In most cultures throughout the world, there is an expectation that when a person reaches adulthood, marriage should soon follow. In the United States 62 ，each month upwards of 168,000 couples wed, 63 to love, honor, and respect their chosen life mates 64 death parts them. The expectation is deep-rooted.

65 the social functions, purposes, and relevance of marriage are rapidly changing in 66 society, making them less clear-cut than they have been 67 history. For instance, in a Pew Research Center random polling of over 2,000 68 fewer than half of all of the adults polled indicated that 69 a man and a woman plan to spend the 70 of their lives together as a couple, it was important than 71 marry.

Those of us who choose to marry have 72 reasons why we decide to marry the person we do. There is a 72 , however in our Western, individualistic culture: We tend to marry for reasons that benefit ourselves, 74 for reasons that benefit the society 75 , such as found in collectivist cultures. Research in Western cultures has found, for example, that the number-one 76 people cite for marrying to signify a lifelong commitment 77 someone they love. However, this reason is not the only response to why people wed—today, people get married for reasons of commitment, security, and personal belief systems. The Pew Research Center’s recent findings 78 that the main reasons people get married are for 79 happiness and commitment, and bearing and missing children. As the date from this 80 show us, there are racial, age, and religious differences in what people 81 to be the main purposes of getting married.

62. A）aloneC) barely

B) solelyD) again

63. A）trustingC) vowing

B) competingD) pretending

64. A）afterC) when

B) untilD) though

65. A）HoweverC)Therefore

B) HenceD) Then

66. A) contemporaryC) constructive

B) conventionalD)consequent

67. A) beyondC) within

B) throughoutD) amidst

68. A) objectsC) individuals

B) specimensD) incidents

69. A) whereasC) for

B) unlessD) if

70. A) wholeC) leftover

B) totalD) rest

71. A) equallyC) nominally

B) legallyD) vitally

72. A) radicalC) specific

B) constantD) designated

73. A) worryC) myth

B) confidenceD) tendency

74. A) rather thanC) not only

B) or elseD) as well

75. A) at lengthC) at random

B) at largeD) at risk

76. A) easeC) reason

B) beliefD) notion

77. A) aboutC) in

B) overD) to

78. A) suggestC) signify

B) raiseD) resolve

79. A) moralC) visual

B) mutualD) versatile

80. A) legendC)survey

B) episodeD) blueprint

81. A) observeC) substitute

B) dispatchD) consider