British EU Vote Raises Many Questions

AS IT IS 2016-06-28 British EU Vote Raises Many Questions

British officials are dealing¹ with international reaction to Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

British finance minister George Osborne spoke² publicly on Monday for the first time since the British vote last week.

Osborne tried to calm financial markets. He said the British economy remains³ strong and that Britain “remains open for business.” He added that Britain’s financial system was in a good position to support the country.

“Britain’s financial system will help our country deal with any shocks and dampen them not contribute to those shocks or make them worse.”

The vote to leave the EU has led to sharp drops in stock prices around the world. It also has fueled unrest on international currency exchanges.

Britain’s money, the pound, has decreased in value on currency exchanges around the world. The pound has dropped to its lowest level in 30 years.

Monday, a weaker pound and euro helped push China’s money, the yuan, to its lowest exchange value against the American dollar in more than five years.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a cooperative effort among major economies to ease financial problems.

“To the Bank of Japan,” he said, “I’d like to ask it to closely cooperate with central banks of the other G7 countries to take necessary steps for the economy and financial markets.”

Japanese officials and business leaders met Monday to discuss economic issues related to the British vote.

Finance minister Taro⁴ Aso appealed to other financial officials to watch currency markets closely.

The Japanese yen⁵ has gained more than 15 percent in exchange value to the dollar since the beginning of the year.

This sharp rise hurts Japanese exports, making them more costly⁶ and less competitive with other products. It also has led some observers to question whether Japan will break its promise to the Group of 7 industrialized countries. Japanese leaders have said they would not intervene in money markets to reduce the yen’s exchange value.

In Europe, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin called on Britain to move quickly to carry out plans to leave the European Union. German Chancellor⁷ Angela Merkel said any British withdrawal⁸ from the EU should be a civil and organized one.

British officials say 72 percent of voters marked a ballot⁹ in the nationwide referendum. About 52 percent of Britons voted to leave the EU.

The government must put into place Article 50 of the EU treaty in order to start an official exit, a process that could take up to two years.

Overturning the referendum is still technically¹⁰ possible. The vote last week was a non-binding measure. The British government may or may not take action. However, experts say a second vote is unlikely.

Leaders of the campaign to leave the EU are now facing strong criticism. Opponents of leaving say, for example, that Conservative politician Boris Johnson did not have a plan to deal with the political and financial unrest that has followed the vote.

Johnson wrote in The Daily Telegraph newspaper that supporters of remaining in the EU have made too much of the vote’s bad consequences.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to resign after the referendum. He said the country needed, in his words, “fresh leadership” to go in the direction of leaving Europe.

Yet the referendum showed deep divisions in Britain. Scotland, Northern Ireland and London all supported remaining in the EU, while other parts of the country supported leaving.

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said another popular vote on independence from Britain was now “highly likely.”

Words in This Story

consequences – n. results of an action or event

dampen – v. to reduce intensity¹¹, to make something less strong

contribute – v. to give, to provide something

referendum – n. a direct vote usually on a single law or issue

currency – adj. of or related to money

exit – n. withdrawal; separation

non-binding – adj. having no legal force

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 taro   

n.芋，芋头

参考例句：

• Main grain crop has taro,corn,banana to wait.主要粮食作物有芋头、玉米、芭蕉等。
• You celebrate your birthday with taro,red bean and butter.用红豆、芋头和黄油给自己过生日。

5 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

8 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

9 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

10 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

11 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。