澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2009-11-07

Unemployment has hit a new high in the United States. Over fifteen million people are looking for work with the jobless rate hitting 10.2% in October. That figure is the highest in over twenty-five years. Although job loss is deep, slow month on month, the US President Barack Obama is calling it a sobering¹ reminder² of the challenges facing the US economy.

A tiny group of protestors has welcomed the G20 Finance³ Ministers to St Andrews in Scotland. They’re meeting to follow up on talks in September aimed at pulling the world economy out of a slump⁴. Ahead of the meeting, the British Chancellor⁵ has warned of a decade of low growth and high unemployment.

Those jobless figures put a downturn on Wall Street. The Dow’s just in the positive, up 17 points. Similar figures for the other indices. Shares in Europe also fell after the US jobs figures were released, although markets did recover as the day went on. London’s FTSE gained one third of a percent with British Airways’ announcement that it’s cutting 1,200 jobs, giving the market a kick alone. A slower day in Germany, the DAX picked up just 7 points. Australia closed the week on a high with both the majors closing up close to 2 %. And the dollar is back up over ninety-one US cents.

That’s ABC Business News.

1 sobering   

有节制的； 清醒的，冷静的； 朴素的，柔和的； 持重的

参考例句：

• The dreadful, haunting fear of nuclear warfare casts a sobering pall over all international relations. 经常出现的对于核战争的恐惧在一切国际关系上投下了一道愁人的阴影。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• On that sobering note, here's how to as safe as possible. 以下是如何尽可能的确保密码安全的一些建议。

2 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

3 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。

4 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

5 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。