When Josephine Cooper was growing up, she learned the importance of charity from her parents．Although they made a modest living for their family of 10, they insisted on sharing with those less fortunate．
Half a century later, Mrs．Cooper became a beloved volunteer at the San Diego Food Bank, where she devoted herself to helping others．She organized and ran a distribution center from a church, helping it become the organization's largest emergency food distribution center in San Diego．She was one of 25 outstanding senior volunteers in the nation selected and invited to Washington D．C．to receive the award．
“She was the main person who helped us make that program grow,” said Mike Doody, former director of the Food Bank．“She had a way of getting people to work together and to work hard．She was determined and stubborn, but in a good way．She had a good heart．” People knew her as “Grandma” because of her selflessness and her devotion to helping hungry children and families．“She reminded people of their Grandma．” Doody said．
As a widow with a young child in 1979, Mrs．Cooper was helped through a difficult financial time when the Food Bank provided her with groceries．“She dedicated her life to giving back,” said her daughter, Monica Cooper．“She loved life, and she loved people．She was very outgoing, caring and very concerned about our community．”
Cooper said it wasn't unusual for a local church to call Mrs．Cooper to ask her to aid a needy family．“She would give people food out of her cupboard．Sometimes we would cook a meal for a family living out of their car,” Cooper said．
Although Mrs．Cooper was honored to receive the national award for her volunteer work, she said being able to help others was her reward．Mrs．Cooper was confined to a wheelchair in recent years．She died of liver disease and kidney failure this year, aged 93．
(1)
The underlined word “charity” in Paragraph 1 refers to ________．
[ ]
A．
offering help
B．
donating money
C．
providing services
D．
showing sympathy
(2)
The San Diego Food Bank is meant to ________．
[ ]
A．
distribute food in case of emergency
B．
help hungry children and families
C．
give basic first-aid treatment
D．
train some senior volunteers
(3)
From what Monica Cooper said, we know that ________．
She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121st birthday．
Whe n it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world’s recordholder．She lived to the ripe old age of 122．So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span(寿命)?If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150－or beyond?
Researchers don’t entirely agree on the answers．“Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135,”says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas．
Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees．“People can live much longer than we think,”he says．“Experts used to say that humans couldn’t live past 110．When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120．So why can’t we go higher?”
The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it’s all just guessing．“Anyone can make up a number,”says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan．“Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine．”
Won’t new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries?Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120．Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most．So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller,“adding another 50 percent would get you to 120．”
So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers?That life span is flexible(有弹性的)，but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington．“We can get flies to live 50 percent longer,”he says．“But a fly’s never going to live 150 years．”
“Of course, if you became a new species(物种)，one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story,”he adds．
Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve(进化)their way to longer life?“It’s pretty cool to think about it,”he says with a smile．
(1)
What does the story of Jeanne Calment prove to us?
[ ]
A．
People can live to 122．
B．
Old people are creative．
C．
Women are sporty at 85．
D．
Women live longer than men．
(2)
According to Steve Austad at the University of Texas, ________．
[ ]
A．
the average human life span could be 110
B．
scientists cannot find ways to slow aging
C．
few people can expect to live to over 150
D．
researchers are not sure how long people can live
(3)
Who would agree that a scientist will become famous if he makes the wildest guess at longevity?
[ ]
A．
Jerry Shay．
B．
Steve Austad
C．
Rich Miller
D．
George Martin
(4)
What can we infer from the last three paragraphs?
[ ]
A．
Most of us could be good at sports even at 120．
B．
The average human life span cannot be doubled．
C．
Scientists believe mice are aging at a slower speed than before．
D．
New techniques could be used to change flies into a new species．
津桥教育计算小状元系列答案