澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2014-07-17

 Leading the news, the senior economist¹ is warning the Senate’s obstruction² of key budget measures could cost a warp³ in 300 billion dollars over the next decade. Treasurer⁴ Joe Hockey has already warned he may look at other possible savings⁵ to bypass the senate road block. Chris Richardson from Deloitte Access Economics says the budget bottom line is in real trouble. 

 

“He looks if we want to get budget repair in Australia, essentially⁶ the Senate is not just blocking the budget for the next / for this but blocking the budget for the next decade.”

 

The Israeli army says it’s agreed to a UN request to hold attacks on Gaza for five hours on humanitarian⁷ grounds. Earlier, Israel has urged thousands of people living in east and north Gaza to leave their homes as it continued its airstrikes. Israel abandoned an earlier ceasefire when Hamas refused to comply. 

 

US Media Giant Time Warner has rejected the takeover bid by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. The offer was worth around 85 billion dollars. Reports say Fox has offered to sell the Time Warner owned CNN as part of the proposed takeover deal. 

 

And smoking rates in Australia are continuing to fall. New figures by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show the number of people who smoke daily fell almost 2.5% between 2010 and 2013. Smoking rates have now almost halved⁸ in the past 20 years.

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

3 warp   

vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见

参考例句：

• The damp wood began to warp.这块潮湿的木材有些翘曲了。
• A steel girder may warp in a fire.钢梁遇火会变弯。

4 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。

5 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》