英语四级真题-长篇阅读精讲-2019.6第一套

How Work Will ChangeWhen Most of Us Live to 100

A)Today in the United States there are 72,000centenarians（百岁老人）.Worldwide,Probably 450,000. If current trends continue, then by 2050 there will be morethan a million in the US alone. According to the work of Professor James Vaupeland his co-researchers, 50% of babies born in the US in 2007 have a lifeexpectancy of 104 or more. Broadly the same holds for the UK, Germany, France,Italy and Canada, and for Japan 50% of 2007 babies can expect to live to 107.

B)Understandably, there are concerns about what this means for public financesgiven the associated health and pension challenges. These challenges are real,and society urgently needs to address them. But it is also important to look atthe wider picture of what happens when so many people live for 100 years. It isa mistake to simply equatelongevity(长寿) with issues of oldage. Longer lives have implications for all of life, not just the end of it.

C)Our view is that if many people are living for longer, and are healthier forlonger, then this will result in an inevitable redesign of work and life. Whenpeople live longer, they are not only older for longer, but also younger forlonger. There is some truth in the saying that “70 is the new 60” or “40 thenew 30.” If you age more slowly over a longer time period, then you are in somesense younger for longer.

D)But the changes go further than that. Take, for instance, the age at whichpeople make commitments such as buying a house, getting married, havingchildren, or starting a career. These are all fundamental commitments that arenow occurring later in life. In 1962, 50% of Americans were married by age 21.By 2014, thatmilestone(里程碑)had shifted to age29.

E)While there are numerous factors behind these shifts, one factor is surely agrowing realization for the young that they are going to live longer. Optionsare more valuable the longer they can be held. So if you believe you will livelonger, then options become more valuable, and early commitment becomes lessattractive. The result is that the commitments that previously characterizedthe beginning of adulthood are now being delayed, and new patterns of behaviorand a new stage of life are emerging for those in their twenties.

F)Longevity also pushes back the age of retirement, and not only for financialreasons. Yes, unless people are prepared to save a lot more, our calculationssuggest that if you are now in your mid-40s, then you are likely to work untilyour early 70s; and if you are in your early 20s, there is a real chance youwill need to work until your late 70s or possibly even into your 80s. But evenif people are able to economically support a retirement at 65, over thirtyyears of potential inactivity is harmful tocognitive(认知的)and emotional vitality. Many people may simply not want to do it.

G)And yet that does not mean that simply extending our careers is appealing. Justlengthening that second stage of full-time work may secure the financial assetsneeded for a 100-year life, but such persistent work will inevitably exhaustprecious intangible assets such as productive skills, vitality, happiness, andfriendship.

H)The same is true for education. It is impossible that a single shot ofeducation, administered in childhood and early adulthood, will be able tosupport a sustained, 60-year career. If you factor in the projected rates oftechnological change, either your skills will become unnecessary, or yourindustry outdated. That means that everyone will, at some point in their life,have to make a number of major reinvestments in their skills.

I)It seems likely, then, that the traditional three-stage life will evolve intomultiple stages containing two, three, or oven more different careers. Each ofthese stages could potentially be different. In one the focus could be onbuilding financial success and personal achievement, in another on creating abetter work/life balance, still another on exploring and understanding optionsmore fully, or becoming an independent producer, yet another on making a socialcontribution. These stages will span sectors, take people to different cities,and provide foundation for building a wide variety of skills.

J)Transitions between stages could be marked withsabbaticals(休假)as people find time to rest and recharge their health, re-invest in theirrelationships, or improve their skills. At times, these breaks and transitionswill be self-determined, at others they will be forced as existing roles,firms, or industries cease to exist.

K）Amulti-stage life will have profound changes not just in how you manage yourcareer, but also in your approach to life. An increasingly important skill willbe your ability to deal with change and even welcome it. A three-stage life hasfew transitions, while a multi-stage life has many. That is why beingself-aware, investing in broader networks of friends, and being open to newideas will become even more crucial skills.

L）Thesemulti-stage lives will create extraordinary variety across groups of people simplybecause there are so many ways of sequencing the stages. More stages mean morepossible sequences.

M）Withthis variety will come the end of the close association of age and stage. I n athree-stage life, people leave university at the same time and the same age,they tend to start their careers and family at the same age, they proceedthrough middle management all roughly the same time, and then move intoretirement within a few years of each other. In a multi-stage life, you couldbe an undergraduate at 20, 40, or 60; a manager at 30, 50, or 70; and become anindependent producer at any age.

N）Currentlife structures, career paths, educational choices, and social norms are out oftune with the emerging reality of longer lifespans. The three-stage life offull-time education, followed by continuous work, and then complete retirementmay have worked for our parents or even grandparents, but it is not relevanttoday. We believe that to focus on longevity as primarily an issue of aging isto miss its full implications. Longevity is not necessarily about being olderfor longer. It is about living longer, being older later, and being youngerlonger.

36. An extended lifespan in thefuture will allow people to have more careers than now.

37. Just extending one’s careermay have both positive and negative effects.

38. Nowadays, many Americans haveon average delayed their marriage by some eight years.

39.Because of their longer lifespan, young people today no longer follow thepattern of life of their parents or grandparents.

40. Many more people will beexpected to live over 100 by the mid-21st century.

41. A longer life will causeradical changes in people’s approach to life.

42. Fast technological changemakes it necessary for one to constantly upgrade their skills.

43. Many people may not want toretire early because it would do harm to their mental and emotional well-being.

44. The close link between ageand stage may cease to exist in a multi-stage life.

45. People living a longer andhealthier life will have to rearrange their work and life.