Passage Four
'Family' is of course an elastic word. But when British people say that their society is based on family life, they are thinking of 'family' in its narrow, peculiarly European sense of mother, father and children living together alone in their own house as an economic and social unit. Thus, every British marriage indicates the beginning of a new and independent family—hence the tremendous importance of marriage in British life.
For both the man and the woman, marriage means leaving one's parents and starting one's own life. The man's first duty will then be to his wife, and the wife's to her husband. He will be entirely responsible for her financial support, and she for the running of the new home. Their children will be their common responsibility and theirs alone. Neither the wife's parents nor the husband's, nor their brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, have any right to interfere with them—they are their own masters.
Readers of novels like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice will know that in former times marriage among wealthy families were arranged by the girl's parents, that is, it was the parents duty to find a suitable husband for their daughter, preferably a rich one, and by skillful encouragement to lead him eventually to ask their permission to marry her. Until that time, the girl was protected and maintained in the parents home, and the financial relief of getting rid of her could be seen in their giving the newly married pair a sum of money called a dowry. It is very different today. Most girls of today get a job when they leave school and become financially independent before their marriage. This has had two results. A girl chooses her own husband, and she gets no dowry.
What does the author mean by 'Family is of course an elastic word'?______
题干大意是：作者说“Family确实是一个很有弹性的词”是什么意思?此句主要是考查对elastic这个单词的理解，elastic的意思是“有弹性的，灵活的”,整句话的意思是“家庭当然不是一个固定不变的概念”。本文主要讲述了英国人现代及以前对家庭的理解，所以可推知family一词有不同的定义。
For an English family, the husband's duty is ______.
题干大意是：对于一个英国家庭，丈夫的责任在于 。根据第二段第二、三句The man's first duty…running of the new home."可知，在一个英国家庭中，男人负责赚钱，女人负责持家。故选C.
Everything is decided in a family ______.
题干大意是：在家庭中一切事 _决定。根据第二段最后一句"Neither the wife's parents..have any right to interfere with them—they are their own masters."可知，谁都没有权力干涉夫妻俩的事情——他们是自己的主人。由此可推知，家庭中一切事务是由夫妻俩决定的。故选A。
What is true concerning the book Pride and Prejudice?______
题干大意是：关于《傲慢与偏见》这本书哪项说法是正确的?分析本文第三段可知，《佛慢与偏见》这本书讲述了当时英国的婚姻状况，当时有钱人之间的婚姻都是由女方父母做主，并且父母给新婚夫妇一些钱做嫁妆之后就不再管他们的经济问题，这是当时英国社会生活的一个方面。故选C。
With regard to marriage in Britain, present-day girls differ from former time girls in ______.
题干大意是：关于英国的婚姻，现在的女孩儿与之前的女孩儿在 有所不同根据第三段第二句"Until that time,the girl was protected and maintained…."可了解过去的女孩儿的社会地位，她们处于受保护的地位。根据第三段第三、四句"It is very different today.."可知，现在的女孩儿的社会地位与以前相比有很大提高，主要表现在结婚前就可以经济独立，婚姻自由，这些都属于社会地位方面。故选D。