At 43,I've reached the stage where women are warned to watch out for the creeping sadness of middle age.We're served up an endless stream of advice on“how to survive your 40s”,as if we're in the endurance stage of a slow limp toward 26 .This is the age women start to become“invisible”—our value,attractiveness and power supposedly 27 by the vanishing of youth.But I don't feel like I'm fading into 28 .I feel more seen than I ever have,and for the first time in my life,I have a clear-eyed view of myself that is 29 ,compassionate and accepting.
When I look in the mirror,I'm proud of who I am—even those“broken”parts that for so long seemed impossible to love.So when advertisers try to sell me ways to“turn back the clock”,I have to 30 a laugh.I wouldn't go back to the crippling self-consciousness of my youth if you paid me.This hard-won sense of self-acceptance is one of the joys of being an older woman.But it's a narrative often 31 out by the shame that marketers rely on to peddle us their diet pills,miracle face creams and breathable yoga pants—as if self-love is a 32 commodity.
For some women I know,this sense of trust and self-belief later in life gave them the courage to leave dysfunctional relationships or 33 on new career paths.Others talked about enjoying their own company,of growth through 34 ,deepening bonds of friendships,the ability to be more compassionate,less judgmental and to listen more and appreciate the small pleasures.Life past 40 is far from smooth sailing,but it's so much more than the reductive 35 we see in women's magazines and on the Hollywood big screen.
A)adversity
B)authentic
C)convey
D)depictions
E)diminished
F)drowned
G)embark
H)fragility
I)neglected
J)obscurity
K)outlines
L)prevalent
M)purchasable
N)submit
O)suppress
答案解析：
26. 根据前文可知，43的女性会被警告要小心中年逐渐滋长的悲伤情绪，空格句则指出，我们不断得到关于“如何度过40岁”的建议，仿佛我们正处于蹒跚着迈向___的痛苦阶段，后文指出，40岁是一个女性开始变得“隐形”的年纪。由此可知，人们普遍认为中年女性开始走向衰退，所以选H fragility (脆弱、虚弱)。
27. 根据“women start to become‘invisible’”以及“by the vanishing of youth”，可知女性的价值、吸引力和力量会随着青春的消逝而“减少”，“diminished”表示“减少，降低”，所以选E。
28. 从“I don't feel like I'm fading into...”以及前文提到女性在中年变得“invisible”，这里表达不觉得自己在逐渐“被忽视、不为人知”，“obscurity”符合语境，所以选J。
29. 根据“compassionate and accepting”，可知这里需要一个和“富有同情心的、接纳的”并列且表积极意义的词，“authentic”表示“真实的，真正的”，符合语境，所以选B。
30. 根据“when advertisers try to sell me ways to‘turn back the clock’”，可知作者对这种广告的做法是“抑制、忍住”笑，“suppress”有“抑制，忍住”的意思，所以选O。
31. 根据“by the shame that marketers rely on...”以及“as if self - love is a...”，可知这种自我接纳的故事常常被营销者利用的羞耻感所“掩盖、淹没”，“drowned out”有“淹没，掩盖”的意思，所以选F。
32. 根据“peddle us their diet pills, miracle face creams and breathable yoga pants”，可知好像自我关爱是可以“购买的”商品，“purchasable”表示“可购买的”，所以选M。
33. 根据“leave dysfunctional relationships or... on new career paths”，可知是离开不健康的关系或者“开启”新的职业道路，“embark on”表示“开始，从事”，所以选G。
34. 根据“enjoying their own company, of growth through...”，可知是通过“逆境”实现成长，“adversity”表示“逆境”，所以选A。
35. 根据“we see in women's magazines and on the Hollywood big screen”，可知40岁后的生活远非我们在女性杂志和好莱坞大屏幕上看到的那些“描述”，“depictions”表示“描述，描绘”，所以选D。
