Vocabulary In the News : 11 September 2009 – The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

A readable pdf format you can download can be found HERE. To access The Sydney Morning Herald, go to: http://www.smh.com.au/

- According to article in the left-hand column, Australia’s wealthy are getting walloped by the economic downturn. In other words, they are being hit hard by the economic meltdown. A meltdown is the sudden and complete failure of company, organization or system. The author of the article also says that the rich are bearing the brunt of this economic crisis. If you bear/take the brunt of a storm, you get hit by worst and strongest part of that storm. http://business.smh.com.au/business/rich-get-walloped-by-the-downturn-20090910-fjej.html 

- Well, the world finally knows the truth about Semenya’s sex. The secret has been stripped bare. If you strip bare, it means you take off all your clothes until you are completely naked for the whole world to see. In this context, the truth has been uncovered about her/his (who knows what possessive pronoun to use now!) sex for everyone to know. We also can use the term in forestry, agriculture, etc... For example, there are areas of West Virginia’s mountains that have been stripped bare of trees in order to mine for coal. So, you want to know more about Semenya’s sex? Then you’ll just have to read the article! A video is also available at the link. http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/secret-of-semenyas-sex-stripped-bare/2009/09/11/1252519599453.html

- The Australian Wheat Board (AWB) is being taking to court and scrutinized (examined) for alleged kickbacks, in the form of transport fees, given to the Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq when there were sanctions in place. Kickbacks is simply money paid illegally to someone in exchange for something they have done for you. To scrutinize something is to examine it carefully. What is also under scrutiny is how much did Prime Minister Howard’s government know. http://www.smh.com.au/national/iraq-payments-were-approved-at-top-level-awb-20090910-fjek.html 

Front page of the The Sydney Morning Herald taken from http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/