Welcome to the Voice of America's “News Words”.
欢迎收听美国之声“新闻词汇”。
This word does not mean something good:
今天这个词不是指什么好事：
Several municipalities declared bankruptcy before Detroit did, but their debts were smaller.
早在底特律破产之前，已经有几个市政府宣布破产，但他们的债务较少。
Stockton, California owed $26 million, while Detroit owes 18-and-a-half billion.
斯托克顿，加利福尼亚欠债两千六百万美元，而底特律欠债一百八十五亿美元。
“Bankruptcy” means you don't have enough money to pay your debts.
“破产”的意思是，你没有足够的钱还清债务。
It is a formal and legal action.
这是一个正式的合法的行为。

People, companies, and even cities, can declare bankruptcy.
个人，公司，甚至城市，都可以宣布破产。
It often means that their property will be sold to pay their debts.
这通常意味着他们的财产会被卖出，用以偿还债务。
And they will have a bad credit rating for years.
并且在之后的很多年，他们会拥有很差的信用评级。
Now, when you hear the word “bankruptcy”, your English will be good enough to know what this News Word means.
现在，当你听到“破产”这个词，你的英文程度就足以听懂这个新闻词汇了。
For more “News Words”, visit our website at LearningEnglish. voanews. com
要收听更多“新闻词汇”，请访问我们的网站 LearningEnglish. voanews. com