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BOOK3UNIT1GreatEuropeanCitiesPARISParisisthecapitalandlargestcityofFrance,situatedontheRiverSeine.Itisoneofthemostbeautifulcitiesintheworldandisvisitedbymorethaneightmilliontouristseveryyear.ThemostpopularplacefortouristsistheEiffelTower,thefamoussymbolofParis.Oneoftheworld’slargestartgalleries,theLouvre,isalsolocatedinParis.Thecityisalsofamousforitsrestaurants,cafesandtheatres.AbouttwothirdofFrance’sartistsandwritersliveinParis.BARCELONABarcelonaisthesecondlargestcityofSpainandissituatedonthenortheastcoast,aboutfivehundredkilometreseastoftheSpanishcapital,Madrid.OneofBarcelona’smostfamouslandmarksistheChurchoftheSagradaFamilia,whichwasdesignedbyanarchitectcalledAntonioGaudi.Gaudiworkedontheprojectfrom1882untilhisdeathin1926.Thechurchhasn’tbeenfinishedyet.FLORENCEFlorenceisanItaliancitywhichbecamefamousbecauseoftheRenaissance,agreatartisticmovementwhichbeganinthe1300sandlastedforthreehundredyears.DuringtheRenaissance,someofthegreatestpaintersofalltimelivedandworkedinFlorence.ManyofFlorence’smostbeautifulpaintingsandsculptureswereproducedbygreatartistssuchasLeonardodaVinciandMichelangelo.Florenceisvisitedeachyearbyaboutamilliontouristswhocometoseetheartgalleries,churchesandmuseums.TheUffiziPalaceisthemostfamousartgalleriesinthecity.ATHENSAthens,thecapitalofGreece,isknownasthebirthplaceofwesterncivilisation.Twothousandfourhundredyearsago,itwastheworld’smostpowerfulcity.BuildingssuchastheParthenonontheAcropolisHillwerebuiltduringthisperiod.Greece’sbestwriterslivedinancientAthens.Theirworkhasinfluencedotherwriterseversince.TheEuropeanUnion欧盟WhatIstheEuropeanUnion?欧盟是什么？TheEuropeanUnionisanorganisationofEuropeancountries.欧盟是欧洲各国的一个组织。Thecountriesareindependentandaregovernedindifferentways.欧洲各国各自独立，国家管理各不相同。IntheUnitedKingdom,forexample,theheadofstateisakingorqueen.例如，英国的国家元首是国王或女王，InFrance,ontheotherhand,theheadofstateisapresident.而法国的元首是总统。ButeachofthemsendsrepresentativestotheEuropeanParliament,whichhassomecontroloverwhathappensineachofthemembercountries.但每个国家都向欧盟委员会派遣代表，欧盟委员会负责管理各个成员国的事务。HowDidItStart?欧盟是如何开始的？TheideaoftheEuropeanUnionbeganinthe1950s.创建欧盟这一想法始于二十世纪五十年代。ThefirstmemberswereFrance,Germany,Belgium,Luxembourg,theNetherlandsandItaly.最初的成员国有法国、德国、比利时、卢森堡、荷兰和意大利。Littlebylittle,thenumberincreasedduringthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury.逐渐地，成员国在二十世纪后半叶不断增加。Bytheyear2000,therewere15membercountries.到2000年，发展到15个成员国。ThenewcountrieswereAustria,Denmark,Finland,Greece,Ireland,Portugal,Spain,SwedenandtheUnitedKingdom.新的成员国有奥地利、丹麦、芬兰、希腊、爱尔兰、葡萄牙、西班牙、瑞典和英国。HowManyCountriesBelongtoItNow?现在有多少个国家属于欧盟？In2004,theEuropeanUnionincreasedto25members.2004年，欧盟扩展到25个国家。TheCzechRepublic,Estonia,Hungary,Latvia,Lithuania,Poland,theSlovakRepublicandSlovenia,plustheMediterraneanislandsofCyprusandMaltaallbecamemembers.捷克共和国、爱沙尼亚、匈牙利、拉脱维亚、立陶宛、波兰、斯洛伐克共和国、斯洛文尼亚以及地中海的塞浦路斯和马耳他都成为欧盟成员国。TheexpandedEuropeanUnionhasapopulationofmorethanhalfabillionpeople,twiceasbigasthepopulationoftheUnitedStates.扩大后的欧盟拥有五亿多人口，是美国人口的两倍UNIT2TheHumanDevelopmentReportIntheyear2000,147worldleadersagreedtoworktogethertoreducepovertyby2015orearlier.FromthisagreementcametheHumanDevelopmentReport.OneofthemostimportantsectionsofthisreportistheHumanDevelopmentIndex.Thisexaminestheachievementsof175countries.TheIndexmeasuresacountry’sachievementsinthreeways:lifeexpectancy(howlongpeopleusuallylive),educationandincome.Theindexhassomesurprises.Norwayisatthetopofthelist,whiletheUSisatnumber7.Theothertopfivecountriesare:Iceland(2),Sweden(3),Australia(4),theNetherlands(5).TheUKisthethirteenthposition,whileChinaisinthemiddleofthelist.ThebottomtencountriesareallAfricancountries,withSierraLeone（塞拉利昂）(inWestAfrica)atthebottomofthelist.ThereportdescribeseightDevelopmentGoals.Themostimportantgoalsareto:·reducepovertyandhunger;·makesurethatallchildrenhaveeducationuptotheageof11;·fightAIDSandotherdiseases;·improvetheenvironmentofpoorpeople,eg.makesuretheyhavesafedrinkingwater;·encouragedevelopedcountriestogivemorehelptoothercountries.The2003HumanDevelopmentReportgivesexamplesofsuccessfuldevelopment.Forexample,innineyears(1953-1962),Chinaincreasedlifeexpectancyby13years.InthelasttenyearsinChina,150millionpeoplemovedoutofpoverty.However,thechallengesarestillgreat.Everyday799millionpeopleindevelopingcountriesarehungry.OverhalfoftheseareinSouthAsiaorAfrica.Althoughmorethan80%ofchildrenindevelopingcountriesgotoprimaryschool,about115millionchildrenarenotbeingeducated.Morethan1billionpeopleindevelopingcountriesdonotdrinksafewater.However,inotherregionsoftheworld,e.g.EasternEurope,waterisnowmostlysafetodrink.Thereportshowsthatwearemakingsomeprogressbutthatweneedtomakegreaterefforts.Althoughdevelopedcountriesgivesomefinancialhelp,theyneedtogivemuchmore.Interestingly,thecountriesthatgivethemostmoneyaretheNetherlands,NorwayandSweden.Theseareamongthefiverichestcountriesintheworld,soitisrightthattheyshoulddoso.TownTwinningHowareOxfordintheUKandGrenoble（格勒诺布尔）inFrancesimilar?Well,they’rebothmedium-sizedtownsofbetween100,000and200,000inhabitants.Theybothhaveuniversitiesandindustries.Tourismisim