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M1-M6 B3 Cultural Corner译文 M1B3 Cultural Corner译文 The European Union欧盟 What Is the European Union?欧盟是什么？ The European Union is an organisation of European countries.欧盟是欧洲各国的一个组织。The countries are independent and are governed in different ways.欧洲各国各自独立，国家管理各不相同。In the United Kingdom, for example, the head of state is a king or queen.例如，英国的国家元首是国王或女王，In France, on the other hand, the head of state is a president. 而法国的元首是总统。But each of them sends representatives to the European Parliament, which has some control over what happens in each of the member countries.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。 How Did It Start?欧盟是如何开始的？ The idea of the European Union began in the 1950s.创建欧盟这一想法始于二十世纪五十年代。The first members were France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Italy. 最初的成员国有法国、德国、比利时、卢森堡、荷兰和意大利。Little by little, the number increased during the second half of the twentieth century. 逐渐地，成员国在二十世纪后半叶不断增加。By the year 2000, there were 15 member countries. 到2000年，发展到15个成员国。The new countries were Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.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。 How Many Countries Belong to It Now?现在有多少个国家属于欧盟？ In 2004, the European Union increased to 25 members. 2004年，欧盟扩展到25个国家。The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, plus the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta all became members. 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。The expanded European Union has a population of more than half a billion people, twice as big as the population of the United States.扩大后的欧盟拥有五亿多人口，是美国人口的两倍。 The European Union What Is the European Union? The European Union is an organisation of European countries. The countries are independent and are governed in different ways. In the United Kingdom, for example, the head of state is a king or queen. In France, on the other hand, the head of state is a president. But each of them sends representati