Secret wealth vs_成长的秘密一一
Secret wealth vs由刀豆文库小编整理，希望给你工作、学习、生活带来方便，猜你可能喜欢“成长的秘密一一”。
Pre-reading tasks:
1.Look at the words and check that you understand the meaning:
Court, divorce, counseling, aets, tax, therapy, debts, vows, estate, accounts, legal, spouse, inherit
2.Is divorce common in our country? In general, what are people’s attitudes towards divorce?
Secret wealth vs.“for richer, for poorer”When Linda, a social worker in the New York area, received a significant chunk of money up separate accounts earmarked for the education of their son and daughter.Worried that her marriage would flounder once her children left home, Madame M., the wife of an Asian industrialist, bought an expensive apartment in central Paris to prepare as a poible escape hatch.The money she used had been inherited from her father.The marriage ’t know about the Paris property.3 Such behavior is perfectly legal.But the people who engage in it are reluctant to use their full names for fear of destabilizing their families.The claic marriage vows may urge “for richer, for poorer,” but concealing financial activities from a spouse is hardly a new strategy.Over a century ago in his play “A Doll’s House,” Henrik Ibsen used the device of a wife’s secret loan to unveil the dynamics of an unhealthy marriage.But in an age when divorce and serial marriages have become commonplace, when many women are increasing component of family wealth, it is not just billionaires like Ronald Perelman, president o Revlon, an Donald Trump who are concerned about protecting what is his, what is hers and what is theirs.While prenuptial agreements and even postnuptial agreements are increasingly being used to set boundaries, in the end, who gets what depends on legal jurisdiction, sound financial planning, national traditions an the psychological state of the marriage.Common sense may dictate that since most countries require income tax returns signed by both spouses, husbands and wives should at least know what the others is earning.But this is not necearily so, experts in marriage counseling and family law say.At Relate, the largest couples counseling charity in Britain, each couple is given an exit evaluation after a course of therapy.One question they are asked is, “Do you know how much your partner earn?” On the whole, people say no, said Denise Knowles, a counselor at Relate, whose clients come from all levels of society.In England and Wales, prenuptial agreements often are not recognized in court.Moreover, in contrast to most U.S.states or France, where the Napoleonic Code governs marital property, England and Wales stipulate that all aets that are brought into the marriage or inherited can be considered part of the marital estate and can be claimed by an unhappy partner, or even spouses and children from previous unions.“Many people do not understand this and have a very expensive prenuptial agreement drawn up in the United States,” Maizels said.“They move to England, and later the English court will not recognize it.”Napoleonic law provides for a legal form of marriage called a separation de biens, which
stipulates no community property and therefore releases each spouse from responsibility for his partner’s debts.Increasingly concerned about the aets they brought into the marriage, women with high earnings capacity, she said, are “often influenced by their other’s situation.”“Either she never had her own money and she couldn’t do things,” Maizels said, “or she had wealth, but lost it supporting a previous partner, or worse, a partner’s previous relationship.”To sum up, while a financial crisis may force a couple to pull together, realizing a fortune may cause a couple to squabble about things that were not debatable before.The differences can lead to separate lives, and sometimes to divorce.Comprehension work:
Circle the letter of the best answer:
1.The writer suggests that concealing financial activities from a spouse is:
A.DifficultB.A new strategyC.Long-practiced
2.The succe of a prenuptial agreement depends on:
A.The man’s incomeB.A range of factorsC.The health of the marriage
3.Inheriting a fortune can lead to:
A.A more stable marriage B.ArgumentsC.A financial crisis
Use of linking words:
Read paragraphs one and two: What was the situation and what action was taken?
Paragraph 1
instead
Situationaction
Paragraph 2
But
Situationaction
Focus on prepositions:
Match the phrases in the first column with the words in the second column.Select the correct connecting preposition below.All the expreions can be found in the article.“to, up, from, from, about, about, by”
1.She did not divulge the amount
2.She set
3.Inherited
4.Concealing financial activities
5.Concerned
6.Influenced
7.Squabble
8.To guard one’s spouse
A.The other’s debts
B.A spouse
C.Protecting what is his
D.Separate accounts
E.Things that were not debatable before
F.Their mother’s situation
G.Her father
H.Her husban
Discuion questions
1.If two people marry, should they share everything? Or, should one person he allowed to keep part of their wealth in their own name? What should happen if one person in a marriage inherits property?
2.In today’s society, are prenuptial agreements a good idea? Are they recognized in our country?
3.Should unmarried couples have the same rights as married people?
