More and more Americans are living alone. Some live alone because of divorce or the death of a partner. _ 1 _According to a recent U. S. census （人口普查）， 25 percent of all households in the U. S. are made up of just one person. This is a dramatic change from the extended families of just a couple of generations ago.

　　The typical person living alone is neither old nor lonely. __2 __The majority of these people have chosen to live alone. They are responding to decreasing social pressure to get married and have a family.

　　It's now socially acceptable， even fashionable， to live alone. As people get better jobs and become financially independent， it becomes possible for them to maintain a one-person household. __3__However， people who do get married are marrying at a later age and divorcing more often.

　　The number one reason given by most people for living alone is that they simply enjoy doing what they want when they want to do it. "Living alone is a luxury，" says Nina Hagiwara， 338. "Once you do it， you can't ever go back to living with others." David C-Debaca， 46， agrees. __4 __

　　Children think that being grown up means being able to do exactly as they please. __5 __ The chance to discover whether that freedom is as wonderful as it sounds is a chance more and more Americans are taking.

　　A There's more pressure to get married nowadays.

　　B The growing number of women with good jobs has done much to increase the number of people living alone.

　　C However， even more people are living alone because they have chosen to.

　　D It seems that many grown-ups today are realizing that childhood dream.

　　E In facts， a quarter of the 23 million single people in the U. S. are under the age of 35.

　　F He says， "I like being by myself.

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