I was recendy in London for the first,time in three years and was shocked by how much and how little had changed:Soho appeared tiny,the city's tree coverage seemed huge,and there were still building works on Charing Cross Road.Transport for London workers,on balance,seemed friendlier and more cheerful than their equivalents on the Metropolitan Transportacion Authority in New York,and I couldn't believe how aimless the average shopper in Sainsbury's was.Actually,that's not quite true.What I couldn't believe was how tivitchy and American I'd becomf when stuck behind people buying groceries,as it seemed to me,with insufficient speed or direction.Behavioural stereotypes of Americans versus British people tend to fall apart on closer inspection,except in this one area of how we behave as consumers;and as I slammed a trolley around the store（which,by the way,was vastly superior to any New York supermarket）I looked around and chought:honest to God,why aren't these people screaming?Towards che end of my stay,someching happened.I met an acquaintance who told a long story about a cousin on disabilily benefit who had just been helped by the state to buy a specially adapted car.I almost laughed out loud.In New York,you might,at a pinch,qualify for something called Access-A-Ride,which caters to people with disabilicies and runs on a schedule you can eilher make or,bad luck,let's hope the appointment wasn't important.In the US,it's no exaggeration to say that Oprah Winfrey is more likely to buy you a car than the government.The news that the supreme court justice Anthony Kennedy is reLiring-Kennedy is one of the crucial（semi-）progressives,who voted for abortion rights and same-sex marriage,among the nine-is an e-ven greater reminder of how painfully thin the protections of US civil liberties are.If,as one expects,Kennedy is replaced by an arch-conservative,e US is likely to swing even more disastrously rightwards.Ruth Bader Ginsberg,a liberal who at 85 is four years older than Kennedy,says she isnt retir-ing:how can she?I thought back on my trip and was shocked afresh.For all its faults and in spite of terrible under-investment,the very fact of the welfare state when seen from the US is nothing short of a miracle.I used to take it for granted,but that has gone We are not supposed to think of the world in terms of us and them,yet it is impossible,moving between the two countries,not to see the welfare state,the NHS and the philosophy that underpins them,as the greatest bulwarks between society in the UK and life as it is lived in the US.I know which side I'm on
The author quotes her acquaintance's story to mdicate that

A the disabled in America can receive government's support

B Britain's welfare system is much better than that of America

C British people often take government's support for granted

D Oprah Winfrey is a celebrity who loves charitable work