Next Year Marks the EUs 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 Europes 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, 2006s 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 integrationuntil 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 treatythe 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 EUs 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 andhey prestoa new quasi-constitution will be ready. E. According to the German governmentwhich holds the EUs agenda-setting presidency during the first half of 2007there 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 countriesFrance, Italy and Germanywere 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 1.After 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. 4.It is very unlikely that European countries will sign the declaration at the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. 5.French government will hold the EUs presidency and lay down the agenda during the first half of 2008. 6.For a long time in hisotry, there has been confrontation between Britain and the rest of European countries.
英语四级的听力题型归类和应试策略
英语四级听力考试短对话必考题型的解密
英语四级考试听力考前冲刺的宝典
四级听力的备考:调整心态及快速记忆
英语新四级考试听力长对话应试的策略
英语四级听力复习技巧
四级听力中最容易混淆的单词
名师支招:英语四级的听力考试备考宝典
三大考场要诀应对英语四级的考试听力
英语四级考试听力30天的学习笔记
英语四级听力冲刺复习的时间表
英语四级听力高频的词汇不但要会听还要会读
英语四级听力的考试长对话设题点解密
英语四级的考试听力速成:技巧与内功的结合
英语四级听力短对话常见题型及答题的技巧
英语四级考试听力备考的建议
英语四级听力的短文理解应急高招
英语四级考试听力得分的技巧
四级听力倒计时:建议考生把握预读题目的时间
四级听力:用“精听”的方法提升语感
妙招提供:应对英语四级考试短文的听力
牛人总结英语四级考试听力高分的心得
英语四级听力40条常考的习语
英语四级考试听力必须掌握的态度的词汇
英语四级听力的考试常见“小词”
破解英语四级的听力长对话:七大“高分必备”
英语四级考试听力常见场景词汇的归纳
英语四级的考前一周冲刺:听力篇
英语四级听力复合式听写的攻略:应试技巧
总结英语四级口试相关的信息
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