THE costs of efforts to save the euro are justified by the claim that the alternative would be too dreadful to contemplate.

人们为拯救欧元区付出了巨大努力，但另一种选择是如此恐怖，其代价之大都显得合理了。

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The prospect of life without Mr Kohl, an unmatched campaigner who has snatched victory in four successive general elections, seemed to them too dreadful to contemplate.

ECONOMIST: Germany

The alternatives are too dreadful to contemplate.

FORBES: Peering Into the Abyss

Until around 20 years ago, consumer bankruptcy didn't even exist in many European countries, and corporate bankruptcy was a draconian process too dreadful for all but the most desperate managers to contemplate.

ECONOMIST: Morally bankrupt? | The