5. I Dread the End of the Year
我惧怕岁末年尾

单词与词组   Words and phrases
dread                            //                         v.        惧怕
psychologist                     //                n.    心理学家
fogy                                   //                        n.          守旧者
Goethe                           //                        n.          歌德(诗人)
immense                    //                        a.          无边的

根据朗读标记，听录音跟读，然后背诵。
        "I dread to come to the end︵ of the year,said︵ a friend to me recently, "it makes me realize▼  I am growing old.”
        William James, the great psychologist, said that most men are "old fogies︵ at twenty-fiveHe was right. Most men︵ at twenty-five▼  are satisfied with their jobs. They have︵ accumulated the little stock︵ of prejudices▼  that they call their "Principles, " and closed their minds to all new ideas; they have ceased to grow.
        The minute▼ a man ceases to grow-no matter what his years-that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old.
        Goethe passed︵ out at eighty-three, and finished his Faust ▼ only a few years︵ earlier; Gladstone took︵ up︵ a new language▼ when he was seventy. Laplace,↗ the astronomer,↗ was still ︵at work▼  when death caught︵ up with him▼  at seventy-eight. He died crying, "What we know is nothing; what we do not know is︵ immense."
        And there you have the real answer to the question, "When ︵is︵ a man old?↘"
        Laplace at seventy-eight died young. He was still︵ unsatisfied, still sure that he had︵ a lot to learn.
        As long︵ as︵ a man can keep himself︵ in that attitude ︵of mind,↗ as long︵ as he can look back︵ on every year▼  and say , "I grew," he is still young.
        The minute he ceases to grow, the minute he says to himself, "I know all that︵ I need to know,"--that day youth stops. He may be twenty-five︵ or seventy-five, it makes no difference. On that day▼ he begins to be old.

背诵小贴士  Recitation tips
        这篇文章是典型的摆事实，讲道理的结构，作者从几个方面反复论证一个道理：The minute a man ceases to grow-no matter what his years-that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old. 前两段不背也罢，后面的把几个事例记住就好了。

参考译文
我惧怕岁末年尾
        “我惧怕临近岁末年尾”，一位朋友最近对我说：“它使我意识到我正在变老。”
        伟大的心理学家威廉•詹姆斯就曾说过，大多数人“25岁时就成了守旧落伍者”。他的话是对的。大多数人25岁时就满足于他们的工作。他们已经积累了一些他们称之为“原则”的偏见，对所有新的思想关闭心灵之门；他们已经停止成长。
        一个人一旦停止成长--不管他年龄多大--他就开始衰老。反之，真正的伟人从来不会衰老。
        歌德享年83岁，逝世前几年才完成《浮士德》；格莱斯顿70岁时又开始学习一门外国语；法国天文学家拉普拉斯78岁死时还在工作着。临死前，他大声喊道：“我们所知的太少太少，我们所不知的太多太多。”
        “一个人何时变老？”，从这类事例中对这个问题你已经有了真正的答案。
        拉普拉斯78岁逝世时依然年轻。他依旧不满足，依旧感到许多东西要学。
        一个人，只要他能够保持这种心态，只要他在回首过去的一年时能够说“我在成长”，他就依然年轻。
        他一旦停止成长，他一旦对自己说“我该懂的都懂了”，这个时候他的青春也就完了。他可能在25岁时死去，也可能在75岁时死去，这都没有区别。就在那一天，他开始变老。