New words and expressions 生词短语

infant ：婴儿(会说点话)

baby ：婴儿(不会说话)

the infant industry ：新兴产业

in its infancy ： 在它的初始阶段

vulnerable ：脆弱的

be vulnerable to...： 受不了...

fragile ：脆弱

barefaced ：厚颜无耻的

defenceless ：脆弱的(不设防的,无保护的)

imperceptible ：感觉不到的

(大多数 p 开头的形容词，反义词加 im)

invisible ：看不到的

indiscernible： 观察不到的

minute ：微小的

subtle ：细微的

steep ：急转直下的（陡峭的）

steep demand ：苛刻的要求

ageing ：老化

aged wine： 陈酿

odds ：可能性

likelihood ：可能性

It’s odds that…

The odds are…

There are odds… ： …有可能

odd : 怪异的 奇数的 剩余的

virtual : 实际的

robust ：强健的 （乐百氏）

muscular ：强壮的

athletic ：壮的

thickset : 粗壮的

Lesson45

At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. It has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her full intelligence; but at this age the likelihood of death is least. Earlier we were infants and young children, and consequently more vulnerable; later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour and resistance which, though imperceptible at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us. This decline in vigour with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and diseases we shall eventually die of old age, and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favour of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer-- on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are.