英语听力：澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2014-05-18

 Australian shares slipped on Friday tracking a pullback in Wall Street's stocks overnight. Both the All Ords and the ASX 200 ended the session down 0.6%. Retail¹ of Pacific Brands lost almost 2%, Myer stocks were lower as well, with Nine Entertainment falling 3%. And the big four banks also wade² on the market. 

 

Checking elsewhere on the region now: 

 

Japan's Nikkei is down 202 points, the Heng Seng is also losing ground. And the Australian Dollar is currently buying 93.5 US cents. 

 

The construction giant Leighton Holdings has reached a settlement to the shareholder³ class action over its disclosure practices. Leighton has agreed to pay a total of 69.5 million dollars to thousands of investors⁴ who bought shares between August 2010 and April 2011. They claim the company failed to disclose problems at some of its key infrastructure⁵ projects that resulted in a series of profit down-grades. Leighton still denies the claim and says the agreement is not an admission of liability. 

 

And official figures show the amount of money borrowed for homes is easing. The figures from the Bureau of Statistics will bill the total value of loans the owner occupies fell 102% from February to March; it coincides with data out early this week that showed a slowdown in house price growth. Today's figures also show amounts borrowed for personal loans also fell during the month by 1.7%.

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

3 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。