澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-01-25

The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says there will be major changes to the health system this year. The announcement came as he revealed the government faces massive hikes in health costs over the coming decades. Mr. Rudd warned health costs will rise rapidly with the ageing of Australia’s population. Treasury¹ figures predict the Commonwealth² Health spending will increase by more than 200 billion dollars by 2050.

In Haiti, the government has officially ended the search and rescue operation. The international aid effort is now concentrating on providing aid to earthquake survivors³. Critics have claimed aid agencies involved in the relief effort have been competing against each other instead of cooperating. But officials in Haiti say the criticism is unjust.

Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections have been postponed⁴ until September. The election was due in May, but the Independent Election Commission says it lacks the 15 million US dollars needed to organize the poll. Meanwhile five American soldiers have been killed in bombings in Afghanistan’s south.

And Queensland sailor Jessica Watson has passed the halfway⁵ mark in her attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. The 16-year-old from the Sunshine Coast has been sailing for 100 days. Her manager says she is making good progress and is ahead of schedule.

 

More news later.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

5 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。