今天学为贵的小鱼儿老师和大家分享的雅思写作主题是老年人生活，这里为大家精心整理了相关的写作素材和地道表达，希望对大家有所帮助哦~

Retirement: Doom(厄运) and gloom(昏暗) or golden opportunity（黄金机会）? （下）

Confronting the moment  直面当下

For whatever reason, some people in their 50s or 60s do end up without a job.

If they need the money they have to hunt for new work, but if they are financially stable, how do they fill all those empty hours（填补那些空白的时光）?

Laurie Lawson, an American retirement coach, says there are three different types of people who approach her.

"One is the person who has not planned for their retirement and then suddenly they realise they have all this free time and have no idea what to do with it,"she says.

"There is another type who had no intention of retiring（不打算退休）, but, based on the economic turndown （经济不景气）since 2008, companies are downsizing （裁员 = cut the workforce/jobs） and people have been laid off(lay sb. off解雇) and they have been offered retirement packages.

"Then there is someone who did plan for their retirement and they are loving it, but they want to do something very useful with their time."

She says retirement coaching(退休指导) helps all those people redefine themselves(重新定义自己)and to discover how to reach their goals(achieve their goals), although it is not so straightforward(简单的) for people in their 60s or 70s who might be fairly set in their ways（对于按照自己的方式调整好自己的六七十岁人来说不简单）.

"The first thing I try to do is find out why they are there, and why now? And then we have to reframe the whole retirement idea," she says.

"For people, most of the time retirement means 'okay, my job is over and I'm going to go travel', and after you get off your cruise, then it's like, 'okay, nowwhat am I going to do?'"

'Golden years' 金色年华

Seeking advice （寻求建议）does not come cheap. Ms Lawson charges $125 an hour.

"I usually go an hour a week and the optimal period for coaching is about three months, because that gives you time to discover things, to revise a plan if, for example, they always wanted to be a zoo keeper, but then realise they have allergies(过敏反应)."

Furthermore,people from different ethnic backgrounds(来自不同的种族背景) have completely different ideas about what age really means.

"I have done a few workshops in Italy and India, two very different cultures, but there is a universal need, I'm not sure we can just apply it to people who have retired, but there is auniversal need （普遍的需求）to be needed, to feel like you are serving a purpose（服务于一个目的）.

Her advice to people about to retire, is to think of it as the most exciting opportunity that they are probably ever going to get.

"You are getting ready to become your own boss of your life. You can decide what you do and when you doit," she says.

"These are the golden years. Treat yourself nicely, do what you've always wanted to do, and consider it an adventure. And be brave. （对老年人的建议）

"You have survived all these years, so step out there and do something where you don't know what the outcome is.

"And assume that because you've survived this long, you'll know how to handle it,whatever comes about."

（鱼儿老师整理自）

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