澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2009-10-24

Official figures show that the UK is in the grip of the longest recession since records began. Britain's economy contracted in the third quarter of this year, with the GDP falling 0.4%.This comes as a surprise to economists¹ who were expecting a rise of about 0.2%. It’s taken longer for the UK to recover from the downturn than France, Germany and Japan, who’ve all emerged from a recession.

Australia’s multi-million-dollar tuna fishing industry is facing a drastic cut. The nations that fish bluefin tuna have voted for a 20% reduction to try to save the species. But Australia has been given a 30% cut.

And the Australian government has approved a 3.5-billion-dollar takeover of Felix Resources by the Chinese coal miner Yanzhou Coal. It’s the biggest Chinese state investment in Australia’s resources sector² to date.

Let’s take a look at how markets finished up in the US. Wall Street slumped³ on Friday with the Dow Jones finishing below the 10,000 mark, dragged down by industrial companies. In Europe, the FTSE shrugged⁴ off the sharp fall in Britain’s GDP, closing up 0.7%.

And in early trade, the Australian dollar slipped against the greenback. It’s buying 92 US cents.

And that’s ABC Business News.

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

4 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》