Every Sunday morning millions of Indians settle down with a cup of tea and the special weekend issues of their newspapers, just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of them turn quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian―the columns and columns of marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives?
“Beautiful Brahman girl wanted for bank officer from well?onnected family,” one says. “Vegetarian man (doctor, engineer preferred) for church?ducated girl with light complexion,” says another. “Solid 25?ear?ld, salary four figures, wants tall, charming, educated Punjabi,” says a third.?
This is a relatively modern change in the age?ld custom of the arranged marriage. The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that are coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are still usually described in terms of appearance, or skills in “the wifely arts,” information about their earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife?
Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose advertisement in a New Delhi newspaper explained that she had been “the innocent party” when her marriage broke up.? Because the custom of the dowry (marriage payment) is now illegal, some advertisements say “no dowry,” or “simple marriage,” which means the same thing. However, the fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.
As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste (social class) system, a number of advertisements promise “caste (等级社会地位)not important,” or still require not only caste， such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin?
In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a “wheat-color” complexion or that a man be “tall, fair and handsome.”
Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. “There’s nothing embarrassing about it,” explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a son-in-law. “It’s just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for ones daughter?
1. What does this passage mainly talk about?
A. Columns of marriage advertisement in Indian.
B. Modern changes about the idea of marriage in Indian.
C. The standard of choosing a husband or a wife.
D. The role of marriage advertisement.
2. The example in the paragraph 3 tells us____
A. Some new changes have occurred in the modern society.
B. Working wife have arrived in Indian.
C. The custom of the dowry should be forbidden
D. Earning power has become more and more important in marriage.
3. The words “the same thing” in line 2 paragraph 4 refers to ______
A. no dowry
B. simple marriage
C. the changes
D. illegal
4. Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?
A. All the Indian in modern society think caste unimportant.
B. The color of skin is absolutely important to Indian.
C. Not all the Indians think that dowry should it comes to marriage.
D. The caste in India has been neglected when it comes to marriage.
5. What factor should be considered for an India doctor when he chooses his wife?
A. Complexion.
B. Church-education
C. Caste
D. Both A and B
参考答案：BACCD
“Beautiful Brahman girl wanted for bank officer from well?onnected family,” one says. “Vegetarian man (doctor, engineer preferred) for church?ducated girl with light complexion,” says another. “Solid 25?ear?ld, salary four figures, wants tall, charming, educated Punjabi,” says a third.?
This is a relatively modern change in the age?ld custom of the arranged marriage. The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that are coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are still usually described in terms of appearance, or skills in “the wifely arts,” information about their earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife?
Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose advertisement in a New Delhi newspaper explained that she had been “the innocent party” when her marriage broke up.? Because the custom of the dowry (marriage payment) is now illegal, some advertisements say “no dowry,” or “simple marriage,” which means the same thing. However, the fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.
As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste (social class) system, a number of advertisements promise “caste (等级社会地位)not important,” or still require not only caste， such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin?
In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a “wheat-color” complexion or that a man be “tall, fair and handsome.”
Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. “There’s nothing embarrassing about it,” explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a son-in-law. “It’s just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for ones daughter?
1. What does this passage mainly talk about?
A. Columns of marriage advertisement in Indian.
B. Modern changes about the idea of marriage in Indian.
C. The standard of choosing a husband or a wife.
D. The role of marriage advertisement.
2. The example in the paragraph 3 tells us____
A. Some new changes have occurred in the modern society.
B. Working wife have arrived in Indian.
C. The custom of the dowry should be forbidden
D. Earning power has become more and more important in marriage.
3. The words “the same thing” in line 2 paragraph 4 refers to ______
A. no dowry
B. simple marriage
C. the changes
D. illegal
4. Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?
A. All the Indian in modern society think caste unimportant.
B. The color of skin is absolutely important to Indian.
C. Not all the Indians think that dowry should it comes to marriage.
D. The caste in India has been neglected when it comes to marriage.
5. What factor should be considered for an India doctor when he chooses his wife?
A. Complexion.
B. Church-education
C. Caste
D. Both A and B
参考答案：BACCD
