Some of the concerns surrounding Turkey's application to join the European Union, to be （1

Some of the concerns surrounding Turkey's application to join the European Union, to be (1)_____ on by the EU's Council of Ministers on December 17th, are economic—in particular, the country's relative poverty. Its GDP per head is less than a third of the average for the 15 pre-2004 members of the EU. (2)_____ it is not far off that of Latvia—one of the ten new members which (3)_____ on May 1st 2004, and it is much the same as (4)_____ of two countries, Bulgaria and Romania, which this week concluded (5)_____ talks with the EU that could make them full members on January 1st 2007.

(6)_____, the country's recent economic progress has been, according to Donald Johnston, the secretary-general of the OECD, stunning. GDP in the second quarter of the year was 13.4% higher than a year earlier, a (7)_____ of growth that no EU country comes close to (8)_____. Turkey's (9)_____ rate has just fallen into single figures for the first time since 1972, and this week the country (10)_____ agreement with the IMF on a new three-year, $10 billion economic program that will help Turkey (11)_____ inflation toward European levels, and enhance the economy's resilience.

Resilience has not historically been the country's economic strong point. (12)_____, throughout the 1990s growth oscillated like an electrocardiogram (13)_____ a violent heart attack. This (14)_____ has been one of the main reasons why the country has failed dismally to attract much-needed foreign direct investment. Its stock of such investment is lower now than it was in the 1980s, and annual (15)_____ have scarcely ever reached $1 billion.

One deterrent to foreign investors is due to (16)_____ on January 1st 2005. On that day, Turkey will take away the right of virtually every one of its citizens to call themselves a millionaire. Six zeros will be removed from the face value of the lira(里拉，货币单位); one unit of the local (17)_____ will henceforth be worth what 1 million are now—i.e., about 0.53 (0.53欧元). Goods will have to be (18)_____ in both the new and old lira for the whole of the year, (19)_____ foreign bankers and (20)_____ can begin to look forward to a time in Turkey when they will no longer have to juggle mentally with indeterminate strings of zeros.

A．decided

B．voted

C．elected

D．appointed