Detroit Becomes Largest US City to File For Bankruptcy

　　Detroit has become the largest US city ever to file for bankruptcy¹.

 

　　The move came after an emergency manager couldn't get creditors² to sign on to a restructuring plan.

 

　　The largest city in the State of Michigan is saddled with more than 18-billion-US-dollars worth of debt.

 

　　Detroit Mayor, Dave Bing, says the city will just have to make the best of it.

 

　　"The reality is, even the casual observer, even the casual observer, has had to understand for some period of time now that Detroit simply was not on a sustainable footing, continuing to borrow, continuing to defer³ pension payments, continuing not to pay its bills on time, continuing a deepening insolvency⁴."

 

　　The struggling motor city lost a quarter of a million residents over the last decade.

 

　　Businesses have also fled leaving the city with a shrunken tax base.

 

　　If the filing is approved, the city will be allowed to liquidate⁵ its assets to satisfy creditors and pensions.

 

　　However the filing puts the city on an uncertain course that could mean laying off municipal employees, raising fees and scaling back basic services such as trash collection and snow ploughing.

 

　　The bankruptcy could last over a year.

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 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》

3 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

4 insolvency   

n.无力偿付，破产

参考例句：

• The company is on the verge of insolvency.该公司快要破产了。
• Normal insolvency procedures should not be applied to banks.通常的破产程序不应当适用于银行。

5 liquidate   

v.偿付，清算，扫除；整理，破产

参考例句：

• A unanimous vote was taken to liquidate the company.全体投票一致通过停业清理公司。
• They have not hesitated in the past to liquidate their rivals.过去他们曾毫不犹豫地铲除对手。