转载2011年综合类职称英语教材新增文章篇目答案及译文..docVIP

二0一一年职称英语综合类新增文章篇目阅读理解新增文章篇目 第八篇 The State of Marriage Today C级 *第三十八篇 Excessive Demands on Young People B级 +第四十七篇 Spoilt for Choice A级 第八篇The State of Marriage Today C级 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 nowand 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 l 00 years．the average American will marry at least four times．and extramarital affairs will be even more common than they are now． But what are the reasons for this，and is the picture really so gloomy? 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 haveobs 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 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 cohabit 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．The statistics are deceptive because there is a higher number of divorces in second and third marriages than in first marriages． So is marriage really an outdated institution?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：th