大学一年级下学期-Unit9-passage-english-b.docVIP

PAGE P1Around the world, in rich and poor countries alike, the structure of family life is 1undergoing/1 extreme changes, a new analysis of research from numerous countries has 2concluded/2. The idea that the family is a stable and 3orderly/3 unit in which father serves as economic provider and mother serves as emotional caregiver is a myth, said Judith Bruce, a leading author of the study. The reality is that trends like unmarried mothers, rising divorce rates and smaller 4households/4 are not unique to America, but are occurring worldwide. The report was 5released/5 Tuesday by the Population 6Council/6, an international organization based in New York that studies issues related to childbearing. Its 7graphs/7 bine information obtained from a variety of population and household studies from dozens of countries. A summary of the major 8findings/8: Whether because of 10abandonment/10, separation, divorce or death of a spouse, marriages are 11dissolving/11 with increasing 12frequency/12. In many developed countries, divorce rates doubled between 1970 and 1990, and in less-developed countries, about a quarter of first marriages end by the time women are in their 40s. Parents in their 13prime/13 working years face growing 14burdens/14 caring for children, who need to be supported through more years of education, and for their own parents, who are living longer. Unmarried mothers are increasingly mon virtually everywhere, reaching as many as a third of all births in the north of Europe, for example. P2Children in single-parent households?ausually families with only a mother present?aare much more likely to be 15overtaken/15 by poverty than those who live with two parents, largely because of the loss of support from the fathers. Even in households where fathers are present, mothers are carrying increasing economic responsibility for children. The 16theme/16 that families are changing in similar ways, even in very different cultures, should bring about new thinking on s