There are classes for the mothers of babies but there’s no helping with your mum and dad growing old.
有为婴儿母亲开设的课程，但没有帮助应对父母老去的资源。

Old people’s wards are hell for old people. Geriatric wards(老年病房) are insane and in chaos. A toothless woman screaming when left alone,a cry that reaches the high hospital ceiling. A woman effi ng and blinding-the polite curtain will not protect her from the indignity of a na ppy change. A woman who lives the same moment in repeat, dressed up for going home in a bright red, over the dressing grown, asking for the key to her house, saying over and over:“Am I going home today?”
老年病房对老年人来说如同地狱。老年病房混乱不堪，一个没有牙齿的女人在独自一人时尖叫，她的哭声穿透了医院的高天花板。一个失明且失聪的女人，即使有礼貌的帘子也无法保护她免受换尿布的羞辱。一个生活在重复时刻的女人，穿着鲜艳的红色衣服，衣服上覆盖着长大，一遍又一遍地询问她家的钥匙，问：“我今天能回家吗？”

And though my mum, by the time she was released, knew that her life was charmed compared with the lives of the world’s refugees. It seems to me as if the plight of old people, while not a horrible as the plight of refugees, shares some of the horror. Just as we live in a society that hasn’t caught up with technology, the kind of moral choices it gives people, we also live in a world that hasn’t kept up with its ageing population. We have the advances in medical science and technology that have kept people alive longer, but not the advances in how to treat our ageing population, Society is lagging behind the old, failing and falling.
尽管我妈妈在出院时知道她的生活与世界上的难民相比是幸运的。但在我看来，老年人的困境，虽然不像难民那样可怕，却也有其恐怖之处。正如我们生活在一个没有跟上技术发展步伐的社会，这种技术给予人们的道德选择，我们也生活在一个没有跟上其老龄化人口步伐的世界。我们有医学和科技的进步让人们活得更久，但没有进步在如何对待我们的老年人口，社会在老年人面前落后，失败，倒下。

There are certain small but piercing similarities between the treatment of the old and the treatment of refugees. The old are often displaced from their homes, moved out against their will;decisions are often made for them that they have no say over. Often, they are treated as fools or halfwits, crowded together in one place, given clothes that don’t belong to them, treated as fallen tribe, incapable of any individuality.
在对待老年人和难民的方式上，有一些微小但尖锐的相似之处。老年人经常被赶出他们的家，违背他们的意愿被搬走；常常有人为他们做出决定，而他们没有发言权。他们经常被当作傻瓜或半智之人对待，被挤在一起，穿上不属于他们的衣服，被视为堕落的部落，无法展现任何个性。

Nobody imagined my mother was a secretary of the Scottish peace movement, a primary teacher,a lifelong socialist, a witty woman. Out of hospital, my 85-year-old mum said:“going into hospital at my age puts years on you. God save from old people’s wards. You never think of yourself as old. You look across the war d and think, am I like that?”
没有人想象到我的母亲是苏格兰和平运动的秘书，一位小学教师，终身社会主义者，一个机智的女人。出院后，我85岁的妈妈说：“在我这样的年龄进医院会让你老去很多年。上帝啊，救我脱离老年病房。你从未想过自己会变老。你看着战争的另一端，想，我会变成那样吗？”

1. The treatment of the old is compared of that of the refugees in order to _.
   A. prove they have a lot in common
   B. show the terrible status of the old
   C. display their similarities and differences
   D. indicate that old people have to leave their home
   答案：B

   1. What can be inferred from the passage?
      A. Refugees lead a better life than old male patients.
      B. Old people are ill-treated due to their loss of individuality.
      C. The author’s mom is capable of teaching and being a socialist.
      D. The treatment of the ageing population doesn’t develop as science advances
      答案：D

   2. The author’s mom felt that life in the hospital _.
      A. made her much older
      B. created her a mature woman
      C. enabled her to look back at life
      D. let her full of gratitude to children
      答案：A

   3. The passage mainly discussed _.
      A. the life of refugees and old people
      B. social responsibility to old women
      C. improper treatment of old people
      D. preparing for ageing parents
      答案：C