单项选择题

This new generation of twenty-somethings, the offspring of the baby boomers, is the most talented, competitive (and compulsive) group this country has seen. A record 84 percent of adults now hold a high-school diploma, compared with 63 percent in 1975, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. "It’’s a Renaissance generation," says David Morrison, president of Twentysomething, a consulting firm. "They are, more than anything else, grabbing as many tools as possible, being as valuable as possible, constantly pursuing." They, the "Me" generation, wanted their children to be spoiled with every possible option. Like helicopters, they hovered in the background, ready to sweep down, solve crises and offer new destinations. But what, you wonder, is the outcome of all this coddling And when will the pilots retire, letting you steer into your own future But you wonder: would this generation, raised to accomplish so much, be better equipped to handle adulthood if more independence was forced upon them Most of your friends, who came from elite families and went to top schools, never worked regular jobs at ice-cream parlors or fast-food joints — they were too busy rsum-building. As a result, some 780,000 college graduates a year boomerang back home after graduation. They don’’t know who they want to be, and their parents, welcoming them back, are often happy to help them plan the next stage of their lives. When your friends finally enter the job market, they’’re often impatient, viewing work as a springboard to greater things. The average adult under 34 holds a job for only 20 months. "The illusion that they’’re going to get on this magical conveyor belt of a company and ride it out 40 years is completely shattered," says Eric Chester, author of "Getting Them to Give a Damn". There’’s also less patience for mindless tasks, says Jessica Ashooh, a senior at Brown, who spent a summer in high school as a retail-store clerk. "I hated it," she says. "It was not intellectual. I just wanted to die every day." The shrink’’s question, in the end, is how do you view yourself The academic — you’’ve been taught to imitate one, after all — would answer this question through literature. To you, your generation has been ping-ponging between two lines from T. S. Eliot: "Indeed there will be time." (For fun, later.) And: "Hurry up please it’’s time." (For success, now.) But a simpler analogy also comes to mind. You and your friends have lived your lives, for better or worse, through a mirror — reflecting your parents’’ biggest hopes and, along the way, sacrificing some of your own desires. As a result, you’’ve become smarter, faster, more accomplished. But still, there’’s something missing. Where’’s the "I" in your identity You can’’t learn that from them. According to the author, the greatest problem with the young people is________.