随身英语Being super-rich 腰缠万贯 Play audio file有人说豪华游艇和轿车是有钱人的玩具,这是真的吗?为什么很多富人喜欢购买这种天价的商品?在英语里,我们把富人的这类消费行为称作什么?本集《随身英语》讨论如今“腰缠万贯”的人用来象征身份及地位的方式。 课文内容 Vocabulary: money 词汇: 金钱 Do you consider yourself to be rich? Do you have plenty of cash and no financial worries? Or maybe, like me, is it something you can only dream about? For most of us, the closest chance of becoming a millionaire would be to win the lottery but if you don't buy a lottery ticket, are there others ways of becoming super-rich? A 'super-rich' person is often defined as someone with over $30 million dollars of assets – so it's not just about having a suitcase stuffed full of banknotes! They usually own property, an expensive yacht or eat in swanky restaurants. And there appear to be more and more of these people, as it's reported that the number of super-rich is expected to increase by 43% over the next decade. If you save your pennies, make the right investments and work hard, could you be one of them? It's unlikely because a report last year highlighted inequality in the world, saying the richest 62 individuals owned as much as the poorest 50%. But for those lucky ones who are loaded, what is it that they splash the cash on? One academic in the UK, Emma Spence, has been researching just that - and her answer is yachts! It's the ultimate status symbol but she also says "a superyacht is essentially a black hole of wealth" – in other words, it continually eats your money and doesn't increase in value like an art collection might. |