澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-04-08

 Brazil is in shock after a gunman shot dead at least 10 children at a school in Rio de Janeiro before killing¹ himself. About a dozen others, mostly children, were also injured. Police say the shooter said he was there to speak at a conference before walking into a classroom and then opening fire. He was armed with two guns and had a suicide note.

 

Japan’s ambassador in Ivory Coast has been rescued in a daring operation by French troops. The ambassador and seven of his staff were trapped in the embassy for hours after troops loyal to Laurent Gbagbo overran the building and used it as a base to fire weapons. Fierce fighting has broken out in Abidjan once again where the besieged² president is still refusing to surrender.

 

Patrick Stevedores³ will take legal action today to try to stop a strike action at its ports. The Maritime⁴ Union is planning a series of rolling strikes from tomorrow in its battle with the company for more pay. The company says the action will disrupt dozens of ships at ports around the country.

 

The Australian Defence Association has launched a counterattack on a minister over his reaction to a sex scandal at the Defence Force Academy. It’s accusing Stephen Smith of overreacting and unfairly maligning⁵ the military. Mr Smith accused the academy of poorly managing the young cadet, who claimed she was secretly filmed having sex with a colleague.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

3 stevedores   

n.码头装卸工人，搬运工( stevedore的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The stevedores' work is to load and unload ships. 装卸工人的工作是装卸船只。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stevedores will see to that. 搬运工会格外注意。 来自商贸英语会话

4 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

5 maligning   

vt.污蔑，诽谤（malign的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She was criticized for maligning innocent people. 她由于中伤好人而受到批评。 来自互联网