Finding Love in School
In the United States, there is a long tradition of using schools as places for making romantic connections. “Historically” (traditionally), school has been a popular place to meet future husbands or wives, as is probably true in many countries. In 1992, 23% of married Americans said that they met their “spouse” (husband or wife) at school, such as in high school or at the university. Only 15% of people said they met their spouse at work.
在美國，長期以來，學校一直是人們建立浪漫關係的場所。「歷史上」（傳統上），學校一直是人們認識未來丈夫或妻子的熱門場所，這在許多國家也是如此。1992年，23％的美國已婚人士表示，他們在學校（如高中或大學）認識了自己的「配偶」（丈夫或妻子）。只有15％的人表示他們是在工作場所遇見了配偶。Things seem to have changed. In 2006, a similar survey found that only 14% of U.S. married couples first met at school, and 18% met at work. The work “figure” (number) has increased three percentage points, but the school/university number has gone down more dramatically. Why?
情況似乎發生了變化。2006年，一項類似的調查發現，只有14％的美國已婚夫妻首次在學校相遇，而18％的人是在工作場所相遇的。工作場所的「數據」（數字）增加了三個百分點，但學校/大學的數字下降得更明顯。為什麼會這樣？
While schools were always seen as a place where men and women had time to meet and develop romantic relationships, both men and women “nowadays” (currently; now) are getting married at a much later age than they did 20 years ago. The average age for a man in the U.S. to marry is 27.5 years; for a woman, it’s 25.5 years.
雖然學校一直被視為男人和女人有時間相遇並發展浪漫關係的場所，但「如今」（現在）男女結婚的年齡比20年前晚了很多。美國男性的平均結婚年齡是27.5歲，女性是25.5歲。
There are many reasons for this change. Part of the reason may be “credential inflation” at work. “Credentials” are qualifications, such as a university degree or training. “Inflation” is when something continues to increase over time. Jobs nowadays require people to get higher and better qualifications, such as Master’s degrees, so that young people have to wait to marry so that they can finish this additional training.
這一變化有很多原因。部分原因可能是「資格膨脹」在起作用。「資格」是指資格證明，如大學學位或培訓。「膨脹」是指某事隨時間不斷增加。現如今的工作要求人們獲得更高更好的資格，例如碩士學位，因此年輕人不得不等到完成這些額外的培訓後才能結婚。
Perhaps this is one reason why Internet dating has become more popular. As people have fewer opportunities to meet “eligible” (unmarried) men and women, they need to find other ways of meeting people. College students now believe that they need to wait to marry, and so don’t start looking for a potential spouse until after they leave school, even though college is probably the one time in their life where they will have a lot of time and opportunity to meet an eligible “mate” (spouse).
也許這就是為什麼網絡約會變得越來越受歡迎的原因之一。由於人們有更少的機會遇見「合適的」（未婚的）男性和女性，他們需要找到其他認識人的方式。大學生現在認為他們需要等到畢業後才結婚，因此在離開學校之前並不尋找潛在的配偶，儘管大學可能是他們一生中有最多時間和機會認識合適「伴侶」（配偶）的時期。
重要單字
- 1. Spouse - 配偶 / [spaʊs]
- 2. Go all out - 全力以赴 / [ɡoʊ ɔl aʊt]
- 3. Nowadays - 如今 / [ˈnaʊəˌdeɪz]
- 4. Credential inflation - 資格膨脹 / [krɪˈdɛnʃəl ɪnˈfleɪʃən]
- 5. Eligible - 合適的 / [ˈɛlɪdʒɪbəl]
- 6. Mate - 伴侶 / [meɪt]
