澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-05-31

In the US, it's feared it could be more than two months before oil stops leaking from a well in the Gulf¹ of Mexico. BP's latest attempt to plug the leak failed. Twenty million gallons have so far spewed into the Gulf in the worst oil disaster in US history.

 

The Greens plan to introduce a private members bill which would require all major taxpayer-funded campaigns to be cleared by the auditor-general. Last week, the Government exempted² itself from its own guidelines so it can quickly roll out ads to promote the tax.

 

The Federal Government has scored only “mediocre” grades for its foreign policy performance. A Lowy Institute’s survey gave the Government only four out of 10 for its handling of asylum³ seekers and whaling and five out of 10 for its efforts to combat climate change.

 

The New South Wales, in southern New South Wales, 3,000 homes without power after strong winds and heavy rain hit the area over the weekend. State Emergency Services has received more than 350 calls for help. A severe weather warning remains⁴ in place for the Illawarra region, south of Sydney.

 

And China has resisted pressure from South Korea and Japan to censure⁵ the North for sinking a South Korean warship⁶. South Korea has accused the North of sinking the ship which killed 46 people in March.

1 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。

2 exempted   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His bad eyesight exempted him from military service. 他因视力不好而免服兵役。
• Her illness exempted her from the examination. 她因病而免试。

3 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 censure   

v./n.责备；非难；责难

参考例句：

• You must not censure him until you know the whole story.在弄清全部事实真相前不要谴责他。
• His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.他的不诚实行为受到了严厉指责。

6 warship   

n.军舰，战舰

参考例句：

• He is serving on a warship in the Pacific.他在太平洋海域的一艘军舰上服役。
• The warship was making towards the pier.军舰正驶向码头。