澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-01-19

 The floodwaters are continuing to make their relentless¹ advance through northwest Victoria. And things have taken a turn for the worst in Kerang. One of the levees protecting the town is leaking and could fail. Residents have been told they only have a few hours to get out of the town.

 

As Horsham assesses the damage there, further west in Warracknabeal, residents are preparing for the worst, too. A caravan² park has been evacuated⁴ and people living along the Yarriambiack Creek⁵ have been told to leave their homes. Twenty households chose to evacuate³ overnight. A levee has been built and homes have been sandbagged.

 

Wild storms have lashed⁶ southeast Queensland, causing more damage for residents trying to rebuild after the floods. Power lines were brought down, roofs damaged and trees were seen crashing into homes and cars. Winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour hit Ipswich and there was hail in the Lockyer Valley.

 

Police in Sydney are investigating a fatal shooting in the city’s southwest. Two men were shot at Ruse⁷ at about 9:30 last night. One died, the other is recovering in hospital. Police are still searching for the gunmen.

 

Just a day after Tunisia formed a new unity⁸ government, it's all starting to fall apart. At least three members have resigned. There's been more violence on the streets of the capital Tunis. Many people are still upset that the new government includes people from the old authoritarian⁹ regime. 

1 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

2 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

3 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

4 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。

5 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

6 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ruse   

n.诡计，计策；诡计

参考例句：

• The children thought of a clever ruse to get their mother to leave the house so they could get ready for her surprise.孩子们想出一个聪明的办法使妈妈离家，以便他们能准备给她一个惊喜。It is now clear that this was a ruse to divide them.现在已清楚这是一个离间他们的诡计。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。