104岁工作者的美好生活

If you drive into Quinter Kansas and ask anyone where's Waldo, they'll tell you, at work, of course everyday!

"Come on in. Come in here and let's turn on my light. "

Ralph Waldo Mcburney goes to work at his honey business. Unfortunately, summer is bee season. And during our visit, things weren't exactly buzzing¹ around here. But the mere² fact that he shows up at all earns him the title, America's Oldest Worker, an honor recently bestowed³ on him at a ceremony in Washington. Waldo is 104.

"This is the one you just got?"

"Yes."

And with a driver's license⁴ to prove it.

"This doesn't expire⁵ until 2010."

"The license will last longer than I do."

Don't count on him.

"Yeah, here we are."

Ralph Waldo Mcburney has already outlived even his gravestone's expectations.

"Now, what are you gonna do?"

"I am just gonna let somebody else worry about that."

Waldo says he is here today because he never smoked or drank and always ate his vegetables. But even more imperative⁶.

"Yeah, it seems very important. I have a theory and that theory is......oh, yes, what, what is it?"

Well, we are waiting.

"Seldom it slips through my mind and it will come back in five minutes.”

Let me tell you about Waldo's book. It's a self-published autobiography⁷ called "My First 100 Years". During the off-season for Honey, he keeps busy signing every single copy and mailing every single order, which isn't easy.
Heck, when you're 104, sometimes getting off the porch⁸ isn't easy. But Waldo insists on staying active, basically because it beats the alternative. Hiring a stone mason, or as Waldo finally put it.

"You said you have a theory, do you remember the theory?"

"Use it or lose it."

Use it or lose it? Hey, I never said he was Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Yes, it is. Very important."

If you wanna know how to get his book, or if you just wanna hear more from Waldo's interview, we have got it right now on our website.

What a wonderful man, I loved him!

I've interviewed a lot of people over 100 and he is the most withered⁹ I've ever talked to.

And does he have any family?

Yes, he does. He's got kids and he's on his, his second wife. Had the first one 30 years; this one, 44.

Wow, and who knows, he may have a third, anything could happen, right?

He says he's done.

Yeah, I was gonna say that's probably not a very nice thing to say.

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imperative:formal extremely important and urgent 必要的
withered:a withered person looks old, thin, and week, and has a lot of wrinkles on their skin 苍老消瘦的

1 buzzing   

adj.嗡嗡响的v.发出嗡嗡声( buzz的现在分词 )；（发出）充满兴奋的谈话声[闲话，谣言]；忙乱，急行；用蜂鸣器（发信号）

参考例句：

• The computer made a buzzing noise that she found off-putting. 计算机发出的嗡嗡声让她心烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Bees are humming [buzzing] around from flower to flower. 蜜蜂在花丛中嗡嗡地飞来飞去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

4 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

5 expire   

vi.期满，（期限）终止，断气，死亡

参考例句：

• His term of office as president will expire next year.他的总统任期明年将届满。
• When does your trade agreement with Japan expire?你们同日本签订的贸易协定何时期满？

6 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

7 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

8 porch   

n.门廊，入口处，走廊，游廊

参考例句：

• There are thousands of pages of advertising on our porch.有成千上万页广告堆在我们的门廊上。
• The porch is supported by six immense pillars.门廊由六根大柱子支撑着。

9 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。