英语听力：澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2014-03-04

 The federal government is pushing ahead with plans to lift foreign ownership restrictions¹ on Qantas. It'll bring legislation by the end of the week to repeal² the part of the Qantas Sale Act, but it faces not-repeal battling in the senate. Labor³ and the Greens oppose the move. 

 

 

The first witness of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial says she was woken by bloodcurdling screams of the night the athlete's girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp died. The neighbour says she did hear four gun shots. The Oscar Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms. Steenkamp one year ago. 

 

 

Russia has denied issuing an ultimatum⁴ to Ukrainian forces in Crimea. Ukraine says Russia's navy has given them just hours to surrender or Russia will launch a military attack. Russia has ignored demands by the West withdrawal⁵ and is in fact targetting its scripmle on the region. 

 

 

An Australian employee in the security firm G4S claims local police did nothing to control last month's violence on the Manus Island detention⁶ center. The employee says police allowed local staff to break into the facility, armed with machetes, rocks, sticks, and metal poles, and some of them even joined in the violence. 

 

 

And Australia is getting hotter, but it's also getting winter. The latest state of count report looks how the nation's weather has changed over the past two years. The report says Australia's temperature has risen by almost one degree, and average rainfall has increased over the last century.

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 ultimatum   

n.最后通牒

参考例句：

• This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
• The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。

5 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

6 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。