澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-09-15

 The man charged with Sydney’s collar bomb hoax¹ could be back in Australia within days. Paul Peters appeared in court in Louisville, Kentucky and decided² not to fight his extradition³. It’s alleged⁴ the Australian businessman attached a fake bomb to Mosman schoolgirl Madeleine Pulver in an attempt to extort⁵ money from her family. 

 

The leaders of France, Germany and Greece have held emergency talks to try to come up with a plan to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debts. The leaders have dismissed suggestions that Greece could be forced out of the eurozone. There are concerns that Europe’s debt problems are threatening the very future of the European Union. 

 

And NASA has revealed plans for a new generation of space travel. It wants to build a rocket that can take astronauts to Mars and beyond. The project is expected to cost more than $16 billion and would be ready for its first test flight in six years. 

 

And Qantas passengers could face flight disruptions next week. As many as 4,000 baggage handlers and caterers will go on strike for four hours next Tuesday. The strike is part of an ongoing⁶ industrial action over pay and conditions. Qantas is warning flights could be disrupted for up to two days.

1 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 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。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 extort   

v.勒索，敲诈，强要

参考例句：

• The blackmailer tried to extort a large sum of money from him.勒索者企图向他勒索一大笔钱。
• They absolutely must not harm the people or extort money from them.严格禁止坑害勒索群众。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。