澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-06-14

More than 470 people have been named in this year's Queen's Birthday Honors List. The highest honour on the list, the Companion of the Order of Australia, has been awarded to five people, including former Victorian Premier¹ Steve Bracks. Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel and former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist have also been recognised as Members of the Order of Australia.

Japanese scientists have located the space capsule Hayabusa after a helicopter search over Woomera in northwest South Australia. The capsule was launched in 2003 and successfully re-entered the earth's atmosphere overnight, creating a spectacular fireball across the desert sky. Scientists will try to recover the capsule to see if it contains asteroid² samples. It's hoped the samples could lead to further discoveries about the solar system.

Tens of thousands of ethnic³ Uzbeks have fled Kyrgyzstan as ethnic violence continues to spread in the country’s south. Kyrgyzstan's government has imposed a 24-hour curfew in the southern city of Osh and two neighbouring districts. The Health Ministry⁴ says at least 97 people have been killed and more than 1,200 have been wounded.

And at least 12 people have been killed and 22 others wounded during a bomb attack on the country's central bank in Baghdad. After the blast, the gunmen battled with police as they tried to enter the building. An Iraqi defence official says most of the casualties were bank workers and it’s unclear if the gunmen intended to rob the bank or target employees.

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。