澳洲新闻 ABC新闻快递 2012-12-23

 And when the markets in Europe closed a couple of hours ago, London's FTSE 100 was down. The Dax and Euro were also lower. In the US, trading comes to a close shortly and the Dow Jones is down, while the S&P 500 is down as well. 

 

 

 

And the Australian dollar is worth around 104 US this morning. It'll also buy you around 64 British pence and 126 New Zealand.

 

 

 

The latest attempt to avoid the automatic spending cuts and tax rises, known as the US fiscal¹ cliff, has failed. A vote on a Republican bill to limit tax increase has been abandoned in the House of Respresentatives due to a lack of support. The speaker John Boehner says it's now up to President Barack Obama to hammer out a deficit² reduction deal with the Democrats³ in the Senate.

 

 

 

Telstra is issuing refunds⁵ to customers in the order of 30 million dollars for overcharging on global roaming services since 2006. Telstra became aware of the issue when it conducted an audit⁶ earlier this year. It says customers were charged multiple data session fees due to the way international carrier generate their data usage records. Teltra says it's contacting the affected⁷ customers to provide a full refund⁴ of which the majority are now complete.

1 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

2 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

5 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句

6 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。