對于以投資地中海俱樂部(Club Med)和太陽馬戲團(tuán)(Cirque du Soleil)這些著名品牌為榮的復(fù)星來說,買入一支36年沒有贏得重要獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)的中部二流球隊(duì)有點(diǎn)出人意料。
測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識:
tycoon 巨頭;巨富[ta?'ku?n]
league 聯(lián)盟;社團(tuán)[li?g]
trophy 戰(zhàn)利品;紀(jì)念品['tr??f?]
Wolverhampton Wanderers 狼隊(duì) 狼隊(duì)|英格蘭職業(yè)足球隊(duì) (位于英格蘭西密德蘭(中西部)伍爾弗漢普頓的職業(yè)足球隊(duì),成立于1877年,是足球聯(lián)盟創(chuàng)始成員。狼隊(duì)足球俱樂部是唯一曾在五個(gè)不同聯(lián)賽組別獲得冠軍的球隊(duì)。)
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China’s Fosun to pay £45m for Wolverhampton Wanderers(410 words)
By Tom Mitchell in Beijing
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Chinese tycoon Guo Guangchang has promised to take Wolverhampton Wanderers back into the Premier League and “stay there” after his Fosun Group agreed to pay £45m for the second-tier football club.
“Our goal is crystal clear,” said Jeff Shi, the Fosun executive leading the deal. “We will do our very best to help take Wolves back to the Premier League as soon as possible.
“We believe the club and the fans belong at the top of English football and getting there is our first priority,” he added.
Mr Guo, sometimes referred to as China’s Warren Buffett, joins the growing list of Chinese businessmen betting on European football clubs.
The Fosun chairman is the second Chinese tycoon to invest in a Championship club, after the relatively unknown Tony Xia agreed to buy Aston Villa in May.
China is represented in the top flight of English football by CMC Capital partners, a media investment group led by Li Ruigang that paid $400m for a 13 per cent stake in Manchester City.
Mr Guo is a close friend of Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who bought into China’s top club two years ago and is regularly cited as a potential buyer of top-flight European sides.
In June, retail group Suning agreed to pay €270m for a 70 per cent stake in Inter Milan. Last year Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man, paid more than $50m for a stake in Spain’s Atlético Madrid.
The football-related acquisitions are part of a larger buying spree by Chinese companies, which spent more than $100bn on overseas deals in the first quarter of this year. That was more than they spent in all of 2015, itself a record.
Like Mr Buffett of the US, Mr Guo has used insurance group cash flows to fund a variety of acquisitions. But a second-tier Midlands club that has not won a trophy in 36 years represents something of a departure for Fosun, which boasts a number of glamorous brands such as Club Med and Cirque du Soleil.
Fosun’s chairman was at the centre of a media firestorm in December when he disappeared for several days to help in a police investigation that did not concern his company. People familiar with the situation say Mr Guo was asked to clarify his dealings many years earlier with a former Shanghai vice-mayor who is at the centre of a corruption probe.
Mr Guo was later released and has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容,完成以下自測題目:
1. How to evaluate the Wolverhampton Wanderers according to the first paragraph?
A. second-class
B. the top club
C. small-time
D. hard to define
2. What is Fosun Group’s first priority about Wolves as Jeff Shi said?
A. to gain more profits
B. to reach the top of English football
C. to have higher exposure
D. shine up to the leadership
3. How many people in China to invest in a Championship League club by now?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 5
4. What is the similarity between Guo Guangchang and Buffett as mentioned?
A. keen on football
B. as a controversial figure
C. job-based pay
D. acquisition’s cash resoruce
[1] 答案 A. second-class
解釋:第一段原文表述是二流足球俱樂部(second-tier football club)。
[2] 答案 B. to reach the top of English football
解釋:交易主管Jeff表示“我們相信英國足球的最高水平是該球隊(duì)及其球迷的歸宿,達(dá)到這一水平是我們的首要目標(biāo)?!?
[3] 答案 B. 2
解釋:復(fù)星董事長是第二位投資英冠(Championship League)球隊(duì)的中國富豪。此前在今年5月,相對不那么知名的富豪夏建統(tǒng)(Tony Xia),曾同意買入阿斯頓維拉球隊(duì)(Aston Villa)。
[4] 答案 D. acquisition’s cash resoruce
解釋:二者都動(dòng)用了其保險(xiǎn)集團(tuán)的現(xiàn)金流,為各種并購交易提供資金。