澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-12-16

 Former Countdown host Molly Meldrum is in a critical condition after a fall at his Melbourne home. Late last night, Meldrum underwent surgery for suspected brain swelling¹ and broken ribs². He remains³ in an induced coma⁴. 

 

The Indonesian agriculture minister has confirmed the country will slash⁵ the amount of beef import from Australia next year. Indonesia will take only 280,000 cows in 2012--that's compared to 520,000 this year. And Minister Suswono has told the ABC Australian exports will be phased out altogether over the next three or four years. 

 

After nearly nine years of war, the US flag has been formally lowered in Baghdad, marking the end of the American military operations in that country. Only about 4,000 US soldiers remain in Iraq, but they are due to leave over the next two weeks. 

 

The political deadlock⁶ in Papua New Guinea may have entered a dangerous new phase with extra police flown into the capital to take control of government assets. Both Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neil are still both claiming to be the country's prime minister. Police aligned⁷ to Mr O'Neil have begun taking control of key assets including the government printing office. 

 

And the former French President Jacques Chirac has been convicted of embezzlement⁸ and breach⁹ of trust. The charges date back to Chirac's time as mayor of Paris. The 79-year-old has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

1 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

2 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

5 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

6 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

7 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

8 embezzlement   

n.盗用，贪污

参考例句：

• He was accused of graft and embezzlement and was chained and thrown into prison.他因被指控贪污盗窃而锒铛入狱。
• The judge sent him to prison for embezzlement of funds.法官因他盗用公款将其送入监牢。

9 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。