98年 - 98 公務升官等考試_薦任_新聞：新聞英文#33110

科目：新聞英文 | 年份：98年 | 選擇題數：0 | 申論題數：4

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所屬科目：新聞英文

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一、 Divided over climate change policy and whom to name to two new leadership jobs, the European Union’s leaders will be looking to Germany’s newly re-elected chancellor, Angela Merkel, to signal a way out of the stalemate when they meet Thursday. Though the two deadlocked issues are unrelated, the wishes of the leader of Germany, the E.U.’s biggest and richest nation, hold the key to both.

Germany has so far resisted putting figures on Europe’s contribution to the battle against climate change before other countries declare their hand. Some E.U. diplomats hope that, with her new coalition government in place, Merkel will show more flexibility.

Meanwhile, with only the Czech Republic standing in the way of final approval of the Lisbon Treaty, European leaders are unsure whether to appoint a high-profile, charismatic personality like Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, to the new position of president that the treaty calls for. The alternative might be a lower-key candidate, like Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands.（25 分）

二、 Not long ago, a group of writers decided to publish a book of essays we called: "Feminism Made Me Happy." It was an in-your-face title, a deliberate attempt to counter the narrative we all knew by heart. The one that kept describing how the women's movement had left us stressed out, discontented, wrenched from home, hearth and motherhood to struggle and fail at doing it all.

Now I think we are due for another one because we are in the midst of another dustup over research published under the (too) provocative headline: "The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness." Going forward to the past won't bring a grin to our lips. Happiness is a pretty elusive state and an even more elusive research subject.

Feminism made me happy? Not, I assure you in a permanent state of good cheer. It opened doors. It opened our eyes — to everything including what still needs to be done. The women's movement never promised us a rose garden or a warm bath of contentment. It offered a new way to understand the world, a lens on injustice and a tool to use in the pursuit of happiness. It's a work in progress.（25 分）

三、 The rapid march of climate change up the global agenda has prompted a new, and often poignant, conversation between the generations and, in public, among a selfappointed elite.

At its core, that conversation is about whether some of the first beneficiaries of the wonders developed during the past century — like electricity at the flick of a switch — have the means, or the will, to help their descendants with the consequences of burning vast quantities of fossil fuels.

The conversation also is playing itself out across the planet as leaders, industrialists and citizens confront issues too costly for any single nation or generation to tackle alone.

For a group of 20th-century leaders called the Elders — whose members include Archbishop Tutu of South Africa, former President Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson, a former Irish president — it also was a conversation with their families that they felt would be most usefully conducted before the cameras.（25 分）

四、 It isn't meant to be a gloomy or creepy book. The images of Barack Obama with strangely full lips and long lashes, or the weird morphing of his face and Lincoln's, or the gal in the very short and saucy sweater dress she made that proclaims "My Jewish Grandma is voting for Obama, is yours?" are all meant to be positive and inspiring, the voice of a new generation of artists who feel empowered by the election of the 44th president.

But there is something tremendously depressing about the recently published "Art for Obama," a survey of images and sculpture produced in support of Obama's 2008 campaign for president. The gloom sets in slowly, page after colorful page, slogan after inspiring slogan. It is a catalogue of celebratory art, of smiles and hope and change, and somehow, it leaves you with a hollow, panicky feeling in the gut.

The art itself raises many troubling questions. How closely should artists be aligned with political power? Can they remain artists of substance and integrity if they are on the inside of the halls of power? Can art be channeled by political leaders and remain interesting art?

More fundamentally, however, is an even deeper question: What is the psychology behind the new artistic mania for patriotism, once considered suspect or anathema by many serious artists?（25 分）