Question 24 is based on the recording you have just heard.

        I would like particularly to talk about the need to develop a new style of aging in our own society. (22) [Young people in this country have been accused of not caring for their parents the way they would have in the old country. ]And this is true. (23) [But it is also true that old people have been influenced by an American ideal of independence and autonomy.] So we live alone, perhaps on the verge of starvation, in time without friends. But we are independent. This standard American style has been forced on every ethnic group, although there are many groups for whom the ideal is not practical. It is a poor ideal and pursuing it does a great deal of harm. This ideal of independence also contains a tremendous amount of unselfishness.

        In talking to today’s young mothers, I have asked them what kind of grandmothers they think they are going to be. I hear devoted loving mothers say that when they are through raising their children, they have no intention of becoming grandmothers. (24) [They are astonished to hear that in most of the world, throughout most of its history, families have been three- or four-generation families, living under the same roof.] We have overemphasized the small family unit—father, mother, small children. We think it is wonderful if grandma and grandpa, if they’re still alive, can live alone. We have reached the point where we think the only thing we can do for our children is to stay out of their way. And the only thing we can do for our daughter-in-law is to see as little of her as possible. Old people’s nursing homes, even the best one, are filled with older people who believe the only thing they can do for their children is to look cheerful when they come to visit. (25) [So in the end, older people have to devote all their energies to not being a burden. ]

        We are beginning to see what a tremendous price we’ve paid for our emphasis on independence and autonomy. We’ve isolated old people and we’ve cut off the children from their grandparents. One of the reasons we have as bad a generation gap today as we do is that grandparents have stepped out. Young people are being deprived of the thing they need most—perspective—to know why their parents behave so peculiarly and why their grandparents say the things they do.

24. What is astonishing to the young mothers interviewed by the speaker?（对于讲话者所采访的年轻母亲们来说，什么事情令她们感到惊讶？）

解析：B。录音中间部分指出，当年轻的母亲们听说世界上大多数地方的家庭，在历史上多数时期里，都是三代或四代同堂，所有人都生活在同一个屋檐下时，她们感到惊讶不已。B项中的extended families是录音中three- or four-generation families的概括，most parts of the world是录音中most of the world的转述，故B项正确。

错项排除：录音中陈述的事实是世界上很多地方的人生活在大家庭里，没有提到这些地方对家庭规模的偏好，故A项错误。录音中没有提到老年人不愿意照顾孙辈，只是说年轻母亲没有想过要成为祖母，两个说法并没有直接关系，故C项错误。录音中没有提到美国的年轻人是否愿意与父母住在一起，故D项排除。