Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil.

您好。這裡是 BBC Learning English 頻道的 6 分鐘英語。我是菲爾 I'm Phil.

And I'm Georgie.

我叫喬治

In the words of a famous 1960s pop song, breaking up is hard to do. Divorce, when a married couple who no longer want to be together separate, can be one of life's toughest experiences.

用 20 世紀 60 年代一首著名流行歌曲的話來說，分手是很難做到的。當一對已婚夫婦不想再在一起時，離婚可能是人生中最艱難的經歷之一。

During the 1990s, divorce rates in Europe and America were the highest in the world, with almost half of all marriages ending in divorce. But since then, the trend has reversed and divorce rates in the West have slowed. Meanwhile, however, the number of couples divorcing in other parts of the world is on the rise.

20 世紀 90 年代，歐洲和美國的離婚率居世界之首，幾乎一半的婚姻以離婚告終。但自那以後，這一趨勢發生了逆轉，西方國家的離婚率有所放緩。但與此同時，世界其他地區的離婚夫婦數量卻在上升。

In this programme, we'll be hearing how divorce is talked about in different countries, and as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary.

在這個節目中，我們將聽到不同國家是如何談論離婚的，而且像往常一樣，我們將學習一些有用的新詞彙。

But first, I have a question for you, Georgie. In Britain, one day of the year in particular is known by divorce lawyers and relationship counsellors as Divorce Day. But which day is it?

但首先，我有個問題要問你，喬吉。在英國，離婚律師和情感諮詢師把每年的某一天稱為 "離婚日"。但到底是哪一天呢？

a. Christmas Day b. The first Monday of the new year or c. Midsummer's Day, the 24th of June

a.聖誕節 b. 新年的第一個星期一或 c. 仲夏節，6 月 24 日

I think Divorce Day is the first Monday of the year.

我認為離婚日是每年的第一個星期一。

OK, Georgie, we'll find out if that's the correct answer later in the programme.

好了，喬吉，我們稍後在節目中就會知道答案是否正確。

Getting married very young and differences between partners' backgrounds or interests are two common causes for couples to grow apart. Today, Marina Adshade is a professor at the University of British Columbia who studies the economics of sex and relationships.

很年輕就結婚以及伴侶之間的背景或興趣差異是導致夫妻分道揚鑣的兩個常見原因。如今，瑪麗娜-阿德沙德（Marina Adshade）是不列顛哥倫比亞大學（University of British Columbia）的一名教授，研究性和人際關係的經濟學。

But her life has a very different beginning, as she told BBC World Service programme,

但她的人生卻有一個截然不同的開端，正如她在 BBC 世界服務節目中所說的那樣、

The Global Story.

全球故事。

I married really young. I had no education. I married somebody who was older than me, who had a lot of education, and our relationship worked well for a while.

我很年輕就結婚了。我沒有受過教育。我嫁給了一個比我年長的人，他受過很多教育，我們的關係很好地維持了一段時間。

And then in my late 20s, I decided to go back to school. I no longer wanted to be a stay-at-home which was what I was doing in my 20s. And that change in our situation for us just became completely unresolvable. And I think this is true for a lot of marriages because people's situation changes over their lives. Maybe they want children and maybe they change their minds.

20 多歲時，我決定重返校園。我不想再做20多歲時的家庭主婦了。我們的情況發生了變化，變得完全無法解決。我認為很多婚姻都是如此，因為人的一生中情況會發生變化。也許他們想要孩子，也許他們改變了主意。

Marina started her married life as a stay-at-home mum, a woman who stays home to take care of the children and manage the household.

瑪麗娜在婚後開始了家庭主婦的生活，在家照顧孩子，操持家務。

Marina married an older man and although their relationship started well, over time they developed different ideas about what they wanted from life.

瑪麗娜嫁給了一個年長的男人，雖然他們的關係開始時很好，但隨著時間的推移，他們對自己想要的生活產生了不同的想法。

Marina and her husband changed their minds. They changed an earlier decision they had made.

瑪麗娜和她的丈夫改變了主意。他們改變了之前做出的決定。

Growing apart is one of the most frequently given reasons for divorce. And eventually,

日漸疏遠是最常見的離婚原因之一。最終

Marina and her husband's problems became unresolvable, not able to be fixed or satisfactorily ended. Marina's experience is typical of someone who finds themselves trapped in a marriage that no longer works. Yet unfortunately, due to economic or emotional reasons, many people stay trapped. So what can be done? Now, some countries are looking to the authorities rather than the couple themselves for a solution. Here,

瑪麗娜和丈夫的問題變得無法解決，無法修復或圓滿結束。瑪麗娜的經歷很典型，她發現自己被困在一段不再起作用的婚姻中。然而不幸的是，由於經濟或情感方面的原因，許多人一直被困在婚姻中。那麼有什麼辦法呢？現在，一些國家正在尋求由當局而不是夫妻雙方來解決這個問題。這裡、

Lucy Hockings, presenter of BBC World Service's The Global Story, and divorce counsellor Joanna

露西-霍金斯（Lucy Hockings），英國廣播公司世界服務節目《全球故事》的主持人，以及離婚顧問喬安娜（Joanna

Gosling, discuss a new strategy being used in China.

高斯林，談談中國正在使用的一項新戰略。

There was an interesting thing they did in China where they introduced this cooling off period. So the government enforced this. Does that work when the government intervenes in a situation like this and makes people behave or do things in a certain way?

中國曾做過一件有趣的事，他們引入了冷卻期。是以，政府強制執行了這一規定。當政府對這樣的情況進行干預，讓人們以某種方式行為或做事時，這樣做有用嗎？

If nothing changes in the dynamic between two people, being told that they've got to cool off and wait a bit longer, I don't think it's going to make them suddenly realise that they want to be together. It might be an idea for states to invest in communication programmes for these couples because that's invariably why relationships fall apart.

如果兩個人之間的關係沒有任何改變，告訴他們必須冷靜下來，再等一等，我不認為這會讓他們突然意識到他們想要在一起。各州不妨為這些情侶的溝通計劃投入資金，因為這往往是關係破裂的原因。

In response to rising divorce rates, in 2021, the Chinese government introduced a 30-day cooling off period for couples wanting to separate. A cooling off period is a period of time in which two groups who are arguing can try to improve the situation before taking further action. However, it's unusual for governments to intervene, to become involved, in people's private lives this way.

為了應對不斷上升的離婚率，中國政府於 2021 年為想要分居的夫妻引入了 30 天的冷靜期。冷卻期是指發生爭執的雙方在採取進一步行動之前，可以嘗試改善現狀的一段時間。然而，政府以這種方式干預和介入人們的私人生活並不常見。

Joanna doubts a cooling off period will work, especially as the main reason for relationships failing is non-communication. She says a lack of communication is invariably, well, always the reason for divorce. On the plus side, by communicating openly, maybe with the professional help of a relationship counsellor, saving a marriage is possible.

喬安娜懷疑冷靜期是否有效，尤其是感情失敗的主要原因是缺乏溝通。她說，缺乏溝通總是離婚的原因。好的一面是，通過坦誠溝通，或許在情感顧問的專業幫助下，挽救婚姻是有可能的。

I think it's time you reveal the answer to your question, Phil.

我想是時候揭曉你問題的答案了，菲爾。

You asked about Divorce Day in Britain and I guessed it was the first Monday of the new year.

你問到英國的離婚日，我猜是新年的第一個星期一。

Good guess, Georgie, because that's the correct answer. Divorce Day is the first Monday of the year. OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learnt in this programme, starting with stay-at-home mum, a phrase for a woman who stays home to care for her children and manage the household.

猜得好，喬治，因為這就是正確答案。離婚日是每年的第一個星期一。好了，讓我們來回顧一下我們在這個節目中學到的詞彙，首先是 "家庭主婦"（stay-at-home mum），這是指留在家裡照顧孩子和操持家務的婦女。

If you change your mind, you change an earlier decision you made or opinion you had.

如果你改變了主意，就意味著你改變了之前的決定或觀點。

If a problem is unresolvable, it cannot be satisfactorily solved or fixed.

如果一個問題無法解決，那麼它就無法得到令人滿意的解決或修復。

A cooling-off period is a period of time for two people to try to resolve their differences.

冷靜期是兩個人試圖解決分歧的一段時間。

It can also mean an agreed length of time in which someone can change their mind about something they've agreed to buy. To intervene means to become involved in a difficult situation in order to improve it.

它也可以指一個約定的時間長度，在這個時間長度內，某人可以對他們同意購買的東西改變主意。干預是指介入困境以改善其狀況。

And finally, the adverb invariably means always. Once again, our six minutes are up, but remember to join us again next time for more trending topics and useful vocabulary.

最後，副詞 invariably 表示總是。我們的六分鐘時間又到了，但記得下次再來參加我們的活動，瞭解更多熱門話題和實用詞彙。

Goodbye for now.

暫時再見。

Bye.

再見。