听美文故事记6级单词03-02

Forbes' list has new names; Gates No. 12005年福布斯富豪榜又有新变动，比尔·盖茨仍旧稳居榜首

Thanks to a surge in demand for steel, the Internet and Scandinavian sofas, there are some new names among the very richest of the world's billionaires.

Indian steel mogul Lakshmi Mittal, Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Helu and Ikea founder¹ Ingvar Kamprad of Sweden knocked several Wal-Mart heirs down a few notches² on Forbes magazine's 2005 rankings of the world's billionaires.

The billionaires are richer and more numerous for the second straight year, but the No. 1 spot is unchanged - Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates led the list for the eleventh year in a row with a net worth of $46.5 billion, slightly less than his $46.6 billion last year.

Investor³ Warren Buffet⁴ held a close second with $44 billion, up from $42.9 billion in 2004.

Mittal - the biggest dollar gainer after quadrupling his net worth by $18.8 billion to $25 billion - climbed 59 rungs from last year to No. 3 in 2005.

Rounding out the top 10 were Microsoft's Paul Allen, German supermarket company owner Karl Albrecht, Oracle⁵ Corp.'s Lawrence Ellison - returning to the top 10 after slipping to No. 12 last year - and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s S. Robson Walton.

The number of billionaires grew to a record 691 from 587 last year, and their total net worth rose by $300 billion to $2.2 trillion.

A confluence⁶ of factors contributed to the increase, said Forbes associate editor Luisa Kroll, including positive performance by many stock markets around the world - for example, in Ukraine and Iceland, countries that debuted⁷ on the list along with Kazakhstan and Poland - and the falling dollar.

Between February 2004 and February 2005, the 12-nation euro rose about 4 percent against the dollar, while the British pound rose about 3 percent versus⁸ the U.S. currency.

"If you were a euro-based billionaire, you could've done nothing and seen a 20 percent increase" over the past two years, Kroll said.

Soaring commodities like oil and steel also helped make the rich richer, as did the overall recovery of the global economy over the past few years.

One of this year's new billionaires - and one of the list's 68 women, up from 53 last year - was Martha Stewart, whose wealth swelled⁹ to $1 billion despite her conviction for lying about a stock sale and ensuing five-month prison stint¹⁰.

由于人们对钢铁、网络和斯堪的纳维亚式沙发的需求迅速增长，全球富豪排行榜上又出现了一些新名字。

印度钢铁巨头拉克希米·米塔尔、墨西哥电信首脑卡洛斯·斯里姆·荷鲁和瑞士家居品牌“宜家”的创始人英格瓦·坎普拉德将几名沃尔玛公司的继承人从《财富》杂志2005年度的"富豪榜"上挤到了后面。

今年上榜的富豪们比去年更富有，人数也更为众多，但美国微软公司的头号交椅却无人撼动。这已经是微软创始人比尔·盖茨连续第11年高居榜首，他的公司的净财富为465亿美元，略低于去年的466亿美元。

紧跟在第二位的是投资者沃伦·巴菲特，他的资产从2004年的429亿美元上升到现在的440亿美元。

（全球最大钢铁制造商）米塔尔的净财富翻了四番，成为最大的美元收获者，目前其净资产总值为250亿美元，比去年上涨了188亿美元，在富豪榜的排名上升了59位，现居第三名。

排在前十名的还有微软的保罗·艾伦，德国经营连锁超市的富商卡尔·阿尔布莱希特，Oracle 公司的劳伦斯·埃利森（去年滑到12名的他今年重返前10），以及沃尔玛连锁超市的塞缪尔·罗伯森·沃尔顿。今年的亿万富翁的人数达到了历史性的691人，高于去年的587人，而且他们的净财富总额上升到2.2亿万美元，比去年增加了三千亿美元。

福布斯的副编辑路易莎·克罗尔说，一系列的事实共同造就了这种增长，包括世界各地的许多股票市场的积极表现，以及美元的不断贬值。提到“世界各地”的股票市场，乌克兰和冰岛两国的名字和哈萨克斯坦、波兰一起首次出现在全球富豪排行榜上。

2004年2月到2005年2月间，欧盟12国之间流通的欧元对美元的比价上升了大约4%，而英镑对美元的比价上升了3%。

“如果你是一个主要积储欧元的亿万富翁，那么在过去两年中，你可以什么都不用做，就能看到你的财富增加了20%。”克罗尔说。

过去几年来全球经济的全面恢复，以及对油类和钢铁等商品的需求激增，都使富者愈富。

今年有一位新的亿万富豪叫做玛莎·斯图尔特，她是富豪榜上的68位女性之一，去年排在第53位。她的财富上升到了10亿美元，尽管她在销售一支股票时因涉嫌欺瞒罪，被判了五个月的监禁。

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 notches   

n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级

参考例句：

• The Indians cut notches on a stick to keep count of numbers. 印第安人在棒上刻V形凹痕用来计数。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They cut notches in the handle of their pistol for each man they shot. 他们每杀一个人就在枪托上刻下一个V形记号。 来自辞典例句

3 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

4 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

5 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

6 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。

7 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

8 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

9 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

10 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。