英國億萬富翁的平均年齡有所降低

胡靜

In 2012， armed with only a sewing machine and a screen printer， Ben Francis quit his job as a Pizza Hut delivery driver to focus on building a sportswear brand from his parents’ garage.

Now the 31-year-old co-founder and chief executive of Gymshark has been crowned the UK’s youngest billionaire， worth an estimated ￡1.2 billion. City Index， a financial institution， analysed data from the American business magazine Forbes to determine the youngest billionaire in the UK. The list is based on those who made their money on their own rather than being born into wealth. Francis owns 70 percent of his company， which is valued at about ￡1.2 billion. He dropped out of a business and management degree at Aston University to build his company， which now employs more than 900 people.

In second place is Nikolay Storonsky， 39， the Russian-born British businessman who leads the financial technology company Revolut， who is worth an estimated ￡2.6 billion. Revolut was founded in 2015 as a money-transfer operation and now has more than 20 million customers. It is valued at nearly ￡30 billion but is yet to be given a banking licence despite having applied in 2021.

In third place is Alexander Gerko， 44， a mathematician-turned-trader， with a net worth of ￡4.26 billion. Gerko grew up in one of Moscow’s more deprived suburbs and moved to London in 2006， becoming a British citizen ten years later.

The only woman to feature in the top ten is Denise Coates， 56.

The analysis also shows that billionaires are getting younger， with their average age having fallen by 11 years from 58 to 47 since 2014.

（材料出自The Times，有刪改）

1. What does the author wants to show in Paragraph 1？

A. The hardships Ben faced.

B. Basic elements of success story.

C. The happy childhood Ben bore in mind.

D. The importance of family support.

2. What can we learn about Ben？

A. He didn’t graduate from Aston University.

B. He has been working on sportswear since graduation.

C. He and his father launched a new brand from a garage.

D. He was born into a wealthy family.

3. Which statement will the author probably agree with？

A. Gerko was born in Britain.

B. There is more than one woman in the top ten list mentioned in the text.

C. There is a tendency to become younger among billionaires.

D. Revolut is a money-transfer company with a banking licence.

4. What is the text？

A. A news report. B. A biography.

C. A summary of a study. D. A survey report.

1. A。解析：細節理解題。材料第一段的大意為——2012年，只有一臺縫紉機和一臺絲網印刷機的Ben Francis辭去了必勝客送貨司機的工作，專注于在他父母的車庫里打造一個運動服裝品牌。由此可知，Ben Francis在創業初期并沒有優渥的條件，選項A的意思為“Ben所面臨的困難”，故選A。

2. A。解析：細節理解題。材料第二段的最后一句提到Ben放棄了阿斯頓大學的商業與管理學學位，創辦了自己的公司，其公司現在擁有900多名員工。由此可知，Ben沒有從阿斯頓大學畢業，故選A。

3. C。解析：推理判斷題。根據材料最后一段“The analysis also shows that billionaires are getting younger， with their average age having fallen by 11 years from 58 to 47 since 2014.”，我們可知英國的億萬富翁變得“越來越年輕”，自2014年以來，他們的平均年齡下降了11歲，從58歲下降至47歲。故選C。

4. A。解析：推理判斷題。通讀材料，我們可知本文以英國最年輕的億萬富翁導入，對其故事進行介紹后，又分別介紹了排在第二位和第三位的年輕富翁，并通過分析數據得出英國億萬富翁“越來越年輕”的現象，因此本文應該是一篇出自報刊的新聞報道。故選A。