澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2015-07-01

 Good morning everyone. Well, it's been a bleak¹ end to 2015 financial year on the Australian Stock Exchange. As the financial year ended yesterday, the ASX200 was 1.2% above what it was at the start of July 2014. But that's still one of the worst performances in recent years. While the ongoing² anxiety over the Greek debt crisis has not helped. Market has also been hit by what has been a dying year for Australia's mining and energy stocks.

 

An US special appears court  has ruled that Apple conspired³ to fix the prices of electronic books along with publishers. In a majority vote the court said Apple broke anti-trust laws when it entered the e-book market that was then dominated by Amazon. Several publishers such as H/P/A & S were also involved in the conspiracy⁴. The US Justice Department said the price collusion led the prices of some e-books rosed by up to $5.  

 

To the global markets, and those worries about Greece are having a bit of mixed response on the global markets. Wall Street posted its modest gains. The Dow ended 23 points higher, the NASDAQ gain 28 points while the S&P500 was up 0.3%. But in London the FTSE hit its lowest level since the start of the year, falling 1.5%. 

 

Checking commodity prices. West Texas crude is trading at 59 US dollars a barrel. Tapis crude is at 63 US dollars a barrel and gold is trading at 1172 US dollars an ounce. The Australian dollars is currently buying 77 US cents, 69 euro cents and 49 pence sterling⁵. 

 

1 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。

4 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

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。