Last summer, some twenty-eight thousand homeless people were afforded shelter by the city of New York. Of this number, twelve thou sand were children and six thousand were parents living together in families. The average child was six years old, the average parent twenty seven. A typical homeless family included a mother with two or three children, but in about one-fifth of these families two parents were present. Roughly ten thousand single persons, then, made up the remainder of the population of the city"s shelter. These proportions vary somewhat from one area of the nation to another. In all areas, however, families are the fastest-growing sector of the homeless population, and in the Northeast they are by far the largest sector already. In Massachusetts, three-fourths of the homeless now are families with children; in certain parts of Massachusetts—Attleboro and Northampton, for example—the proportion reaches 90 percent. Two thirds of the homeless children studied recently in Boston were less than five years old. Of the estimated two to three million homeless people nationwide, about 500,000 are dependent children, according to Robert Hayes, counsel to the National Coalition for the homeless. Including their parents, at least 750,000 homeless people in America are family members. What is to be made, then, of the supposition that the homeless are primarily the former residents of mental hospitals, persons who were carelessly released during the 1970s? Many of them are, to be sure. Among the older men and women in the streets and shelters, as many as one-third (some believe as many as one-half) may be chronically disturbed, and a number of these people left mental hospitals during the 1970s. But in a city like New York, where nearly half the homeless are small children with an average of six, to operate on the basis of such a supposition makes no sense. Their parents, with an average age of twenty-seven, are not likely to have been hospitalized in the 1970s, either.

单选题 According to the statistics, among the homeless in New York there were ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：本题为推理判断题。文章第一段的统计数据表明，纽约有28000无家可归的人，其中10000人是单身子Roughly ten thousand single per sons)；18000人是家庭成员，其中儿童是12000人，父母是6000人，but in about one-fifth of these families two parents were present．双亲家庭人口占五分之一，有的人是一家的，所以家庭不足4000。

单选题 Which of the following statements is true?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：本题为推理判断题。全国流浪者总人口大约有两百到三百万，Robert Hayes的统计是at least 750,000 homeless people in America are family members．文章第二段These proportions vary some what from one area of the nation to another．Two thirds of the homeless children studied recently in Boston were less than five years old．指的是study"调查，研究"，而不是学习；以上皆证明了其他选项都不正确。可以从families are the fastest-growing sector of the homeless population一句找到答案选项的出处。