[简答题]家庭是中国传统社会的基础。在中国传统家庭中，每个人与不同的家人相处时，都要循规蹈矩地遵守一定的礼节(etiquette)。特别是在那些人口众多且成员复杂的大家族里，更需要严格的礼节和规矩，以界定彼此的关系，约束个人的行为，而使家庭和谐有序。在一个大家族里，辈分最高的人往往具有至高无上的权威。受“男尊女卑”观念("patriarchal" mentality)的影响，丈夫在家庭中的地位绝对在妻子之上。受现代文明的冲击，女性的地位如今有所提高。

参考答案: Families are the foundation of traditional Chinese society. In traditional Chinese families, each person must observe certain etiquette in his or her relationship with other family members. Especially in those large families that have numerous people with complex background, more strict etiquette and roles are observed so as to define their relationships and discipline individuals’ behavior, to keep harmonious family order. In a huge family, the person of highest seniority used to have the highest authority. Due to the "patriarchal" mentality that takes male superior to female, husband might have absolutely dominant status on wife. But under the impact of modem civilization, the status of women has been improved by now.