澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-02-26

The Federal Government is tipped to announce a new rescue package for the insulation¹ industry today. It scrapped² its scheme last week and is now focusing on helping³ workers and businesses. A $ 41 million plan to keep installers in work or training has already been unveiled. And the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has admitted he should have paid more attention to the program.

 The former chief of the defence force Peter Cosgrove says Australia should use nuclear power to reduce its emissions⁴. He made the argument while giving the opening speech at a Liberal ideas forum⁵ in Canberra. Mr. Cosgrove also told the audience he isn’t in favor of Australia expanding its role in Afghanistan.

 The US President Barack Obama has opened a health care summit in Washington. The cross-party meeting is being touted⁶ as a bid to bridge political divisions on the issue. Mr. Obama asked both Democrats⁷ and Republicans to avoid “political theater”. 

And Japan says an Australian proposal to end whaling is regrettable. Australia was heading for the International Whaling Commission with a proposal to ban scientific whaling and phase out harpooning⁸ in the southern ocean. Japan uses a loophole in an international moratorium⁹ to conduct its so-called scientific research. 

We’ll be back with more news later.

 

1 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

2 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

5 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

6 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 harpooning   

v.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的现在分词 )

参考例句：

9 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。