澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-03-21

 And Saudi Arbi says speculations¹ are behind the current high oil prices and suppliers are in excess of demand. Petrol prices in Australia are nearing one dollar and sixty a liter.The Saudi Oil Minister says,crude at 125 US dollars a barrel is too high,given the anemic state of the world's economy.

 

He also says Saudi Arbi will make up the short fall,when the sanctions on Iran take effect in July.The International Monetary² Fund Chief,Christine Lagarde says there are concerns of tensions over the crude suppliers,could lead to even more price-rises.

 

Essentially³,what everybody is talking about at this moment is oil,the price of oil.Could there be any economic crisis that would actually arise from tension,that are both supply driven and also,geo-politically agitated⁴.And I think that's where,that's where the world is essentially concerned at the moment.

 

Christine Lagarde .

 

Let's go the markets now.

 

The DOW JONES closed 68 points lower overnight.The NASDAQ dropped four.The S&P 500 also shed fall.And in London,the FTSE finished 69 points lower.

 

Checking commodities prices now.

West Texas Crude is trading 105 US dollars and 66 cents a barrel.Tapis Crude's at 131 US dollars and 37 cents a barrel.And Gold's at 1650 US dollars an ounce.

 

 

The Australian dollar is buying a dollar and four US cents,it's weaken overnight,79 Euro cents and 66 pence sterling⁵.

1 speculations   

n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断

参考例句：

• Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》

2 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

5 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。