Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 34. Marriage nowadays is a choice people make on their own, but this has not always been the case in society. Thousands of years ago, the average lifespan was shorter than it is today. A man usually lived until he was about 40 years old, while women died even sooner because of childbirth. There were many wars and illnesses, and people had to...
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Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 34.
Marriage nowadays is a choice people make on their own, but this has not always been the case in society. Thousands of years ago, the average lifespan was shorter than it is today. A man usually lived until he was about 40 years old, while women died even sooner because of childbirth. There were many wars and illnesses, and people had to protect themselves by having more children while they were still young. The parents lived through their children.
Marriage was not so much a romantic love story but a business transaction, or deal. Most marriages were arranged between parents while their children were still very young. It was the custom that the fathers made the decision on whom their children were going to marry. The mothers had little say in it since they rarely made any decisions outside the household. The fathers would meet to arrange the wedding date and the money given for the bride on her wedding date. The more money and land a girl had, the more chances she had to marry well. Therefore, it was important that her father choose the bridegroom very well. Usually, it was someone who came from a good family or who was rich too. It was very unlikely that people married outside their social class. A few well-off and rich merchants got to marry poorer noblewomen and became King’s business advisors. In a way, poor peasants had an easier choice as it was less important whom they married.
The practice of arranged marriage is still common in some countries in the Middle East, such as India or Pakistan. Here, social classes are still strongly divided and very well-kept. Often, however, arranged marriages are a sign that people do not want to let go of the past, which gives them comfort and security in an ever- changing world.
(Adapted from Longman Essence Reading, Vol. 2)
The author mentions all of the following in the passage EXCEPT ____.
A. People tended to marry outside their social class.
B. Men made almost all decisions inside the family.
C. Marriage used to be a deal between two families.
D. The wedding date was decided by the fathers.
Choose the best answer.
1) The extended family arranged marriage, ... individuals were consulted on the choice of their mate.
A. So B. And C. Yet D. Otherwise
2) ... the first footer has a good repulation and success, the family believes that they will receive luck and good fortune throughout the year.
A. If B. When C. Because D. Moreover
3) Parents usually buy new clothes and shoes for their children a month before the New Year; ... , children cannot wear their new clothes until the first day of the New Year and onward.
A. Moreover B. Although
C. Otherwise D. However
4) The left hand is customarily used for cleaning, ... Indian people never eat with their left hands.
A. So B. But C. However D. Therefore