A、12％. B、16％. C、30％. D、40％. A原文中提到，这一研究中有12％的父母说他们感觉自己的孩子在财务状况方面会比自己差。因此答案为A。

Researchers questioned 580 Americans from ages 15 to 26, as well as 591 parents of people in the group. The study found that around half of the young people think they will have stronger household finances than their parents. About 29 percent expect to do as well financially as their parents. Twenty percent expect to do worse. Parents were a little more hopeful: 60 percent think their children will do better than they themselves did. The 60 percent included parents of all earning levels. Twelve percent of parents said that they felt their children might do worse. It is no longer a guarantee that children will be able to improve upon the financial situation in which they grew up.
    In 2016, economist Raj Chetty and other experts released a study confirming this idea. They found that about half of the Americans born in 1984 earned more at age 30 than their parents, down from 92 percent in 1940. Jennifer Narvaez of Miami, Florida, believes she will be wealthier than her parents. She holds an undergraduate degree in biology and is planning on attending medical school to become an expert on the human heart. The 23-year old said she expects as a college graduate to have better chances to get a job and own a home than her parents. They were born in Nicaragua and immigrated to the United States. Alex
    Barrier, 20, also felt hopeful that he might do better than his mother. She was 18 when she had him and raised him on her own. Barner is attending college in New Mexico and is considering a future career in business. Barner has some unease about the direction in which the nation and its economy are headed. Like Narvaez, he is concerned about US trade policies. Barner also said he feels politicians need to pay more attention to issues that have an immediate effect on people like health care and student loan forgiveness.
    The study found young Americans are divided on their predictions for the nation’s economy in the year ahead. The most common opinion, at 41 percent, was that the economy would remain the same. Thirty percent of those questioned said they expect it to worsen. And 29 percent predicted the economy would improve. The parent group was also divided; 38 percent expect the economy to stay the same, 35 percent expect improvement and 27 percent expect conditions to get worse.
    Questions 23 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
    23. What does the study find about young people in the United States?
    24. What percentage of parents thought their children might do worse than them?
    25. What is the most common opinion of young Americans about the nation’s economy in the coming year?