英语听力—环球英语 634 World Business Leaders: Andrew Carnegie

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Steve Myersco.
Voice 2
And I am Marina Santee. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
He was born into a poor family in Scotland². He grew up to be one of the richest men in the world. But he chose to give much of his money away. Before he died he gave away more than 350 million dollars.
Voice 2
This is one of a group of Spotlight programmes about some of the world's most famous business leaders. Today's programme is all about Andrew Carnegie.
Voice 1
Andrew Carnegie's life is a story of riches that are hard to imagine. But the story begins with nothing. Carnegie was born in 1835 in Scotland. He lived in a town called Dunfermline. His father was part of a movement for workers' rights, called the Chartists. The family had very little money. Most of the people in Dunfermline worked in cotton mills³. These factories made cloth from cotton. But machines were being used more and more in the cotton industry. And these machines took the place of many workers. People lost their jobs and so had little money. When Carnegie was twelve years old he moved with his family to the United States.
Voice 2
The family joined a small community of Scottish settlers in the area that is now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At first they continued to work in the cotton trade. Andrew Carnegie started working in the cotton mills. But he wanted something better.
Voice 1
Carnegie went to school at night while working during the day. He read lots of books. The United States was developing very quickly. The 1840s was a good time to open a new business. New industries were starting all the time. Before long Andrew Carnegie got a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad⁴. He worked in a telegraph⁵ office. He sent messages along wires to other cities in the USA. Here he learned⁶ things that would help him a great deal in later life.
Voice 2
Carnegie used his money wisely. He invested⁷ his money in some of the new industries of America. First was the sleeping car. This was a train that had beds in it. The passengers could save time by travelling overnight⁸ while they slept. Then Carnegie invested his money into bridge building, iron and steel.
Voice 1
By the age of thirty-five, Carnegie was earning 50,000 dollars a year. He was ready for a big move into steel making. He started the J. Edgar Thomson steel works⁹ in Pittsburgh in 1873. This steel works used the latest technology from Britain. It produced high quality steel at a low price.
Voice 2
However, in the 1890s the economy began to suffer. Many men lost their jobs. Carnegie survived by cutting the cost of steel production. He was not afraid to stand up to any workers who opposed his plans. One of his factories was in Homestead in Pittsburgh. Here, the workers formed a trade union. A trade union is a group that protects the workers' rights. The workers went on strike in 1892. They refused to work until they were paid more. Carnegie's factory manager, Henry Frick, wanted to break the strike. He ordered a private army of three hundred men to come in to the steel works by boat. The private army was called the Pinkerton Guards. They landed their boat near the factory during the night. The strikers saw them and opened fire. There was a fierce gun battle. Seven strikers and three guards were killed.
Voice 1
Historical records are not clear about how directly Carnegie was involved. It is not clear if he made the decision to use force. During the crisis¹⁰ he spent some of the time in Scotland. Henry Frick has to take some of the blame. But Carnegie was responsible for the company as a whole.
Voice 2
After hearing of such events you may imagine that Carnegie was a mean man. But he did care about the progress of his workers. He also had strong opinions about what to do with his wealth. These opinions probably came from his father. He believed in altruism¹¹. This is when a person acts purely¹² in the interests of another. Carnegie's father believed it was a good thing to encourage altruism.
Voice 1
Andrew Carnegie wrote down his ideas about wealth in a magazine called the "North American Review". His writing became known as the ‘gospel of wealth'. There is a rare sound recording¹³ of Andrew Carnegie reading from the Gospel of Wealth. As you can hear, the quality of the sound is not very good. But it is interesting to hear the real voice of this famous man. The recording was made about a hundred years ago.
Carnegie
"This then I hold to be the duty of the man of wealth. First to set an example of modest, unostentatious living"
Voice 1
Because the sound is not clear I will now ask Nick Page to bring us the words of Andrew Carnegie.
Voice 4
‘It is the duty of the man of wealth to set an example of simple living. He should not make a big public show of his wealth. He must provide moderately for his family. He must provide only for their everyday needs. After doing so the wealthy person should consider all surplus¹⁴ money as money to be used for the good of the community. This is a clear matter of duty for the wealthy person.'
Voice 2
Carnegie did not just write about helping¹⁵ others. He also followed his own teaching¹⁶. When he was sixty five he retired¹⁷ from his work. He spent the last eighteen years of his life giving his money away. He believed it was shameful¹⁸ for someone to die rich. In total he gave away almost ninety percent of all his wealth. He paid for libraries, schools, universities and theatres. Many of these are named after him, and still exist today. Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth also stands as a clear call for the rich to help others.
Voice 1
In another programme in this series we will look at another famous business leader - Bill Gates. He is one of the richest people in the world today. But he is now following the example of Andrew Carnegie - and giving much of his money away too.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 Scotland   

n.苏格兰

参考例句：

• He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
• Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。

3 mills   

n.磨坊( mill的名词复数 )；磨粉机；作坊；工厂

参考例句：

• He was tall, dark and handsome, like a Mills and Boon hero. 他个头高大、皮肤黝黑、相貌堂堂，像通俗爱情小说的男主角。
• The captain wants to play Mills as defence in our next game. 队长想让密尔斯在下次比赛中打后卫。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

5 telegraph   

n.电报，电报机；v.打电报，显示

参考例句：

• A new telegraph line has been set up between the two cities.那两个城市之间架设了一条新的电报线。
• Telegraph communication was broken off.电讯中断了。

6 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

7 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》

8 overnight   

ad.前一天晚上，一夜间 a.前一天晚上的

参考例句：

• She stayed overnight in the hotel. 她在旅馆过了一夜。
• Our success is not won overnight. 我们的成功不是一夜之间得来的。

9 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

10 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

11 altruism   

n.利他主义，不自私

参考例句：

• An important feature of moral behaviour is altruism.道德行为一个重要特点就是利他主义。
• Altruism is crucial for social cohesion.利他主义对社会的凝聚是至关重要的。

12 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

13 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

14 surplus   

adj.过剩的，多余的；n.过剩，剩余额

参考例句：

• The manufacturers in some countries dumped their surplus commodities abroad.一些国家的制造商向国外倾销过剩产品。
• The surplus steam was blown off through the pipes.多余的蒸气通过管道放掉了。

15 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。

16 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

17 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

18 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。