Lesson65 Money Talks
Ben Fix used to be a real estate agent． He got rich by selling worthless farmland to people from the city who didn't know what they were buying． He was very good at fooling the public． Mr． Fix used the money he got from selling farmland to buy an old apartment building in the city． Most of the people who lived in the building had low incomes and were used to paying low rents． Mr． Fix wanted to make a few minor improvements and then charge high rents， but first he had to get rid of the old tenants． He chose to do this by making life miserable for everyone in the building． He drew up a long list of unnecessary rules and insisted that everyone obey them． Anyone who broke the rules had to move out of the building．
Mr． Fix was capable of doing anything to get money． At times he even cut off the electricity and said he was saving energy．
The tenants complained but it was no use． Mr． Fix always told the tenants to leave if they weren't happy． After a while they got tired of living under these conditions and started moving out． Mr． Fix almost succeeded in driving everyone out of the building， but he didn't count on the opposition he got from one of his tenants， an old lady named Olive Grove． She wouldn't give up without a fight and even went to tell the story to the newspaper．
agent 经纪人
minor 较小的
tenant 承租人， 房客
draw up 草拟
insist 坚持
count on 预料
opposition 反对， 反抗
金钱万能
本菲克斯过去是一个房地产经纪人。他通过将无任何价值的农田卖给那些不知实情的城市人而发财。他很善于愚弄大众。菲克斯先生用出售农田赚的钱买了一幢城里的旧公寓。住在公寓里的人大都收入很低，而且习惯于交低租金。菲克斯先生想做些细微的改进，然后收取高租金，但首先他必须赶走旧房客。他决定通过把房客的生活弄的过不下去的办法来达到目的。他制定了许多不必要的规定，而且坚决要求每个人都要遵守。违反了规定的人必须搬出公寓。
任何赚钱的事菲克斯先生都会去做。有时他甚至断电，说自己是在节约能源。房客们的抱怨都无济于事。菲克斯先生告诉他们，如果不高兴就搬走好了。过了一段时间，房客们厌倦了这样的生活，开始搬出。菲克斯先生几乎成功地赶走了公寓里的所有人，但他没有预料到他会遭到其中的一位房客，名叫奥利夫格罗夫的老太太的抵制。她不想就此束手就擒，于是她就向报纸投诉。 |