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Bill Gates is stepping down as chairman of Microsoft&Photo: Andrew Crowley/The Telegraph
William Henry “Bill” Gates is a rich man. His estimated wealth, some 65  billion measured in US dollars, equals the annual GDP of Ecuador, and maybe a bit more than that of Croatia. By this rather crude criterion, the founder of Microsoft is worth two Kenyas, three Trinidads and a dozen or so Montenegros. Not bad for a university dropout.
Gates is also mortal, although some of his admirers may find that hard to believe, and as they say, there are no pockets in shrouds. So he is now engaged in the process of ridding himself of all that money in the hope of extending the lives of others less fortunate than himself.
“I’m certainly well taken care of in terms of food and clothes,” he says, redundantly. “Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organisation and getting the resources out to the poorest in the world.”
That “certain point” is set a little higher than for the rest of us – Gates owns a lakeside estate in Washington State worth about $150 million (?94  million) and boasting a swimming pool equipped with an underwater music system – but one gets the point. Being rich, even on the cosmic scale attained by Bill Gates, is no guarantee of an enduring place in history. The projection of the personal computer into daily life should do the trick for him, but even at the age of 57 he is a restless man and wants something more. The “more” is the eradication of a disease that has blighted untold numbers of lives: polio.
Later this month, Gates will deliver the BBC’s Dimbleby Lecture, taking as his theme the value of the young human being. Every child, he will say, has the right to a healthy and productive life, and he will explain how technology and innovation can help towards the attainment of that still-distant goal. Gates has put his money where his mouth is. He and his wife Melinda have so far given away $28 billion via their charitable foundation, more than $8  billion of it to improve global health.
“My wife and I had a long dialogue about how we were going to take the wealth that we’re lucky enough to have and give it back in a way that’s most impactful to the world,” he says. “Both of us worked at Microsoft and saw that if you take innovation and smart people, the ability to measure what’s working, that you can pull together some pretty dramatic things.
“We’re focused on the help of the poorest in the world, which really drives you into vaccination. You can actually take a disease and get rid of it altogether, like we are doing with polio.”
This has been done only once before in humans, with the eradication of smallpox in the 1970s.
“Polio’s pretty special because once you get an eradication you no longer have
it’s just there as a gift for the rest of time.”
One can see why that appeals to Gates. He has always sought neat, definitive solutions to things, but as he knows from Microsoft, bugs are resilient things. The disease is still endemic in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and killing it off altogether has been likened to squeezing jelly to death. There is another, sinister obstacle: the propagation by Islamist groups of the belief that polio vaccination is a front for covert sterilisation and other western evils. Health workers in Pakistan have paid with their lives for involvement in the programme.
“It’s not going to stop us succeeding,” says Gates. “It does force us to sit down with the Pakistan government to renew their commitments, see what they’re going to do in security and make changes to protect the women who are doing God’s work and getting out to these children and delivering the vaccine.”
Gates does not usually speak in religious terms, and has traditionally danced around the issue of God. His wife, a Roman Catholic, is less defensive on that topic but ploughs her own furrow, encouraging contraception when necessary, in contradiction to teaching from Rome.
“Melinda and I had been talking about this even before we were married,” he says. “When I was in my 40s Microsoft was my primary activity. The big switch for me was when I decided to make the foundation my primary purpose. It was a big change, although there are more in common with the two things than you might think – meeting with scientists, taking on tough challenges, people being sceptical that you can get things done.”
Gates is still chairman of Microsoft but without his day-to-day attention it has taken on the appearance of a weary giant, trailing Apple and Google in innovation. Some have called for Gates’s return to the company full-time to inject some verve but he isn’t coming back.
“My full-time work for the rest of my life will be at the foundation,” he says. “I still work part-time for Microsoft. I’ve had two careers and I’m lucky that both of them have been quite amazing.
“I loved my Microsoft: it prepared me for what I’m doing now. In the same way that I got to see the PC and internet revolutions, now I see child death rates coming down. I work very long hours and try to learn as much as I can about these things, but that’s because I enjoy it.”
He emphasises that the foundation’s effort is part of a global campaign in which governments must play the lead role.
“The scale of the (foundation’s) wealth compared to government budgets is actually not that large, and compared to the scale of some of these problems. But I do feel lucky that substantial resources are going back to make the world a more habitable place.”
In 1990 some 12 million children under the age of five died. The figure today is about seven million, or 19,000 per day. According to the United Nations, the leading causes of death are pneumonia (18 per cent), pre-birth complications (14 per cent), diarrhoea (11 per cent), complications during birth (nine per cent) and malaria (seven per cent). For Gates, though, polio is a totem. The abolition of the disease will be a headline-grabber, spurring countries on to greater efforts. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $1.8 billion in the next six years to accomplish that goal, almost a third of the global effort.
“All you need is over 90 per cent of children to have the vaccine drop three times and the disease stops spreading. The number of cases eventually goes to zero. When we started, we had over 400,000 children a year being paralysed and we are now down to under 1,000 cases a year. The great thing about finishing polio is that we’ll have resources to get going on malaria and measles.”
Gates is no saint. He could be an intimidating boss at Microsoft and his company became notorious for using its clout to reinforce its dominance in the market place, at the expense of smaller rivals. Still, he and his wife are showing generosity on a staggering scale, a counterblast to the endemic greed of the Nineties and early Noughties, and they have convinced others that mega-philanthropy is the way of the future. That wily investor, Warren Buffett, has so far given away $17.5 billion via the Gates Foundation.
The children of Bill and Melinda Gates will never know poverty. They may not become multibillionaires but even the loss to charity of the vast bulk of their parents’ fortune should leave them with a billion or so each.
Gates explains: “The vast majority of the wealth, over 95 per cent, goes to the foundation, which will spend all that money within 20 years after neither of us are around any more.”
So, is it about some new-found faith, all this giving?
“It doesn’t relate to any it’s about human dignity and equality,” he says. “The golden rule that all lives have equal value and we should treat people as we would like to be treated.”
The 37th Dimbleby Lecture will be broadcast on BBC One on Jan 29
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AdvertisementLast weekend, my wife and I stopped by the local Costco to renew our membership, which expired at the end of March. As expected, they asked us if we wanted the Goldstar Membership for $55, or the Elite Membership for $110, with which members get 2% cash back on purchases.
The customer service representative sensed our hesitation, and reminded us that if we didn’t earn the $55 price difference in cash back rewards, Costco would make up the difference themselves. That’s what happened last year, as we only earned $23 in rewards.
With this guarantee in place, as long as you follow through on getting a refund, there’s no way you could lose money on the upgraded membership.
We signed up for the Elite membership, and are determined to make it work in our favor this time. In order to just break even and earn $55 in rewards, we’d have to spend $2,750 at Costco in the next year. That works out to $230 per month, or about one third of our overall budget for groceries and household items.
The key is to buy things at Costco we’ve been buying elsewhere — not to increase our overall spending.
When we got home, I started compiling a list of things that we’ll now buy from Costco, along with an estimated amount spent per month.
Toilet paper: $20
Cat food: $25
Laundry detergent: $15
Meat (beef, chicken, pork): $120
Produce: $80
Snacks: $80
Soda/water: $40
Total: $380
This list is by no means complete, but I wanted to quickly see how feasible it would be to earn my $55 back with the 2% cash back rewards. If I could buy $380 of products from Costco each month, my total amount spent for the year would be $4,560, earning $91.20 in rewards.
My ultimate goal, however, is to earn enough cash back to pay for my membership next year. To do that, I’d have to spend $5,500 in a year, or about $460 per month. I love a good challenge, so I’m going to give it the old college try and start looking for other things in our monthly spending that I could get at Costco.
If we don’t earn back at least the membership price difference this year, we’ll just go with the basic membership next year.
Do you have a Costco Elite membership? Do you earn enough cash back to make it worth it?
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科目：初中英语
　I'm a newspaperman(新闻记者)．I don't have much money,
　I meet a lot of interesting people, some are
　are poor．I like my job very much and I'm good at it．I don't talk a lot, but I'm a good
　．Perhaps I'm the best listener in the city, and I look stupid(愚蠢的)and soon I am getting a lot of
　Let me 　6
　of how I got people to talk．I was writing an article(文章)about
　in the city, how they live,
　they do, and so on．So yesterday afternoon I went to the park, sat on a bench(长凳)
　the sun, and waited．Soon an old woman came and sat near to me．She was carrying two large paper bags and an old handbag．I sat quietly
　her about ten minutes, and
　I took out some chocolate(巧克力)and I gave her a piece．After that, she
　me about herself．She doesn't have a
　．She and two friends sleep in the bus station．On warm days she comes to the park
　her few clothes and things in two paper bags．　16
　we went to an eating place
a cup of coffee and
　to eat．I paid, of course．I asked her a few questions about TV and films she was
　．I gave her a dollar．Then, I
　her in the park, went down to the office, and wrote the story for my article．
　　(1)& A．because
　　B．but
　　[　　]
　　(2)& A．old
　　B．young
　　C．happy
　　D．rich
　　[　　]
(3)& A．others
B．another
C．the others
D．the other
　　(4)& A．writer
　　B．reader
　　C．listener
　　D．learner
　　[　　]
　　(5)& A．money
　　B．news
　　C．things
　　D．time
　　[　　]
　　(6)& A．make
　　B．talk
　　C．write
　　D．give
　　[　　]
(7)& A．a story
B．an example
C．a place
D．a piece of news
(8)& A．young girls
B．young people
C．old people
D．old men
　　(9)& A．how
　　B．what&
　　C．when
　　D．why
　　[　　]
　　(10)& A．in
　　B．under
　　C．below
　　D．down
　　[　　]
(11)& A．besides
D．far away from
　　(12)& A．when
　　B．after
　　C．then
　　[　　]
　　(13)& A．spoke
　　B．said
　　C．talked
　　D．told
　　[　　]
(14)& A．work
D．living place
(15)& A．to wear
B．to put on
D．to dress
　　(16)& A．Lately
　　B．Later
　　C．Late
　　D．Laterly
　　[　　]
　　(17)& A．to
　　B．with
　　D．for
　　[　　]
　　(18)& A．something
　　B．nothing
　　C．everything
　　D．anything
　　[　　]
(19)& A．pleased with
B．interested in
C．angry with
D．surprised in
　　(20)& A．left
　　B．carried
　　C．brought
　　D．took
　　[　　]
科目：初中英语
来源：英语教研室
Fire can help people in many ways. But it can also be very harmful . Fire can keep
your house ____1____, give light and cook food. But fire can burn things
____2____. Big fire can burn trees, houses, animals or people.
Nobody knows how people began to use fire. But there are ____3____
interesting old stories about how a man or woman started a fire. One is ____4____
a man. The man ____5____ a very long time ago. He went up the sun and
____6____ fire down.
Today people know how to make a fire with matches.Children
sometimes ____7____ to play with them. But matches can be very
dangerous. One match can burn a piece of paper. and ____8____ it could
burn a house. A small fire can turn a big fire very quickly. So you ____9____
be careful with matches.
Be careful with fire, and it will ____10____ you. But if you
aren't careful with fire, it may hurt you.
1. A. warm　　　　　　　　& B.
warmer　　　　　　　　　　　　　　&& C.
cool　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　&&& D.
2. A. also　　　　　　　　&&& B.
too　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C.
either　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　& D.
3. A. many　　　　　　　　& B.
much　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　& C.
little　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　&& D.
4. A. over　　　　　　　　&&& B.
about　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　& C.
a little　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.
5. A. worked　　　　　　&& B.
studied　　　　　　　　　　　　　　&& C.
learned　　　　　　　　　　　　　　&& D.
6. A. bring　　　　　　　　&& B.
take　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　&&& C.
brought　　　　　　　　　　　　　　& D.
7. A. enjoy　　　　　　　　& B.
like　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C.
don't like　　　　　　　　　　　　&&& D.
8. A. after　　　　　　　　&& B.
late　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C.
yet　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.
9. A. can　　　　　　　　　　 B.
man　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　&&& C.
will　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.
10. A. help　　　　　　　　& B.
do　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　&& C.
tell　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　& D.
科目：初中英语
题型：阅读理解
Last Friday, after doing all the family shopping in the town. I wanted to have a rest before catching the rain. I __1__ a newspaper and some chocolate and __2__ into the station coffee shop. It was a cheap self-service place with long tables to __3__ at. I put my heavy bag down on the floor, __4__ the newspaper and the chocolate on the table and then went to get a cup of coffee.　　When I came back with the coffee, There was someone __5__ in the next seat. __6__ was a boy, with dark glasses and old clothes, and __7__ bright red at the front. He had started to eat my chocolate!　　Naturally, I was rather uneasy about him, but I didn’t want to have any __8__. I just read the newspaper, tasted my coffee and took a bit of chocolate. The boy looked at me in __9__.Then he took a __10__ piece of my chocolate. I could hardly believe it. Still I didn’t say anything to him. When he took a third piece, I felt more angry than uneasy. I thought, “Well, I shall have the last piece.” And I got it.　　The boy gave me a strange look, then __11__ up. As he left, he shouted out, “There’s something __12__ with that woman!” Everyone looked at me, __13__ I didn’t want to quarrel with the boy, so I kept quiet. I did not realize that I had __14__ a mistake until I finished my coffee and was ready to __15__. My face turned red when I saw my unopened chocolate under the newspaper. The chocolate that I had been eating was the boy’s!　　1. A. stole　　　　　　　　　
B. bought　　　　　　
C. sold　　　　　　 D. wrote　　2. A. went　　　　　　　　
B. sat　　　　　　　　　　 C. seated　　　　 D. looked　　3. A. sit　　　　　　　　　　　 B. seat　　　　　　　　　 C. lie　　　　　　　
D. laugh　　4. A. pushed　　　　　　
B. took　　　　　　
C. put　　　　　　
D. pulled　　5. A. jumping　　　　　
B. playing　　　　　　　 C. sitting　　　　
D. sleeping　　6. A. He　　　　　　　　　
B. It　　　　　　　　　　
C. Who　　　　　　 D. What　　7. A. cut　　　　　　　　　　 B. washed　　　　　
C. covered　　　
D. colored　　8. A. coffee　　　　　　　
B. trouble　　　　　　　 C. chocolate　 　 D. matter　　9. A. carelessness　　　 B. anger　　 　　　　　　 C. surprise　　　
D. happiness　　10. A. first　　　　　　　　
B. second　　　　　　　 C. very　　　　　　
D. last　　11. A. stood　　　　　　
B. took　　　　　　　　
C. cried　　　　
D. looked　　12. A. strange　　　　　
B. wrong　　　　　　　　 C. OK　　　　　　
D. funny　　13. A. and　　　 　　　　　 B. but　　　　　　　　　
C. so　　　　　　　
D. while　　14. A. spelt　　　　　　　
B. corrected　　　　　　 C. made　　　　
D. found　　15. A. finish　　　　　　　
B. leave　　　　　　　　　
C. jump　　　　　
科目：初中英语
题型：阅读理解
Alice was a young woman who liked to exercise for her health . In fact , she
walked five kilometers before____1___ every morning , and went swimming once a
week at the swimming pool . She didn’t smoke and never　
. She didn’t eat chocolate . She didn’t eat
sweet and fatty food , ____3_____ . She weighed herself every day .
Once Alice was on her daily walk when she saw a
　sitting in a rocking chair under a tree . He looked very old
and his hair was white . he looked thin and weak , and his hands were shaking
he looked very happy
He smiled at her and said , “Good morning , lovely day , isn’t it ?”
He had a wide smile　　 6　
, and his eyes shone with happiness . But Alice saw that he did not have teeth
“Good morning!” replied Alice . “Yes , it is a lovely day .”
Alice thought he　 　7　
and wise . She thought he must be at least 90 years old ! She decided to ask
him about the 　 8
of a happy old age .
“I hope you don’t
　me asking ,” she
said , “ but what is your secret for being so happy at your age ? I hope I can
look as happy as you do
I am your age ”
The man in the rocking chair said , “My secret
for　 　11
　? I smoke twenty
packets of cigarettes every week , and drink three bottles of wine every day .
I eat hamburgers and chocolates whenever I want . I never eat vegetables . I
never walk anywhere and I never play sports . I sit at home every day . ”
She didn’t expect the man to give her an answer like that . She wondered how
the man got to be so old when he did
. She thought he should be　　 14 　 and
unhappy . Perhaps she was wrong . Maybe , she thought , people could live a
long happy life
　eating well or
doing lots of exercise .
“How old are you ?”she asked .
“It’s my birthday today ,” said the man , “I’m
forty—seven !”
1.　　A. lunch 　　　
breakfast 　　　　 C. dinner 　　　　　　 D.
2.　　A. exercised 　 B.
drank 　　　　　　　　　　 C.
worked 　　　　　 D. slept
3.　　A. too 　　　　　
also 　　　　　　　　 C.
either 　　　　　　　　　　 D.
4.　　A. man 　　　　
woman 　　　　　
　　　　　　　　 D.
5.　　A. so 　　　　　　 B.
but 　　　　　　　　
and 　　　　　　　　 D.
6.　　A. in 　　　　　　
with 　　　　　　　
at 　　　　　　　　　
7.　　A. saw 　　　　
looked 　　　　　　 C.
listened 　　　　　
8.　　A. secret 　　　
dream 　　　　　　
plan 　　　　　　　
9.　　A. stand 　　　　 B.
mind 　　　　　　　 C.
allow 　　　　　　　 D.
10.　A. when 　　　
since 　　　　　　　 C.
though 　　　　　
11.　A. health 　　　
success 　　　　　 C.
happiness 　　　
12.　A. surprised 　 B.
worried 　　　　　 C. excited
　　　　　
D. relaxed
13.　A. something
anything 　　　　
C. everything 　　　　　　
14.　A. angry 　　　
serious 　　　　　
quiet 　　　　　　　 D.
15.　A. through 　　 B.
from 　　　　　　　 C.
without 　　　　　 D. by
科目：初中英语
题型：阅读理解
Alice was a beautiful
girl. She liked nothing except dressing __21__ and dancing when she was at
school. Of course she wasn’t good at her __22__. But the boys were ready to
help her with her lessons _23__ they liked to dance with her. And after she
finished middle school, she _24__ found work in a big shop. The __25__ had a
son and he wanted the girl to marry him. Alice 26__ though the young man wasn’t
clever enough. But she __27__ all kinds of clothes and shoes. She lived in the
beautiful house with a big garden and she __28__ did anything at home. She
didn’t love her __29_ but she lived a city life.
Once Mrs. Evans called
Alice. The woman said she bought a few _30__ pictures and asked her to
appreciate（欣赏）them. She _31__ nothing about the art but she
was afraid to be laughed at and got there in time. She saw several women there.
They were __32__the pictures when she went in. She thought for a long time and
said, “Look! They’re all _33__. Why didn’t you buy the new ones?”
The women looked at each
other but they tried not to _34__. And when they were appreciating a picture
“Tramp（游浪汉）”, she said, “I don’t think the artist could
draw! Such a__35__ man had no money to have a portrait taken（请人画像）!”
）21. A. him　　　　　　　　 B.
himself　　　　　　　　　　 C.
her　　　　　　　　　　　　
）22. A. lessons　　　　　
English　　　　　　　　　　 C.
maths　　　　　　　　　　
）23. A. when 　　　　　　 B.
while　　　　　　　　　　　
because　　　　　　　　　
）24.A. hardly　　　　　　
easily　　　　　　　　　　　 C.
no longer　　　　　　　　
）25. A. bookseller　　　
shopkeeper　　　　　　　 C.
gatekeeper　　　　　　　
）26. A. agreed　　　　　　 B.
hated　　　　　　　　　　　
preferred　　　　　　　　
）27. A. sold　　　　　　　
was sold　　　　　　　　　 C.
gave　　　　　　　　　　　
）28. A. always　　　　　
sometimes　　　　　　　
never　　　　　　　　　　　 D.
）29. A. husband　　　　
son　　　　　　　　　　　　
brother　　　　　　　　　　 D.
）30. A. cheap
）31. A. liked　　　　　　　
interested　　　　　　　　
watched　　　　　　　　　 D.
）32. A. looking up B.
looking for
talking about　　　
　 D. hearing
）33. A. old　　　　　　　　
clean　　　　　　　　　　　
dirty　　　　　　　　　　　
）34. A. stop　　　　　　　
smile　　　　　　　　　　　
laugh　　　　　　　　　　　 D.
）35. A. busy　　　　　　　 B.
clever　　　　　　　　　　　 C.
rich　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.
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