英语听力：澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2013-12-23

 Grave fears are held for a five-year-old boy missing from a beach in south Sydney. A full-scale search for the boy is resuming this morning. He was last seen swimming with his brothers at Dolls Point yesterday afternoon.

 

The Royal Commission into Labor's home insulation¹ scheme will hold a preliminary hearing in Brisbane today. The Federal Government set up the inquiry² earlier this month. It will investigate the decision-making process and whether the deaths of four young tradesmen could have been avoided. 

 

The United Nations is relocating all its non-critical staff from south Sudan as the violence in the country escalates³. Six days of fighting between government and rebel forces has left more than 500 people dead. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes. The Federal Government is warning Australians in south Sudan to leave immediately.

 

And there are fears scores of people may be trapped under the wreckage⁴ of a train that derailed and crashed in one of America's...ah...ah...sorry, Africa's biggest slums. Four cargo⁵ wagons⁶ toppled onto makeshift homes in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Rescue workers have pulled at least seven people alive from the rubble⁷.  

 

And tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have held another rally through the streets of the Thai capital Bangkok. Protesters marched to the home of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, demanding that she resigns. The main opposition⁸ says it will boycott⁹ snap elections which will be held in February.

1 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

2 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

3 escalates   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的第三人称单数 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates. 面临的挑战越大，越需要团队协同合作。 来自互联网
• I cannot understand why a minor disagreement escalates into a fist-fight. 我真不明白为什么一点意见不合就变成了拳头相见。 来自互联网

4 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

5 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

6 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

7 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

8 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。

9 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。