美国国家公共电台 NPR--A tentative settlement is reached in a Surfside condo collapse lawsuit

A tentative settlement is reached in a Surfside condo collapse¹ lawsuit²

Transcript³

Survivors⁴ and families of the 98 victims of the Surfside, Fla., condo collapse have reached a $997 million settlement. The payout was announced in a court hearing and still needs final approval.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Attorneys in Florida have reached a nearly $1 billion deal for victims of the condominium collapse in Surfside. The tragedy last June killed 98 people. From member station WLRN, Veronica Zaragovia reports that once approved, the money will go to those who lost family members.

VERONICA ZARAGOVIA, BYLINE⁵: Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman looked out to everyone in his courtroom and said he had just had the finest moment of his judicial⁶ career.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MICHAEL HANZMAN: And I hope you're as proud of yourselves as I am because you really have done a service to these victims.

ZARAGOVIA: Attorneys representing victims of the condo building collapse worked with a mediator⁷ to reach a deal of $997 million for the wrongful deaths. At the start of the process, the judge chose Rachel Furst as one of the lead attorneys representing the victims.

RACHEL FURST: It's been an honor to work on this case on behalf of the victim of this tragedy. It's been nearly a year of very hard work to get to this point.

ZARAGOVIA: Judd Rosen was part of that group. He said the hardest part was not the long hours, but listening to the stories.

JUDD ROSEN: When you're dealing⁸ with these types of situations where a mom loses a child, a boy loses a mom, you can't differentiate⁹ that type of loss. You know, it's all horrible.

ZARAGOVIA: Estelle Hedaya was the last person identified of the 98 victims. Her best friend, Lisa Shrem, said after court the decision is a big relief.

LISA SHREM: We always felt like we were left as last. In the beginning, it was like, OK, they died, they died. We can't worry about them. We have to worry about the living. So I guess in that respect, it's nice to know that finally they're remembering all those who died.

ZARAGOVIA: She said Hedaya's family is glad this court process is coming to an end.

For Pablo Langesfeld, there's no closure yet. His daughter Nicole died in the collapse. He told the Miami Herald¹⁰ money won't bring him closure, only knowing how this happened.

A federal investigation¹¹ into the collapse is ongoing¹². The families will receive money from insurance companies, developers and others. Later this month, the beachfront property is to be auctioned¹³ off, and that's expected to boost the settlement to well over a billion dollars.

For NPR News, I'm Veronica Zaragovia in Miami.

(SOUNDBITE OF LEAVY'S "BLUE VIEW")

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

7 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

10 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

11 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。

12 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

13 auctioned   

v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉，心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》