2014英语四级听力练习慢速3.31(1)_大学英语听力

2014英语四级听力练习慢速3.31(1)

　　In New York City, the number of people who approve of interracial marriage may be even higher than 87 percent. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a white man, is married to Chirlane McCray, an African-American woman. They are the parents of two biracial children.

　　But interracial couples were not always welcome in the country. In 1958, a Virginia couple, Mildred and Richard Loving, were arrested for violating a state law banning interracial marriage.

　　I saw this light, you know, and I woke up, and it was the policeman standing beside the bed. And he told us to get up -- that we was under arrest.

　　That was Mildred Loving. She and her husband fought their arrest in court. And in 1967, the United States Supreme Court ruled that interracial marriage bans were unconstitutional. Since then, the number of such marriages has slowly increased. The U.S. government says 15 percent of all new marriages are now between individuals of different races.

　　Society has become more accepting of it -- although we still get looks sometimes.

　　That was Gerri Buchanan. She and her husband, Tom Rogers, have been married for five years. Both of them have children from earlier interracial marriages.

　　They are one of a growing number of multiracial families in New York City. Political observers say New Yorkers liked the fact that Bill de Blasio is part of a mixed family. They say the family is partly responsible for his strong victory in local elections last November.