Reading and Writing
Unit 8 Living Longer

[12] In both Denmark and the US, overall disability rates have been falling since the 1980s. What
happens in the future is anyone’s guess—certainly, the fact that fewer and fewer people are smoking
can only push back the onset of disability in old age, but the obesity epidemic may pull the trend back
in the opposite direction.

1. What is one of the main ideas of this passage?

A. People may live longer today, but their quality of life declines as they reach extreme old age.
B. Precise record keeping in Denmark has made Christensen’s old age study especially accurate.
C. Elderly people may stay independent longer and their health care costs may not be excessive.

2. The word ctitious in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.

A. untrue
B. undesirable
C. unexpected

3. The author describes the Danish experiment as "unprecedented" (paragraph 4) because it ____.
A. lasted over seven years
B. involved so many participants
C. was sponsored by the Danish government

4. What did all the participants in the Danish study have in common?
A. They were all originally from the same part of Denmark.
B. They were all in their nineties when the study began.
C. They were all still healthy and living independently.

5. How many times were the participants in the study assessed by the experimenters?
A. once
B. three times
C. four times

6. Among the "group of 90 friends" (paragraph 8), how many were independent after ten years?
A. 20 B. 30 C. 60

7. There were extensive records on all the people who took part in the Danish experiment from the
time that they were born.
A. True B. False C. Not given

8. Among the participants who reached 100, about one in three could still look after themselves.
A. True B. False C. Not given

9. Christensen and his team are currently conducting experiments with people who were born in
years later than 1905.
A. True B. False C. Not given

10. While more and more people have stopped smoking, many have also gained a lot of weight, and
this may cause the disability rate to go up again.
A. True B. False C. Not given

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