问答题
{{I}}Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be read at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be read at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 2 minutes to check through your work once more.
Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE.{{/I}}
【正确答案】
【答案解析】[听力原文]
Marriage has been an important part of people’s life from the early times. Most American marriages nowadays, especially flint marriages involving young couples, are the result of mutual affection.
Parents hardly ever select spouses for their children, but they can usually influence their choices by voicing disapproval of someone they consider unsuitable. Parents do not arrange marriages for their children but they are willing to offer some financial aid to the new couples.
The average age of marriage in the U. S. A. is 23 for man and 21 for woman. The legal marriage age is 18 for both male and female.
There are about 2,500,000 couples reporting manages in the U. 5. A. every year. The marriage rate in 1994 was 10. 5 per 1,000 people. Of 2,487,000 marriages in 1994, about 1,115,000 were unsuccessful. The divorce rate in the U. S. is so high that it produces a large number of one-parent families and causes serious social problems.