Vote Pushes Italian PM Toward Resignation

 　　Italy, the world's seventh largest economy, is emerging as a new threat to the stability of the 17-country single currency zone. On Tuesday, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano announced that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would resign, following a crucial budget vote in parliament.  He won that vote, but lost the support of a majority of lawmakers.

　　Prime Minister Berlusconi departed his Rome residence for parliament knowing that the coming hours could decide his future as Italy’s leader.

　　A procedural vote in the lower house on the budget was used by Mr. Berlusconi’s growing number of political opponents to signal the end of his parliamentary majority.

　　Despite a wide margin¹ in favor, 320 lawmakers did not vote at all.  Opposition² leaders claimed victory. "The vote showed that this government does not have a majority, said opposition leader Pierluigi Bersani.

　　The opposition demanded Mr. Berlusconi’s immediate³ resignation. But, as he has done so many times in his nine years in power, the prime minister initially⁴ refused.

　　Italy has been pummelled by the eurozone debt crisis in recent days. Investors⁵ see its deficit⁶, 120 percent of GDP (gross domestic product), as unsustainable.  The yield on Italian bonds, the interest rate Italy must pay to borrow money, soared to nearly 7 percent.

　　When rates reached similar levels in Greece, Ireland and Portugal, they were forced to seek bailouts from the EU (European Union) and the IMF (International Monetary⁷ Fund)

　　Traders in Germany, Europe’s strongest economy, expressed disappointment that Mr. Berlusconi has not already resigned.

　　"Mr. Berlusconi has proved to be a politician with a long, long life, and, therefore, we are expecting that we have to negotiate more or less with Mr. Berlusconi in the future, and that's why the markets are kind of disappointed because we need stability, and stability with Mr. Berlusconi is not yet guaranteed," said Oliver Roth of Close Brothers Seydler AG.

　　EU finance ministers met in Brussels to try to find ways of building a firewall around the two-year-old debt crisis. But Europe’s politicians are rapidly being overtaken by events.

　　Italy is Europe’s third largest economy. A debt crisis there would dwarf⁸ the problems caused by Greece.

　　The message from the markets is that Prime Minister Berlusconi is part of the problem, not the solution.

1 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

7 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

8 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。