澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-03-03

Water levels have started to drop in the Queensland towns of Charleville and Roma. But authorities are warning the flood threat is far from over. Hundreds of people had to spend the night in an evacuation center. The towns have been declared disaster zones after seeing some of the heaviest rain in years.

 

The US Secretary of State has arrived in Chile as looting in Concepcion gets out of control. Many residents haven’t got enough food and a curfew has been extended by several hours. The official death toll¹ from Saturday’s earthquake has risen to 795.

 

Police say they’ve discovered more than 50 fake bombs at a vacant house in Sydney’s southeast. The bomb squad² was called to the house at Maroubra and surrounding residents were evacuated³. Police believe a man may have deliberately⁴ booby-trapped his house. He died in hospital more than a week ago.

 

And the Federal Opposition⁵ Leader continues his outback adventure today with a camel-mastering operation in the Northern Territory. He’ll also visit an Aboriginal⁶ training program, and be taken on a witchetty-grub-hunts. Mr. Abbott is using the four-day trip to learn ways to boost the education and employment prospects⁷ of Aboriginals⁸.

 

And there will be more news later.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

3 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

4 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

7 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

8 aboriginals   

（某国的）公民( aboriginal的名词复数 )； 土著人特征； 土生动物（或植物）

参考例句：

• He remained fascinated by the Aboriginals' tales. 他一直对澳大利亚土著居民的传说极感兴趣。
• They drove the aboriginals out of their lands at sword point. 他们以武力将土著人赶出他们的家园。