Scientists have determined it's not advisable to hurry marriage. But what’s the best age to wed?

When Avril Lavigne announced she was splitting from her husband, comments from her friends suggested that she was only 21 when she tied the knot and later she said that she realized she'd been too young to make such a life-altering decision. Could fellow young celebrity divorcées(离婚者) Reese Witherspoon, Kate Hudson, and Britney Spears have also hit the same age-related issue?

The Magic Number

There are practical reasons for the mid-20s dividing line, and most of them boil down to two biggies: education and money. 

It turns out that the more years of higher education a woman has under her belt on her wedding day, the lower the chances that she'll get divorced ... and by 25, you're more likely to have earned a degree or two. Educated women tend to be more confident about who they are and less willing to settle for a man who doesn't meet their standards.

Odds(可能性) are that by 25 you're also supporting yourself, so there's less incentive(刺激; 鼓励)for you to rush into marriage because you're seeking financial security from him. But the marriage-related benefits of working and having money of your own go beyond feeling secure. Learning to budget your cash carefully when you're single will help you avoid financial problems—one of the main causes of couple fights—for the rest of your life.

Knowing the Real You

At 25, you've had time for some crucial life experiences, including a relationship or two that may have improved your Mr. Right radar. You've probably dated enough to have a better idea of what you don't want in a man, which makes it easier to know what you can live with and can't live without. 

Perhaps the most important aspect of waiting is that you'll know what your goals and values really are. While you don't want to marry someone just like you, marriage is a lot easier if you two share a similar outlook on life.

Twenty-four and already married to the man of your dreams? Don't worry: Many young marriages survive. But given the choice, you might consider putting off the big day until your mid-20s or later.

What main factors influence the mid-20s dividing line? (No more than 3 words)

_________________________________________________________________

According to the author, why does a couple probably fight?(No more than 4 words)

_________________________________________________________________

How do you know what you don’t want in a man? (No more than 5 words)

________________________________________________________________

What suggestion does the passage mainly give? (No more than 10 words)

_________________________________________________________________

I still remember the days when I was a youthful student in an engineering school. I lived a casual life, without caring about the future. I smoked, drank with friends and made girl friends. Little did I realize that casualness would certainly lead to loss.

     Two years had passed and I was staring down a report card that highlighted FAIL in more than half the subjects. I didn’t care, at least not till my dad found out about it. You see, I studied in India and unlike the United States where the students are expected to finance their own education, my dad financed me.

     Then came the day when my dad found out my habit of smoking. He lost his temper but he just told me, “Son, your allowance is cut in half from this moment on”. It hit me like a roundhouse kick (回旋踢) from Bruce Lee. I was jolted (震摇) out of my bones! I couldn’t comprehend how to pay off the debts that I had accumulated in college. I owed everybody money: the grocery store, the bars, the restaurants, my friends, etc. I was living a life filled with credit.

     When I went back to college, I knew that if I don’t change the way I live my life I won’t be able to pay everybody off. So I decided to make some changes, drastic changes. I quit smoking, cut off from my friends who led me down the wrong road, starting hanging out in libraries and reading my engineering books.

     One year later, I went from a miserable failure to a magna cum laude (优等成绩). Life was never the same again. This incident made me know that anything is possible if you take action and do something about it, however small or large. Even today it still motivates me when I feel that I’m about to lose or give up. It reminds me that I can do it!

The author wrote this text with the purpose of ________.

  A. introducing his university life to the teenage readers

  B. encouraging those lazy students to study hard at school

  C. showing you can overcome any difficulty if you take action

  D. calling on the readers not to develop bad habits in college

The author didn’t care about his study until _______.

  A. he entered the engineering school   B. he was in heavy debt he couldn’t bear

  C. he decided to give up smoking     D. his allowance was cut in half

The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that the author ________.

  A. paid off his debt and life wasn’t hard for him any more

  B. removed his bad habits and didn’t lead a casual life

  C. never hung out with his friends but studied all day

  D. began to live a happy life due to his good grades

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

  A. Students tended to earn money for college expenses in America.

  B. The author did well in making good friends in the school.

  C. The author made great progress with the help of his friends.

  D. Students were encouraged to do part-time jobs in Indian schools.

When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazing how little we have developed in other respects. We may speak scornfully of the poor old Romans because they enjoyed the seemingly excited killing that went on in their arenas(竞技场). We may despise them because they mistook these goings on for entertainment. We may forgive them because they lived 2000 years ago and obviously knew no better. But are our feelings of superiority(优越)really justified? Are we any less blood-thirsty? Why do boxing matches, for instance, attract such universal interest? Don’t the audience who attend them hope they will see some violence? Human beings remain as bloodthirsty as ever they were. The only difference between ourselves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit that they enjoyed watching hungry lions tearing people apart and eating them alive, we find all sorts of arguments to defend sports which should have been banned long ago.

  It really is incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bull-fighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men punch each other in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Any talk of ‘the sporting spirit’ is merely hypocrisy(虚伪). People take part in violent sports because of the high rewards they bring. Audience are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence. A world heavyweight championship match, for instance, is front page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen. They feel disappointment because they haven’t experienced the exquisite pleasure of witnessing continuous violence.

  Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much? You may well ask. The answer is simple: they are uncivilized. For centuries man has been trying to improve himself spiritually and emotionally—though with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight madmen imprisoned in cages, or public punishment of any of the countless other barbarous (野蛮的) practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the harsh forbidding places they used to be. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big efforts are being made to distribute wealth fairly. These changes have come about not because human beings have suddenly improved, but because positive steps were taken to change the law. The law is the biggest instrument of social change that we have and it may exert great civilizing influence. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, we would be moving one step further to improving mankind. We would recognize that violence is unworthy of human beings.

It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s opinion of nowadays’ human beings is ________________

A. not very high.             B. high.       C. scornful.       D. neutral

Why does the author mention the old Romans in this article?

A. To reveal that the old Romans first started violent sports.

B. To prove that the old Romans were not civilized.

C. To show human beings in the past knew nothing better.

D. To indicate human beings today are as bloodthirsty as the old Romans.

How many dangerous sports does the author mention in this passage?

A. Three.             B. Four.    C. Five.                     D. Six.

     What does the author want to illustrate in this article?

A.  By banning the violent sports, we human beings can improve ourselves.

B.  By banning the dangerous sports, we can improve the law.

C.  We must take positive steps to improve social welfare system.

D.  Law is the main instrument of social change.

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