澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-07-12

 A new poll has taken the wind out of Julia Gillard's sails as the Prime Minister continues to try and sell her carbon tax. The latest Newspoll published in The Australian and taken just before the carbon tax announcement shows Labor's primary vote has slumped¹ to a record low of 27 per cent. The Coalition's primary vote is up to 49, and support for carbon tax remained unchanged, still at 30 per cent.

 

Qantas pilots are threatening to go on strike for the first time in decades. The airline's long-haul pilots have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action. The Pilots Association is accusing Qantas of jeopardising safety by using pilots who are not trained in Australia. Qantas says the demands of the pilots are excessive and unsustainable.

 

The United States has condemned² an attack on its own embassy in Syria by government supporters. The US says a mob attacked its embassy, smashing windows and writing anti-US graffiti on the building. At least three people were wounded also in an attack on the French embassy. Guards there fired shots into the air to stop hundreds of people storming the building.

 

Russia has declared a national day of mourning as the death toll³ from a sunken cruise ship continues to rise. Up to 120 people are feared dead after the ship sank on Russia's Volga River. It's feared that many of the dead are children. Eighty people have been rescued, and officials say the boat was overcrowded at the time.

1 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

2 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 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。