EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) —they arrived before polling stations even opened, dressed for the school day in striped ties and blazers, dress slacks and tartan skirts, book bags over their shoulders —and, for the first time in British history, ballot (选票) cards in hands on September 18.
Scotland’s experiment of allowing more than 109,000 Scottish teenagers aged 16 to 17 took part in the Scottish independence referendum (公民投票), in which Scotland finally decided not to become independent.
The age group only made up a small part of the 4.29 million total voters, but they have “demonstrated how the youngest voters can be some of the most enthusiastic in a mature democracy”, commented The Associated Press. Casting their ballots, they were “proud and passionate” to help their nation decide whether to break away from the UK after 307 years in union.
At age 16, Scottish residents are allowed to join the military, get married, and work. Eighteen is the legal drinking age, as well as the UK’s voting age. But in 2013, Scottish law was changed to allow 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland to vote in the referendum. The government pushed for the change because “younger voters are more likely to vote with their hearts, not their heads—and embrace fundamental change by voting for the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign”, NBC News said.
But when the decision was handed down, some worried that high school students might not be as informed as adult voters. However, many experts said that assumption was wrong.
Professor Jan Eichhorn of the University of Edinburgh insisted that Scottish teenagers were as likely to read newspaper articles and campaign materials as their parents. They would simply get these resources through social media.
“There’s no evidence to suggest that they’re less capable than adults of voting, from a research point of view,” Eichhorn told NPR.
Scotland’s move to let younger teenagers vote in the referendum has led to a discussion about whether the voting age ought to be lowered to 16, both in the UK and the US.
“By 16, most people have about as stable an ideology (思想意识) as they are going to get,” Professor Jason Brennan of Georgetown University wrote for CNN, arguing that the US should also think about allowing younger US citizens to vote.
The Scottish independence referendum was held on Sept. 18 ______.

A．to encourage youngsters to be concerned with politics

B．to lower the minimum voting age to 16 for the referendum

C．to decide whether Scotland would become independent from the UK

D．to elect who would be the new leader of Scotland

According to the passage, we can learn ______.

A．Scotland gained its independence from the UK eventually.

B．It is possible for the USA to lower the voting age to 16 in the future.

C．All the people in Scotland thought highly of the government’s decision to lower the voting age to 16.

D．Scottish teenagers aged 16 are allowed to join the military, get married, work and drink alcohol now.

What does the underlined word “embrace” (in para.4) probably mean?

A．Admit to	B．Object to
C．Know about	D．Approve of

What is Jan Eichhorn’s opinion of the Scottish teenagers aged 16 to 17?

A．They are as informed and capable as adults of voting.

B．They make no difference to the voting result.

C．They are too enthusiastic to make informed decisions.

D．They are unwilling to be involved in the decision of the country’s future.

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