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  3. The Cold War may be over in Europe, but it is very much still with us in Asia. The North- South division on the Korean Peninsula

The Cold War may be over in Europe, but it is very much still with us in Asia. The North- South division on the Korean Peninsula

admin2010-07-06  4
问题      The Cold War may be over in Europe, but it is very much still with us in Asia. The North- South division on the Korean Peninsula is still possibly the world’s most dangerous political standoff. Not far behind is the tension between China and Taiwan. A civil war between the two was frozen just short of completion more than a half century ago because of U. S. political interests and military might.
     Taiwan’s authoritarian and repressive regime was for decades a mirror image of that of the main- land, but over the last 20 years both have taken enormous steps, with Taiwan leading the charge, to- ward opening up their markets, economies and the societies. Taiwan is a highly successful tiger economy, accounting for more than 10 percent of the world’s production of information-technology components.
     With both China and Taiwan members of the World Trade Organization, the European Commission rightly opened a European Trade and Economic office almost 12 months ago in Taipei. There is no doubt that the European Union should continue to develop industrial and economic links with Tai- wan and that the EU should also welcome the emerging multiparty democracy and respect for human rights on the island. But this should not blind Europe to the wider economic and political picture in Asia.
     China will and should be one of the engines of the world economy in this century. In 2003 the Chinese economy, with its 1.3 billion people, grew at nearly 10 percent, and this is believed to be a conservative estimate. By contrast, the European Central Bank last June predicted the eurozone’s growth at 1.1 to 2.1 percent for 2004. China’s manufacturing sector grew by 17 percent last year when most of the European manufacturing sector seemed to be in decline. It is in all of our interests that this growth continues and that a solid EU-China partnership is developed. This prospect will be endangered only if China is provoked into an arms race with its neighbors.
     One way of ratcheting up the tension would be to call into doubt the one China principle that the EU has supported for so long. Those supporting Taiwan’s independence threaten to do exactly that. Yes, the EU should ensure Taiwan is not forced into any shotgun marriage with China, but equally, we should not encourage a destabilization of the status quo. The 23 million Taiwanese should be looking toward an accommodation with China, rather than using interests within the United States and EU to promote an agenda that would threaten us all.
The word "shotgun marriage with China" in paragraph 5 could be explained as ______.
选项 A、come to an union after bitter wars.
B、a kind of union betraying the willing of both countries.
C、a kind of union forced by others.
D、a kind of union forced by one of the two countries.
答案D
解析 本题是一个词义理解题，给出一个含有比喻含义的词组，要求考生联系上下文给出其在文中的意思。回到原文“the EU should ensure Taiwan is not forced into any shot- gun marriage with China，but equally we should not encourage a destabilization of the status quo．”。原句后面的转折是解答本题的关键。转折部分强调了不应该破坏稳定，所以前面的意思也应该和保持稳定有关。
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