2022_심화영어

Read On 1 What caused Qin Shi Huang to die at the age of 49? Q1 05 10 15 Connecting to You How can you slow down the process of aging? New Words Two thousand years ago, the first emperor of China became obsessed with acquiring immortality, using his empire’s vast resources toward this endless quest. Unfortunately, Qin Shi Huang died at the age of 49 from ingesting mercury, which he mistakenly believed to be the elixir of life. No one likes the thought of growing old. Despite our many human endeavours to escape or delay the process of aging, it seems to be an inevitable part of life. But … Why? Why do living things gradually fall apart when they grow older? There is a word for it: senescence. Senescence is the state of the gradual decline of normal functioning. At the cellular level, it means cells stop dividing and eventually die. It can also apply to an entire organism—when a living thing can no longer respond adequately to outside sources of stress—or to specific organs or tissues, like leaves dying and falling from trees in autumn. While there are ways we can slow down or speed up the rate at which senescence occurs, it is still going to happen one way or another. However, there are a few species that can escape the aging process completely. The Secret to Escaping Death Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC) was the first Qin emperor who unified China, built much of the Great Wall, standardized weights and measurements, and created a common currency and legal system. Immortal Jellyfish: vast quest ingest mercury elixir inevitable senescence normal organism adequately tissue 46 Lesson 2