Section31 Marriage

　　Marriage is an almost universal act.婚姻是一種普遍性的人類活動。

　　It is the coming together of two people to share their lives in an official way.它是兩個人走到一起，共同合法地生活。

　　In many countries, it has a religious connection.在許多國家，婚姻與宗教有關。

　　It is one of the oldest ceremonies remaining in most cultures.在許多文化國度里，它是至今為止保存最古老的儀式之一。

　　Most countries and religions set a minimum age for marriage.許多國家和宗教規定了結婚的最小年齡。

　　This will vary from country to country.這會因國家的不同而有差異。

　　In the UK, for example, a couple may marry at 16 years old.以英國為例，夫婦可以在16歲結婚。

　　If a marriage is to be dissolved, we call this divorce.如果一段婚姻破裂了，我們可以稱之為離婚。

　　Some religions do not permit divorce.有些宗教不允許離婚。

　　In the 20th century, some people decided to live together without getting married.到了20世紀，有些人決定同居而不結婚。

　　This can be called common-law marriage.這被稱為事實婚姻。

　　Most people do this because they want a trial marriage before the real thing.許多人這么做是因為他們想在真正的婚姻之前先試婚。

　　It was thought that it was easier than going through divorce if the relationship didnrsquo;t work.他們認為，如果兩人相處不來，這樣分手比通過離婚方式容易一些。

　　However, the law in many countries considers this, and after a few years of living together, similar laws to divorce apply.許多國家的法律也考慮到這一點，如果兩人住在一起多年了，分手則采用類似離婚的法律。

　　So, marriage is still popular even though common-law marriage is still tried first, as people may eventually marry anyway.但是盡管有人嘗試事實婚姻，但是結婚還是最普遍的，畢竟大多數人最終會選擇結婚。

　　Section31 Marriage

　　Marriage is an almost universal act.婚姻是一種普遍性的人類活動。

　　It is the coming together of two people to share their lives in an official way.它是兩個人走到一起，共同合法地生活。

　　In many countries, it has a religious connection.在許多國家，婚姻與宗教有關。

　　It is one of the oldest ceremonies remaining in most cultures.在許多文化國度里，它是至今為止保存最古老的儀式之一。

　　Most countries and religions set a minimum age for marriage.許多國家和宗教規定了結婚的最小年齡。

　　This will vary from country to country.這會因國家的不同而有差異。

　　In the UK, for example, a couple may marry at 16 years old.以英國為例，夫婦可以在16歲結婚。

　　If a marriage is to be dissolved, we call this divorce.如果一段婚姻破裂了，我們可以稱之為離婚。

　　Some religions do not permit divorce.有些宗教不允許離婚。

　　In the 20th century, some people decided to live together without getting married.到了20世紀，有些人決定同居而不結婚。

　　This can be called common-law marriage.這被稱為事實婚姻。

　　Most people do this because they want a trial marriage before the real thing.許多人這么做是因為他們想在真正的婚姻之前先試婚。

　　It was thought that it was easier than going through divorce if the relationship didnrsquo;t work.他們認為，如果兩人相處不來，這樣分手比通過離婚方式容易一些。

　　However, the law in many countries considers this, and after a few years of living together, similar laws to divorce apply.許多國家的法律也考慮到這一點，如果兩人住在一起多年了，分手則采用類似離婚的法律。

　　So, marriage is still popular even though common-law marriage is still tried first, as people may eventually marry anyway.但是盡管有人嘗試事實婚姻，但是結婚還是最普遍的，畢竟大多數人最終會選擇結婚。