澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-08-20

Today's Newspoll indicates Labor¹'s losing its lead over the Coalition². And it shows support for Labor and the Coalition split 50-50 on a two-party-preferred basis. But the Galaxy³ Poll tips Julia Gillard will scrape into power, with the number showing Labor has a lead of 52 to 48 per cent.

Australian Democrats⁴ candidate Darren Andrews has withdrawn⁵ from the campaign after admitting to attempting to procure⁶ a child for sex. He was standing⁷ for the seat of Sturt in Adelaide. Channel 7 revealed that he tried to meet a 15-year-old boy who turned out to be a police officer posing as a child on the Internet. The Democrats say Mr Andrews lied about not having a criminal record.

The last US combat brigade has left Iraq seven and a half years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. About 50,000 US soldiers will remain in the country until the end of next year to train local forces and protect US interest there.

A growing number of Americans incorrectly believe that US President Barack Obama is Muslim. A survey of 3,000 Americans found almost 20 per cent thought he was a Muslim, that's up from 11 per cent last year. The poll was taken before Mr Obama defended developers' rights to build a controversial Islamic centre near the site of the September 11 attacks.

And police are appealing for the mother of a baby found dead in Sydney's inner west to come forward. A postmortem will be carried out on the baby girl, whose body was found yesterday in a shoebox behind an apartment in Strathfield. Police believe the infant was discarded on a pathway near the building.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

4 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》

5 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

6 procure   

vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条

参考例句：

• Can you procure some specimens for me?你能替我弄到一些标本吗？
• I'll try my best to procure you that original French novel.我将尽全力给你搞到那本原版法国小说。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。