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  3. Americans are supposed to be mobile and even pushy. Saul Bellow’s Augie March declares, " I am an American ,.. first to knock, f

Americans are supposed to be mobile and even pushy. Saul Bellow’s Augie March declares, " I am an American ,.. first to knock, f

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问题     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, Granma 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
    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?
Fewer American youngsters taking driving test is a phenomenon______.
选项 A、stemming from a widespread concern over soaring car and petrol price
B、descriptive of a younger generation less motivated to move up in the society
C、closely correlated with the popularity of modern information technology
D、closely related with less deaths on American roads
答案C
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。
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