Do the old people in the United States like to live alone? No doubt some of them do. 1 at least some of them 2 living alone to the changes and 3 that living with others needs. Independence is, 4 , the chief and most honored 5 in this country. The ideal, deeply rooted in us early, 6 even when we can, quite 7 , no longer “stand on our own feet.” When our 8 parents’ need for help grows too obvious to 9 , we say they are beginning to “fail.” Losing one’s independence is, for Americans, a 10 thing. And needing help, we know, 11 in our potential helpers pity, 12 and fear.
We are all, through our lives, a 13 to others. From the moment of 14, we are nourished and nurtured by others. As adults we learn to pay for or negotiate our 15 needs, but the fact 16 that it takes an 17 army of other people to grow our food, clean our clothes, maintain our roads, fuel our furnaces. When we marry, we accept another’s 18 to stick with us in sickness and health, 19 and poverty. The load we lay on others only becomes visible, less 20 , as we age.
1. A] But B] Or C] So D] Besides
2. A] favor B] appreciate C] like D] prefer
3. [A] failures [B] compromises [C] fashions [D] balances
4. [A] after all [B] above all [C] at all [D] in all
5. [A] manner [B] custom [C] habit [D] virtue
6. [A] maintains [B] persists [C] insists [D] retains
7. [A] virtually [B] usually [C] basically [D] literally
8. [A] late [B] aging [C] maturing [D] younger
9. [A] emphasize [B] meet [C] cater [D] ignore
10. [A] shameful [B] pity [C] ashamed [D] shame
11. [A] build [B] act [C] transform [D] evoke