The outstanding woman physician (内科医生), Jerry Nielsen, spent a year at the Amundsen-Scott
South Pole Station as the only doctor in 1998 when she was 47.
     In early March 1999, she discovered that there was something wrong with her right breast (乳房).
She was sure it was cancer (癌症), but she wasn't able to go to a doctor for help. She couldn't leave the
station for the next seven months until the snow turned back into water. Rather than wait for the  death,
Dr. Nielsen decided to fight against the cancer. But without the proper medical help, she wouldn't live for
long. Soon a USA Air Force jet came to provide her with some help. She started her own treatments
(治疗) after getting instructions from American doctors. She finally returned home that October. Since
then, she had become helpful to cancer charities.
    Sadly, Dr. Nielsen's cancer got worse and worse. She passed away on June 23, 2009. She once
wrote to her parents, "I understand what life really is: It is not when or how you  die  but how you  truly
were ever alive."

1. 文中划线词组passed away的汉语意思是:
                                                                                        
2. 将文中划线句子翻译成汉语.
                                                                                 
3. 从文中找出与下列句子意义相近的句子.
    Dr. Nielsen decided to fight against the cancer instead of waiting for the death.  
                                                                                          
4. 根据短文内容,回答下列问题.
    How old was Dr. Jerry Nielsen when she passed away?
                                                                                               
5. 用文中两个形容词描述一下Jerry Nielsen.
    (1)                      (2)