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  3. The public is kinder to its veterans today than it was during the Vietnam War, when soldiers risked their lives overseas only to

The public is kinder to its veterans today than it was during the Vietnam War, when soldiers risked their lives overseas only to

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问题     The public is kinder to its veterans today than it was during the Vietnam War, when soldiers risked their lives overseas only to face scorn from antiwar activists when they got home. Yet veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan may be having a harder time readjusting to civilian life than previous generations.
    Recognition and treatment of combat-related mental health problems have greatly improved over the years, so it’s impossible to compare historical rates of, say, post-traumatic stress disorder  (PTSD).
    【B11】________________
    A Rand Corp. study last year found that almost 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans report PTSD or depression. It doesn’t help that the soldiers are coming home better treated by their fellow   countrymen.
    【B12】_____________________
    In order to fight two Middle Eastern wars, troops have been forced to serve multiple deployments, and reservists who thought their combat days were over have found themselves on the front lines.
    As Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates pointed out that the war in Afghanistan has surpassed the Revolutionary War as the longest conflict ever fought by this country with an all-volunteer force. The resulting strains have been cited as a factor in the shooting incident at Ft. Hood, Texas, though it’s too early to tell whether institutional stresses, cultural conflicts or personal devils caused the suspected killer to snap.【B13】______________Treating their invisible wounds—mental disorders,  substance abuse and traumatic brain injuries—will take many decades.
    To their credit, the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are increasingly recognizing this. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki recently laid out an ambitious plan to end homelessness among veterans, mostly by improving medical services, including mental health care.【B14】_________________
    And yet so much more needs to be done. A report released earlier this year by the VA estimated that more than 130,000 veterans were homeless in the previous year. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the VA’s figures mean that veterans were more than twice as likely to be left homeless as the typical American. By far the largest number of homeless vets was in California, with an estimated 20,000 in Los Angeles alone.【B15】_________________
    [A]   What’s clear is that neither the men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor the American people as a whole, will be finished paying the cost of these wars even after the last U.S. soldier has left.
    [B]   Therefore, homelessness, family strains and psychological problems among returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will persist in the United States for generations to come.
    [C]   But advocates say California, like many other states, has no strategy for dealing with this problem, which is worsened by the region’s elevated unemployment rate and high cost of housing.
    [D]  High rents and a lack of job prospects can send those already struggling to cope with war-related stress over the edge. But the likeliest explanation for these troublesome trends is that the military is stretched too thin.
    [E]   But the statistics that do exist are troubling. Military suicides are soaring—last year, the Army reported a record 133, and the suicide rate among soldiers in Iraq is 11% higher than in Vietnam.
    [F]   Meanwhile, state and local officials need to open their eyes to the problems faced by returning veterans and start working with the VA and other agencies to solve them.
    [G]  The government has nearly doubled its budget for psychological and brain-injury treatments over the past year and created a new program, Real Warriors, aimed at reducing the stigma many soldiers feel in seeking treatment for PTSD.
【B13】
选项
答案A
解析 空格前提到阿富汗战争引发的压力可能是胡德堡枪击案的成因，但真实的原因还无法确定。空格后指出愈合他们的隐性伤口至少需数十年时间。A符合此处语境，承接上文的未明情况，用What’s clear is that…来衔接，引出下文的明确情形。而空格后的内容则是进一步解释A说的“美国人无法偿还伊拉克和阿富汗战争的代价”。A与空格前后的内容语义衔接．故为本题答案。
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