大學英語綜合教程4 節選

　　Reading Aloud　　Ⅰ. For all the changes in fertility and mortality that Americans have experienced from thecolonial period until today， there has been surprisingly little change in the structure of thefamily until the past quarter century. Until that point， the age of marriage changed from timeto time， but only a minority of women never married and births outside marriage weretraditionally less than 10 percent of all births.　　But this fundamental social institution has changed profoundly since 1980. In fact， if onewere to define the most original demographic feature in the post-1980 period in the UnitedStates， it would be the changes that were occurring in both families and households for allsections of the national population. The traditional American family has been undergoingprofound transformations for all ages， all races， and all ethnic groups. Every aspect of theAmerican family is experiencing change. These include the number of adults who marry， thenumber of households that are formed by married people， the number of children that areconceived， the economic role of mothers， the number of non-family households， and even theimlortance of marriage in accounting for total births.　　Comprehension of the Text　　Ⅱ. Decide whether each of the statements below is true or false according to the text.　　Write the letter T or F before each statement.　　1.__The traditional American family has been undergoing profoundtransformations for all ages， all races， and all ethnic groups.　　2.__By 2000， 22 percent of adult white women and 42 percent of adult blackwomen had never married.　　……