Who is Going to Pay the Bill? (来源：英语麦当劳www.EnglishCN.com)

在天灾人祸发生的时候，外国人是怎样做它的家园修复的呢？庞大的重整的费用从那里来呢？

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The floods that have ravaged（破坏）parts of Central and Eastern Europe

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may leave more than physical devastation in their wake. Financial

damage to businesses and homeowners will likely run into billions of

dollars. But there is one group that will be footing an unexpectedly (来源：EnglishCN英语问答中心[e问e答])

small proportion of the bill: insurance companies. (来源：专业英语学习网站 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

开门见山地指出问题所在。

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Consider these sobering（严肃的）statistics. In the 1999 floods in Bavaria, which

caused $416 million in damage, the insured share of the loss was less (来源：英语博客 http://space.englishcn.com)

than 10%. And when parts of the Czech （捷克人）Republic were flooded in 1997, wreaking almost $2 billion in destruction, insurance covered only

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20%. "There will undoubtedly be substantial economic loss caused by

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the current flooding, but the insured loss is expected to be significantly

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lower," says Ivo Menzinger, head of the Flood Group at the insurance

giant Swiss Re in Zurich. "This is largely due to the low penetration of

flood insurance in the main affected areas of Austria, the Czech

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Republic and Germany."

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In Britain, flood insurance is generally built into a standard "home contents (来源：英语聊天室 http://chat.EnglishCN.com)

cover" package. Elsewhere in Europe, however, this type of

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insurance is sold separately. As a result, only a small number of (来源：英语麦当劳www.EnglishCN.com)

people affected by the heavy weather may be insured against it — and

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even then, their coverage is unlikely to stretch very far. In Germany,

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which has so far sustained an estimated 7 billion in damage, fewer

than 3% of all households are covered for floods. Things are better in (来源：EnglishCN英语博客基地)

the former East Germany, where old state-run schemes offered flood (来源：EnglishCN英语博客基地)

cover as standard, and some of those policies are still in effect. In

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Austria, about half of all insured households are covered for floods —

but only up to between 5,000 and 10,000 per home. The Austrian (来源：英语问答中心 http://ask.englishcn.com)

Insurance Association estimates insured losses for this disaster will be (来源：英语e问e答 http://ask.englishcn.com)

in the region of 100 million, while total losses could hit 3 billion.

为什么保险公司要承担的费用那么少呢？

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The onus （负担）will be on European governments — many of which are

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already short of cash — to pick up the tab.（账单；全部费用）It won"t be easy last week 。Austria said it may have to delay tax cuts and trim defense (来源：英语学习门户网站EnglishCN.com)

 spending in order to meet flood expenses. Germany has authorized a relief (来源：英语美食指南 http://food.englishcn.com)

package, comprising 1400 million in aid as well as loan guarantees.

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But such measures could leave Germany and other countries in (来源：英语美食指南 http://food.englishcn.com)

breach of the conditions of the European Stability and Growth pact,

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which says that the budget deficit of euro-zone states cannot go above (来源：英语资料下载 http://download.englishcn.com)

3% of GDP. To be sure, economists say there is a provision（条款）in the

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pact that permits member states to breach（不履行）its conditions under (来源：英语e问e答 http://ask.englishcn.com)

extreme circumstances. But even before the floods, the pact had been

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under pressure. Portugal has fallen afoul （冲突）of deficit（赤字）restrictions, and some other nations are struggling to meet them.

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Nevertheless, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, soon to face (来源：英语美食指南 http://food.englishcn.com)

voters at the polls, promised that more money will be forthcoming. The

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European Union has also swung into action, saying it will provide up to

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260 million to the Czech government. The E.U. is examining ways to (来源：英语论坛 http://bbs.englishcn.com)

release funds to Austria and Germany, as well. With water still rising in

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some places and many people uninsured, those affected by the floods

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will need all the help they can get.

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