2007年VOA标准英语-Virgin Group Founder Commits Billions of Dollar

By Kane Farabaugh
New York City
19 March 2007
 
watch Richard Branson report

Richard Branson sits on the top-ten list of the United Kingdom's richest citizens, with an estimated wealth of roughly eight billion dollars.  As the company he founded -- Virgin¹ Group -- tries to expand its airline operations into the United States, Branson is committing billions of dollars of the company's future profits to developing renewable energy.  VOA's Kane Farabaugh recently spoke² to the British entrepreneur at the United Nations in New York about his commitments to helping³ the environment, and about his plans for the final frontier in tourism -- space.

 
Richard Branson
He set a record for crossing both the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel.

An attempt to travel non-stop around the world in a hot air balloon fell short of his dreams in 1999, but his Virgin Global Flyer aircraft, piloted by Steve Fossett, succeeded in 2005.

Richard Branson said before the success, “It is perhaps the last great aviation record left here on Earth."

But when Richard Branson is not flying above the clouds, he is right down to earth in the effort to go green. "There is a danger that mankind could actually be destroyed if we carry on putting too much methane⁴ and carbon into the Earth's atmosphere."

At former President Bill Clinton's Global Initiative conference in New York in September, Branson emphasized the need to develop renewable energy. "We have to wean ourselves off our dependence⁵ on coal and fossil fuels."

Branson committed the profits over the next 10 years from Virgin Atlantic Airline and other transportation companies in the Virgin Group to the effort. That is an estimated cost of three billion dollars.

And in February, Branson announced the Virgin Earth Challenge, a $25 million prize for the person who develops a working solution to remove greenhouse gases from the Earth's atmosphere. "To devise a way of removing greenhouse gases, at least the equivalent of one billion tons of carbon per year -- hopefully much more, and you will have the satisfaction of saving thousands of species and possibly even mankind itself."

Since the announcement, Branson has received a flood of entries for the competition that is open to the world. "We've had 15,000 people who have sent in their application forms.  It only launched a month ago so it's early days to see if anybody's come up with any great ideas, but at least we're getting people thinking. And you know, it would be wonderful if someone had a breakthrough."

Aside from his efforts to promote a cleaner environment, Branson continues to be a man on the move, expanding his business empire.

Almost 35 years after he started his fledgling record company in London, the Virgin name is on everything from music to mobile phones, comics to drinks, trains to planes, and now, the first spacecraft built for tourists.

Called Virgin Galactic, it is scheduled to blast off in 2009. Branson adds, "Myself and my family are fortunate enough, because we own a space company, to be able to take the first flight up there.  So 24 months from now my parents and my children and myself shall be popping into space.”

Branson says he is not concerned. “I'm not nervous.  I mean, these spaceships will be well tested before we go up.  But it's a responsibility.  It's a responsibility to take my children up and my parents, and it's going to be a responsibility taking hopefully thousands of people up in the years to come."

Branson is sometimes called the "Rebel Billionaire", a title he has earned partly for the risks he has taken in many of his business ventures.

While the world waits for Virgin Galactic to launch from the Mojave desert in California, Branson is also trying to position Virgin into the U.S. domestic air travel market.  Virgin America, based in San Francisco, is trying to win approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).  The DOT initially⁶ opposed the start-up because of regulations preventing foreign citizens from controlling a U.S.-based airline.

In Britain in 2003, Branson also led an unsuccessful effort to keep the supersonic passenger jet Concorde flying.  The owner, British Airways⁷, refused to sell the aircraft and forced the fleet into retirement⁸. That put an end to supersonic passenger travel.

But when Richard Branson looks back on a life less ordinary than most, it is not his airlines, his record stores, his space franchise⁹, or his travel speed records he wants people to remember most.  He hopes the world will remember the Virgin Earth Challenge. "If somebody could answer this prize, I would be very happy to be known for coming up with a prize that saved the world."

1 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

5 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

8 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

9 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。