(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.
European officials are urging Greece to continue with economic reforms as the country prepares for early elections. The vote was called for this week after Greek lawmakers failed to elect a new president.
Some Greek citizens say they are not looking forward to the elections. Suzanna Steiner is one of them.
She says the vote should not be happening now. It is the worst time for the economy and for security, she says, and everyone is unhappy.
Dakis Voultsis is a businessman. He agrees with Suzanna Steiner.
He says the government should have been left to do its work. But, he says, now that early elections are set for January 25, Greeks will have to decide whom to vote for.
On Monday, parliament failed for the third time to elect a president. The failure forced Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to call for general elections.
His New Democracy Party controls what has been the ruling coalition in Greece. But the Syriza Party is more popular in opinion studies. Syriza says that if it wins control of parliament, "austerity will be history." For years, the government has cut spending in an effort to solve a major debt crisis.
Alexis Tsipras is the leader of Syriza.
He says the new election will be the beginning of the end for the current leadership. He says the government sank Greece into poverty and worsened unemployment.
The Syriza party says it wants to renegotiate two economic rescue plans -- worth nearly $300 billion. The financial aid came from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They made the aid dependent on Greece enacting strong measures aimed at ending its financial problems.
Opponents, however, say the spending cuts and tax increases have harmed the country. Greece now has an unemployment rate of more than 25 percent.
The economic crisis in Eurozone countries was at its height in 2010 and 2011. At that time, many observers feared that economic unrest in Greece might lead to its withdrawal from the European Union. They feared it could eventually lead to the single monetary union breaking up.
But today, observers say the fears are not so extreme. Dimitris Sotiropolous teaches political science at the University of Athens. He thinks Syriza would negotiate with international lenders and would not risk losing Greece's place within the Eurozone if it won the election.
And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.
词汇解释
1.austerity n. 紧缩；朴素；苦行；严厉
It was an era of austerity.
那是个艰苦的年代。
2.enact vt. 颁布；制定法律；扮演；发生
The authorities have failed so far to enact a law allowing unrestricted emigration.
当局到目前为止还未能通过一项允许自由移民出境的法律。
3.monetary adj. 货币的；财政的
Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.
一些国家紧缩货币政策以避免通货膨胀。
内容解析
1.The economic crisis in Eurozone countries was at its height in 2010 and 2011.
at its height 达最高点，在最旺盛时，正起劲
At its height Bletchley Park employed 12,000 people.
布莱奇利园的雇员数在巅峰时期曾达1.2万人。
The tide was at its height.
潮水涨到顶点了。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
就在希腊准备进行提前选举之时，欧洲官员们正在敦促希腊继续进行经济改革。由于希腊议员们未能选出现总统，因此本周将举行选举。
一些希腊公民称他们不期待选举，苏珊娜·施泰纳就是其中之一。
她说不应该这个时候选举，她说这对经济和安全来说是最糟糕的时候，每个人都不高兴。
Dakis Voultsis是名商人，他认同苏珊娜·施泰纳的看法。
他说政府应该完成其职责，但他说既然提前选举定在1月25日，希腊将不得不决定选举谁。
周一，议会第三次未能选出总统，这次失败迫使总理安东尼斯·萨马拉斯呼吁进行大选。
他的新民主党控制着希腊目前的执政联盟，但民调显示激进左翼联盟党更受欢迎。激进左翼联盟党称如果控制议会，“紧缩措施将成为历史”。几年来，政府一直在削减开支，希望以此来解决重大的债务危机。
亚历克西斯·齐普拉斯是激进左翼联盟党领导人。
他说新选举将是结束当前领导层的开始，他说政府让希腊陷入了贫困和严重失业。
激进左翼联盟党称希望能就两个价值近3000亿美元的经济救援计划进行重新协商，这些财政援助来自欧洲委员会、欧洲央行和国际货币基金组织。他们提出了依据于希腊制定有力措施来结束其财政问题的援助。
然而，反对者认为开支削减和增税会损害该国。希腊现在的失业率已经超过25%。
欧元区国家的经济危机在2010年到2011年最为严重，当时很多观察家担心希腊的经济动荡会导致该国从欧盟撤出，担心动荡会最终导致这一单一货币联盟瓦解。
但现在，观察家称其担心没有那么严重了。Dimitris在雅典大学教政治科学，他认为激进左翼联盟党一旦赢得选举将会与国际贷方协商，不会冒着失去希腊在欧元区位置的风险。
这就是美国之音慢速英语经济报道，我是马里奥·利特。
