Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.

Every Sunday morning millions of Indians settle down with a cup of tea and the special weekend issues of their newspapers, just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of them turn quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian—the columns and columns of marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives.

This is a relatively modern change in the age-old custom of the arranged marriage. The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that are coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are still usually described in terms of appearance, or skills in "the wifely arts", information a bout their earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife.

Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose advertisement in a New Delhi newspaper explained that she had been "the innocent party" when her marriage broke up.

Because the custom of the dowry(嫁妆) is now illegal, some advertisements say "no dowry," or " marriage," which means the same thing. However, the fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.

As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste(等级) system, a number of advertisements promise "caste not important," or "girl's abilities will be main consideration." The majority of them, however, still require not only caste, such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin.

In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a "wheat color" complexion or that a man be "tall, fair and handsome."

Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. "There's nothing embarrassing about it," explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a son-in-law. "It's just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for one's daughter."

Because of high unemployment and a generally poor standard of living here, one of the best attractions a marriage advertisement can offer is a permit to live abroad, especially in Canada or the United States. A person who has one can get what he wants. For example, a man had an American immigration permit was able to say, "Only girls from rich, well educated families need apply."

Many Indians would like to read Sunday features of marriage advertisements in newspaper in the approach of ______.