Greek Debt Crisis Still Unresolved

 　　European finance officials are still grappling with the Greek debt crisis after returning home from inconclusive talks at the International Monetary¹ Fund in Washington over the weekend.

　　The United States and other nations are pressing European leaders to drastically increase the size of the continent's $594 billion bailout fund, perhaps by several trillion dollars. But there is growing opposition² in Germany, with Europe's strongest economy, and other northern European states to massive new assistance for Greece and other debt-ridden governments.

　　The issue may not be resolved until early November, when officials from 20 leading and emerging economies are set to meet in France.

　　But Greece says it will run out of money in October to operate its government, and could default on its bailout loans from last year unless international creditors³ hand it another $11 billion portion of the bailout. Several Greek news accounts in the last few days said that under one plan, the Athens government could default in an orderly fashion, with bondholders taking a 50 percent loss on their investments.

　　Greek lawmakers have adopted a wide variety of spending cuts and tax increases, austerity measures that have proved highly unpopular. On Monday, transport workers staged a second strike in the last few days, snarling⁴ Athens traffic, and are planning a two-day work stoppage later in the week.

　　Greek police held their own protest, hanging a giant black banner from the top of a popular landmark⁵, Mount Lycabettus that read, "Pay Day, Day of Mourning."  On Sunday, police fired tear gas at protestors at Syntagma Square in central Athens.

　　Aside from spending cuts and tax increases, the Greek government is seeking to sell rights to some of its state-owned assets to cut its deficits⁶.

　　On Monday, the government said it likely will announce extensions of private leases this week for the operation of the Athens airport and a sports betting monopoly and the sale of video lottery⁷ licenses⁸.

1 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。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 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》

4 snarling   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你，"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是，汤姆一边大喊大叫，一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

5 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

6 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

7 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

8 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句