Yesterday evening I was watching the evening news on TV. The news
was about a prize for scientific discoveries. The 31 said something that caught my 32 . “All great discoveries,” he
said, “are made by people between the ages of 25 and 30.” Being a little over
30 myself, I wanted to 33 with him. Nobody wants to think that he
has passed the age of making any 34 . The next day I went to the
public library, spending several hours, and 35 to find the ages of famous people and
their discoveries. The announcer was right!
First, I looked at some of the 36 discoveries. One of the earliest, the
famous one that 37 that bodies of different weights 38 at the same speed, was made by Galileo
when he was 26. Madam Curie started her research that led to a Nobel Prize when
she was 28. Einstein was 26 when he 39 his world-changing Theory of Relativity.
Well, 40 of that. Yet I wondered if those “best
years” were true in other 41 .
Then how about this in 42 ? Surely it needs the wisdom of 43 to make a good leader. Perhaps it does,
but look when these people 44 their careers. Winston Churchill was
elected to the House of Commons at the age of 26. Abraham Lincoln 45 the life of a country lawyer and was
elected to the government at what age? Twenty-six!
But why don’t best years come after 30? After 30, I 46 , most people don’t want to take
risks or try new ways. Then I thought of people 47 Shakespeare and Picasso. The 48 was writing wonderful 49 at the late age of 50, 50 the latter was still trying new ways of
painting when he was 90!
Perhaps there is still hope for me.
31. A. announcer B. conductor C.
speaker D.
hostess
32. A. mind B.
care C.
attention D.
surprise
33. A. disagree B.
talk C.
meet D.
advise
34. A. chance B.
discovery C.
research D.
fortune
35. A. happened B. wanted C.
succeeded D.
managed
36. A. last B.
scientific C.
oldest D.
modern
37. A. found B.
proved C.
doubted D.
showed
38. A. disappear B. move C.
drop D.
fall
39. A. invented B.
improved C.
published D.
made
40. A. plenty B.
enough C.
much D.
all
41. A. fields B. science C.
courses D.
ages
42. A. election B.
politics C.
leaders D.
society
43. A. age B.
brain C.
living D.
leadership
44. A. finished B.
won C.
started D.
defeated
45. A. led B.
devoted C.
began D.
gave up
46. A. guess B.
know C.
believe D.
agree
47. A. as B.
to be C.
like D.
about
48. A. first B.
writer C.
poet D.
former
49. A. painting B.
idioms C.
fiction D.
works
50. A. when B.
while C.
who D.
after