VOA标准英语2012--Europe Prepares for Dressing Down at G8

 

Europe Prepares for Dressing¹ Down at G8

It is Europe’s G8 members, notably² France and Germany, who will face the scrutiny³ of fellow leaders at Camp David.

With full military honors, Francois Hollande arrived in Berlin under stormy skies Tuesday, just hours after being sworn in as French president and the continent seemingly sinking further into economic crisis.

Earlier, German Chancellor⁴ Angela Merkel said the G8 meeting was timely.

Together with industrialized nations, she says the G8 must work harder than ever to get rid of the high debt levels, adding the G8 is exactly the right framework. Merkel says this will be the foundation for stable and sustainable growth.

Shrinking economies across southern Europe have prompted calls for a change of focus from austerity to growth.

To add to its economic meltdown, Greece is facing a political crisis. Elections failed to produce a majority and the country is going back to the polls next month.

G8 leaders outside Europe will have a simple message for the eurozone, says Stephanie Rickard of the London School of Economics. “I think they are going to say, ‘Hey, eurozone leaders, you need to solve this problem.’ I think they are going to say this is not a U.S. issue, this is not a Canadian issue, this is really a European issue and Europe needs to clean house,” she said.

EU leaders have looked to China’s booming economy for help in pulling the eurozone out of its debt mire⁵. But Beijing will not come to the rescue, says Professor Steve Tsang of the China Policy Institute at Nottingham University.

“From their perspective, there is no reason why the hard-working Chinese should put their very hard-earned cash to bail⁶ out the very wealthy and in some ways lazy Europeans,” Tsang stated.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia is not attending. Moscow says he has domestic affairs to deal with. 

“This is potentially a fracture in the organization that is critical not just for this meeting," Rickard noted⁷. "But for the future of the G8 and for the future of global cooperation.”

The one new face at the G8, Francois Hollande, faces a baptism of fire on the world stage.

Enroute to Berlin, the French presidential plane was hit by lightning, forcing it to return to the air base outside Paris, where the president boarded a second aircraft bound for Germany. Hollande will hope for better omens⁸ on his second major foreign trip in just his first week of presidency⁹.

1 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

2 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

3 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

4 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。

5 mire   

n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境

参考例句：

• I don't want my son's good name dragged through the mire.我不想使我儿子的名誉扫地。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

6 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 omens   

n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The omens for the game are still not propitious. 这场比赛仍不被看好。 来自辞典例句
• Such omens betide no good. 这种征兆预示情况不妙。 来自辞典例句

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。