话题：关爱老人
核心词组：
care the aged关爱老人
empty-nest elderly空巢老人
feel lonely感觉孤单
live at home alone独自生活
accompany陪伴
In the picture, an old lady is sitting in front of a mirror. She is saying to herself in the mirror: The children are not in my company. I feel rather lonely. The picture reveals one of the serious problems of our modern society.
With better living conditions and better medical care, people can live much longer than before. But how to take care of them has become a big problem, which we must cope with seriously. It is reported that there are more than 160 million people aged over 60 in our country. The percentage of old people is still increasing and many families are confronted with problems coming along with old people. The fast tempo of modern life has left people little time and energy to look after their old parents. On the other hand, some people take their old parents as their burden and treat them badly. As a result, many old people feel neglected and live in great loneliness and helplessness, especially when they are suffering from poor health.
Something should be urgently done to help these lonely old people. First of all, those who have old parents should take the responsibility to take good care of them. The government should set up more nursing houses for old people, especially for those who have no children and who are physically and mentally disabled. More importantly, there should be more organizations providing financial, medical and legal assistance for old people. In a word, special efforts should be made to help old people to spend their later years of their lives comfortably and merrily.