Extra Challenge Reading Activities (Accompanies Unit 8, Page 94)
Extra Challenge Reading Activities (Accompanies Unit 8, Page 94)
Extra Challenge Reading Activities (Accompanies Unit 8, Page 94)
DATE:
Which paragraph:
Paragraph A
The world is facing a huge demographic shift without precedent. For the first time in history,
we soon will have more elderly people than children, and more extremely old people than ever
before. As the population of older people gets larger and larger, key questions arise: Will aging
be accompanied by a longer period of good health, social engagement, and productivity, or will
it be associated with more illness, disability, and dependency?
Paragraph B
What we do know is that the more elderly people there are in the population, the more
cases of age-related diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer there
will be. Societies will have to find ways to address this growing need. And the older people
get, the higher the prevalence of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease; an estimated
25–30 percent of people aged 85 or older have dementia and lose their ability to remember,
have difficulty reasoning, and undergo some personality changes. Unless new and more
effective ways to treat or prevent Alzheimer’s disease are found, cases are expected to
rise dramatically with the increased aging of the population worldwide. And because most
dementia patients eventually need constant care and help with the most basic activities of
daily living, more institutions will need to be built for their care, more medications provided for
their treatment, and more caregivers trained to aid them in their daily life.
What are some of the other social and economic consequences of this demographic shift?
Even if they don’t have dementia, many of the oldest-old lose their ability to live independently,
and many require some form of long-term care, which can include nursing homes, assisted
living facilities, in-home care, and specialized hospitals.
Paragraph D
The significant costs associated with providing this support may need to be borne by families
and society. And as fewer and fewer adult children are able or want to stay home to care for
older relatives, the shift to institutional care for elders will represent an immense social change,
especially in those cultures where older generations have traditionally lived with younger ones.
And the more residents of developing countries seek jobs in cities or other areas far from
where they grew up, the less access to informal family care their older relatives back home will
have.