澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2014-10-01

 A new research has found some household power bills have been increased by up to 1,000 dollars in the past five years. 

 

Another report was by St. Vincent de Paul and Elvis Consulting, and it says the cost of poles and wires make up more than half of some of those bills. 

Well there is a lot of, lot of drives behind prices. And the two both-expensive areas, which is country NSW and South Australia, do have the largest poles and wires cost. So the cost of your poles and wires infrastructure¹ does made up a big proportion of the bill. The difference between retailing² cost is quite significant as well, between 13% in regulated states and up to about 30% in non-regulated states like Victoria. Now we can't understand why there is that huge difference in the cost to send the bill to the house, to household, and to answer queries³ on the phone. 

 

Gavin Dufty there. 

To the markets: 

The Dow has finished the day down slightly. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were also lower. In London, the FTSE lost 1/3 of a percent. 

 

Looking at commodity prices: 

 

West Tax Crudes has traded at 91 US dollars a barrel. And Tapis is at 98 US dollars a barrel. Gold is trading at 1,208 US dollars an ounce. The Australian dollar is buying 87 US cents, 69 Euro cents and 54 pence sterling⁴.

1 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。

2 retailing   

n.零售业v.零售(retail的现在分词)

参考例句：

• career opportunities in retailing 零售业的职业机会
• He is fond of retailing the news. 他喜欢传播消息。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 queries   

n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问

参考例句：

• Our assistants will be happy to answer your queries. 我们的助理很乐意回答诸位的问题。
• Her queries were rhetorical,and best ignored. 她的质问只不过是说说而已，最好不予理睬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。