In Cambodia, the choice of a spouse is a complex one for the young male. It may involve not only his parents and his friends, (1)_____ those of the young woman, but also a matchmaker. A young man can (2)_____ a likely spouse on his own and then ask his parents to (3)_____ the marriage negotiations, or the young man’s parents may make the choice of a spouse, giving the child little to say in the selection. (4)_____, a girl may veto the spouse her parents have chosen. (5)_____ a spouse has been selected, each family investigates the other to make sure its child is marrying (6)_____ a good family.

    The traditional wedding is a long and colorful affair. Formerly it lasted three days, (7)_____ by the 1980s it more commonly lasted a day and a half. Buddhist priests offer a short sermon and (8)_____ prayers of blessing. Parts of the ceremony involve ritual hair cutting, (9)_____ cotton threads soaked in holy water around the bride’s and groom’s wrists, and (10)_____ a candle around a circle of happily married and respected couples to bless the (11)_____ . Newlyweds traditionally move in with the wife’s parents and may (12)_____ with them up to a year, (13 )_____ they can build a new house nearby.

    Divorce is legal and easy to (14)_____ , but not common. Divorced persons are (15)_____ with some disapproval. Each spouse retains (16)_____ property he or she (17)_____ into the marriage, and jointly-acquired property is (18)_____ equally. Divorced persons may remarry, but a gender prejudice (19)_____ up: The divorced male doesn’t have a waiting period before he can remarry (20)_____ the woman must wait ten months.

答案精析：此处应填入动词，并与空格后的a candle构成动宾搭配。根据语义可知，把蜡烛绕着一圈婚姻美满且受人尊敬的夫妻之间_____，由此可推断出，空处应填入passing，表示“传蜡烛”，此题选A项。

错项排除：B项lighting“点亮”虽然可以与a candle搭配，但与后文的around a circle搭配表示“围绕一圈人点燃一支蜡烛”，不符合语义，故排除。C项hiding “隐藏”和D项serving“服务”填入原文都不符合语境，故排除。