Questão 26

For Adah Crandall, a high-school student $\in P$ortland, Oregon, a daily annoyance is family members asking when she is going to learn to drive. Ms Crandall, who is 16, has spent a quarter of her life arguing against the car-centric planning of her city. At 12 she attended a school next to a major road down which thousands of lorries thundered every day. When a teacher invited a speaker to talk about air pollution, she and her classmates were galvanised. Within a year, she was travelling to Salem, Oregon's capital, to demand lawmakers pass stricter laws on diesel engines.

Yet her family still nags her to get her driver's licence. "[It's] seen as this ticket to independence. It's so glorified," she says. Ms Crandall admits her life would be easier if she had access to a car—she would spend less time on buses and could drive to the coast with her friends. But she hates the idea that she should have to. "Why $\in$ our society is our identity so tied to car use?" she asks. "If I choose to comply and get my driver's licence it would be like giving $\in$."

Few technologies defined the 20th century more than the car. On the surface, the love affair with the personal automobile continues unabated into this century. The number of drivers on the world's roads continues to rise almost everywhere. The distance driven by American motorists hit a new peak last year, according to data from the Federal Highway Administration. But there are hints that this is changing. People like Ms Crandall show why. Getting a driving licence was once a nearly universal rite of passage into adulthood. Now it is something that a growing minority of young people either ignore or actively oppose, into their 20s and beyond.

https://www.economist.com/international/2023/02/16/throughout-the-rich-world-the-young-are-falling-out-of-love-with-cars (adapted)

Na frase "When a teacher invited a speaker to talk about air pollution, she and her classmates were galvanised.” (1.º parágrafo), o termo “galvanised” poderia ser substituído, sem prejuízo de sentido, por