底特律的破产申请案开审

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Next: a pair of dispatches from Detroit at an important moment, starting with a key trial over the city's bankruptcy¹ filing. Detroit's leaders say the city is $18 billion in debt, forcing a move to Chapter 9. But they also must persuade a judge the city has met all of the requirements todo so.And opponents say that's not the case. Jeffrey Brown has more.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: The trial began today in federal court in Detroit. Matthew Dolan of The Wall Street Journal was there and joins us now to explain what the arguments are about.

　　Well, Matthew, before we get to the specifics, this trial is really to see if the city is even entitled to go through with the bankruptcy.And who's bringing the case?

　　MATTHEW DOLAN, The Wall Street Journal: That's right. Well, what happened was the city filed for bankruptcy protection back in July.But now they're at the stage of the trial where they actually need to prove to a judge that the conditions were right that they should have bankruptcy protection.

　　And some of those conditions would include whether or not the city is truly insolvent².It also would include whether or not the city had state authorization³ when it filed for bankruptcy in July.And it alsohas to prove whether or not it tried to argue in good faith with its many creditors⁴ before they actually filed for bankruptcy.

　　So all of those issues are coming to a head before Judge Steven Rhodes today in Detroit federal bankruptcy court.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And who -- and who -- and tell us about who is bringing the case, who is making these arguments against the city.

　　MATTHEW DOLAN: That's right. Well, the case is, of course, brought by the city itself.And it's actually under the control of an emergency manager who was appointed in March by the governor of the state, who had said that the city's finances were too shaky to be run on its own.Those opposing the city's eligibility⁵ for bankruptcy include municipal unions, pension funds, and a group of retirees represented by a committee appointed through the judge.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Now, you mentioned some of the issues at stake here.One is whether the city is, in fact, insolvent.Explain that for us, because we certainly have heard about the debts that it has.

　　MATTHEW DOLAN: That's right. It seems like sort of an unusual test for a city that's filed for bankruptcy.They have said that they have got some $18 billion in long-term liabilities.But what we heard from arguments today on both sides is that there may be some question about whether or not that number istruly indeed the number.

　　And so the unions and pension funds are beginning to look at the city's balance sheet and asking some critical questions.For example, is the hole that appears to be in Detroit's balance sheet for its pension obligations truly as deep as the city says it is?So both sides will be presenting evidence this week and sort of a back-and-forth about whether or not the city's finances are really as dire⁶ as the city originally said it was.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And you have mentioned pensions a few times.Another issue, I gather, is whether these pensions are in fact protected under the state's constitution.

　　MATTHEW DOLAN: That's right going to be a critical question for the judge to decide.And he may not decide it right away.

　　The unions and the pension funds are saying that the city should have never been eligible⁷ to file for bankruptcy because their plans all along were to cut the pensions, which are protected by the state constitution, they say.The city says that once they filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court, itis the federal Constitution that would supersede⁸ the protections under a state constitution.

　　So this is a case that's being watched not only in Detroit, but nationwide, as many cities and states are struggling with huge pension obligations and wondering can they cut those pension obligations at some point in the future, or are there protections in place that would prevent them from doing so?

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And then, of course, there's the issue of the emergency manager, Kevyn Orr.Whether hisappoint is constitutional, I gather, is one issue, and then, if so -- or once he was in -- in power, whether he negotiated in good faith.

　　MATTHEW DOLAN: Those are both critical issues and will come to light during the next couple days and weeks as this trial continues.

　　The emergency manager law in Michigan has sort of a tortured history.It originally was on the books asa way for the governor, as sort of a last resort, to appoint a financial overseer over fiscally⁹ troubled cities.But voters, actually through a referendum process, decided¹⁰ that they wanted to repeal¹¹ that law.The state legislature came back and passed another version of that law, which would be protected from any kind of referendum recall.

　　So that law is now on the books.But unions and others, including some in the civil rights community, have said this law disenfranchises voters in cities and gives the state too much power to decide what should be local issues.So this is certainly going to be discussed throughout this case.

　　And the emergency manager law is not only something that affects Detroit.It affects several cities andschool districts throughout Michigan.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And let me ask you briefly¹², finally, you mentioned the governor.We have just talked about Kevyn Orr.We're expecting to hear from both of them in this trial, I gather.Right?

　　MATTHEW DOLAN: That's right. It's very unusual, but both Kevyn Orr and the governor of Michigan are expected to testify.They earlier gave depositions¹³ in which they described their roles, which they say were lawful¹⁴, and that they followed the emergency manager law and the sweeping¹⁵ powers that it has.

　　The governor has always said that he's gone into this process reluctantly, that he was hoping that through a series of consent agreements and other measures they had hoped to keep Detroit out of bankruptcy court.But he and his staff now are really pushing full steam ahead and saying that this was the lastresort, but it's certainly a lawful one.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Matthew Dolan of The Wall Street Journal, thanks so much.

　　MATTHEW DOLAN: It's been my pleasure.

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 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。

3 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

4 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》

5 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

6 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

7 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

8 supersede   

v.替代；充任

参考例句：

• We must supersede old machines by new ones.我们必须以新机器取代旧机器。
• The use of robots will someday supersede manual labor.机器人的使用有一天会取代人力。

9 fiscally   

在国库方面，财政上，在国库岁入方面

参考例句：

• Nor will fiscally stretched governments pump more money into the political equivalent of a leper colony. 财政吃紧的政府也不愿将更多的钱投入这个避之唯恐不及的政治瘟疫区。
• We are more fiscally constrained, which forces us to work smarter and more efficiently. 与F-15相比我们资金上的限制更大了，美女类小游戏，这迫使我们更为精心和有效地工作。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

12 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

13 depositions   

沉积（物）( deposition的名词复数 )； （在法庭上的）宣誓作证； 处置； 罢免

参考例句：

• The safety problems are more severe for low-pressure depositions because the processes often use concentrated gases. 对于低压淀积来说安全性问题更为突出，因为这种工艺通常使用高浓度的气体。
• The chief method is to take depositions of parties and witnesses. 主要的方法是录取当事人和证人的宣誓证言。 来自口语例句

14 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

15 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？