单选题 Is there something seriously wrong with marriage today? During the past 50 years, the rate of divorce in the United States has exploded: almost 50% of marriages end in divorce now, and the evidence suggests it is going to get worse. If this trend continues, it will lead to the breakup of the family, according to a spokesperson for the National Family Association. Some futurists predict that in 100 years, the average American will marry at least four times, and extramarital (婚外的) affairs will be even more common than they are now.
But what are the reasons for this, and is the picture really so gloomy (明暗的)? The answer to the first question is really quite simple: marriage is no longer the necessity it once was. The institution of marriage has been based for years partly on economic need. Women used to be economically dependent on their husbands—as they usually didn"t have jobs outside the home. But with the rising number of women in well-paying jobs, this is no longer the case, so they don"t feel that they need to stay in a failing marriage.
In answer to the second question, the outlook may not be as pessimistic (悲观的) as it seems. While the rate of divorce has risen, the rate of couples marrying has never actually fallen very much, so marriage is still quite popular. In addition to this, many couples now simply live together and don"t bother to marry. These couples are effectively married, but they do not appear in either the marriage or divorce statistics. In fact, more than 50% of first marriages survive.
So is marriage really an outdated institution? The fact that most people still get married indicates that it isn"t. And it is also true that married couples have a healthier life than single people: they suffer less from stress and its consequences, such as heart problems, and married men generally consider themselves more dependent than their single counterparts. Perhaps the key is to find out what makes a successful marriage and apply it to all of our relationships!
单选题 Which of the following is true about the marriage in the United States today?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。由关键词marriage一词定位到文中第一段第二句“在过去的50年里，美国的离婚率暴增，几乎50%的家庭都以离婚为结局。”因此D选项(越来越多的人离婚了)意思最为接近，故为正确答案。
单选题 What does "this is no longer the case" in paragraph 2 mean?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 词汇题。第二段中说以前的结婚基础是对经济的需求，而现在越来越多的女性拥有薪资较高的工作，也就没再维持她们失败的婚姻。所以A选项(女性在经济方面不会再依赖别人了)为正确选项。
单选题 Why is the outlook of marriage riot as hopeless as it appears?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。由outlook和hopeless定位到第三段第二句“虽然离婚率增高了，但是夫妻的结婚率没怎么下降，因此结婚还是很流行的”，故A(许多人希望结婚)为正确选项。
单选题 How do most men feeling their marriage life?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。第四段第二句有相关信息“已婚男人普遍认为比起单身生活他们更满足于婚姻”。很显然，D选项为正确答案。
单选题 Which of the following about marriage is NOT mentioned in the passage?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 词汇题。A选项(发现使婚姻成功的秘诀很重要)出现在文章最后一句，B选项(婚姻长时间以来在一定程度上是一种经济需求)是在第二段第三句有相应表述，C选项(事实是很多人选择结婚)在第三段第二句有相应表述，D选项内容没有出现，故为正确答案。