[originaltext]A: For most 40-year-olds, focusing on the task at hand can help m

A: For most 40-year-olds, focusing on the task at hand can help make up for any lost edge. Steadiness and discipline, two blessings of maturity, also help in coping with the physiology of the 40s. Regular exercise can have psychological benefits, too, such as preventing depression.
I: Right. Keeping themselves a mood and doing exercises certainly help. Then how about their family life?
A: Well, they have a lot to cope with — probably more than their parents did at the same age. For many, the stresses are huge. Weekly work hours for women jumped from 18 in 1975 to 28 in 1995. Many husbands and wives simultaneously freak out about their careers. This leads to increase of divorce rate. Neatly one of seven 40-somethings are divorced, which doubles the rate of 1975. They are also setting records for remarriage and blended families. Add their own aging parents to the mix, today’s 40-year-olds face the extreme-sports version of middle age.
I: I quite understand that wives have more stress because they have more responsibility at home. But why do husbands have pressure?
A: Since women work longer hours, men have more responsibilities, and stress, at home. Men in their 40s are spending almost four more hours a week doing housework than they were two decades earlier. So both sexes are making sacrifice. Men are spending less time eating, sleeping and reading. Women have cut back on hobbies, visiting and grooming.
I: I see. Though middle aged people do have problems concerning health and family, I bet they are brilliant at work.
A: Yes. In many ways, workers in their 40s today have it great. They are healthier, better educated, and benefiting from a stronger job market than any previous generation. But the risks are rising along with the rewards. The spread of technology and American culture’s infatuation with youth are creating a job market that increasingly rewards flexibility and speed over age.
I: But middle-aged workers are, anyway, more experienced. They will get employed easier than youngsters.
A: You are only partly right, I am afraid. There is plenty of evidence that older workers learn new skills more slowly and are more reticent about adopting new technologies.
I: It seems these people are really leading a tragic life.
A: The life that begins at 40 is, in many ways, harder. But there is a payoff: people in their 50s say they’re happier. So my advice is "Take it easy, everything will be fine".
I: What a relief. Thank you Alice for giving us so much valuable information and advice.
A: You are welcome.
6. For 40-year-olds, what can they do to help in coping with the physiological problems?
7. What is the main reason of increasing divorce rate of 40-year-olds?
8. Why do husbands have pressure at home?
9. What is Alice’s attitude towards working opportunities of middle-aged people?
10. Why does the interviewer say middle-aged people are leading a tragic life?