VOA标准英语2010年-Australia Mourns Mining Executives Kil

Talbot Group Holdings shows Queensland mining magnate Ken¹ Talbot (top C) with management board members of Sundance Resources, killed in West Africa Plane Crash, 21 June 2010

Australia is mourning the deaths of several mining executives, including billionaire tycoon² Ken Talbot, in a plane crash in West Africa. The entire management board of Sundance Resources was wiped out in the accident, leaving the company in crisis.

 

The mining industry has made the Australian economy one of the world's most resilient, so the deaths of so many influential³ figures has made headlines around the country.

Eleven people died when a twin-engine aircraft crashed Saturday into thick jungle near Congo's border with Cameroon in West Africa.

The Australian government says that retrieving⁴ the bodies from such inaccessible⁵ terrain⁶ could be "painstaking⁷".

Among the dead is one of Australia's richest men, Ken Talbot. He made his fortune through a network of pubs before founding a successful mining company, which he later sold.

Talbot was to go on trial in Brisbane in August on corruption⁸ charges. He had denied bribing⁹ a former minister in the Queensland state government.

Friends have remembered a man who was committed to his business and his family.

Former Sundance chairman, George Jones, has been trying to help bereaved¹⁰ relatives cope with their sudden loss.

"I have spoken to a couple of them this evening myself. I have been up all night, overnight and it has not been a pleasant experience, but I cannot tell you how tragic¹¹ it is on behalf of the families. There are young children involved. It is quite overwhelming to lose so many people in one incident," he said.

The plane's flight recorder has been recovered, although Australian authorities say it is too early to say what caused the crash.

The plane had been chartered by the Australian mining company, Sundance Resources. Chairman Geoff Wedlock¹² and other senior executives were on board.

The Perth company says the executives were visiting an iron ore facility that straddles the border between Cameroon and Congo, a project that could generate billions of dollars and provide long-term employment in the region.

The Sundance team had traveled to West Africa as part of plans to expand its operations in the region.

The tragedy prompted the suspension of the company's shares on the Australian Stock Exchange while a new management team is assembled.
 

1 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

2 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

3 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

4 retrieving   

n.检索（过程），取还v.取回( retrieve的现在分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Ignoring all, he searches the ground carefully for any cigarette-end worth retrieving. 没管打锣的说了什么，他留神的在地上找，看有没有值得拾起来的烟头儿。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Retrieving the nodules from these great depths is no easy task. 从这样的海底深渊中取回结核可不是容易的事情。 来自辞典例句

5 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

6 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

7 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

8 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。

9 bribing   

贿赂

参考例句：

• He tried to escape by bribing the guard. 他企图贿赂警卫而逃走。
• Always a new way of bribing unknown and maybe nonexistent forces. 总是用诸如此类的新方法来讨好那不知名的、甚或根本不存在的魔力。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

10 bereaved   

adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物）

参考例句：

• The ceremony was an ordeal for those who had been recently bereaved. 这个仪式对于那些新近丧失亲友的人来说是一种折磨。
• an organization offering counselling for the bereaved 为死者亲友提供辅导的组织

11 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

12 wedlock   

n.婚姻，已婚状态

参考例句：

• My wife likes our wedlock.我妻子喜欢我们的婚姻生活。
• The Fawleys were not made for wedlock.范立家的人就跟结婚没有缘。