Question

    For years, business people in Western Europe were worried. They knew they could not compete against business from the U.S. The United States is much larger and had many more resources than any Western European countries.

Some European people realized that the European nations need to join together to help each other. If they could forget their language differences and the differences in customs, they might become strong competition against other countries.

In 1958, six of the European countries — Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Italy got together and decided to cooperate. They called their group the European Economic Community, or the Common Market. These countries agreed to join their resources together.

Within a few years, the European Economic Community had worked so well that its members were more prosperous than many other European nations. Soon, other nations began to realize the advantage of the Common Market. Today the Common Market includes most of the important countries in Western Europe. It is helping Western Europe to again take its place as a leader among the industrial nations of the world.

1.From the passage we know the U.S. is much richer than ________ in resources.

A.any other Western European countries B.any other country in Western Europe

C.any country in Western Europe D.every country in Europe

2.The members of the European Economic Community have developed fast because they ___.

A.share their resources and become more prosperous

B.can again take the place as a leader in the world

C.forget the differences in their languages and customs

D.have become strong competition against the U.S.

3.Which statement is true?

A.The Common Market is only a political association.

B.The Common Market is an economic and political association.

C.The Common Market is only an economic association.

D.The Common Market is neither an economic association nor a political one.

4.In order to ______ the Western European countries decided to cooperate.

A.join together to found a united country

B.help each other to smooth away the differences in customs

C.work and act together for common purpose

D.work together and fight against the U.S.

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了欧洲经济共同体（European Economic Community, EEC），又称“欧洲共同市场”的创建。欧洲经济共同体最初是由一些包括法国、联邦德国、意大利、荷兰、比利时、卢森堡等在内的西欧国家为了共同的利益而由政府出面组成的一个经济和政治集团。

1.

细节理解题。根据文章第一段内容The United States is much larger and had many more resources than any Western European countries.可知，美国比西欧的任何一个国家都要大，资源也要多。由此可知，美国在资源方面比任何西欧国家都要富有。故选C。

2.

细节理解题。根据文章第二三段内容可知，欧洲经济共同体成员国之所以发展迅速，是因为它们共享资源，变得更加繁荣。故选A。

3.

细节理解题。根据文章第二段和第三段内容可知，这些欧洲国家为了能和美国抗衡而由政府出面组成了欧洲共同体，也称欧洲共同市场，它是一个经济和政治联盟。故选B。

4.

推理判断题。从文章一二段内容可知，西欧国家的人们意识到他们不能够单独和地大物博，资源丰富的美国抗衡，需要联合起来互相帮助以获得更多的利益和好处。由此可知，为了实现共同的目标，西欧国家决定进行合作。故选C。