IN THE NEWS - WorldCom

By Caty Weaver¹
IN THE NEWS -July 6, 2002: WorldCom

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS.

Several major American companies have admitted recently to dishonest reporting of
their financial condition. The latest wrongdoing happened at the huge
communications company WorldCom. It has admitted to mis -representing
thousands of millions of dollars of company costs. It reported the costs as profits
instead.

WorldCom also says there may be problems with its reporting of reserve accounts.
Reserve accounts are special money supplies that companies set up so they will be able to pay future costs.
WorldCom made the statement in a new financial report to the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission. One of the duties of the S-E-C is to supervise financial reporting by companies whose shares are
traded on the stock market. The federal agency has charged WorldCom with wrongdoing.

The leader of WorldCom is Chief Executive Officer John Sidgmore. He says he is not sure if the company will
have to declare bankruptcy². Failing companies often declare bankruptcy to seek government protection from their
debts. WorldCom has about four-thousand-million dollars worth of debts.

Mister Sidgmore says WorldCom has two-thousand-million dollars of money right now. He says the company
also has other property of considerable financial value.

WorldCom is the world’s largest provider of Internet service. Mister Sidgmore says WorldCom operations
provide Internet service in more than one hundred countries. The company also serves several large government
agencies, including the Department of Defense³. WorldCom’s telephone service, M-C-I, is the second biggest in
the United States. Mister Sidgmore says that the survival of his company is in the interest of national security.

Mister Sidgmore has tried to distance himself from WorldCom’s false financial reporting. He dismissed the

Chief Financial Officer, Scott Sullivan, who had listed the expenses as profits. Mister Sidgmore also has
repeatedly noted⁴ that he did not become WorldCom’s leader until April. He replaced Bernard Ebbers who
resigned. The false financial reports are for Two-Thousand -One and the first three months of this year.

Officials want to learn what Mister Ebbers may have known about the actions of the Chief Financial Officer.
Reports say Mister Ebbers and Mister Sullivan worked very closely together. Mister Sullivan continues to say
that he believes the actions he took with WorldCom finances were completely legal.

President Bush has strongly criticized WorldCom. He has warned that company officials will be held responsible
for failing their companies through dishonesty and wrongdoing. WorldCom officials are to answer questions
before a Congressional committee on Monday.

This VOA Special English program In The News was written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.

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1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 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。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。