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  3. More Americans are cohabiting—living together out of wedlock—than ever. Some

More Americans are cohabiting—living together out of wedlock—than ever. Some

游客2023-10-31  27
问题     More Americans are cohabiting—living together out of wedlock—than ever. Some experts applaud the practice, but others warn playing house doesn’t always lead to marital bliss. At one time in America, living together out of wedlock was scandalous. Unmarried couples who "shacked up" were said to be "living in sin". Indeed, cohabitation was illegal throughout the country until about 1970. (It remains illegal in 12 states, although the laws are rarely, if ever, enforced.) Today, statistics tell a different tale. The number of unwed couples living together has risen to a new high—more than 4.1 million as of March 1997, according to the Census Bureau. That figure was up from 3.96 million couples the previous year and represents a quantum leap from the 430,000 cohabiting couples counted in 1960.
    The bureau found that cohabiting is most popular in the 24-to-35 age group, accounting for 1.6 million such couples. Cohabitants say they live together primarily to solidify their love and commitment to each other, studies report. Most intend to marry; only 13 percent of cohabitants don’t expect to make their relationship legal. But the reality for many couples is different: Moving doesn’t lead to "happily ever after". Forty percent of cohabitants never make it to the altar. Of the 60 percent who do marry, more than half divorce within 10 years (compared with 30 percent of married couples who didn’t live together first).
    Cohabiting partners are more unfaithful and fight more often than married couples, according to research by the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society. Other studies have come to equally gloomy conclusions.
    Still, experts predict the number of cohabiting couples is likely to grow. As the children of the baby boomers come of age, they are likely to defer marriage, as did their parents. This will lead to more cohabitation and nontraditional families. Analyst Robert Knight of the Family Research Council agrees the trend will hold for the near future. Until people discover that living together has pitfalls, it won’t wane in popularity, says Knight, author of Age of Consent: The Rise of Relativism and Corruption of Popular Culture. Cohabiting has been portrayed with "careful neutrality" in the media, and Hollywood celebrities who move in and out of each other’s homes set the standard.
    But Warren Farrell, the San Diego-based author of Why Men Are the Way They Are, argues that living together is a good idea for a short period. "To make the jump from dating, when we put our best foot forward, to being married"—without showing each other the "shadow side of ourselves"—is to treat marriage frivolously, he says. [br] Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
选项 A、In the past, American people didn’t approve of cohabitation.
B、The divorce rate of cohabitants is higher within 10 years of marriage.
C、The media is totally against the celebrities’ cohabitation.
D、Most cohabitants are willing to make their relationship legal.
答案 C
解析 根据各选项内容定位到第1、2、4段。第4段最后一句提到同居被媒体以“谨慎中立的”态度来描述，而好莱坞明星在彼此的家中搬进搬出已成一种惯例。C与此表述不符，故选C。根据文章第1段可知以前人们认为同居不光彩，可推断他们不支持同居，排除A；根据第2段末尾可知，婚前同居者比非同居者在结婚10年内的离婚率更高，排除B；根据第2段第3句可知，大多同居者都打算结婚，排除D。
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