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Will the European Union make it The question would have sounded strange not long ago. Now even the project’s greatest cheerleaders talk of a continent facing a "Bermuda triangle" of debt, demographic decline and lower growth.As well as those chronic problems, the EU faces an acute crisis in its economic core, the 16 countries that use the single currency. Markets have lost faith that the euro zone’s economies, weaker or stronger, will one day converge thanks to the discipline of sharing a single currency, which denies uncompetitive members the quick fix of devaluation.Yet the debate about how to save Europe’s single currency from disintegration is stuck. It is stuck because the euro zone’s dominant powers, France and Germany, agree on the need for greater harmonisation within the euro zone, but disagree about what to harmonise.Germany thinks the euro must be saved by stricter rules on borrowing, spending and competitiveness, backed by quasiautomatic (半自动的) sanctions for governments that stray. These might include threats to freeze EU funds for poorer regions and EU mega-projects, and even the suspension of a country’s voting rights in EU ministerial councils. It insists that economic coordination should involve all 27 members of the EU club, among whom there is a small majority for free-market liberalism and economic rigour; in the inner core alone, Germany fears, a small majority favour French interference.A "southern" camp headed by France wants something different: "European economic government" within an inner core of euro-zone members. Translated, that means politicians intervening in monetary policy and a system of redistribution from richer to poorer members, via cheaper borrowing for governments through common Eurobonds or complete fiscal transfers. Finally, figures close to the French government have murmured, euro-zone members should agree to some fiscal and social harmonisation: e.g., curbing competition in corporate-tax rates or labour costs.It is too soon to write off the EU. It remains the world’s largest trading block. At its best, the European project is remarkably liberal: built around a single market of 27 rich and poor countries, its internal borders are far more open to goods, capital and labour than any comparable trading area. It is an ambitious attempt to blunt the sharpest edges of globalisation, and make capitalism kind and gentle.The problem is that the "European social model" has become, too often, a synonym (同义词) for a very expensive way of doing things. It has also become an end in itself, with some EU leaders calling for Europe to grow purely in order to maintain its social-welfare systems. That is a pretty depressing call to arms: become more dynamic so Europe can still afford old-age pensions and unemployment benefits. To solve the euro problem, Germany proposes that ().

A. EU funds for poor regions be increased
B. stricter regulations be imposed
C. only core members be involved in economic coordination
D. voting rights of the EU members be guaranteed

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Passage One Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

A. Dog owners in Sweden needn’t to pay any taxes on their pets.
B. Dog owners in Sweden are greatly subsidized by government.
C. Dog owners in Sweden must pay for any damage their dog does.
D. Two thirds of people in Sweden keep pets.

Some states use the estate tax in addition to inheritance test and some use gifts tax.

We should __________(培养... 的习惯)working with our own hands from our childhood.

For those who regard the al-Jazeera TV channel as a biased, anti-western mouthpiece for Osama bin Laden, the announcement that it will start broadcasting 24 hours a day in English next year will be unwelcome. Its likeliest audience is Muslims (1) the Middle East who do not speak Arabic. Will al-Jazeera’s reports of suffering and rage in Iraq and beyond inspire anger (2) America and its (3) at home, tooThe new service may prove a bit less (4) than its Arabic sibling. Nigel Parsons, its managing editor, says that al-Jazeera has been too strident on (5) in the past, and that the English channel will (6) to redress that. It will strive (7) balance, credibility and authority, he says, and it will signal a new maturity for al-Jazeera, which was started by the emir of Qatar in 1996.It will broadcast its own original content—news, documentaries and talk shows— (8) studios in Doha, London and Washington, (9) international news beyond the Middle East. especially the developing countries often (10) by existing English-language channels.A1-Jazeera is already enjoying a fresh burst of (11) outside the Middle East. Around the same time that the interim government in Iraq ordered it to shut its bureau in Baghdad, westerners started watching "Control Room," a film sympathetic (12) the station directed by Jehane Noujaim. At a screening in London last week an audience of local journalists laughed along (13) al-Jazeera’s reporters and editors (14) the (15) of the American military.The biggest mystery about al-Jazeera surround its funding, which "Control Room" sadly did not (16) . Qatar has a new (17) in the world (18) to the station. That may be why the emir is willing to spend (19) an English-language channel even (20) the original Arabic one is probably losing money. Read the following text. Choose the best word (s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.17()

A. prominence
B. fame
C. status
D. importance

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