Question 25 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.

25. What does the speakers say older people try their best to do?（讲话者说老年人在尽最大努力做什么？）

解析：B。录音后半部分提到，老人唯一能为孩子做的就是在他们来看望时表现得开朗一些，尽最大努力不给孩子造成负担（not being a burden）。B项表述与录音一致，being a burden属于原词复现，故为正确答案。

错项排除：录音中提到养老院里的很多老人相信，他们唯一能为孩子们做的就是在他们来看望时表现得开朗一些，不给孩子造成负担，但这并不等同于“不打扰”，A项表述过度引申，故排除。C项中的joyful activities在录音中没有提及，故可排除。D项利用录音中出现的perspective设置干扰，但录音中是说年轻人缺乏一种视角来理解父辈的行为，并不是老年人要站在孩子的角度看问题，故D项排除。