The striving of countries in Central Europe to enter the European Union may offer an unprecedented chance to the continent's Gypsies (or Roman) to be recognized as a nation, albeit one without a defined territory. And if they were to achieve that they might even seek some kind of formal place—at least a total population outnumbers that of many of the Union's present and future countries. Some experts put the figure at 4m-plus; some proponents of Gypsy rights go as high as 15m.

Unlike Jews, Gypsies have had no known ancestral land to hark back to. Though their language is related to Hindi, their territorial origins are misty. Romanian peasants held them to be born on the moon. Other Europeans (wrongly) thought them migrant Egyptians, hence the derivative Gypsy. Most probably they were itinerant metal workers and entertainers who drifted west from India in the 7th century.

However, since communism in Central Europe collapsed a decade ago, the notion of Romanestan as a landless nation founded on Gypsy culture has gained ground. The International Romany Union, which says it stands for 10m Gypsies in more than 30 countries, is fostering the idea of "self-rallying". It is trying to promote a standard and written form. of the language; it waves a Gypsy flag (green with a wheel) when it lobbies in such places as the united Bations; and in July it held a congress in Prague, The Czech capital. Where President Vaclav Havel said that Gypsies in his own country and elsewhere should have a better deal.

At the congress a Slovak-born lawyer, Emil Scuka, was elected president of the International Tomany Union. Later this month a group of elected Gypsy politicians, including members of parliament, mayors and local councilors from all over Europe (OSCE), to discuss how to persuade more Gypsies to get involved in politics.

The International Romany Union is probably the most representative of the outfits that speak for Gypsies, but that is not saying a lot. Of the several hundred delegates who gathered at its congress, few were democratically elected; oddly, none came from Hungary, whose Gypsies are perhaps the world's best organized, with some 450 Gypsy bodies advising local councils there. The union did, however, announce its ambition to set up a parliament, but how it would actually be elected was left undecided.

So far, the European Commission is wary of encouraging Gypsies to present themselves as a nation. The might, it is feared, open a Pandora's box already containing Basques, Corsicans and other awkward peoples. Besides, acknowledging Gypsies as a nation might backfire, just when several countries, particularly Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, are beginning to treat them better, in order to qualify for EU membership. "The EU's whole premise is to overcome differences, not to highlight them," says a nervous Eurocrat.

But the idea that the Gypsies should win some kind of special recognition as Europe's largest continent wide minority, and one with a terrible history of persecution, is catching on. Gypsies have suffered many pogroms over the centuries. In Romania, the country that still has the largest number of them (more than lm), in the 19th century they were actually enslaved. Hitler tried to wipe them out, along with the Jews.

"Gypsies deserve some space within European structures," says Jan Marinus Wiersma, a Dutchman in the European Parliament who suggests that one of the current commissioners should be responsible for Gypsy affairs. Some prominent Gypsies say they should be more directly represented, perhaps with a quota in the European Parliament. That, they argue, might give them a boost. There are moves afoot to help them to get money for, among other things, a Gypsy university.

One big snag is that Europe's Gypsies are, in fact, extremely heterogeneous. They belong to many different, a

A．Gypsies Want to Form. a Nation

B．Are They a Nation

C．EU Is Afraid of Their Growth

D．They Are a Tribe

The striving of countries in Central Europe to enter the European Union may offer an unprecedented chance to the continent's Gypsies (or Roman) to be recognized as a nation, albeit one without a defined territory. And if they were to achieve that they might even seek some kind of formal place—at least a total population outnumbers that of many of the Union's present and future countries. Some experts put the figure at 4m-plus; some proponents of Gypsy rights go as high as 15m.

Unlike Jews, Gypsies have had no known ancestral land to hark back to. Though their language is related to Hindi, their territorial origins are misty. Romanian peasants held them to be born on the moon Other Europeans (wrongly) thought them migrant Egyptians, hence the derivative Gypsy. Most probably they were itinerant metal workers and entertainers who drifted west from India in the 7th century.

However, since communism in Central Europe collapsed a decade ago, the notion of Romanestan as a landless nation founded on Gypsy culture has gained ground. The International Romany Union, which says it stands for 10m Gypsies in more than 30 countries, is fostering the idea of "self-rallying". It is trying to promote a standard and written form. of the language; it waves a Gypsy flag (green with a wheel) when it lobbies in such places as the United Nations; and in July it held a congress in Prague, The Czech capital, where President Vaclav Havel said that Gypsies in his own country and elsewhere should have a better deal.

At the congress a Slovak-born lawyer, Emil Scuka, was elected president of the International Romany Union. Later this month a group of elected Gypsy politicians, including members of parliament, mayors and local councilors from all over Europe (OSCE), to discuss how to persuade more Gypsies to get involved in politics.

The International Romany Union is probably the most representative of the outfits that speak for Gypsies, but that is not saying a lot. Of the several hundred delegates who gathered at its congress, few were democratically elected; oddly, none came from Hungary, whose Gypsies are perhaps the world's best organized, with some 450 Gypsy bodies advising local councils there. The union did, however, announce its ambition to set up a parliament, but 'how it would actually be elected was left undecided.

So far, the European Commission is wary of encouraging Gypsies to present themselves as a nation. This might, it is feared, open a Pandora's Box already containing Basques, Corsicans and other awkward peoples. Besides, acknowledging Gypsies as a nation might backfire, just when several countries, particularly Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, are beginning to treat them better, in order to qualify for EU membership. "The EU's whole premise is to overcome differences, not to highlight them," says a nervous Eurocrat.

But the idea that the Gypsies should win some kind of special recognition as Europe's largest continent wide minority, and one with a terrible history of persecution, is catching on. Gypsies have suffered many pogroms over the centuries. In Romania, the country that still has the largest number of them (more than 1m), in the 19th century they were actually enslaved. Hitler tried to wipe them out, along with the Jews.

"Gypsies deserve some space within European structures," says Jan Marinus Wiersma, a Dutchman in the European Parliament who suggests that one of the current commissioners should be responsible for Gypsy affairs. Some prominent Gypsies say they should be more directly represented, perhaps with a quota in the European Parliament. That, they argue, might give them a boost. There are moves afoot to help them to get money for, among other things, a Gypsy university.

One big snag is that Europe's Gypsies are, in fact, extremely heterogeneous. They belong to many different, and often

A．Gypsies Want to Form. a Nation

B．Are They a Nation

C．EU Is Afraid of Their Growth

D．They Are a Tribe

Forty years ago, a historic document was signed in Rome that was to change the economic outlook and the future of many countries in Europe. That document was the Treaty of Rome, and this year, on March 25, 1997, the European Union celebrated the 40th anniversary of its signing. A revised draft treaty on European Union (The Maastricht Treaty) was presented in Rome on that date. (1) The revised Treaty is a continuation of the process towards integration of the countries of Europe that began in 195'7.

(2) The Treaty of Rome was a historic milestone on the road to European integration, but the foundations had been laid almost ten years earlier. In the aftermath of world War Ⅱ on May 9, 1950, Robert Schuman, Foreign Minister of France, proposed the pooling of coal and steel production as part of a Franco-German union.

Six founding countries signed the Treaty of Paris in 1951 to form. the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). A single market in coal and steel was to be set up among signatory countries. (3) Within a few months, all customs and discriminatory practices were swept away. For the coal and steel industries at least, frontiers ceased to exist. The Schuman Plan, as it was known, was the first step towards a united Europe. The signatory countries—Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands—formed the building blocks of what know today as the European Union.

Six years later European leaders such as Konrad Adenauer, Paul-Henry Spaak and Jean Monnet thought it time to apply the same approach to the entire economies of the six members of the ECSC. (4) The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957 and, in effect, marked the ‘relaunching of Europe’ after the devastating of World War II.

The EEC's immediate objectives were the establishment of a customs union to promote the four freedoms envisaged by the Treaty of Rome: the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital between the Member States. The Treaty also provided for a number of common policies in areas such as agriculture, external trade, transport and competition. (5) Its aim was to construct a common space in which national and common policies united to ensure stronger economic growth than was possible through the achievements of Member States acting individually.

A further advance took place in 196'7, when the executives of the three communities were merged to form. the European Community. The European Community was to be served by four main institutions—the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice.

材料：

By inserting in bills of lading such clauses as to state that the voyage or time charterer is not a party to the contract of carriage and is thus not a“carrier” within the meaning of the relevant national legislation or international conventions，time and voyage charterers purport to deny any liability under the contract of carriage，despite the reality of their involvement in the loading，discharging and trimming of the cargo，in choosing the ship&39;s route，in hiring the stevedores，and in many other facets of the ship&39;s operation．

Such clauses are effectively non-responsibility clauses which contravene the mandatory nature and public order of the Hague/Visby Rules，the Hamburg Rules，which state that any clauses relieving or excluding the carrier from liability under a contract of carriage shall be null and void and of no effect．This position has been generally accepted by the courts of continental and civilian European countries，which have rightly viewed such clauses with suspicion as illegal attempts by charterers to avoid their liability and evade the mandatory application of the international conventions．

問題：

The inserted clauses that state the voyage or time charterer is not a party to the contract of carriage are ________．

A.effective

B.within the meaning of Hague/Visby Rules and the Hamburg Rules

C.null and void and of no effect

D.compulsory

According to the passage，the clauses mentioned above are ________．A.against the mandatory nature and public order of the Hague/Visby Rules and the Hamburg Rules

B.ineffectively non-responsibility clauses

C.prepared by the courts of continental and civilian European countries

D.guidance for the operations of loading，discharging and trimming of the cargo

“This position”refers to ________．A.the tendency of the courts of continental and civilian European countries to deny the attempts by charterers to avoid their liability in the carriage of GOODs by sea

B.the consideration of the courts of continental and civilian European countries to accept the charterers' liability

C.the consideration of of the charterers to evade the mandatory application of the international conventions

D.the illegal attempts by charterers to avoid their liability and evade the mandatory application of the international conventions

The effectively non-responsibility clauses ________．A.are suspected to be illegal

B.are mandatory application of the international conventions

C.have many facets of the ship's operation

D.have been excluded in continental and civilian European countries

請幫忙給出每個問題的正確答案和分析，謝謝！

The engineer ______ the watch to the relieving officer if there is reason to believe that the latter is obviously not capable of carrying out the watch-keeping duties effectively.

A.shall take over

B.shall not take over

C.shall hand over

D.shall not hand over

"Cool" is a word with many meanings. Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little bit cold. As the world has changed, the word has had many different meanings.

"Cool" can be used to express feelings of interest in almost anything. When you see a famous car in the street, maybe you will say, "It's cool. ' You may think, "He's so cool," when you see your favorite football player.

We all maximize (擴大) the meaning of "cool". You can use it instead of many words such as "new" or "surprising". Here's an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used. A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall (瀑布) they had visited. On one student's paper was just the one sentence, "It's so cool." Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and felt.

But the story also shows a scarcity of words. Without "cool", some people have no words to show the same meaning. So it is quite important to keep some credibility (可信性). Can you think of many other words that make your life as colorful as the word "cool"? I can. And I think they are also very cool.

We know that the word "cool" has had______.

A．only one meaning

B．no meanings

C．the same meaning

D．many different meanings