新西兰英语 102 Electricity problems in Auckland

Yesterday, the power went off in parts of eastern Auckland and Newmarket around 1.10pm. There was a fault in the transformer at the Penrose sub-station. This sub-station usually has three transformers but one was not working because it was being main

新西兰英语 432 Control of Fresh Water

The Minister for the Environment, Dr Nick Smith, said today that the government will spend money on controlling our fresh water and will make some important laws. New Zealand is number 3 in the world for the amount of water per person. We have many r

新西兰英语 446 Wool Week

Wool Week opened early yesterday morning in Wellington with a display of sheep shearing at the railway station. Then children brought in their pet lambs. People on their way to work stopped to watch. Then there was a fashion parade of woolen clothes

新西兰英语 445 Job losses

Financial problems in the Yarrows bakery factory mean that 41 workers will lose their jobs and another 192 workers are worried about the future. Yarrows in an unusual factory. It was started by husband and wife, Alf and Grace Yarrows, in 1923 and has

新西兰英语 444 Safer driving over the weekend

Queens Birthday weekend finished in New Zealand with no deaths from road crashes. This is amazing. It is the first holiday weekend since 1951 when there have been no deaths on the roads. It is possible that the high cost of petrol means that there we

新西兰英语 443 Queen’s Birthday weekend

This weekend is a holiday weekend. New Zealand celebrates the Queens Birthday on the first Monday in June each year. However, it is not the Queens real birthday. Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21st April 1926. Her father, grandfather and Queen Victor

新西兰英语 442 Predicting earthquakes

Some geologists have predicted that Canterbury has a 23% chance of another major earthquake in the next year. This is based on what computers can tell them from other earthquakes around the world but it is still impossible to predict earthquakes. Nob

新西兰英语 441 Demolition of Grand Chancellor hotel

The 26 storey Grand Chancellor hotel in the centre of Christchurch will be demolished in the next few weeks. Since the February earthquake, it has been leaning to one side, almost touching another hotel. Because of the danger from the hotel, an area

新西兰英语 440 Whitcoulls Bookstores sold

It was good news to hear that Whitcoulls Bookstores have a new owner. 57 Whitcoulls stores and 5 Borders stores owned by the same company were in financial trouble in February. The new owners are the Norman family who own Farmers department stores an

新西兰英语 439 Wellywood

Wellington airport plans to put up a big sign on a hillside overlooking the airport which says Wellywood. When tourists fly into Wellington, they will see the sign and they will learn that Wellington is famous for making movies. The sign would be a c

新西兰英语 438 70 years after Battle for Crete

This weekend is the 70th anniversary of the Battle for Crete. It was the first major battle of World War II for the New Zealand soldiers. Crete is a Greek island, south of the Greek mainland. During April 1941, the Germans had won battles in Greece,

新西兰英语 437 The 2011 Budget

First listen to news about previous budgets: What is the Budget, May 19 2010 and The Budget, May 28 2009. The Minister of Finance, Bill English, read the Budget today in Parliament. Just like the last few years, there were not many surprises. We alre

新西兰英语 436 Inquest into deaths from earthquake

Yesterday the coroner held an inquest so that he could write death certificates for nine people who died during the earthquake on February 22nd. These nine have not been identified because their bodies were too badly burnt or damaged. All of them wer

新西兰英语 435 Christchurch City Council wants ideas

Christchurch City Council held a forum this weekend to ask for ideas about re-building the city after the 6.3 earthquake February 22nd. The forum was held in a large indoor stadium. Inside the entrance was some information about Christchurch city whe

新西兰英语 434 Picton may lose ferry

The inter-island ferry between the North and the South Islands at the moment travels between Wellington and Picton. The ferry carries people, cars, trucks and trains (without the engine). It takes about three hours. The government is looking at chang

新西兰英语 433 Hone Harawira resigns from Parliament

The last few weeks have been difficult for the Maori Party. Hone Harawira has been the Maori Party MP for Te Tai Tokerau in the Far North of the North Island since the elections in 2005. However, he has not always agreed with the Maori Party and fina

新西兰英语 447 More after-shocks in Christchurch

Christchurch had two big after-shocks today and many smaller ones. The first one, at 1 pm was 5.5. It felt very strong. Most schools closed after that and parents came to collect their primary school children. The next after-shock at 2.20 pm was 6.0.

新西兰英语 461 Technology in schools

Orewa High School in Auckland expects all year 9 students next year to have their own iPad, netbook or other mobile device like a Smart phone. The school says the most suitable is the iPad which costs between $800 and $1,000. The reason that the scho

新西兰英语 460 Snow storms

Much of New Zealand experienced some severe weather yesterday and today. Snow storms moved up from Southland, reaching Dunedin and Christchurch later yesterday. Snow continued to fall all night. Christchurch people woke up to a winter wonderland abou

新西兰英语 459 Too much snow on the mountain

There was too much snow on Mt Lyford in North Canterbury yesterday. Last night 250 skiers had to stay on the mountain in the day lodge. The road was closed because of high winds and the risk of avalanches from so much snow. It was too dangerous for c