[听力原文]

W: Mr. Glieberman, do you see any change in the high rate of broken marriages?

M: The divorce rate is beginning to level off and probably will begin to drop in the next year or two, though not significantly. The tight economy has made it more difficult for troubled couples to handle all the costs associated with setting up separate house-holds. Also, I believe there’s a comeback of thought—after theturbulent60s and70s—that the family does have value. In the midst of change and family disintegration¹, people seem to have a greater desire now to create stability in their lives.

W: What is the divorce rate now?

M: About 1 in 3 marriages ends in divorce, a ratio far higher than it was 20 years ago when the philosophy was“Well tough it out no matter what. Society demands that, for appearances sake, we stay together.”

Divorce no longer carries much disgrace. There’s no way, for example, that Ronald Reagan, a divorced man, could have been elected President in 1960.And there are countless² other divorced politicians who years ago would have been voted out of office if they had even considered a divorce, let alone gotten one.

　The same was true in the corporate³ structure, where divorced people rarely moved up the executive ladder. Now corporations welcome a divorced man, because they can shift him around the country without worrying about relocating his family or making certain that they are happy.

　　W: You now have 40 seconds to check your answers to Questions 17-20.

名师精解：

17．考察考生对于文章特定信息的掌握以及对文章大意的理解能力。答案来自文章最开头第一句“The divorce rate is beginning to level off and begin to drop in the next year or two ,though not significantly.”中level off和drop推断出。level off的意思是“稳定下来，达到平衡”。解答此类的问题需要考生具有一定的猜词能力。

18．考察考生对于细节问题的掌握。答案来自原文“In the midst of change and family disintegration, people seem to have a greater desire now to create stability in their lives.”。

19．考察考生对于细节问题的掌握。答案来自原文“Society demands that ,for appearances sake, we stay together.”得到。For appearance’s sake可以翻译为“碍于面子”。

20．考察考生综合分析问题的能力。听力原文的结尾部分就是在说这个问题，即过去离婚者所受的待遇问题。要求考生边听边理解听力内容。答案来自原文中“...The same was true in the corporate structure, where divorced people rarely moved up the executive ladder...”。听力原文中有一些较口语化的句子，读的语速都较快，除了考生平时积累此类语言，仔细对此特定信息进行仔细辨听外，还可以通过对前后语境进行揣摩，辨别作者意图。

题型分析：

从听力原文的体裁来说，第三小节可以分为对话理解题和独白材料题。

对话理解题的听力原文通常形式为男女一问一答式的小会话，内容总不外乎日常生活中的一般对话，即衣、食、住、行、工作、学习等常见话题。根据对话所营造的场景不同，可以分为校园、工作场合、公共场所、家庭等。

独白材料题由一位录音者单独阅读一段文章，听力原文材料本身一般难度不会很大。重点考查考生能不能在第一次听后能否对材料有个大概的理解。在这类独白材料的题目设计中大都是特殊疑问句。题目多关于材料的细节、情节和主题等。有时也要求考生对材料所给予的目的、主题、原因做出推断。听力原文材料一般以叙事文为主，取材广泛。

第三节听力考试中部分题目的句子结构和内容都比较简单，问题常由what、when、where、who、why和how等疑问词引导的特殊疑问句，而就题目提问方式而言，则可以归类为：细节型；计算型；大意型和推理型等。

细节题目往往是针对录音听力中的人物、地点、时间、数字、价格等所提及的问题，只要考生考前对考点进行预测，同时放录音时注意听录音材料这些内容，理顺关系，就能轻松得分。

同样的，计算题也往往是针对录音听力中的时间、数字、和价格等所提及的计算。一般来说，题目中涉及的计算都比较简单，只要考生能够听到录音材料相应内容，理顺关系，就能得出答案。

大意题往往是针对整个录音材料而言的，要求考生对录音材料的整体内容有一个大致的胖段，同时考虑说话者语气，语境以及说话者的言语中隐含的深层次的意思。解答此类题目时考生应要从全局着眼，而后全面做答。

推理题一般来说也是针对整个录音材料而言的，是所有听力题中最难的。要求考生考虑录音材料的整体内容，考虑说话者语气，说话环境及一些其他细节的基础上，综合判断得出答案。推理题是对上面所提到的题目题型的能力的一个综合考核。这类题目在听力原文中找不到现成的答案，要通过考生自己的判断推理来解答答题目。