Unit Eleven
Kind Bill Gates
Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, announced last week a gift of $100 million to speed the delivery of four vaccines to developing countries.① The couple, now expecting a second child, wants to give more people better access to new vaccines against a group of respiratory, intestinal and liver diseases, which together take the lives of more than 2 million children a year worldwide. On a trip to New York, Gates spoke to NEWSWEEK about the donation, the ongoing antitrust suit against Microsoft and other challenges.
NEWSWEEK: Why specifically this cause, and why his specific sum of money?
GATES: You think, “How could I (use the ) resources I have to make an impact?” Contributing to the world’s health has got to be a great opportunity. These vaccination programs, from 1980 to today, went from 5 percent of kids to 80 percent getting six vaccines, and that has saved more lives than any medical effort in history. Four additional new vaccines really should be in the package; there’s just literally hundreds of thousands of kids who die because they don’t get(them). About a month ago the plan came together, and we decided to fund it very aggressively, because vaccines can have such a huge impact, and yet there hasn’t been that much private funding.
NEWSWEEK: Do you think about a specific amount of money or percentage of your wealth that you want over time to be giving away?
GATES: I’m 43 years old, and contrary to what anybody might think, ②Microsoft’s(continued) success is anything but assured. I’ve got a full-time job there, and how well I do that, I and all the other people in the company, how well we do our job will determine the value of the part ownership of Microsoft I have. And as I get older, I might get to put more time into this. Melinda and my dad, of course, get to put quite a bit of time into it.
NEWSWEEK: Some people might think this is really an effort to improve your image, which has taken some hits at the antitrust trial.
GATES: We’ve been giving gifts for quite some time, and we’ll keep giving gifts, and we do that because we think is can have some positive impact. If I was going to pause and not give until Microsoft was noncontroversial, you know, a lot of kids would go without vaccines for a lot of time.
名人名言
Define success. ③Make it clear to your employees what constitutes success and how they should measure their achievements. Goals must be realistic. Project schedule, for example, must be set by the people who do the work. People will accept a “bottom-up” deadline they helped set. Unachievable goals undermine an organization.
--------------------Bill Gates
生词与联想词
gift-----------------gifted----------donation----------donate--------contribute------contribution
vaccine---------------vaccination
respiratory---------intestinal
liver------------------------------------lung
impact----------------influence---------influential-----------effect
package--------parcel-------------bundle----------------baggage-------luggage------packet----wrap
literally----------literary------literature-----illiterate
fund
aggressive
amount------------------sum
percent-------------------percentage
wealth------wealthy
contrast-------------------------------contrary
assure-------------assurance--------------------ensure
image-----portrait
trial
positive----------------negative
pause-----------------cease---------------suspend
controversial-------------controversy-------------dispute----------argument--------refute
realistic----------------------reality
schedule
deadline
undermine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit Twelve
Dance of Death
At the age of 21, Patrick Bissell burst upon New York as principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre. Rarely had a man so young dazzled so many in the intensely competitive world of ballet. He was praised, in the word of Mikhail Baryshnikov, as “one of the brightest lights in the entire ballet world.”
Patrick Bissell also helped bury the American myth that ballet is for sissies. At six feet two inches tall, Patrick was a tough, hard-drinking kid from Texas with a passion for motorcycles, cowboy boots and women. He was a muscle man who could twirl ballerinas into the air and make them look as graceful as butterflies.
Seven months after his birth in 1957, baby Bissell was not walking, according to his mother; he was actually running. When Patrick was ten, his sister bribed him with her allowance to come to her dance class, because she needed a partner. ①His natural gifts of coordination and stamina were stunning, and from that point on, his destiny was dance.
②The ballet world is notoriously brutal in its physical and emotional demands. The primary goal is absolute perfection. Unlike a professional athlete, which many believe Bissell could have become, a ballet star never has the satisfaction of knowing a final score, or of beating the competition. He competes only against himself – and for a perfectionist this may be the harshest competition of all.
When young Bissell set off for life, his mother believes he carried with him seeds that would lead to his destruction.
Every indication is that, even early in his career, Bissell was addicted to cocaine, alcohol and other drugs. But his strength and skill were so tremendous that he was able to perform the most demanding work without his managers’ knowing the truth.
In June 1981, only three years into his career, Bissell slashed his wrist. When the doctors reached him, Bissell slashed a bottle to use for a weapon and fought them off. Next day, he was bandaged and back onstage.
In the fall of 1987, the ballet company sent Bissell away for treatment to the Betty Ford Center in California. He told friends that he was ready to clean up his life. He wanted a fresh start.
He was released a week early and returned to New York. During December, Amy Rose, a ballerina he had become engaged to, was on tour in California and would return to New York after the holidays. Alone, Bissell got Christmas tree and decorated it for their apartment.
On December 23, he had a long telephone conversation with his parents. His mother begged him to join them at home. He declined, explaining that being alone during Christmas was a chance for him to show that he was strong enough to live without cocaine.
Four days after Christmas, Amy Rose let herself into the apartment. She discovered Patrick’s body on the living-room couch. Patrick Bissell was dead of an overdose of cocaine and other drugs. He had just turned 30.
生词与联想词
burst
principal
ballet
dazzle
intense--------intensity-------------intensive
myth
sissy
tough
passion
muscle----------muscular-------------flesh
twirl
grace-------------graceful
butterfly
bribe-------------------corrupt
coordinate----------------------coordination
stamina
stun
destiny------destination
notorious
emotion---------------mood----------sentimental
perfection-------perfectionist
profession-------------------------professional----------career-------vocation
harsh
destruction---------------destructive
indicate-------------indication----------indicative
addict
cocaine
alcohol---------brandy----------whisky
tremendous
slash----------chop-------------sword
wrist-------------------ankle----------forefinger--------------thumb-------toe-------heel
weapon
bandage-----------band---------bind-------ribbon
release
decorate------decorative-------------ornament---------------trim-----------mosaic
decline
couch----------------cushion------------------rug
dose--------------------overdose