华尔街高级英语学习教程第10课：追踪消息Act4 (MP3和文本下载)

The Editor, “The Sunday Post”,
Merdoch Towers, 2525 Marina Highway, 42224 Washdon
23rd April
Dear Mr Roach,
I am writing to you to give you due notice that I have been requested by Ms Annie Peters of 26 Chernobyl Avenue, Washdon, to act in her interests with regard to an article which appeared in your newspaper in the edition which was published on Sunday, April 3rd this year.

My client holds the view that the article in question, which appeared under the title From Terrorism to Drug Smuggling - the Secret Story of the Peters family, by Kristi Schmidt amounted to a personal attack on herself and on other members of her family. She claims that the article contains several important errors of fact, and gives the false impression that both she and her late father had been directly and personally involved in crimes of violence. According to my client, the article further suggests that her late father whose tragic loss she still very much regrets is still alive and in hiding from the authorities. My client finally claims that the information on which the article in question is supposedly based was itself obtained under false pretenses, when Ms Schmidt pretended to be a sympathizer with Ms Peters' political views in order to make an appointment to speak with her.

My client intends to sue “The Sunday Post” newspaper for the amount of $250,000, including costs, as well as suing Ms Schmidt herself. I need hardly remind you of the effect this action will have, both on your own and on your newpaper's public images, in view of which, should you wish to avoid such an unpleasant and time-wasting course of events, I am certain that my client would be prepared to reach an agreement with you out of court for something less than the figure stated above.

I await your reply, and look forward to discussing any reasonable offers,

Yours very faithfully,
Carol N. Smudge.