How to Grow Old Some old
people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a 1 for this feeling. Yong men who have reason to
fear that they will be killed in a battle may justifiably feel bitter in the
thought that they have been 2 of the
best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys
and sorrows, and has 3 whatever work it
was in him to do, the fear of 4 is
somewhat abject and ignoble. The best way to overcome it-so at least it seems to
me-is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by
bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly 5 in the universal life. An individual human
existence should be like a 6 -small at
first, narrowly contained within its hanks, and rushing passionately past rocks
and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the
waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible 7 , they become merged in the sea, and painlessly
lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this
way, will hot 8 from the fear of death,
since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of 9 , weariness increases, the thought of rest will
not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others
will carry on what I can no 10 do, and
content in the thought that what was possible has been done. A.
cheated B. break C.
justification D. achieved E.
death F. merged G. suffer
H. purpose I. vitality
J. river K. longer
L. professional