澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-02-29

 And Greece's credit rating has been downgraded to below junk status.Rating agency,Standard&Poor's has classified Greek debt as being in selective default.The European Central Bank says Greek bonds can no longer be used as collateral¹ for loans to commercial banks until the middle of next month.

 

And one of Britain's biggest banks, Barclays, has been ordered to pay millions of dollars after the government outlawed² two tax avoidance schemes.Tax authorities say anyone else involved in the scheme will be tracked down and prosecuted³.

 

Well,if anybody else is involved in these arrangements,HMRC will find out about it.There are disclosure requirements.HMRC will obviously be scrutinizing⁴ the financial affairs of a bank or other tax payers,so if anyone else is trying to use the same theme,then they will be caught in exactly the same way.

 

To the markets,the Dow closed 23 points higher,the NASDAQ was up 20 points.The S&P500 also made ground and in London the FTSE rose 12 points.

 

Checking commodities prices,West Texas Crude is trading at a dollar and six US dollars a barrel.Tapis Crude at one hundred and thirty one US dollars a barrel and gold 1782 US dollars an ounce.The Australian dollar is buying a dollar and seven US cents ,79 Euro cents and 67 pence sterling⁵.

1 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

2 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

3 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

4 scrutinizing   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His grandfather's stern eyes were scrutinizing him, and Chueh-hui felt his face reddening. 祖父的严厉的眼光射在他的脸上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The machine hushed, extraction and injection nozzles poised, scrutinizing its targets. 机器“嘘”地一声静了下来，输入输出管道各就各位，检查着它的目标。 来自互联网

5 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。