For one brief moment in April, Larry Ellison came within a few dollars of being the richest man in the world. The computer tycoon was holding a global conference call on a Wednesday morning, when the value of his company surged.
It was the moment he almost overtook Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, as the wealthiest on the planet. For a few seconds, as share of traders marked Microsoft down and Oracle up, Ellison came within US $ 200,000 of Gates. The self-proclaimed "bad boy" of Silicon Valley found himself worth more than US $ 52 billion, up from a mere US $10 billion this time last year. Then Microsoft's share price, which had plunged in recent weeks, recovered and the moment passed.
Once, Ellison, founder of the software company Oracle, would have danced around his desk cursing like a pirate at failing to bring down Gates, a rival he had constantly made fun of in public. But Silicon Valley insiders said he remained calm, and muttered: "One day, one day very, very soon." He knew his moment was close.
Unlike Gates, he is not big on charity, preferring to spend his money his way. He has his own private air force, a military-style. crew based at San Jose airport near Redwood City, to help him fly his Gulfstream V jet (with two marbled bathrooms), a Marchetti fighter plane imported from Italy, and a handful of other aircraft, including a trainer for his son. He also plans to import a Russian Mig-29 fighter (capable of 1,500 mph). Why does he want one？ So that, he joked, he can blast Gates' home near Seattle. Cars are cheap and cheerful by comparison. He has a relatively modest Porsche Boxster, two specially altered Mercedes and a US $ 900,000 silver McLaren.
In San Francisco he owns a magnificent house in Pacific Heights, one of Western America's most expensive stretches of real estate. The house is a technical marvel. When he inserts his key, the opaque glass door turns transparent, revealing a Japanese garden in the middle of the house. For reasons he knows best, Ellison is obsessed with Japanese culture. Though he says he once briefly dated the actress Sharon Stone, Ellison is better known for the number than the fame of his wives. It is said he introduced himself with: "Can I buy you a car？" In one year he gave at least four US $ 50,000 cars to young ladies.
While Gates comes from a strong family, Ellison still does not know who his father was. He was born to an unmarried mother and adopted by his Russian uncle and aunt. A brilliant but unpredictable self-promoter, he dropped out of college, drove to California in a battered Thunderbird car and ended up working with computer technicians at a bank. "He always had a champagne lifestyle. on beer money," his first wife said.
He set up Oracle in 1977 as a super-salesman with 3 programmers, creating software for businesses. It almost collapsed when it promised more than it could deliver, but since then its fortunes have soared. Now it employs 43,000 people and has designed data-processing systems used by Britain's M15 spy service as well as big western companies. Oracle's software is more Internet- friendly than Gates' Windows, one factor behind the company's recent share price rise.
Since his company got big, Ellison has promised shareholders that he will spend more time in the office. But can he escape being the thrill-seeker he is at heart？ As summer approaches, he may find it hard to resist the lure of his yachts, Sakura, one of the longest in the world, and Sayonara (Japanese for "see you later"), which he races furiously. It is dangerous sport, even for guests. Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch once nearly lost a finger when he grabbed a rope during a race onboard the Sayonara. Ellison joked at least he could "still wrote checks".
Regardless of distractions, Ellison will not give up in his battle against Gates. He hates to lose. Ellison declares that any
A．Ellison is as rich as Bill Gates
B．Ellison has US $ 200,000 less than Bill Gates
C．Ellison is richer than Bill Gates
D．Oracle has more money than Microsoft
Everything has two sides. One side of SARS is already clear. It is a deadly disease, which causes fear. There were 2601 cases recorded on the Chinese mainland on April 24, according to government figures. Some 115 people have died and numbers keep rising.
But, there's another side.
SARS is a reminder of how fragile (脆弱的)life can be. Suddenly, it's not just the old people who are thinking about death. Everyone now realizes there might not always be a tomorrow.
Li Ping, a Senior 3 student in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, came into contact(接触)with a suspected(疑似)SARS patient in mid-April. He was told to stay at home for at least two weeks. "Watching TV about more and more SARS patients dying, ! never knew that death could be so close. Life is Valuable and I am going to treasure every single day." he said.
SARS teaches people to be grateful, not only for their own lives, but also for others. Doctors and nurses, for example, have to spend all their time with infected(被感染的)patients. As a result, more than 20 percent of SARS cases in China are medical workers.
Liu Yu, a Senior 2 student of Beijing No. 5 Middle School, wants to be a doctor when he grows up. "Although they certainly know of the dangers, doctors and nurses remain bravely dedicated(致力于)to saving people's lives. I was deeply moved by what they have done. I think they are real heroes." he said.
SARS also teaches sympathy(同情). The past few weeks have been terrible for Chinese people. But there are far worse things than SARS in this world, such as war, earthquakes and murders. Think of the Iraqis, who have been living terrible lives for 20 years. Think of how the Americans felt on 9. 11.
And finally, SARS offers the chance to grow. All different types of people and government officials are joining together to cope with this difficult time. When this passes, China and its people, will have learned great lessons.
The story of Li Ping is given in this passage mainly to ______.
A．tell us the hardship of life
B．tell us the fragility of life
C．tell the cruelty of SARS
D．tell us the joy of life
On April the 18th, 1960, it was a few minutes after 5 o'clock in the morning. Most people in San Francisco were a-sleep, but the rattling of the milkmen's carts and bottles meant that the city was waking to another busy day.
At that moment the land suddenly moved. The vibration was so strong that great buildings fell down, including the new seven-million-dollar City Hall, which the community had good reason to be proud of. Main water pipes burst. Cooking stoves overturned and electric wires flashed. The fires which started caused damage in large areas of the city.
What had happened.'？ The rocks had broken apart along nearly three hundred miles of a crack in the earth of California, a feature of the physical map of that region known as a "fault".
The damage was greatest in San Francisco which was near the center of the fault. Many buildings were destroyed by fire or by the earthquake itself, and hundreds of people were killed. Many people also died from diseases which broke out in the dirty camps later occupied by homeless people. The fires got out of control and, before they died out, four square mi-les of the city were burnt out.
The loss of property was serious. The loss from fire alone amounted to 400,000,000 dollars, more than nine-tenths of the total damage. In those days this was an enormous sum.
The effects of the earthquake were widespread. Rivers and streams began to run in new directions and their flow pat-terns were changed. Trees six feet in diameter were uprooted within half a mile of the central break. An area of wet fields on the side of a hill actually moved half a mile downwards. A road which crossed the fault burst apart and a gap of 21 feet remained between the broken ends.
The California earthquake is remembered because it was so sudden and because it occurred in a city, where the dam-age and destruction were plainly visible and where many people were killed simultaneously. Actually, deaths on American roads from car accidents are now greater in almost any week of the year, but we are so accustomed to road accidents that we do not pay much attention to them.
Scientists and engineers studied the effects of the San Francisco earthquake. The city was rebuilt, and new features were introduced to strengthen buildings and maintain a constant water supply in the event of. another earthquake. The water mains were fitted with control values which would enable water to travel by different routes round broken places. Large underground tanks were constructed to supply water if normal supplies could not be tapped. Special measures were taken to prevent fires, which often do more damage than earthquakes themselves.
The San Francisco earthquake provided scientists with valuable information, since the effects of the break were visible and reports of the incident were an important contribution to the world's store of knowledge about earthquakes.
The main cause of the great loss of property 'after the San Francisco earthquake in 1960 is______.
A．falling buildings
B．broken pipes
C．fires
D．floods
