英语听力精选进阶版 14246

Detroit goes bankrupt

Summary

19 July 2013

Detroit has become the largest US city ever to file for bankruptcy¹, with debts of at least $15bn. Once the heart of the US car industry, Detroit's population has fallen from two million in the 1950s to 713,000 today.

Reporter:

Jonny Dymond

Report

The birthplace of mass production, 'Motor City', has thrown in the towel.

Decades of decline led up to this moment. Spiralling crime and the departure of the car factories that gave Detroit its nickname saw the destruction of its tax base. Years of incompetent² and corrupt³ management left the city insolvent⁴. 

The emergency manager appointed by the state governor spent months going through the city's books. His conclusion: the city's debts are too great to be sustained. 

Now the courts will have to work out who gets paid what, and the city's fall is complete.

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 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

3 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

4 insolvent   

adj.破产的，无偿还能力的

参考例句：

• They lost orders and were insolvent within weeks.他们失去了订货，几周后就无法偿还债务。
• The bank was declared insolvent.银行被宣布破产。