[英伦广角] 2015-10-04 英国车主准备起诉大众汽车 提出索赔

  Philip chose his vw golf with care. He drove thousands of miles last year and making sure his car was eco-friendly was vital. Now he is waiting to find out if that wasn't in fact the case. And he is considering taking legal action. To feel that the product was potentially misrepresented to me at the point of sale and I feel it's a real breach¹ of my trust. And potentially the brand vw taking advantage of me as a consumer.

Just how many cars may be affected² in the UK is not yet known despite that lawyers have been inundated³ with enquiries.

  We are yet to find out what is the scale of it, but potentially it is enormous because it will be surprising if vw are the only people who have been doing this. It may not be the same artificial testing devices, the defeat devices that have been used, but the issue of the European standard and the way that has been presented to buyers of cars. I think that would be very common.

Vw has  admitted eleven million vehicles worldwide were fitted with software to  cheat the testers into thinking that they were cleaner than they actually were.

  It's unlikely to just be vw owners who take legal action. It's thought some car dealers⁴ will too as well as shareholders⁵ who have seen the value of  their investment plummeted⁶ in the past week. There could be claims from asthma⁷ sufferers and enviromental groups due to the extra emmisions that have been pumped out into the atmosphere.

It all makes the 4.7 billion pounds put aside by vw to deal with the crisis seem a little inadequate⁸. But Karl knows just what pressure and cost are  involved in taking vw to court. His case was eventually settled and the manufacturer agreed to repair  bodywork on his passat. But he did advise those caught up in the current scandal to join forces.

  I think if the stress is shared within a group of people, it's a lot lot easier and you can speak to somebody about it.When you are taking someone to court on your own, it's just your work against that organization. And it is very stressful , a lot of sleepless⁹ nights.

For Philip the priority is to find out if his car is affected. Now he plans to have it tested independently so he knows for sure. If it is, next stop could be the courts.

1 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

6 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》

7 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

8 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

9 sleepless   

adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的

参考例句：

• The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
• One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。