VOA常速英语:Financial Crisis Hits NATO Funding

短语讲解：

1. That is threatening to hurt the NATO alliance’s efforts to upgrade its capabilities so it can respond to unexpected crises anywhere in the world.

respond to对…有某种反应〔感觉, 表现〕
例句：She responded to the news by bursting into tears.
她听到那个消息后眼泪夺眶而出。

2. The alliance was able to dispatch ships and aircraft to protect Libyan civilians, and ended up turning the tide of the uprising that ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

end up结束; 最终成为〔变得〕
例句：The hooligan ended up dead in a car accident.
那个恶棍最后在一次车祸中丧命。

3. When the U.N. decides on a mission, who else but NATO could take it over?,

decide on就…做出决定, 决定要
例句：Peter decided on a blue sweater.
彼得选定了一件蓝色的运动衫。
take over接管; 接替
例句：She took over his work after his departure.
他离开以后, 她接替了他的工作。

4. Former British defense official Daniel Korski, says Libya was a success for NATO’s transformation efforts, but Europe’s economic crisis and the budget-cutting effort in the United States could slow them down.

slow down (使)生产缓慢, (使)变得迟钝
例句：The increase of productions has now slowed down.
现在产品的增长速度已经慢了下来。

5. We are not actually short of defense spending in Europe.

short of缺少
例句：Their company was short of funds.
他们公司缺少资金。

6. What we are short of is using it properly, spending it on the right things, spending it effectively together. 

spend on把…花在…
例句：He doesn't spend much time on his homework.
他花在作业上的时间不多。

7. For General Abrial that is a problem, because he says it is impossible to predict where or when the next crisis will break out or what military capability NATO will need to address it.

break out突然发生, 爆发
例句：The Second World War broke out in September 1939.
第二次世界大战爆发于1939年9月。

8. General Abrial says NATO needs more resources, more coordination and more partners to meet its ambition to remain the world’s premier defense alliance, and to develop new high-tech capabilities to defend against missile and cyber attacks.

defend against保护…不受…, 防御
例句：The fort cannot be defended against an air attack.
这座要塞遭到空袭时无法防御。