单选题 Americans are supposed to be mobile and even pushy. Saul Bellow"s Augie March declares, "I am an American... first to knock, first admitted." In "The Grapes of Wrath," young Tom Joad loads up his car with pork snacks and relatives, and the family flees the Oklahoma for California. Along the way, Grandma dies, but the Joads keep going.
But sometime in the past 30 years, someone has hit the brakes and Americans—particularly young Americans—have become risk-averse and sedentary. The likelihood of 20-somethings moving to another state has dropped well over 40 percent since the 1980s, according to calculations based on Census Bureau data. The stuck-at-home mentality hits college-educated Americans as well as those without high school degrees. Even bicycle sales are lower now than they were in 2000. Today"s generation is literally going nowhere.
An increasing number of teenagers are not even bothering to get their driver"s licenses. Back in the early 1980s, 80 percent of 18-year-olds proudly strutted out of the D. M. V. with new licenses, according to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan"s Transportation Research Institute. By 2008—even before the Great Recession—that number had dropped to 65 percent. Though it"s easy to blame the high cost of cars or gasoline, Comerica Bank"s Automobile Affordability Index shows that it takes fewer weeks of work income to buy a car today than in the early 1980s, and inflation-adjusted gasoline prices didn"t get out of line until a few years ago.
Perhaps young people are too happy at home checking Facebook. In a study of 15 countries, Michael Sivak, a professor at the University of Michigan"s Transportation Research Institute, found that when young people spent more time on the Internet, they delayed getting their driver"s licenses. "More time on Facebook probably means less time on the road," he said. That may mean safer roads, but it also means a bumpier, less vibrant economy.
Generation Y has become Generation Why Bother. The Great Recession and the still weak economy make the trend toward risk aversion worse. Children raised during recessions ultimately take fewer risks with their investments and their jobs. Even when the recession passes, they don"t strive as hard to find new jobs, and they hang on to lousy jobs longer. Research by the economist Lisa B. Kahn of the Yale School of Management shows that those who graduated from college during a poor economy experienced a relative wage loss even 15 years after entering the work force.
In the mid-"70s, back when every high school kid longed for his driver"s license and a chance to hit the road and find freedom, Bruce Springsteen wrote his brilliant, exciting album "Born to Run." A generation later, as kids began to hunker down, Mr. Springsteen wrote his depressing "The Ghost of Tom Joad." We need to reward and encourage forward movement, not slouching. That may sound harsh, but do we really want to turn into a country where young Americans can"t even recognize the courage of Tom Joad?

单选题 Which of the following spirit is not characteristic of Americans in the 1980s?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】判断题
[解析] 文中多次将现在的年轻人与上世纪80年代的年轻人进行对比。作者第一段就提到典型的美国人的形象是“爱东奔西走，有些鲁莽”(mobile and pushy)。第二段提到，和上世纪80年代相比，现在的美国年轻人迁到另外一个州的数量大幅降低。第三段提到，20世纪80年代的年轻人，80%在18岁的时候都拿到了驾照。通过这几段的内容，我们可以推断20世纪80年代的美国人和现在的年轻人相比，更有闯劲，更爱冒险，A、C、D说的都是同一个意思，只有B．reflective“深思熟虑”不是20世纪80年代美国年轻人的典型的特征。

单选题 Fewer American youngsters taking driving test is a phenomenon ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】细节事实题
[解析] 文章第三段提到现在年轻人不那么具有冲劲的表现之一——18岁拿驾照的年轻人的数量急剧下降。第三段提到尽管人们可能认为这种现象和汽车价格和油价的上升有关系，但是联信银行发布的汽车购买力指数显示，与上世纪80年代相比，目前汽车的售价有所降低，而经通胀调整后汽油价格涨得离谱也不过是近几年的事。因此A错误。B偷换概念，不考驾照表现了年轻人不再像上一辈人那么具有冲劲，他们不那么愿意迁到其他地方去，也就是they are less mobile，但是不能说they are less motivated to move up in the society，因为move up in the society的意思是“往上流社会爬”，而不是“流动到其他地方去”的意思。C正确，文章第四段提到年轻人不再喜欢东奔西走的一个重要的原因就是互联网技术的兴起。密歇根大学交通研究所的教授迈克尔·西维克对15个国家进行调查后发现，年轻人泡在互联网上的时间越久，拿到驾照的时间越晚。D错误，无中生有，文中并未提及年轻人考取驾照的人数的降低和汽车事故死亡率下降之间的关系。

单选题 The point the author wants to make in Paragraph 5 is that ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】中心主旨题
[解析] 本题主要考查第五段表达的中心思想。第五段第二句话就提到，疲软不振的经济形势令规避风险的趋势愈演愈烈(The Great Recession and the still weak economy make the trend toward risk aversion worse.)，就是疲软的经济影响了年轻人出去闯荡的野心。第五段中剩下的几句话都是在具体阐述经济危机是如何影响年轻人的择业倾向的。在经济衰退中成长起来的孩子倾向于选择风险较小的投资和工作。即便在衰退期结束后，他们也不会奋起寻觅新工作，而是在一份无味的工作上打发时光。作者论述经济危机对年轻人的择业倾向的影响，归根结底还是想要分析经济危机对年轻人不再愿意走出家乡出外闯荡的现象的影响，因此A为正确答案。B只涉及了第五段中提到的一个细节，并不足以概括主旨大意。耶鲁大学管理学院的经济学家丽莎·B.卡恩进行的一项研究表明，即便在入职15年之后，经济恶化时期毕业的大学生的工资仍然处于相对较低的水平。C颠倒了作者在这一段中想要表达的因果关系，作者在这一段中主要关心经济危机对年轻人的抱负的影响，而不是反过来分析年轻人流动性降低对于经济活力的影响。虽然两者很有可能互为因果，但是我们需要就文本的含义做出判断。D错误，经济危机的影响十分明显，而不是像该选项中所说过于细微。

单选题 Young people raised in tough economic crisis ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】细节事实题
[解析] 第五段中提到在经济危机环境中成长起来的年轻人在投资和工作方面都采取保守态度，不愿意冒风险。甚至在经济危机过去之后，他们也往往不愿意找新工作，而是继续从事一份不甚满意的工作(Children raised during recessions ultimately take fewer risks with their investments and their jobs. Even when the recession passes, they don"t strive as hard to find new jobs, and they hang on to lousy jobs longer.)。因此B正确。A错误，文中主要讨论了在经济危机背景下成长起来的年轻人对于冒险的态度，并没有提到他们对于人生的态度是消极还是积极。C错误，文章并没有就年轻人是否喜欢碰运气展开论述。D错误，文章第五段最后只谈到了那些在较差经济环境中成长起来的年轻人因为不愿冒险，一直不愿意换工作。这种影响非常持久，甚至在他们工作15年后，经济较差时期毕业的大学生的工资仍然处于相对较低的水平。这里的工资比较并不是将生活在经济危机环境中的年轻人与生活在经济繁荣时期的年轻人进行对比，而是将生活在经济危机环境中的年轻人实得工资水平和他们应得的工资进行比较。