The horse and carriage is thing of the past, but love and marriage is still with us and still closely interrelated. Most American marriages, particularly first marriages     1    young couples are the result of     2    attraction and affection     3    than practical considerations.
    In the United States, parents do not arrange marriages for their children. Teenagers begin     4    in high school and usually find mates through their own academic and social     5    . Though young people feel     6    to choose their friends from     7    groups, most choose a mate of similar background. This is     8    in part to parental guidance. Parents cannot select spouses for their children, but they can usually     9    choices by     10    disapproval of someone they consider unsuitable.
        11    , marriages between members of different groups (interclass, interfaith, and interracial marriages) are increasing, probably because of the greater     12    of today's youth and the fact that they are restricted by     13    prejudice than their parents. Many young people leave their home towns to attend college,     14    in the armed forces,     15    pursue a career in a bigger city. Once away from home and family, they are more     16    to date and marry outside their own social group. In mobile American society, interclass marriages are neither     17    nor shocking. Interfaith marriages are     18    the rise particularly between Protestants and Catholics. On the other hand, interracial marriage is still very uncommon. It can be difficult for interracial couples to find a place to live, maintain friendships, and     19    a family. Marriages between people of different national     20    (but the same race and religion) have been commonplace here since colonial times. 
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】 定位本填空前后的原文,前面的线索为first marriages(第一次婚姻),后面线索为young couples(年轻的夫妻),结合本文的主线,此处可能将会表达:在美国,年轻夫妻的第一次婚姻是爱的结果。所以这里,本填空需要强调的意思是“关于年轻夫妻的第一次婚姻”的概念,这里的目标是希望把年龄大的人的第一次婚姻隔离出去,加强作者的立论。从这个意义上,四个选项中B项concerning表达的意思最准确,因为concerning表示“涉及、关于”,即“关于年轻夫妻的第一次婚姻”。其他选项A项linking、C项connecting和D项correlating表示的是一个动作概念,即“结合、连接”等意思,不如选项B项concerning准确,所以选项B项是最佳答案。
   [参考译文]
   马与马车已经是历史的遗迹,但是爱情与婚姻仍然是我们生活的一部分且密不可分。大多数美国人的婚姻,尤其是年轻人的初次婚姻依然是情感相吸和互相爱慕的结果,而非出于现实的考虑。
   在美国,父母并不为子女安排婚姻。青少年在高中时就开始约会,并且通常是通过他们自己的学习和社会圈子找到伴侣的。尽管年轻人可以自由地从各种不同群体中寻求朋友,但大多数人还是找背景相似的伴侣。这一部分是由于家长的引导。家长虽然不能为子女挑选配偶,但他们常常可以通过反对他们认为不适合的人选来施加影响。
   但是,不同群体之间的婚姻(即不同阶层、信仰和种族间的婚姻)正在增加,可能是由于今天的年轻人有更大的流动性,以及他们比起父母更少地受到偏见的束缚。许多年轻人离开家乡去上大学,在军队中服役,或者在大城市找工作。一旦离开了家乡和家庭,他们就更可能与不同社会群体的人约会和结婚。在流动性强的美国社会,跨阶层的婚姻并不少见,也不令人震惊。跨信仰的婚姻正在增多,特别是在新教和天主教之间。另一方面,跨种族的婚姻还是不常见。对于跨种族的夫妻而言,在找地方居住、建立朋友圈以及组建家庭等方面还是困难重重。跨国籍婚姻(但是同种族同信仰)自从殖民时代起就已经十分普遍了。