新西兰英语 807 Increase in unmarried mothers

 　　Last year, about 60,000 babies were born in New Zealand and almost half of the mothers were not married. These are the numbers for last year: 32,019 mothers were married and 29,159 were not married. About 80% of Maori mothers, 50% of European mothers and 13% of Asian mothers of new-born babies were not married.

　　Times have changed in 50 years. In 1963, only 8% of mothers were not married; last year the figure was 48%.

　　New Zealand is not the only country where marriage is becoming less popular. The same thing is happening in many western countries. One possible reason is that fewer people are religious¹ today and they feel that a marriage ceremony is not so important. They often choose to live together in a stable² relationship without getting married.

　　However, relationships tend to last a shorter length of time these days and often some children in a family have a different father or mother. There are more blended³ families – a mother with children forms a relationship with a father who has children. There are also more single parents.

　　What is important, however, is that children are loved and cared for. It is usually better for children to have two parents, living in a stable relationship.

　　Vocabulary

　　?stable – peaceful, not changing

　　?tend (v), tendency (n) – move towards, lead to

　　?blended – mixed

1 religious   

adj.宗教性的，虔诚的，宗教上的；n.修道士，出家人

参考例句：

• She is very religious person who goes to church every Sunday.她十分虔诚，每个星期天都上教堂。
• It is hard for me to reject religious beliefs.要我抛弃自己的宗教信仰是困难的。

2 stable   

adj.稳定的；稳固的

参考例句：

• I'm glad she has become such a stable character.我很高兴她变得如此沉稳。
• This chair isn't very stable.这把椅子不大稳固。

3 blended   

v.（使）混合( blend的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）混杂；（使）调和；协调

参考例句：

• Yes, I think they are blended together. 是的，我认为他们很和谐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The two feelings blended in him--neutralised one another and him. 这两种感觉在他心里混为一体，相互抵消，使他采取了中立的态度。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹