昂立外語【新概念培訓】分享age，age這個名字在新概念的學習中一定不陌生，可是這個詞還有著你完全想不到的意思，你知道嗎？
今天分享age這個單詞，首先先來看一則BBC新聞。
Shift work ages the brain
The damaging effects of shift work(輪班工作) on the body are well known. This study shows the impact on the mind as well.
Three thousand people performed tests of memory and speed of thought. Those with more than ten years of shift work under their belts had the same results as those who didn't do shifts but were six-and-a-half years older.
The good news is that when people in the study stopped shift work their brains did recover(恢復), although it took five years.
夜班工作加速大腦老化
科學家們警告說，長年上夜班可能對人的大腦有害�？窃凇堵殬I與環境醫學》期刊上的這項研究發現一個連續上了十年夜班的人大腦老化加速了六年多。
2 這篇文章標題中的age顯然不同于以往我們看到的名詞形式，這里age作動詞，意為“使變老”。
其實age作 “使變老、使成熟”的意思在我們日常生活中經常能見到。最典型的例子就是媽媽用的護膚品，細心的同學可以在瓶身上看到“anti-aging”的字樣，意為“抗老化”。如下圖：
2 aging是age的名詞形式，意為“老化”。
以下是在我們新概念二課本中所出現的age
1. Lesson 94 Future champions
Experiments have proved that children can be instructed in swimming at a very early age.
實驗證明，兒童在很小的時候就可以開始學習游泳。
2. Lesson 61 Trouble with the Hubble
The Hubble will tell us a great deal about the age and size of the universe.
哈勃將告訴我們有關宇宙的年齡和大小的許多事情。
3. Lesson 22 A glass envelope
My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a letter from a girl of her own age in Holland.
我的女兒簡從未想過會接到荷蘭一位同齡姑娘的來信。
2 很顯然，在我們新概念二課本中，age都作名詞“年齡”的意思。需注意的是age不僅可以表示人的年齡，也可以表示物的年齡。
拓展：
1. age n. 時代 - an age is a period in history
e.g. The age of steam and steel.
蒸汽與鋼鐵時代。
2. aged
adj. 年老的 - aged means very old
e.g. She has an aged parent who's capable of being very difficult.
她有個年邁的、很難伺候的父親。
n. ...歲的 - You use aged followed by a number to say how old someone is.
e.g. Alan has two children, aged eleven and nine.
艾倫有兩個孩子，歲數為11歲和9歲。
溫馨提示：相信大家是不是對age這個詞有了更全面深入的了解了呢？想知道更多“你不知道的新概念”么？請點擊【新概念英語詞匯】！
