AU news 0731

The Construction Union is warning of a huge downturn in the sector. The CFMEU has researched from Access Economics, indicating around 80,000 construction jobs will be lost by 2012. And apprenticeships will fall by 10%. It’s calling on the Federal Government to draw up a crisis plan to address the issue.

In New Zealand, the man who abandoned his young daughter at a Melbourne train station in 2007 has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife. Nai Yin Xue did not react as the judge handed down the sentence in Auckland. Xue’s 5-year-old daughter has been raised by her maternal grandmother in China.

Spanish police have launched a major security operation on the island of Mallorca after a bomb explosion killed two civil guards. It’s the second such attack this week being blamed on the Basque's separatist group ETA. Forty-six people were hurt. Authorities have shut down air and sea ports in a bid to catch the culprits.

And Australia has made a solid start in the rain-affected third Ashes Test. Shane Watson made an unbeaten 62 to steer the tourist to 1 for 126 at starts.

I'll be back with more news in an hour.

• New Words
• Pronunciation
• Simple Meaning

• downturn
•  
• If there is a downturn in the economy or in a company or industry, it becomes worse or less successful than it had been

• sector
•  
• A particular sector of a country's economy is the part connected with that specified type of industry.

• apprenticeship
•  
• Someone who has an apprenticeship works for a fixed period of time for a person who has a particular skill in order to learn the skill. Apprenticeship is the system of learning a skill like this.

• address
•  
• to think about a problem or a situation and decide how you are going to deal with it

• maternal
• /məˈtɜːnl/
• A maternal relative is one who is related through a person's mother rather than their father.

• civil guards
•  
• 民卫队

• culprit
•  
• When you are talking about a crime or something wrong that has been done, you can refer to the person who did it as the culprit.

• solid start
•  
• 良好的开端

• steer
•  
• If you steer people towards a particular course of action or attitude, you try to lead them gently in that direction.

• The Construction Union
•  
• 建设联盟

• CFMEU
•  
• 矿业和能源业工会

• Auckland
•  
• 奥克兰

• Basque's separatist group ETA
•  
• 巴斯克分裂组织“埃塔”

转载于:https://www.cnblogs.com/cnxyang/archive/2009/11/15/1602581.html