阅读理解。
Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them.
Their values-this can't be repeated too often-are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort,
cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time
to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old
person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering(干涉) with personal
freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better
care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying
this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and
safety of the old.
Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical
maintenance(机械维修,保养) as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the
provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however
good the results will be. And at what point should you stop to treat the old body? Is it morally right
to try to push off death by seeking the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to
activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You can't ask doctors or scientists to decide,
because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on
the principle that while there's life, there's hope.
When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy
or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.
1. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The values are different between the old and the young.
B. The moral problems raised by old people.
C. The personal freedom for the old.
D. Old people's viewpoint on life.
2. We can know from the first paragraph that __________.
A. Very old people would like to live alone to have more personal freedom.
B. Very old people are able to keep their room clean.
C. Very old people like to live with their children.
D. Social services have nothing to do with very old people
3. According to the author, which of the following is right?
A. The older a person, the more care he needs.
B. Too much emphasis has been put on old people's values.
C. The human body can't be compared to a car.
D. It is easy to provide spare parts for old people.
4. The underlined word "it" in the last paragraph refers to "_________".
A. their money or their health
B. the conclusion you come to
C. your talk to the old people
D. whether age is happy or unpleasant
