VOA慢速英语2012 Economics Report - A Comic Book About Business Finance

 

Economics Report - A Comic Book About Business Finance

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

You probably have heard of comic book heroes like Superman, Batman and Spiderman. But what about Tom the motorcycle shop owner, Joe Knight¹ and Karen Berman?

Tom, Joe and Karen all appear in a comic book called “Financial Intelligence.” But Mr. Knight and Ms. Berman are real people. In two thousand six, they wrote a book called “Financial Intelligence: A Manager’s Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean.” It was written for people who need to learn quickly about accounting². The book explains, in simple ways, often-complex methods of keeping financial information. It became a best-seller.

This month, publisher SmarterComics released a comic book that provides the same information in easy-to-understand, picture form. The new book is a combination of a textbook and a graphic³ novel. It tells the story of Tom, a mechanic who must quickly learn how to direct the motorcycle repair shop his father founded. Tom has no experience with finance, and is struggling with the business. Joe Knight and Karen Berman help him. Artist Dave Wachter made illustrations for the comic book.

Franco Arda is the founder⁴ and head of SmarterComics. He formerly⁵ worked as an investment banker. He started the company almost three years ago with his own money. He wanted to create educational comics that increase understanding.

FRANCO ARDA: “I think almost everybody understands the phrase that ‘a picture says a thousand words,’ so, I mean, mentally, probably ninety percent of us grew up with comics and they understand that comics or illustrations help learning a concept much quicker than just text alone.”

Franco Arda says “Financial Intelligence” will help readers quickly understand many of the major areas of accounting.

FRANCO ARDA: “Within an hour, you kind of get the idea of accounting, very quickly and not in a boring way. So you get these illustrations, you get the basics of accounting and you get some balance sheets and cash-flow statements.”

The new comic book is available in paperback⁶. There will also be versions for iPad and iPhone users.

The website Entrepreneur.com named SmarterComics to its list of 100 Brilliant Companies of 2012. The company has created comic book versions of more than ten other books. These include “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, “The Prince” by Niccolo Machiavelli and “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. Later this year, SmarterComics plans to release a comic book by rapper 50Cent.

You can see some pages from the “Financial Intelligence” comic book on our website, www.voanews.cn. And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Chris Cruise. I’m Mario Ritter.

1 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

2 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 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。

5 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

6 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。