澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-06-01

 Leading the news this morning. Three people have died in an overnight house fire in Melbourne's southeast. It's believed they are a woman and two children. Neighbors say they tried to break into the house at Clayton South, but shutters¹ prevented them gettig inside to rescue anyone. They say the children are of primary age and their father is overseas. The cause of the fire is not yet known. 

 

The U.S. has warned Russia its support for the Syrian regime is contributing to a civil war. But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she will continue to try to persuade Russia to support stronger action against the Syrian regime. 

 

The former U.S. presidential candidate, John Edwards has walked free after a judge declared a mistrial on charges of misusing² campaign donations. A jury has also acquitted³ hime on one count of taking illegal campaign contributions.The charges relate to his 2008 bid for the democratic presidential nomination⁴.  

 

New South Wales prison guards are taking industrial action today after one of their own was jailed for bashing an inmate⁵ last year.The Newcastle officer was jailed for seven months after the hepatitis C infected infected inmate spat⁶ in his face.  

 

And the queen has awarded former Prime Minister John Howard, the prestigious⁷ Order of Merit at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The award recognises distinguised service in various fields. Mr. Howard says it's a personal honor to receive the gold. 

1 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

2 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网

3 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

6 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

7 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。