Language is a major problem for the European Union. The agreement or treaty which created the organization that eventually became the EU, the Treaty of Rome, stated that each country's language must be treated equally. The original 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 time-consuming It is said that nearly half of all employees of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches, and nearly half of the EU’s administrative 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 standard

In practice the problem has been made less severe by the use of English in many contacts 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 eventually 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 l32 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 severe it is.

    C．To criticize the European Union for inefficiency.

       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．a(chǎn)ngered 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(chǎn) situation that might be difficult to deal with

    B．a(chǎn) situation that occurs often

    C．one of the 12 situations that requires an interpreter

       D．languages easily being interpreted

5．The writer suggests that if the number of official languages was reduced _____．

    A．the EU would not know which official languages to choose

    B．countries whose languages were not used officially would be unhappy

    C．only languages which are easy to translate would be used officially

       D．the smaller member countries would be pleased

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