Ethnic Tensions in Belgium Belgium has given the world Audrey Hepburn, Rene Magritte(surrealist artist), the saxophone(萨克斯管)

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问题                         Ethnic Tensions in Belgium
    Belgium has given the world Audrey Hepburn, Rene Magritte(surrealist artist), the saxophone(萨克斯管)and deep-fried potato chips that are somehow called French.
    But the story behind this flat, twice-Beijing-size country is of a bad marriage between two nationalities living together that cannot stand each other. With no new government, more than a hundred days after a general election, rumors run wild that the country is about to disappear.
    "We are two different nations,an artificial state. With nothing in common except a king, chocolate and beer" , said Filip Dewinter, the leader of the Flemish Bloc, the extreme-right Flemish party. Radical Flemish separatists like Mr. Dewinter want to divide the country horizontally along ethnic and economic lines: to the north, Flanders—where Dutch(known locally as Flemish)is spoken and money is increasingly made;to the south, French-speaking Wallonia, where today old factories dominate the landscape.
    The area of present-day Belgium passed to the French in the 18th century. Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815,Belgium was given to the kingdom of the Netherlands, from which it gained independence as a separate kingdom in 1830.
    Since then, it has struggled for cohesion(结合). Anyone who has spoken French in a Flemish city quickly gets a sense of the mutual hostility that is part of daily life there.
    But there are reasons Belgium is likely to stay together, at least in the short term.
    The economies of the two regions are tightly linked, and separation would be a financial nightmare.
    But there is also deep resentment in Flanders that its much healthier economy must subsidize(补贴)the south,where unemployment is double that of the north. French speakers in the south, meanwhile, favor the status quo(现状).
    Belgium has made it through previous threats of division. Although some political analysts believe this one is different, there is no panic just now.
    "We must not worry too much," said Baudouin Bruggeman, a 55-year-old school-teacher. "Belgium has survived on compromise since 1930. You have to remember that this is Magritte’ s country, the country of surrealism. Anything can happen. "
Which statement about Belgium is NOT true?

选项 A、It is twice as big as Beijing.
B、It has two major ethnic groups.
C、It has gone through quite a few threats of division.
D、It has no government.

答案D

解析 由第二段第二句话中的“With no new government”可知,比利时现在是没有新政府,而不是说比利时没有政府,选项D叙述错误,当选。第二段首句“twice-Beijing—size countryis of a bad marriage between two nationalities living together that cannot stand each other”可知,比利时有两个北京那么大,主要存在的两个民族之间的关系也日益紧张,所以选项A和B表述正确。由第十段“Belgium has made it through previous threats of division”可知,比利时此前也曾有过几次民族关系威胁到国家统一的经历,所以选项C表述正确。
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