Greece to Seek Delay in Austerity Measures

 With its economy crumbling¹, Greece has decided² to ask its European neighbors for a two-year extension to 2016 to carry out its latest austerity program.

New Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras plans to travel to Paris and Berlin next week to meet with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor³ Angela Merkel to present Greece's case for a delay in the spending cuts it previously⁴ had agreed to. Berlin said Wednesday it would listen to the Greek leader's plea, but remains⁵ firm in keeping to the agreement.

Greece - now in the fifth year of a severe recession and with 23 percent of its workers unemployed⁶ - has several times narrowly staved off default on its loans. But it is struggling to produce $14 billion in new spending cuts demanded by its international lenders and is faced with new debt payments next month. The country's creditors⁷ have demanded the austerity measures in exchange for release of more money from Greece's latest bailout, its second in two years.

Jobless Greek workers - like train engineer Vassilis Tsimbidis - say their plight⁸ seems hopeless.

"Because of the general crisis, the state of our sector⁹ and the end of industry in our country, I don't think there are any prospects¹⁰ for me beyond the Skaramangas Shipyard, in another country. Personally, if I didn't have family commitments, I would already have left for Northern Europe," said Tsimbidis.

An unemployed Athens worker, Constantinos Manolis, says any thought of building a career will have to wait.

"For starters, a job just to get by, whatever it may be. Whatever? My dreams for a career? That's difficult for now," said Manolis.

One international finance expert, Andreas Hauskrecht of the Indiana University business school, said that he thinks Greece will soon default and be the first country to leave the 17-nation euro currency union.

"I think that a default within the next three months is very likely," said the expert.

Hauskrecht says that while Greece's neighbors may have at one time been determined¹¹ to help it stay in the eurozone because it is part of the European Union, the continent's economic plight has weakened European support for more aid to Greece.

"While this sounds very reasonable and very romantic, I don't think that you will find the voters to support that. We see that also in other European countries economic growth is declining rapidly. We see Europe already close to a recession and pretty sure that Europe either has already or will very soon enter recession. There is nothing to distribute in a recession and willingness to support the Greeks will further diminish," said Hauskrecht.

1 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 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。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 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。

6 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

7 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》

8 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。