Business Channel 2006-12-25&28

It happened back in 1989, but the lawsuit¹ is still being fought, and the latest round goes to Exxon. A Federal Appeals Court cut the amount of punitive² damages Exxon owes nearly in half to 2.5 billion dollars. The 11-million-gallon spill harmed 1,500 miles of coastline. The jury awarded the damages to fishermen and others affected³ by this spill. The amount has been reduced 3 times since the original case was heard, and Catherine, the judge hopes that this will be the end of it.

I can't just believe that it's been 17 years now, how is this ruling going to affect Exxon's financial outlook?

Well, Exxon had already set aside more than 5 billion dollars, so this can only be a positive development for the company which is already flush with cash, I should add, you might remember that ExxonMobil earned record profits last year: more than 36 billion dollars.

Speaking of profits, Valerie, you know, yesterday's reports came out that, said that Toyota could move ahead of Ford⁴ as the No. 2 seller of autos in the US, sounds like Toyota doing even more now to put the pedal to the metal, right?

Well, Toyota really appears to be on the verge⁵ of becoming No.1 worldwide. Now the Japanese automaker has been ramping⁷ up production for next year, planning to produce 9.4 million vehicles. That's 4% more than this year, and it is apparently⁸ lifting it right past General Motors. GM hasn't given a production target for next year, but it has been forced to slash⁹ jobs, scale back on production after seeing its market share eroded¹⁰ by Asian automakers. GM has been the global leader for many decades. Now Toyota stock closed up nearly 1.5%, but it was a very different story for the rest of the market. There was no Santa Claus rally after a surprise decline in orders for durable¹¹ goods. The Dow Industrials, as you see, with this shot of the Big Board at the New York Stock Exchange fell 78 points. The NASDAQ Composite lost about two-thirds of a percent. Trading volume was very light and the market will be closed on Monday, Christmas day. Typical of the day Research In Motion initially¹² rose on a positive earnings¹³ report. The maker⁶ of the Blackberry wireless¹⁴ e-mail devices posted a 47% increase in quarterly profits, but by the end of the day, shares were down nearly 3%.


punitive damages (n.) damages awarded in a lawsuit as a punishment and example to others for malicious¹⁵, evil or particularly fraudulent acts

put the pedal to the metal (idiom.) to make something go forward or increase as fast as possible.
Ingrid put the pedal to the metal and finished writing her essay a day early.

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

3 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。

4 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

5 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

6 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

7 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

10 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

11 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

12 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

13 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

14 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

15 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。