外国语学院2002级英教（1）班　谢颖

       Love is an essential human attribute, which matures as individual matures. Marriage is a natural and extremely effective milieu for the development of love. So the love between a man and a woman leads to a marriage. Marriage brings about a family. The family provides a framework for each family member to grow as a person in love and security. So it is reasonable to say that marriage is a bridge of love and family.

       Love is the base of marriage, and marriage is the development of love. In the past, people used to marry without their own consent, that is, without their own experience of love, the parents arranged the marriage. Two persons, a man and a woman, who were entirely strangers, were united in wedlock, and became husband and wife. They had known nothing of each other before, and of course, love was a sealed book to both. This type of marriage often leads to unhappiness. Tragic stories about ill-matched couples were often heard. So love is the foundation of marriage, and a marriage without love won’t be a happy one. And nowadays, with the development of society, love becomes more noble, rich, fine and subtle. Therefore, love is sometimes romantic; the lovers don’t pay too much attention to the trivial of daily life. Some people fall in love at first sight and rush into marriage. They usually neglect the commitment a marriage demands. They may come across with some problems in their marriage that is likely to end up with a divorce. This seems to prove that love in a marriage is not so romantic as one often imagines, but as practical as mutual respect and compromise in the common life of a family.

       Family in this sense is the extension of marriage. A family based on a marriage may last if it fulfills the function of reproduction. However, nothing can be more effective for a family to fulfill its function than love. Love between a husband and a wife, love between parents and children and  love between all the family members can pave the way for all the family to a bright future. The families that could survive the hardships and develop from generation to generation are characterized by love and harmony. 

      In a word, love is the base of marriage and family. One famous man once said,“ In a world of existence, there is indeed no greater power than the power of love.” In a marriage, love needs to be manifested in a cooperative and sharing manner. And with a happy marriage, the family will be happy.

（李荣宝教授　批阅）