European Debt Crisis|欧洲债务危机

The European debt crisis is the shorthand term for Europe's struggle to pay the debts it has built up in recent decades. Five of the region's countries, including Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain, have to varying degrees failed to generate enough economic growth to pay back bondholders at the previously-agreed upon terms. Although these five have been seen as being the countries in immediate danger of possibly defaulting, the crisis has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond their borders to the world as a whole. In October 2011, the head of the Bank of England referred to it as the most serious financial crisis at least since the 1930s, if not ever.

The global economy has experienced slow growth since the US financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, which has exposed the unsustainable fiscal policies of countries in Europe and around the globe. Greece, which spent heartily for years and failed to undertake fiscal reforms, was one of the first to feel the pinch of weaker growth. When growth slows, so do tax revenues, which makes high budget deficits unsustainable. The result was that Greece's new Prime Minister George Papandreou, in late 2009, was forced to announce that previous governments had failed to reveal the size of the nation's deficits. In truth, its debts were so large that they actually exceeded the size of the nation's entire economy, and the country could no longer hide the problem. Soon, Greece may leave the European Union, which may throw Europe into chaos.

     1.    According to the article, why is there a European debt crisis?

(A) There are five countries that can't agree on what to do about financial problems.

(B) There were bad policies put in place in the 1930s.

(C) Five countries couldn't pay back their loans the way they were supposed to.

(D) Europeans are moving away at a rapid rate.

    2.     What does heartily in the second paragraph mean?

(A) Thriftily.

(B) Sincerely.

(C) Angrily.

(D) Without restraint.

    3.     What is the author's outlook on the European debt crisis?

(A) The author is for budget cutting measures.

(B) It will get much worse if Greece leaves the European Union.

(C) If Greece gets a new prime minister, everything will be resolved.

(D) The only way to solve the problem is for China to buy all of Greece's debt.

欧洲债务危机

欧洲债务危机是欧洲努力清偿近数十年来所累积债务的简称名词。该地区包含希腊、葡萄牙、爱尔兰、意大利及西班牙在内的 5 个国家在不同程度上无法产生足够的经济成长，因而无法以先前商定的条件来支付债券持有人。虽然这 5 个国家已被视为具有可能违约的立即风险，且该危机有着深远的后果，影响范围会跨越国界至全世界。2011年 10 月，英格兰银行总裁将欧洲债务危机称为最严重的金融危机，其程度若非历年之最，至少也是自从 1930 年代金融危机发生以来最严重的一次。

全球经济从 2008 及 2009 年美国金融危机发生以来成长就一直很缓慢，这曝露出欧洲及世界各国难以维持下去的财政方针。希腊这几年来毫无节制地花钱，而没有从事财政改革，该国是最早因疲弱的经济成长而感到拮据的国家之一。当经济成长缓慢，国家的税收也遭遇相同情形下，这使得高额的预算赤字难以维持下去。结果，希腊新任总理乔治．巴本德里欧在 2009 年底被迫宣布，前任政府无法揭露出该国赤字的严重程度。事实上，希腊的债务真的已经多到超过全国的经济总和，因此该国已无法再隐藏这个问题。不久，希腊可能会退出欧盟，而这将会让欧洲陷入混乱。

    1.     根据本文，为什么会有欧洲债务危机？

(A)有 5 个国家对于该如何处理财务问题无法取得共识。

(B)在 1930 年代实行了不好的政策。

(C) 5个国家无法依原定的方式清偿他们的贷款。

(D)欧洲人以很快的速度搬走。

题解：根据本文第一段，该地区其中 5 个国家，希腊、葡萄牙、爱尔兰、意大利及西班牙在不同程度上无法产生足够的经济成长使他们有能力可以清偿原本打算还给债券持有人的保证金，得知 (C) 项应为正选。

    2.     第二段的 heartily 是什么意思？

(A)节俭地。

(B)诚挚地。

(C)气愤地。

(D)没有限制地。

题解：heartily字面上的意思是『尽情地』，也就是『没有限制地』的意思，故 (D) 项应为正选。

    3.     作者对欧洲债务危机有什么看法？

(A)作者赞成削减预算的措施。

(B)如果希腊退出欧盟的话，情况将会更糟。

(C)如果希腊有位新总理，所有问题都将迎刃而解。

(D)解决此问题的唯一方法就是让中国买下希腊所有的债务。

题解：根据本文第二段，不久，希腊可能会退出欧盟，而这将会让整个欧洲陷入混乱，故 (B) 项应为正选。

1930年代的经济大恐慌（Great Depression）所指的是 1929 年至 1933 年之间全球性的经济大衰退。

经济大恐慌的影响比历史上任何一次经济衰退都要来得深远。这次经济萧条是以农产品价格下跌为起点：首先发生在木材的价格上（1928年）；但更大的灾难是在 1929 年到来，加拿大小麦的过量生产，美国强迫压低所有农产品产地基本谷物的价格。不管是欧洲、美洲还是澳洲，农业衰退由于金融的大崩溃而进一步恶化。

在所有国家中，经济衰退的后果是大规模失业：美国 1370 万，德国 560 万，英国 280 万（1932 年的最大数据）。经济大恐慌对拉丁美洲也有重大影响，使得在一个几乎被欧美银行家和商人企业家完全支配的地区失去了外资和商品出口。（数据源：维基百科）