The word it” in the third paragraph refers to .

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the question
The type, functions, and characteristics of marriage vary from culture to culture, and can change over time. By “romantic marriage” I mean to imply the following general scenario” Two people have met and have a growing friendship, compete with physical attraction and compatibility of character and interests. They may move in with each other after a while. They choose to marry and maybe become engaged for a while first. Principally this is their own choice however their families and friends can exert informal pressure.
Those who believe in romantic marriage will often criticize pragmatic marriage, saying that it is oppressive, inhuman, unfair, immoral, and an affront to personal freedom. However, it is not. Within cultures that have adopted more pragmatic marriages, the successful rate is very high indeed. Nearly all couples learn to love and care for each other very deeply. It is just that the long – term happiness and stability is given more importance than the short – term.
Pragmatic marriage is a marriage that is made possible by formal procedures of family or group politics. A responsible authority sets up or encourages the marriage. Arranged marriage is a form of pragmatic marriage. Once declared, an engagement is implicit, which follows through with a formal marriage ceremony. Those who uphold pragmatic marriage frequently state that it is traditional, that it upholds social morals, that it is good for the family involved. However, romantic marriage is not supposed to be the same life – long commitment as pragmatic marriages, the underlying assumptions are simply different.
Cultures that aspire to create relationships after couples marry are those with institutionalized practices of pragmatic marriage. Cultures that come to think that marriages should only be tired once a short – term compatibility already exists adopt romantic marriage. Most criticism of the “other” form of marriage to what one person accepts is based on misunderstanding, assumptions about marriage made from different culture starting – points and personal ignorance about what different groups of people consider marriage to be.