万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-04-03&04, 如何维持远距离婚姻

On the subject of vast distances, we come now to our series--the state of our unions about marriage in this country. Tonight couples who keep it together across the miles in what sometimes are called "commuter¹ marriages" often necessary, when work is in one place and family is in another as we see tonight from NBC's Rehema Ellis.
One two three
The typical weekend for Florida couple Darren and Lucinda Lesser--playing with two-year old son Bryce. But once Tuesday morning rolls around.
Hi, Baby, love you.
Love you
Darren goes back to his contracting job, a thousand miles away in Philadelphia. It's an arrangement becoming more common among married couples, the so-called "commuter marriage".
The US Census² Bureau estimates 3.6 million married Americans, including military families, live apart. That's a 40 percent increase since 1999.
For many couples, like the Lessers, it's about economics³ and child care.
She's a wonderful mother and so I just can't think of someone else raising our son.
So how do they make it work? Communication is key.
(How was your flying?)
We do a lot of rituals⁴, if you would call it that, you know, we speak first thing in the morning, we speak last thing in the evening.
Still the Lessers are planning ahead. Lucinda has started her own Mary Kay business and is studying for her real estate license⁵ to help build up their savings⁶ account so when the time comes for Darren to stop traveling, they can afford it.
Leading to the next challenge, living together again full-time⁷. Dr. Bill Pinsof is president of the Family Institute at Northwestern University.
"The most important thing is to have patience and to realize that you are not just gonna be able to come back and everything's gonna fall back into place."
"I give it maybe 2 or 3 weeks. She'll probably be ready to send me back out on the road."
But they are willing to risk it, because like most couples, the reason they got married in the first place was to be together.
Rehema Ellis, NBC news, New York.

1 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

2 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

4 rituals   

（宗教等的）仪式( ritual的名词复数 )； 例行公事，老规矩

参考例句：

• A cognac before bed is one of our little nightly rituals. 临睡之前喝点儿干邑是我们每天晚上的小习惯之一。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills. 这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。