题目内容
In times of economic crisis, Americans turn to their families for support. If the Great Depression is any guide, we may see a drop in our sky-high divorce rate. But this won’t necessarily represent an increase in happy marriages. In the long run, the Depression weakened American families, and the current crisis will probably do the same.
We tend to think of the Depression as a time when families pulled together to survive huge job losses. By 1932, when nearly one-quarter of the work force was unemployed, it had declined by around 25 percent from 1929. But this does not mean that people were suddenly happier with their marriages. Rather, with incomes plummeting and insecure jobs, unhappy couples often couldn’t afford to divorce. They feared that neither would be able to manage alone.
Today, given the job losses of the past year, fewer unhappy couples will risk starting separate households. Furthermore, the housing market meltdown will make it more difficult for them to finance their separations by selling their homes.
After financial disasters family members also tend to do whatever they can to help each other and their communities. A 1940 book, “The Unemployed Man and His Family,” described a family in which the husband first reacted to losing his job “with tireless search for work.” He was always active, looking for odd jobs to do.
The problem is that such an impulse is hard to sustain (continue). For some, the hardships of life without steady work eventually defeated their attempts to keep their families together. The rate rose again during the rest of the decade as the recovery took hold.
Millions of American families may now be in the initial (earliest) stage of their responses to the current crisis, working together and supporting one another through the early months of unemployment.
Today’s economic depression could well generate a similar backlog(积压) of couples whose relationships have been irreparably ruined. So it is only when the economy is healthy again that we will begin to see just how many fractured(破裂的) families have been created.
62. In the initial stage, the current economic crisis is likely to _______.
A. tear many troubled families apart
B. contribute to enduring and strong family ties
C. bring about a drop in the divorce rate
D. cause a lot of conflicts in the family
63. In the Great Depression many unhappy couples chose to stick together because _______.
A. starting a new family would be hard
B. they expected things would turn better
C. they wanted to better protect their kids
D. living separately would be too costly
64. In addition to job losses, what stands in the way of unhappy couples getting a divorce?
A. Mounting (increasing) family debts. B. Falling housing prices.
C. Difficulty in getting a loan. D. A sense of insecurity.
65. What will the current economic crisis eventually do to some married couples?
A. It will force them to pull their efforts together.
B. It will damage their mutual understanding.
C. It will help strengthen their emotional bonds.
D. It will irreparably damage their relationship.
66. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. The economic recovery will see a higher divorce rate.
B. Few couples can stand the test of economic hardships.
C. A stable family is the best protection against poverty.
D. Money is the foundation of many a happy marriage.
CDBDA
