Lillian：I'm busy preparing for my wedding.
John：When is your wedding？
Lillian：Next month.
John：Really？What about the house？
Lillian：We didn't buy any. We decide to Iive with our parents.
John：Why not buy a house in advance？
Lillian：We don't have so much money， and we Iove each other very much. So we plan to tie the knot.
裸婚
约翰：真没想到在这里遇见你。你最近忙什么呢？
莉莲：我正忙着为婚礼做准备呢。
约翰：你的婚礼是什么时候？
莉莲：下个月。
约翰：真的吗？房子呢？
莉莲：我们没有买。我们决定跟父母住在一起。
约翰：为什么不先买套房子呢？
莉莲：我们没有那么多钱，我们很爱对方，所以我们决定先结婚。
欧美文化360°洗礼
Mother-in-law Syndrome岳母综合征
"Mother-in-law syndrome"is the idea that Chinese mothers-in-law are driving up the price of real estate by refusing to allow their daughters to marry men who are not homeowners.
“岳母综合征”指有人认为中国的岳母们是房地产价格不断攀升的背后动力，因为她们不允许自己的女儿嫁给没有房的男人。
Men are pouring all their savings in real estate market as a means of improving their chances of finding Mrs.Right， or any Mrs.for that matter.
男人们将所有的积蓄都投入房地产市场，希望以此提高自己找到另一半的几率。
A study shows that 30 to 48 percent（or$8 trillion worth）of the real estate appreciation in 35 major Chinese cities is directly correlated with China's sex-ratio imbalance and a man's need to acquire wealth（property）in order to attract a wife.
有研究显示，35个中国主要城市的房地产价值增幅中有30%到48%（价值80亿美元）与中国的性别比例失衡以及男性为寻求伴侣而产生的购房需求直接相关。
读书笔记
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8.浪漫婚礼 Romantic Wedding
婚礼，是一个神圣的时刻，也是一个人一生中重要的里程碑，属于生命礼仪的一种。根据习俗，西方婚礼是以新人的亲吻而宣告结束。这一吻有着深刻的含义：通过接吻，一个人的气息和部分灵魂就留在了另一个人的体内，爱使他们合二为一。
交流应急句
1.Do you want to get our families together to discuss wedding plan？
你想把咱们家里人召集在一起讨论一下婚礼的安排吗？
2.Where do you want the wedding to be？
你希望婚礼在哪里举行？
3.Did you make an appointment with the wedding planner？
你和婚礼策划师约好了吗？
4.Who do you want to send our invitations to？
你都想给谁发请贴？
5.Did you buy your wedding dress yet？
你买结婚礼服了吗？
6.Do you want to pick out a catering service today？
你今天想挑选餐饮服务吗？
7.What kind of food do you want for the wedding？
婚礼上你想要什么食物？
8.Let's plan out the honeymoon.
咱们计划一下蜜月吧。
9.Thanks for the wedding gifts， everyone！
谢谢大家的礼物！
10.It's great to see you tie the knot.
看到你们喜结连理真好。
实用情景对话
Wedding
Lillian：Hey！I want your opinion on something.
Jack：What is it？
Lillian：I have been thinking about the colors for the wedding today and I wanted to ask you about them.
Jack：AIright， shoot.
Lillian：I was thinking we should do a white and baby blue color scheme， but now I think I would Iike a sea-foam green color better with the white. What do you think？
Jack：I want it to be whatever you want.
Lillian：But I can't decide by myself！Which color do you Iike better？
Jack：Well， if you're having trouble why don't you pick out your flowers first and base the color around that？
Lillian：Oh， that's a pretty good idea， sweetie. Thanks！I think I'll go with the green then.Green will go with any flower.
Jack：Sounds great to me.
婚礼
莉莲：嘿！我想就一些事情问问你的意见。
杰克：什么事？
莉莲：我一直在想婚礼的色彩，我想问一下你对此有什么意见。
杰克：好的，说吧。
莉莲：我原计划是白色和蓝色，但现在我觉得海泡绿和白色搭配更好。你觉得呢？
杰克：你想要什么颜色我都喜欢。
莉莲：但是我自己没法决定！你更喜欢什么颜色？
杰克：如果你难以决定的话为什么不先挑选花，在花的颜色的基础上再决定呢？
莉莲：哦，这是个不错的主意。谢谢！我想到时候我会用绿色搭配，绿色和任何花都相配。
杰克：听起来不错。
欧美文化360°洗礼
美国人的婚俗
美国人有个特别的结婚习俗，在结婚时，除了要准备结婚戒指外，还要准备“something old， something new， something borrowed， something blue”，新娘在举行婚礼的当天，必须穿戴或拿着它们走进教堂，宣告开始新的生活。
something old，意思是“旧的东西”。新娘需要穿戴一件旧东西来象征她和她娘家以及过去生活之间的历史纽带，如今很多新娘都会选择家传的首饰，或者祖母、母亲结婚时留下的饰品，有些新娘会穿她母亲或祖母穿过的结婚礼服。
something new，意思是“新的东西”，当然就是象征新娘在新生活和婚姻中拥有成功和希望了。一般新娘都会置办结婚礼服。
something borrowed，意为“借来的东西”。一般新娘会借来小卡子、手帕、珠子等物，虽然都是旧东西，但重要的不是东西，而是希望能借来好运。
something blue，意为“蓝色的东西”。蓝色结婚礼服代表着纯洁、忠诚和爱情。现代的普遍做法是新娘用蓝色的吊带袜，或者将手捧花的颜色改为蓝色。
9.爱情没有国界 Mixed Marriage
婚姻，是人生中最漫长的一段旅途，美满婚姻的基础是爱情。从目前来看，我国的跨国婚姻存在以下的突出问题：一是婚姻的基础不是为了爱情。二是出现一批年龄过于悬殊的“祖孙婚”。三是出现一批相识时间极短的“闪电式”婚姻。四是外国男性骗婚现象严重。
交流应急句
1.Would you Iike to marry with a foreigner？
你会与外国人结婚吗？
2.What is your opinion on cross-culturaI marriage？
你对跨国婚姻怎么看？
3.The relationship of cross-culturaI couples is assumed to be inherently problematic.
有人认为，跨国婚姻本身就有问题。
4.CulturaI differences tend to cause misunderstandings and conflicts in cross-culturaI marriage.
文化差异往往会引起跨国婚姻中的误会和争执。
5.Cross-culturaI marriage is very beneficiaI to couples who Iike to share their cultures and traditions between different countries.
跨国婚姻对那些喜欢分享不同国家文化习俗的夫妇是有益的。
6.Attitudes toward cross-culturaI marriage in the Chinese are Iess of a barrier today.
现在中国对跨国婚姻的偏见越来越少了。
7.If you want the relationship to survive， you have to be tolerant toward each other's tradition.
如果你想继续保持关系，就必须互相包容对方的传统。
8.How do you handle culturaI differences in your marriage？
你怎么处理婚姻的文化差异？
9.In a cross-culturaI marriage， obstacles need to be identified and addressed first.
在跨文化的婚姻里，障碍是首先要被明确和提出的。
10.Difference in values will create tension when cultures collide.
当文化冲突时，不同的价值观会加剧紧张的情绪。
11.How did you deaI with the different culture between you and your wife？
你是怎么处理你和你妻子的文化差异的？
实用情景对话
Mixed Marriage
Susan：If you can choose， will you marry a foreigner or a Chinese？
Jenny：Why？Did Tom pop the question？
Susan：Not yet. But I wonder if I can get my parents'consent.
Jenny：Let me guess， your parents want you to marry a Chinese man， right？
Susan：You are right. It is giving me a reaI headache.I feeI Iike I'm between a rock and a hard place.
Jenny：I used to have the same problem when I was with my ex.
Susan：Oh， how did you deaI with it？
Jenny：I just Iet it go and continued dating with my Korean boyfriend. But finally we broke up.
Susan：Oh， it's a pity. What was the matter？
Jenny：Simple. We had personality clashes and there were too many culturaI difference.
Susan：Like what？
Jenny：He hoped to Iive in the Korean way and asked me to give up working and stay at home to take care of the family.
Susan：Oh， I see. In their culture women should put family first.
Jenny：Yes， he said it would be better for me and for the whole family. But I simply can not quit working.