Demographic indicators show that Americans in the post war period were more eager than ever to establish families. They quickly brought down the age at marriage for both men and women and brought the birth rate to a twentieth century height __1__ after more than a hundred years of a steady decline, producing the “baby boom.” __2__

These young adults established a trend of early marriage and relatively large families that went for more than two decades and caused a major but temporary __3__ reversal of long-term demographic patterns.

From the 1940s through the early 1960s, Americans married at a high rate and at a younger age than their __4__

Europe counterparts. __5__ Less noted but equally more significant, the men and women who formed __6__ families between 1940 and 1960 nevertheless reduced the divorce rate after a __7__ postwar peak; their marriages remained intact to a greater extent than did that of __8__ couples who married in earlier as well as later decades.

Since the United States __9__ maintained its dubious distinction of having the highest divorce rate in the world, the temporary decline in divorce did not occur in the same extent in Europe. __10__ Contrary to fears of the experts, the role of breadwinner and homemaker was not abandoned.

参考答案及解析:

1. 将height改为high/peak。

整句话的大意为他们把男女的婚龄降了下来，使出生率达到了20世纪的高峰。

high可以用作名词，意为“高峰”，“高水准”，“最高纪录”。

height可以作“极点，顶点”解释。例如：The height of cleverness is to conceal one’s cleverness。

2. 将第二个不定冠词a 去掉。

steady decline 意为持续的下降，前面不用加冠词。又如：years of hard work。根据语感可以判断出来。

3. 在went后加on，或将went改为lasted。

此处是“持续”的意思，所以可以用went on 或者last来表达。

4. 将high改为higher。

此处意为美国人结婚率比以前提高了，有与战前相比的意思，因此应用比较级。

5. 将Europe改为European。

6. 删掉more。此处的大意为战后离婚率也下降了，这个现象不大有人注意，但同样也很重要。另外，more与equally相矛盾。

7. 将nevertheless改为also或者删掉nevertheless。

此处上下文之间不是转折关系，而是递进关系。

8. 将that 改为those。

此处的代词应指marriages这个复数名词，因此应用those。此处考察代词与先行词一致的问题。

9. 将Since改为Although/Though/While。此处是转折关系，不是因果关系。

10. 将in改为to。短语to the extent是固定搭配。