澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-08-23

Australia is in uncertain political territory today. Three independent MPs hold the power to decide whether Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott will be given the opportunity to form the next Federal Government. The ABC’s predicting the Coalition¹ will win 73 seats, while Labor² will win 72. That’s four short of a majority, with the Greens and independent MPs taking the rest. One seat is still undecided.

An Australian medical crew will leave for Pakistan today to help the aid effort for the country’s floods. Tens of thousands of more people in southern Pakistan are coming under threat from rising waters. Half a million residents in the town of Shahdadkot are fleeing the floodwaters.

Two Australian soldiers seriously wounded in Afghanistan are in a stable condition. The Department of Defence says the soldiers are at Tarin Kowt after an improvised³ explosive device blew up near their armored vehicle in the Baluchi Valley. They were from the same Brisbane-based regiment⁴ as the two Australian soldiers who were killed on patrol on Friday.

An 18-year-old man has died after he and his brothers were shot in Sydney’s west last night. Police say they were shot by a group of masked men during an assault at their Werrington home just after ten o’clock.

Egyptian officials are blaming the theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting on poor security. Investigators⁵ say none of the alarms at the Khalil Museum and only seven of the 43 security cameras were working. The 50-million-dollar painting called "Poppy Flowers" was cut from its frame.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

4 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》