Every Sunday morning millions of Indians
settle down with a cup of tea and special weekend issues of their newspapers,
just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of
them quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian — the columns of
marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives. This
is relatively(相关地)modern change in the age-old custom of the arranged marriage.
The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social
changes that coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are
still described in terms of appearance, or skill in "the wifely arts,"
information about her earning power is entering more and more of the
advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife.
Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is
sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose
advertisement in New Delhi newspaper explained that had been "the innocent
party" when her marriage broke up. Because the custom of the
dowry(嫁妆)(marriage payment) is now illegal(违法的), some advertisements
say "no dowry", or "simple marriage", which means the same thing. However, the
fathers of many bridegrooms still require it. In a land where
light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a
woman have a "wheat-color" complexion(面色) or that a man be "tall, fair and
handsome". Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide
range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive
dozens of answers. "There's nothing embarrassing about it, " explained a
Calcutta businessman advertising a son-in-law. "It's just another way of
broadening the contacts and increases the possibility of doing the contacts and
increasing the possibilities of doing the best one for one's daughter."
Because of high unemployment and a generally poor standard of
living here, one of the best attractions a marriage advertisement can offer is a
permit to live abroad, especially in Canada or the United States. A person who
has one can get what he wants. One recent Sunday in Madras, for
example, a Punjabi engineer living in San Francisco advertised for a "beautiful
slim bride with lovely features knowing music and dance. " And a man whose
advertisement said that he held an American immigration permit was able to say,
only girls from rich, well-connected families need apply.
单选题
In marriage advertisements in India women are only introduced in terms of appearance or their skill in being a good wife.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 关键词是marriage advertisements和appearance and their skill，依据此关键词，可在文中第一段找到相关叙述：although women are still described in terms of appearance, or skill in“the wifely arts，”information about her earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements.(尽管仍用相貌如何、是否可为贤妻等方面来介绍女性，但是关于她们的赚钱能力的信息越来越多地进入广告中。)显然与题干不符，故此题为“错误”的。
单选题
India's society is changing.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 关键词是is changing，依据此关键词，可在文章第一段倒数第三句中找到相关叙述：The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that coming to this traditional society.该句说“每周公布的数以千计的广告反映出这个传统的社会正发生着变化”，故此题为“正确”的。
单选题
The word "dowry" in the third paragraph means marriage payment.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 关键词为dowry，依据此关键词可在文章中找到答案相关句：Because the {{U}}custom{{/U}} of the dowry(marriage payment)is now illegal，some advertisements say“no dowry”，or“simple marriage”，which means the same thing.答案相关句中marriage payment放在括号中出现在dowry，充当其同位语结构，对其进行解释，因此dowry的含义就是“marriage payment(彩礼钱)”，故此题为“正确”的。
单选题
In India people with light skin and good feature are preferable.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 关键词light skin和good feature，依据此关键词，在文章中找到答案相关句：In a land(国家，指印度)where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a“wheat color”complexion or that a man be“tall, fair and handsome”.答案相关句说“在印度，人们喜好浅亮肤色”，但并没有说“喜欢美丽的容貌”，因此问题句中有部分信息没有在文章中出现，故此题为“未提及”的。
单选题
The word "one" in "A person who has one can get what he wants" refers
to good attraction.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 关键词“A person who has one can get what he wants”，依据此话所在的上下文：Because of high unemployment and a generally poor standard of living here，one of the best attractions a marriage advertisement can offer is a permit to 1ire abroad, especially in Canada or the United States. A person who has one can get what he wants．划线句说“有了一个______的人能得到他想要的”，结合前句话的内容，one应该指前句中的permit to 1ive abroad(在国外居住地许可5z)，故此题为“错误”的。
单选题
Advertisements are only read by a small group of people of high social status.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 关键词people of high social status，依据此关键词作为答案线索，在第五段中找到答案相关句：Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes(与people of high social status呼应)，mostly in cities.答案相关句说“上层社会中很多人都会急切地读这些广告”，因此问题句的内容与答案相关句的内容不一致，故此题为“错误”的。