英语听力：澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2013-12-18

 Labor¹ has accused the government of fudging the budget numbers to make a case for spending cuts. Shadow Treasurer² Chris Bowen says the Coalition³ has changed its forecasting methods to suit its own political purposes.

 

“And when you look closely at the document, 29 billion otherwise write down come from challenges in methodology of forecasting and challenges to predictions about spending. So this is a government which really saying one thing before the election and doing something very, very different after. Well, time will tell how the forecasts compare to reality until time can tell that. But you forgive us for being cynical⁴ when I thought my methodology is being used by the Howard Costello government and then the Labor government is changed after the election. And it's done with the very real impact of worsening the budget situation.”

 

Chris Bowen.Let's go the markets.

 

A short time ago, the Dow, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were all steady. In London overnight, the FTSE dropped 36 points at the close.

 

To commodity prices.

 

West Texas Crude is trading at 97 US dollars a barrel. Tapis Crude is 115 US dollars a barrel and gold this morning is at 1231 US dollars an ounce.

 

The Australian dollar is buying 89 US cents, 65 Euro cents and 55 pence sterling⁵.

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 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

3 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。

4 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

5 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。