澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-09-27

 Another poor poll will put even more pressure on Julia Gillard's leadership. The Coalition¹ is now leading Labor² in all mainland states for the first time since the last election according to the latest Newspoll. It shows Labor would lose half of its seats in New South Wales and Kevin Rudd would be the only Queensland MP to win a seat.

 

The weakening Australian dollar is putting new pressure on petrol prices. Economists³ and motoring groups are warning petrol prices could go up by at least 10 cents a litre later in the week. Now, that would put the national average price about $1.50 every litre.

 

A car has crashed into a house in Sorrento, south of Melbourne, killing⁴ a toddler and seriously injuring a man. The man, in his 60s, and the two-year-old boy were sitting on the verandah of a house when the car hit them. Police believe the woman driving the car was trying to park on the front lawn, but instead she hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

 

Heavy fighting is continuing in Colonel Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte. Rebel fighters have breached⁵ the town from the east for the first time. They began their assault on Sirte from the west three days ago. Hundreds of civilians⁶ have been fleeing the town.

 

And a court in Bangkok has wrapped up an extradition⁷ hearing for the two Thai men accused of murdering a man in Melbourne. Luke Mitchell was fatally stabbed during a fight outside a nightclub in 2009. The two accused were studying in Melbourne and they fled back to Thailand. They say a third Thai man who is still at large is responsible for the killing.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。