单选题 . ①A widespread concern in early eighteenth-century Britain that the institution of marriage was deteriorating into a mere business agreement, a cynical means of increasing wealth, was reflected in the media of the time. ②In the theater, for example, the Restoration comedy of manners, with its celebration of libertinism and portrayal of marriage as a social, and therefore artificial, institution, gave way to sentimental comedies like The Conscious Lovers, which celebrated the pure, instinctive love of its central characters while downplaying matters of wealth and status. ③New periodicals, such as the wildly popular Spectator, devoted many issues to the evils of mercenary marriages and to the glories of choosing love over money.
①However, the very popularity of such works calls into question the existence of any real trend toward mercenary marriage. ②Admittedly, the growing use and complexity of marriage settlements (the transfer of family property from one generation to the next upon a daughter's marriage) during this period meant that among the elite, at least, marriage contracts looked increasingly like business contracts. ③However, it should be noted that marriage had long been used by the elite to cement political or social bonds and to enhance family wealth.23. The primary purpose of the passage is to ______

A、 question whether early eighteenth-century British concerns about an increase in the instances of mercenary marriage were supported in fact
B、 illustrate the increasingly mercenary condition of marriage in early eighteenth-century Britain by means of examples from the media of the time
C、 suggest that current scholarship concerned with early eighteenth-century British views of marriage is flawed
D、 examine some of the factors that caused a trend toward mercenary marriage in early eighteenth-century Britain
E、 compare two different views of marriage as they were reflected in certain media of early eighteenth-century Britain

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】 A：本题属于主旨题。本文是驳论文，第一段描述了英国人对婚姻商业化的担忧，第二段则说明其实商业化即使存在，但是并没有变得更严重，因此选项A正确。
B：仅仅对应第一段的英国人的担忧，属于细节。
C：文中没提current scholarship。
D：本文讨论的是婚姻商业化的趋势是否发生，没讨论其发生因素。
E：文章没作这种比较。