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 (悲观的)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So is marriage really an outdated institution?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!

单选题第1题What does "this is no longer the case" in paragraph 2 mean?

A.Women are not economically dependant any mor

B.It is not necessary to get married any mor

C.Women do not need a husband any longe

D.Many wives do well-paying jobs outside home no

参考答案：A

单选题第2题How do most men feel in their marriage life?

A.They feel much stronger than befor

B.They feel more satisfied than being singl

C.They don't feel as lonely as befor

D.They suffer more than befor

参考答案：B

单选题第3题Why is the outlook of marriage not as hopeless as it appears?

A.The rate of divorce has actually decrease

B.Over 60% of the marriages continue to exi

C.The statistics of divorce is reliabl

D.Many people still like to get marrie

参考答案：D

单选题第4题Which of the following about marriage is NOT mentioned in the passage?

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

B.Many people went abroad after divorc

C.Marriage has long been partly an economic nee

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

参考答案：B

单选题第5题Which of the following is true about the marriage in the United States today?

A.Divorce leads to the breakup of the famil

B.More and more people are getting divorce

C.More than half of the married couples get divorce

D.American people marry more than four time

参考答案：B