今年春节，你被催婚了吗
你被催婚了吗。
🤔️小作业：
1. What has been the recent change in marital and divorce rates in China as of the first quarter of the year mentioned in the article?
A) Marriages and divorces both decreased.
B) Marriages increased while divorces decreased.
C) Marriages increased, and divorces also rose.
D) Marriages decreased, but divorces increased.
无注释原文：
Why China’s Young People Are Not Getting Married
From: The New York Times, July 10, 2023
Grace Zhang is a tech worker who had long been ambivalent about marriage.
When China reopened in December, Ms. Zhang, 31, left Shanghai to work remotely, traveling from city to city in hopes that a change of scene would restore her positive outlook.
Now, as she sees rising layoffs around her in a troubled economy, she wonders if her job is secure enough to sustain a future family. She has a boyfriend but no immediate plans to marry, despite frequent admonishments from her father that it’s time to settle down.
“This kind of instability in life will make people more and more afraid of making new life changes,” she said.
The number of marriages in China declined for nine consecutive years, falling by half in less than a decade. Last year, about 6.8 million couples registered for marriage, the lowest since records began in 1986, down from 13.5 million in 2013, according to government data released last month.
Although the numbers have risen so far in 2023 compared with the year before, more marriages are ending, too. In the first quarter of this year, 40,000 more couples married compared with the same period a year earlier, while divorces rose by 127,000.
Surveys have shown that young people are deterred by the toll of putting a child through China’s cutthroat education system. As women in cities achieve new levels of financial independence and education, marriage is less of an economic necessity to them. And men say they cannot afford to get married, citing cultural pressure to own a home and a car before they can even begin dating.
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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考
含注释全文：
Why China’s Young People Are Not Getting Married
From: The New York Times, July 10, 2023
Grace Zhang is a tech worker who had long been ambivalent about marriage.
技术工作者格蕾丝·张（音）长期以来一直对婚姻抱着矛盾的态度。
ambivalent
ambivalent /æmˈbɪv.ə.lənt/ 表示“（心情）矛盾的；模棱两可的，含糊不定的”，英文解释为“having two opposing feelings at the same time, or being uncertain about how you feel”举个🌰：I felt very ambivalent about leaving home. 要离开家了，我心里喜忧参半。
When China reopened in December, Ms. Zhang, 31, left Shanghai to work remotely, traveling from city to city in hopes that a change of scene would restore her positive outlook.
2023年12月重新放开后，31岁的张女士离开了上海，开始远程工作。她怀着换个环境能让自己恢复积极心态的希望，从一个城市旅行到另一个城市。
restore
restore /rɪˈstɔːr/ 1）表示“修复；使复位；使复职”，英文解释为“to return something or someone to an earlier good condition or position”举个🌰：The badly neglected paintings have all been carefully restored. 那些由于严重疏忽而损毁的画作得到了精心修复。
2）表示“使恢复；使复原”，英文解释为“If you restore a quality or ability that someone has not had for a long time, you make it possible for them to have that quality or ability again.”举个🌰：Doctors have restored his sight. 医生们使他重见光明。
Now, as she sees rising layoffs around her in a troubled economy, she wonders if her job is secure enough to sustain a future family. She has a boyfriend but no immediate plans to marry, despite frequent admonishments from her father that it’s time to settle down.
现在，由于经济状态不佳，她看到周围被裁人数不断增加，她不确定自己的工作是否足够稳定，能让她考虑在未来建立家庭。虽然她有男朋友，但他们没有马上结婚的计划，尽管她父亲经常催她早点安定下来。
layoff
layoff /ˈleɪ.ɒf/ 表示“解雇，解聘，下岗”，英文解释为“an occasion when a company stops employing someone, sometimes temporarily, because the company does not have enough money or enough work”
sustain
sustain /səˈsteɪn/ 1）表示“保持，维持，使持续，使继续”，英文解释为“to cause or allow something to continue for a period of time”举个🌰：The economy looks set to sustain its growth into next year. 看来经济的增长会持续到明年。
2）表示“经历，遭受（尤指破坏或损失）”，英文解释为“to suffer or experience, especially damage or loss”举个🌰：She sustained multiple injuries in the accident. 她在这次事故中多处受伤。
admonishment
admonishment = admonition /ˌæd.məˈnɪʃ.ən/ 表示“劝诫;忠告;警告;责备”，英文解释为“a piece of advice that is also a warning to someone about their behaviour”举个🌰：The most common parental admonition must surely be "Don't stay out late". 父母告诫孩子们最多的话肯定是“别在外面呆到太晚”。
“This kind of instability in life will make people more and more afraid of making new life changes,” she said.
“这种生活的不稳定，就会让人越来越畏惧去产生新的生活的改变，”她说。
The number of marriages in China declined for nine consecutive years, falling by half in less than a decade.
中国的结婚人数已连续九年下降，在不到10年的时间里已减少了一半。
consecutive
consecutive /kənˈsek.jə.tɪv/ 表示“连续的，连贯的，不间断的”，英文解释为“Consecutive events, numbers, etc. follow one after another without an interruption.”举个🌰：This is the fifth consecutive weekend that I've spent working. 这是我连续第五个周末加班。
📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述绿色风投的文章中提到：Last year taxpayer-funded green-energy R&D around the world rose for the third consecutive year, to a record $25.4bn, accroding to the IEA. 根据国际能源署的数据，去年全球受政府资助的绿色能源研发连续第三年增长，达到创纪录的254亿美元。
Last year, about 6.8 million couples registered for marriage, the lowest since records began in 1986, down from 13.5 million in 2013, according to government data released last month.
据政府上个月（6月）发布的数据，去年约有680万对夫妇登记结婚，是自1986年有记录以来的最低水平，远低于2013年的1350万对。
Although the numbers have risen so far in 2023 compared with the year before, more marriages are ending, too. In the first quarter of this year, 40,000 more couples married compared with the same period a year earlier, while divorces rose by 127,000.
尽管2023年的登记结婚人数与上年相比有所增加，但离婚人数也在增加。今年第一季度，结婚人数比去年同期增加了4万对，离婚人数则增加了12.7万对。
Surveys have shown that young people are deterred by the toll of putting a child through China’s cutthroat education system. As women in cities achieve new levels of financial independence and education, marriage is less of an economic necessity to them. And men say they cannot afford to get married, citing cultural pressure to own a home and a car before they can even begin dating.
调查显示，让孩子经历残酷的教育体系的代价导致许多年轻人不想生孩子。随着城市女性的经济独立能力和受教育水平达到新高，对她们来说，婚姻从经济角度来看不再是必需的。男性说他们负担不起结婚的费用，他们指出，文化压力迫使他们在开始约会之前就必须拥有房屋和汽车。
deter
deter /dɪˈtɜːr/ 表示“阻挠，阻止；威慑；使不敢”，英文解释为“to prevent someone from doing something or to make someone less enthusiastic about doing something by making it difficult for that person to do it or by threatening bad results if they do it”举个🌰：High prices are deterring many young people from buying houses. 高昂的价格让很多年轻人对于买房望而却步。
🎬电影《杀手：代号47》（Hitman）中的台词提到：I, for one, will not let their cowardice deter me. 作为总统 为了一个人 我将一往无前。
🎬电影《孤独的生还者》（Lone Survivor）中的台词提到：If you do come under attack, use the appropriate force necessary to deter or defeat that threat. 如果遭受袭击使用适当的武力来制止或反击此威胁。
toll
toll /təʊl/ 1）表示“伤亡；损失；破坏”，英文解释为“suffering, deaths, or damage”，一般指“（死亡、事故或灾难的）总数”举个🌰：Independent sources say that the death toll from the earthquake runs into thousands. 独立消息人士称地震中的伤亡人数达到数千人。
2）表示“(道路或桥梁）收费；通行费”，英文解释为“A toll road or toll bridge is a road or bridge that you have to pay to use.”举个🌰：Most people who drive the toll roads don't use them every day. 大部分开车上收费公路的人不是每天都走公路。
Prepaid tolls only/ Pay toll
3）作名词还可以表示“（缓慢的）钟声”，作动词，表示“（使）缓慢而反复地鸣响”，英文解释为“to (cause a large bell to) ring slowly and repeatedly”举个🌰：In the distance, a church bell tolled the hour (= showed the time by ringing). 远处传来教堂报时的钟声。
📍这个词来自古英语的“toll”，表示“支付小费”。现在用来表示“通行费”或“代价”。想象事故对他身体和精神上都付出了“沉重的代价”。同根词：tollbooth（收费站） 常用短语：take a toll on（对...产生不良影响）
cutthroat
cutthroat /ˈkʌt.θrəʊt/ 表示“激烈的；残酷无情的；不择手段的”，英文解释为“not involving considering or worrying about any harm caused to others”如：the cutthroat world of journalism 竞争激烈的新闻界。
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