澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-12-18

 The first funerals have been held for the victims of the mass school shooting in the U.S state of Connecticut. The Community of Newtown has farewelled Noah Pozner and Jack¹ Pinto, both aged² 6. They were among the 26 killed when a gunman opened the fire at the Sandy Hook elementary school.

 

Fiji has suffered a night of heavy rains and strong winds at the hands of cyclone³ Evan. Wind gusts⁴ of up to 270 kilometers an hour were recorded on the Yasawa Islands. There's been a widespread flooding and homes destroyed.

 

The federal government is being forced to defend its changes to the foreign aid budget. It plans to divert a 375 million dollars from overseas aid programs to pay the living expenses of asylum⁵ seekers on the mainland. The Opposition⁶ says the government has blown its asylum seeker budget because it can't control Australia's borders.

 

Thousands of people in India have turned out for the funeral of British nurse Jacintha Saldanha. Ms.Saldanha took her own life after answering a prank⁷ call from radio station 2Day FM. Her husband, son and daughter attended the service along with relatives and locals.

 

A car bomb has killed at least 17 people in Pakistan's Khyber region. More than 70 others were injured when the bomb went off at a busy marketplace. Women and children were among the victims. At this stage, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

4 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

5 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。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。