2015年公共英语五级考试阅读资料（2）

　　The striving of countries in Central Europe to enter the European Union may offer an unprecedented chance to the continent’s Gypsies (or Roman) to be recognized as a nation, albeit one without a defined territory. And if they were to achieve that they might even seek some kind of formal place-at least a total population outnumbers that of many of the Union’s present and future countries. Some experts put the figure at 4m-plus; some proponents of Gypsy rights go as high as 15m.

　　Unlike Jews, Gypsies have had no known ancestral land to hark back to. Though their language is related to Hindi, their territorial origins are misty. Romanian peasants held them to be born on the moon. Other Europeans (wrongly) thought them migrant Egyptians, hence the derivative Gypsy. Most probably they were itinerant metal workers and entertainers who drifted west from India in the 7th century.

　　However, since communism in Central Europe collapsed a decade ago, the notion of Romanestan as a landless nation founded on Gypsy culture has gained ground. The International Romany Union, which says it stands for 10m Gypsies in more than 30 countries, is fostering the idea of “self-rallying”. It is trying to promote a standard and written form of the language; it waves a Gypsy flag (green with a wheel) when it lobbies in such places as the United Bations; and in July it held a congress in Prague, The Czech capital. Where President Vaclav Havel said that Gypsies in his own country and elsewhere should have a better deal.

　　At the congress a Slovak-born lawyer, Emil Scuka, was elected president of the International Tomany Union. Later this month a group of elected Gypsy politicians, including members of parliament, mayors and local councilors from all over Europe (OSCE), to discuss how to persuade more Gypsies to get involved in politics.

　　The International Romany Union is probably the most representative of the outfits that speak for Gypsies, but that is not saying a lot. Of the several hundred delegates who gathered at its congress, few were democratically elected; oddly, none came from Hungary, whose Gypsies are perhaps the world’s best organized, with some 450 Gypsy bodies advising local councils there. The union did, however, announce its ambition to set up a parliament, but how it would actually be elected was left undecided.

　　So far, the European Commission is wary of encouraging Gypsies to present themselves as a nation. The might, it is feared, open a Pandora’s box already containing Basques, Corsicans and other awkward peoples. Besides, acknowledging Gypsies as a nation might backfire, just when several countries, particularly Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, are beginning to treat them better, in order to qualify for EU membership. “The EU’s whole premise is to overcome differences, not to highlight them,” says a nervous Eurocrat.

　　But the idea that the Gypsies should win some kind of special recognition as Europe’s largest continent wide minority, and one with a terrible history of persecution, is catching on . Gypsies have suffered many pogroms over the centuries. In Romania, the country that still has the largest number of them (more than 1m), in the 19th century they were actually enslaved. Hitler tried to wipe them out, along with the Jews.

　　“Gypsies deserve some space within European structures,” says Jan Marinus Wiersma, a Dutchman in the European Parliament who suggests that one of the current commissioners should be responsible for Gypsy affairs. Some prominent Gypsies say they should be more directly represented, perhaps with a quota in the European Parliament. That, they argue, might give them a boost. There are moves afoot to help them to get money for, among other things, a Gypsy university.

　　One big snag is that Europe’s Gypsies are, in fact, extremely heterogeneous. They belong to many different, and often antagonistic, clans and tribes, with no common language or religion, Their self-proclaimed leaders have often proved quarrelsome and corrupt. Still, says, Dimitrina Petrova, head of the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest, Gypsies’ shared experience of suffering entitles them to talk of one nation; their potential unity, she says, stems from “being regarded as sub-human by most majorities in Europe.”

　　And they have begun to be a bit more pragmatic. In Slovakia and Bulgaria, for instance, Gypsy political parties are trying to form electoral blocks that could win seats in parliament. In Macedonia, a Gypsy party already has some-and even runs a municipality. Nicholas Gheorge, an expert on Gypsy affairs at the OSCE, reckons that, spread over Central Europe, there are now about 20 Gypsy MPS and mayors, 400-odd local councilors, and a growing number of businessmen and intellectuals.

　　That is far from saying that they have the people or the cash to forge a nation. But, with the Gypsy question on the EU’s agenda in Central Europe, they are making ground.

　　抑制法：有许多学生在临考前总担心怯场，怕自己会紧张。对此，考生可用抑制法来避免怯场或走神。其原理是，当大脑中一组神经元受到刺激后，会发出兴奋去刺激大脑皮层，产生思维活动。同时，它又会发出另一种兴奋，去抑制其他神经元的活动。运用抑止法的具体方法是，当考生拿到试卷后，只需冷静地思考试卷上的题目，不需多久，这种怯场或走神的心理干扰就自然会被抑止，进而调整机体步入最佳状态来完成考试。

　　睡眠法：有些考生一接到试卷，由于昨夜不足，身体欠佳，或者因为怯场，导致发挥失常。此时不妨即卧在桌上，休息3至5分钟，以达到镇静的效果。这样做有利于中枢神经的协调，还能消除疲劳、紧张，使情绪稳定，思路敏捷。结果，使机体竞技状态从低谷走向高峰。

　　牧羊法：有一些考生拿到试卷后，便忧心忡忡，导致植物神经系统紊乱，使交感神经系统过度紧张，迷走神经过度抑制。这时，考生可让思路象牧羊一样，任其在大草原上畅游。这样，有利于植物神经协调，从而摆脱困境，顺利迎考。

　　化简法：以往，有很多优秀的考生一拿到试卷，就先把简单的试题消灭掉，再一步步地解决化简疑难的问题。因为一旦把简单的试题完成后，就能有效地稳定情绪，活跃思路，迅速提高反应能力。

　　精神致胜法：怯场既产生于精神方面的原因，就必须依靠精神的力量来解决。考生要利用机体的调节系统，通过意念、言语改变中枢神经系统的兴奋性。如可以多次做深呼吸，双眼凝视一个目标，暗暗地对自己说“要冷静，不要紧张”，“我能考得很好”，“我不会做的题别人也不会”等等，以强化意志，战胜紧张。

　　转移放松法：考生可采用转移注意力的方法，立即停止答卷。或者伏在桌上休息片刻，或者活动一下手、脚、头等部位，放松一下自己，也可请求监考老师批准出门喝口水或上厕所，通过暂时改变活动内容和环境，重新调整好情绪。如果因为遇到难题发慌，可先改做它题。