VOA慢速英语:Greece Struggles to Form Government, Unsure about Reform

The Olympic flame was lit in Greece Thursday.
周四，奥运圣火在希腊点燃。

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The ceremony marked the beginning of a long trip through Greece and Britain, which holds the Summer Olympics this year.
该仪式标志着奥运圣火从希腊前往今年举行夏季奥运会的英国的长途之旅开始。

Greece has been at the center of a political and economic struggle that threatens many of Europe’s economies. It remains unclear if Greece will continue using the euro or if its Eurozone partners can enact reforms needed to hold the currency group together.
希腊一直处于威胁到许多欧洲经济体的政治和经济斗争的核心位置。目前尚未清楚希腊是否会继续使用欧元，它的欧元区伙伴是否能够实施改革以维持该货币组织。

On the day the Olympic flame was lit, Greek Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos began an attempt to form a new government. It marked the third attempt to form a government this week after parliamentary elections last Sunday.
在奥运圣火被点燃当天，希腊社会党领导人Evangelos Venizelos开始尝试组建新政府。这标志着上周日议会选举以来，本周内第三次尝试组建新政府。

First, the conservative New Democracy party attempted and failed. Then the leader of the leftist Syriza coalition, Alexis Tsipras, also failed. He said that the election results showed the Greek people had rejected deep budget cuts required by international creditors.
首先，保守的新民主党尝试组建新政府失败。随后，左翼激进联盟的Alexis Tsipras也以失败了。他说，选举结果表明，希腊人民拒绝了国际债权人想要的深度预算削减。

Mister Venizelos heads the PASOK party, which took third place in the elections. Experts have questioned whether he can form a government. That means the Greek President may ask parties to form an emergency coalition. If that does not work, new elections could be called.
Venizelos先生领导的泛希社运党，在选举中排第三位。专家们质疑他是否能够组建一个新政府。这意味着希腊总统可能要求各党组成一个紧急联盟。如果还不起作用，可能需要重新举行选举。

But for Greece, that could mean pain from its Eurozone creditors. They could deny future payments from the financial rescue plan agreed to in February. The agreement is worth about one hundred seventy billion dollars in loans and cancelled debt. The rescue is the second and largest for Greece since its debt crisis began in two thousand nine.
但对于希腊而言，这可能意味着来自其欧元区债权人的痛楚。他们可以否决今年二月份达成的金融救援计划的未来支出。该价值约1700亿美元的协议包括贷款和免除债务。这是从2009年希腊债务危机以来，对希腊的第二笔，也是最大一笔救援。

On Thursday, Euro-area governments released a five billion five hundred million dollar loan to Greece. But Greek officials were reportedly unhappy that over one billion dollars was withheld. The failed efforts to form a government have raised concern that reforms can work in Greece. The country is now in its fifth year of recession.
上周四，欧元区政府向希腊发放了55亿贷款。但据报道希腊官员对扣押了超过10亿美元贷款表示不满。组建新政府的失败引发了人们对希腊改革是否会生效的担忧。现在是希腊经济衰退的第5个年头。
 
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to parliament in Berlin Thursday. The leader of Europe’s biggest economy said borrowing to get growth would be a step backward.
德国总理安格拉•默克尔周四在柏林对议会发表讲话。这位欧洲最大经济体的领导人称，通过借贷获得增长是一种倒退。

ANGELA MERKEL (Translation):  "Growth through structural reform is important and necessary. Growth through debt would throw us back to the beginning of the crisis."
安格拉•默克尔：“通过结构性改革来获得增长是重要也是必要的。但通过借贷获得增长将让我们回到危机的起点。”