AGE

Reading

Read through these expressions relating to how old we are and what age does to us. You can also listen to the expressions.

2010

a new-born baby, 10 Ibs. 3 ozs. at birth

ten months old

nearly eighteen months old

a toddler

four next birthday

coming up to school age

at infants’ school

a schoolgirl

2020

all those in the 9-11 age group

he had a happy childhood

he’s a nice kid

a teenager

in his youth

the agonies of adolescence

still a minor, legally speaking

a juvenile delinquent

congratulations on your coming of age

2030

you have to be over 21

Miss June Hoskins, aged 22, of 35 StanfieldRoad

in his mid-twenties

in his prime

at the age of 26 she got married

by the age of 26 she had lived in five different countries

an adult

a grown-up

2040

don’t be so childish

he’s turned thirty

thirtyish

not a youngster any more

not as young as she was

36 years of age

approaching middle-age

the Under 40s Social Club

2050

on the wrong side of forty

beginning to look his age

an ageing playboy

beginning to feel her age

I prefer mature people

she’s still got her girlish sense of humour

in his late forties

she’s older than she looks

2060

still playing  his schoolboy tricks

in her early fifties

he’s aged a lot lately

he’s getting on (in years)

one of the older generation

I’m twice your age, young man!

the same age as her husband

heading for retirement

2070

he’s over the hill

Sunday Excursion for the Over 60s

growing old gracefully

a pensioner (an old age pensioner, OAP)

he’s coming up to seventy

you’re old enough to know better

you’re as old as you feel

an elderly lady

2080

a septuagenerian

Help the Aged

she’s still going strong

in her seventy-fifth year

his elder brother’s death

her eldest sister’s death

becoming senile

old age comes to all of us

2090

his eightieth birthday

an octogenarian

he’s as old as the hills

in her second childhood

he’s got one foot in the grave

he’ll soon be pushing up the daisies

she’s kicked the bucket

she’s passed away / on

Practice

Discuss or write the answers to these questions.

1 How has your relationship with your parents and other members of your family changed as you have grown older?

2 At which age would you most like to stop the world for ten years so you could enjoy it? Has that age passed or is it still to come?

3 Some people say there are a lot of similarities between childhood and old age. Do you agree?

4 Do you think young people are growing up faster these days? If so, give examples.

5 Do you agree or partly agree with the saying ‘Life begins at forty‘?