Unit One How To Grow Old
About the author
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3d Earl, 1872-1970, British philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer; b. Wales. The grandson of Lord John Russell, the 1st Earl Russell, he succeeded to the earldom in 1931. While teaching at Cambridge Univ. Russell produced his most important works, Principles of Mathematics (1903) and, with Alfred North WHITEHEAD, Principia Mathenetica (3 vol., 1910 – 13), in which he attempted to show how the laws of mathematics could be deduced from the basic axioms of logic. His work influenced on 20th-cent. symbolic logic, SET theory in mathematics, and LOGICAL POSITIVISM, especially in the work of his student Ludwig WITTFENSTEN. An undogmatic but zealous rationalist, Russell was deeply convinced of the logical independence of individual facts and the dependence of knowledge on the data of original experience. Well known for his social views, he was an active pacifist during World War I. In 1927 he and his wife founded the highly experimental Beacon Hill School. His liberal views on marriage, sex, adultery, and homosexuality made him controversial during most of the 1930s. He abandoned pacifism during World War II in the face of the Nazi threat but reverted to it after the war, becoming a leader in the “ban the bomb” movement to halt the manufacture of nuclear weapons. In the 1960s he and Jean-Paul SARTRE organized European opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Russell’s radicalism kept him from a traditional academic career, and he supported himself chiefly by his writings, many of them widely read, e.g., Marriage and Morals (1929), A History of Western Philosophy (1945), and his autobiography (3 vol., 1967-69). In 1950 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.
Ressell had one of the most widely varied and persistently influential intellects of the 20th century. During most of his active life, a span of 3 generations, Russell had at any time more than 40 books in print ranging over philosophy, mathematics, science, ethics, sociology, education, history, religion, politics and polimic. The extent of his influence resulted partly from his amazing efficiency in applying his intellect (he normally wrote at the rate of 3000 largely unaltered words a day), his memory, and his aristocratic independence, and partly from his deep humanitarian feeling that was the main spring of his actions. His first major undertaking in the field of logic and mathematics had a profound influence upon philosophy in the western world. In his middle years, his books on morals, politics, education, pacifism, and other subjects were an illumination and encouragement to the rebellious layman. Finally, during the last decades of his life (just as he felt himself in danger of becoming respectable by sheer weight of years), he became an inspiration to idealistic youth throughout the world in his active opposition to the manufacture of H-bombs and to the war in Vietnam.
“How to grow old” was taken from his book Portraits from Memory, which was published in 1956.
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About the text
In spite of the title, this article will really be on how not to grow old, … … ---- A surprising beginning? A way to attract attention? Or a kind of skill to start a passage in a most direct and straightforward way?
My first advice would be to choose your ancestors carefully. ---- Can you? Please notice the tone (humorous?) in the first part of the paragraph concerned with describing his ancestors.
as regards ---- (also with regard to, in regard to) a phrase indication what one is saying applies to the fact they have just mentioned
As regards the car, I put an advertisement in the paper.
With regard to the gas fire, we hardly use it.
My upbringing was fairly strict in regard to obedience and truthfulness.
… … was cut off in the flower of his youth at the age of sixty-seven, … … ---- What a metaphor! And the latter part of the sentence is even more unexpected. In the sentence, we also find the use of euphemism (= a polite word or expression that people use when they are talking about something which they or other people find unpleasant or embarrassing, such as death or sex). Some nor examples are given below:
l A man is helping the police with inquires. (A suspected criminal is detained by the police and probably under close arrest.)
l A large accident (= the explosion of a nuclear power station)
l Armed emergency (= a small-scale war in which large numbers of people are being killed, buildings destroyed, etc.)
l under-achiever (= a school-child who is backward or merely bore form the neck upwards)
l The locus of evaluation (= the classroom)
l Lower ability group (= s low learners)
l A member of the lower socio-economic bracket (= a poor person)
l Terminal illness (= a fatal illness)
cut off ---- stop something, esp. speech or the supply of electricity, gas, water, etc.
If this bill is not paid within five days, your gas supply will be cut off.
If you speak for too long, the chairwoman will cut you off.
If you are having a phone conversation and you are cut off (=lose communication with the person you are speaking to), phone the operator.
who was a friend of Gibbon ---- usually we say “a friend of so-and-so’s”. When we want to emphasize the idea that somebody is one of the friends of a famous person, then we say “He is a friend of so-and-so.”
Gibbon ---- Gibbon, Edward, 1734—94, English historian. He is the author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (6 vol., 1776—88), one of the most influential historical works of modern times. Gibbon also wrote a subtle and interesting autobiography, Memoirs of His Life and Writings (1796). He served in Parliament from 1774 to 1783.
Girton College ---- The first women’s college at Cambridge University, founded in 1896.
word ---- (archaic) speak
relate ---- (fml or literary) tell (a story) or describe (a series of events)
She related the events of the past week to the police.
He relates how at the age of 23 he was interned in a prison camp.
melancholy ---- unhappiness or sadness, esp. that which is felt for a long period of time and without any obvious reason
a melancholy piece of music
melancholy autumn days
He is an actor who is famous for roles full of sentimental melancholy.
part from ---- separate from
To be parted from him even for two days made her sad.
dismal ---- sad and without hope
The outlook is dismal ---- no-one thinks he is going to get better.
“madre snaturale” ---- (Italian) Literally, an unnatural mother. The phrase means here “What an extraordinary mother!”
her recipe ---- her way of doing things
the proper recipe for remaining young ---- that is to keep oneself busy. {“Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form.” --- André Maurois (1885—1967), French author, critic. The Art of Living, “The Art of Growing Old”(1940).}
still less ---- (also much less) let alone; not to mention (to make a negative statement stronger)
At the age of fourteen I had never even been on a train, still less an aircraft.
brevity ---- lasting only a short time; shortness
The first of these two poems is an anguished reflection on the brevity of life.
(Nor will the old people, once they manage to keep themselves busy with some wholesome things, be haunted by the thought that their days are numbered.)
As regards health, I have nothing useful to say since I have little experience of illness. ---- It seems that many others have many things to say about their experience of living a long life. You might try your students to see whether they happen to know any of those different ‘recipes’ offered by different people on different newspapers, or the same newspaper at different times.
on the ground ---- a phrase used to introduce the reason (cause or argument) based on a (the) fact or belief (that)
An EU national could not be deported solely on the ground of his conviction.
She is suing the company on the grounds of unfair dismissal.
Do you have any ground for suspecting them?
We have grounds to believe that you have been lying to us.
He refused to answer on the grounds that she was unfairly dismissed.
mostly ---- The word is used to indicate that a statement is generally true, for example, true about the majority of a group of things or people, or true most of the time.
The men at the party were mostly fairly young.
A rattlesnake hunts mostly at night.
absorption ---- If you have an absorption in something, you are so interested in it that it takes up a lot of your time and energy.
With his new appointment in 1911, his absorption shifted.
Her absorption in her work ( = giving of all her attention to it ) is so great that she thinks about nothing else.
It does not do to live in memories … ---- For old people, thinking of the past will not bring them any goodness. Compare the idea with the following lines by W. B. Yeats:
When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep …
One’s own past is a gradually increasing weight ---- When people are getting old, they tend to spend more time thinking of their past experiences, which will prove to be a big burden for them.
If this is true it should be forgotten, and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true. ---- Self-deceiving (to plug one’s ears while stealing a bell) is obviously not to be encouraged, but in some cases, especially for old people, it is not always unhelpful.
clinging to youth ---- used predicatively, the phrase means showing undue interest in one’s children after they have grown up.
(If you cling to an idea or a way of behaving you continue to believe in its value or importance, even though it may no longer be valid or useful, e.g. cling to old, inefficient method of doing things)
sucking vigour from its vitality ---- When an old person wants to be young-at-heart by indulging himself in the good old days, he is simply trying to go south by driving the chariot north.
callous ---- unkind or cruel; without sympathy or feeling for other people
It might sound callous, but I don’t care if he’s homeless. He is not living with me.
He is so callous about it all.
contemplative ---- “in quiet withdrawal” ??? Literally the word means ‘considering (a particular thing) for a long time in a serious and quiet way’ (e.g. Her mood is calm and contemplative.)
philanthropic ---- showing generosity towards other people and in a sincere way to help them, esp. by giving money (to poor people)
Few companies offer money purely as a philanthropic gesture ---- they ‘re usually after something in return.
… owing to the length of infancy ---- because of the fact that human being spends much more time bringing up their offspring
impersonal ---- not involving or relating to any particular person; not being influenced by personal feelings
The teacher’s criticism of the class was impersonal.
She mentioned no names in her impersonal criticism of the staff.
(cf. Hospitals always seem such impersonal places ( = a place lacking human warmth and interest ) ---- rows of identical beds in dull gray rooms. She has a very cold and impersonal manner.)
… wisdom born of experience … ---- wisdom as a consequence of long and varied experience; ‘ born of ’ means coming from
He was born of a noble/wealthy family.
Love is born of heart, not mind.
His wish to become a doctor was born of a desire to help sick people.
exercise ---- If you exercise authority, rights, responsibilities, etc. you use them well and effectively
Chinese culture used to exercise considerable influence in western countries.
They have no intention of exercising restraint.
It is a book designed to help you exercise the right to buy your council house.
concern oneself with ---- give one’s attention to something, because you think it is important
The people hope that today’s cadres concern themselves as deeply as Jiao Yulu with the well-being of the masses.
render ---- give; provide (assistance, help)
We’ll not forget those who rendered us help in time of need.
In the young there is a justification for the feeling. ---- It is reasonable and understandable if young people ‘ are oppressed by the fear of death ’. ‘ Justification ’ indicates ‘ a good reason or explanation for doing something ’. e.g.
We all have justification for what we do.
There’s no justification for higher rate interests.
( be ) cheated ( out ) of ---- be unfairly prevented from obtaining or achieving something ( that should belong to one )
He thought that he had been cheated of some of his wages by his employer.
She claimed that her cousin had cheated her out of her inheritance.
The French team feel the weather cheated them of their victory.
whatever work it was in him to do ---- whatever work he had the ability to do.
abject ---- ( of a person or behaviour ) not having any respect for yourself; not proud or brave
an abject coward/beggar
an abject apology/request
This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.
ignoble ---- ( esp. of behabiour ) that you should be ashamed of
an ignoble action/idea
She is accused of playing an ignoble part in the plot.
until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede ---- Until gradually a person becomes one with the universe.
and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life ---- 毛主席也说过要把自己有限的生命投入到无限的为人民服务中去。
An individual human existence should be like a river … ---- In this and the next sentences, both simile and metaphor are adopted. While the former is an explicit comparison between essentially unlike things, introduced by a connective ‘ as ’, ‘ like ’ or ‘ than ’, such as,
My heart is like a singing bird.
I wonder lonely as a cloud.
I’m weaker than a woman’s tear.
the latter is that unlike objects are identified with each other for the purpose of emphasizing one or more aspects of resemblance between them, for instance,
The camel is the ship of the desert.
Life is no more than a walking shadow.
the thought of the rest ---- Here rest is a euphemism for death.
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Translation
From “some old people are oppressed by the fear of death … ” to “… and painlessly lose their individual being”
有些老年人由于害怕死而感到精神沮丧/闷闷不乐。年轻人有这种感觉是情有可原地。担心会在战斗中阵亡的年轻人，想到自己再也无法享受生活所提供的最美好的东西时，理所当然地感到痛苦。但是对于老年人来说，他经历了人生的酸甜苦辣，自己能做的事情都做到了，再怕死就未免有些可鄙和不光彩了。要克服这种怕死的念头，最好的办法——至少在我看来是如此——就是使自己关心更多的事情，关心那些不跟自己直接有关的事情，到后来自我的壁垒就会慢慢消失，个人生活也就越来越和社会生活融合在一起。人生应该就像条河流，开头河身狭小，夹在两岸之间，河水奔腾咆哮，流过巨石，飞下悬崖。后来河面逐渐展宽，两岸离得越来越远，河水也流得比较平缓，最后刘进大海，与海水浑然一体，看不出任何界线，从而结束其单独存在的那段经历，但毫无痛苦之感。
Unit One How to Grow Old
Key to Exercise II
Key to Exercise III
Key to Exercise IV
Key to Exercise V (for reference only)
1. The rich businessman could never forget the day when he parted from his friends and relatives and came to Hong Kong in search of a job.
2. The couple was cheated of the joys of life by having too many children.
3. It is no use complaining; we must do something to solve the problem.
4. I never spoke to that man, still less insulted him.
5. He wondered why the U.S. clung to the practices of the Cold War era.
6. My parents told me to read law on the grounds that it is more useful than literature.
7. He was suddenly cut off by a heart attack.
8. As regards its quality, our country’s primary education can well compare with that of the United States.