澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2013-06-30

 And when the markets in Europe closed a couple of hours ago, London’s FTSE 100 was down 28 points. The Dax and Euro were also down. In the US, trading comes to a close shortly. The Dow Jones is down. The S&P 500 is down by seven points. 

And the Australian dollar is worth 91.37 US dollars this morning. It’ll also buy you just over 60 British pence and nearly 118 New Zealand cents. 

 

The US has cut trade privileges to Bangladesh over dangerous conditions faced by workers in the textile industry. Bangladesh’s government has called the move shocking. The decision comes after a year-long review of labor¹ practices and workplace safety in Bangladesh. The US says that country is not taking steps to afford nationally-recognized rights to its workers. The move comes in the wake of a deadly building collapse² in the Bangladesh capital that killed over 1,000 people. 

 

Mining giant BHP Billiton has announced it will run a tight iron ore business in Australia in response to a slowdown in global demand. BHP’s iron ore president has told business leaders in Perth that the company is facing a cooling market and is looking to improve its efficiency. BHP has not yet made cuts to its iron ore workforce³, instead, maintaining a freezone hiring any new staff. The mining giant will cease spending on additional equipment, instead, focusing on increasing production, using existing machinery⁴.

1 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。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

4 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。