BEFORE READING
1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article's headline and guess whether these
sentences are true (T) or false (F):
a. The retirement age may soon be extended for university majors. T / F
b. Early retirement may one day be consigned to the history books. T / F
c. We may be hanging up our boots when we are 85 instead of 65. T / F
d. Modern economies are well able to cope with ageing societies. T / F
e. Many people in the developed world could well live beyond 100. T / F
f. Geneticists will lock the key to ageing. T / F
g. Workers dream of spending their nest years with a golden egg. T / F
h. We have doubled human lifespan in the past century. T / F
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
a. consigned extended
b. hanging up our boots abruptly
c. rudely selecting
d. numerous breakthroughs
e. opting verge
f. advances relegated
g. seismic boundaries
h. elongated enormous
i. brink retiring
j. parameters abundant
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes
more than one combination is possible):
a. early retirement might be consigned being able to extend human lifespan
b. we may be hanging up our and realities of work
c. medical advances could increase to the ageing gene
d. rudely reshaping our perceptions to the history books
e. greater numbers of who are opting boots at 85 instead of 65
f. become centenarians because of awakening for many workers
g. unlock the key human longevity dramatically
h. He predicts a rude with a nest-egg
i. spending one's golden years to leave the workforce
j. we are on the brink of advances in medicine
THE ARTICLE
Retirement age may be extended to 85
Workers may soon experience major and unwelcome shifts in the
lengths of their working lives, if an American consultant is to be
believed. The age at which people look forward to early retirement
might be consigned to the history books. Instead, we may be hanging
up our boots at 85 instead of 65. Stanford University biologist Shripad
Tuljapurkar told a science convention in the USA that medical advances
could increase human longevity dramatically over the coming decades,
rudely reshaping our perceptions and realities of work. Tuljapurkar
predicts modern economies will not be able to support their
increasingly numerous retirees, greater numbers of who are opting to
leave the workforce at increasingly younger ages.
Professor Tuljapurkar forecasts that most people living in today's
industrialized societies can expect to become centenarians because of
advances in medicine and genetic science. He believes once geneticists
unlock the key to the ageing gene, society will have to quickly undergo
shifts of seismic magnitude. He predicts a rude awakening for many
workers once they discover their insurance and pension companies
have not catered for elongated life spans. Dreams of spending one's
golden years with a nest egg may have to be put on hold for a decade
or two. "Some people believe we are on the brink of being able to
extend human lifespan significantly...We have doubled human lifespan
in the last century", he said. As a result, accepted societal parameters
will change considerably.