I. Please read the passage aloud.

Never too old to live your dreams

   1 On the first day of school, after our professor introduced himself to our chemistry class, he challenged us to get to know someone new. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady smiling at me. She said, “Hi, Handsome, my name is Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you can!” Then she gave me a big hug. “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel.” “No, seriously?” I asked. I was curious about what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk about everything under the sun. I was always fascinated while listening to her as she shared her wisdom and experience with me; it was like being in a time machine.
        2  Over the course of the school year, Rose became a campus star, and easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up, and she enjoyed the attention from others. She was really living it up.
        3 At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet, and I’ll never forget what she taught us. After she’d been introduced and slowly stepped up onto the stage, she began to deliver her prepared speech. But unfortunately she dropped all her cue cards on the floor. Frustrated and a bit embarrassed, she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so nervous. I’ll never get my speech back in order, so let me just tell you what I know.” As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began:
       4 “We do not stop playing because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor each and every day. You have got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and they don’t even know it! There is a big difference between growing older and growing up. If you are 19 years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do any productive thing, you will turn 20 years old. If I am 87 years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity for change, and have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what they did, but rather for things they did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”
     5 She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose” — a song about having the courage to love and never being afraid to dream. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
     6 At the end of the year, Rose got her college degree. One week after graduation, Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over 2,000 college students attended her funeral to show respect to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it is never too late to be all you can possibly be.

II. Text analysis

III. Test

1 On the first day of school, after our professor introduced himself to our chemistry class, he challenged us to get to know someone new. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady smiling at me. She said, “Hi, Handsome, my name is Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you can!” Then she gave me a big hug. “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel.” “No, seriously?” I asked. I was curious about what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk about everything under the sun. I was always fascinated while listening to her as she shared her wisdom and experience with me; it was like being in a time machine.

2  Over the course of the school year, Rose became a campus star, and easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up, and she enjoyed the attention from others. She was really living it up.

   3 At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet, and I’ll never forget what she taught us. After she’d been introduced and slowly stepped up onto the stage, she began to deliver her prepared speech. But unfortunately she dropped all her cue cards on the floor. Frustrated and a bit embarrassed, she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so nervous. I’ll never get my speech back in order, so let me just tell you what I know.” As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began:

   4 “We do not stop playing because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor each and every day. You have got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and they don’t even know it! There is a big difference between growing older and growing up. If you are 19 years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do any productive thing, you will turn 20 years old. If I am 87 years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity for change, and have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what they did, but rather for things they did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”

   5 She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose” — a song about having the courage to love and never being afraid to dream. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

  6 At the end of the year, Rose got her college degree. One week after graduation, Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over 2,000 college students attended her funeral to show respect to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it is never too late to be all you can possibly be.