The world’s richest man might seem to have it all, but Bill Gates has one regret. The self-made billionaire said he felt stupid for not knowing any foreign languages.
Speaking in his third Ask Me Anything question-and-answer session for online forum Reddit(红迪网), the Microsoft founder said that he wished he spoke French, Arabic or Chinese.
He said: “I took Latin and Greek in high school and got A’s and I guess it helps my vocabulary. I keep hoping to get time to study one of these—probably French because it is the easiest. I did Duolingo for a while but didn’t keep it up.”
Gates, who is worth $79.3 billion, praised Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for surprising an audience in Beijing when he spoke fluent Chinese. “Mark Zuckerberg amazingly leamed Chinese and did a Q&A with Chinese students—unbelievable, isn’t it?” he said.
This isn’t the first time for Gates to admit his regret over language. He also showed his habits at home and personal insights.
Last February, Gates said he likes to do the dishes himself—to his own special standards every night and also told the interviewer that his wife, Melinda, would likely want Samuel L. Jackson to play her husband in a biopic(传记片).
He also admitted that he would pick up a $100 bill if he found it on the street.
As he took the top spot on Forbes(福布斯)28th Annual Billionaires list last year for the fourth time, he said he is pretty basic when it comes to so ending on clothes and food, but that he enjoys investing in shoes and racquets(球拍)when he plays tennis.
When asked a life lesson he had to learn the hard way, the billionaire said staying up too late is a habit he is still trying to break. “Don’t stay up too late even if the book is really exciting. You will regret it in the morning. Pam still working on this problem,” he said.
1. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. An Interview with Bill Gates
B. How Bill Gates Succeeded
C. Bill Gates’ Regret
D. The Richest Billionaire
2. The underlined part in Paragraph 8 may actually mean that_____.
A. it is important to lay a good foundation of life
B. food and clothing are basic needs for people’s life
C. he doesn’t spend much money on food and clothes
D. he never cares about buying food and clothing
3.What advice did Bill Gates give?
A. Avoid staying up too late.
B. Be a good language learner.
C. Do the dishes yourself at home.
D. Pick up the $100 bills in the streets.
4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Bill Gates is also the founder of Facebook
B. Bill Gates topped the list of Forbes 28 times.
C. Bill Gates was good at learning languages in high schoo1.
D. Bill Gates’ wife wants Samuel to play a game with Gates.
The International Painting Contest on Google’s homepage in 2015 may look pretty strange, but it spotlightings a very serious issue: clean water, which is unusual for an 11-year-old from Long Island.
Audrey Zhang, a fifth-grader from Levittown, N.Y, is the winner of this year’s Doodle 4 Google contest, rising to the top of some 100, 000 entries on the theme of “draw one thing to make the world a better place.”
Her piece, titled “Back to Mother Nature,” describes a detailed water-cleaning machine. Zhang worked with a team of artists at Google to animate(使……生动)her drawing.
“To make the world a better place, I came up with a transformative water purifier, a machine used to remove dirty or harmful substances,” Google quoted Zhang as saying. “It takes in dirty and polluted water from rivers, lakes and even oceans, then massively transforms the water into clean, safe and pure water. When humans and animals drink this water, they will live a healthier life.”
She created a whole world around the device—one populated by humans, a whale in a top hat and dragons.
Zhang, s piece is “so vivid and so rich and so full and so complete,’’ Google Doodle team leader Ryan Germick told the Washington Post. “Every leaf seemed to have life in it.”
Along with having her artwork featured on Google’s homepage, Zhang wins a $30,000 college scholarship. In addition, her school will receive a $50,000 Google for Education technology grant, and the company is donating $20,000 in her name to a charity devoted to bringing clean water to schools in Bangladesh.
On Sunday, the night before her work was revealed on net, Zhang told Newsday she was excited by the big win, but said she wouldn’t be awake when her art first went online at midnight.
“I have school-tomorrow, so I can’t stay up late,” she told the paper.
1. What’s the passage mainly about?
A. The winner and her work in the painting contest.
B. The team of artists at Google to animate drawings.
C. The painting contest of Google’s homepage in 2015.
D. The water-cleaning machine in the painting contest.
2.According to the passage, we know that______.
A. Audrey Zhang is creative and self-disciplined
B. a water-cleaning device was made in the contest
C. $50, 000 will be donated in Audrey Zhang’s name
D. Zhang’s piece was printed in all major newspapers
3.The underlined word in Paragraph l probably means “_____”.
A. put up with B. 1ook for ward to
C. breakaway from D. focus attention on
October 21 was a very dark day in Texas. Not only did Hurricane Hanna destroy homes, it caused the largest business damage in Texas’s history. The worst thing is Hanna’s destructive force nearly wiped out most power poles and power lines. According to Center Point Energy, Hurricane Hanna affected 2.15 million customers. Currently, more than 4,000 of them are still in the dark. Crews have worked 16-hour shifts to restore power to residents.
Most of Houston seems to be returning to normal. Schools, restaurants, retail stores and gas stations are open. Smiles are back. But harder-hit places, including Galveston, will take much longer to recover. Hundreds of people are still missing, and coastal towns are a mess. Some ruins from storm have drifted south to other beaches in Texas. Several public schools in Galveston are closed due to water damage. Parents are registering kids in other area schools which are scheduled to begin class on November 13. Many school supplies were destroyed.
Clara Barton Village is an emergency shelter located at Alamo Elementary School in Galveston, Texas. This is where Paula Reed and her family are staying. Believe it or not, Paula Reed and her family consider this hurricane a blessing. When Paula was a girl, she was an orphan, but was taken in by her stepmom, Antonia Flores. Reed lost contact with Flores and had been trying desperately to locate her for the past few years. Before the hurricane, Reed and her family moved away from Galveston to a San Antonio shelter. There, she reunited with Flores after 30 long years! The moment they saw each other, their lives were changed.
1.What’s the most serious damage caused by Hurricane Hanna?
A. Hundreds of people are still missing.
B. A large number of people are homeless.
C. Power facilities are severely destroyed.
D. Factories are closed and many people jobless.
2. It can be inferred that the residents in Houston________.
A. have fully recovered from the disaster
B. were the most unlucky people in the disaster
C. need a long time to bring their life back to normal
D. suffered less from Hanna than people in Galveston
3.Kids in public schools in other areas of Houston will have to stay at home for_______
A. at least one month
B. at least three weeks
C. two weeks at most
D. nearly half a month
4. Paula Reed and her family consider the hurricane a blessing because_______
A. they had nothing lost after Hurricane Hanna
B. they lived a happier life in San Antonio shelter
C. Paula was taken good care of in the shelter
D. Paula reunited with her stepmother after three decades
Can you tell me ______ that the 29th Olympic Games will take place?
A. it is when B. when is it C. when is D. when it is
No sooner ______ on board the train than it______ to move.
A. did he go; had started B. he went; started
C. had he gone; started D. he had gone; had started
It is not who is right but what is right ______ is of importance.
A. which B. it C. that D. this