英语小达人 283 How You Made Money

 　　How You Made Money

　　你怎么赚的钱

　　A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money.

　　一个年轻人问一位富有的老人是怎样赚到钱的。

　　The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1930. The depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel¹."

　　老人轻抚着自己的精纺毛背心，说道：“孩子，是这样的。那是1930年，大萧条时期，我就只剩下5分钱。”

　　"I invested³ that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents."

　　“我用这5分钱买了一个苹果，然后用一整天的时间把这只苹果擦得光洁漂亮，到晚上，我把它卖了一毛钱。”

　　"The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 6:00 p.m. for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I'd accumulated⁴ a fortune of $1.58."

　　“第二天早上，我用这一毛钱买了两个苹果并用一整天把它们擦得光洁漂亮，下午6点钟时我把它们卖了两毛钱。如此以往，一个月后，我积攒了一块五毛八。”

　　"And that's how you built an empire?" the boy asked.

　　“你就是这样发家致富的？”年轻人问。

　　"Heavens, no!" the man replied, "Then my wife's father died and left us five million dollars."

　　“当然不是！”老人答道，“后来，我的老丈人死了，留给我们500万。”

　　重点讲解：

　　1. make money

　　挣钱；赚钱；

　　eg. They couldn't find work or make money in the cities.

　　他们在城市找不到工作，也赚不到钱。

　　eg. He was a businessman, and therefore he always has an eye out for any opportunity to make money.

　　他是商人，总见钱眼开。

　　2. down to

　　只剩下；

　　eg. The poor man's down to his last ?3.

　　那个可怜的人身上只剩 3 英镑了。

　　eg. He was already down to his last loaf of bread.

　　他已经穷得只剩下最后一个面包了。

　　3. invest² in

　　购买；买进；

　　eg. The company invested thousands in an electronic order-control system.

　　公司耗资数千购买了一套电子订单管理系统。

　　eg. The easiest way to make ice cream yourself is to invest in an ice cream machine.

　　自己制作冰激凌的最简单的办法就是买一台冰激凌机。

1 nickel   

n.镍，（美国和加拿大的）五分钱

参考例句：

• Nickel can be used for making coins.镍可做成钱币。
• May I have a nickel?能给我五分钱吗？

2 invest   

v.投资；投入(时间等)；授予，赋予

参考例句：

• I have decided to invest in a new car.我已经决定买一辆新汽车。
• The best time to invest is now.现在是投资的最佳时机。

3 invested   

v.投资，花费( invest的过去式和过去分词 )；授予；（把资金）投入；投入（时间、精力等）

参考例句：

• The money will be invested in managed funds. 这笔钱将投资于管理基金。
• He invested his lawyer with complete power to act for him. 他让律师全权代办。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 accumulated   

adj. 累积的 动词accumulate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• I seem to have accumulated a lot of books. 我好像已经收集了很多书。
• All his accumulated nervous agitation was discharged on Maud like a thunderbolt. 他那蓄积已久的怒气，就像雷电般倾泻在莫德身上。