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  3. If Hillary Clinton made her widely anticipated bid for the presidency, would her age become a legitimate issue? Skeptics hav

If Hillary Clinton made her widely anticipated bid for the presidency, would her age become a legitimate issue? Skeptics hav

admin2015-03-28  14
问题     If Hillary Clinton made her widely anticipated bid for the presidency, would her age become a legitimate issue?
    Skeptics have already taken to the Internet to raise their concerns. If Clinton won election in 2016, at age 69, she would be just months younger than our oldest president, Ronald Reagan, when he was elected in 1980. Only one other candidate in 225 years (William Henry Harrison) moved into the White House past age 65, and his health proved so fragile that he contracted pneumonia (肺炎) on inauguration day in 1841 and died a month later. In fact, about half of the 43 men who have held the nation’s top office withered and died well before even reaching Hillary’s 2016 Election Day age.
    The last half-century of presidential history served to shield the American people from such brutal truths about presidential mortality. The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, a defining event for Clinton and her fellow Baby Boomers, marked the last time a chief executive died in office. But before that bloody day in Dallas, during a sad span of 122 years, sitting presidents perished with revolting regularity.
    Harrison died four weeks into his term in 1841, and Zachary Taylor succumbed to mysterious digestive ailments nine years later. Assassins killed Abraham Lincoln in 1865, James Garfield in 1881 and William McKinley in 1901. Circulatory problems claimed Warren Harding in 1923, and a cerebral hemorrhage (脑出血)  dispatched Franklin Roosevelt in 1945. All these disasters struck presidents younger than Hillary would be on her first day in office. But a balanced response to concerns over Clinton’s age reveals recent, relevant changes in presidential life spans that should reassure the former first lady and her supporters.
    No president since Lyndon Johnson has died before age 81, and four of the six longest-lived presidents (Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter) have held the office since 1974. This reflects the increase in life expectancy for all of us. In 1963, life expectancy stood at 69 years, but now we can anticipate survival to 79 — a gift of 10 extra years.
    Another factor working in Hillary’s favor: Women live longer than men by five years (sorry, Bill). This means that a typical woman born in 1947 (as was Hillary) can expect to live an average of 20 more years after today — enough to cover not only the two terms as president that her fans desire, but an additional ten years as U.N. secretary-general, chief justice of the Supreme Court or president of Yale.
    None of this means that a person of Clinton’s age won’t face significant health risks under the unimaginable pressures of presidential service. Like any other candidate, she must release records detailing every aspect of her personal medical history. When her husband, Bill, first ran for president at age 46, he could get away with providing only selective access to his medical records. Hillary, at age 69, should set a different standard.
All of the following are favorable factors for Hillary Clinton, expect______.
选项 A、The fact that John F. Kennedy was the last president died in office.
B、The extended life expectancy for people nowadays.
C、The fact that women generally live a longer life than men.
D、William Henry Harrison’s death during his time in office.
答案D
解析 本文分析了“希拉里69岁高龄当选总统是否合适”的有利和不利因素。第2段指出威廉.亨利.哈里森也是在65岁以后入主白宫，他的身体很虚弱，在就职当天就染上了肺炎，一个月后去世。这对希拉里69岁就职是不利的因素，故正确答案为D)。第3段分析过去半个世纪美国总统死亡率很低，指出肯尼迪的遇刺，标志着美国总统在任期内殉职的终结。这显然是对希拉里竞选的有利因素，故不选A)。第5段分析了如今人们的寿命普遍延长了，这显然是对希拉里竞选的有利因素，故不选B)。第6段指出女性通常比男性寿命长5年，这显然也是对希拉里竞选的有利因素，故不选C)。
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