VOA慢速英语2009-Economics Report - General Motors Seeks Quic

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, General Motors went to bankruptcy¹ court. It became the second of the big three American automakers to seek protection from its creditors³ while continuing operations. Chrysler declared bankruptcy on April thirtieth, though its plans to leave the process quickly still await final rulings.
　
A GM dealership⁵ in Burlingame, California, that sells Hummers. GM is expected to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese company.

General Motors led the auto² world for seventy-seven of its one hundred years. Last year Toyota took the lead. Not all of G.M. is losing money. Asia and Latin America have provided growth and profit. But lately bankruptcy became less and less of a surprise.

G.M. was one hundred seventy-two billion dollars in debt. Now creditors will learn who gets repaid and how much. The bankruptcy is America's fourth largest, but the largest for a manufacturer. G.M. hopes it will be quick.

The government plans to invest thirty billion dollars, on top of an earlier twenty billion. In return, taxpayers⁶ will own sixty percent of a smaller G.M. Canada and the United Auto Workers union will also own part of the restructured company.

But President Obama made it clear Monday that he wants to limit the intervention⁷ in what some now call "Government Motors."

BARACK OBAMA: "In short, our goal is to get G.M. back on its feet, take a hands-off approach and get out quickly."

Is all that possible? Experts say one concern is that lawmakers will try to control company decisions like where to build new factories.

Another concern is that trade partners may consider the G.M. rescue a form of government support barred by free trade agreements. Only one of Detroit's big three, Ford⁸ Motor Company, is not taking aid. Yet other countries, especially in Europe, have acted to save jobs in their own car industries.

University of Michigan transportation researcher Bruce Belzowski says one big question is what effect employee morale⁹ will have. Employees must believe in the new G.M. And, of course, its products must satisfy the public, as well as new government rules for fuel economy.

To reduce costs, G.M. plans to close more factories and cut more jobs by the end of two thousand eleven. And it wants to cut more than one thousand dealerships by the end of next year. Chrysler wants to quickly dismiss almost eight hundred dealers⁴ across the country.

The automakers defended their plans Wednesday as Congress heard from angry dealers.

G.M. plans to sell or discontinue its Saturn¹⁰, Saab and Pontiac lines. And it may sell its Hummer brand to a heavy equipment company in China.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

3 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

5 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

8 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

9 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

10 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。