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| Many people would interpret "The American dream" as "living like an American"-a two-story house with a white picket fence; a family with two cars; and two children. However, the economic situation is now affecting the American way of life for 4.4 million people living in the US, according to new census (人口普查) data. "It's going to have a long-term impact and to say it's going to end is optimistic, " says Cheryl Russell, former editor-in- chief of American Demographics magazine. "I'm more pessimistic that this is the new normal." So what is the new normal? *Marrying later. The average age of the first marriage has increased to 28.7 for men and 26.7 for women, up from 27.5 and 25.9 respectively in 2006. At the same time, fewer people are getting married. If the marriage rate had stayed the same as in 2006, there would have been about 4 million more married people in 2010. *Fewer babies. There were 200,000 fewer births among women aged 20 to 34 in 2010 compared with two years before. This was despite the fact that the number of women of childbearing age had gone up by more than 1 million. "The recession(衰退) is the likely cause ," says Kenneth Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institue, "Economic fertility (生育能力)" because women delay …in uncertain times. *Breaking up is harder. The number of divorces has been falling for 25 years as people wait longer or choose to live together before they get married. There were about 65,000 fewer divorces in 2010 than in 2008, a 7 percent decrease. *Crowd living. Unemployment is forcing more people to live together. The number of households where people lived with "other relatives" climbed from 6.7 percent in 2006 to 7.2 percent in 2010. *Going public. Private school enrollment decreased from 13.6 percent in 2006 to 12.8 percent in 2010. *Fewer cars. The percent age of households without a car rose to 9.1 percent against 8.8 percent in 2006. The percent-age of households with two or more cars fell from 58 percent to 57.1 percent. *Driving solo. When people are not working, they don't carpool. The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in employment dropped greatly in all but one of the 50 largest metropolitan (大城市的) areas. That has helped push the share of people driving to work alone from 76 percent in 2006 to 76.6 percent in 2010. Ride-sharing is down a full percentage point, to 9.7 percent. 1. What is the article mainly about? A. The interpretation of "the American dream". B. The significance of the current economic crisis. C. Changes to the American lifestyle. D. The traditional American way of life. 2. What might Cheryl Russell agree with according to the article? A. A traditional lifestyle is much better and healthier. B. The new study based on the members' financial reports. C. The spirit of American dream will inspire Americans to get through the economic recession. D. American lifestyles are being reshaped and will continue to change 3. What are the characteristics of the future American lifestyle? a. Delayed marriage. b. A lower divorce rate c. Increased car ownership. d. An increase in private school enrollment. e. Having children later A. abe B. ace C. bde D. bce 4. Which of the following statements is TRUE? A. The typical US family is expected to have three-story house with a big yard and two children. B. The US birth rate rose slightly in 2010 compared with two years before. C. A growing number of people are forced to share their homes with other relatives in the US. D. US students prefer to go to private schools rather than pubic schools. 5. Why do more and more Americans drive solo to work in recent years, according to the passage ? A. Because they don't like carpool. B. Because more and more people are out of work. C. Because the share of people driving to work alone is increasing. D. Because the proportion of people aged 16-64 in unemployment dropped greatly. |