2005年NPR美国国家公共电台三月-Business report

The former head of Worldcom is back on the witness stand today in federal court in New York city. Bernard Ebbers is charged with fraud for his role in the massive accounting¹ scandal that took place at Worldcom between 2000 and 2002. Yesterday he took the stand to answer the charges against him and NPR's Jim Zerolley was in the courtroom. Jim, tell us a little about the scene inside the courtroom when Bernard Ebbers got up to testify.
Well, this was really the dramatic high point of this trial so far. A lot of people turned out to watch it. It was fairly crowded inside the courtroom. Ebbers was questioned by his attorney for about 4 hours altogether. He's sort of a very imposing² figure. He has kind of a craggy face, a deep voice, a man of silver hair. Throughout this trial, witnesses have testified that he can be, you know, intimidating³ to work for , that he has a temper. He actually addressed that yesterday. He said:"I'm demanding and I expect results." But on the witness stand, at least, he seemed very controlled and composed.
And how did he address the charges that he played a major role in the Worldcom fraud?
Well, he addressed them by pleading ignorance. He said he didn't know anything about financial matters, didn't know anything about financial matters at Worldcom. He said he left accounting up to chief, his chief financial officer/ Scort Salerven. He said Salerven never told him there was any fraud going on. He said "He never told me he made an entry that wasn't right. If he had, we wouldn't be here today." meaning he would never, he would never have put up with that. He, Ebbers, he said that he was so completely in the dark about what was happening at Worldcom that in June, 2002, right before the fraud was about to become public. He actually bought 5-million dollars worth the Worldcom stock which of course within days were just, you know, plummeted⁴ in value.
Well, will that seem to be an uphill battle for Bernard Ebbers to convince the jurors that he was so unaware⁵ of what was taking place at the company?
Yeah, one of the challenges I think that Ebbers faces is that, you know, people expect chief executive officers to know what's going on at their companies and so they may have trouble with the notion that the CEO could be so uninvolved, even if there is some truth to it. And, you know, Ebbers on the stand, he doesn't seem like a kind of detached or, you know, ill-informed executive. He went on yesterday at some length about how he built the company started with a small long-distance company and gradually built it into a major telecommunications company. You know, he comes out as a very smart man who knew what he wanted and went after it and, you know, to some extent, that's kind of at odds⁶ with the image of a man who could be so easily duped by his subordinates.
The prosecution⁷'s Recross Examination began late yesterday, what more can Ebbers expect?
Well, he can expect the prosecution to really take on this idea that he didn't know anything about what was going on and they started doing that yesterday. David Anders, the prosecutor⁸ really hammered him on what his role was at the company. He asked him, for instance, about the issue of analysts⁹' guidance, in other words, you know, what did you tell Wall Street analysts about the company's financial condition and Anders said "You were the CEO, didn't you have final say about guidance?" and Edders said," Well, technically¹⁰ yes, but in practice, you know, it was a consensus¹¹." So I think there's probably going to be a lot more of that.

Thanks Jim.
You're welcome.
NPR's Jim Zerolley in New York.

1 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

2 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

3 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

4 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

8 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。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

11 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？