单选题 .  Bill Gates was 20 years old. Steve Jobs was 21. Warren Buffett was 26. Ralph Lauren was 28.
    These now iconic (偶像的) names were all 20-somethings when they started their companies that would throw them, and their enterprises, into some of the biggest successes ever known. Consider this: many of the truly remarkable innovations of the latest generation—a list that includes Google, Facebook and Twitter—were all founded by people under 30.
    So what is it about that youthful decade after those awkward teenage years that inspires such shoot-for-the-moon success? Does age really have something to do with it? It does. Young people bring fresh eyes to confronting problems and challenges that others have given up on. 20-something entrepreneurs see no boundaries and see no limits. And they can make change happen. Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, has another, colder theory that may explain it: Ultimately, it's about money.
    In other words, it's the young people who have nothing to lose, with no mortgage and, frankly, with nothing to do on a Friday night except work, who are the ones often willing to take the biggest risks. Sure, they are talented. But it's their persistence and zeal (激情), the desire to stay up until 6 a. m. chugging Red Bull, that is the difference between being a salaried employee and an entrepreneur.
    That's not to say that most 20-somethings are finding success. They're not. The latest crop of über-successful young entrepreneurs, designers and authors are far, far from the norm. In truth, unemployment for workers age 16 to 24 is double the national average.
    One of the biggest challenges facing this next generation—and one that may prevent more visionary entrepreneurs from succeeding—is the staggering rise in the level of debt college students have been left with. If Peter Thiel's theory is right, it is going to be harder and harder for young people to take big risks because they will be crushed with obligations before they even begin.
    If you're over 29 years old and still haven't made your world-changing mark, don't despair. Some older people have had big breakthroughs, too. Thomas Edison didn't invent the phonograph (留声机) until he was 30.1.  The first paragraph is used to show ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[参考译文] 当他们自立门户的时候，比尔·盖茨是20岁；史蒂夫·乔布斯21岁；沃伦·巴菲特26岁；拉尔夫·劳伦28岁。
   这些如今的偶像都在20多岁的时候创立了自己的公司，一举成名，他们的企业也均获得了前所未有的巨大成功。想一想：年轻一代许多真正不同凡响的创新——包括谷歌、脸谱网和推特——都是30岁以下的人建立的。那么在度过尴尬的十几岁青春岁月后，这紧接着的青春十年中到底是什么激发了这种“向月亮进发”的成功呢?年龄真的和这一切有关吗?当然有关。年轻人在面对他人已放弃的问题和挑战时有新鲜的看法。20多岁的企业家相信自己没有不能突破的界限和不能超越的极限，而且他们能够推动变革。现为投资家的彼得·蒂尔是贝宝的创建人之一，他有一个更冷酷的理论也许能解释这一切：最终，这都是因为钱。
   换句话说，正是一无所有的年轻人，没有贷款，坦率地说，在周五晚上，除了工作也没别的事，他们才愿意承担最大的风险。当然，他们也要有天分。但他们的坚持和激情，靠猛灌红牛熬通宵干到早上6点的意愿，才是领薪水的雇员和企业家之间的差别。
   并不是大多数20多岁的人们都获得了成功，不是这样的。这批超级成功的年轻企业家、设计师和作家完全不具代表性。事实上，16岁至24岁年轻人的失业率是全国平均失业率的两倍。
   新一代面临的最大挑战之一——这可能也是妨碍更多有远见的企业家成功的原因——就是大学生们面对不断提高的负债。如果蒂尔的理论是正确的，年轻人将越来越难以承担大风险，因为在开始之前，他们已经被各种责任压垮了。
   如果你已经超过29岁，但还没有惊世成就，别灰心。有些岁数大的人仍能取得突破。托马斯·爱迪生可是在30岁时才发明了留声机。
推断题。短文第二段首句指出These now iconic names were all 20-somethings when they started their companies that would throw them, and their enterprises, into some of the biggest successes ever known. 即这些如今的偶像都在20多岁的时候创立了自己的公司，一举成名，他们的企业也均获得了前所未有的巨大成功。故选项D正确。