The house and carriage is a thing of the past. but love and marriage are still with us and still closely interrelated. Most American marriages, 【21】______ first marriages uniting young people, are the result of mutual attraction and affection 【22】______ than practical considerations. In the United States, parents do not 【23】______ marriages for their children. Teenagers begin dating in high school and usually find mates through their own academic and social 【24】______ 【25】______ young people feel free to choose their friends from 【26】______ groups, most choose a mate of similar 【27】______ This is due in part to parental guidance. Parents cannot 【28】______ spouses (配偶) for their children, but they can usually 【29】______ choices by voicing disapproval of someone they consider unsuitable. 【30】______ , marriages between members of different groups (interclass, interfaith, and interracial marriages) are 【31】______ , probably because of the greater mobility of today’s youth and the fact that they are 【32】______ by fewer prejudices than their parents. Many young people leave their hometowns to attend college, serve in the armed forces, 【33】______ pursue a career in a bigger city. Once away from home and family, they are more 【34】______ to date and marry outside their own social group. In mobile American society, interclass marriages are neither 【35】______ nor astonishing. Interfaith marriages are 【36】______ the rise, especially between Protestants (基督教徒) and Catholics ( 天主徒). On the other hand, interracial marriages are still very 【37】______ . It can be difficult for interracial couples to find a place to live, maintain friendships, and 【38】______ a family. Marriages between people of different national 【39】______ (but the same race and' religion) have been commonplace here 【40】______ colonial times. 【21】