If there was any time for American consumers to feel good, it would be this moment. Job growth is brisk. Paychecks are finally nudging up. And a surprise drop in gas prices has given the average (1) _______ an extra $700 a year.

But six years after the end of the Great Recession, Americans are startlingly anxious about their economic (2) _______. They are sitting on their money in a way that suggests that the consumer psychology may have (3) _______ changed, with people less willing to spend than they were during other periods of economic prosperity.

Government data released Friday showed that the economy (4) _______ at a 0.7 percent annual rate between January and March, in part because consumers pulled back on (5) _______. The disappointing numbers (6) _______ a steady clip of positive economic news that many analysts had used to suggest that the nation was on the verge of liftoff.

Although the United States faces other headwinds (不利因素), the newfound prudence of American consumers has turned into the country's core economic dilemma. Some economists say that the recession caused a psychological (7) _______ deeper than initially appreciated, leaving Americans of all ages less willing to (8) _______ their money back into the economy in the form of vacations, clothing and nights out.

It's a sharp contrast to the 1990s, when consumers spent (9) _______ as their wages rose robustly, and the 2000s, when Americans funded more lavish (浪費(fèi)的) lifestyles with easy (10) _______ to credit cards and home-equity loans.

A) illustrated B) access C) spending D) outstanding

E) shrank F) prospects G) occupying H) household

I) covered J) interrupted K) fundamentally L) freely

M) trauma N) inject O) identical

答案：

1. H) household

2. F) prospects

3. K) fundamentally

4. E) shrank

5. C) spending

6. J) interrupted

7. M) trauma

8. N) inject

9. L) freely

10. B) access