王强口语 第二册 Read Text 016

（单词翻译）

　　口语部分
文化篇
Read the text carefully and be prepared to answer the question:
Old Age Crisis¹
Old people nowadays don't live with their adult children if they can afford some other option.  Those who do live with other family members are usually poor or recent immigrants² who still have old world ideas.
The "problem of old age in America" is a big concern these days.  The sheer³ number of old people in the country, and the way this number will mushroom in the next twenty years, is one part of the problem.  Another part is that, with people living longer in general, you wind up with seniors in their 60's taking care of their even older parents who are in their 80's.  Modern medicine can prolong⁴ people's lives, but there is no guarantee that those lives will be healthy or active.  The majority of medical resources in this country are spent on people who are in their last years of life.  Most Americans die in hospitals under the care of doctors and nurses who spare no expense trying to keep them alive.