VOA标准英语2012--Greeks Face Decisive Vote as Anti-German Sentiment Soars

（单词翻译）

Greeks Face Decisive Vote as Anti-German Sentiment Soars

Athens’ oldest university has become a canvas for citizens venting¹ their anger.

Anger at the government... anger at capitalism²...calls for banks to be burned.

There is much anger too at Germany. Athens resident Anastasis Koutsoukos interrupted VOA’s filming to make his point.

“[German Chancellor³ Angela] Merkel has the ideology⁴ of ‘pan-Germanism’. All is Germany. That is the problem,” he said.

It is a common sentiment. On June 17, Greeks return to the polls.

The EU warns that Greece’s future in the euro is at stake.

Voters who spoke⁵ to VOA appeared strongly divided.

“They try to push the Greeks to accept something that is unbearable⁶. The [austerity] memorandum⁷ is unbearable, simply. It will make the Greek economy a desert,” said Athens resident Theo Phanis.

“Voting for a party won’t make things better. Only the people themselves can make things better. Am I optimistic? No,” said student Katy Volonaki.

On April 4 Dimitris Christoulas, a 77-year-old pharmacist, shot himself. In his pocket was a note saying that he couldn’t bring himself to go searching through the garbage to feed himself.

Greek supporters, and campaigners from across the world, have turned the spot where he died in front of parliament into a shrine⁸ against austerity.

Still, polls show an overwhelming majority of Greeks want to stay in the euro.

Konstantis Michalos, president of the Athens Chamber⁹ of Commerce, says there will be no easy Greek exit from the single currency.

“Greece may be in the spotlight¹⁰ at the moment but it’s not just Greece. We’ve got Italy, we’ve got Portugal, and we have Spain, and potentially France. So Germany has to look seriously towards this situation because, in a few months’ time, we will have an addition to this long list of problematic economies from northern European states.”

Fears of a run on Greek banks have so far not materialized.

But the uncertainty¹¹ over Greece’s future in the eurozone is causing instability across the world economy... and prolonging the agony of the Greek people.