More than a third of the babies born this year could receive a 100th birthday message from whoever happens to be on the throne in the second decade of the 22nd century, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It forecasts that 35% of the 826,000 people born in 2012 will live to become
centenarians.
But a long life is not unalloyed good news. David Sinclair, head of policy and research at the International Longevity Centre UK, warned that for many the future may mean social isolation(隔离）as they live longer than friends and members of their families.
"It is of course good news that so many more people are living longer," he said, "but there is a big 'but
1. We will be older, but in worse health, and at high risk of living alone. The other problem is that we are very poor at forward planning. We deal with the problems that are under our noses, but even problems two or three years away seem quite distant enough to put off.When you're talking about forecasts for a time half a century away and more, I see no evidence that we are putting in place the measures to deal with it."
This year there will be 14,500 centenarians in the UK, a number which is expected to increase to 110,000 in 2035.
Women have higher life expectancies than men at every age: the likelihood of a girl born this year reaching her century is estimated to be 39%; for boys the figure is 32%.
The estimated number of female centenarians has risen from 500 in 1961 to more than 10,000 in 2010，a figure which is projected to reach 71,000 by 2035 and 276,000 by 2060.
Men are also living far longer, although their numbers are far fewer. There were an estimated 92 male centenarians in 1961 and just below 2,000 in 2010.
小题1:The underlined word centenarians probably means people who_____.
| A．are born this year | B．live longer than their friends |
| C．are in poor health | D．are a hundred or more years old |
小题2:From what David Sinclair said, we can learn_____.
| A．he doesn't believe so many people are living longer |
| B．the older we are, the more likely we are to live alone and in poor health |
| C．the people who are good at forward planning are likely to live longer |
| D．too distant planning is not always necessary for most of us |
小题3:Which of the following statement is true?
| A．About 289，100 people born in 2012 will live to 100. |
| B．More men will reach their century than women in the future. |
| C．The number of the female centenarians was 1,000 in 1970s |
| D．More than 600 people reached their century in 1961. |
小题4:What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．A long life is not always good news. |
| B．A long life also means social and physical isolation |
| C．In the future, more people will live to 100 in the UK. |
| D．It is good to live to 100. |