IELTS Reading Test （3）

Part I

Reading Passage 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

A.

After a period of introversion¹ and stunned² self-disbelief, continental³ 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 dismally⁴ behind America （to say nothing of Asia）, but in 2006 the large continental economies had one of their best years for a decade, briefly⁵ outstripping⁶ 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 ebbing⁷ 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 integration⁸ 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 ratify⁹ 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 impetus¹⁰ to sign something every four or five years has only been interrupted, not immobilised, by this setback¹¹.

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 unity¹². 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 halfway¹³ 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 presidency¹⁴ 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 bureaucratic¹⁵ planners in Brussels and Berlin, blithely¹⁶ ignoring the possibility of public rejection¹⁷, 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 autonomous¹⁸ organisation¹⁹. 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. Defensive²⁰, cynical²¹ 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 momentum²² and the economics of recovery will all be aligned²³ to give a push towards integration in 2007. That does not mean the momentum will be irresistible²⁴ 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 confrontation²⁵ 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 EU's 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.