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  3. The 20th century witnessed two profound changes in regions of the world where people are well educated and science and technolog

The 20th century witnessed two profound changes in regions of the world where people are well educated and science and technolog

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问题     The 20th century witnessed two profound changes in regions of the world where people are well educated and science and technology flourish: Life expectancy nearly doubled, and fertility rates fell dramatically. As a result, individuals and populations are aging.
    Virtually all educated people are aware of the graying of the United States, yet relatively few are as aware of its implications for science, technology, and human culture. Longer life is a remarkable achievement, but now we need to apply what we are learning in the natural and social sciences to redesign human culture to accommodate long lives. We need to find cures for Alzheimer’s disease and arthritis, develop technologies that render many age-related frailties such as poor balance invisible in the way eyeglasses now compensate for presbyopia, and begin seriously rethinking cultural norms, such as the timing of education and retirement.
    Longevity is the largely unexpected consequence of improvements in general living conditions. Genetically speaking, we are no smarter or heartier than our relatives were 10, 000 years ago. Nonetheless, in practical terms we are more biologically fit than our great-grandparents. Robert Fogel and his colleague Dora Costa coined the term " technophysio evolution" to refer to improvements in biological functioning that are a consequence of technological advances. They point out that technologies developed mostly in the past century vastly improved the quality and sustainability of the food supply. Subsequent improvements in nutrition were so dramatic that average body size increased by 50% and life expectancy doubled. The working capacity of vital organs greatly improved. Breakthroughs in manufacturing, transportation, energy production, and communications contributed further to improvements in biological functioning. Medical technology now enables full recovery from accidents or illnesses that were previously fatal or disabling.
    Remember, however, that advances of the 20th century did not aim to increase longevity or alleviate the disabling conditions of later life. Longer life was the byproduct of better conditions for the young. The challenge today is to build a world that is just as responsive to the needs of very old people as to the very young. The solutions must come from science and technology. Unlike evolution by natural selection, which operates across millennia, improvements in functioning due to technological advances can occur in a matter of years. In fact, given that the first of the 77 million Baby Boomers turned 60 in 2006, there is no time to waste. To the extent that we effectively use science and technology to compensate for human frailties at advanced ages, the conversation under way in the nation changes from one about old age to one about long life, and this is a far more interesting and more productive conversation to have.  
The author proposes that we should______.
选项 A、spare no efforts to increase life expectancy
B、be aware of the rapid graying of our society
C、apply science and technology in everyday life
D、try our best to improve the lives of old people
答案D
解析 根据第四段中的“The challenge today is to build a world that is just as responsive to the needsof very old people as to the very young”，以及最后一句“…the conversation…changes from…toone about long life，and this is a far…more productive conversation to have”，D应为答案。
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