求大学英语听说教程3听力原文

大学英语听说教程III听力原文(Unit12)
2005-4-8

UNIT 12
Text 1
The Launching of the Euro
As firework displays ushered in the euro from Paris to Athens, Rome to Madrid, curiosity drove Europeans to cash machines at midnight December 31, 2001 for the first look at the brightly colored new notes. More than 300 million Europeans began changing their old currencies for the euro in the most ambitious currency changeover in history. To prepare for the large demand, banks across the euro zone disabled 200,000 ATMs in the afternoon, changing software and loading them with euro notes. Altogether 15 billion banknotes and 52 billion coins--worth 646 billion euros, or $568 billion--have been produced for the switchover.
Knowing how people can be attached to their national currencies, architects of the euro expressed hope that it will help realize dreams of a united Europe.
Across the continent, officials welcomed the euro as a sign of economic stability a new symbol to