Embracing a 'naked marriage'
Zhang Yi, a 28-year-old editor at the fashion magazine Sunshine, imagined her boyfriend's proposal like this: In a nice restaurant, he gets down on his knees, flourishes a diamond ring and asks: "Will you marry me?"
She would then scream, and with tears of joy in her eyes, throw herse
lf into his arms.
But the reality was tota
lly different. Her boyfriend simply said: "My mother has asked us to register for the marriage certificate as soon as possible."
Zhang agreed – and that was it.
"I understand my husband has little money. Besides, I love things to be simple. So I agreed," Zhang says.
The couple took a day off and registered their marriage. Instead of a banquet, their wedding ceremony was a 100-yuan ($15) dinner at a small restaurant where they first met.
Wang Zhiguo, chief marriage consultant at China's largest matchmaking website baihe.com, believes “naked marriages” benefit society. "It teaches young people the core spirit of marriage - love each other deeply, no matter rich or poor," Wang says, adding that some newlyweds save marriage costs for other expenses like their children's education, traveling or charity.
Wang thinks, however, that naked marriages may affect a relationship's stability.
"If we see a marriage as a contract, it includes three items: love, responsibility and a material base. Any missing link will lead to some problems in the relationship between husband and wife."
Wang suggests that if a couple's financial situation does not permit them to build a solid material base, an exchange of tokens(象征) is necessary for a long-lasting relationship.
1. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Zhang is inconsiderate towards her husband.
B. There is no long-lasting relationship without any token of love.
C. Doing without a ring, apartment and car, is becoming more acceptable to young people who want to get married sooner ra
ther than later.
D. Newlyweds should save money for trav
eling or charity.
2. What is Wang’s attitude towards naked marriages?
A. positive B. negative C. indifferent D. neutral
3. What is a naked marriage?
A. Getting married without clothes on.
B. A simple marriage with little material support.
C. A contract including love, responsibility and a material base.
D. A marriage without love, responsibility or a material base.
4. The author arranges the article with .
A. stories and explanation B. facts and descriptions
C. examples and conclusion D. evidence and argument
