澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-01-06

 Leading the news this morning:

 

Rockhampton's residents are sleeping a little easier. The water level hasn't reached its predicted peak of 9.4 metres. In fact, it hasn't risen since Tuesday, but more rain is on the way. At this stage, authorities don't think it'll add to the water level, but it's likely to make the flood last longer.

 

And over in the west, they're dealing¹ with their own flood emergency. Western Australia's Gascoyne region is flooding for the second time in three weeks. The Gascoyne River is about to peak and residents have been advised to leave their homes. 

 

South of the state in Queensland, in St George, it's a race against time to get ready for Monday's expected flood peak. It's still raining there, and the town has now run out of sandbags. Most residents in the town's nursing home have been evacuated² to Brisbane, and many people are preparing to leave their houses there. 

 

A former Australian soldier convicted of murder in Afghanistan has escaped the death penalty. Robert Langdon was found guilty of shooting an Afghan colleague during a dispute in 2009. The Australian newspaper is quoting court documents that reveal he's now been sentenced to 20 years in jail.

 

And Washington is preparing for yet another bruising³ political year. The new Republican-dominated Congress has just been sworn in. The party wrested⁴ control of the House of Representatives in the November mid-term elections. And it's vowing⁵ to make life very difficult for President Obama.

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

3 bruising   

adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式)

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• He slipped and fell, badly bruising an elbow. 他滑倒了，一只胳膊肘严重擦伤。 来自辞典例句

4 wrested   

（用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去…

参考例句：

• The usurper wrested the power from the king. 篡位者从国王手里夺取了权力。
• But now it was all wrested from him. 可是现在，他却被剥夺了这一切。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。