澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2015-09-23

 Former Treasurer(Treasury：注意区别!) Secretary Ken¹ Henry says a proposed overhaul² of the tax system should be held off until after the next election. He’s urged the Prime Minister Malcomn(Malcolm) Turnbull to consider delaying the release of the Federation³ white paper which considers tax changes including whether the GST should be lifted. Mr. Henry told 7.30 there’s not enough time to make the case for major tax reforms before Australia goes to the polls again. “The time is not there. But it’s not just a matter of time. As the xx(Howard and Costello) government demonstrated with the GST, there needs to be 12 to 18 months spent in preparing the ground for the tax reform package. That hasn’t happened.” Ken Henry there. Consumer confidence has surged nearly 9 percent in the week that Malcomn(同上) Turnbull took over from Tony Abbott as Australia’s Prime Minister. The ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly confidence index is now 114.9. That is the biggest weekly jump in consumer confidence since the survey began in 2008. ANZ’s chief economist⁴ Warren Hogan has attributed the sharp jump in consumer confidence to a vote of (confidence in) new Prime Minister, Malcomn(.) Turnbull. To the global markets now and that’s(they've taken a) tumbled(tumble) overnight. The Dow lost 180 points. The Nasdaq fell 1.5 percent while S&P 500 lost 1.2 percent. In London, the FTSE finished 2.8 percent lower. Checking commodity prices, West Texas Crude is trading at 46 US dollars a barrel. Tapis Crude is 49 US dollars a barrel and gold is trading 1125 US dollars an ounce. The Australian dollar is currently buying 71 US cents, 64 Euro cents and 46 pence sterling⁵.

1 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

2 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 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。

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。