单选题 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, population 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 harmonization within the euro zone, but disagree about what to harmonize.
Germany thinks the euro must be saved by stricter rules on borrowing, spending and competitiveness, backed by quasi-automatic sanctions for governments that do not obey. 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 co-ordination 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 French 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 France government have murmured, euro-zone members should agree to some fiscal and social harmonization: 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 globalization, and make capitalism benign.
单选题 The EU is faced with so many problems that ______
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 第一段提到，如果你要问“欧盟能成功吗”(make it意为“成功”)这个问题，以前会有人感到奇怪，但是现在，即使欧盟的支持者也在说，欧盟面临着一个由债务、人口下降、低增长率所形成的“百慕大三角”。这里，the project指欧元区的设立(最后一段的European project也是如此)，cheerleader指支持者，continent指欧洲大陆，Bermuda triangle通常喻指充满潜在危险的形势。把欧元区比作Bermuda triangle，说明这些人很担忧欧元区的现状。
单选题 The debate over the EU"s single currency is stuck because the dominant powers ______
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 在第三段中，be stuck意为“僵住”，是说这场争论没有产生预期结果。其中主要原因是法国和德国虽然认为有必要在欧元区实现更大程度的和谐，但是它们在“和谐”的内容上达不成一致意见。第四段和第五段分别介绍了德国和法国的立场。
单选题 To solve the euro problem, Germany proposed that ______
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 第四段提到德国的观点，它认为，为了拯救欧元，就要实施更严格的规则，对不服从规则的国家进行制裁，包括冻结欧盟资金，冻结一些大型欧盟项目，甚至中止某个国家在欧盟理事会的投票权。
单选题 The French proposal of handling the crisis implies that ______
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 这是一道推理题。第五段提到法国为首的“南部”阵营的立场，这些国家想要在核心成员内部建立“欧洲经济政府”，这意味着政治家能干预货币政策，也意味着建立一个从富国到穷国的再分配体制，这包括通过欧洲债券或财政转移向某些国家提供低息贷款。由此推断，如果法国等国家的建议被采纳，穷国在欧盟内借债将变得容易起来。
单选题 Regarding the future of the EU, the author seems to feel ______
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 这是一道态度题，回答这类题时，除了认真阅读表达作者观点的句子外，文章的最后一段为解答态度题提供了重要线索。最后一段说，虽然欧盟面临困难，其内部也存在分歧，但是作者认为把欧盟一笔勾销(write off意为“勾销，结束”)还为时过早。因为欧盟内部相当自由：其成员国之间的商品、资金和劳务流动相当自由。而且，它对于抵消全球化的影响，使资本主义变得更温和些(指在其成员国之间减少市场竞争)，可能起到重要作用。可见，作者对欧盟的作用及其未来持肯定、乐观的态度。