澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-05-12

Britain finally has a new prime minister. Conservative leader David Cameron has taken over the job after Gordon Brown resigned a very short time ago. Mr. Brown stepped down after power-sharing talks with the Liberal Democrats¹ collapsed². The Conservatives will now form government with the Lib Dems.

 

In the Philippines,Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino has moved closer to victory in the country's presidential election. The early front-runner Manny Villar has conceded defeat and congratulated Mr. Aquino. But there is still no word from his closest rival, that's the former president Joseph Estrada.

 

Fresh footage has been released of attempts to stop oil spewing from the seabed in the Gulf³ of Mexico. Meanwhile protests have disrupted the start of an official investigation⁴ into the incident. Energy giant BP is facing a multi-million-dollar clean-up bill. But US law caps economic damages from such disasters at 75 million dollars. BP and contractors⁵ are blaming each other for the massive spill.

 

A cloud of volcanic⁶ ash from Iceland has closed airports in North Africa for the first time. Air travel was also disrupted in southern Spain where seven airports were closed. And Turkey's suspended flights over its northwest for four hours. Ash drifting towards France is at high altitude and is not expected to affect airports there.

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。