Directions:In this section, you will hear
a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should
listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second
time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the
exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered 44 to 46 you are required
to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the
exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words.
Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you
have written.
The family today is no longer the unit of economic production
that it once was. When our society was predominantly rural, both husband and
wife produced goods of (36) value that could either be sold
or be used by the family. Equally important, there was no (37)
of home and work, the home was also the business. In the early stages
of (38) , when many people worked in their homes and sold
their wares in home front shops, much the same was true. However, once the
(39) pattern began to be to work outside the home, as it
certainly has been during much of the 20th century, the importance of the family
as a unit of economic production (40) One effort of this is
that the economic meaning of divorce changed. Under the old pattern, a divorce
meant not only a disruption of the family but also the (41)
of a productive business. Today, it no longer has that meaning, and thus one
major disincentive to divorce has been eliminated. A closely
related reason for today’s higher (42) rate appears to be
that people expect more of their marriages. When the family was in part an
economic unit, there was less (43) on its socio-emotional
role. (44) , which was less than satisfying emotionally,
(45) Even the motion of romantic love is
fairly recent. (46)