In the USA Forbes magazine has published its annual list of the richest people in the world. Bill Gates of Microsoft is the richest man again for the eleventh successive year with a fortune of forty four billion dollars. There are a record 691 dollar billionaires according to Forbes magazine. Between them they have a fortune of two point two trillion dollars. The highest concentration of the ultra-rich is in New York followed by Moscow and San Fransisco and then London and Los Angeles. But in total the very wealthy live in forty seven different countries with Iceland Kazakstan Ukraine and Poland entering the list for the first time this year. Laksmi Mittal, an Indian born steel tycoon enjoyed the biggest increase in personal fortune. His net worth has quadrupled to thirteen billion dollars making him the world's third richest man. Ingvar Kamprad founder of the Swedish furniture chain Ikea also saw a big increase in wealth taking him to the sixth place. Developing countries make more of a showing than in past years -- there are for example three Russians and four Indians in the top sixty richest people, though surprisingly perhaps none from China excluding Hong Kong. Asian wealth is probably under represented as its usually spread among families whereas Forbes looks at individuals. Relatively few women feature in the list -- among them is JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels ranked 620th with a fortune of 519 million dollars. New entrants to the list include the founders of the Internet search group Google Sergie Brin and Larry Page each worth more than seven billion dollars after their company's recent stock market debut. The richest Italian is the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi ranked number 25 in the global wealth league. Which of the following persons has the largest fortune according to this year's Forbes magazine? A) Laksmi Mittal. B) Ingvar Kamprad. C) JK Rowling. D) Silvio Berlusconi.
A
A man and his son were once going with their donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: "You fools, what is a donkey for but to ride upon?" So the man put the boy on the donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: "See that lazy boy, he lets his father walk while he rides." So the man ordered his boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: "Isn't that lazy man ashamed of making his pool little son walk while he rides?" The man didn't know what to do. At last he took his boy up before him on the donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The man stopped and asked what they were laughing at. The men said: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey with you and your son?" The man and boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought again and again and then they cut down a pole, tied the donkey's feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went along surrounded by the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet were tied together,so it was drowned. Why did the man put the put the boy back on the donkey? A) Because the boy was too tired to walk. B) Because he was worried about his son C) Because two men asked him to do so D) Because he didn't want to be criticized by others.
D
Q: A fouryearold boy has become pen pals with Britain's Queen Elizabeth.Tom Stancombe started exchanging letters with the queen after he set free a balloon,carrying his name and address,at a school party and it landed in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The queen spotted the balloon and asked her personal assistant,Angela Kelly,to write a letter on her behalf. She wrote,"The queen was delighted to find that your balloon had traveled all the way to the gardens at Windsor Castle." Tom,who proudly put the letter on his wall,wrote back to say that his great,great grandfather,the artist Petrus Johannes Arundzen,had been commissioned to copy Dutch masters' on display at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Angela at once replied that she would contact the Royal Collection to find out what had happened to the art works.She kept her word and two weeks later wrote to Tom to tell him what had happened to the _ ,explaining they now form part of the print collection in the Print Library. Angela then asked a favor of Tom,writing,"Would you be able to ask your Mummy and Daddy for me if they know anything more about your great,great grandfather.Royal Collection would love to know more about him." Along with his parents,Tom wrote back to fill in all the gaps about Petrus Johannes Arundzen. Although Tom's parents don't think there will be any more letters exchanged between the pair,they were touched that she had taken time to contact them. Tom's father said,"I don't expect we'll get another one,but I think it's incredible they bothered replying at all." Tom's parents _ . A) feel very much shocked about the letters and refuse to answer them B) try to deal with the friendship naturally but refuse to do anything about it C) don't take the matter very seriously D) don't think this friendship will last long but somehow feel good
A: D
(Question)
Until recently, the "science of the future" was supposed to be electronics and artificial intelligence. Today it seems more and more likely that the next great breakthroughs in technology will be brought through a combination of those two sciences with organic chemistry and genetic engineering. This combination is the science of biotechnology. Organic chemistry enables us to produce marvelous synthetic materials. However, it is still difficult to manufacture anything that has the capacity of wool to conserve heat and also to absorb moisture. Nothing that we have been able to produce so far comes anywhere near the combination of strength, lightness and flexibility that we find in the bodies of ordinary insects. Nevertheless, scientists in the laboratory have already succeeded in "growing" a material that has many of the characteristics of human skin. The next step may well be "biotech hearts and eyes" which can replace diseased organs in human beings. These will not be rejected by the body, as is the case with organs from humans. The application of biotechnology to energy production seems even more promising. In 1996 the famous science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke, many of whose previous predictions have come true, said that we may soon be able to develop remarkably cheap and renewable sources of energy. Some of these power sources will be biological. Clarke and others have warned us repeatedly that sooner or later we will have to give up our dependence on non-renewable power sources. Coal, oil and gas are indeed convenient. However, using them also means creating dangerously high levels of pollution. It will be impossible to meet the growing demand for energy without increasing that pollution to catastrophic levels unless we develop power sources that are both cheaper and cleaner. It is attempting to think that biotechnology or some other "science of the future" can solve our problems. Before we surrender to that temptation we should remember nuclear power. Only a few generations ago it seemed to... According to the passage, the science of the future is likely to be _ . A) electronics B) biotechnology C) genetic engineering D) nuclear technology
(Answer)
B