澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-04-16

Thousands of passengers have been stranded¹ in northern Europe due to mass flight cancellations. A volcanic² eruption³ in Iceland’s caused a huge plume⁴ of ash and it's feared it could cause plane engines to fail. Britain's closed its entire airspace, and flights are grounded in Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Qantas flights are also affected⁵ but the airline says passengers should still go to the airport as normal.

 

For the first time in British political history, the leaders of the three most popular parties have gone head to head in a live television debate ahead of next month's election. The Prime Minister Gordon Brown accused the Conservatives of threatening the economic recovery with spending cuts and David Cameron has accused Mr. Brown of scaremongering.

 

Rio Tinto has denied abandoning four employees who’ve been jailed in China for stealing commercial secrets. Some shareholders⁶ at the mining giant’s AGM (annual general meeting) have accused the board of abandoning Stern Hu and his three colleagues. But the chairman says that assessment⁷ is wrong.

 

And the Federal Government's promised that no school will be worse off under its review of the schools funding formula. The review will begin at this month and will include all government and independent schools. Education Minister Julia Gillard says when it comes to money per student there'll be no reduction in funding.

 

And we'll have more news later.

1 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

2 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

3 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

4 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

7 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？