Ⅲ. 阅读理解 (共15小题;每小题2分,满分30)
The World Trade Organization (WTO), founded on January 1, 1995, aims to encourage international trade to flow as possible, making sure that trade agreements are respected and that any disputes can be settled.
In the five years since its founding, the WTO has become well known as one of the world’s most powerful economic organizations, taking its place alongside the World Bank and International Money Fund.
The system of global rules for international trade, however, dates back half a century to 1948 when the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was formed after World War II.
As time went by, it became clear that the GATT had two major drawbacks-the limited areas of trade it covered, and the lack of an effective system to settle disputes.
After seven years of trade talks ending in 1994, the so-called Uruguay Round finally give birth to the WTO, complete with an effective system to settle disputes and new rules covering trade in services and intellectual property.
Even after seven years of talks and 22, 500 pages of agreements, there were still problems, especially the difficulty to deal with areas of agriculture and services, which the member nations agreed to revise in 2000. The WTO, with its head office in Geneva, has 135 members with 30 more waiting to join.
36. From the passage we know that the GATT stopped working ________.
A. soon after World War II ended
B. a little more than 50 years after World War II
C. just in the year 1994
D. seven years before the Uruguay Round talk
37. Compared with the GATT, the WTO _______.
A. didn’t pay enough attention to services and intellectual property
B. got its members to sign the agreements more easily
C. has got to many areas of international trade to deal with to work effectively
D. can do better to settle disputes in more areas of international trade
38. In the new century the WTO will ________.
A. take the place of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
B. have more members and settle more problems
C. make complete new rules in every area of international trade
D. have new rules covering trade in services and intellectual property
