题目内容：

Happy birthday! Do birthday really make people happy? Of course they do.     Birthdays celebrate the day when we were born. Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggests another year of growth and maturity（成熟）—or so we hope．We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older．Most of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others, as well．For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud．For Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful process．But growing old?    That is a different story.

Growing old is not exactly for people in youth-oriented (以年轻人为中心)American culture．Most Americans like to look young, act young and feel young. As the old saying goes, “You’re young as you feel．” Older people joke about how many years young they are, rather than how many years old．People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom．But Americans seem to favor those who are young, or at least “young at heart”．

Many older Americans find the “golden years” to be anything but golden．Economically, “senior citizens” often try just to get by．Retirement at the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income．Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference．Older people may suffer from poor nutrition (营养), medical care, and housing. Some even have the experience of age discrimination(歧视). American sociologist(社会学家) Pat Moore once dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets．She was often treated rudely--even cheated and robbed．However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect．

Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast．Why? People are living longer．Fewer babies are being born．And middle-aged “baby boomers”(婴儿潮) are rapidly entering the group of the elderly．America may soon be a place where wrinkles（皱纹）are “in”．Marketing experts are already noticing this growing group of consumers．

1.Growing up is a wonderful thing because ________.

A. people can celebrate their birthdays.

B. people can become more and mature and wiser.

C. people can receive many presents.

D. people will feel younger at heart.

2.We can infer from the second paragraph that _________.

A. young people lack experience and wisdom.

B. American older people often joke about their old age.

C. American culture is very young.

D. different countries have different opinions on the old age.

3.The underlined sentence (in Paragraph 3) means “_________.”

A. the golden years can make the old earn lots of money and receive good medical care

B. the old people in America are probably leading a hard life without good nutrition, medical care or housing.

C. the old in America have to retire at the age of 65.

D. American social security benefits are not good.

4.From the last paragraph we know that the underlined word “in” can be replaced by _______.

A. serious                  B. bad

C. disappearing slowly      D. growing fast