VOA慢速英语2012 Economics Report - Greece Struggles to Form Government, Unsure about Reform

 

Economics Report - Greece Struggles to Form Government, Unsure about Reform

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The Olympic flame was lit in Greece Thursday.

The ceremony marked the beginning of a long trip through Greece and Britain, which holds the Summer Olympics this year.

Greece has been at the center of a political and economic struggle that threatens many of Europe’s economies. It remains¹ unclear if Greece will continue using the euro or if its Eurozone partners can enact² reforms needed to hold the currency group together.

On the day the Olympic flame was lit, Greek Socialist³ leader Evangelos Venizelos began an attempt to form a new government. It marked the third attempt to form a government this week after parliamentary elections last Sunday.

First, the conservative New Democracy party attempted and failed. Then the leader of the leftist Syriza coalition⁴, Alexis Tsipras, also failed. He said that the election results showed the Greek people had rejected deep budget cuts required by international creditors⁵.

Mister Venizelos heads the PASOK party, which took third place in the elections. Experts have questioned whether he can form a government. That means the Greek President may ask parties to form an emergency coalition. If that does not work, new elections could be called.

But for Greece, that could mean pain from its Eurozone creditors. They could deny future payments from the financial rescue plan agreed to in February. The agreement is worth about one hundred seventy billion dollars in loans and cancelled debt. The rescue is the second and largest for Greece since its debt crisis began in two thousand nine.

On Thursday, Euro-area governments released a five billion five hundred million dollar loan to Greece. But Greek officials were reportedly unhappy that over one billion dollars was withheld⁶. The failed efforts to form a government have raised concern that reforms can work in Greece. The country is now in its fifth year of recession.

German Chancellor⁷ Angela Merkel spoke⁸ to parliament in Berlin Thursday. The leader of Europe’s biggest economy said borrowing to get growth would be a step backward.

ANGELA MERKEL (Translation): "Growth through structural⁹ reform is important and necessary. Growth through debt would throw us back to the beginning of the crisis."

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. For transcripts¹⁰, MP3s and now PDFs of our programs for e-readers, go to www.voanews.cn. And follow us on Facebook, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

3 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。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

10 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句