阅读理解。
Language is a major problem for the European Union(EU)．The agreement or treaty(条约) which
created the organization that finally became the EU,the Treaty of Rome,stated that each country's
language must be treated equally.The original(原来的) six countries had only three languages between
them:French,German and Dutch/Flemish.However.there are now 15 countries in the EU,with a total
of 12 languages.EU documents must be translated into all these languages,and at official meetings the
speeches must be translated into all the languages by interpreters.
All this translating is very expensive and timeconsuming(费时的)．It is said that nearly half of all
employess of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches,and nearly half of the EU's
administrative(管理方面) costs are spent on this task.In the near future it is probable that several
more countries,most of them having their own languages,will join the EU,thus making the situation
even worse.
The problem is not just cost；there are practical difficulties as well.With 12 languages,there are
132 possible "translation situations" that might be needed.It is often difficult to find people in the right
place at the right time who can translate from(for example) Danish into Greek,or Dutch into Portuguese,
at a high professional(专业) standard.
In practice the problem has been made less serious by the use of English in many contacts(接触)
between EU officials,since almost all of them speak some English.However,any move to reduce the
number of official languages (perhaps to four or five) would be a blow to the pride of the smaller
countries.Another commonly suggested solution is to make English the official language for all EU
business.However,this is strongly resisted by powerful member countries like France and Germany.
1.The organization that finally became the EU________.
A．was started by France and Germany
B．started with three countries
C．was set up by the Treaty of Rome
D．included 132 languages
2．What's the main purpose of this passage?
A．To give a solution to a problem.
B．To find out a problem and show how serious it is.
C．To criticize the European Union for inefficiency(低效率)．
D．To show that the problem cannot be solved.
3．According to the writer,the use of English in contacts among EU officials has________.
A．angered the officials who don't speak English
B．reduced the number of official languages
C．lessened the effect of the problem
D．been opposed by powerful member countries
4．The writer mentions "Danish into Greek" as an example of________.
A．a situation that might be difficult to deal with
B．a situation that occurs often
C．one of the 12 situations that requires an interpreter
D．languages easily being interpreted
