Inglês — interpretação de textos

Read the text below which is entitled A modest proposalin order to answer questions 24 to 26.A modest proposalSource: www.economist.com14 Dec 2005 (Adapted) What on earth is the European Union budget for? Itis too small (taking up just over 1% of EU-wide GDP) tohave any serious effect. To judge by the wrangling beforethis week's EU summit in Brussels, it has become mostlyan opportunity for countries to air their pet grievancesand to demand their money back. If there is a deal on thebudget this week, it will be an agreement reached for itsown sake, because EU leaders cannot bear to be blamedfor yet another summit failure. And if there is no deal, it willsimilarly be a disagreement for its own sake - becauseFrance rather likes the idea of putting Britain, which holdsthe rotating EU presidency, in the dock for one morefi nancial fi

In paragraph 1, the author refers to the wrangling before this week's EU summit, which denotes an atmosphere which is