"why do some people discover new vitality and creativity to the end of their days, while ... Would you BET on the future of this man?He is 53 years old. Most of his adult life has been a losing strugg

sueyanglala

"why do some people discover new vitality and creativity to the end of their days, while ... Would you BET on the future of this man?He is 53 years old. Most of his adult life has been a losing struggle against debt and misfortune. A war injury has made his left hand stop functioning，and he has often been in prison. Driven by heaven-knows-what motives，he determines to write a book. 　　The book turns out to be one that has appealed to the world for more than 350 years. That former prisoner was Cervantes, and the book was Don Quixote. And the story poses an interesting question: why do some people discover new vitality and creativity to the end of their days，while others go to seed long before? “ why do some people discover new vitality and creativity to the end of their days，while others go to seed long before?” 1. Does this sentence mean some people keeping discovering new vitality and creativity their entire life or some people discover new vitality and creativity suddenly at the end of their days? We've all known people who run out of steam before they reach life's halfway mark. I'm not talking about those who fail to get to the top. We can't all get there. I'm talking about people who have stopped learning on growing because they have adopted the fixed attitudes and opinions that all too often come with passing years. 2."I'm talking about people who have stopped learning on growing" Can I change it into "I'm talking about people who have stopped learning about growing"

Jun 22, 2019 2:38 PM

Answers · 5

1. Nope. You understood the first half correctly, but "go to seed" means something different than you would expect. It means "become worthless." Lots of edible plants, like celery, broccoli, and asparagus, are only good before they start producing seeds. After they start making seeds, they become hard, and either tasteless or bitter. You can't eat them anymore. If someone has "gone to seed," they used to be good, creative, inventive people, but now the only new ideas they have are bad. So, Cervantes became better as he grew older, but people who "go to seed" become worse. 2. No. Here, "on" is a typo. It should be "learning AND growing"--two separate activities.

June 22, 2019

1. Why do some people discover new vitality and creativity TO the end of their days? = They have vitality and creativity until they die. ("Discover" is the wrong word and causes confusion, in my opinion.) Why do some people discover new vitality and creativity AT the end of their days? = They only discover new vitality and creativity right before they die. 2. "I'm talking about people who have stopped learning AND growing." (I believe it's a typographical error.)

June 22, 2019

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