澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-01-29

The United Nations says it held secret talks with the Taliban to discuss a truce¹. The revelation was made as Foreign Ministers gathered in London to map out a plan to hand security back over to Afghan forces. They've also unveiled a 550-million-dollar fund, aimed at luring² Taliban fighters into education, training in employment programs.

There's a new twist in the search for the missing millionaire Herman Rockefeller. Police raided a property in Melbourne's west overnight. They're not saying whether the case has been treated as a murder investigation³.

Toyota is extending its recall of vehicles that may have a dangerously faulty accelerator. Seven-five thousand drivers in China are now being told to send their vehicles back to the carmaker because of a sticky accelerator that may cause cars to speed out of control. Similar recalls have already been issued in Europe and the US.

It seems taxpayers⁴ are spending more on public hospitals but the quality of care hasn't improved much. A new report on government services shows spending on public hospitals increased six percent to 29 billion dollars in the 2007 financial year. Sixty-nine percent of emergency patients were seen within the recommended time.

And the American author J.D. Salinger has died. The acclaimed⁵ writer who wrote “Catcher in the Rye” was 91.

We'll have more news later.

1 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

2 luring   

吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Cheese is very good for luring a mouse into a trap. 奶酪是引诱老鼠上钩的极好的东西。
• Her training warned her of peril and of the wrong, subtle, mysterious, luring. 她的教养警告她：有危险，要出错儿，这是微妙、神秘而又诱人的。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。