本文节选自《经济学人》的一篇文章，介绍了以董小姐为例的家暴问题
本文共节选5段，建议大家先自主阅读原文，再学习精读笔记。
文末会总结此次学习写作可以使用的词句，读者也可自己总结。会定期将内容进行总结，做成word分享，希望大家也能坚持学习
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The beatings were so brutal that Dong Fang (not her real name) was left partially deaf, and her daughter needed three stitches in her hand. Not long ago, China’s courts would probably have ignored such an assault, because the attacker was both Ms Dong’s husband and the girl’s father. Luckily for the victims, however, the country had recently enacted a domestic-violence bill. This enabled Ms Dong to obtain a restraining order from a court in Chengdu. Local media praised this as an example of the new law in action. Later came the shock. The same court rejected Ms Dong’s petition for divorce. It reasoned that the marriage was still on a “very firm” foundation and the husband should be given “a chance”, the judge told a newspaper in Beijing.
The beatings：毒打、敲打，这里用beatings表示受到的家暴。
partially deaf：部分听力残疾，partially表示部分地
the attacker：施暴者
enacted a bill：通过一条法案，enact sth表示通过……（法律）【词汇积累】
domestic-violence：家庭暴力
obtain a restraining order：获得限制令
Later came the shock：随后的消息令人惊愕【地道表达】
One’s petition for：某人对……的请求【词组积累】
It reason that：推论，解释道……【句式】
董芳受到严重的家暴，以至于留下了部分听力残疾，而她女儿的手也需要缝三针。不久之前，法院可能会无视这种攻击，因为施暴者既是董小姐的丈夫，也是女孩儿的父亲。不过幸运的是，最近实行了一项家庭暴力法案，使董小姐可以从法院获得一项限制令，当地媒体称赞此举为新法案发挥作用的例子。但之后的情况令人震惊，同一法院拒绝了董小姐的离婚请求，并向北京的一家报纸解释道：她的婚姻仍旧建立在“非常牢固”的基础上，而丈夫应该被给予“一次机会”。
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Ms Dong’s plight is common. The law on domestic violence, which took effect in March 2016,aims to protect women. But it is also intended to “promote family harmony and social stability”. Judges often consider this more important than women’s well-being. A study of 150,000 divorce cases filed between 2009 and September 2016, more than two-thirds of them by women, found the new law had done little to help female victims. When people file their first petition for divorce (many have several tries), judges are more likely to agree if the plaintiff is a man. They are usually unswayed by claims of violence. “For abused women, courts are the problem, not the solution,” says the study’s author.
plight：困境，one’s plight is common某人的困境是很普遍的。【词汇积累】
take effect in+时间：在……生效【词组积累】
aim to：旨在，和后面的intend to是相同的意思【同义替换】
family harmony and social stability：家庭和谐和社会稳定
women’s well-being：女性的幸福
file divorce cases：表示提起离婚申请的案例，下文file petition for divorce也是提起离婚申请【同义替换】
do little to help：对……帮助甚少，几乎没有帮助【词组积累】
plaintiff：原告
unswayed by：不被……动摇，不受到……的影响【词组积累】
董小姐的困境是很普遍的，在2016年3月生效的，关于家庭暴力的法律，目的在于保护女性。但也旨在促进家庭和谐和社会稳定，法官通常把这个放在女性的幸福之上。一项在2009到2016年9月之间的关于150000例离婚案例的研究表明，超过2/3是由女性提出的，而法律对女性受害者的帮助甚少。当人们首次提出他们的离婚申请时，若原告是男性，法官更可能同意。他们并不受暴力这个因素影响：“对于受家暴的女性，法院是问题所在，而不是解决方法。”研究的作者说道。
3
The leader describes families as the “cells” of society. Officials fear those cells are decaying as marriage rates fall and divorce rates soar. Last year more than 10m couples tied the knot and nearly 4.5m undid it. This is partly because, for many people, divorce has become much easier. Before 2003 it needed approval from an employer or community leader. Now, if both partners agree, they can quickly unmarry at a local civil-affairs bureau.
describes families as：把……描述成……
decaying as marriage rates fall and divorce rates soar：随着结婚率下降以及离婚率上升，细胞会分崩离析，fall和soar是一对反义词，用来描述数据的下降和上升。【词汇积累】
tie the knot and undid it：喜结连理，knot表示结，and undid it表示解开这个结，即离婚【词组积累】
unmarry：离婚
civil-affairs bureau：民政局
领导人将家庭描述为社会的“细胞”，官方人员害怕随着结婚率下降、离婚率高升，这些细胞会衰败。去年，超过一千万夫妻喜结连理，而将近四百五十万夫妻又离婚了。这一部分是因为，对于很多人来说，离婚已经变得更简单了。2003年之前，离婚需要老板或社区领导的同意，现在，如果夫妻俩同意，他们可以迅速地在当地的民政局离婚。
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Possibly helped by public attention to her case, Ms Dong eventually got her divorce in June, two years after the beating. “Whether or not to permit a divorce should be based on whether feelingsbetween husband and wife have been ruptured,” the court said. In this case, it ruled, they had been. The court said each should have one of the couple’s two houses, and compensate the other for any difference in value.
public attention：公众的关注
got her divorce：得到了离婚许可，即离婚成功
feelings have been ruptured：感情破裂【搭配】
it rule：法院裁决，rule表示决定；裁定；判决to give an official decision about sth。下文中的ruling即判决。【词汇积累】
compensate the other for：compensate sb for sth补偿某人某物【词组积累】
她的案例或许是受到公众关注的帮助，董小姐最终在6月离婚成功，这是在家暴的2年后。是否同意离婚，应该以夫妻的感情是否已经破裂为基础。而在这件案例中，他们的感情确实已经破裂了。法院宣布两人各自拥有一栋房子，并补偿对方差价。
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But in another twist the judge refused Ms Dong’s application for 50,000 yuan ($7,010) in damages from her ex-husband. The court agreed she had suffered violence, but not with “serious consequences”. Such rulings are common, says Xin He of the University of Hong Kong. Judges often allow a divorce while dismissing charges of domestic violence, thus allowing the husband to avoid any penalty. Ms Dong still has some faith in the system: she has filed an appeal. She expects a ruling by January.
twist：（故事或情况的）转折，转变，突然变化an unexpected change or development in a story or situation【词汇积累】
suffer violence：受到暴力
application for：申请……
dismiss charges of domestic violence：驳回暴力行为的指控，dismiss表示驳回，不受理。charges of sth是……的指控。如果是charges for，后面通常加money【词组积累】
file an appeal：提出上诉
但是另一个转折是，法官拒绝董小姐对于潜伏造成伤害的50000元申请。法官同义她受到了暴力，但没有造成“严重的后果”。香港大学的Xin He说，这种判决其实很常见。法院通常会允许离婚，但驳回家暴的指控，因此使丈夫可以避免任何惩罚。董小姐仍然对法律系统有信心，她提出了诉讼，希望在1月份得到判决。
总结
enacted a bill：通过一条法案，enact sth表示通过……（法律）【词汇积累】
plight：困境，one’s plight is common某人的困境是很普遍的。【词汇积累】
decaying as marriage rates fall and divorce rates soar：随着结婚率下降以及离婚
率上升，细胞会分崩离析，fall和soar是一对反义词，用来描述数据的下降和上升。【词汇积累】
it rule：法院裁决，rule表示决定；裁定；判决to give an official decision about sth。下文中的ruling即判决。【词汇积累】
twist：（故事或情况的）转折，转变，突然变化an unexpected change or development in a story or situation【词汇积累】
One’s petition for：某人对……的请求【词组积累】
take effect in+时间：在……生效【词组积累】
do little to help：对……帮助甚少，几乎没有帮助【词组积累】
unswayed by：不被……动摇，不受到……的影响【词组积累】
tie the knot and undid it：喜结连理，knot表示结，and undid it表示解开这个结，即离婚【词组积累】
compensate the other for：compensate sb for sth补偿某人某物【词组积累】
dismiss charges of domestic violence：驳回暴力行为的指控，dismiss表示驳回，不受理。charges of sth是……的指控。如果是charges for，后面通常加money【词组积累】
aim to：旨在，和后面的intend to是相同的意思【同义替换】
file divorce cases：表示提起离婚申请的案例，下文file petition for divorce也是提起离婚申请【同义替换】
Later came the shock：随后的消息令人惊愕【地道表达】
It reason that：推论，解释道……【句式】
feelings have been ruptured：感情破裂【搭配】
家暴相关的表达
受到的家暴：the beatings；suffer violence（domestic violence）
施暴者：the attacker
家庭暴力：domestic-violence
提起离婚申请：file petition for divorce
申请赔偿：application for 50000 yuan in damages from her ex-husband
上诉：file an appeal
结婚又离婚：tie the knot and undid it
