01
i was addressing a small gathering in a suburban virginia living room—— a womens group that had invited men to join them.
在弗吉尼亚教区的一个会客厅里，我正在一个小型聚会上发言。
这个聚会以女性为主，也邀请了一些男性朋友。
throughout the evening， one man had been particularly talkative，frequently offering ideas and anecdotes while his wife sat silently beside him on the couch.
整个晚上，有位男士特别健谈，不停地发表看法，讲一些奇闻轶事。但是，他的妻子就一直安静地坐在他旁边的沙发上（不怎么讲话）。
toward the end of the evening ，i commented that women frequently complain that their husbands dont talk to them.
聚会快结束的时候，我说了一句：“女性经常会抱怨自己的丈夫不怎么跟自己讲话。”
this man quickly noddedin agreement.
那个（侃侃而谈的）男士立马就点头同意了。
he gestured toward his wife and said
他指着他老婆对我们说：“她是我们家最喜欢讲话的人。”
the room burst into laughter; the man lookedpuzzled and hurt.
大家哄堂大笑。但是，那位男士却看起来茫然、黯然神伤。
he explained. when i come home from work i have nothing to say. if she didnt keep the conversation going wed spend the whole evening in silence.
“这是真的。每回下班回到家，我都发现自己不知道该找什么话说。要不是我老婆讲话的话，一整个晚上，我们家可能都是鸦雀无声。”他说。
?
02
this episode crystallizes the irony that although american men tend to talk more than women in public situations，they often talk less at home.?
这段经历呈现了一个讽刺的现象：尽管美国男人在公共场合比女人健谈，但是在家，他们经常一声不吭。
and this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage.
并且，这个现象正在严重破坏他们的婚姻。
03
the pattern was observed by political scientist andrew hacker in the late 1970s.
20世纪70年代末，政治学家安德鲁.哈克就注意到了这种现象。
sociologist catherine kohler riessman reports in her new book divorce talk that most of the women she interviewed -- but only a few of the men -- gave lack of communication as the reason for their divorces.
社会学家凯瑟琳.科勒.理斯曼在她的新书《离婚谈》中提到，在她采访的人中，大多数女性和少数男性，认为缺少沟通是他们离婚的原因。
given the current divorce rate of nearly 50 percent，that amounts to millions of cases in the united states every year -- a virtual epidemic of failed conversation.
现在的离婚率将近50%，美国每年产生数百万的离婚案件，实际上是虚拟“传染病”——沟通失败，造成的。
04
in my own research，complaints from women about their husbands most often focused not on tangible inequities such as having given up the chance for a career to accompany a husband to his or doing far more than their share of daily life-support work like cleaning ，cooking and social arrangements .
我的研究发现，女性对他们丈夫的抱怨不是集中在一些具体的不平等事情上。
比如：她们放弃自己职业生涯的机会去陪丈夫发展他们的视野，又比如，承担远超她们分内部分的日常家务，像打扫卫生，做饭和安排社交。
instead， they focused on communication:
相反，女性的抱怨集中和丈夫的沟通上。“他不听我讲话。”“他不和我讲话。”
i found， as hacker observed years before，that most wives want their husbands to be， first and foremost， conversational partners， but few husbands share this expectation of their wives.
我发现，就像哈克几年前发现的那样，大多数妻子希望他们的丈夫首先！首先！成为一个聊天对象。
但是，丈夫很少对妻子有这样的期望。
05
in short，the image that best represents the current crisis is the stereotypical cartoon scene of a man sitting at the breakfast table with a newspaper held up in front of his face，while a woman glares at the back of it，wanting to talk.
总之，这样一种经典漫画场景最能代表当前这种危机：一个男的坐在餐桌边上，报纸的正面遮着男人的脸，他老婆怒气冲冲地看着报纸背面，等着男人开口和他讲话。
26.what is most wives main expectation of their husbands?
大多数妻子最希望他们的丈夫干什么？
a. talking to them.
和她们讲话
b. trusting them.
相信她们
c. supporting their careers.
支持她们的事业
d. sharing housework.
分担家务
27. judging from the context , the phrase “wreaking havoc”(line 3,para.2)most probably means ___.
从全文来看，“wreaking havoc”是什么意思？
a. generating motivation.
产生动力
b. exerting influence
产生影响
c. causing damage
产生破坏
d. creating pressure
产生压力
28. all of the following are true except_______
下面哪个不正确？
a. men tend to talk more in public than women
在公开场合，男人比女人更健谈
b. nearly 50 percent of recent divorces are caused by failed conversation
50%的离婚是沟通失败引起的
c. women attach much importance to communication between couples
女性更看重夫妻之间的交流
d. a female tends to be more talkative at home than her spouse
在家里，妻子比丈夫健谈
29.which of the following can best summarize the main idea of this text ?
下面哪句话最能概括主旨？
a the moral decaying deserves more research by sociologists .
道德滑坡，需要社会学家做更多研究。
b marriage break up stems from sex inequalities.
离婚是因为性别不平等。
c husband and wife have different expectations from their marriage.
丈夫和妻子对婚姻的期望不同
d conversational patterns between man and wife are different.
男女之间的沟通模式不同
30.in the following part immediately after this text ,the author will most probably focus on ______
文章接下来部分，作者最有可能写什么？
a. a vivid account of the new book divorce talk
生动形象地介绍新书《离婚谈》
b. a detailed description of the stereotypical cartoon
详细描述这副经典漫画
c.other possible reasons for a high divorce rate in the u.s.
美国离婚率高的其他原因
d. a brief introduction to the political scientist andrew hacker
简要介绍政治学家安德鲁.哈克
