Exercise 1 Living for 200 years

The day may come when people will celebrate the start of middle age on their l00th birthday. Some of the world’s most eminent experts on ageing have made predictions about average life expectancy – that is the age that you can hope to live to. Those experts say that by the end of this century in some parts of the world people may live to 200 years of age.

From the late 1800s to the present day, the average life span has almost doubled. Some scientists predict a jump of even greater proportions over the next 100 years, thanks to advances in medical science.

1. How has the average life span changed from the late 1800s to the present day?

Scientists are researching many interesting possibilities at the present time. For example, within the next ten years, they may be able to grow new teeth from stem cells in the laboratory. They are also hoping to develop drugs which can imitate the effects of eating less so that people reduce their calorie intake. This means that people should stay healthier because fewer will be overweight. These scientists are attempting to increase life span by up to 50 per cent. If such changes happen, the world will be dominated by people over 100 years old.

2.  What areas of research are scientists undertaking at the moment? 

At the present time, the longest recorded human lifespan is of a Frenchwoman, Jeanne-Louise Calment, who was born in 1875 and died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. This is, of course, a real exception, but who knows whether it will be so rare in the future?

3. What was unusual about Jeanne-Louise Calment? 

In the last century, cleaner living conditions and the discovery of life-saving medicines led to longer life expectancy. A Professor of Medicine at an American University stated: “People haven’t realised it but with the developments in medical science, we are in a similar position now to increase life expectancy dramatically. At present, as you get older, your cells slowly stop repairing themselves, but with new medical discoveries I think we are going to be able to reverse that process.”

4. What contributed to longer life expectancy in the last century? 

In the last century, cleaner living conditions and the discovery of life-saving medicines led to longer life expectancy. A Professor of Medicine at an American University stated: “People haven’t realised it but with the developments in medical science, we are in a similar position now to increase life expectancy dramatically. At present, as you get older, your cells slowly stop repairing themselves, but with new medical discoveries I think we are going to be able to reverse that process.”

5. What is the effect of ageing on our body cells? 

However, other scientists are less convinced. They believe that the human body has a fixed limit on life span that it will not be possible to exceed. One of this group said: “Living for 200 years is unrealistic. To do that we would have to wipe out things like cancer, heart disease and other major health problems. Despite the huge amount of money being spent on research into these diseases, their complete removal is frustratingly slow.”

6. Why do some scientists believe that the human body has a fixed age limit?

Many scientists, however, are excited by the possibilities of a longer life. One expert said: “How many of us have wanted to do something else with our lives, such as be a novelist, but have not had the time? So much human potential is undiscovered. Perhaps with longer lives, we could start to achieve more of our dreams.”

7. What benefit could we receive from living longer? 

The day may come when people will celebrate the start of middle age on their l00th birthday. Some of the world’s most eminent experts on ageing have made predictions about average life expectancy – that is the age that you can hope to live to. Those experts say that by the end of this century in some parts of the world people may live to 200 years of age.

From the late 1800s to the present day, the average life span has almost doubled. Some scientists predict a jump of even greater proportions over the next 100 years, thanks to advances in medical science.

Scientists are researching many interesting possibilities at the present time. For example, within the next ten years, they may be able to grow new teeth from stem cells in the laboratory. They are also hoping to develop drugs which can imitate the effects of eating less so that people reduce their calorie intake. This means that people should stay healthier because fewer will be overweight. These scientists are attempting to increase life span by up to 50 per cent. If such changes happen, the world will be dominated by people over 100 years old.

8. What exactly are some experts predicting about living longer?

The day may come when people will celebrate the start of middle age on their l00th birthday. Some of the world’s most eminent experts on ageing have made predictions about average life expectancy – that is the age that you can hope to live to. Those experts say that by the end of this century in some parts of the world people may live to 200 years of age.

From the late 1800s to the present day, the average life span has almost doubled. Some scientists predict a jump of even greater proportions over the next 100 years, thanks to advances in medical science.

Scientists are researching many interesting possibilities at the present time. For example, within the next ten years, they may be able to grow new teeth from stem cells in the laboratory. They are also hoping to develop drugs which can imitate the effects of eating less so that people reduce their calorie intake. This means that people should stay healthier because fewer will be overweight. These scientists are attempting to increase life span by up to 50 per cent. If such changes happen, the world will be dominated by people over 100 years old.

9. How is a change in eating habits important in achieving this?

Effects of changes in eating habits