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今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. What does the article imply about future patterns of romantic relationships among younger generations?

A) Traditional relationship milestones will be achieved at younger ages.

B) Long-term partnerships will become significantly more common.

C) A growing number of young people may choose to remain single.

D) Most young individuals will prioritize romance over personal achievement.

无注释原文：

American Women Are Giving Up on Marriage

From: The Wall Street Journal

After a handful of underwhelming relationships and dozens of disappointing first dates, Andrea Vorlicek recently called off the search for a husband.

The 29-year-old always thought she'd have found her life partner by now. Instead, she's house hunting solo and considering having kids on her own.

“I'm financially self-sufficient enough to do these things myself,” said Vorlicek, a Boston-based accountant. “I'm willing to accept being single versus settling for someone who isn't the right fit.”

She sees her plans for an independent future as making the best of a lousy situation. “I don't want to sit here and say I'm 100% happy,” Vorlicek said. “But I feel happier just accepting my reality. It's mentally and emotionally a sense of peace.”

American women have never been this resigned to staying single. They are responding to major demographic shifts, including huge and growing gender gaps in economic and educational attainment, political affiliation and beliefs about what a family should look like.

“The numbers aren't netting out,” said Daniel Cox, director of the survey center at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank. He ticked off the data points: More women than men are attending college, buying houses and focusing on their friendships and careers over dating and marriage.

Stories of women complaining about the lack of quality men have long infused pop culture—from “Pride and Prejudice” to Taylor Swift's oeuvre. Yet women throughout history rarely questioned whether finding and securing a romantic partner should be a primary goal of adulthood.

This seems to be changing. Over half of single women said they believed they were happier than their married counterparts in a 2024 AEI survey of 5,837 adults. Just over a third of surveyed single men said the same.

A 2022 Pew survey of single adults showed only 34% of single women were looking for romance, compared with 54% of single men, down from 38% and 61% in 2019. Men were also more likely than women to say they were worried that nobody would want to date them.

A rise in earning power and a decline in the social stigma for being single has allowed more women to be choosy. “They would rather be alone than with a man who holds them back,” Cox said. 

For young women especially, who tout their “boy sober” and off-the-market status on TikTok and other social media, the focus has shifted toward self-improvement, friendship and the ability to find happiness on their own. Surveys show a decline in teenage relationships, and Gen Z is having less sex than previous generations, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

American Women Are Giving Up on Marriage

From: The Wall Street Journal

After a handful of underwhelming relationships and dozens of disappointing first dates, Andrea Vorlicek recently called off the search for a husband.

在经历了几段索然无味的恋情和几十次令人失望的初次约会之后，安德烈娅·沃利切克(Andrea Vorlicek)最近放弃了为自己寻找丈夫的计划。

underwhelming /ˌʌn.dəˈwel.mɪŋ/ 表示“未留下深刻印象的；未引起巨大反响的”，英文解释为“not causing someone to feel any excitement or admiration”举个🌰：The food was good but unfortunately we found the rest of the experience distinctly underwhelming. 食物很好，但很遗憾，我们觉得其他的体验明显不尽人意。

The 29-year-old always thought she'd have found her life partner by now. Instead, she's house hunting solo and considering having kids on her own.

这个29岁的女孩原先一直认为自己到了这个年纪应该已经找到了人生伴侣。然而事实上，她目前正在独自找房子，并且考虑自己养育一个孩子。

house-hunting /ˈhaʊsˌhʌn.tɪŋ/ 表示“寻找住房”，英文解释为“the activity of looking for a house to live in”举个🌰：We've been house-hunting for months. 我们找房子找了几个月了。

“I'm financially self-sufficient enough to do these things myself,” said Vorlicek, a Boston-based accountant. “I'm willing to accept being single versus settling for someone who isn't the right fit.”

“我的经济能力足够支持我独立完成这些事情，”沃利切克说。“我宁愿单身也不愿嫁给一个不适合的人。”她是一名在波士顿工作的会计师。

self-sufficient /ˌself.səˈfɪʃ.ənt/ 表示“自立的；（尤指食物）自给自足的”，英文解释为“able to provide everything you need, especially food, for yourself without the help of other people”举个🌰：The programme aims to make the country self-sufficient in food production and to cut energy imports. 这个项目旨在使国家在粮食上能自给自足，并减少能源进口。

accountant /əˈkaʊn.tənt/ 作名词，表示“会计；会计师”，英文解释为“someone who keeps or examines the records of money received, paid, and owed by a company or person”如：a firm of accountants 会计师事务所。

versus /ˈvɜːsəs/ 经常看到缩写vs，vs.或者是单单一个v，就是指的versus，表示“（比较两种不同想法、选择等）与…相对，与…相比”，英文解释为“used to compare two different ideas, choices, etc.”如：private education versus state education 私立教育与公共教育相比，举个🌰：It is France versus Brazil in the final. 决赛是法国队对巴西队。

She sees her plans for an independent future as making the best of a lousy situation. “I don't want to sit here and say I'm 100% happy,” Vorlicek said. “But I feel happier just accepting my reality. It's mentally and emotionally a sense of peace.”

她认为，她为自己规划的独立未来是在糟糕情况下作出的最优选择。“我不想大言不惭地说我感到百分之百的幸福，”沃利切克说。“但我感觉接受现实反而让我比较快乐。这是一种精神上和情感上的平和感。”

lousy /ˈlaʊ.zi/ 表示“糟糕的，差劲的”，相当于“very bad”如：lousy food/service 糟糕的食物/服务，a lousy book 糟糕的电影。

American women have never been this resigned to staying single. They are responding to major demographic shifts, including huge and growing gender gaps in economic and educational attainment, political affiliation and beliefs about what a family should look like.

美国女性从未像现在这样心甘情愿地保持单身。她们正在对人口统计数据的巨大变化作出反应，包括男女两性在各个方面已经很巨大并且还在不断扩大的差异，比如经济状况、教育水平、政治立场和对理想家庭的看法。

resigned /rɪˈzaɪnd/ 表示“听任；顺从；不得不接受”，英文解释为“accepting that something you do not like will happen because you cannot change it”如：a resigned look/expression/tone 无可奈何的样子/神情/语气

demographic /ˌdem.əˈɡræf.ɪk/ 1）作形容词，表示“人口的；人口统计的；人口学的”，英文解释为“relating to demography (= the study of populations and the different groups that make them up)”举个🌰：There have been monumental social and demographic changes in the country. 该国的社会和人口状况已经发生了巨大的变化。

2）作名词，表示“（顾客）族群”，英文解释为“a group of people, for example customers, who are similar in age, social class, etc.”举个🌰：This demographic (young teenagers) is the fastest-growing age group using the site. 该族群（十几岁的年轻人）是使用这个网站人数增长最快的年龄群体。

📍demographics /ˌdem.əˈɡræf.ɪks/ 表示“人口统计数据，人口统计结果”，英文解释为“the number and characteristics of people who live in a particular area or form a particular group, especially in relation to their age, how much money they have and what they spend it on”举个🌰：The demographics of the country have changed dramatically in recent years. 近年来该国的人口统计数据发生了巨大的变化。

affiliation /əˌfɪl.iˈeɪ.ʃən/ 表示“隶属（关系）；从属关系；联系”，英文解释为“a connection with a political party or religion, or with a larger organization”举个🌰：Their lack of affiliation to any particular bank allows them to give objective financial advice. 他们不隶属任何一家银行，这就使他们能够提供客观的理财咨询意见。

“The numbers aren't netting out,” said Daniel Cox, director of the survey center at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank. He ticked off the data points: More women than men are attending college, buying houses and focusing on their friendships and careers over dating and marriage.

“男女两性的统计数据并不匹配，”保守派智库美国企业研究所(American Enterprise Institute，简称AEI)调查中心主任丹尼尔·考克斯(Daniel Cox)表示。他列举了以下数据：和男性相比，更多的女性会上大学、买房子、更关注友谊和事业而不是约会和婚姻。

conservative /kənˈsɜː.və.tɪv/ 作名词，表示“保守党，保守派”，作形容词，表示“保守的；守旧的”，英文解释为“not usually liking or trusting change, especially sudden change”如：a conservative society/outlook 保守的社会/观念。

Conservative 表示“（英国）保守党的”，英文解释为“belonging to or supporting the British political party that traditionally supports business and opposes high taxes and government involvement in industry”如：the Conservative Party 保守党，Conservative policies 保守党奉行的政策。

表示“智囊团；智库”，英文解释为“a group of experts brought together, usually by a government, to develop ideas on a particular subject and to make suggestions for action”

1）表示“在（清单上）勾掉，做标记（表示已完成这件事）”，英文解释为“to put a mark beside an item in a list to show that you have dealt with it”举个🌰：That's one more action point that we can tick off. 我们又可以勾掉一项行动计划了。

2）表示“快速报出；列举”，英文解释为“to name items in a list”举个🌰：She ticked off two reasons for saying no. 她举出了两个拒绝的理由。

Stories of women complaining about the lack of quality men have long infused pop culture—from “Pride and Prejudice” to Taylor Swift's oeuvre. Yet women throughout history rarely questioned whether finding and securing a romantic partner should be a primary goal of adulthood.

女性抱怨优质男匮乏的故事早已反映在流行文化中——从《傲慢与偏见》(Pride and Prejudice)到泰勒·斯威夫特(Taylor Swift)的作品，不一而足。然而，从古至今，女性都很少质疑，寻获一位伴侣是否应该是成年后的一个主要目标。

infuse /ɪnˈfjuːz/ 在医学上的“输注（药物等）”，英文解释为“to slowly put a drug or other substance into a person's vein”；infuse本身还有“使充满（某种感觉）；向…灌输（某一品质，某一特性）；使具有，注入（特性）”，英文解释为“to fill something or someone with a particular feeling or quality  be infused with sth”举个🌰：Her books are infused with humour and wisdom. 她的书充满了幽默和智慧。

也可表示“泡（茶）；泡制（草药）”，英文解释为“If you infuse a drink or it infuses, you leave substances such as tea leaves or herbs in hot water so that their flavour goes into the liquid.”举个🌰：Allow the tea to infuse for five minutes. 让茶泡5分钟。

oeuvre /ˈɜː.vrə/ 表示“（作家、画家或其他艺术家的）全部作品，作品全集”，英文解释为“the complete works of a writer, painter, or other artist”举个🌰：I'm not familiar with his oeuvre. 我对他的作品不熟悉。

This seems to be changing. Over half of single women said they believed they were happier than their married counterparts in a 2024 AEI survey of 5,837 adults. Just over a third of surveyed single men said the same.

这种情况似乎正在发生变化。2024年AEI对5,837位成年人进行的一项调查显示，超过一半的单身女性表示，她们认为自己比已婚女性更幸福。只有略多于三分之一的单身男性表达了同样的看法。

counterpart一词经常出现，counter-表示“相反的；对立的；相应的”（opposite; against; in return; corresponding），和part一起就是“对立的，相应的事物”，从而表示“职位相当的人；作用相当的事物”，英文解释为“Somene's or something's counterpart is another person or thing that has a similar function or position in a different place.”

A 2022 Pew survey of single adults showed only 34% of single women were looking for romance, compared with 54% of single men, down from 38% and 61% in 2019. Men were also more likely than women to say they were worried that nobody would want to date them.

皮尤研究中心(Pew)在2022年对单身成年人进行的一项调查显示，只有34%的单身女性在寻求爱情，而单身男性的这一比例为54%，相比之下，2019年的数据分别为38%和61%。和女性相比，也有更大比例的男性表示担心没人愿意和他们约会。

A rise in earning power and a decline in the social stigma for being single has allowed more women to be choosy. “They would rather be alone than with a man who holds them back,” Cox said. 

随着赚钱能力的提高和社会对单身的偏见减轻，越来越多的女性在择偶方面变得挑剔。“她们宁愿单身也不愿意找一个拖后腿的男人，”考克斯说。

stigma /ˈstɪɡ.mə/ 表示“耻辱；（尤指不公正的）恶名”，英文解释为“a strong feeling of disapproval that most people in a society have about something, especially when this is unfair”举个🌰：There is no longer any stigma to being divorced. 离婚不再是什么耻辱的事了。

choosy /ˈtʃuː.zi/ 表示“挑剔的；难讨好的；难伺候的”，英文解释为“difficult to please because you are very exact about what you like”举个🌰：She's very choosy about what she eats and drinks. 她对饮食非常挑剔。

For young women especially, who tout their “boy sober” and off-the-market status on TikTok and other social media, the focus has shifted toward self-improvement, friendship and the ability to find happiness on their own. Surveys show a decline in teenage relationships, and Gen Z is having less sex than previous generations, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

对年轻女性来说尤其如此，她们在TikTok和其他社交媒体上宣扬自己“戒断男色”和“智者不入爱河”的状态，她们的关注点已经转向自我提升、友谊和自己寻找幸福的能力。据美国疾病控制与预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)，调查显示青少年谈恋爱的人数下降，Z世代的性行为数量也少于前几代人。

tout /taʊt/ 表示“标榜；吹捧；吹嘘”，英文解释为“to try to persuade people that sb/sth is important or valuable by praising them/it”举个🌰：A local car dealership was touting its services/wares on the radio. 一家地方汽车特许经销商正在当地电台作宣传。

🎬电影《大谎言家》（Big Fat Liar）中的台词提到：Big Fat Liar is already being touted as next summer's must-see movie event. 《大谎言家》已被誉为明年夏天必看的电影。

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