雅思阅读材料之当家庭沦为战场应该捍卫婚姻还是财产

Li Ming is bitter. First, her five-year marriage ended - she`s convinced her husband had affairs - and now she`s in a legal battle for the apartment they lived in.

　　李敏（音译）觉得苦不堪言，首先，她五年的婚姻因为丈夫有外遇而被宣告结束，而如今她又要和前夫为他们的那套公寓闹上法庭。

　　"He`s reluctant to share a single tile with me," said Li, a Shanghai native. She believes she co-owns the apartment, which is registered in her husband`s name.

　　李敏是上海本地人，她说：“他不愿意分给我一砖一瓦。”她认为公寓虽然是用她丈夫的名字登记的，但是他俩共同所有的。

　　Under current divorce law, husbands and wives each get half of the marital assets unless one is proven to have acted in a way that violated the marriage 

　　现行的离婚法规定，夫妻双方对婚后财产各拥有一半份额，除非有证据证明一方有背叛婚姻的行为。

　　Now the Supreme Court is addressing pre-marriage assets, particularly property such as a house, in a draft interpretation of the Marriage Law. 

　　目前，法院正在“关于适用《婚姻法》若干问题的解释”草案中对婚前财产，特别是住房的所有权，进行解释和规定。

　　The draft says that a person has sole ownership of a pre-marriage asset, including its appreciated value, unless his or her partner proves contribution. 

　　草案中规定，夫妻一方的婚前财产及其增值收益属于个人财产，除非另一方证明对此财产做出了贡献。

　　Some experts complain that legislators are not doing enough to protect women. The fundamental difficulty for the wife lies in her inability to provide evidence of her husband`s misconduct.

　　一些导师认为，立法者没有采取足够的措施保护妇女。妻子最根本的困难在于无法提供出丈夫不当行为的证据。

　　In practice, lawyers said, asset division in most divorce cases is fair to women, sometimes favoring them. The key issue is whether husbands and wives should be treated the same in legislation about asset division.

　　律师说，事实上大多数离婚案中的财产分配还是公平的，有时还对女方更有利。关键问题是，在财产分割问题的立法中丈妻是否该被一视同仁。

　　How do you prove it?

　　如何证明

　　Li Mingshun, a law professor at China Women`s University in Beijing, said women should be compensated better in a divorce. But there`s the matter of evidence.

　　北京中华女子学院的法律系教授李明顺（音译）说，离婚时，妇女应得到更多补偿，但关键在能不能找到证据。

　　"It is not possible for me to prove his adultery," said Li Ming, who said that a year ago she accidentally saw her husband`s text messages inviting women to spend the night with him. "He denied everything. And how can I obtain evidence of him in bed with his lovers?"

　　李敏说一年前她无意中看到丈夫的短信约人陪他过夜，她说：“我没法证明他通奸，他对所有的事情一概否认，我怎么能找到他跟情人在床上的证据呢？”

　　A divorce lawyer said about 70 percent of couples divorce because of affairs. "Mostly it is the man.

　　离婚法律师说，有七成的离婚案都是因为出轨，而通常是男人出轨。

　　Bemoaning the loss

　　哀叹损失惨重

　　The men aren`t always in control. Sometimes they need evidence, too.

　　男人们并不是总占主导地位的，有时，他们要证据来保护自己。

　　Tang Jian`an, a Shanghai divorce lawyer at M&A Law Firm, has seen a few cases in which the wife hid the marital assets. "In Shanghai, women are money-savvy and take control of home finances," he said.

　　上海离婚律师事务所律师唐建安（音译）就接过几起案子涉及妻子私藏婚后财产。 他说：“上海女人都比较精明，在家掌握着经济大权。”

　　And an increasing number of men are complaining about their financial losses in divorce. Lawyer Song mentioned one client, a Beijing man who divorced his wife from northeastern China. As they stepped out of the courtroom, he told Song that he would never again marry a penniless woman.

　　有越来越多的男性抱怨离婚给他们造成了经济损失。宋律师提到他的一位客户，北京人，与东北的妻子离婚。走出法庭后他告诉宋律师，再也不娶身无分文的女人了。

　　Gender equity

　　男女平等

　　Sixty years after China`s first Marriage Law, which for the first time raised the issue of gender equality, the social status of women has improved dramatically.

　　六十年前我国颁布了部婚姻法，提出男女平等的制度，此后女人的社会地位得到明显提高。

　　Women are confident, independent and in some aspects doing better than men, "Overprotection can only lead to gender inequality," said Jia Mingjun with Whole Guard Law Firm based in Shanghai.

　　现在的女人自信，独立，在某些方面做得比男人还好。上海沪家律师事务所的法律专业人士贾明军（音译）就提出说： “过度保护更可能导致男女不平等。”

　　"Men make no less contribution to a family than women. While women look after children and seniors at home, men are out drinking with business partners for the family. It is not easy, either."

　　“要说对家庭的贡献，男人并不比女人做得少，女人们在家照顾孩子和老人的时候，男人们要在外面喝酒交际应酬，也不容易。”

　　Some women have taken the initiative to protect themselves before marriage.

　　一些女人在婚前就已经主动采取行动来保护自己了。

　　"Nothing is reliable, not your life, not your marriage," said An Jian, a 30-year-old who had a prenuptial agreement with her boyfriend before they were married in 2007. "It is better to make it clear in case anything happens in the future."

　　“没有什么是靠得住的，生活靠不住，婚姻靠不住，”30岁的安蹇（音译）说她2007年结婚前已与男友签了婚前协议， “以防未来发生不测，还是先说清楚比较好。”