NEWS worthy Clips (2/3)

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Living to 100 no longer a medical curiosity

If old age begins when someone looks back instead of forward, James Biggs hasn’t reached that stage of life* yet. The 104-year-old Dallas man wakes up each morning to a regimen of walking, calisthenics* and weight training.

“I don’t think about my age. It’s only a number, ” said the retirement-community resident.

Centenarians like Biggs make up the fastest-growing segment of the population. The number of Americans 100 or older doubles about every 10 years and now stands at 80,000, according to the Census Bureau.

“, ” said Deniel Perry, executive director of the Alliance for Aging Research. “For the first time in human history, it won’t be unusual for someone to hit the century mark*. ”

Anywhere from 1 million to 3 million of the nation’s 76 million baby boomers will celebrate their 100th birthday, analysts predict. For the first time in history, there are enough centenarians for researchers to study as a population.

“We once thought there were no common threads* to aging, but we believe there are indeed explanations for how we age, ” said Dr. Thomas Perls, director of a recent centenarian study. His team’s most surprising finding has been that nine of 10 centenarians were relatively healthy and independent into their early 90s and that .

“We used to think that the older someone gets, the sicker he becomes. But we now know that that the older someone gets, the healthier he’s been,” Perls said.

Biggs, who has avoided the serious illnesses that often come with old age, says he didn’t plan to live this long. “My only advice is to lay off* alcohol, tobacco and wild women. Any can kill you, ” Biggs said. 

Vocabulary Focus

stage of life (n phr)--- a period of development during one’s lifetime

hit the mark (idiom)--- to reach a certain point or level

common thread (n phr)--- shared factor that link various parts of something together

lay off(something)(phr v)--- to stop using or doing something

Specialized terms

calisthenics (n)--- 柔软体操（可达健美效果） a system of simple physical exercises that are done to make the body firm, able to stretch easily and more attractive