VOA慢速英语20060915a

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - 'Pretexting' Spells Trouble for Hewlett-PackardBy Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, September 15, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.


Patricia Dunn

Computer-maker Hewlett-Packard announced this week that the chairwoman of its board of directors will resign in January. How Patricia Dunn came to be forced out after less than two years is a complex story.

It involves Hewlett-Packard's use of investigators³ who gained private telephone records of board members and reporters. Miz Dunn ordered the investigation⁴ after private details of board meetings appeared several times in news reports.

To get the phone records, the investigators used pretexting. Pretexting is when private investigators identify themselves as someone else so they will be given personal information. Commonly they identify themselves as the person whose records they seek.

H-P is based in Palo Alto, California. The attorney⁵ general of the state, Bill Lockyer, discussed the case on national television Tuesday. He said there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges against people inside and outside the company. Federal officials are also investigating the case.

Patricia Dunn and the man appointed to replace her, H-P Chief Executive⁶ Officer Mark Hurd, have apologized for the methods used. She says the investigation was necessary but that it went beyond what we understood.

The investigators reported that board member George Keyworth gave information to CNET News. The former science adviser⁷ to President Ronald Reagan is a longtime Hewlett-Packard director. In May, the board asked Mister Keyworth to resign. He refused. But his friend, board member Thomas Perkins, resigned in protest over the company's actions.

In June, Mister Perkins wrote to Larry Sonsini, an outside lawyer for H-P, to ask for details of the investigation. Mister Sonsini, in an e-mail back, said pretext² calls were made to phone service providers. But he said the process appeared within legal limits.

Some members of Congress are now calling for federal laws against pretexting.

Patricia Dunn is to remain on the board after she resigns as chairwoman in January. She replaced Carly Fiorina who in February of last year was forced to resign as chairwoman and H-P's chief executive. Carly Fiorina had led H-P to take over Compaq Computer. The move was opposed by some directors and the families of the two men who started Hewlett-Packard.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report for this week, written by Mario Ritter. Archives of our reports are the Web at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 attorney   

n.（业务或法律事务上的）代理人，辩护律师

参考例句：

• He acted as attorney for me.他充当我的律师。
• The attorney for the union accused the Mayor of playing politics.工会的律师谴责市长在这次罢工中耍阴谋。

6 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。