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离婚，在中国有愈演愈烈之态，年年上升的离婚率，和不断爆出的闪离事件，都很引人注目。几年前曾流行一句话：80后不是离婚了，就是正走在离婚的路上，而今90后又成为了离婚的主力军，情况有过之而无不及……

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Family relationships--Divorce: a love story

家庭关系——离婚：一个爱情故事

While the government talks up family values, marriage break-ups are soaring.

尽管政府在大力弘扬家庭观念，离婚率却在暴涨

【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.

talk up：热烈讨论；大声说话；坦白说话

[例句]Bob can really talk up a storm.

Bob说起话来真的可以滔滔不绝。

soaring：增长，近义词还有咆哮式增长：roaring；淹没式增长：Flooding；爆炸式增长：booming；加速增长：accelerating；增长：increasing，rising，growing

concubines：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：分裂，撕碎，扯破

affluence：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：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。

中国的离婚率增长得很快。这表明整个社会正在发生巨大改变，在过去的几百年里，结婚是一件很普遍且持续终生的事（尽管传统上允许男人纳妾）。中国过去的35年经历了人类历史上最大规模的迁移，这直接导致了无数家庭的分崩离析。传统观念让位于更为自由的现代思想。女性受教育程度增加，也越来越意识到她们在婚姻中的权利(如今超过一半的离婚申请都是由女方提出的)。物质条件的改善让很多人不再担心独自生活——不必再为共享资源而被迫绑在婚姻里。

【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. Chongqing's rate, 4.4, is higher than America's.

dissolving：解除（婚姻关系）

constraints：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。

split up：（使）离婚

certificate：证明书，文凭

prone：有…倾向的

[例句]For all her experience, she was still prone to nerves.

尽管有经验，她还是容易紧张。

中国已经成为全世界离婚最容易也是最便宜的国家之一，只要双方同意即可。在包括英国在内的许多西方国家，夫妻双方离婚前必须分居一段时间，而中国则没有此限制。据2014年最新统计数据显示，约有360万对夫妻分道扬镳，比十年前翻了一倍还不止(离婚的人会领到离婚证并拍照)。离婚率已上升至2.7，跟同期相比也增加了一倍，该比值已经远超欧洲，直追美国这一离婚率最高的西方国家。而重庆的离婚率则冲破了美国的平均值，高达4.4。

［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 maritalliaisons. 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.

mates：（非正式）配偶

virtually：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。

spouses：配偶，夫或妻

lengthy：长期的，漫长的

marital：婚姻的，夫妻（间）的

liaisons：（尤指一方或双方已婚的）私通，私情，通奸

由于人口大量从农村转移至城市，再加上社交媒体的兴起，在不同地域或不同年龄段内找到另一半的几率已经比从前大得多。但很多背井离乡的打工者都是先在家乡结婚，然后再和配偶长期分居，因此婚外情的现象越来越普遍。河南大学的李晓敏研究表示，已婚人士在之前的社会条件下遇到异性的机会很有限。重庆的离婚律师彭小波也表示，他的客户中有60%~70%的人都有过外遇。

［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. 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.

prevalent：流行的；盛行的；普遍的

Propaganda：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。

preach：宣扬，说教

Confucian：孔子的，儒家的，儒学的

commentators：（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

[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。

fret：苦恼，烦恼，发愁

signify：意味，预示，表示…的意思

[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。

此举也给人们带来了深思。熟语“筷子成双成对，永不分离”一直深入人心。媒体也用四世同堂的和美家庭图画来倡导传统儒家家庭美德。官方论及离婚，通常认为是道德风气败坏所致。他们担忧这标志着婚姻与家庭作为社会组成的意义大幅锐减——正如他们所能预见的，离婚对于社会的稳定性以及犯罪都是一大威胁。这些也常归咎于“西方价值观”的“泛滥”。

［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.

lustra：（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：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。

bucks：抵抗；抵制；反抗

Remarriage：再婚

但是婚姻并未失去它的魅力。在大多数国家，与飙升的离婚率并发的还有婚外生子率的增加、结婚率的下降。中国却违背了这两种趋势。再婚现象也司空见惯。中国人并没有失去对婚姻之爱，只是他们不再爱对方而已。

［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.

premarital：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。

counterparts：职能(或地位)相当的人

youngsters：年轻人，（尤指）少年，儿童

inexperience：缺乏经验，不成熟

不断攀升的离婚率部分是由传统观念本身所致。男性的法定结婚年龄是22岁(世上最大的婚龄)。但是中国年轻人对待婚前关系持保守态度，这就造成与西方的同龄人相比，他们中已婚的反倒还要少些(他们被迫关注于自己的学习与事业，而不是去与异性接触、交往)。婚前同居试婚仍旧罕见，尽管在一些受过教育的年轻人当中这一趋势日益改变。20多岁的未婚青年还面临着社会舆论压力。再加上，他们经验不足，更难找到好的灵魂伴侣。

［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.

siblings：兄弟姐妹

[例句]His siblings are mostly in their early twenties

他的兄弟姐妹大多二十出头。

contend：竞争，争夺

interference：干涉，干扰

fuels：给…加燃料，给…加油

conjugal：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。

rifts： 裂隙；不和；分裂

夫妇的老年亲属也是他们离婚的诱因之一。来自洛杉矶加利佛尼亚大学的阎云翔指出“父母促使的离婚案件”也越来越常见。中国的独生子女政策造成许多人没有兄弟姐妹来分担照顾父母与祖父母的重担。因此夫妻常常与多个(通常是相互不和的)长辈同住或者受到他们的监视。阎云翔称长辈的干扰会给夫妻间的冲突火上浇油。甚至有时父母会迫使他们的子女与另一半离婚以解决家庭的矛盾冲突。

［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.

permissive：放任的，容许的，宽大的，自由的

settlements：结算; 解决( settlement的名词复数 ); <律>金钱或财产的转让（契约）

[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。

interpretation：解释，说明，阐释

disputed：辩论，争论

revert：恢复，重提

而当夫妻离婚时，更易遭受经济重创的一方是女性。攀升的离婚率也反映了社会对女性更为包容的价值观，但是司法体系更照顾离婚案件中男性的利益。2003年颁布的新婚姻法解释指出如果有离婚纠纷，婚前由一方父母出资为子女购买的不动产会被认定为夫妻一方的个人财产。这通常意味着男方家庭会努力购置房屋以增加他们求偶的吸引力。

［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 a disadvantage too: by convention they are less often named on deeds.

Supreme Court：最高法院

wed：与…结婚

awarded：给予；判给

sole：唯一的，单独的，专有的

convention： 习俗，惯例，常规

deeds：行为，行动，事迹

[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。

2011年，最高法院又进一步裁定如果婚后一方父母为子女出资购买不动产，该不动产应被认定为夫妻一方个人财产。另外，如果婚前一方(而不是一方的父母)购买的房产，那么该房产应归购买房产者(产权登记者)一人所有。这样的判决也使女性处于不利地位：依照规约而言，她们在家庭里的苦劳、功劳不再像以前那么被看重。

［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.

custody：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。

precedent：先例，前例

compounded：混合，组合

assign：分配

事实上，如果夫妻有小孩，有监护权的一方一般享有房屋——通常是指母亲。然而依照最高法院颁布的解释，这项判例令离异女性处境堪忧。此外，一月一日开始生效的二孩政策又加剧了她们的困境。如果夫妻有两个小孩，而双方都要监护权，那么法官通常会判决双方分别抚养一个小孩。婚姻与家庭观念在中国依旧很强——但是孩子很明显地又是另一项资产。

我们应该辩证的看待离婚率上升这个问题，一方面，现在个体更加自由，选择空间增大，婚姻没有必要为了维持而维持，年轻人放弃不合适的婚姻未必是坏事，女性也因此一定程度上得以逃脱家庭暴力等问题的压迫和欺凌。但是另一方面，频发的闪离等事件也暴露了一些问题，年青一代对婚姻的认知可能并不正确，独身子女长大后往往没有学会足够的包容。年轻情侣应该在婚姻问题上更加谨慎，避免盲目结婚后又匆匆离婚造成的伤害。

英文原文：http://www.economist.com

讲解：霞姐 / Tiassa / Angel

编排 / 校对：Angel

本次文章翻译来源于听力课堂网

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