VOA常速英语:Rough Road Ahead for Greece Despite Austerity Measures

短语讲解：

1. Greek politicians have voted in favor of $40 billion worth of austerity measures that were a precondition for Greece to receive international loans and stave off financial disaster.

in favor of赞成...;支持...;有利于...
例句：The students were in favor of reform.
学生们都赞成改革。
stave off避开,挡开,延迟
To stave off recession, the Federal Reserve loosened monetary policy.
为了防止经济衰退，美联储放松了货币政策。

2. But as strikes take place across the nation and thousands gather in the capital Athens for a second day of protest.

take place发生，进行
例句：The threatening strike did not take place after all.
可能来临的罢工终究没有发生。

3. After years of borrowing, Greece is in debt.

in debt欠债
例句：I'm heavily in debt at the moment, but hope to be out of debt when I get paid.
我现在负债累累, 但希望拿到工资后就能把债务还清。

4. Faced with a massive deficit and under pressure from the international community, the government has revved up taxes and put the brakes on spending.

face with使面临; 把…摆在面前
例句：We are now faced with new problems.
我们正面临新的问题。
under pressure在压力下
He performed well under pressure.
他在压力之下表现得很好。
rev up刺激；激发；增加；增长；提高
The coal mines in North China have to rev up their outputs to meet ever-increasing demand.
华北各煤矿必须提高产量以满足日益增长的需要。

5. Babis Papadimitriou, a journalist with the daily paper Kathimerini, says some Greeks conclude that the country would be better to default on its debt and leave the eurozone.

default on拖欠…
例句：He defaulted on his payments for support of the child.
他拖欠孩子的抚养费。

6. "The same people who think the austerity measures are too harsh and too difficult to implement, the same people think that if we go out of the eurozone, we will not need such austerity measures," Papadimitriou said.

go out of 从…出来，离开
例句：Please go out of here at once.
请马上离开这儿！

7. Many protestors say the rights and well-being of Greek citizens are not at the heart of government policy.

at the heart of关键, 位于…的中心
例句：What he said struck at the heart of the problem.
他的话切中问题的要害。

8. So we have to fight for this

fight for为…而战斗〔竞争〕
例句：They fought for their country.
他们为祖国而战斗。

9. "Most of this problem actually pertains to the internal situation - that is the lack of engagement between the population and its own political class and the lack of engagement with solutions to go forward," Rossi explained.

go forward 前进; 被提出
例句：The suggestion went forward to the committee.
此建议被提交至委员会。

10. If it fails to do so, Greece may be forced to bid farewell to its membership of the eurozone, whether it wants to or not.

bid farewell to告别,辞行
例句：She was sorry to bid farewell to Portugal.
她舍不得告别葡萄牙。