VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - Britain Gets a Gove

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

European Union officials agreed on a debt rescue plan this week. They also got a message from Britain's new governing parties.

WILLIAM HAGUE: "It was not difficult to agree between us that neither party is in favor of handing any more powers to the European Union."

That was William Hague, the new foreign secretary. In last Thursday's elections, the Conservatives won the most seats in parliament but not a majority. So they and the Liberal Democrats¹ have formed Britain’s first coalition² government since World War Two.

Gordon Brown resigned late Tuesday as prime minister. His Labor³ Party held power for thirteen years, the last three under him.

In his place moves David Cameron of the Conservative Party. At forty-three he is Britain's youngest head of government since eighteen twelve. Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats is his deputy.

Their new government will have to deal with Britain's own debt crisis. The budget deficit⁴ is about twelve percent of the economy. David Cameron has promised nine billion dollars in budget cuts as a start. Both parties agreed to make no proposal for Britain to join the sixteen countries that use the euro.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, center, leads his first cabinet meeting in London Thursday

Markets have eased since Monday's announcement of a nearly one trillion dollar rescue plan. It involves loans, debt guarantees and other support to euro area countries with heavy debts. Some of the money will come from the International Monetary⁵ Fund.

Olli Rehn, the E.U. monetary affairs commissioner⁶, said the debt crisis is a serious threat.

OLLI REHN: "This has clearly been a systemic challenge for financial stability in the euro area. It is not an attack on one or another individual member states. It is a threat to financial stability of the euro area and the European Union."

The crisis in Greece has threatened to spread to other countries and has led to protests and violence over spending cuts. But now, interest rates for borrowing by troubled countries like Greece and Portugal have fallen sharply.

Many people blamed the Greek crisis for the sudden drop in American stock markets last Thursday. It may have played a part. But this week, officials told Congress they were still investigating the causes of the so-called flash crash.

Major stock exchanges have agreed to develop a plan to prevent a disorderly market like that again. The idea is to slow trading in a coordinated⁷ way.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly one thousand points in minutes, then largely recovered. The plunge⁸ renewed debate about the risks of electronic exchanges and high-speed computer trading systems.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.

 

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 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。

4 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。