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  3. These days lots of young Japanese do omiai, literally, "meet and look." Many of them do so willingly. In today’s prosperous and

These days lots of young Japanese do omiai, literally, "meet and look." Many of them do so willingly. In today’s prosperous and

admin2013-05-04  19
问题     These days lots of young Japanese do omiai, literally, "meet and look." Many of them do so willingly. In today’s prosperous and increasingly conservative Japan, the traditional omiai kekkon, or arranged marriage, is thriving.
    But there is a difference. In the original omiai, the young Japanese couldn’t reject the partner chosen by his parents and their middleman. After World War II, many Japanese abandoned the arranged marriage as part of their rush to adopt the more democratic ways of their American conquerors. The Western ren ’ai kekkon, or love marriage, became popular; Japanese began picking their own mates by dating and falling in love.
    But the western way often found wanting in an important respect: it didn’t necessarily produce a partner of the right economic, social, and educational qualifications. "Today’s young people are quite calculating," says Chieko Akiyama, a social commentator.
    What seems to be happening now is a repetition of a familiar process in the country’s history, the "Japanization" of an adopted foreign practice. The Western ideal of marrying for love is accommodated in a new omiai in which both parties are free to reject the match. "Omiai is evolving into a sort of stylized introduction," Mrs. Akiyama says.
    Many young Japanese now date in their early twenties, but with no thought of marriage. When they reach the age — in the middle twenties for women, the late twenties for men — they increasingly turn to omiai. Some studies suggest that as many as 40% of marriages each year are omiai kekkon. It’s hard to be sure, say those who study the matter, because many Japanese couples, when polled, describe their marriage as a love match even if it was arranged.
    These days, doing omiai often means going to a computer matching service rather than to a nakodo. The nakodo of tradition was an old woman who knew all the kids in the neighbourhood and went around trying to pair them off by speaking to their parents; a successful match would bring her a wedding invitation and a gift of money. But Japanese today find it’s less awkward to reject a proposed partner if the nakodo is a computer.
    Japan has about five hundred computer matching services. Some big companies, including Mitsubishi, run one for their employees. At a typical commercial service, an applicant pays $80 to $125 to have his or her personal data stored in the computer for two years and $200 or so more if a marriage results. The stored information includes some obvious items like education and hobbies, and some not-so-obvious ones, like whether a person is the oldest child. (First sons, and to some extent first daughters, face an obligation of caring for elderly parents.)
One of the big differences between a traditional nakodo and its contemporary version lies in the way______.
选项 A、wedding gifts are presented
B、a proposed partner is refused
C、formalities are arranged
D、the middleman/woman is chosen
答案D
解析 根据题干中的a traditional nakodo将本题出处定位到第六段。该段首句提到，现在说去omiai常常就是说去网上婚介所，而不是去找nakodo；接下来具体说明：传统的nakodo是位老妇人……但是现在的日本人发现，如果媒婆是一个电脑的话，拒绝一个被推荐的对象就没什么难为情的。由此可知，以前的媒婆是一个老妇人，现在的媒婆是一台电脑，即中间人的选择不同，故答案为[D]。[A]和[C]在文中未提及。以前的相亲和新型相亲的不同在于是否能够拒绝相亲的对象，而不是拒绝相亲的方式，故排除[B]。
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