2012年12月英语四级阅读备考：全真试题(16)_大学英语阅读

2012年12月英语四级阅读备考：全真试题(16)

　　Henry Metcalf, a 54-year-old journalist, knows it takes money to raise kids. But hes also worried that his energy will give out first. Sure, he can still ride bikes with his athletic fifth grader, but hes learned that young at heart doesnt mean young. Lately hes been taking afternoon naps (午睡)to keep up his energy. My body is aging, says Metcalf. You cant get away from that.

　　Often, older parents hear the ticking of another kind of biological clock. Therapists who work with middle-aged and older parents say fears about aging are nothing to laugh at. They worry theyll be mistaken for grandparents, or that theyll need help getting up out of those little chairs in nursery school, says Joann Galst, a New York psychologist. But at the core of those little fears there is often a much bigger one:that they wont be alive long enough to support and protect their child, she says.

　　Many late-life parents, though, say their children came at just the right time. After marrying late and undergoing years of fertility (受孕)treatment, Marilyn Nolen and her husband. Randy, had twins. We both wanted children, says Marilyn, who was 55 when she gave birth. The twins have given the couple what they desired for years, a sense of family. Kids of older dads are often smarter, happier and more sociable because their fathers are more involved in their lives. The dads are older, more mature, says Dr. Silber, and more ready to focus on parenting.