Notes to the Reading Passage
1. pan-Enropean
pan-: 前缀:全,总,泛
pan-African 全/泛非洲的(运动)
pan-Enropean全/泛欧的(机构建设)
2. outstrip
超越,胜过,超过,优于
Material development outstripped human development”“物质的发展超过了人类的进步”
3. ebb
回落跌落;衰退或消减
The tide is on the ebb.正在退潮。
4. Machiavelli
马基雅维利,尼克尔1469-1527意大利政治理论家,他的著作君主论(1513年)阐述了一个意志坚定的统治者不顾道德观念的约束如何获得并保持其权力。
文章中意为“任何一个人都可以看到,显而易见。。。”。
5. hey presto
突然地;立即(魔术师用语)您看,变!
6. upshot
结果;结局
Keys to the Questions 1-14
1. TRUE
Explanation
See the first sentence in Section A “Aftera period of introversion and stunned self-disbelief, continental European governments will recover their enthusiasm for pan-European institution-building in 2007”.
2. FALSE
Explanation
See the third sentence in Section C “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.”.
3. TRUE
Explanation
See the first sentence in the Section D “In 2007 the European Union marks the 50th anniversary of another treaty—the Treaty of Rome, its founding charter.”.
4. FALSE
Explanation
See the third sentence in Section D“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”.
5. NOT GIVEN
Explanation
See the first sentence in Section E “According to the German government—which holds the EU’s agenda-setting presidency during the first half of 2007”.
6. TRUE
Explanation
See the third sentence in Section H“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”.
7. further integration
Explanation
See the second sentence in Section C“Every four or five years, European countries take a large stride towards further integration by signing a new treaty”.
8. lay the ground
Explanation
See the third sentence in Section C “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.”.
9. publc rejection
Explanation
See the third sentence in Section E“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.”
10. bureaucratc momentum
Explanation
See the frst sentence in Section 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.”.
11. C
Explanation
See the last sentence in Section B “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”.
12. A
Explanation
See the last sentence in Section C “But the political impetus to sign something every four or five years has only been interrupted, not immobilised, by this setback.”
13 . D
Explanation
See the first sentence in Section D “In 2007 the European Union marks the 50th anniversary of another treaty—the Treaty of Rome, its founding charter.”
14 .B
Explanation
See third sentence in Section C: “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”.