高等院校英语专业八级考试样题Ⅳ（2）
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（原 文） In some societies people want children for what might be called familial reasons： to extend the family line or the family name， to propitiate the ancestors； to enable the proper functioning of religious rituals involving the family. Such reasons may seem thin in the modern， secularized society but they have been and are powerful indeed in other places. In addition， one class of family reasons shares a border with the following category， namely， having children in order to maintain or improve a marriage： to hold the husband or occupy the wife； to repair or rejuvenate the marriage； to increase the number of children on the assumption that family happiness lies that way. The point is underlined by its converse： in some societies the failure to bear children （or males） is a threat to the marriage and a ready cause for divorce. Beyond all that is the profound significance of children to the very institution of the family itself. To many people， husband and wife alone do not seem a proper family -they need children to enrich the circle， to validate its family character， to gather the redemptive influence of offspring. Children need the family， but the family seems also to need children， as the social institution uniquely available， at least in principle， for security， comfort， assurance， and direction in a changing， often hostile， world. To most people， such a home base， in the literal sense， needs more than one person for sustenance and in generational extension. （参考译文） 在某些社会中，人们希望拥有孩子是出于所谓的家庭原因：传宗接代，光宗耀祖，博取祖辈的欢心，使那些涉及到整个家族的宗教仪式得以发挥其应有的作用。此类原因在现代世俗化的社会中似显苍白，但它们在其他地方曾一度构成并确实仍在构成强有力的理由。此外，有一类家庭原因与下列类别不无共通之处，这便是：生儿育女是为着维系或改善婚姻：能拴住丈夫或者使妻子不致于无所事事；修复婚姻或为婚姻注入新的活力；多子多孙，以为家庭幸福，惟系于此。这一点更可因其相反情形而得以凸现：在某些社会中，无法生儿育女（或无法生育男孩）于婚姻而言可构成一种威胁，并可作为离婚的一个顺理成章的（或现成的）缘由。 除了所有这一切以外，还有一个原因，那就是后代对于家庭这一体制本身所具有的深远意义。对许多人来说，夫妇两人尚不足以构成一个真正意义上的家庭——夫妻需要孩子来丰富其两人小天地，赋予该小天地以真正意义上的家庭性质，并从子孙后代身上获取某种回报。 孩子需要家庭，但家庭似乎也需要孩子。作为一种社会体制，家庭以其特有的方式，至少从原则上说，可在一个变幻莫测、常常是充满敌意的世界中让人从中获取某种安全、慰藉、保障，以及价值取向。于大多数人而言，这样的一个家庭基础，即使从其表层意义上来讲，也需要不至一个人来维持其存在，并使其世代相传，生生不息。 相关资料 |
