新概念英语第四册49-03

接下来课文...that if we escape wars, accidents and diseases we shall eventually die of old age, ...

die of old age ：无疾而终

接下来课文...and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favour of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. ...

heavy odds ：极大可能

differ from ：不同

in favour of ：赞同、支持或主张...(修饰 odds ,后置定语。）

接下来课文...Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer-- on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are. ...

virtual: physical

寿命 ：life-span life expectancy longevity

man of longevity : 老寿星

接下来课文...Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. ...

tend to： 倾向，不由自主

spoil oneself ：糟蹋自己

unless and until ：连词并用

接下来课文...We are so familiar with the fact that man ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigour with time, of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident,