مکالمه ی فعالانه قسمت الف

ACTIVE SPEAKING / PART A

HOW TO LIVE TO BE A HUNDRED

Meet California resident Ellsworth Wareham. A multimillionaire at the age of 97, he needed a new privacy fence built around his house in the sunny town of Loma Linda.

Ellsworth Wareham lives in California, doesn‟t he? Yes, he does. He‟s a California resident. How old is he? He‟s 97-years-old. Is he poor? No, he‟s not poor. He‟s rich. He‟s a multimillionaire. What did he need built around his house? He needed a new privacy fence built around his house.

And when the contractor told him that it would cost $6,000, he said, “For that kind of money, I’ll just do it myself.”

How much did the contractor tell him it would cost? The contractor said it would cost $6,000 dollars.

What did Ellsworth say in response? He said, “For that kind of money, I‟ll just do it myself.” Would you build the fence yourself if you were Ellsworth?

Sure enough, Ellsworth spent three days out in the yard, shoveling cement, digging holes, and carrying heavy poles around. On the fourth day, he ended up in the operating room at the hospital.

Ellsworth spent four days out the yard, didn‟t he? No, he didn‟t. He spent three days out in the yard.

What did he spend his time doing out in the yard? He was shoveling cement, digging holes, and carrying heavy poles around. Did he end up in the delivery room at the hospital? No, of course not.

He ended up in the operating room.

Not as the patient on the table, but rather the guy doing open-heart surgery. That’s right: Ellsworth Wareham is a heart surgeon, who at 97, still does 20 open-heart surgeries a month.

Ellsworth Wareham is a lawyer, isn‟t he? No, he‟s not. He‟s a doctor. What kind of doctor is he? He‟s a heart surgeon. And at the age of 97, he does 20 open-heart surgeries a month, doesn‟t he? Yes, that‟s right. He does 20 surgeries a month.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific Ocean on the Japanese island of Okinawa, Ushi Okushima lets out a loud and joyous belly laugh.

Where does Ushi Okushima live? She lives across the Pacific Ocean, on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

She sits cross-legged on the floor of her small wooden house in the seaside village of Ogimi.

Does Ushi sit in a chair? No, she sits on the floor. How does she sit on the floor? She sits crosslegged on the floor. Does she live in a mountainous village? No, she lives in a seaside village. What kind of house does she live in? She lives in a small wooden house.

She wears a simple blue kimono, with her friends Setsuko and Matsu seated nearby.

Ushi wears a blue kimono, doesn‟t she? Yes, she does. She wears a simple blue kimono. Are her friends Setsu and Matsu standing nearby? No, they aren‟t. They are seated nearby.

They‟re sipping green tea and gossiping about Ushi’s new job, new boyfriend, and new hairstyle.

They‟re sipping black tea, aren‟t they? No, they‟re sipping green tea. What are they gossiping about?

They‟re gossiping about Ushi’s new job, new boyfriend, and new hairstyle. Do you have a new job, boyfriend, or hairstyle?

She recently tried to run away from home, and has now started wearing perfume for the first time.

We might predict such behavior from a young woman, but Ushi is 103.

Did Ushi recently try to renovate her home? No, she didn‟t. She tried to run away from home. Is Ushi a young woman? No, she isn‟t. She‟s 103 years of age. How old are you?

How can Ellsworth and Ushi have such energy and vitality, while the average person passes away from illness in their late 70s or early 80s? Is it genes or is it lifestyle? According to author Dan Buettner, Ellsworth and Ushi are still going strong at such an advanced age because they are residents of Blue Zones.

Are Ellsworth and Ushi both going strong? Yes, they are. They are really going strong. Why are they going strong at such an advanced age? They‟re going strong at such an advanced age because they are residents of Blue Zones. Are you a resident of a Blue Zone?

A Blue Zone is a region on Earth with a higher number of centenarians than anywhere else.

What‟s a Blue Zone? It‟s a region on Earth with a higher number of centenarians than anywhere else.

Buettner identified five of these “longevity hotspots” around the world and set out to determine what they had in common with one another.

How many of these “longevity hotspots” around the world did Buettner identify? He identified five of these “longevity hotspots” around the world.

Why do people in Blue Zones live healthier and longer lives? What he discovered boiled down to four simple characteristics, which together could be described as a ‘formula for longevity’.

Did Buettner discover five simple characteristics? No, he discovered four of them. Together, what could they be described as? Together they could be described as a „formula for longevity‟. Do think there is a formula for longevity?