VOA慢速英语2019 前克莱斯勒公司负责人艾柯卡去世,享年94岁

Former Chrysler Chief Lee Iacocca Dies at 94

Lee Iacocca, a leader in the American automobile² industry, died earlier this week in California. He was 94.

美国汽车工业领军人李·艾柯卡本周早些时候在加利福尼亚去世，享年94岁。

Iacocca was the son of Italian immigrants. In his 32-year career, he helped launch some of the country’s best-selling and most important vehicles. They included the Ford³ Escort, the Ford Mustang and the minivan.

艾柯卡是意大利移民之子。在他32岁的职业生涯中，他帮助推出了美国一些最畅销和最有影响力的汽车。这些汽车包括福特Escort，福特野马以及厢旅车。

But he will be remembered mostly as the businessman who saved the Chrysler Corporation and made it profitable again.

但是他最让人铭记的身份是作为商人拯救了克莱斯勒公司，并使之再次盈利。

Ford and Chrysler

福特和克莱斯特

In 1970, Iacocca became president of Ford Motor Company. He famously fought with Chairman Henry Ford II, who later called the young man “conceited⁴.” Ford fired Iacocca in 1978.

1970年，艾柯卡成为福特汽车公司总裁。他跟公司董事长亨特·福特二世进行了众人皆知的斗争，福特二世后来称这位年轻人“很自负”，并在1978年解雇了他。

The following year, he became chairman of the Chrysler Corporation.

次年，他成为了克莱斯勒公司的董事长。

The business was collapsing⁵ due to $5 billion of debt. Its manufacturing system was too large, and it only made big cars that the public did not want. Banks would not loan Iacocca money.

由于50亿美元的债务，这家公司正在崩溃。该公司的制造体系过于臃肿，它仅生产公众不太需要的大型车辆，银行不肯给艾柯卡贷款。

So he worked with the United Auto¹ Workers union. Together, they persuaded the government to approve $1.5 billion in loan guarantees that permitted Chrysler and its workers to continue to make cars.

所以他跟美国汽车工人联合会合作，他们一起说服了政府批准15亿美元的贷款担保，使得克莱斯勒及其工人得以继续生产汽车。

Bud Liebler is a former Chrysler spokesman and once worked closely with Iacocca. Liebler said of his former colleague, “He went to Washington and made all these crazy promises, then he delivered on them.”

巴德·李伯乐是克莱斯勒公司的前发言人，他曾经跟艾柯卡紧密合作。李伯乐谈到他的前同事时表示：“他去了华盛顿，做出了这些疯狂的承诺，然后都实现了。”

Iacocca persuaded the unions to negotiate a lower salary. He closed some factories and made smaller cars. He spoke⁶ to the public in his TV advertisements. In them, he said, “If you can find a better car, buy it!” Iacocca also admitted Chrysler had made mistakes, but said the company had changed.

艾柯卡说服工会通过谈判降低薪水。他关闭了一些工厂，并且生产更小的汽车。他在电视广告上向公众发表了讲话。他在广告中说：“如果你能找到一辆更好的车，赶紧下手！”艾柯卡还承认克莱斯勒公司犯过错误，但是称该公司已经改了。

The plan worked. Chrysler made cars that were not too costly⁷, did not use too much gas and had space for six people. In 1983, Chrysler paid back its government loans, with interest, seven years early. That made him a hero for many Americans.

计划奏效了。克莱斯勒公司制造的汽车不贵，油耗不高，能乘坐6人。1983年，克莱斯勒公司提前7年偿付了本息，这使得他成为很多美国人的英雄。

“He was a leader”

他是领导者

Later, Iacocca wrote two best-selling books and was once suggested as a presidential candidate. His colleague Bud Liebler said of him, “He sucked the air out of the room whenever he walked into it. He always had something to say. He was a leader.”

后来，艾柯卡写了两本畅销书，并曾被提名为总统候选人。他的同事李伯乐谈到他时表示：“每当他走进房间，空气就窒息了。他总是有话要讲，他是领导者。”

He also remembers that Iacocca could get angry if employees did something he did not like. But a few minutes later Iacocca would act like nothing had happened.

李伯乐还记得，如果员工做了艾柯卡不喜欢的事情，他会大发雷霆。但是几分钟之后，他又会表现的像什么都没发生过一样。

“He used to beat me up, sometimes in public,” Liebler remembered. When people asked how he could put up with that, Liebler would answer: “He’ll get over it.”

李伯乐回忆道：“他经常收拾我，有时候还是当着众人的面。”当人们问他如何忍受这些时，李伯乐会回答：“他会忘了这些的。”

In recent years, Iacocca was fighting Parkinson’s disease. But Liebler was not sure of the cause of death.

艾柯卡近些年在和帕金森症作斗争，但是李伯乐并不确定他的死因。

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in this Story

conceited – adj. having or showing too much pride in your own worth or goodness

colleague – n. a person who works with you

suck the air out of the room – idiomatic⁸ expression. to prevent anyone or anything else from getting attention

1 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。

2 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

3 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。

4 conceited   

adj.自负的，骄傲自满的

参考例句：

• He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
• I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。

5 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。