我们都听过这样的一个成功富豪的故事，他们从学校辍学，在没有完成学业的情况下创造出上百万甚至是上亿的财富。但是这是常规吗？ 《随身英语》关注世界顶级富豪的成功路。你也会成为他们中的一员吗？

课文内容

词汇：success 成功

Have you ever fancied sailing around the world in your own yacht or buying a holiday home in the Caribbean? Well, before you get too excited, it may help to find out if you have what it takes to become a billionaire.

你有没有幻想过开着自己的游艇环游世界，或者在加勒比海买一套度假屋?好吧，在你过于兴奋之前，弄清楚你是否具备成为亿万富翁的条件可能会有所帮助

We've all heard stories of school drop-outs who have made their fortune, but are they the norm or an exception to the rule? Do they tend to be university graduates or self-made entrepreneurs? Are they married or single?

我们都听说过辍学者发家致富的故事，但他们是常态还是例外呢?他们是大学毕业生还是白手起家的企业家?他们结婚了还是单身?

Thanks to a recent analysis of people in Forbes Top 100 Billionaires List, we can now find out what the world's mega rich have in common. We know which star sign is the most popular amongst multi-millionaires, what percentage wear glasses and even how many are bald!

多亏了最近对福布斯前100位亿万富翁名单上的人的分析，我们现在可以发现世界上的超级富豪有什么共同之处。我们知道哪个星座在百万富翁中最受欢迎，戴眼镜的比例是多少，甚至有多少人秃顶!

If you are deciding whether or not to go to university, it may help you to know that 76% of the richest people in the world have a degree. According to this study, of those 76%, 47% have a bachelor's degree, 23% have a master's and 6% have a doctorate.  Don't lose hope if you aren't very academic though. It's worth noting that many of those on the list did not pass all their exams with flying colours. Microsoft founder Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University after two years of study. And Chinese business magnate Jack Ma, failed his university entrance exams three times before going on to complete his degree and make his millions.

如果你正在决定是否上大学，了解一下世界上76%的富人都有学位，这可能会对你有所帮助。根据这项研究，在这76%的人中，47%拥有学士学位，23%拥有硕士学位，6%拥有博士学位。如果你的学术水平不高，也不要失去希望。值得注意的是，名单上的许多人并没有以优异的成绩通过所有考试。微软创始人比尔·盖茨在哈佛大学学习两年后辍学。中国商业巨头马云在大学入学考试中失败了三次，才完成了他的学位，并赚了数百万美元。

Another interesting trend is that the world's high-fliers are much more likely to be married - only 12% of billionaires are unmarried. You are also more likely to make it if you were born under the most popular star sign, Aquarius, than if you are a Cancer - the least popular sign on the zodiac. Finally, the percentage of billionaires who are bald is quite high – so don't worry if you're losing your hair, you may get to sail that yacht around the Caribbean after all!

另一个有趣的趋势是，世界上最有抱负的人结婚的可能性要大得多——只有12%的亿万富翁未婚。如果你出生在最受欢迎的星座——水瓶座，你也比出生在最不受欢迎的星座——巨蟹座更有可能成功。最后，亿万富翁中秃顶的比例相当高，所以如果你正在脱发，不要担心，毕竟你可能会驾驶游艇绕加勒比海航行!

词汇表

a billionaire 亿万富翁
a school drop-out 一个中途退学的人
make ones fortune 靠个人努力发财致富
university graduate 大学毕业生
self-made 靠自己努力的，白手起家的
entrepreneur 企业家
mega rich 巨富
pass your exams with flying colours 优异成绩通过考试
founder 创始人
drop out of (school, university) 离开，退出（学校，大学）
magnate 富豪
high-flier 抱负极高的人，成功人士
to make it 功成名就

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. What was the purpose of the analysis of billionaires?

2.  True or false? About one quarter of the billionaires analysed are not university graduates.  

3.  How did Bill Gates make his fortune?

4.  According to the study, why does when you were born affect how likely you are to become rich?

5.  What do Bill Gates and Jack Ma have in common?  

2. 请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. Well done! You passed your driving test with __________ . 

high fliers          colours flying          flying colours          flying high

2. Steve Jobs was the __________ of Apple.

founder          finder          starter          builder

3. You should think carefully before you __________ school. You may regret it when you're older.

drop off          drop over          drop in to          drop out of

4. He's a __________ millionaire: his family were too poor to help him start his business.

magnate          self-made          drop-out          entrepreneur

5. He's made a __________ from selling oil.

money          millions          billionaire          fortune

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. What was the purpose of the study? To find similarities between the top 100 richest people in the world

2.  True or false? About one quarter of the billionaires analysed are not university graduates. True

3.  How did Bill Gates make his fortune? 

He started the computer company, Microsoft.

4. According to the study, why does when you're born affect how likely you are to make lots of money? 

They found that certain zodiac signs are more common than others in the rich list.

5.  What do Bill Gates and Jack Ma have in common? 

They went on to become very successful even though they didn't excel in their academic lives.

2.请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. Well done! You passed your driving test with flying colours.

2. Steve Jobs was the founder of Apple.

3. You should think carefully before you drop out of school. You may regret it when you're older.

4. He's a self-made millionaire: his family didn't have any money to help him start his business.

5. He's made a fortune from selling oil.

文章来源BBC，侵权删，本文仅用于英语学习。