Texto Selectividad Extremadura 2007 Junio

Marriage

In the English common law tradition, from which US legal doctrines and concepts have developed, a marriage was a contract based upon a voluntary private agreement by a man and a woman to become husband and wife. Marriage was viewed as the basis of the family unit and vital to the preservation of morals and civilization. Traditionally, the husband had a duty to provide a safe house, pay for necessities such as food and clothing, and live in the house. The wife's obligations were maintaining a home, living in the home, having sexual relations with her husband, and rearing the couple's children. Today the underlying concept that marriage is a legal contract still remains but, due to changes in society, the legal obligations are not the same. Marriage is chiefly regulated by the different states in the U.S.A. The Supreme Court has held that states are permitted to reasonably regulate the institution by prescribing who is allowed to marry, and how the marriage can be dissolved. One power that the states do not have, however, is that of prohibiting marriage in the absence of a valid reason. For example, prohibiting interracial marriage is not allowed for lack of a valid reason and because it was deemed to violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. All states limit people to one living husband or wife at a time and will not issue marriage licenses to anyone with a living spouse. Once an individual is married, the person must be legally released from the relationship by either death, divorce, or annulment before he or she may remarry. Other limitations on individuals include age and close relationship. Limitations that some but not all states prescribe are: the requirements of blood tests, good mental capacity, and being of opposite sex.


1. Do you think it is a good idea for a couple to live together before getting married? Express your opinion in about 80-100 words.

2. According to the text, what law do all the states have in common?

3. Imagine a friend of yours is planning to marry a much older person just because s/he has a lot of money. Advise him/her not to and give a reason for not doing so.

4. Rewrite the following sentence in negative interrogative:
States are permitted to reasonably regulate the institution

5. Find two words in the text containing vowels or groups of vowels that are pronounced in the same way as aw in law, E in English, and a in basis. Underline the part of the word that contains the sound.