voa标准英语2008-EU Finance Ministers to Discuss $253 Billion Eco

European Union finance ministers meet today and Tuesday to discuss the details of a $253 billion economic stimulus¹ proposal by the bloc's executive arm. Lisa Bryant has more for VOA from Paris.

European finance ministers, meeting in Brussels, are expected to study the details of the economic stimulus plan and seek coordinated² action on boosting the European Union economies, along with their own national stimulus plans. The bloc-wide proposal was announced the the EU's executive arm, last week, to pump up the economy of the 27-member European Union, which is fast sliding toward recession.

Analyst³ Katinka Barysch, of the Center for European Reform in London, believes the ministers will come to some kind of consensus⁴ at the end of the meeting, Tuesday.

"Hopefully a fairly united statement that the EU governments acknowledge that a fiscal⁵ stimulus is needed," she said. "That any protective reactions will have to be resisted. That there will be some kind of watering down of the stability and growth pact⁶. That they will allow the European Commission to accelerate spending on regional aid projects and infrastructure⁷ projects, which means losing some of the rules that we usually apply to that spending."

But the details the measures and what they will actually aim to accomplish remain vague. The stimulus plan takes into account national packages to boost the economy, like those already announced by Britain, Italy and Germany. France is expected to announce its own plan, Thursday. But it is unclear how much of the funding involved is actually new money. Germany is also coming under pressure to up commit more funding to fight the downturn.

"There are obviously big divisions and Germany, particularly, is in the dock, because people say Germany, despite its very sound budget position and despite its big external surplus, isn't really willing to put as much into a fiscal stimulus as other countries are doing," continued Barysch.

EU leaders are expected to approve the final stimulus package during a summit, later this month.

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。