Australia now knows the cost of its summer of disasters, with the flooding and a cyclone氣旋 in resources-rich Queensland hitting the country's bottom line.
It's contributed to a 1.2 % fall in GDP, the biggest contraction in the Australian economy in twenty years.
With rail lines buckled彎曲,扭曲 by flood waters and digging brought to a halt at many mines, coal exports from Queensland were particularly severely嚴厲的 hit.
The Australian economy has also been badly affected by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Japan is the country's second biggest trading partner.
On top of all that, the Australian dollar has been at its highest levels against the US dollar since first being floated in the 1980s, which has also hit exporters.
Australia managed to avoid recession不景氣, 後退 after the global financial crisis, earning it the nickname 'the wonder from down under'. And most economists think this figure is a one-off blip曇花一現.
Asian demand for Australian resources, like iron ore and coal, should help the economy rebound反彈, and the prediction預測 is for a resumption of恢復 strong growth by the end of the year.
Nick Bryant, BBC News, Sydney
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/06/110601_witn_australia_economy.shtml
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