澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-11-22

 Israel and Hamas have stepped back from the brink¹ of war this morning. A ceasefire was declared, an hour and a half ago, after a week of bloodshed, the truce² was announced by Egypt's foreign minister at a Cairo news conference with the U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

 

Refugee groups say the latest move to deal with growing tide of asylum³ seekers is a further erosion of basic human rights. There are now too many people to be sent offshore⁴, so many will now be released into the community on the so called bridging visas, which won't allow them to work.

 

A former union official at the central of AWU fraud scandal says he'll speak to police in return for immunity⁵ from prosecution⁶. Ralph Blewitt has returned from Malaysia to reveal what he knows about the misuse⁷ of the union slush fund which Julia Gillard help to create when she was a lawyer in the 1990s. He says the prime minister still has a lot of questions to answer.

 

Police are investigating two drive-by shootings in Sydney overnight. A man was shot in the leg several times while sitting in a car in Guildford's west. An hour later, a shot was fired into a house in Bella Vista⁸.

 

And a deal to end Tasmania's long running forestry⁹ dispute may be announced today. It's understood environmental and industry groups have agreed to protect 560,000 hectares of forest from logging. Tasmania's cabinet is expected to sign the agreement this morning before presenting it to parliament on the last sitting day of the year.

1 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

2 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

3 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

4 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

5 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

6 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

7 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

8 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

9 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。