No Deal: Germany's Coalition Talks
① The decision by the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) to walk out of talks with Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Greens has scuppered attempts to build a new coalition government.
② Christian Lindner, the FDP's leader, said too little agreement had been reached on subjects such as migration and energy.
③ The only other majority coalition available to Mrs Merkel after September's election would be a "grand coalition" with the centre-left Social Democrats, but they have ruled that out.
④ That leaves either a minority coalition with one of the FDP or the Greens, or—with the blessing of Germany's president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier—new elections.
⑤ Mrs Merkel said yesterday that she would prefer a new vote to leading a minority government, after Mr Steinmeier urged parties to "reconsider their attitudes".
⑥ The drama plunges Europe's once-stable bastion into political crisis and almost certainly marks the beginning of the end of Mrs Merkel's career.
▍生词好句
coalition /ˌkəʊəˈlɪʃ(ə)n/: n. (政党之间的) 联盟 (近义词: alliance—国与国之间的联盟；机构之间的联盟)
scupper /ˈskʌpə/: vt. 使……沉没；使……(计划) 泡汤
grand coalition: 大联合政府
minority coalition: 少数派联盟政府
plunge /plʌn(d)ʒ/: vt. 使……陷入
bastion /ˈbastɪən/: n. 堡垒；捍卫者
