Passage 3（第一套）音频、真题、答案、听力原文、答案解析、参考译文
【音频】
【真题】
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22.
A) About 58% of young adults call parental support the new normal.
B) Most adult children enjoy increasing sources of financial support.
C) A full 70% of the young adults cannot afford to buy a car by themselves.
D) Most early adults cannot sustain their lifestyles without parental support.
23.
A) It renders them dependent.
B) It causes them to lose dignity.
C) It makes them mentally immature.
D) It hinders them from getting ahead.
24.
A) It challenges one’s willpower.
B) It results from education.
C) It calls for due assistance.
D) It defines adulthood.
25.
A) Current lifestyles.
B) Poor budgeting.
C) College loans.
D) Emergency expenses.
【答案】
22. D) Most early adults cannot sustain their lifestyles without parental support.
23. A) It renders them dependent.
24. D) It defines adulthood.
25. C) College loans.
【听力原文】
[22] In a new Merrill Lynch/Age Wave survey, a full 70% of the early adults said they received financial support from their parents in the past year and 58% said they couldn’t afford their current lifestyles without it.The most common types of financial support include cell phone plans, food, school costs and car expenses. Parental financial support of early adults, said Ken Dychtwald, CEO of AgeWave, is “the new normal”.
[23] But 64% of the young adults surveyed said parents’financial support to children aged25 to 34 is “a bad thing”, because it makes those kids dependent.By contrast, only 29% thought supporting men and women aged18 to 24 is bad; the remaining 71% thought that assistance “helps the adult children get ahead”.
Dychtwald believes the young women and men surveyed were saying that by 25, younger adults ought to be financially independent. [24] In fact, the respondents said, financial independence defines adulthood.“Financial independence is something they were struggling with and challenged by. And it scared them a bit,”Dychtwald said. [25] One big reason they’re struggling is attributed to college loans, of which the average amounts to $37,000. Many of the parents have taken on college loans for the kids, too, sometimes at the expense of their own finances. In the survey, 60% of early adults define financial success as being debt-free. Whether that’s likely, or even possible, anytime soon, is anyone’s guess.
【答案解析】
22. What do we learn from a new survey by Merrill Lynch/Age Wave?
我们从美林集团和年龄浪潮合作的一项新调查中了解到了什么？
答案：
D) Most early adults cannot sustain their lifestyles without parental support.
若没有父母支持，大多数年轻成年人无法维持他们的生活方式。
解析：
文章开头提到，“In a new Merrill Lynch/Age Wave survey, a full 70% of the early adults said they received financial support from their parents in the past year and 58% said they couldn’t afford their current lifestyles without it.”在美林集团和年龄浪潮合作的一项新调查中，整整70%年轻成年人表示，他们在过去一年里从父母那里获得了经济支持，58%的人表示如果没有父母的经济支持，他们无法负担目前的生活方式。因此选D。
干扰项分析：
A) About 58% of young adults call parental support the new normal.
大约58%年轻成年人把父母的支持称作“新常态”。
文章提及年龄浪潮首席执行官肯·迪奇瓦尔德表示，父母对年轻成年人的经济支持是“新常态”（“the new normal”），但这是专家观点，并非58%年轻人的说法，故排除。
B) Most adult children enjoy increasing sources of financial support.
大多数成年子女享有越来越多来源的经济支持。
文章提到经济支持的常见类型（手机套餐、食物、学费、汽车费用），但并未说这些来源越来越多，故排除。
C) A full 70% of the young adults cannot afford to buy a car by themselves.
整整70%年轻成年人自己买不起车。
文章提到整整70%年轻成年人在过去一年里从父母那里获得了经济支持，并非说70%年轻人买不起车， “car expenses”只是支持类型之一，故排除。
23. Why did most young adults in the survey say financial support to children aged 25 to 34 is a bad thing?
为什么调查中的大多数年轻成年人表示给25至34岁的子女提供经济支持是一件坏事？
答案：
A) It renders them dependent.
这使他们产生依赖性。
解析：
文章中提到，“64% of the young adults surveyed said parents’financial support to children aged 25 to 34 is ‘a bad thing’, because it makes those kids dependent.”64%受访年轻成年人表示父母给25至34岁的子女提供经济支持是“一件坏事”，因为这会让这些子女产生依赖性。因此选A。
干扰项分析：
B) It causes them to lose dignity.
这使他们失去尊严。
文章未提及“尊严”问题，故排除。
C) It makes them mentally immature.
这使他们心理上不成熟。
文章说的是“dependent”（依赖），不是“mentally immature”（心理不成熟），故排除。
D) It hinders them from getting ahead.
这阻碍他们获得成功。
文章中说71%的人认为父母的经济援助“helps the adult children get ahead”“帮助成年子女获得成功”，故排除。
24. What did the respondents in the survey say regarding financial independence?
调查中的受访者对经济独立有何看法？
答案：
D) It defines adulthood.
它定义了成年。
解析：
文章提到，“In fact, the respondents said, financial independence defines adulthood.”事实上，受访者表示，经济独立定义了成年。因此选D。
干扰项分析：
A) It challenges one’s willpower.
它挑战了一个人的意志力。
文章说“Financial independence is something they were struggling with and challenged by”，是说经济独立是他们正在挣扎和挑战的事情，而非挑战“意志力”，故排除。
B) It results from education.
它是教育的结果。
文章未提及教育与经济独立的因果关系，故排除。
C) It calls for due assistance.
它需要适当的帮助。
文章未提及，故排除。
25. What is one big reason young adults are struggling?
年轻成年人正在挣扎的一个主要原因是什么？
答案：
C) College loans.
大学贷款。
解析：
文章中提到，“One big reason they’re struggling is attributed to college loans, of which the average amounts to $37,000.”年轻成年人苦苦挣扎的一个重要原因是大学贷款，平均贷款额高达37,000美元。因此选C。
干扰项分析：
A) Current lifestyles.
当前的生活方式。
文章开头提到，调查中58%的人表示如果没有父母的支持，他们无法负担目前的生活方式，但这是年轻成年人苦苦挣扎的一个表现，而不是原因，故排除。
B) Poor budgeting.
糟糕的预算。
文章未提及预算问题，故排除。
D) Emergency expenses.
紧急开销。
文章未提及紧急开销，故排除。
【参考译文】
在美林集团和年龄浪潮合作的一项新调查中，整整70%的年轻成年人表示，他们在过去一年里从父母那里获得了经济支持，58%的人表示如果没有父母的经济支持，他们无法负担目前的生活方式。最常见的经济支持类型包括手机套餐、食物、学费和汽车费用。年龄浪潮首席执行官肯·迪奇瓦尔德表示，父母对年轻成年人的经济支持是“新常态”。
但64%的受访年轻成年人表示，父母给25至34岁的子女提供经济支持是“一件坏事”，因为这会让这些子女产生依赖性。相比之下，只有29%的人认为给18至24岁的年轻人提供支持是坏事；其余71%的人认为这种援助“帮助成年子女获得成功”。
迪奇瓦尔德认为，受访的年轻男女表示，到25岁时，年轻人应该在经济上独立。事实上，受访者表示，经济独立定义了成年。“经济独立是他们苦苦挣扎、面临挑战的问题，这让他们有点害怕。”迪奇瓦尔德说。他们挣扎的一个重要原因是大学贷款，平均贷款额高达37,000美元。许多父母也为孩子承担了大学贷款，有时甚至以牺牲自己的财务状况为代价。在调查中，60%的年轻成年人将财务成功定义为无债务。至于这是否可能，甚至能否在短期内实现，谁也说不准。
