Premarital agreement

1. Premarital agreement

2. Let’s begin with a story • When we were children, sleepless at night, our mothers always have some good stories which sent us to sweet dreams. Among those stories, there must be a story about Prince and Princess which ended with“From then, Prince and Princess live happily”.

3. Now, our Prince and Princess get a problem: they must have the premarital agreement signed before their wedding. You will say “you are joking!” , but it is real. With the development of our society, more and more couples think premarital agreements or "prenups"— are essential. 

4. 脑海中的婚姻 曾经以为婚姻是两个人的事情,小时候,我们的故事 里也是常常如是说:“王子和公主从此过着幸福快乐 的生活”,但在今天,在大多数人的眼里,或许说“ 王子和 公主其实是在签了婚前协议后,才过上了幸福快乐的生活”才显得更为合理、恰当的完满结局。现在许多人总是喜欢把一切东西物化。精神的东西在现实中似乎都变得不那么可靠,只有双手能触及的才是真实的,就连爱情和婚姻也不能幸免.

5. 婚前协议

6. What is premarital agreement ? • Premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a contract entered into prior to marriage, civil union or any other agreement prior to the main agreement by the people intending to marry or contract with each other.

7. 婚前协议，通常缩写为prenup或prenupt，指 有意成婚或者彼此承诺的人在结婚、民事结合之前签署的一份协议。

8. The content of a premarital agreement can vary widely, but commonly includes provisions for division of property and spousal support in the event of divorce or breakup of marriage. They may also include terms for the forfeiture of assets as a result of divorce on the grounds of adultery, further conditions of guardianship may be included as well.  • 婚前协议的内容可能不尽相同， 但是普遍都包括离婚或婚姻破裂时财产分配以及配偶抚养方面的条款。有时可能还会包括因通奸而导致离婚时财产没收以及对于监护权的进一步要求等条款。 

9. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers(AAML) Foundation is the charitable organization which advances one of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers’ most important goals: to protect children and families. The purpose of the Foundation is to provide financial assistance to organizations, by way of grants, in order to help families and children affected by the breakup of the family unit.

10. 美国人对婚姻的态度更审慎，更多人在走入婚姻殿堂前签署婚前协议。美国人对婚姻的态度更审慎，更多人在走入婚姻殿堂前签署婚前协议。 　据美国婚姻律师学会(AAML)资料显示，越来越多的女性和中产阶级热衷于签订婚前协议，其中可能包括婚外情条款、保护个人退休福利条款，甚至包括宠物狗的监护等等。 　报道称，不同收入水平的人都有签署婚前协议的意愿，但各自出发点不同。该学会主席玛琳-艾斯金德-摩西(Marlene Eskind Moses)说：“有时候，婚前协议是为了规避债务风险，这样就不必承担配偶婚前负债。” 　摩西还表示：“过去是男性主导的社会，女性没有财权，而现在她们跟男性一样需要规划金钱。现在更多女性拥有资产，对财产的掌控权更大了。”

11. Is marriage love’s gravestone?

12. What Is Love? The only present love demands is love. 爱所祈求的唯一礼物仍是爱。 Maybe God wants you to meet many wrong people before you meet the right one,so when this happens ,you’ll be thankful. 也许上帝让你在遇见那个合适的人之前遇见很多错误的人，所以，当这一切发生的时候，你应该心存感激。

13. Opinion We didn't sign such agreement before marriage,and we have never thought of it. because we love each other deeply.Actually I love him very much. Before our marriage,I gave all saving to my family,and we completely built up our family and future with nothing,only love.we have never thought we would divorce,only to plan our beautiful future,we think we will live better and better..

14. opinion 不必为了是否签订一纸婚前协议书而烦恼不已。婚前协议书能让双方在基本问题上有最基本的保障， 可是更重要的是，小两口在进入婚姻之际，双方应该都要用心共同经营婚姻生活。若是真的生活不下去，俩人都能有好聚好散的心态才能好好解决后续问题。这样的心态应该比婚前协议更为重要！

15. Let's go to the text----

16. The important phrases in the text ● make no mistake about 别弄错了，毫无疑问 ● become/be common in/among 在···方面普通 ● gain in 得到更多的 ● make/hit the headlines 成为头条新闻 ● reduce his exposure to future problems 减少日后的麻烦 ● be passed on/round to 使···传到···

17. ● be in line for 即将获得，很可能得到 ● counsel sb. to do sth. 建议某人做某事 ● break out over 就/由于···爆发，产生 ● have no/little/some/much bearing on 与···无/几乎没有很大 关系 ● shed/throw/cast light on 使更容易理解、使人了解 ● be struck under one’s nose 某物被放到面前。

18. PartⅠ : (1 ～4) A general introduction of prenups;What are prenups and how they are forged? Part Ⅱ: (5 ～8)The 4 paragraphs are about who need to have prenups. The author goes into detail to talk about 4 types of people who need to have prenups before a marriage.

19. partⅢ: (9～ 14). The 6 paragraphs deal with what points should be taken care of when one goes into a premarital agreement. PartⅣ:(15～ 16). They are about the general evaluations of prenups, one negative and the other positive.

20. n. 1.收藏品，收集的东西 2.收集，收取 Premarital Agreements A future husband wanted to be sure that if his marriage didn‘t work out, he could keep his treasured ice-cream collection safely stored away in a freezer. A woman insisted on verifying who would walk the dog. One man wanted the right to get a divorce if his bride-to-be gained more than 15 pounds once she became his wife. vt. 证明，证实，核实 n.准新娘

21. These are some of the crazier clauses of prenuptial agreements. But make no mistake about it, what most of them are about is money—and how financial assets will be divided up if a couple divorces. And divorce, with its accompanying money problems, is common in the United States. n. 1.条款，款项 a. 结婚前的

22. n.婚前协约 v.谈判，协商。 Prenuptial agreements—or "prenups"—are designed to address these problems as they arise. Prenups are negotiated by lawyers for the prospective spouses, and signed before a minister binds them in marriage. They have been gaining in acceptance in the United States since the early 1980s, when more states began passing laws that affected the division of financial assets in a divorce. The laws are based either on "community property" (split evenly) or on "reasonable distribution" (whatever a judge thinks is "fair"). a.预期的；可能的。 Vt.连结，结合。 n. 1.分开，划分 2.分歧 3.部门 ad.平均地

23. The prenups of the famous make the headlines: Lawyers for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis contested the prenuptial agreement between her and Aristotle Onassis after his death, reportedly winning $26 million in an out-of-court settlement. n.标题 v. 1.质疑，辩驳 2.争取，争夺；与……竞争 n. 1.竞赛，比赛 2.争夺，竞争

24. 婚前协议 　 一位即将结婚的男子希望能够确保即使婚姻失败，他仍可以把他珍爱的冰淇淋藏品好好储存在冰柜里。一名女子坚持要求明确婚后由谁来遛狗。一名男子要求，如果他未来的新娘婚后体重增加15磅以上，他有权离婚。 以上这些都是婚前协议中一些比较荒唐的条款。但是不要弄错了，大多数婚前协议涉及到的都是钱──以及一旦离婚该怎样分配财产。而且，离婚及其带来的钱财纠纷，在美国是很常见的事。

25. 婚前协议──简称prenup──就是用来处理这些问题的。婚前协议由即将结婚的男女双方的律师共同协定，然后由双方在牧师宣布他们结为夫妻之前签署。自20世纪80年代初以来，婚前协议在美国被越来越多的人接受，因为当时越来越多的州开始通过关于离婚财产分配的法律。这些法律要么是基于“共有财产”（平均分配），要么是基于“合理分配”（法官认为怎样“公平”就怎样分）。

26. 名人的婚前协议总是新闻头条：杰奎琳·肯尼迪·奥纳西斯的律师在亚里士多德·奥纳西斯死后拿出两人的婚前协议对簿公堂，据说她后来在庭外和解中得到了2,600万美元。名人的婚前协议总是新闻头条：杰奎琳·肯尼迪·奥纳西斯的律师在亚里士多德·奥纳西斯死后拿出两人的婚前协议对簿公堂，据说她后来在庭外和解中得到了2,600万美元。

27. But prenuptial agreements are also for lesser known, although wealthy, folks. "It's because divorce has such great economic consequences, and successive marriages have become so common," said a family law lawyer. a.富有的，富裕的。

28. n.有可能做···的人，有望成为···的事；候选人n.有可能做···的人，有望成为···的事；候选人 A typical candidate for a prenuptial agreement is a man who has accumulated considerable wealth, has already been stung once, and wants to reduce his exposure to future problems. "They want to make their own arrangements, rather than let a court decide," said the president of the New York chapter of the American Academy of Marriage Lawyers. vt. 1.激怒，刺痛 2.刺伤，蛰伤 n. 刺痛，刺伤 n. 暴露，曝光，揭露 n.研究院；学会；专科学校

29. n.财产 Protecting children from a previous marriage is a strong reason for prenuptial contracts. "Someone may have an estate of $1 billion and he may not want a second spouse to get a payment of half a billion. He may want more for his children," said a lawyer.The effort to shield assets to be passed on to children and grandchildren is making prenups more common among retired people in their 60s and 70s who are remarrying after a spouse has died. n.付款 Vt.保护

30. Another situation that calls for premarital agreement occurs when a potential spouse has, or is in line for, great inherited wealth or a family business, especially if the future partner has little or nothing at all. v.继承

31. 但婚前协议也适用于那些不甚有名却很富有的人。“这是因为离婚会带来巨大的经济后果，而再婚又如此常见，”一位家庭法律师说。但婚前协议也适用于那些不甚有名却很富有的人。“这是因为离婚会带来巨大的经济后果，而再婚又如此常见，”一位家庭法律师说。 　　 典型的想签订婚前协议的人是那些积累了大量财富、曾吃过苦头的男性，他们想减少日后的麻烦。“他们想自己安排解决，而不想让法庭裁决，” 美国婚姻法律师协会纽约分会的会长说。

32. 保护前一次婚姻的孩子是签署婚前契约的一个重要原因。“有人可能有价值10亿美元的财产，而他又不想让第二个配偶分得5亿美元。他可能想多留一点给自己的孩子，”一名律师说。为了将财产传到自己的儿孙手中，六七十岁的退休丧偶老人在找老伴时，订立婚前协议也很常见。保护前一次婚姻的孩子是签署婚前契约的一个重要原因。“有人可能有价值10亿美元的财产，而他又不想让第二个配偶分得5亿美元。他可能想多留一点给自己的孩子，”一名律师说。为了将财产传到自己的儿孙手中，六七十岁的退休丧偶老人在找老伴时，订立婚前协议也很常见。 另一种要求签订婚前协议的情况大多是，未来的丈夫或 妻子 。已经或即将继承巨额遗产或家庭产业，而未来伴侣却家产不多或一贫如洗。

33. Let’s have some quzzles. Q:What kind of dog doesn't bite or bark? A: Hot dog. (热狗) Q:What table is in the field? A:Vegetable Q:What is the smallest room in the world? A:Mushroom. (蘑菇)

34. ——第八小组