澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-10-15

Chilean President Sebastián Pinera has promised a review of the country's mine safety standards. Mr Pinera met the 33 rescued miners at the hospital where they are recovering. Speaking outside Copiapo Hospital, the president promised that never again in Chile would people be allowed to work in such unsafe and inhumane conditions.

An Australian man has been arrested in India after allegedly accepting a bribe¹ to award a building contract in Afghanistan. Australian construction manager Neil P. Campbell has been indicted² by a US federal grand jury for allegedly seeking a bribe of 190,000 dollars. The US Department of Justice says he sought the bribe from an undercover agent.

The Australian dollar just keeps getting stronger. Overnight, the dollar reached a high of 99.93 US cents. The dollar is at the highest level against the US currency since the dollar was floated in 1983. The latest rise in the Aussie dollar has been a result of growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve will flood the economy with dollars, which will weaken their currency.

Thousands of Australian Catholics are flocking to Rome as the Vatican prepares for the canonization of Mary MacKillop. Eight thousand pilgrims are expected to attend the mass at St Peter's Basilica in Rome, where Pope Benedict will name her Saint Mary of the Cross.

And Delhi's Commonwealth³ Games have drawn⁴ to a close without any of the major catastrophes⁵ that were predicted. After a chaotic⁶ start, Games organizers have given themselves a pat on the back for delivering a functional⁷, if somewhat bumpy⁸, ride to the finish line.

1 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

2 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

3 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

6 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

7 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

8 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。