澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-02-24

 It's been a grim night for the residents of Christchurch. An overnight curfew has been in place in the central city as rescue teams continue searching for survivors¹. Two Australian women were pulled alive from the rubble² yesterday. And the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has concerns about three Australians who are still missing. The death toll³ remains⁴ at 75. There are still some hopes of finding more people alive. 

 

The European Union is moving to draw up sanctions against Libya. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is battling to retain control of his country. Protesters are consolidating⁵ their gains in the east. Hundreds of refugees are now pouring across the border into Tunisia, and thousands of foreigners are trying to flee the country as well. 

 

Thousands more people have joined protesters camped out in Bahrain's capital. They were led by a group of political prisoners released by the country's regime. Their release has been seen as a sign that the government wants to start reform talks with the opposition⁶. 

 

Violence has erupted in Athens during a huge rally against the Greek government's austerity measures. Protesters hurled⁷ rocks and petrol bombs at riot police who responded with tear gas. A 24-hour strike has crippled the country. 

 

And a British court will rule today on attempts to extradite Julian Assange to Sweden. The Wikileaks founder⁸ is facing allegations of sexually assaulting two women. Mr Assange has denied those claims. And today's ruling is unlikely to be the end of that extradition⁹ battle. Both parties are able to appeal this decision.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 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。

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 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。