France Unveils New Cabinet; Half Are Women

 　　New French President Francois Hollande is putting the pieces in place to forge ahead with "a new path" for the European economic power.

　　Aides announced Wednesday the formation of the new French Cabinet, one day after the Socialist¹ politician was sworn in as president during a rain-soaked ceremony in Paris.

　　The new assignments include former Socialist prime minister Laurent Fabius as foreign minister and Pierre Moscovici as finance minister. Moscovici is a former minister for European affairs and had served as Hollande's campaign director.

　　Other key ministers include new Labor² Minister Michael Sapin, new Interior Minister Manuel Valls and Defense³ Minister Jean-Yves Drian.

　　Hollande named Jean-Marc Ayrault on Tuesday to be his prime minister. The parliamentary leader of the Socialist party speaks German.

　　Hollande also appeared to make good on a campaign pledge to have women equally represented in the Cabinet. While most of the top posts went to men, 17 of the 34 positions have been filled by women.

　　One of the country's leading women politicians, however, is not part of the Cabinet. Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry - a rival of Hollande - said she agreed not to take

　　a consolation⁴ post as it made little sense.

　　After his inauguration⁵ Tuesday, Hollande flew to Berlin for key discussions with German Chancellor⁶ Angela Merkel. The two leaders pledged to work together on proposals to generate economic growth in Europe and avert⁷ a currency crisis.

　　During his election campaign, Hollande criticized the austerity deal forged by his predecessor⁸, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the German chancellor. The new French leader said he wants to spur growth and reduce debt without measures that hurt people. Merkel has said the recent eurozone treaty, which imposes budget austerity among its 17 member nations, is non-negotiable.

　　European leaders will meet informally next week and at a summit in June.

1 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

5 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

6 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

7 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

8 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。