澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2013-01-02

 French President Francios Hollande is talking about he'll push ahead with plans to raise the tax rate on the rich. He wants to lift the rate to 75 per cent.

 

A court scuttled¹ the plan last month when it ruled the measure was unconstitutional. Mr Hollande says the legislation will be reworded and submitted again. He's also promised to take all efforts to cut unemployment which topped three million last year.

 

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron is urging his fellow G-8 leaders to take bold steps to help boost global economic growth in 2013. UK has begun its year-long presidency² of the G-8 group of nations.

 

Mr Cameron says his priorities will be to extend free trade, tackle tax evasion³ and combat government corruption⁴. Britain will host the annual G-8 leaders' summit in Northern Ireland in June.

 

To the markets now and this is how the world financial markets finished in 2012. Of course, the markets remain closed for the New Year's holiday today.

 

But we have a look at commodity prices. West Texas Crude is trading at 92 US dollars a barrrel. Tapis Crude is trading at 116 US dollars a barrel. And gold is worth 1675 US dollars an ounce.

 

The Australian dollar is buying 104 US cents, 79 Euro cents and 64 pence sterling⁵.

1 scuttled   

v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声，她赶紧跑开了。
• The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

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。