I’ve taken the title for this column—“To Grow in Wisdom”—from Rahbi Heschel’s address to the first White House Conference on Aging in January 1961. Heschel understood that older people needed spiritual security as well as social security. He saw all too clearly that mid-twentieth-century American culture emphasized precisely those values that deprived aging of dignity and meaning.
Two things in particular troubled Heschel: the fear of aging that he saw all around him; and the trivialization of life he sensed among people who were no longer working. Heschel traced fear of aging and the trivialization of leisure to the same source: a capitalist culture which turned the individual into a “machine for the making and spending of money”. The moment the machine is out of order and beyond repair, one begins to feel like a ghost without a sense of reality.
Aging, in other words, was equivalent to breaking down and being cast aside as good for nothing. And retirement encouraged people to live a pickled existence. Their days revolved around recreation and entertainment—a developmental dead-end, lacking in social or spiritual significance. Heschel argued that authentic existence requires work and celebration, ritual and prayer, and an appreciation of the nature of time. Preoccupied with producing and consuming things, Americans lacked the cultural resources to understand and sanctify time. Time, Hesehel wrote, is the dimension wherein we become aware “that every instant is an act of creation, a beginning, opening up roads for ultimate realization”.
Forty years after Heschel’s address to the first White House Conference on Aging, there are many encouraging signs. My own sense is that our culture is developing new ways to articulate and encourage what we might call the moral and spiritual work of aging. The explosion of life-story writing groups among elders all over the country is a sign that individuals and communities are wrestling with questions of meaning and identity. My own experience in leading such groups is that they are a powerful stimulus to spiritual growth, to community building, and to the preservation and transmission of historical memories and values.
To put it bluntly, “aging” is no longer culturally correct. If you want to appreciate this, try selling products or raising money for programs which use the word “aging”. In popular culture, linguistic and visual references to bodily decline are being quietly deleted.
1. Rahbi Heschel’s attitude to the values of mid-twentieth-century American is ____.
2. In Heschael’s opinion, the evaluation of old people in America is ____.
3. It seems that ____.
4. If Heschel saw the state of the old people issue at present, he would ____.
5. Which of the following is NOT the viewpoint of Heschel from his address 40 years ago?
问题1选项
A.positive
B.critical
C.neutral
D.indignant
问题2选项
A.snobbish
B.objective
C.cursory
D.conservative
问题3选项
A.it is sensible for old people to live on recreation
B.Americans make full use of time on production
C.the current retired life loses basic values
D.the elderly learn little about the value of time
问题4选项
A.feel disappointed
B.be against the system of America strongly
C.be gratified
D.take back what he said
问题5选项
A.Many people can’t face up to aging.
B.Retired people are wasting their lives.
C.In America, a person is only a machine.
D.The aging topic should be out of popular culture.
第1题:B
第2题:A
第3题:C
第4题:C
第5题:D
第1题:
【选项释义】
Rahbi Heschel’s attitude to the values of mid-twentieth-century American is ____. Rahbi Heschel对二十世纪中期美国价值观的态度是____。
A. positive A. 积极的
B. critical B. 批判的
C. neutral C. 中立的
D. indignant D. 愤慨的
【考查点】观点态度题
【解题思路】第一段最后一句讲“他（Rahbi Heschel）非常清楚地看到，二十世纪中期的美国文化恰恰强调了那些剥夺衰老尊严和意义的价值观（deprived aging of dignity and meaning）。”而根据第二、三段的内容可知，Heschel抨击了资本主义文化将个人视为赚钱和花钱的机器，以及社会上普遍存在的对老龄化的恐惧和那些不再工作的人的生活琐碎感兴趣。由此可知，Rahbi Heschel是反对这种价值观的，认为这种文化剥夺了老年人的尊严和意义，故B选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“积极的”如果Heschel的态度是正面的，他会对美国二十世纪中期的文化价值观表示赞同或满意，但文章明确指出他认为这些价值观剥夺了老年人的尊严和意义，属于反向干扰；
C选项“中立的”若Heschel持中立态度，文章会表现出他对文化价值观没有明显的倾向性，但他的论述明显带有批评和担忧的色彩，属于曲解原文；
D选项“愤慨的”虽然Heschel可能对某些现象感到不满，但文章更多是在分析并提出批评，而不是表达愤怒。他的措辞更偏向于学术和理性的批评，而非情绪化的愤怒，属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
In Heschel’s opinion, the evaluation of old people in America is ____. 在Heschel看来，美国人对老年人的评价是____。
A. snobbish A. 势利眼的
B. objective B. 客观的
C. cursory C. 粗略的，草率的
D. conservative D. 保守的
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】第二段提到“资本主义文化把个人变成了‘赚钱和花钱的机器’（turned the individual into a ‘machine for the making and spending of money’）。一旦机器出了故障，无法修复，人就会开始觉得自己像个没有现实感的鬼魂。”第三段第一句也提到“换句话说，衰老等同于身体垮掉，被当作一无是处的东西抛弃（Aging, in other words, was equivalent to breaking down and being cast aside as good for nothing.）。”结合这些描述，我们可以明显看出，这里对老年人的评价是带有偏见和鄙视的，故A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项均不符合原文内容的表述，属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
It seems that ____. 看来____。
A. it is sensible for old people to live on recreation A. 老年人靠娱乐生活似乎是明智的
B. Americans make full use of time on production B. 美国人充分利用时间从事生产
C. the current retired life loses basic values C. 现在的退休生活似乎失去了基本的价值
D. the elderly learn little about the value of time D. 老年人对时间的价值知之甚少
【考查点】细节事实题
【解题思路】第三段第二、三句讲“退休鼓励人们过一种醉醺醺的生活（live a pickled existence）。他们的生活围绕着娱乐和娱乐——这是一个发展的死胡同，缺乏社会或精神意义（a developmental dead-end, lacking in social or spiritual significance）。”句中“lacking in social or spiritual significance”与“loses basic values”属于同义替换，故C选项符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“老年人靠娱乐生活似乎是明智的”与原文相矛盾，Heschel认为老人的生活被简化成了娱乐和消遣，失去了发展的可能性和社会或精神的重要性，属于曲解原文；
B选项“美国人充分利用时间从事生产”尽管文章提到美国的生产消费模式，但文章并没有提到美国人如何充分利用时间进行生产，属于无中生有；
D选项“老年人对时间的价值知之甚少”文章所表达的并不是老年人对时间价值的理解不足，而是说在资本主义文化的影响下，人们过度重视生产和消费，缺乏对时间的理解和敬重，属于曲解原文。
第4题:
【选项释义】
If Heschel saw the state of the old people issue at present, he would ____. 如果Heschel看到目前老年人问题的状态，他会____。
A. feel disappointed A. 感到失望
B. be against the system of America strongly B. 强烈反对美国的制度
C. be gratified C. 感到欣慰
D. take back what he said D. 收回他所说的话
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】文章第一段首先指出，Heschel在1961年的演讲中对美国二十世纪中期的文化对老年人的评价提出了批判；然后第四段提到“在Heschel在第一届白宫老龄问题会议上发表讲话四十年后，出现了许多令人鼓舞的迹象（there are many encouraging signs.）。我自己的感觉是，我们的文化正在发展新的方式来表达和鼓励我们所谓的道德和精神上的衰老工作（our culture is developing new ways to articulate and encourage what we might call the moral and spiritual work of aging.）。在全国各地的老年人中，生活故事写作小组的爆炸式增长表明，个人和社区都在努力解决意义和身份的问题（individuals and communities are wrestling with questions of meaning and identity.）。”由此可知，如果Heschel看到当前老年人问题的状态，他可能会感到满意，因为文化似乎正在向更加尊重老年人的方向发展，因此C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“感到失望”根据以上分析可知，该选项与文章内容不符，属于曲解原文；
B选项“强烈反对美国的制度”文章没有提到美国制度出现了Heschel会强烈反对的新问题，属于无中生有；
D选项“收回他所说的话”文章中没有提到Heschel会收回他的话。相反，文章暗示他的观点可能在一定程度上促进了文化的改变，属于曲解原文。
第5题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is NOT the viewpoint of Heschel from his address 40 years ago? 以下哪项不是Heschel四十年前演讲中的观点？
A. Many people can’t face up to aging. A. 许多人无法面对衰老。
B. Retired people are wasting their lives. B. 退休的人在浪费生命。
C. In America, a person is only a machine. C. 在美国，人只是一台机器。
D. The aging topic should be out of popular culture. D. 老龄化话题应该退出大众文化。
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】文章的最后一段提到，“老龄化”在流行文化中不再是正确的用词（“aging” is no longer culturally correct.），以及在流行文化中，有关身体衰退的语言和视觉暗示正在悄然被删除（In popular culture, linguistic and visual references to bodily decline are being quietly deleted.）。但这并不意味着Heschel认为应该从流行文化中完全删除关于老龄化的话题。实际上，文章强调的是文化在改变对老年人的看法，而不是完全避免讨论这个话题。因此，D选项与Heschel的观点不符。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“许多人无法面对衰老”定位到第二段第一句“有两件事特别困扰着Heschel：他周围的人都害怕衰老”，属于答非所问；
B选项“退休的人在浪费生命”定位到第三段“退休鼓励人们过一种醉醺醺的生活。他们的生活围绕着娱乐和娱乐——这是一个发展的死胡同，缺乏社会或精神意义。”这表明他认为退休人士在生活中浪费了他们的潜力，属于答非所问；
C选项“在美国，人只是一台机器”定位到第二段“资本主义文化把个人变成了‘赚钱和花钱的机器’（turned the individual into a ‘machine for the making and spending of money’）。一旦机器出了故障，无法修复，人就会开始觉得自己像个没有现实感的鬼魂。”这表明他认为在美国文化中，人仅仅被视为机器，属于答非所问。
