Passage 1
In April, the EC imposed a ban on livestock, meat and dairy products from 18 eastern countries following an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease in Croatia. Hungarian Foreign Minister Geza Jeszenszky told EC leaders that the “entirely unwarranted (move) smacks of a most regrettable survival of the notion of an Eastern bloc.”
The EC followed with antidumping duties and “voluntary” export restraints on certain steel products from Hungary and Poland. And just days after signing the EFTA free trade agreement in early April, Austria introduced import quotas on chemicals, cement agricultural machinery, and steel from Eastern Europe. West Europeans claim that their eastern neighbors have an unfair advantage because of low wages, state subsidies and low environmental standards.
Although the EC and EFTA agreements are supposed to lift tariffs and trade barriers on most industrial goods over 10 years, most agricultural products are not included in the agreements. This is critical for Hungary, with its extensive farm sector.
“The EC is never going to let Hungary achieve its potential output,” says Iowa David Andres, who has studied Hungarian agriculture firsthand ,” They’re already afraid of Hungary.”
Statements:
45.There will be a lot of improvement in exports of Eastern Europe’s products except agricultural products.
A、True
B、False
【正确答案】：B
【名师解析】:根据文章内容，欧洲共同体（EC）对来自18个东部国家的畜牧业、肉类和乳制品实施了禁令，这是由于克罗地亚爆发了口蹄疫。此外，EC还对来自匈牙利和波兰的某些钢铁产品实施了反倾销税和“自愿”出口限制。奥地利在签署了欧洲自由贸易联盟（EFTA）自由贸易协定后不久，也对来自东欧的化学品、水泥、农业机械和钢铁引入了进口配额。西欧人认为他们的东欧邻国因为低工资、国家补贴和低环境标准而拥有不公平的优势。
尽管EC和EFTA的协议旨在在10年内取消大多数工业产品的关税和贸易壁垒，但大多数农产品并未包括在这些协议中。这对于拥有广泛农业部门的匈牙利来说至关重要。
文章中提到的Iowa David Andres表示，EC永远不会让匈牙利实现其潜在产出，他们已经害怕匈牙利。这表明，尽管EC和EFTA协议可能有助于东欧产品的出口，但农产品除外，因为它们并未包括在协议中。因此，声明45中提到的“东欧产品的出口将会有大量改善，除了农产品”是不正确的。
所以，正确答案是B. False。
