2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 23

Unit 23

Jim Clark, 55, is the first person ever to start three companies that each grew to be worth more than $1 billion—an achievement celebrated in Michael Lewis’ best-selling book, The New New Thing. Clark saw in primitive computer graphics chips the potential for powerful new workstations built by Silicon Graphics. He looked at a simple interface for websites, and turned it into the Netscape Web browser. And he most recently has exploited the potential of the Web for dispensing medical information through a company called Healtheon. Each of these ideas has netted Clark a cool billion or so. Shouldn’t such a visionary come up with a similarly new way of giving those bucks away?

Well, no. Clark has bestowed his money the old-fashioned way—by attaching his name to a building at Stanford University, his alma mater. His $150 million grant, establishing the Jim C. Clark Center for Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, reflects his belief that just as computer technology has been driving today’s economy, biotech will power it over the next 40 years. “Some people say you should give where the need is greatest,” he says, shrugging. “But that’s the job for government. For me, with only a few billion, I have more impact targeting a specific priority.”

Clark also wanted to reward Stanford, whose labs he used while engineering the chip for his Silicon Graphics workstations. And this was the sort of philanthropic gesture that would still leave him time to have fun running companies, building yachts and flying helicopters. Clark has a personal insight into why some tech multimillionaires postpone serious charitable giving. At one point in 1998, he watched the value of his Netscape stock erode from $2 billion to $200 million. And other wealthy techies have seen similar wild swings in their personal fortunes. Explains Clark: “When you see your net worth drop like that, you think, ‘If this keeps going, I’m going to have to sell my airplane.’”

Clark is critical of some of his Silicon Valley brethren who haven’t been as generous, despite their multibillion-dollar net worth. He hopes his gift will spur other tech billionaires to action, particularly Yahoo founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, who don’t discuss specifics of any giving they may have done—and who Clark believes have been too frugal. “These guys actually ran the Yahoo servers out of Stanford,” says Clark. “They should be giving something back. These guys are young, but they’ve got more money than me. Or take Larry Ellison; he should be doing more.”

But Clark remains optimistic: “These new-money guys, first they have to get a couple of houses, the plane. At that point they’ll think about: How can I do something more impacting?”

注（1）：本文選自Time；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象為2003年真題Text 2。

1. The author begins his article with Clark’s experience to ______.

A) show the great achievements of Clark

B) show the richness of Clark

C) show the payback of Clark’s brilliant ideas

D) show Clark’s desire to get fortunes

2. Clark believes that the bestowal of the money ______.

A) should be done in an old way

B) should take the form of generosity

C) should be given in a limited field

D) should involve all rich men

3. The founders of Yahoo are mentioned to show ______.

A) their way of saving money

B) their ungenerosity and less interest in donating

C) Clark’s contempt of the new money

D) their difficulty in getting rich

4. Clark’s attitude toward his Silicon Valley brethren is of ______.

A) strong disapproval

B) reserved consent

C) slight contempt

D) enthusiastic support

5. From the text we learn that Larry Ellison is ______.

A) a Yuppie

B) Clark’s competitor

C) a successful techie

D) a young tech billionaire

篇章剖析

本文是一篇記敘文。主要記述了一位成功開辦了三家大公司的電腦專家克拉克本人的捐贈(zèng)方式以及他對(duì)同行富豪們捐贈(zèng)態(tài)度的看法。第一段指出克拉克所取得的成就；第二段指出克拉克的捐贈(zèng)方式及其原因；第三段至第五段指出克拉克對(duì)他的同行富豪們捐贈(zèng)態(tài)度的看法。

詞匯注釋

Silicon Graphics 硅谷圖形公司

Netscape 網(wǎng)景公司

Healtheon 健康保險(xiǎn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司

net /net/ vt. 凈賺，凈得，贏利

cool /ku?l/ adj. 〈口〉/用以加強(qiáng)語氣/（數(shù)額）不折不扣的，整整的

visionary /?v???n?ri/ n. 幻想家；空想家，夢(mèng)想者

attach one’s name to 在…上簽名

engineer /?end???n??/ vt. 設(shè)計(jì)，修建；操縱；指揮；策劃

philanthropic /f?l?n?θr?p?k/ adj. 慈善（事業(yè)）的；博愛的

have an insight into 有對(duì)…的了解，有對(duì)…的洞察力，識(shí)破

postpone /p??st?p??n/ vt. 使延期，推遲，擱置（until, till, to, for）；把…放在次要地位（to）

charitable /?t??r?t?b(?)l/ adj. 仁慈的；慈善的

erode /??r??d/ v. （遭）侵蝕；（被）腐蝕；受到破壞

techie /teki/ n. 電腦迷，電腦專家，電腦高手（“tech”是“technology”的縮略形式，techie結(jié)尾為“-ie”，表示人。這個(gè)詞是上個(gè)世紀(jì)80年代早期計(jì)算機(jī)變得越來越普及的時(shí)候出現(xiàn)的，意思是高級(jí)電腦技師，或?qū)τ?jì)算機(jī)技術(shù)很熟悉的人，尤指計(jì)算機(jī)編程人員或迷戀計(jì)算機(jī)技術(shù)的人）

swing /sw??/ n. 劇變；擺動(dòng)

net worth 資本凈值

critical /?kr?t?k?l/ adj. 有判斷力的；批評(píng)的；批判的

be critical of sth. 對(duì)某事表示譴責(zé)

brethren /?breer?n/ n. 教友；同道，同業(yè)

frugal /?fru?g(?)l/ adj. 節(jié)儉的；儉樸的

new-money guy 暴發(fā)戶，新貴

背景注釋

1. Jim Clark（吉姆·克拉克）：硅谷圖形公司、網(wǎng)景公司、健康保險(xiǎn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司的創(chuàng)始人、董事長(zhǎng)；資產(chǎn)：25億美元；財(cái)富積累時(shí)間：17年；格言：“最初的幾百萬最難賺?！眹?guó)際暢銷書作家劉易斯花了18個(gè)月的時(shí)間，貼身采訪這位硅谷傳奇人物，讓世人得以一窺硅谷之所以成為硅谷的奧秘，那就是致富并不在于制造新電腦，而是在于設(shè)計(jì)新事物讓電腦來執(zhí)行；也就是永遠(yuǎn)不滿足現(xiàn)狀，不斷尋求突破，比新還要更新。

2. The New New Thing（新新事物）：經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家羅莫提出的“新增長(zhǎng)理論”強(qiáng)調(diào)科技在經(jīng)濟(jì)成長(zhǎng)過程中扮演的重要角色，這就等于強(qiáng)調(diào)新新事物的重要性。不過，他也提出另一個(gè)更深入的理由，說明科技為什么會(huì)日新月異、千變?nèi)f化?！耙坏┱J(rèn)定現(xiàn)實(shí)生活還有精益求精的空間，就是認(rèn)定現(xiàn)有成就外還有更大的可能，只要稍有變動(dòng)，已知的世界將截然不同。我們不得不接受一個(gè)事實(shí)：如今已知的世界，只是一長(zhǎng)串偶發(fā)事件的結(jié)果?！?

3. Michael Lewis（邁克爾·劉易斯）：出生于新奧爾良，畢業(yè)于美國(guó)普林斯頓大學(xué)和英國(guó)倫敦經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院，曾任所羅門兄弟公司的債券交易員，后來成為《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的撰稿人和英國(guó)《觀察家周刊》的美國(guó)版編輯，目前是加州大學(xué)伯克利分校新聞學(xué)院的客座研究員。他的成名之作《說謊者的撲克牌》被公認(rèn)是描寫80年代華爾街文化的經(jīng)典名作，至今仍然在亞馬遜書店熱銷，其中的精彩片段被各種媒體廣為引用。他這一成名作及2000年的《一個(gè)想法一千萬》是對(duì)變革的兩個(gè)時(shí)代最真實(shí)細(xì)膩的寫照，對(duì)美國(guó)商業(yè)文化產(chǎn)生了重大的影響。在福布斯2001年評(píng)選的20年來最偉大的20本商業(yè)書籍中，他的兩本著作全部入選。

難句突破

His $150 million grant, establishing the Jim C. Clark Center for Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, reflects his belief that just as computer technology has been driving today’s economy, biotech will power it over the next 40 years.

主體句式：His grant reflects his belief that...

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：主語是grant，establishing部分是現(xiàn)在分詞作伴隨狀語來修飾grant，謂語是reflects，that引導(dǎo)同位語從句來解釋belief。注意從句中just as的用法，意為“正如…一樣”，后面可跟句子。

句子譯文：他捐贈(zèng)1.5億美元用于建立生物醫(yī)學(xué)工程科學(xué)系的吉姆·C·克拉克中心，這源于他的一種信念：正如計(jì)算機(jī)技術(shù)推動(dòng)了今天的經(jīng)濟(jì)，生物技術(shù)也同樣會(huì)在以后的40年里給經(jīng)濟(jì)提供強(qiáng)大的動(dòng)力。

題目分析

1. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。原文指出克拉克是創(chuàng)辦3家價(jià)值超過10億美元的大公司的第一人，并把此稱為an achievement，所以選A。

2. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。從句子“Clark is critical of some of his Silicon Valley brethren who haven’t been as generous, despite their multibillion-dollar net worth.”我們可看出克拉克對(duì)于其他富翁吝嗇的舉動(dòng)是持否定態(tài)度的。而他本人又給母校斯坦福捐贈(zèng)了1.5億美元，由此可以看出他的慷慨。第二段末尾提到克拉克認(rèn)為捐贈(zèng)最好“targeting a specific priority”，但這并不是說捐贈(zèng)應(yīng)該只限于某個(gè)領(lǐng)域，因而排除C。

3. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息在倒數(shù)第二段：...Yahoo founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, who don’t discuss specifics of any giving they may have done—and who Clark believes have been too frugal.

4. A 情感態(tài)度題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息在倒數(shù)第二段：Clark is critical of some of his Silicon Valley brethren who haven’t been as generous, despite their multibillion-dollar net worth. Be critical of意為“批判，批評(píng)；挑剔”。

5. D 細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息是They should be giving something back. These guys are young, but they’ve got more money than me. Or take Larry Ellison; he should be doing more.句中they指的是那些賺錢比克拉克還多的年輕富豪。由此我們可做出判斷，Larry Ellison也是他們中的一份子。

參考譯文

吉姆·克拉克今年55歲，是創(chuàng)辦了3家價(jià)值超過10億美元的大公司的第一人。他所取得的成就得到邁克爾·劉易斯的暢銷書《新新事物》的大力頌揚(yáng)。克拉克在原始計(jì)算機(jī)圖形芯片里看到了硅谷圖形公司強(qiáng)大新型工作站的潛力。他看了一下簡(jiǎn)單的網(wǎng)絡(luò)接口，就把它變成了網(wǎng)景公司的瀏覽器。就在最近，他利用網(wǎng)絡(luò)的潛力通過一個(gè)叫“健康保險(xiǎn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)”的公司來分發(fā)醫(yī)療信息。克拉克的每個(gè)點(diǎn)子都為自己凈賺了高達(dá)10億美元左右的利潤(rùn)。這樣的一個(gè)幻想家在捐贈(zèng)方式上是否也應(yīng)該同樣別出心裁呢？

可惜，答案是“不”。克拉克以古老的方式——在他的母校斯坦福大學(xué)一座建筑物上刻上自己的名字——捐出了他的錢。他捐贈(zèng)1.5億美元用于建立生物醫(yī)學(xué)工程科學(xué)系的吉姆·C·克拉克中心，這源于他的一種信念：正如計(jì)算機(jī)技術(shù)推動(dòng)了今天的經(jīng)濟(jì)，生物技術(shù)也同樣會(huì)在以后的40年里給經(jīng)濟(jì)提供強(qiáng)大的動(dòng)力?！坝腥苏f，你應(yīng)該把錢投到最需要的地方，”他聳了聳肩說，“但這是政府的事。對(duì)于只有區(qū)區(qū)幾十億家當(dāng)?shù)奈襾碚f，還是優(yōu)先發(fā)展某個(gè)項(xiàng)目會(huì)產(chǎn)生更大的影響。”

克拉克也想酬謝一下斯坦福大學(xué)，因?yàn)樗O(shè)計(jì)他的硅谷圖形工作站所用的芯片時(shí)使用的就是該校的實(shí)驗(yàn)室。而這種慈善活動(dòng)仍然能給他留出時(shí)間享受開辦公司、建造游艇和駕駛直升機(jī)的快樂。對(duì)于某些搞技術(shù)的千萬富翁遲遲未熱衷于慈善捐款一事，克拉克有自己的見解。1998年某時(shí)，他目睹了手中網(wǎng)景公司股票價(jià)值從20億美元逐漸降到2億美元。其他技術(shù)富豪們的個(gè)人財(cái)富也經(jīng)歷了類似瘋狂的大起大落?？死私忉屨f：“當(dāng)你看到你的資本凈值跌得那么快，你會(huì)想，‘如果再繼續(xù)這樣跌下去，我必須賣我的飛機(jī)了?！?

克拉克對(duì)硅谷的那些盡管擁有數(shù)十億美元資本凈值卻不夠大方的億萬富翁同行們持批評(píng)態(tài)度。他希望他的饋贈(zèng)能激勵(lì)其他技術(shù)億萬富翁們行動(dòng)起來，特別是雅虎公司的創(chuàng)始人杰瑞·楊和大衛(wèi)·菲洛。這兩人從不談?wù)撊魏瘟λ芗暗木柚乱恕死苏J(rèn)為他們兩人太過于精打細(xì)算?！斑@些人的雅虎服務(wù)器實(shí)際上是從斯坦福開始的?！笨死苏f，“他們應(yīng)該給予一定的回報(bào)。這些人很年輕，但他們掙的錢卻比我多。就拿拉里·埃利森來說，他應(yīng)該做得更多一些。”

但克拉克仍保留樂觀態(tài)度：“這些新貴們，他們首先得有兩三套房子，得有飛機(jī)。只有到了那時(shí)候他們才會(huì)考慮：我如何做些更有影響力的事？”