新奇事件簿 烟草公司赔偿230亿美元（在线收听）

A court in the USA has ordered the tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion in damages. Cynthia Robinson filed a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds in 2008 and fought for six years for compensation. Her husband Michael died of lung cancer in 1996 after two decades of smoking. He started smoking when he was 13 and died when he was 36. Mrs Robinson argued that the company was negligent in not informing her husband that nicotine is addictive and that smoking can lead to lung cancer. She said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking was potentially lethal and should have been more active in telling people. Johnson's lawyer said: "He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day he died."

美国一法庭判决烟草巨头雷诺兹公司向一名妇女支付高达236亿美元的损害赔偿金。辛西娅.罗宾森在2008年对雷诺兹烟草公司提起诉讼，为了争取赔偿金打了6年的官司。她的丈夫迈克尔在吸烟20年之后在1996年死于肺癌。迈克尔在13岁的时候开始吸烟。在36岁的时候去世。罗宾森女士辩护称，公司并未告知自己的丈夫尼古丁容易上瘾，也没有提醒他吸烟容易导致肺癌。她说，烟草公司在20世纪50年代就知道吸烟有致命危险，所以它们应该更加积极地提醒人们。约翰逊的律师称，他戒不了烟。他在死的那天还在吸烟。

A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest tobacco company, said the compensation was disproportionate. He said: "The damages awarded in this case are grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law." He added: "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented." Mrs Robinson's lawyer Chris Chestnut said jurors looked at R.J. Reynolds' aggressive marketing, particularly campaigns aimed at young people. He said: "[R.J. Reynolds] lied to Congress, they lied to the public, they lied to smokers and tried to blame the smoker." He added that the jury's decision was "courageous".

雷诺兹烟草公司是美国第二大烟草公司，公司一名律师称，赔偿金额太多了。他说，按照国家和宪法法律，这个案件判定的损害赔偿金额太过分了。他还说，这次判决十分不合理，完全不符合所提供的证据。罗宾森女士的律师克里斯.柴斯纳特说，陪审员审视了雷诺兹烟草公司激进的营销策略，主要是针对年轻人。他说，雷诺兹烟草公司欺骗了国会，欺骗了大众，欺骗了所有吸烟者，甚至责怪吸烟者。他还说，陪审团的决定很勇敢。