Striking Greek Workers Protest New Austerity Cuts

 　　Striking Greek transport workers brought Athens to a standstill Thursday in a new protest against austerity measures imposed by the government to secure international financing for the debt-ridden country.

　　Public transport workers and taxi drivers walked off their jobs, as well as air traffic controllers and teachers. Some newspapers also reacted angrily to the demands of the country's international creditors¹ that the government impose more spending cuts, with one saying that civil servants and pensioners² had been placed on a "sacrificial altar" and another saying it was "a merciless raid" on the country.

　　An Athens business leader, Constantinos Michalos said Greece is being turned into a "poverty house" by the series of budget cuts and tax increases the government has imposed in an attempt to end its years of deficit³ spending and cut its debt.

　　Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos called the country's financial plight⁴ "extremely critical," but he said Greece must adhere to its austerity plan in order to secure new funding from the International Monetary⁵ Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank and avoid a default next month.

　　The EU's economic commissioner⁶, Olli Rehn, pledged that Greece's European neighbors would not abandon it. He said that "an uncontrolled default" by Greece or the country's departure from the bloc⁷ of 17 nations that use the common euro currency would cause "enormous economic and social damage."

　　The eurozone faces other problems aside from Greece. The financial research group Markit said Thursday business activity in the eurozone contracted this month to a 25-month low, and that further deterioration⁸ was likely in the coming months.

　　But Ireland provided one ray of positive economic news. Like Greece and Portugal, Ireland also needed an international bailout, but Dublin said its national economy expanded by 1.6 percent in the April-to-June period, following a slightly larger expansion in the first three months of the year.

　　In its latest austerity plan, Greece said Wednesday it will increase the number of civil servants receiving only 60 percent of their normal salaries, cut pensions for some retirees and trim the tax-free portion of wages for low-income workers.

　　The country's international creditors funding last year's $159 billion bailout are demanding the new round of $8 billion in austerity measures, on top of earlier tax increases and spending cuts.

　　Greece is mired⁹ in a three-year recession and has been hard-pressed to meet the terms of the bailout. It could run out of money in October - and default on its obligations - if the IMF, the  EU and the continent's central bank do not release an $11 billion portion of last year's bailout.

　　The Greek economy will be discussed at the annual IMF meeting in Washington starting Friday.

1 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

3 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

4 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

8 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

9 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》