英语听力精选进阶版 13956

Easyjet accused of breaking labour laws

Summary

22 January 2010

The low-cost airline, Easyjet, will be brought before a French court accused of violating French labour laws. The company may now face a fine of up to 10 million euros.

Reporter:

Emma Jane Kirby

Report

Easyjet has been under investigation¹ here in France since 2006 when an inspection² of their operations at Paris Orly airport showed they'd failed to register 170 employees to the French authorities.

The budget airline is accused of breaking strict labour laws and is now being pursued by the state prosecutor³ for millions of euros in unpaid⁴ social security and health insurance contributions. The budget airline insists that its staff were hired under British contracts and therefore were not subject to French rules. Orly airport, it claims, was merely a rest area for its workers and it was the planes themselves, and not France that served as their workplaces.

The French authorities point out however that most of the Easyjet staff lived and paid their taxes in France and many were working solely⁵ on internal flights between Paris and Nice.

Emma Jane Kirby, BBC News, Paris

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

5 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。