A. Independence leading to family breakup B. Women’s easy and convenient life in USA C. No marriage for many people nowadays D. Average American families getting small E. Full freedom for young women F. Divorce--- a social problem in USA

_________
Marriage, like other social instructions, is showing the strains of modern life. While more Americans are getting married today than ever before, the divorce rate is also disturbingly on the rise (one divorce for every three marriages last year). Why should this be so, and what, if anything, can we do to reverse this trend?
__________
For most people, life is easier and more comfortable than ever before. Convenience foods from the supermarket simplify shopping and cooking. Household appliances like the vacuum cleaner and the washing machine have made housework much easier to do. Released from these household chores, many wives have found jobs outside the home. Women are achieving economic independence.
_______
Families, too, are simpler today. In American, it is not customary for parents to live with their married children. With our greater mobility, relatives have scattered, the parents retiring to Florida or Arizona and the young people, after they marry, going wherever their jobs or their interests take them.
________
Young adult women have new freedom, too. While attending college, they often live away from home, sometimes far from their parents or their relatives. After college, they move to the city, find a job, and set up “bachelor” apartment. This is the era of women’s liberation.
________
But all this freedom and affluence have had an unforeseen and in some respects a devastating effect on marriage. Men and women, no longer dependent on each other for food and maintenance, find it harder to accept the responsibilities and restraints or endurance the misunderstandings of married life. When happiness becomes misery, many couples decide to terminate their marriage through divorce. On the other hand, there is a growing trend today for couples in trouble to try to save their marriage by consulting a professional counselor. He listens patiently while they talk, knowing that only through self-understanding can they solve their problems.

科目 英语   题型 信息匹配   难度 中等