國中英語基測出現過 mean 的考題。

What does the word family mean to you? An American study in 2006 showed that people today 1. Over 99% of the people who were interviewed agree that a husband, a wife, and a child are a family. At the same time, 94% see a parent with a child as a family, 91% say a husband and a wife, without children, are a family, and 81% think a man and a woman, with a child, but not married, are a family too.

The study also found that 2 is very important in the modern thinking on family. Though 81% think a man and a woman, not married, with a child, are a family, the percentage (%) drops to 40% if the couple doesn’t have a child. This is also true with same-sex couples. About 60% see two men, or two women, with a child, as a family, but only 32% think so when the couple doesn’t have a child.

In the study, those who see two men or two women that live together as a family often find it OK for same-sex couples to get married. 3. However, not everyone opens their arms to same-sex couples: the study said 30% have no problem seeing pets as part of one’s family, but they do not think a same-sex couple is a family.

couple 伴侶
same-sex 同性
1.
do not find family as important as their parents did
have several different ideas about what makes a family
want many different things when they start a family
think differently about when to start a family
2.
whether people live together or not
whether people love each other or not
whether people have a child or not
whether people are married or not
3.
This is not surprising
It cannot be this way for very long
This is not possible everywhere
It is no good news for everyone