常春藤生活英語：A New Number One 首富換人當

People love to keep track of who the world's richest person is. If you ask, almost anyone will say it is Bill Gates. After all, that has been the answer for over a decade. However, according to a Mexican business reporter, Carlos Slim Helú's US$67.8 billion makes him the new wealthiest person in the world.

Carlos Slim Helú is a 67-year-old Mexican businessman. He owns stocks in several companies, including Apple Inc. and a tobacco company. However, his most profitable business is telecommunications. For over 15 years, he has been the chairman of a cell phone company, América Móvil, and a land line network, Telmex. These two businesses provide phone service for millions of people throughout North, Central, and South America.

With an increase in the value of América Móvil, Carlos Slim Helú's fortune has gone up quite a bit. The precise amount is unknown, so not everyone is ready to call him the world's wealthiest person just yet. However, if the reports from Mexico are indeed true, the world has a new answer to the old question, "Who's the richest person alive?"

人們喜歡留意世上最富有的人是誰。如果您開口詢問，幾乎任何一個人都會回答是比爾?蓋茲。畢竟十多年來，問題的答案一直都是如此。然而根據(jù)墨西哥一位財經(jīng)記者的說法，卡洛斯?史林?赫魯所擁有的美金六百七十八億財產(chǎn)，使他成為新的全球首富。

赫魯是一位六十七歲的墨西哥商人。他擁有多家公司的股份，包括蘋果計算機及一家煙草公司。但是他最賺錢的生意則為電信業(yè)。超過十五年來，他一直身為 América Móvil這家行動通訊業(yè)、以及市話網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司Telmex的主席。這兩家公司為北、中、南美洲的數(shù)百萬民眾提供了電信服務(wù)。

América Móvil市值的成長，使得赫魯?shù)呢敭a(chǎn)增加了不少。因為確切的財產(chǎn)金額仍是未知數(shù)，所以不是每個人都準備好要稱他為世界首富。然而，要是來自墨西哥的報導的確屬實，世人對『最有錢的人是誰?』這個老問題，就會有個新的答案。

Building Your Vocabulary

1.wealthy　a. 富有的

That wealthy man has his own jet.

那位富翁擁有自己的噴射機。

2.profitable　a. 有利可圖的

The investments I made were all profitable.

我所做的投資都很有賺頭。

3.precise　a. 確切的;恰好的

Tell me the precise details of the plan.

請告訴我此項計劃的確切細節(jié)。

4.indeed　adv. 確實，的確(為強調(diào)語氣)

Terry is indeed an honest person.

泰瑞的確是個很誠實的人。

Phrases for Learning

1.keep track of...　　注意∕紀錄……

It is hard to keep track of the women Jake has dated.

要一一記下杰克曾約會過的女人還真困難。

2.provide + 物 + for + 人　　提供某物給某人

The hotel provides free laundry service for its regular guests.

該家飯店為?？吞峁┟赓M的洗衣服務(wù)。

參考字詞

1.stock　n. 股份，股票

2.Inc.　a. 股份有限的(incorporated的縮寫，用于公司名稱后)

3.tobacco　n. 煙草(本文中作形容詞用)

4.telecommunications　n. 電信(業(yè)，恒為復數(shù))

5.chairman　n.(男)主席

6.land line network　n. 市內(nèi)電話網(wǎng)絡(luò)

Tips In Use

...the answer for over a decade.

(……十多年來，問題的答案……)

...Helú's US$67.8 billion...

(……赫魯所擁有的美金六百七十八億財產(chǎn)……)

decade 及 billion 分別為時間和數(shù)量的單位。以下為各位介紹其它數(shù)量較大的同類單字。

1.時間單位：

decade　n. 十年;十年期間

century　n. 一百年;一世紀

millennium　n. 一千年;千年期

2.數(shù)量單位：

million　n. 百萬(1,000,000)

billion　n. 十億(1,000,000,000)

trillion　n. 兆(1,000,000,000,000)