澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-11-18

 Efforts to avert¹ the fiscal² cliff are underway in the United States. President Barack Obama has met top US lawmakers, seeking a deal to head off a looming³ across the board tax hikes and spending cuts that could push the economy back into recession. It's the first time President Obama has met his Republican opposition⁴ since he won re-election last week. More meetings are planned for the coming weeks.

 

 

The Swedish furniture company Ikea says it deeply regrets the use of forced labour. A newly published study by Ernst & Young says political and criminal prisoners were involved in manufacturing for Ikea suppliers. It says Ikea's representatives gave contracts to the Communist East German government during the 1970s, despite knowing that political prisoners were being used. The company says it's now investigating the claims.

 

 

And Apple's Australian arm has been hit with a 28.5-million-dollar bill for back taxes. The bill takes the total tax tab for the computer giant for  last year to more than 94 million dollars. Apple's tax bill could indicate a crackdown by the tax office on technology mutil-nationals like Google, E-bay. The Australia arm of Apple is part of a complex network of subsidiaries held by its US parents through intermediary companies located in tax havens⁵.

1 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网