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雅思阅读练习题及答案
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Next Year Marks
the EU's 50th Anniversary of the Treaty
A.
After
a
period
of
introversion
and
stunned
self-disbelief,
continental European governments will
recover their enthusiasm
for
pan-European
institution-
building
in
2007.
Whether
the
European
public
will welcome
a return to
what voters in two
countries
had
rejected so
short
a time
before is another
matter.
B.
There
are
several
reasons
for
Europe’s
recovering
self-confidence. For years European
economies had been lagging
dismally
behind
America
(to
say
nothing
of
Asia),
but
in
2006
the
large continental economies had one of
their best years for a
decade, briefly
outstripping America in terms of growth. Since
politics often reacts to economic
change with a lag, 2006’s
improvement
in economic growth will have its impact in 2007,
though the recovery may be ebbing by
then.
C.
The
coming
year
also
marks
a
particular
point
in
a
political
cycle
so
regular
that
it
almost
seems
to
amount
to
a
natural
law.
Every
four
or
five
years,
European
countries
take
a
large
stride
towards
further
integration
by
signing
a
new
treaty:
the
Maastricht
treaty
in 1992, the Treaty of Amsterdam in
1997, the Treaty of Nice in
2001.
And
in
2005
they
were
supposed
to
ratify
a
European
constitution, laying the ground for yet
more integration
—
until
the
calm rhythm was
rudely shattered by
French
and
Dutch
voters.
But the political impetus to sign
something every four or five
years
has
only
been
interrupted,
not
immobilised,
by
this
setback.
D.
In
2007
the European
Union marks
the
50th anniversary of
another
treaty
—
the Treaty
of Rome, its founding charter. Government
leaders
have
already
agreed
to
celebrate
it
ceremoniously,
restating
their
commitment
to
“ever
closer
union”
and
the
basic
ideals
of
European
unity.
By
itself,
and
in
normal
circumstances,
the
EU’s
50th
-birthday
greeting
to
itself
would
be
fairly
meaningless, a
routine expression of European good fellowship.
But it does not take a Machiavelli to
spot that once governments
have signed
the declaration (and it seems unlikely anyone
would
be so uncollegiate as to veto it)
they will already be halfway
towards
committing themselves to a new treaty. All that
will be
necessary
will
be
to
incorporate
the
50th-anniversary
declaration
into a
new
treaty
containing
a
number of
institutional
and
other
reforms
extracted
from
the
failed
attempt
at
constitution-building
and
—
hey
presto
—
a
new
quasi-constitution
will be ready.
E.
According
to
the
German
government
—which
holds
the
EU’s
agenda-setting presidency during the
first half of 2007
—
there
will be a new draft of a slimmed-down
constitution ready by the
middle of the
year, perhaps to put to voters, perhaps not. There
would then be a couple of years in
which it will be discussed,
approved by
parliaments and, perhaps, put to voters if that is
deemed unavoidable. Then, according to
bureaucratic planners in
Brussels
and
Berlin,
blithely
ignoring
the
possibility
of
public
rejection, the whole thing will
be
signed, sealed and a new
constitution
delivered
in
2009-10.
Europe
will
be
nicely
back
on
schedule. Its four-to-five-year cycle
of integration will have
missed only
one beat.
F.
The resurrection of the European
constitution will be made more
likely
in
2007
because
of
what
is
happening
in
national
capitals.
The European Union is not really an
autonomous organisation. If
it
functions, it is because the leaders of the big
continental
countries want it to,
reckoning that an active European policy
will
help
them
get
done
what
they
want
to
do
in
their
own
countries.
G.
That
did
not
happen
in
2005-06.
Defensive,
cynical
and
self-destructive, the
leaders of the three largest euro-zone
countries
—
France,
Italy
and
Germany
—
were
stumbling
towards
their unlamented ends. They saw no
reason to pursue any sort of
European
policy and the EU, as a result, barely functioned.
But
by
the
middle
of
2007
all
three
will
have
gone,
and
this
fact
alone
will
transform the European political
landscape.
H.
The upshot is that the politics of the
three large continental
countries,
bureaucratic momentum and the economics of
recovery
will all be aligned to give a
push towards integration in 2007.
That
does not mean the momentum will be irresistible or
even
popular. The British government,
for one, will almost certainly
not want
to go with the flow, beginning yet another chapter
in
the long history of confrontation
between Britain and the rest
of Europe.
More important, the voters will want a say. They
rejected the constitution
in
2005.
It
would
be
foolish
to
assume
they will accept it
after 2007 just as a result of an artful bit
of tinkering.
Questions 1-6
Do the following statemets reflect the
claims of the writer in
Reading Passage
1?
Write your answer in
Boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
TRUE
if the statemenht reflets the claims
of
the writer
FALSE
if the statement contradicts the
claims
of the writer
NOT
GIVEN if
it
is
possbile
to
say
what
the
writer
thinks
about
this
years’
introspection
and
mistrust,
continental
European
governments
will
resurrect
their
enthusiasm
for
more
integration
in
2007.
2. The European
consitution was officially approved in 2005 in
spite of the oppositon of French and
Dutch voters.
3. The Treaty
of Rome , which is considered as the fundamental
charter of the European Union, was
signed in 1957.
is
very
unlikely
that
European
countries
will
sign
the
declaration at the 50th anniversary of
the Treaty of Rome.
government will hold the EU’s presidency and lay
down
the agenda during the first half
of 2008.
a
long
time
in
hisotry,
there
has
been
confrontation
between
Britain and the rest of European
countries.
Questions 7-10
Complet the following sentencces.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS from Reading Passage 1 for each
answer.
Write
your answer in Boxes 7-10 on your answer
sheet.
7. Every
four
or
five
years,
European
countries
tend
to
make
a rapid progress
towards ___________________by signing a new
treaty.
8.
The
European
constitution
is
supposed
to
______________________for
yet
more
integration
of
European
Union
member countries.
9. The bureaucratic planners in
Brussels and Berlin rashly
ignore the
possibility of __________________and think the new
consitution will be delivered in
2009-10.
10.
The
politics
of
the
three
large
continental
countries,
__________________ and the economic
recovery will join together
to urge the
integration in 2007.
Questions 11-14
Choose
the
appropriate letters A-D
and
write them
in
boxes
11-14
on
your answer sheet.
11.
Which
of
the
following
statemnts
is
true
of
Euopean
economic
development.
A.
The economy of Europe developed much faster than
that of
Asia before 2006.
B. The
growth
of
European
economy
was
slightly
slower
than
that
of
America in 2006.
C. The
development
of
European
economy
are
likely
to
slow
down
by
2007.
D.
The
recovery
of
European
economy
may
be
considerably
accelerated by
2007.
12. The
word
“immobilised”
in
the
last
line
of
Section
C
means
___________.
A.
stopped completely.
B.
pushed strongly.
C.
motivated wholely.
D.
impeded totally.
13. Which of the
following statements about the treaties in
European countries is NOT
TRUE.