早稲田法 2016 II フレーズ訳・解説

原文はこちら

① 

In the 1990s, 

Stephanie Coontz

, an American social historian, 

noticed an increased number of questions 

　from reporters and audiences 

　asking her 

　　if the institution of marriage 

　　was falling apart. 

She didn't think it was, 

and was surprised 

by how everyone believed 

　　in a mythical Golden Age of Marriage 

        and saw increasing divorce rates 

        as evidence of the dissolution 

        of this glorified past. 

※didn't think it was (falling apart), 

She decided to write a book 

  discrediting the notion 

  and proving that 

    the ways 

    〔in which humans think about 

　　and construct marriages〕

    have always been in flux.

② 

What Coontz found 

was even more interesting 

than she'd originally expected. 

In her fascinating book

, Marriage, a History: 

  From Obedience to Intimacy, 

  or How Love Conquered Marriage, 

she surveys 5,000 years of human habits, 

  from the ancient past up 

  until the present. 

She shows our matrimonial arrangements 

to be more complex and varied 

than could ever seem possible. 

Coontz had long known that 

the nuclear family model 

    popular in the 1950s and 1960s 

   ―that is, 

       a husband earning a salary 

       and a housewife raising their children ―

had only been momentary. 

※that is 「つまり」

Like many historians, 

she couldn't understand 

how people had become 

so attached  to an idea 

〔that had developed so late and been so short-lived〕.

③ 

For thousands of years, 

marriage had been 

a primarily economic and political contract 

　between two people, 

　negotiated and overseen by their families and communities. 

It took more than one person 

to make a farm or business thrive, 

and so 

a potential mate's skills, resources, thrift, and industriousness 

were valued 

as highly as personality and attractiveness. 

This was true of all social classes. 

In colonial America, 

wealthy merchants entrusted business matters 

to their wives 

while off at sea. 

Sailors

　, vulnerable to the unpredictability of seasonal employment, 

relied on their wives' steady income 

as domestic helpers in elite households. 

Two-income families were the norm.

④ 

Not until the 18th century 

did labor begin 

to be divided sharply 

by gender: 

※not until ～ 「～になって初めて」

wage-earning 

　for the men 

and unpaid maintenance of household and children 

　for the women. 

Coontz notes that 

as recently as the late 17th century, 

women's contributions to the family economy 

were openly recognized. 

Advice books back then 

urged husbands and wives 

to share domestic tasks. 

But as labor became separated, 

so did people's spheres of life experience 

― the workplace versus the home ―

　 the former based on reason and action, 

     the latter on compassion and comfort. 

※so did ... 「...もまたそうなった」（= became separated）

※the latter (based) on ...

It was not until the postwar economic gains of the 1950s 

that a majority of American families 

could afford to live off a single breadwinner.

※It was not until ... that ～ 「...までは～ではなかった」→「...になって初めて～した」

⑤

All of this was intriguing, 

but even more surprising to Coontz 

was the realization that 

　those alarmed reporters and audiences 

　might have recognized something important. 

※might have done「～していたかもしれない」

Coontz still didn't think that 

　marriage was falling apart, 

but she came to see that 

　it was undergoing a transformation 

　　far more radical 

　　than anyone could have predicted. 

She concluded that 

　our current attitudes and arrangements 

　　regarding marriage 

　are without precedent. 

"Today, 

 we are experiencing a historical revolution 

   every bit as wrenching, 

                       far-reaching, 

                       and irreversible 

                  as the Industrial Revolution," 

she wrote.

⑥ 

With respect to 

  what people want and expect 

          from marriage and relationships, 

all the old ways have broken down. 

Firstly, 

Americans keep postponing marriage. 

In 1960, 

the average age of first marriage in the U.S. 

was 23 for men and 20 for women; 

now it is 28 and 26. 

Today, 

a smaller proportion of American women in their early 30s 

are married 

than at any other point since the 1950s. 

We're also marrying less. 

In 1997, 

29 percent of "Generation X" was married; 

among today's "Millennials," 

that figure has dropped to 22 percent. 

(Compare that 

  with 1960

    , when more than half of people 

                    aged between 18 and 29 

                had already married.) 

These numbers reflect major attitudinal shifts. 

According to one study, 

44 percent of Millennials 

and 43 percent of Generation X 

think that 

marriage is becoming obsolete.

⑦ 

Even more significantly, 

women no longer need husbands 

  to have children, 

nor do women have to have children 

  if they don't want to. 

※nor 「...も～ない」

Being a mother in a nuclear family 

need not be the defining feature of womanhood 

anymore; 

today, 

40 percent of American children 

are born to single mothers. 

This isn't to say 

all those women preferred that path, 

but it has helped 

to reduce the stigma against single motherhood. 

Just as single motherhood is no longer a disgrace, 

motherhood itself is no longer compulsory. 

※just as ...「...と同じように」

Since 1976, 

the percentage of women in their early 40s 

〔who have not given birth〕 

has nearly doubled.

⑧ 

Foremost 

among the reasons 

　for all these changes in family structure 

are the gains in the women's movement. 

※among ... are ～ 「...の中に～がある」（倒置）

Over the past half century in the U.S., 

women have steadily caught up to 

　―and are in some ways surpassing ―

men 

in education and employment. 

※catch up to「～に追いつく」

※in 「～において、～の点で」

From 1970 to 2007, 

women's earnings grew 44 percent, 

compared with just six percent for men. 

It's true that, 

in 2008, 

women still earned 

just 77 percent of what men earned, 

but that figure 

doesn't account for the difference in hours worked, 

or the fact that 

　women tend to choose lower-paying fields 

　like nursing or education. 

A 2010 study of single, childless urban workers 

　between the ages of 22 and 30 

found that 

　the women earned eight percent more than the men. 

Women are also more likely to go to college: 

in 2010, 55 percent of all college graduates 

　aged between 25 and 29 

were female.

( 1 ) 

A 

argues that 

　the assignment of men to the workplace 

　　　　　  and of women to the home 

　began just a few centuries ago.

B 

cites the Industrial Revolution 

as a major historical cause 

behind the sweeping change 

in how people have come to regard marriage.

※change in 「～の変化、～における変化」

C 

claims that 

sexual division of labor occurred 

because it helped to improve 

the financial welfare of many families, 

especially after World War II.

D 

demonstrates 

how the gender gap has narrowed in some aspects of society, 

thus altering the way many households are now shaped.

※thus altering ...「そうして...を変えてきた」

E describes how decisions regarding marriage have traditionally been driven by practical considerations, such as income optimization.

F indicates that people's decisions to marry have been made quite apart from economic benefits that might be gained from the marriage.

G introduces Stephanie Coontz's findings, which suggest that the marriage structure that was common in the mid-20th century has a rather short history.

H offers data suggesting that younger Americans are increasingly discounting the value of marriage in their lives.

I outlines the motivation behind Stephanie Coontz's investigation into whether or not the institution of marriage is breaking down.

J overturns the popular idea that, as evidenced by the increase in the divorce rates, the social institution of marriage must be in a state of decline.

K predicts that, in accordance with postwar trends, future generations will value marriage and motherhood less and less.

L presents some data indicating that motherhood, in its various forms, is becoming a less significant and less socially expected part of female life.

M tells us that the social practice of marriage is now changing in a way that is more profound than even an expert like Stephanie Coontz anticipated.

(2) Choose the ONE way to complete each of these sentences that is NOT correct according to the passage.

1 The division of labor by gender

A contributed to economic growth in postwar America.

B has pushed men to work for a wage while women stay at home.

C is a more recent phenomenon than is often thought.

D placed men and women into separate roles and worlds.

E usually assigns women to domestic duties.

2 Members of Generation X

A are less likely to discount the value of marriage than Millennials.

B are more likely to remain single than their predecessors.

C are older than Millennials.

D have contributed to significant change in social trends regarding marriage.

E were, in 1997, less likely to be married than today's Millennials.

3 Recently, women have

A become no less likely than men to graduate from college.

B come to earn more than men in certain cases.

C grown far less likely than before to become mothers.

D seen their incomes increase at a higher rate than men's incomes.

E tended to marry earlier than their predecessors.

(3) Which one of the following sentences best sums up the author's argument in the passage?

A History suggests that humans have long linked marriage with economic interests, whereas Stephanie Coontz's research shows this to be increasingly untrue nowadays.

B Ideas about marriage and family structure have always changed along with social norms, but never more dramatically than they have lately.

C Stephanie Coontz's work proves that women can only advance in society when they are freed from the restrictions of marriage, domesticity, and motherhood.

D The emergence of the division of labor by gender has unexpectedly caused both men and women to devalue marriage over time.

E The primary reason why marriage is becoming less socially relevant is because economic considerations have grown more important, especially among women.

(4 ) Choose the best way to complete each of these sentences, which relate to the underlined words in the passage.

1 Here "discrediting" means

A disappearing. B disappointing. C discharging. D discouraeine. E disproving.

2 Here "thrive" means

A to break. B to decline. C to economize. D to flourish. E to survive.

3 Here "breadwinner" means someone within a household who

A earns the income. B manages the budget. C prepares the meals. D remains unmarried. E works at home.

4 Here "without precedent" refers to something that

A has held true over time.

B has never occurred before.

C is no different from anything else.

D is seldom successful.

E is unlikely to be repeated again.

5 Here "obsolete" means

A difficult. B important. C outdated. D popular. E useful.