第二篇 The State of Marriage Today

Is there something seriously wrong with marriage today? During the past 50 years，the rate of divorce in the United States has exploded：almost 50％ of marriages end in divorce now，and the evidence suggests it is going to get worse. If this trend continues，it will lead to the breakup of the family, according to a spokesperson for the National Family Association. Some futurists predict that in 100 years，the average American will marry at least four times，and extramaritai（婚外的）affairs will be even more common than they are now.

But what are the reasons for this，and is the picture really so gloomy （明暗的）? The answer to the first question is really quite simple：marriage is no longer the necessity it once was. The institution of marriage has been based for years partly on economic need. Women used to be economically dependent on their husbands as they usually didn't have jobs outside the home. But with the rising number of women in well-paying jobs，this is no longer the case，so they don't feel that they'need to stay in a failing marriage.

In answer to the second question，the outlook may not be as pessimistic （悲觀的）as it seems. While the rate of divorce has risen, the rate of couples marrying has never actually fallen very much，so marriage is still quite popular. In addition to this，many couples now simply live together and don't bother to marry. These couples are effectively married，but they do not appear in either the marriage or divorce statistics. In fact，more than 50％ of first marriages survive.

So is marriage really an outdated institution? The fact that most people still get married indicates that it isn't. And it is also true that married couples have a healthier life than single people：they suffer less from stress and its consequences，such as heart problems，and married men generally consider themselves more contented than their single counterparts. Perhaps the key is to find out what makes a successful marriage and apply it to all of our relationships!

36. Which of the following is true about the marriage in the United States today?

A. Divorce leads to the breakup of the family.

B. More and more people are getting divorced.

C. More than half of the married couples get divorced.

D. American people marry more than four times.

37. What does "this is no longer the case" in paragraph 2 mean?

A. Women are not economically dependant any more.

B. It is not necessary to get married any more.

C. Women do not need a husband any longer.

D. Many wives do well-paying jobs outside home now.

38. Why is the outlook of marriage not as hopeless as it appears?

A. The rate of divorce has actually decreased.

B. Over 60％ of the marriages continue to exist.

C. The statistics of divorce is reliable.

D. Many people still like to get married.

39. How do most men feel in their marriage life?

A. They feel much stronger than before.

B. They feel more satisfied than being single.

C. They don't feel as lonely as before.

D. They suffer more than before.

40. Which of the following about marriage is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. It is important to discover what makes a marriage successful.

B. Many people went abroad after divorce.

C. Marriage has long been partly an economic need.

D. It is a fact that most people choose to get married.

本題分數（15）

36 B 文章的第一段把美國目前的婚姻狀況講得很清楚:During the past 50 years，the rate of divorce in the United States has exploded: almost 50 % of marriages end in divorce now ，and the evidence suggests it is going to get worse.

37 A 在這句話前面，作者講到以前婦女不工作，經濟上依賴丈夫。但隨著越來越多的婦女獲得收入不菲的工作，情況就不同先前了。

38 D 第三段講了雖然離婚率在上升，但結婚率并沒有下降，人們還是喜歡結婚，因此前景并非那么悲觀。

39 B 第四段的這句話 married men generally consider themselves more contented than their single counterparts 回答了這個問題。

40 B 文章沒有提到人們離婚后出國。

（責任編輯：vstara）

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