We have spoken of marriage as a formal contract. It should be
noted, however, that this contract does not (47) the same
form in different societies. In Western societies, the (48)
of a man and a woman is given the status of legal marriage by being
registered by an official (49) by the state. In some African
societies, however, marriage has nothing to do with an official registration of
this kind but is legalized by the formal (50) of goods;
Generally it is the bridegroom who is required to make a (51)
of goods to the bride’s kin(亲戚), though sometimes a payment is also
made by the bridegroom’s kin to that of the bride. Among the
Nuer, a people living in Southern Sudan, the payment made to the bride’s kin,
(52) as bridewealth, is in the (53) of
cattle. Once the (54) of bridewealth is agreed upon, and the
for- mal payment is made, the marriage becomes a (55) union
and the offspring of. the union become the acceptable (56) of
the husband. They remain his children even if the wife subsequently leaves him
to live with another man. A — exchange
B — known
C — union D — type
E — consumption F — recognized
G — make H — form
I — communication J — children
K — legal L —
payment M — take
N — amount O —
money