BBC英语｜The future of marriage

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Hello. And welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Neil.

大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语，我是尼尔。

And I’m Rob.

我是罗伯。

Now Rob, Can you complete this saying: “Love and marriage go together like ….”

现在罗伯，你能补充完整这句话吗？“爱情和婚姻组合就像……”

Love and marriage go together like… like a horse and carriage!

爱情和婚姻组合就像……就像马和马车！

That’s right, and when was the last time you saw a horse and carriage?

不错。你最后一次看见马和马车是什么时候？

Well, that would have been quite a while ago.They are quite rare these days, not an everyday sight.

好吧，那得是相当长一段时间之前了。它们现在相当罕见，不是每天都可以看到。

Indeed. And according to recent statistics, marriage in the UK is getting rarer too. Not as rare as seeing a horse and carriage, but the numbers are falling. Before we look at this topic in a bit more detail, a little quiz for our listeners.

的确。并且根据最近的数据，英国结婚的人也越来越罕见。并没有像见到马和马车那么罕见，但是数量一直在下降。在我们了解更多关于这个主题的细节之前，有一个小测试要问我们的听众。

Yes, according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, how many opposite-sex marriages were there in 2015?Was it … a) 239,000 b) 309,000 or c) 339,000 ?Any idea, Neil?

是的，根据英国国家统计局数据，2015年有多少对异性婚姻？是a) 239,000 b) 309,000 还是 c) 339,000 ？有什么想法吗，尼尔？

I have no idea, but I’m going to have a guess and I’m going to say a) 239,000.

没想法，但是我会猜一下，我选a) 239,000对。

OK. Well, we’ll reveal the answer a little later in this programme. And whatever the correct number, the trend is downwards. Year on year there are fewer opposite sex couples getting married in the UK.

好的，我们稍后将会在节目里揭晓答案。无论哪个是正确数字，结婚趋势都呈下降趋势。年复一年，英国越来越少的异性情侣结婚。

So why might this be? Are we falling out of love with marriage? Let’s hear from a couple of people with different views. First, here’s Tom from BBC Learning English.What doesn’t he like about the idea or concept of getting married?

所以为什么会这样呢？婚姻让我们没有爱情了吗？让我们听一下观点各异的几个人是怎么说的。首先是来自BBC英语教学的汤姆。他不喜欢婚姻观念或者概念上的什么呢？

I’m not that enthusiastic about the idea of marriage, to tell you the truth. I think it’s a bit of an archaic concept these days. And I’m a bit of a commitment phobe. I don’t like the idea of signing a piece of paper that says I have to be with someone for the rest of my life and can never escape from that person, I suppose. Although I am in a very happy relationship at the moment.

老实说，我对婚姻没有那么热衷。我认为现在那是有一点过时的观念。并且我有轻微的承诺恐惧症。我不喜欢那种观念，在一张纸上签字，说自己余生一定要和某人在一起，并且和那个人不离不弃，我猜是这样的。尽管现在我有一段很愉快的感情。

So that was Tom there. Not a fan of marriage.But what were his objections, Neil?

所以那是汤姆的观点。不是婚姻狂热者。但是是什么阻碍了他呢，尼尔？

Well, he described marriage as an archaic concept.When someone describes something as archaic, they think it is very old fashioned, out of date, belonging to a different time.

好吧，他将婚姻形容为一个过时的观念。当某些人形容某事是陈旧的，他们则认为那是非常老派的，过时的，属于不同时期。

So that was one of his problems with marriage. But he also said that he was a commitment phobe. The suffix ‘phobe’ means someone who is afraid of something. In some cases it can also be used as a standalone word, but it means the same. So a commitment phobe is someone who is afraid of, or doesn’t like the idea of commitment.

所以那是婚姻带给他的众多问题之一。但是他同样称自己有承诺恐惧症。后缀"phobe"指的是某人惧怕某事。在一些情况下它同样可以作为一个单词独立使用，但是意思是相同的。所以承诺恐惧症是指某些人惧怕或者是不喜欢做出承诺。

And when talking about relationships, commitment means being with one person and giving up the idea of being free to do whatever you want and see whoever you want, romantically.

并且当谈到关系的时候，承诺指的是和某人在一起，放弃随心所欲做事及与他人见面，非常浪漫。

So for commitment phobes, commitment means losing something.

所以对于承诺恐惧症的人来说，承诺意味着失去某些东西。

But that’s not true for everyone. Here’s Dan, also from BBC Learning English. What’s his view of marriage?

但是那不适用于所有人。这是丹所说的，同样是在BBC教学英语中谈到的。他的婚姻观是什么？

In general I think it’s quite good.It has a very stabilising effect on society.And it declares publicly to the world that you have found the right person for you and you’re in a committed relationship.

一般来说我认为结婚是非常不错的。它对社会有稳定作用。并且可以让大家知道你找到自己的另一半并处于一段稳定的关系之中。

So Dan is a fan. He thinks marriage has a stabilising effect on society. He sees marriage as being good for society as a whole. It makes society stronger, more stable.

所以丹是婚姻的支持者。他认为婚姻对于社会有稳定作用。他认为总的来说婚姻对社会是有利的。婚姻让社会变得更牢固，更稳定。

And he also sees it as a way to say to everyone that you have a strong relationship, you are with the one person you love.

并且他同样认为那是向众人表示你有一段稳定的感情，和所爱的人在一起的一种方式。

So for Dan, commitment and being in a committed relationship is a good thing. Now, back to our question at the top of the programme.I asked: how many opposite-sex couples got married in the UK in 2015?

所以对丹来说，做出承诺并且处于一段稳定的关系之中是一件好事。现在让我们回到节目开始时的问题。我问：2015年英国有多少对异性情侣结婚？

And I took a guess, didn’t I? And I said a) 239,000. Am I right?

并且我猜了一下，不是吗？我说是a) 239,000对。我对了吗？

You are definitely right. The answer is 239,000 or 239,020 to be precise. That figure was 3.4% lower than 2014. So what do relationship experts think is the reason fewer people are getting married?

绝对正确。答案是239000对，或者精确来说是239020对。那个数字比2014年还要低3.4%。所以情感专家认为为什么结婚的人越来越少？

Well, there could be lots of reasons.In some countries the way society is changing - means that there is less pressure to get married or stay married. As a result, there are more divorces. So perhaps children of divorced parents are less likely to get married themselves.Right, well before we go, let’s recap the vocabulary we highlighted today. The first word was trend.

好吧，那可能有许多原因。在一些国家，社会正在发生变化，那意味着没有那么大的压力去结婚或者维持婚姻状态。结果离婚夫妇越来越多。所以或许那些父母离异的孩子更不愿意结婚。是的，在我们结束之前，让我们回顾一下今天强调的词汇。第一个单词是“趋势”。

A trend is the direction that something is changing over time. When it comes to marriage, the trend is for fewer marriages. And the trend for 6-Minute listeners is the opposite - going up, particularly when you are presenting, Neil.

趋势指的是某事随着时间所转变的方向。当谈到婚姻时，趋势是越来越少的人结婚。六分钟英语听众的趋势则正相反——增长，特别是当你出现的时候，尼尔。

Ah, that’s very nice of you, you’re very kind. The next two words were an archaic concept. Archaic is an adjective for something dated or old-fashioned.

啊， 你那么说真好，你人真好。接下来的两个单词是一个陈旧的概念。它是一个形容词，用来指某物过时或者老派。

A bit like your fashion sense!

有一点像你的时尚感！

Ah, Rob, just when I beginning to like you!

奥，罗伯，当我开始像你一样的时候才会那样！

Sorry about that, you know I don’t mean it. In the interview, archaic was used to describe the concept of marriage, not your fashion sense. Concept is another word for an idea or belief.So an archaic concept is an old-fashioned idea.

抱歉，你知道的，我不是那个意思。在采访中，老派用来描述婚姻这个观念，不是你的时尚感。观念是表示观点或者信条的另一个词。所以一个老派的观点就是一个过时的观点。

Our next expression was commitment phobe. We use this phrase to talk about someone who is scared of the idea of a long-term relationship. Because they see it as giving up some freedoms. You’re obviously a compliment phobe! You’re afraid of saying nice things about someone, so you always say something nasty as well!

我们下一个表达是承诺恐惧症。我们用这个词来指某些人惧怕长久的感情。因为他们将它看做是对一些自由的放弃。你显然是一个表扬恐惧症患者！你不敢说某些人的好话，所以你也就常常会说一些令人不愉快的事。

I said I was sorry.

我说了我很抱歉。

And finally we had the adjective stabilising. Something that is stable is strong. And something that makes something strong can be described as stabilising. Dan expressed his belief that marriage had a stabilising effect on society.Well, that’s it for this programme. Thanks for joining us and goodbye!

最后我们提到了稳定。某事稳定是指它很牢固。并且让其它事物牢固的东西都可以称作是稳定的。丹表达了他的观点，他认为婚姻对社会有稳定作用。好的，以上就是今天的节目。感谢你今天的参与，再见。

Bye-bye!

再见！

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