4

　　Since World War II. there has been a clearly discernible trend, especially among the growing group of college students, toward early marriage. Many youths begin dating in the first stages of adolescence, "go steady" though high school, and marry before their formal education has been completed. In some quarters, there is much shaking of graying hair and clucking of middle-aged people over the ways of "wild youth." However, emotional maturity is no respecter of birthdays: it does not arrive automatically at twenty-one or twenty-five. Some achieve it surprisingly early. while others never do, even in three-score years and ten.

　　Many students are marrying as an escape, not only from an unsatisfying home life. but also from their own personal problems of isolation and loneliness. And it can almost be put down as true that any marriage entered into as an escape cannot prove entirely successful. The sad fact is that marriage seldom solves one's problems: more often, it accentuates them. Furthermore, it is doubtful whether the home as an institution is capable of carrying all that the young are seeking to put into it: one might say in theological terms, that they are giving up one idol only to worship another. Young people correctly understand that their parents are wrong in believing that "success" is the ultimate good. but they erroneously believe that they themselves have found the true center of life's meaning. Their expectations of marriage are essentially Utopian and therefore incapable of fulfillment. They want too much, and tragic disillusionment is often bound to follow

　　Shall we, then, join the chorus of "Misereres" over early marriages? One cannot generalize: all early marriages are not bad any more than all later ones are good. Satisfactory marriages are determined not by chronology, but by the emotional maturity of the partners. Therefore, each case must be judged on its own merits. If the early marriage is not an escape, if it is entered into with relatively few illusions or false expectations, and if it is economically feasible, why not? Good marriages can be made from sixteen to sixty, and so can bad ones.

　　51. According to the article the trend toward early marriages ____________.

　　A. cannot be easily determined

　　B. is one that can be clearly seen

　　C. is an outgrowth of the moral laxity brought abut by World War II

　　D. occurs after every major war

　　52. According to the article, successful marriages are determined by the emotional maturity of the partners and not by ____________.

　　A. financial considerations B. parental consent

　　C. educational background D. chronological age

　　53. The author suggests that many of today's early marriages are a result of____________.

　　A. escapism B. theological dictum C'. lack of formal education D. convenience

　　54. The author states that the home as an institution is _____________.

　　A. unworthy of worship B. overrated

　　C. probably not capable of being what many young people expect it to be

　　D. incapable of being the basic unit of society

　　55. Which of the following statements would the author not agree with?

　　A. All early marriages are not bad.

　　B. Bad marriages can he made from sixteen to sixty.

　　C. Satisfactory marriages are determined by chronology.

　　D. All later marriages are not good.

　　Section IV Translation

　　Directions: In this section there is a passage in English. Translate the five sentences underlined into Chinese and write your translation on ANSWER SHEET 2. (15 points)

　　Some recent historians have argued that life in the British colonies in America from approximately 1763 to 1789 was marked by internal conflicts among colonists. Inheritors of some of the viewpoints of early twentieth-century Progressive historians such as Beard and Becker, these recent historians have put forward arguments that deserve evaluation.

　　The kind of conflict most emphasized by these historians is class conflict. Yet with the Revolutionary War dominating these years, how does one distinguish class conflict within that larger conflict? Certainly not by the side a person supported. (56) Although many of these historians have accepted the earlier assumption that Loyalists (亲英分子) represented an upper class. new evidence indicates that Loyalists, like rebels, were drawn from all socioeconomic classes. (It is nonetheless probably true that a larger percentage of the well-to-do joined the Loyalists than joined the rebels.) Looking at the rebel side, we find little evidence for the contention that lower-class rebels were in conflict with upper-class rebels. Indeed, the war effort against Britain tended to suppress class conflicts. (57) Where it did not, the disputing rebels of one or another class usually became Loyalists. Loyal ism thus operated as a safety valve to remove socioeconomic discontent that existed among the rebels. Disputes occurred, of course, among those who remained on the rebel side, but the extraordinary social mobility of eighteenth-century American society (with the obvious exception of slaves) usually prevented such disputes from

　　hardening along class lines. Social structure was in fact so fluid－though recent statistics suggest a narrowing of economic opportunity as the latter half of the century progressed－that to talk about social classes at all requires the use of loose economic categories such as rich, poor, and middle class, or eighteenth-century designations like "the better sort." (58) Despite these vague categories, one should not claim unequivocally (毫不含糊) that hostility between recognizable classes cannot be legitimately observed. Outside of New York, however, there were very few instances of openly expressed class antagonism.

　　Having said this, one must add that there is much evidence to support the further claim of recent historians that sectional conflicts were common between 1763 and 1789. The "Paxton Boys" incident and the Regulator movement are representative examples of the widespread, and Justified, discontent of western settlers against colonial or state governments dominated by eastern interest. (59) Although undertones （含意）of class conflict existed beneath such hostility, the opposition was primarily geographical. Sectional conflict which also existed between North and South- deserves further investigation.

　　In summary, historians must be careful about the kind of conflict they emphasize in eighteenth-century America. (60 ) Yet those who stress the achievement of a general consensus among the colonists cannot fully understand that consensus without understanding the conflicts that had to be overcome repressed in order to reach it.

　　Section Ⅴ Writing

　　Directions: In this section. you are asked to write a composition entitled The Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Phones (手机). You should write more than 150 words neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (20 points)