History of the English Language

ranch,starmpede

和

等，这些词汇都是通过在

美国 西部定居的西班牙人传入美国的。

一些法语词汇

（通过路易斯安 那州）

和一

些西非词汇（通过奴隶交易）也影响了美式英语的发 展（当然，一定程度上，也

影响了英式英语）

。

Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the USA's

dominance of cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology

(including the Internet). But there are many other varieties of English

around the world, including for example Australian English, New Zealand

English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and

Caribbean English.

今天，由于美国在电 影，电视，流行音乐，商业和技术（包括因特网）的优势，

美式英语

的

影响之大，超乎想象。但世界上仍有其他英语的变种，例如：澳大利亚英语，新西 兰英语，

加拿大英语，南非英语，印度英语和加勒比海英语。

Secret wealth vs. 'for richer, for poorer'

When Linda, a social worker in the New York area, received a significant chunk of money

after her mother died, she did not divulge the amount to her husband of 15 years. Instead, she set

up separate accounts earmarked for the education of their son and daughter.

当琳达，一位在纽约地区的社工，在他母亲去世后收到相当大一部 分钱，

15

年来她没

有对她的丈夫透 露金额。相反，她设置单独的帐户，专门用于他们的儿子和女儿的教育。

Worried that her marriage would founder once her children left home, Madame M., the wife

of an Asian industrialist, bought an expensive apartment in central Paris to prepare as a possible

escape hatch. The money she used had been inherited from her father. The marriage survived. But

a decade later, her husband and children still don't know about the Paris property.

担心一旦她的孩子们离开了家她的婚姻会垮 掉，

M

夫人，的亚洲的实业家的妻子，买了昂贵的公寓在

巴黎市中心准备作为可能的避难所。这笔钱是从她的父亲那里继承的，婚姻幸存。但十年过去了 ，她的丈

夫和孩子仍不知道有关巴黎的私有财产。

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.

这样的行为是完全合 法的。但那些从事它的人不愿使用自己的全名因为怕的破坏稳定的家庭。

The

classic

marriag

e

vows

may

urge

richer,

for

poorer,

but

concealing

financial

activities from a spouse is hardly a new strategy. Over a century ago in his play

Henrik

Ibsen

used

the

device

of

a

wife's

secret

loan

to

unveil

the

dynamics

of

an

unhealthy

marriage.

经典结婚的誓言可能强调“无论贫穷和富 有”，但配偶隐瞒财产行为并不是一项新现象。一百多年前

在

< /p>

玩偶之家

这部戏中，易卜生导演的不健康 的婚姻说道就是一位妻子的秘密贷款被揭露的情节。

But

in

an

age

when

divorce

and

serial

marriage

have

become

commonplace,

when

many

women are entering marriages earning large sums and such assets are an increasing component of

family wealth, it is not just

billionaires like Ronald Perelman, president of Revlon, and Donald

Trump who are concerned about protecting what is his, what is hers and what is theirs.

但在离婚再婚已经成为司空见惯的年代，许多妇女步入婚姻时，就能赚 取丰厚的收入并且这部分收入

已日益成为家庭财富的一部分了，并非只有像

Ronald Perelman, Revlon

总裁和

Donald Trump

那样的百万富

翁才关注保护他的财产，他妻子的财产和他们共同的财产。

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 and the psychological state of the marriage.

虽然婚前协议，甚至婚后的协议越来越多地被用来设置（财产分割 的）界限，最终谁能得到财产还是取

决于司法，健全的财务规划，民族传统和婚姻的心理 状态。

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 other is earning. But this is not

necessarily so, experts in marriage counseling and family law say.

常识可能要求，丈 夫和妻子应至少知道对方什么收入。因为大多数国家要求由配偶双方签署所得税申

报表。 但婚姻辅导及家庭法律专家这并不一定是这样的说。

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,

you

know

how

much

your

partner

earns?

Many

people

say

no,

said

Denise

Knowles,

a

counselor

at

Relate,

whose

clients come from all levels of society.

Dennis

Grande,

an

attorney

and

family

law

specialist

at

Mackall,

Crouse

&

Moore

in

Minneapolis, described it this way:

frequently it is a multipage document, and she signs in a matter of seconds without reading it. It is

unusual if a wife reviews it or even asks for a copy. I think if the wife has enough to spend and is

comfortable, she is not concerned about the technical issues or knowing the exact amount.

Grande said he even knew of a lot of situations where the husband had signed the wife's name:

social

calendar.

It

is

a

partnership

that

works

amazingly

well

for

a

large

percentage

of

the

population.

Except when it doesn't.

It

doesn't

when

the

spouses

have

different

attitudes

about

what

money

symbolizes

and

how

it

should

be

spent,

when

couples

have

a

significant

change

in

their

financial

status

or

when

one

partner becomes unhappy.

Turbulence

can

also

arise

when

couples

consider

how

much

to

leave

to

their

children.

That

is

especially true if there are offspring from multiple marriages and the woman is bringing a lot of

assets into the union.

children,

Management in New York.

set

up

trusts

for

the

kids

to

offer

a

degree

of

protection

even

if

they

are

successful

doctors

or

lawyers, in case their practice may be sued somewhere down the line.

Conflict over how money is used, or misused, is often a

counseling, according to Knowles. And typically the financial problems reflect more deep-rooted

psychological conflicts.

For instance, if a husband keeps his salary a secret,

cannot afford that,

can arouse anxieties in the other partner about where the money is going:

let me know? Where are the statements going? Are there gambling problems? Are there children I

don't know about?

Other conflicts may stem from differing social backgrounds. If the wife grew up where there has

been

a

lot

of

money,

she

may

enjoy

spending

freely.

But

if

the

husband

was

brought

up

with

nothing, he may feel driven to save for a rainy day even once he has amassed substantial wealth.

For

women,

the

biggest

issue

is

whether

there

will

be

sufficient

money

for

the

children

in

the

event of death or divorce.

Maizels, executive director of Barclays Private Bank in London, which runs a separate advisory

for high-net- worth women called Wealth for Women.

Typically, she added,

often want to take account of the children's financial situation as influenced by the child's career

choice or marriage situation. The father is more influenced by need, particularly when there are

grandchildren.

With the number of successful women entrepreneurs and high- level professionals rising, Maizels

said women were increasingly concerned about the assets they brought into the marriage. Women

with high earnings capacity, she said, are

she

never

had

her

own

money

and

she

couldn't

do

things,

Maizels

said,

she

had

wealth, but lost it supporting a previous partner, or worse, a partner's previous relationship.

This is a particularly sensitive issue in England and Wales, where prenuptial agreements often are

not

recognized

in

court,

although

they

may

be

considered

evidence

of

intention,

and

the

courts

have leaned toward some generous distributions of marital assets since a landmark ruling in 2000.

(See related article, Page 18.)

Moreover, in contrast to most U.S. states or France, where the Napoleonic Code governs marital

property, England and Wales stipulate that all assets 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.

the

United

States,

Maizels

said.

move

to

England,

and

later

the

English

court

will

not

recognize it.

One solution may be a trust that protects inherited assets or assets earned before a marriage. But

Ann Northover, an attorney at Fosters, a law firm in London, warned that such trusts

up well in advance of a marriage, or it could be challenged by the court.

By contrast, the law in France and most of Continental Europe provides that whatever assets each

partner brings into the marriage, including investments and inheritances, remain theirs, as do gifts

and inheritances to an individual partner during the marriage.

at ?

tude Flusin, a notary firm in Paris.

agreement. You already have an equivalent in what is called the ré

gime lé

gal. Only income and

assets accumulated during the marriage are considered part of the community property, of which

each partner is considered to own half.

Even in France, some people choose to fence off additional marital assets. For instance, in the case

of a newlywed just out of school who is starting a specialty medical practice, an agreement may be

drawn to ensure that the practice will remain the doctor's property in the event of divorce or death.

Such before-the-fact agreements, Lapeyre said, cost about E500, or $$600, and can be drawn up

easily by a notaire, a French court officer. However, changing the marital status of an asset after a

marriage, in what might be called a postnuptial agreement in the United States, is an expensive

and

complex

process.

entails

appointing

a

lawyer

who

can

bring

it

before

the

court

for

an

examination,

Napoleonic law also provides for a second legal form

of marriage called a sé

paration de biens,

which stipulates no community property and therefore releases each spouse from responsibility for

his partner's debts.

activities,

one spouse from the other's debts.

In the United States, each state has its own rules regarding prenups and what assets become part of

the marital estate. In many states, assets held before marriage, as well as inheritances and gifts,

can remain individual property. But the situation requires careful handling. First, the property or

investment must be kept under separate ownership. Second, if there are any changes or additions

made

on

a

portfolio

or

property

during

the

marriage,

the

investment

may

become

common

property.

For instance, Grande said, if a spouse came into the marriage with 1,000 shares of Google bought

at the offering price of $$85, sold them recently for $$400 and bought shares of General Electric or

Halliburton, the account would no longer be completely partitioned from the marriage property,

especially if both spouses conferred on the strategy.

Such mistakes can provide a field day for divorce lawyers, who can easily charge vast sums to hire

experts to evaluate assets, find stray assets and undermine the validity of a prenuptial agreement

by

saying

that

the

weaker

partner

did

not

get

adequate

legal

advice,

there

was

fraud

in

the

statement of net worth or the contract was signed under duress.

people

sign

these

documents,

and

it

is

in

a

language

they

don't

even

speak,

Northover

said.

In Europe, the weaker party may have room to maneuver. A new European Union rule permits the

first person to file a divorce petition to choose the jurisdiction, which can be a nasty surprise for a

person who has lived for even a year in England.

deal and are catching their spouse unawares,

Of course, this kind of jurisdiction-hopping is more available to the rich. And, ironically, it can be

the

realization

of

great

wealth

that

precipitates

a

divorce.

you

were

wealthy,

life

had

limitations,

was a wish. Now you can afford it. But the wife may decide she doesn't want to do it.

So

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.

When It Comes to Salt, No Rights or Wrongs.

Suppose, as some experts advise, that the new national dietary guidelines due this spring will lower

the recommended level of salt. Suppose further that public health officials in New York and Washington

succeed in forcing food companies to use less salt. What would be the effect?

设若今年春天即将出版的

《国民饮食指南》

将建议食盐摄入 量调低，

或者更

大胆地假设纽约和华盛顿的公共卫生部门成功迫 使食品巨头减少产品中的食盐

添加量，将会产生怎样的影响？

A) More than 44,000 deaths would

be prevented annually (as estimated recently in The New

England Journal of Medicine).

B) About 150,000 deaths per year would be prevented annually (as estimated by the New York

City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene).

C) Hundreds of millions of people would be subjected to an experiment with unpredictable and

possibly adverse effects (as argued recently in The Journal of the American Medical Association).

D) Not much one way or the other.

E) Americans would get even fatter than they are today.

A)

每年将有超过

44000

人免于死亡

(

据最近出版的《新英格兰医学期刊》估计

)

B)

每年将有大约

15

万条生命得以拯救

(

数据 来自纽约市卫生和心理保健部门

)

C)

数千万人将被卷入这场无法预计结果好坏的实验

(

该话题出现在最近的

《美国医学协

会期刊》中

)

D)

不会产生多大的影响

E)

美国人会因此变得愈加肥胖

Don’t worry, there’s no wrong answer, at least not yet. That’s the beauty of the salt debate:

there

’s

so

little

reliable

evidence

that

you

can

imagine

just

about

any

outcome.

For

all

the

talk

about the growing menace of sodium in packaged foods, experts aren’t even sure that Americans

today are eating more salt than they used to.