Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dismissed calls to resign on Tuesday over reports he helped a 17-year-old girl who attended parties at his house, saying it was "better to like beautiful girls than to be gay."

意大利总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼本周二声明拒绝辞职，并表示“喜欢美女总好过同性恋”。有报道称他“帮助”过一位在他家参加派对的17岁女孩。

Ruby¹, the Moroccan belly² dancer." src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/allimg/101106/4_101106053302_1.jpg" width="450" height="282" />
Silvio Berlusconi and Ruby, the Moroccan belly dancer.

He refused to apologise for his fondness（喜欢，喜爱） for young women and denied doing anything improper³, after the case of the girl known as Ruby filled Italian newspapers last week and opposition⁴ lawmakers called for him to resign.

"As always, I work without interruption and if occasionally I happen to look a beautiful girl in the face, it's better to like beautiful girls than to be gay," he told a meeting at a motorcycle industry show in Milan.

"You should be completely reassured⁵ about the government and about the fact that it's a government that still has a majority that intends to govern until the end of its term," he said.

Berlusconi, 74, has brushed off（刷去，丢弃） scandals over women and parties in the past but has been under unusual pressure since newspapers last week carried reports about the teenager who attended parties at his sumptuous⁶（华丽的，奢侈的） villa⁷ at Arcore near Milan.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported details of a phone call it said Berlusconi made to a Milan police chief on Ruby's behalf when she was detained over a separate theft in May, raising questions of whether he improperly⁸ intervened.

Berlusconi says he helped Ruby, whose real name is reported by Italian newspapers to be Karima El Mahroug, but he denies exerting（运用，发挥） any improper pressure on police officers.

The teenager, who has since turned 18, has told newspapers she received 7,000 euros ($9,760) from Berlusconi after attending two parties. She has denied having sex with him.