澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2015-09-27

 The head of the US Central Bank expects official US interest rates rise by the end of the year. Janet Yellen says she expects the federal funds rate to increase in 2015 as long as there are no economic surprises. Mrs. Yellen was speaking a week after the federal reserve kept rates on hold citing global economic uncertainty¹. It was another volatile² day of trade on the local market after Janet Yellen's speech. The All Ord rates Index opened high, but ended the day weaker. The ASX 200 lost more than 0.5 %.  Looking at the movers. Travelled education company Vocation³ jumped nearly 40%, after a settlement with the authorities over its deregistered traing firm. The miners rose. The big banks pulled the market down and Myer surged 8.5% on takeover talk. US markets ended lower after Janet Yellen said she thought a rise in US rates. The Dow Jones Index dropped 0.5%. Spot gold jumped overnight, but pulled back during the day. West Taxis Crude Oil gained, and the Australian dollar trading about 70 US cents after falling below that overnight as the green bank rose. Now Australian POST has made its first loss in more than 30 years as customers go digital. The company made enough to tax loss of just over 220 million dollars last financial year. Australian POST says as profitable parcels business fail to offset⁴ large losses in its latest business, in 2014 it made a profit of nearly 120 million dollars.  

1 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

2 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

3 vocation   

n.职业，行业

参考例句：

• She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
• She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。

4 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。