活到老，学到老

The thought of undertaking a doctorate first came to Peter in 1997， when he retired from a satisfying business career at 57. Peter’d always enjoyed learning， so it made sense to do further study. By 2000， Peter’d worked up the courage to enroll in selected finance and economic subjects， completing five of the university subjects across the next few years. He had to do them as prerequisites to starting a PhD.

Being back at university in 2000 was different. Peter had never even heard of a computer when he did his MBA in 1977. Yet suddenly he was expected to program to complete his statistics degree. It was terrible but Peter made it.

All of his studying was cast aside， however， when his son Piers， a pilot， died of a brain disease in 2013 — Piers was just 39 and Peter was 73. Peter threw himself into setting up a charity in memory of Piers — a program that now supports the mentoring of 40 aviation students a year. Later that year， Peter enrolled in a PhD. Because Piers’ death had shown Peter that life is short， and he couldn’t bear to waste any more of it. So he picked up his study again though it was tough.

Though Peter had initially begun as a part-time student， he changed to full-time in 2020. Then came COVID-19. The following two years of his PhD work were undertaken in almost complete isolation. The PhD gave Peter a focus and something to do in those miserable lockdown years.

Finally， one Friday afternoon in mid-2022， an email arrived with the subject line： “Congratulations”. His thesis had been passed with minor amendments. His graduation day came a few months later， and what a mix of emotions Peter experienced！ People ask Peter if he’s finished now， but his answer is a definite no. Age is just a number， and Peter intends to use every last minute that he has.

（材料选自Metro网站，有删改）

1. How old is Peter now？

A. 57 years. B. 76 years.

C. 80 years. " "D. 84 years.

2. How would Peter initially feel when asked to program？

A. Bored. B. Excited.

C. Terrified. D. Delighted.

3. What did Peter do to memorize his son？

A. To write a book.

B. To cast down all his study.

C. To set up a charity.

D. To became an aviation student.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph？

A. Age is a number for him.

B. His essay has been published.

C. The email had some minor errors.

D. He will study for the rest of his life.

1. D。解析：细节理解题。材料第一段的第一句提到“Peter第一次想要攻读博士学位是在1997年，当时他57岁，刚从令人满意的商业生涯中退休”。由此可知，Peter在1997年是57岁，而今年是2024年，所以他现在是84岁。D选项符合题意，故选D。

2. C。解析：推理判断题。材料第二段的第二句和第三句提到“1977年攻读MBA时，Peter甚至从未听说过电脑。然而突然间，他被要求完成自己的统计学学位”。由此可知，Peter之前都没听说过电脑，突然让他弄编程，他一开始是有些害怕的。C选项与材料内容相符，故选C。

3. C。解析：细节理解题。材料第三段的第二句提到“Peter全力以赴成立了一个纪念Piers的慈善机构——这个项目现在每年为40名航空专业的学生提供辅导”。由此可知，Peter建立了一个慈善机构来纪念他的儿子。C选项与材料内容相符，故选C。

4. D。解析：推理判断题。材料最后一段的最后两句提到“人们问Peter现在是否要结束了，但他的回答是绝对不会。年龄只是一个数字，Peter打算利用他所拥有的每一分钟”。由此可知，Peter会继续学习。D选项与材料内容相符，故选D。