A good marriage means growing as a couple but also growing as individuals. This isn"t easy, marriage has always been difficult. Why then are we seeing so many divorces at this time? Yes, our modern social fabric is thin, and yes the permissiveness of society has created unrealistic expectations and thrown the family into disorder. But divorce is so common be-cause people today are unwilling to exercise the self-discipline that marriage requires. They expect easy joy, like the entertainment on TV, the thrill of a good party. Marriage takes some kind of sacrifice, net dreadful self-sacrifice of the soul, but some level of compromise. Some of one"s fantasies, some of one"s legitimate desires have to be given up for the value of the marriage itself. "While all marital partners feel shackled at times, it is they who really choose to make the marital ties into confining chains or supporting bends", says Dr. Whitaker. Marriage requires sexual, financial and emotional discipline. A man and a woman cannot follow every impulse, cannot allow themselves to stop growing or changing. A divorce is not an evil act. Sometimes it provides salvation(拯救) for people who have grown hopelessly apart or were frozen in patterns of pain or mutual unhappiness. Divorce can be like the first cut of the surgeon"s knife, a step toward new health and a good life. On the other hand, if the partners can stay past the breaking up of the romantic myths into the development of real love and intimacy, they have achieved a work as amazing as the greatest cathedrals(教堂) of the world. Marriages that do not fail but improve, that persist despite imperfections, are not only rare these days but offer a wondrous shelter in which the face of our mutual humanity can safely show itself.

单选题 According to the author, an ideal marriage life ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：细节判断题。文章第一句指出：理想的婚姻不仅应该为夫妻二人的发展而且也应该为他们各自的发展提供机会。第二段第一句指出，婚姻需要夫妻双方做出某些牺牲(some kind of sacrifice)，这里"牺牲"并非指灵魂上的巨大自我牺牲，而是指夫妻双方需要做出某些必要的妥协，如为了婚姻得以圆满继续，夫妻各自的一些不切实际的幻想(fantasies)和某些看上去似乎合理的愿望应该让居第二位。

单选题 In Paragraph 2, the word "legitimate" most probably means ______.

单选题 In the author"s opinion, a divorce is not an evil act ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：事实判断题。然而，离异有时也并不是件坏事，它有时会成为处于无法弥合的婚姻或痛苦不幸的婚姻中的人的救星。对这些人来说离婚正像是外科大夫的手术一样，可以帮人恢复健康并快乐地生活。参阅第三段第一、二、三句。

单选题 The author believes the real cause for the increase of divorces today is that______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：细节判断题。在文章第一、二段，作者探讨了离婚增多的原因。他认为，社会的纵容、放任(permissiveness)使人们产生了不切实际的幻想，人们不愿做出婚姻需要夫妻双方所做出的牺牲，只想放纵自己。婚姻需要夫妻双方做出牺牲，需要他们在某些方面的自我约束(self-discipline)，而不能靠冲动行事。可见，作者认为离婚的主要原因是人们缺乏内在的自制(internal restraints)。