澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2009-08-24

Good morning.

 

Australia is coming to terms with losing the Ashes in the deciding test at the Oval this morning. England regained¹ the urn² after Australia was bowled out for 348 late on the fourth day. The visitors lost by 197 runs. Australian captain Ricky Ponting says although his team gave it their all, it wasn't enough.

 

Authorities say the clean-up of the massive oil spill off the coast of Australia's northwest will be reviewed daily. They’re warning the crude oil and gas will continue leaking from the rip for at least another seven weeks. The company is planning to cap the leak by using a second offshore³ rig to drill a new well and pump mud into the hole.

 

A state of emergency has been declared in Greece as wildfires threaten the capital. Thousands of people are battling to save their homes from the fires raging on the outskirts⁴ of Athens. Firefighters are making some progress using water-bombing aircraft. But the flames are being fanned by unpredictable winds.

 

And there is widespread accusations⁵ of fraud and rigging in Afghanistan’s presidential election. The Election Complaints Commission says it’s already received over 200 complaints. The main challenger Abdullah Abdullah is also accusing the president Hamid Karzai of rigging the vote.

 

And I’ll have more news in an hour.

1 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

2 urn   

n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮

参考例句：

• The urn was unearthed entire.这只瓮出土完整无缺。
• She put the big hot coffee urn on the table and plugged it in.她将大咖啡壶放在桌子上,接上电源。

3 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

4 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。