- 注释版
- 纯净版
来源:
导读：在很多人拿着小红本走进幸福的婚姻殿堂的同时，也有很多人拿着小红本离开婚姻的坟墓。（对，现在结婚和离婚都一样颜色，可能都是令人开心的事情吧）近年，国内离婚率飙升。年长的人说，现在的年轻人生活太肆意了，没有什么传统观念；年轻人说，他们太可悲了，被观念被孩子甚至被旁人的眼光束缚，生活没有自我。
那么，到底为什么离婚率飙升？离婚也真的就是再领个小红本那么简单么？
While the government talks up family values, marriage break-ups are soaring
Divorce rates are rising quickly across China. This is a remarkable transformation in a society where for centuries marriage was universal and mostly permanent (though convention permitted men to take concubines). The trend reflects profound economic and social change. In the past 35 years, the biggest internal migration experienced by any country in human history has been tearing families apart. Traditional values have been giving way to more liberal ones. Women are becoming better educated, and more aware of their marital rights (they now initiate over half of all divorce cases). Greater affluence has made it easier for many people to contemplate living alone—no longer is there such an incentive to stay married in order to pool resources.
permanent 英[ˈpɜ:mənənt] 美[ˈpɜ:rmənənt]
adj. 永久（性）的，永恒的，不变的，耐久的，持久的，经久的; 稳定的; 常务的，常设的;
n. 电烫发，烫发;
[例句]Heavy drinking can cause permanent damage to the brain
酗酒能造成永久性大脑损伤。
concubine 英[ˈkɒŋkjubaɪn] 美[ˈkɑ:ŋkjubaɪn]
n. 妾，妃子;
[例句]His concubine, mistress chen, was visiting with her old mother.
陈姨太也回到了她的年老的母亲那里。
tearing 英['teərɪŋ] 美['terɪŋ]
adj. 撕开的，痛苦的;
v. 撕( tear的现在分词 ); （使） 分裂; 撕碎; 扯破;
[例句]The company came under furious attack from environmentalists for tearing up the forests.
由于破坏了森林，这家公司受到环境保护主义者的猛烈抨击。
affluence 英['æflʊəns] 美[ˈæfluəns, əˈflu-]
n. 富裕; 富足;
[例句]Pockets of affluence coexist with poverty
少数富裕地区与贫困地区并存。
contemplate 英[ˈkɒntəmpleɪt] 美[ˈkɑ:ntəmpleɪt]
vt. 注视，凝视; 盘算，计议; 周密考虑;
vi. 沉思，深思熟虑;
[例句]For a time he contemplated a career as an army medical doctor
有段时间，他考虑去当军医。长难句：
Greater affluence has made it easier for many people to contemplate living alone—no longer is there such an incentive to stay married in order to pool resources.
破折号是解释说明，而且句子中只用到了一个破折号，这就表明从破折号到句子末尾都属于解释说明得部分，解释说明前面得句子。
前面句子的主语是greater affluence
谓语动词是has made
宾语是it充当的
easier for many people是宾语补足语
真正的宾语是后面的不定式to contemplate living alone。
基本可以理解，更加富足的经济状况，使得考虑单独居住对于很多人来说更加容易了。
破折号后面句子是一个倒装句。
真正的主语是is之后的名词such an incentive
to stay married in order to pool resources是不定式作incentive的后置定语。
句子恢复正常there is no longer such an incentive to stay married in order to pool resources。
再也没有结婚以获取资源的这样一个动机了。
As long as both sides agree on terms, China is now among the easiest and cheapest places in the world to get a divorce. In many Western countries, including Britain, couples must separate for a period before dissolving a marriage; China has no such constraints. In 2014, the latest year for which such data exist, about 3.6m couples split up—more than double the number a decade earlier (they received a red certificate, pictured, to prove it). The divorce rate—the number of cases per thousand people—also doubled in that period. It now stands at 2.7, well above the rate in most of Europe and approaching that of America, the most divorce-prone Western country (see chart). Chongqing's rate, 4.4, is higher than America's.
constraint 英[kənˈstreɪnt] 美[kənˈstrent]
n. 约束; 限制; 强制;
[例句]Their decision to abandon the trip was made because of financial constraints
他们决定放弃这次出游是因为财力有限。
prone 英[prəʊn] 美[proʊn]
adj. 俯卧的; 易于…的; 有…倾向的; 倾斜的，坡陡的;
[例句]For all her experience, she was still prone to nerves
尽管有经验，她还是容易紧张。
Helped by the huge movement of people from the countryside into cities, and the rapid spread of social media, the availability of potential mates has grown with astonishing speed, both geographically and virtually. But many migrants marry in their home villages and often live apart from their spouses for lengthy periods. This has contributed to a big increase in extra marital liaisons. Married people previously had limited opportunities to meet members of the opposite sex in social situations, according to research by Li Xiaomin of Henan University. Peng Xiaobo, a divorce lawyer in Chongqing, reckons 60-70% of his clients have had affairs.
geographically 英[ˌdʒi:ə'ɡræfɪklɪ] 美[dʒɪəˈɡræfɪkl:ɪ]
adv. 地理学上，在地理上，地理方面;
[例句]Although geographically linked, the two provinces have long fought for political ascendancy
尽管在地理上彼此依存，两省却长期为获取政治支配权你争我夺。
virtually 英[ˈvɜ:tʃuəli] 美[ˈvɜ:rtʃuəli]
adv. 无形; 无形中; 实际上，实质上，事实上，几乎;
[例句]Virtually all cooking was done over coal-fired ranges
差不多所有的烹饪都是在燃煤灶上进行的。
liaison 英[liˈeɪzn] 美[liˈeɪzɑ:n]
n. 联络，联络人; [语] 连音; （尤指一方或双方已婚的） 私通; [烹] 加浓料;
[例句]Liaison between police forces and the art world is vital to combat art crime.
警方和艺术界的联手对于打击艺术品犯罪至关重要。
reckon 英[ˈrekən] 美[ˈrɛkən]
vt. 认为; 计算; 测算，估计; 评定，断定;
vi. 估计; 计算; 猜想; 料想;
[例句]Toni reckoned that it must be about three o'clock
托妮估计当时肯定是3点钟左右。长难句：
Helped by the huge movement of people from the countryside into cities, and the rapid spread of social media, the availability of potential mates has grown with astonishing speed, both geographically and virtually.
Helped by…这是一个分词结构放在句首作修饰语，修饰句子的主语。
这里helped后面用by跟出了其动作发出者，这里有两个，一个是the huge movement，另外一个是and并列的the rapid spread of social media。
句子的主语是the availability of potential mates
谓语动词是has grown
后面的with astonishing speed是介词短语修饰旁边的has grown。
Both geographically and virtually这里并列的两个副词也是修饰动词的。
句意：被人们大量从乡村进入城市和社交媒体的快速普及所推动，潜在对象数量极速增长，无论从地理上还是在虚拟世界。
Such behavior has led to much soul-searching. The notion that “chopsticks come in pairs” is still prevalent; Propaganda posters preach Confucian-style family virtues using pictures of happy, multi-generation families. (President Xi Jinping is on his second marriage but this is rarely mentioned.) Many commentators in the official media talk of separation as a sign of moral failure; they fret that it signifies the decline of marriage, and of family as a social unit—a threat, as they see it, to social stability and even a cause of crime. The spread of “Western values” is often blamed.
chopstick 英[ˈtʃɒpstɪk] 美[ˈtʃɑ:pstɪk]
n. 筷子;
[例句]I can use chopstick ( s).
我能用筷子。
propaganda 英[ˌprɒpəˈgændə] 美[ˌprɑ:pəˈgændə]
n. 宣传，宣传运动;
[例句]The Front adopted an aggressive propaganda campaign against its rivals.
该阵线采用激进的宣传手段对付它的对手。
commentator 英[ˈkɒmənteɪtə(r)] 美[ˈkɑ:mənteɪtə(r)]
n. （电台的） 时事评论员，实况广播报导员; 注解者，注释者; 评论员，解说员; 主持[解释]宗教仪式的非教士;
[例句]A. M. Babu is a commentator on African affairs.
A.M.巴布是一位非洲事务评论员。
signify 英[ˈsɪgnɪfaɪ] 美[ˈsɪɡnəˌfaɪ]
vt. 意味; 预示; 表示…的意思;
vi. 具有重要性，要紧; 辱骂;
[例句]The contrasting approaches to Europe signified a sharp difference between the major parties
对欧洲截然不同的态度表明两大政党间存在巨大差异。长难句：
Many commentators in the official media talk of separation as a sign of moral failure; they fret that it signifies the decline of marriage, and of family as a social unit—a threat, as they see it, to social stability and even a cause of crime.
分号表明这里是并列句，分号前面是一个完整的句子，分号后面是另外一个完整的句子。
我们先看分号前的。
句子的主语是many commentators in the official media
谓语动词组成了一个搭配是talk of A as B
这里A是separation
B是a sign of moral failure
这个句子的意思是：很多官方媒体的评论员认为分居是道德败坏的一个标志。
我们再来看分号后面
they fret that…他们担忧…
这里fret我们在课程中这已经是第三次遇到了。
我们来看担忧的内容，也就是that从句内部的内容。
It signifies the decline 这是that引导的宾语从句的主干部分。
of marriage and of family as a social unit是两个介词短语并列共同修饰decline
破折号后面又是解释说明，这里a threat是后面的名词解释前面的饿decline是一种threat。什么样的threat呢？to social stability and even a cause of crime这是介词短语作threat的后置定语的。
这个句子的意思是：他们担心这意味着婚姻和家庭作为一个社会单元的衰落，他们把这看作一种威胁，会导致社会不稳定和犯罪。
But marriage is not losing its lustra. In most countries, rising divorce rates coincide with more births out of wedlock and a fall in marriage rates. China bucks both these trends. Remarriage is common too. The Chinese have not fallen out of love with marriage—only with each other.
lustra 英['lʌstrə] 美['lʌstrə]
n. （古罗马每五年人口普查后举行的） 驱邪仪式， （古罗马的）人口普查，五年时间(lustrum的复数); （古罗马每五年人口普查后举行的） 驱邪仪式，（古罗马的）人口普查，五年时间( lustrum的名词复数 )
wedlock 英[ˈwedlɒk] 美[ˈwedlɑ:k]
n. 结婚生活，婚姻，结婚的状态;
[例句]Children born out of wedlock enjoy the same right of inheritance as children born in lawful wedlock.
非婚生子女享有与婚生子女同等的继承权。
It is tradition itself that is partly to blame for rising divorce rates. China's legal marriage age for men, 22, is the highest in the world. But conservative attitudes to premarital relationships result in Chinese youths having fewer of them than their counterparts in the West (they are urged to concentrate on their studies and careers, rather than socialize or explore). Living together before marriage is still rare, although that is changing among educated youngsters. People still face social pressure to marry in their 20s. Their inexperience makes it more than usually difficult for them to select a good partner.
premarital 英[ˌpri:ˈmærɪtl] 美[priˈmærɪtl:]
adj. 婚前的;
[例句]I rejected the teaching that premarital sex was immoral.
我反对宣扬婚前性行为不道德的说教。
Couples' ageing relatives are part of the problem too. Yan Yunxiang of the University of California, Los Angeles, says “parent-driven divorce” is becoming more common. As a result of China's one-child-per-couple policy (recently changed to a two-child one), many people have no siblings to share the burden of looking after parents and grandparents. Thus couples often find themselves living with, or being watched over by, several—often contending—elders. Mr Yan says the older ones' interference fuels conjugal conflict. Sometimes parents urge their children to divorce their partners as a way to deal with rifts.
sibling 英[ˈsɪblɪŋ] 美[ˈsɪblɪŋ]
n. 兄弟，姐妹; [生] 同科，同属; [人] 氏族成员;
[例句]His siblings are mostly in their early twenties
他的兄弟姐妹大多二十出头。
conjugal 英[ˈkɒndʒəgl] 美[ˈkɑ:ndʒəgl]
adj. 婚姻的，夫妻之间的;
[例句]The gens attempted to uproot the entire conjugal system of the period by its direct action.
氏族组织曾打算采取直接行动根除这个时期流行的整个同居制度。
Women are more likely to be the ones who suffer financially when this happens. Rising divorce rates reflect the spread of more tolerant, permissive values towards women, but legislation tends to favour men in divorce settlements. A legal interpretation issued in 2003 says that if a divorce is disputed, property bought for one partner by a spouse's parents before marriage can revert to the partner alone. That usually means the husband's family: they often try to increase their child's ability to attract a mate by buying him a home.
settlements 英['setlmənts] 美['setlmənts]
n. 结算; 解决( settlement的名词复数 ); <律>金钱或财产的转让（契约）; 移民;
[例句]He urged employers and trade unions to adapt their pay settlements to the economic circumstances.
他敦促雇主和工会根据经济条件调整工资方案。长难句：
Rising divorce rates reflect the spread of more tolerant, permissive values towards women, but legislation tends to favour men in divorce settlements.
这个句子是一个but作为并列连词并列的一个并列句。我们继续分别搞清楚前后的两个分句即可。
首先看but前面的句子
主语是rising divorce rates
谓语动词是reflect
宾语是the spread of more tolerant, permissive values towards women这里一定注意tolerant和permissive属于两个形容词同时修饰名词values。再来分析but后面的句子
主语是legislation
谓语动词是tend to favor
宾语是men
介词短语in divorce settlements作状语。
大意：上升的离婚率反映出女性普遍的忍受和负面价值，但是法律却倾向于在离婚财产分配的时候支持男性。
In 2011 the Supreme Court went further. It ruled that in contested cases (as about one-fifth of divorces are), the property would be considered that of one partner alone if that partner's parents had bought it for him or her after the couple had got married. In addition, if one partner (rather than his or her parents) had bought a home before the couple wed, that person could be awarded sole ownership by a divorce court. This ruling has put women at ad is advantage too: by convention they are less often named on deeds.
deed 英[di:d] 美[did]
n. 行为; 行动; <律>契约; 证书;
v. 立契转让;
[例句]His heroic deeds were celebrated in every corner of India.
他的英勇事迹在印度各地广为传颂。长难句：
It ruled that in contested cases (as about one-fifth of divorces are), the property would be considered that of one partner alone if that partner's parents had bought it for him or her after the couple had got married。
句子的主干是it ruled that…
从句内部in contested cases是介词短语，作从句主干的修饰语。
从句的主语是the property
谓语动词是would be considered
而后面的that of one partner alone 是主语the property 的补足语。这里that指代property。
这个句子这里换成主动语态就是consider the property property of one partner alone
if引导的是从句中的小从句，修饰从句的主干部分，作其条件状语
if从句的主语是that partner’s parents
谓语动词had bought
宾语是it
句意：高级法院判决，在一些有财产纠纷的案件中，如果房产是其中一方的父母为孩子结婚购买的，则房产会被认为属于这一方单独资产。
In practice, if the couple has children the person with custody often keeps the home—more often the mother. Yet the court's interpretation sets a worrying precedent for divorced women. Their difficulties may be compounded by the two-child policy, which came into effect on January 1st. If couples have two children and both partners want custody, judges often assign parents one child each. Marriage and the family are still strong in China—but children clearly lie in a different asset class.
custody 英[ˈkʌstədi] 美[ˈkʌstədi]
n. 监管; 拘留，羁押; 抚养权，监护权;
[例句]I'm going to go to court to get custody of the children
我将起诉，要求获得孩子们的监护权。
来源:
导读：在很多人拿着小红本走进幸福的婚姻殿堂的同时，也有很多人拿着小红本离开婚姻的坟墓。（对，现在结婚和离婚都一样颜色，可能都是令人开心的事情吧）近年，国内离婚率飙升。年长的人说，现在的年轻人生活太肆意了，没有什么传统观念；年轻人说，他们太可悲了，被观念被孩子甚至被旁人的眼光束缚，生活没有自我。
那么，到底为什么离婚率飙升？离婚也真的就是再领个小红本那么简单么？
While the government talks up family values, marriage break-ups are soaring
[1] Divorce rates are rising quickly across China. This is a remarkable transformation in a society where for centuries marriage was universal and mostly permanent (though convention permitted men to take concubines). The trend reflects profound economic and social change. In the past 35 years, the biggest internal migration experienced by any country in human history has been tearing families apart. Traditional values have been giving way to more liberal ones. Women are becoming better educated, and more aware of their marital rights (they now initiate over half of all divorce cases). Greater affluence has made it easier for many people to contemplate living alone—no longer is there such an incentive to stay married in order to pool resources.
[2] As long as both sides agree on terms, China is now among the easiest and cheapest places in the world to get a divorce. In many Western countries, including Britain, couples must separate for a period before dissolving a marriage; China has no such constraints. In 2014, the latest year for which such data exist, about 3.6m couples split up—more than double the number a decade earlier (they received a red certificate, pictured, to prove it). The divorce rate—the number of cases per thousand people—also doubled in that period. It now stands at 2.7, well above the rate in most of Europe and approaching that of America, the most divorce-prone Western country (see chart). Chongqing's rate, 4.4, is higher than America's.
[3] Helped by the huge movement of people from the countryside into cities, and the rapid spread of social media, the availability of potential mates has grown with astonishing speed, both geographically and virtually. But many migrants marry in their home villages and often live apart from their spouses for lengthy periods. This has contributed to a big increase in extra marital liaisons. Married people previously had limited opportunities to meet members of the opposite sex in social situations, according to research by Li Xiaomin of Henan University. Peng Xiaobo, a divorce lawyer in Chongqing, reckons 60-70% of his clients have had affairs.
[4] Such behavior has led to much soul-searching. The notion that “chopsticks come in pairs” is still prevalent; Propaganda posters preach Confucian-style family virtues using pictures of happy, multi-generation families. (President Xi Jinping is on his second marriage but this is rarely mentioned.) Many commentators in the official media talk of separation as a sign of moral failure; they fret that it signifies the decline of marriage, and of family as a social unit—a threat, as they see it, to social stability and even a cause of crime. The spread of “Western values” is often blamed.
[5] But marriage is not losing its lustra. In most countries, rising divorce rates coincide with more births out of wedlock and a fall in marriage rates. China bucks both these trends. Remarriage is common too. The Chinese have not fallen out of love with marriage—only with each other.
[6] It is tradition itself that is partly to blame for rising divorce rates. China's legal marriage age for men, 22, is the highest in the world. But conservative attitudes to premarital relationships result in Chinese youths having fewer of them than their counterparts in the West (they are urged to concentrate on their studies and careers, rather than socialize or explore). Living together before marriage is still rare, although that is changing among educated youngsters. People still face social pressure to marry in their 20s. Their inexperience makes it more than usually difficult for them to select a good partner.
[7] Couples' ageing relatives are part of the problem too. Yan Yunxiang of the University of California, Los Angeles, says “parent-driven divorce” is becoming more common. As a result of China's one-child-per-couple policy (recently changed to a two-child one), many people have no siblings to share the burden of looking after parents and grandparents. Thus couples often find themselves living with, or being watched over by, several—often contending—elders. Mr Yan says the older ones' interference fuels conjugal conflict. Sometimes parents urge their children to divorce their partners as a way to deal with rifts.
[8] Women are more likely to be the ones who suffer financially when this happens. Rising divorce rates reflect the spread of more tolerant, permissive values towards women, but legislation tends to favour men in divorce settlements. A legal interpretation issued in 2003 says that if a divorce is disputed, property bought for one partner by a spouse's parents before marriage can revert to the partner alone. That usually means the husband's family: they often try to increase their child's ability to attract a mate by buying him a home.
[9] In 2011 the Supreme Court went further. It ruled that in contested cases (as about one-fifth of divorces are), the property would be considered that of one partner alone if that partner's parents had bought it for him or her after the couple had got married. In addition, if one partner (rather than his or her parents) had bought a home before the couple wed, that person could be awarded sole ownership by a divorce court. This ruling has put women at ad is advantage too: by convention they are less often named on deeds.
[10] In practice, if the couple has children the person with custody often keeps the home—more often the mother. Yet the court's interpretation sets a worrying precedent for divorced women. Their difficulties may be compounded by the two-child policy, which came into effect on January 1st. If couples have two children and both partners want custody, judges often assign parents one child each. Marriage and the family are still strong in China—but children clearly lie in a different asset class.