英语听力：澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2013-09-22

 Australian shares have retreated from yesterday’s five-year highs with the biggest losses, the healthcare and resources stocks. The All Ordinaries index ended down 0.4 percent, as did the ASX 200 index. However, the market is up one per cent for the week. Across the region, it was a fairly weak session. Japan’s Nikkei is trading just a little lower. Hong Kong’s market is closed for a public holiday. And the US Federal Reserve's decision to continue the flow of cheap money is still supporting the Australian dollar, though it has come down a little from the more than 95 US cents it hit yesterday.But it's still worth 94.46 US cents. 

 

Shares in the mining services company Boart Longyear are in a trading halt amid speculation¹ about the progress of a 317-million-dollar debt sale. The company has requested its shares be placed in a halt until Tuesday. Last week, the ratings agency Stand&Poor's cut Board Longyear's credit rating from B+ to B. The company has already slushed more than 2,800 jobs this year amid a downturn in mining activity. 

 

Taking a look at some of the market movers on the sharemarket today. BHP Billiton is down two thirds of a per cent. The Commonwealth² Bank managed to finish flat after trading lower for most of the day. Telstra managed some strong gains and David Jones jumped close to two per cent. Virgin³ Australia went the other way, down over four.

1 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

2 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。