One of the primary purposes of the United Nations is the maintenance of international peace and security. Since its creation, the UN has often been called upon to prevent disputes from escalating into war, to persuade opposing parties to use the conference table rather than force of arms, or to help restore peace when armed conflict does break out. Over the decades, the UN has helped end numerous conflicts, often through actions of the Security Council— the primary organ for dealing with issues of international peace and security. The Security Council, the General Assembly and the Secretary-General, however, all play major, complementary roles in fostering peace and security. United Nations activities cover the principal areas of conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping, enforcement and peacebuilding (see www.un.org/peace). These types of engagement must overlap or take place simultaneously if they are to be effective.

2.英文术语填空

给出一些常见概念的定义，考生写出概念。（10分）

例如：Gross ________ ________is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period.

填写Domestic Product.

第二题：阅读理解和翻译（30分）

给出一篇文章，阅读之后，翻译划线句子，考察英文理解能力和汉语表达能力。（30分）

例如：

FEDERALISM: GOOD OR BAD?

Sometimes, however, confusion or controversy about which government is responsible for which functions surfaces at the worst possible moment and lingers long after attempts have been made to sort it all out.1 Sadly, in our day, that is largely what “federalism” has meant in practice to citizens from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.

Before, during, and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005, federal, state, and local officials could be found fighting among themselves over everything from who was supposed to maintain and repair the levees to who should lead disaster relief initiatives.2 In the weeks after the hurricanes hit, it had been widely reported that the main first-responders and disaster relief workers came, not from government, but from myriad religious and other charitable organizations. Not only that, but government agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, often acted in ways that made it harder, not easier, for these volunteers and groups to deliver help when and where it was most badly needed.

Federalism needs to be viewed dispassionately through an historical lens wide enough to encompass both its worst legacies (for instance, state and local laws that once legalized racial discrimination against blacks) and its best (for instance, blacks winning mayors’ offices and seats in state legislatures when no blacks were in the U.S. Senate and not many blacks had been elected to the U.S. House).3

Federalism, it is fair to say, has the virtues of its vices and the vices of its virtues.4 To some, federalism means allowing states to block action, prevent progress, upset national plans, protect powerful local interests, and cater to the self-interest of hack politicians. Harold Laski, a British observer, described American states as “parasitic and poisonous,” 20 and William H. Riker, an American political scientist, argued that “the main effect of federalism since the Civil War has been to perpetuate racism.” By contrast, another political scientist, Daniel J. Elazar, argued that the “virtue of the federal system lies in its ability to develop and maintain mechanisms vital to the perpetuation of the unique combination of governmental strength, political flexibility, and individual liberty, which has been the central concern of American politics.”