Successful aging is a psychological feat. Fear for __1__

　　death, for example, may sometimes oppress you.

　　even when this is successfully overcome, there is still

　　something for you to deal with-loneliness. Loneliness

　　can speed your demise no matter conscientiously __2__

　　you care for your body. “We go through life surrounded

　　by protective convoys of others,” says Robert

　　Kahn, a psychologist of the University of Michigan

　　who studied the health effects of companionship. “People __3__

　　who manage to maintain a network of social support do

　　best.” One study of elderly heart-attack patients

　　found that those with two or more close associations __4__

　　enjoyed twice the one-year survival rate of those who

　　were completely alone.

　　Companionship aside, healthy oldsters seem to

　　share a knack for managing stress, poison that contributes __5__

　　measurably to heart disease, cancer and accidents.

　　Researchers have also been kinked successful aging __6__

　　to mental stimulation. An idle brain will deteriorate

　　just as sure as an unused leg, notes Dr. Gene Cohen, __7__

　　Head of the gerontology center at George Washington

　　University. But just as exercise can prevent muscle __8__

　　atrophy, mental challenges seem to preserve both

　　the mind and the immune system. But what most

　　impresses researchers who study the oldest old is

　　his simple drive and resilience. “People who reach 100 __9__

　　are not quitters,” says Adler of the National Centenarian

　　Awareness Project. “They share a remarkable ability to

　　renegotiate life in every turn, to accept the inevitable losses __10__

　　And move on.”