VOA标准英语2010年-Toyota Announces Hybrid Recall

Laura Benin poses with her 2009 Toyota Corolla LE outside her home in the Queens borough¹ of New York, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010.

This is the latest issue to trouble the world's largest automaker, which is recalling millions of vehicles to cope with unintended acceleration² in some cars. Earlier Tuesday, Toyota officials said a separate problem with brakes has prompted a recall of more than 400,000 hybrid⁴ vehicles around the world including the latest Prius model.

For the world's largest automaker, it has been a steady stream of embarrassing safety lapses⁵. On Tuesday, the company's president, Akio Toyoda, announced yet another recall.

"We submitted the recall notifications in regard to four models; the Prius, the Prius plug-in hybrid, the Sai and the HS250h," said Akio Toyoda.

The announcement brings the total number of recalled Toyota vehicles to eight and a half million. Earlier recalls involved sticky accelerator pedals on some of its most popular models including the Camry and sports utility vehicles such as the Highlander⁶.
 
The latest recall involves a faulty braking system on more than 400 thousand Prius and Lexus hybrids⁷ sold in the U.S., Europe and Japan.  But Hong Kong car dealer⁸ Ted³ Lau says the delayed braking issue requires only a minor⁹ fix.

"Basically this is a very simple ABS brake system upgrade," said Ted Lau. "So it takes almost an hour to finish it."

But some customers accuse Toyota of being slow to fix the problem.  Juan Romero says he's been complaining about the issue since last year, after he nearly ran over a pedestrian.
 
"When the car lurched forward, the guy jumped out of the way and he called me every name in the book," said Juan Romero.

Toyota has taken out newspaper, Web and TV ads to apologize for letting its customers down.  But Asia Automotive News writer Hans Greimel says it may be too late to reverse the damage to Toyota's reputation.

"The Prius is largely responsible for Toyota's reputation as a green environmentally friendly car company," said Hans Greimel. "So to see that the Prius be lumped into this expanding global recall crisis is going to be a blow to Toyota's image."

Some industry analysts¹⁰ say the latest crisis could lead to a downgrade in the company's credit rating.  But Akio Toyoda vows¹¹ his company will do better.  Toyota's top executive plans to visit U.S. Toyota plants next week.

"All of us at Toyota will tackle the issue in close cooperation with dealers¹² and with suppliers together, we will do everything in our power to regain¹³ the confidence of our customers," he said.

The U.S. Transportation Department is looking into Toyota's quality control process to determine if Toyota acted quickly enough to deal with safety issues.  Toyota's top North American executive is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill.

 

1 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

2 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

5 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

6 highlander   

n.高地的人，苏格兰高地地区的人

参考例句：

• They call him the highlander, he is Rory McLeod! 他们叫他寻事者，他是罗瑞·麦克劳德！ 来自互联网

7 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

8 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

9 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

10 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。

11 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

12 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。

13 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。