澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-12-31

 The Prime Minister Julia Gillard will tour Queensland's flood-affected areas today. About 4,000 people have now left their homes to escape the floods. In Emerald, more than 700 people spent the night in evacuation centres, waiting for the Nogoa River to rise. All 130 residents of Condamine west of Brisbane have been airlifted to safety and large parts of the city of Bundaberg remain submerged.

 

Summer has finally arrived in Southern Australia. Fire authorities are on alert as temperatures top 40 degrees across South Australia and Victoria. Catastrophic fire warnings are in force in six regions in South Australia. There are also total fire bans across much of Victoria.

 

A woman has died when her car crashed into a bridge in Melbourne. It brings the national road toll¹ to 12. Six people have died in Victoria and three in New South Wales. There've been no fatalities² in Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania or the ACT.

 

Israel's former President Moshe Katsav has been convicted of raping³ an employee in 1998. He's also been found guilty of indecency and sexual harassment⁴ involving two other women. Katsav was president for seven years. He now faces up to eight years in jail. 

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 raping   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的现在分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网

4 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。