VOA常速英语2008年-Berlusconi Vows Economic Reforms, Crackdown on

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
15 April 2008

The winner in Italy's national elections, Silvio Berlusconi, has promised to form a streamlined Cabinet that could get to work quickly to tackle the country's problems. After his center-right coalition¹ emerged with a large enough majority to govern, the former prime minister said he will select a team of people who know the problems with the machinery² of the government. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

Conservative media mogul Silvio Berlusconi thanked his voters and said he will immediately get down to work.

He obtained a better result than commentators³ had predicted. But he must keep the Northern League party happy. That party won 8 percent of the vote, giving Mr. Berlusconi his majority in parliament.

Umberto Bossi, leader of the Northern League, said the people who voted for his party are those who want a different country, more democratic and more federalist. He said his party, which wants tougher restrictions⁴ on immigration, is in agreement with Mr. Berlusconi and they will work together.

Final results show that in the 315-member Senate, Mr. Berlusconi's bloc⁵ controls 168 seats. In the lower house, his bloc obtained 46 percent of the vote, while his opponent's bloc took 39 percent.

The 71-year-old billionaire, who has been prime minister twice before, said he will apppoint a streamlined cabinet, with 12 ministers, 4 of them women. He pledged to hold his first cabinet meeting in Naples, which has been dealing⁶ with a massive garbage crisis.

He said he will immediately get down to work to push through badly needed economic reforms, a crackdown on illegal immigrants and criminals, and a plan to rescue Italy's ailing⁷ state airline Alitalia.

An unexpected outcome of the vote was that the next Italian parliament will have fewer parties than in the past. Tiny parties that have held governing coalitions⁸ hostage have disappeared. The new parliament will now have only six parties as opposed to 20 after the 2006 election.

Among the parties that have disappeared are the Socialists⁹ and the Communists, both of which failed to win the minimum percentage to enter Parliament.

Mr. Berlusconi said that now Italy will be governed like other major Western democracies, with one major party in power and one major party in opposition¹⁰. He said that with the extremists gone, parliament will be able to operate more quickly and will be able to work on modernizing¹¹ the country.

1 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。

2 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

3 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

8 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

9 socialists   

社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The socialists saw themselves as true heirs of the Enlightenment. 社会主义者认为自己是启蒙运动的真正继承者。
• The Socialists junked dogma when they came to office in 1982. 社会党人1982年上台执政后，就把其政治信条弃之不顾。

10 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。

11 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。