新西兰英语 299 Australia’s new Prime Minister

　　On Thursday morning, Australians were surprised to find they had a new Prime Minister. She is Julia Gillard, Australia’s first woman Prime Minister. On Wednesday, Kevin Rudd was still PM of the Australian Labour government, a position he has held for two and half years, but the next morning, all his Labour colleagues voted for a new PM. He was upset but made a speech congratulating the new PM and saying that he would continue to support the Labour government.
Kevin Rudd was very popular when he was first elected but recent opinion polls show he has lost his popularity. One of the problems was a plan for a 40% tax on any mining profits above 6%. Another problem was that he postponed¹ the Emissions² Trading Scheme.
Julia Gillard was Kevin Rudd’s Deputy PM. She was a lawyer before becoming an MP in 1998. She is aged³ 48. She has been to New Zealand before, in 2008, for a business leaders meeting. She said in the past that Helen Clark had been an important role model for her. John Key spoke⁴ to Ms Gillard by phone on Thursday morning to congratulate her and to offer her support. New Zealand has always had a good relationship with Australian PMs, even those belonging to a different party. John Key’s government is National which is usually a conservative party, whereas Ms Gillard’s government is Labour which is usually more left wing. However, it is important that New Zealand and Australia work closely together and forget about their party politics.
Questions
New Zealand needs Australia but does Australia need New Zealand?
Why did it take Australia so long to have a female PM?

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。