VOA常速英语:Europe Spending Cuts Prompt Street Protests

短语讲解：

1. Demonstrations are taking place in cities across Britain as hundreds of thousands of public sector workers stage the biggest strike in years against pension cuts.

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。

2. On the other side of Europe in Greece, there have been more demonstrations as politicians there vote through the latest round of austerity measures.

vote through投票通过
例句：Parliament voted the bill through.
议会投票通过了这项法案。
austerity measures财政紧缩措施

3. The spending cuts taking hold in many European countries could hail a summer of protests across the continent.

take hold确立, 生效
例句：Worse will come if disease and hunger take hold.
如果产生疾病和饥荒，情况将更加糟糕。

4. Outside Westminster Abbey - where the royal wedding united the country in celebration just 2 months ago - the streets were filled with demonstrators.

be filled with充满着
例句：The lottle is filled with water.
这个瓶子里装满了水。

5. We are not about to roll over.

be about to将要,正打算
例句：The troops are about to set out.
部队就要出发了。
roll over全面击败，使惨败
例句：Their basketball team was rolled over by our team.
他们的篮球队被我们队打得落花流水。

6. Bankers played dice with our futures, why are we paying for it?

pay for因…受罚〔痛苦〕; 为…付出代价
例句：You'll have to pay for your crime.
你得为你的罪行付出代价。

7. “Rather than taking what’s dished out and being like “OK”, and letting the government think that could do more, at least they understand now that people do feel about it and they’re willing to turn up en masse to show people what they think about it,” said another one.

dish out 大量给予或分发
例句：They dish out clean towels on Monday.
星期一他们分发毛巾。
turn up出现
例句：He didn't turn up until half an hour later.
半小时后他才出现。
en masse全体地,一同地
例句：Iraqi troops gave up en masse.
伊拉克军队全体投降。

8. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the industrial action.

take part in参加…, 参与…活动
例句：John takes part in many school activities.
约翰参加很多学校里的活动。

9. It’s part of a raft of spending cuts being pushed through parliament to tackle the public debt - currently running at almost $1.5 trillion, or 60 percent of GDP.

push through使(某人或某事)被通过，使(提案等)获得通过
例句：We shall need all the votes we can get to push the new law through.
我们需要我们所能得到的所有选票，才好使新的法律得以通过。

10. But Britain’s burden pales when compared to fellow EU member Greece.

compare to与…相比
例句：The writer was compared to Shakespeare.
把这个作家与莎士比亚进行了比较。

11. The Greek government had warned that without the bailout it would run out of money by the middle of July - with dire consequences for both Greece and the wider world economy.

run out of用完，耗尽
例句：We have run out of petrol .
我们的汽油已用完了。