1、1UNIT 6READINGPassage ANOTES1. European UnionThe European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing
2、European Economic Community. With almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share (US$ 18.4 trillion in 2008) of the nominal gross world product. The EU has developed a single market through a standardized system of laws which apply in all member states, ensuring the fr
3、eedom of movement of people, goods, services, and capital. It maintains common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development. A common currency, the euro, has been adopted by sixteen member states that are thus known as the Eurozone. The EU has developed a limited role in forei
4、gn policy, having representation at the WTO, G8, summits, and at the UN. It enacts legislation in justice and home affairs, including the abolition of passport controls between many member states which form part of the Schengen Area. 2. Water Framework Directive (WFD)The Water Framework Directive (m
5、ore formally the Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy) is a European Union directive which commits European Union member states to achieve good qualitative and quantitative sta
6、tus of all water bodies (including marine waters up to kilometer from shore) by 2015. It is a framework in the sense that it prescribes steps to reach the common goal rather than adopting the more traditional limit value approach.3. good ecological status / good chemical statusThe directive defines
7、surface water status as the general expression of the status of a body of surface water, determined by the poorer of its ecological status and its chemical status. Thus, to achieve good surface water status both the ecological status and the chemical status of a surface water body need to be at leas
8、t good. Good ecological status is defined in Annex V of the Water Framework Proposal, in terms of the quality of the biological community, the hydrological characteristics and the chemical characteristics. As no absolute standards for biological quality can be set which apply across the Community, b
9、ecause of ecological variability, the controls are specified as allowing only a slight departure from the biological community which would be expected in conditions of minimal anthropogenic impact. A set of procedures for identifying that point for a given body of water, and establishing 2particular
10、 chemical or hydromorphological (水形态的) standards to achieve it, is provided, together with a system for ensuring that each Member State interprets the procedure in a consistent way (to ensure comparability). The system is somewhat complicated, but this is inevitable given the extent of ecological va
11、riability, and the large number of parameters, which must be dealt with.Good chemical status is defined in terms of compliance with all the quality standards established for chemical substances at European level. The Directive also provides a mechanism for renewing these standards and establishing n
12、ew ones by means of a prioritization mechanism for hazardous chemicals. This will ensure at least a minimum chemical quality, particularly in relation to very toxic substances, everywhere in the Community.4. European ParliamentThe European Parliament (also Europarl or EP) is the directly elected par
13、liamentary institution of the European Union (EU). Together with the Council of the European Union (the Council), it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Unions institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world. The Parliament and Council form the hig
14、hest legislative body within the Union. However their powers as such are limited to the competencies conferred upon the European Community by member states. Hence the institution has little control over policy areas held by the states and within the other two of the three pillars of the European Uni
15、on. The Parliament is composed of 736 MEPs (Member of the European Parliament), who serve the second largest democratic electorate in the world (after India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world (375 million eligible voters in 2009).It has been directly elected every fiv
16、e years by universal suffrage since 1979. Although the European Parliament has legislative power that such bodies as those above do not possess, it does not have legislative initiative, as most national EU parliaments do. However, it does have de facto capacity for legislative initiative. While it i
17、s the “first institution“ of the European Union (mentioned first in the treaties, having ceremonial precedence over all authority at European level), the Council has greater powers over legislation than the Parliament where codecision procedure (equal rights of amendment and rejection) does not appl
18、y. It has, however, had control over the EU budget (minus agriculture) since the 1970s and has a veto over the appointment of the European Commission.The European Parliament has two meeting places, namely the Louise Weiss building in Strasbourg, France, which serves for twelve four-day plenary sessi
19、ons per year and is the official seat, and the Espace Lopold (Dutch: Leopoldruimte) complex in Brussels, Belgium, the larger of the two, which serves for committee meetings, political groups and complementary plenary sessions. The cost of having all MEPs and their staff moving several times a year f
20、rom one place to another is of concern to some. The Secretariat of the European Parliament, the Parliaments administrative body, is based in Luxembourg.5. Council of MinistersThe Council of Ministers (also the Council or the Council of the European Union) is 3the principal decision-making institutio
21、n of the European Union. Within the competencies of the Community pillar, it is the more powerful of the two legislative chambers, the other being the European Parliament. This Council should not be confused with the European Council (an assembly of EU heads of state or government) nor confused with
22、 the Council of Europe (a non-EU organization of 47 states).The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers (one per state). However the exact membership depends upon the topic being discussed; for example, when discussing the agricultural policy the twenty-seven national agriculture mini
23、sters form the Council. The Unions law is limited to specific policy areas, however it does override national law. As the Union operates on supranational and intergovernmental platforms, in some areas the Council is superior to the Parliament, having only to consult to get assent from the body. In m
24、any areas, however, the Union uses the legislative process of codecision procedure, in which the two bodies are equal in power. The Council does not have a single president in the traditional sense, but the role is rotated between each member state every six months (known as the “Presidency“), with
25、the minister from that state then able to set the agenda. Another powerful position is the Secretary General who is also the representative of the Unions foreign policy.6. Bird DirectiveThe Bird Directive (established in 1979) is a ruling from the European Community, which aims to protect all bird s
26、pecies living in the wild on land belonging to the EC. The directive refers to protecting birds, their eggs and nests and their living areas. In addition, rare species receive extra protection.The member states of the EC are required to protect habitats of sufficient size and quality for all bird sp
27、ecies living in their country. Regions where rare bird species live or where rare migrating birds forage must be given extra protection. The Bird Directive contains a list with species which fall under this extra protection, which the member states must designate as special protective areas (SPA).7.
28、 Habitats DirectiveThe Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a European Union directive adopted in 1992 as an EU response to the Berne Convention. It is one of the EUs two directives in relation
29、to wildlife and nature conservation, the other being the Birds Directive. It aims to protect some 220 habitats and approximately 1,000 species listed in the directives Annexes. Annex I covers habitats, Annex II species requiring designation of special areas of conservation, Annex IV species in need
30、of strict protection, and Annex V species whose taking from the wild can be restricted by European law. These are species and habitats which are considered to be of European interest, following criteria given in the directive. The directive led to the setting up of a network of Special Areas of Cons
31、ervation, which together with the existing Special Protection Areas form a network of protected sites across the European Union called Natura 2000. Article 17 of the directive 4requires EU Member States to report on the state of their protected areas every six years. The first complete set of countr
32、y data was reported in 2007.8. codecision ruleCodecision rule just refers to the codesion procedure. The codecision procedure is the main legislative procedure by which law can be adopted in the European Community, the first of the three pillars of the European Union. The codecision procedure gives
33、the European Parliament the power to adopt legislation jointly with The Council of the European Union, requiring the two bodies to agree on an identical text before any proposal can become law.The procedure is also known as the “Article 251 procedure“, as it is laid down in Article 251 of the EC Tre
34、aty. The new Treaty of Lisbon replaces all references to the “procedure referred to in Article 251“ with references to the “ordinary legislative procedure“.9. readingsReading is a mechanism by which a bill is introduced to, and approved by, a legislature.First readingA first reading is when a bill i
35、s introduced to a legislature. Typically in the United States, the title of the bill is read and immediately assigned to a committee. The bill is then considered by committee between the first and second readings. In the United States Senate and most British-influenced legislatures, the committee co
36、nsideration occurs between second and third readings.Second readingA second reading is the stage of the legislative process where a draft of a bill is read a second time. In most Westminster systems (a democratic parliamentary system of government modeled after the politics of the United Kingdom), a
37、 vote is taken in the general outlines of the bill before being sent to committee.In the United States Senate, a bill is either referred to committee or placed on the Calendar of Business after second reading. No vote is held on whether to read the bill a second time. In U.S. legislatures where cons
38、ideration in committee precedes second reading, the procedure varies as to how a bill reaches second reading. In Illinois, for example, legislation is automatically read a second time, after which amendments are in order.Third readingA third reading is the stage of a legislative process in which a b
39、ill is read with all amendments and given final approval by a legislative body. In legislatures whose procedures are based on those of the Westminster system, the third reading occurs after the bill has been amended by committee and considered for amendment at report stage.In bicameral legislatures,
40、 if the bill passes the third reading, it is then sent to the other chamber of parliament to start the process again at first reading in that chamber. Once the bill has passed third reading in both chambers, it is sent on for promulgation, such as Royal Assent in the Westminster system or signing by
41、 the president or governor in the U.S. model. In unicameral legislatures, after passing third reading in the sole 5chamber, the bill goes on directly for promulgation.10. qualified majorityA qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds
42、 majority. The European Union Council of Ministers uses a qualified majority system for its decision-making to balance the interests of small and large member states.11. major sections of a research paper A research paper usually includes the following major sections: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Body
43、, and References.(1) The title part should contain the title of the paper, the authors name, and the institutional affiliation. The title, which is generally no more than 12 words in length, may take up one or two lines but should not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. Beneath the
44、 title is the authors name. Beneath the authors name, type the institutional affiliation, which should indicate the location where the author(s) conducted the research.(2) An abstract, more often than not a single paragraph in form, should be a concise summary of the key points of the research and c
45、ontain at least the research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. It may also include possible implications of the current research and future work the author sees connected with the findings. The length of an abstract depends on the length of th
46、e paper and the place where it appears. Normally 50 100 words are sufficient for a short article whereas the optimal length for a relatively long paper should be between 150 and 250 words.(3) The abstract is usually followed (sometimes preceded) by a set of keywords. The function of keywords is to p
47、rovide an index to content, facilitate the information retrieval in bibliographical databases and accentuate the gist of the paper. Keywords are typically nouns rather than verbs, adjectives or other kinds of words. They are usually selected from the title and/or the abstract since the most importan
48、t words or phrases of the paper are included in them.(4) The body in most cases has three elements: the introduction, the key body and the conclusion. Every research paper begins with at least one or two introductory paragraphs called the introduction. The introduction of a research paper performs t
49、he following functions: (a) define and contextualize the research paper topic; (b) narrow down the scope of the research paper; (c) present the thesis statement the main point or argument regarding the research paper topic; (d) explain the writing arrangement.The introduction usually begins generally and then moves to more specific details. To orient the readers, the author in most cases has the paper topic first thoroughly explained and then contextualized through an explanation of the topics relevance. The thesis statement follows because it is only after the topic has be
