Раздел 8.2.

8.2.1. Отработайте произношение слов, уточнив транскрипцию по словарю:

Прочитайте текст и определите, удачно ли начал свою карьеру Билл Гейтс и кем он сейчас является в своей корпорации:

BILL GATES

After reading the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8800, Gates called MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), the creators of the new microcomputer, to inform them that he and others had developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the platform. This was untrue, as Gates and Allen had never used an Altair previously nor developed any code for it. Within a period of eight weeks they developed an Altair emulator that ran on a minicomputer, and then the BASIC interpreter. Allen and Gates flew to MITS to unveil the new BASIC system. The demonstration was a success and resulted in a deal with MITS to buy the rights to Allen and Gates's BASIC for the Altair platform. It was at this point that Gates left Harvard to found Micro-Soft, which later became Microsoft Corporation, with Allen.

By continuing to ensure, by various means, that most computers came with their software pre-installed, Microsoft eventually went on to become the largest software company in the world, earning Gates enough money that Forbes Magazine named him the wealthiest person in the world for several years. Gates served as the CEO of the company until 2000 when Steve Ballmer took the position. Gates continues to serve as a chairman of the board at the company and also as a position he created for himself entitled "Chief Software Architect". Microsoft has thousands of patents, and Gates has nine patents to his name.

Since Microsoft's founding and as of 2006, Gates has had primary responsibility for Microsoft's product strategy. He has aggressively broadened the company's range of products, and wherever Microsoft has achieved a dominant position he has vigorously defended it. Many decisions that have led to antitrust litigation over Microsoft's business practices have had Gates's approval.

Gates meets regularly with Microsoft's senior managers and program managers. By all accounts he can be extremely confrontational during these meetings, particularly when he believes that managers have not thought out their business strategy or have placed the company's future at risk. He has been described shouting at length at employees before letting them continue, with such remarks as "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" and "Why don't you just join the Peace Corps?" However, he often backs down when the targets of his outbursts respond frankly and directly. When he is not impressed with the technical hurdles managers claim to be facing, he sometimes quips, "Do you want me to do it over the weekend?".

Bill Gates married Melinda French of Dallas, Texas on January 1, 1994. Melinda has given birth to three children. Bill Gates' house is one of the most expensive houses in the world, and is a modern 21st century home in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. According to King County public records, as of 2006, the total assessed value of the property (land and house) is $125 million, and the annual property tax is just under $1 million. Also among Gates's private acquisitions are the Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci which Gates bought for $30.8 million at an auction in 1994, and a rare Gutenberg Bible.

In 2000, Gates founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable organization, with his wife. The foundation's grants have provided funds for college scholarships for under-represented minorities, AIDS prevention, diseases prevalent in third world countries, and other causes. In 2000, the Gates Foundation endowed the University of Cambridge with $210 million for the Gates Cambridge Scholarships. The Foundation has also pledged over $7 billion to its various causes, including $1 billion to the United Negro College Fund; and as of 2005, had an estimated endowment of $29.0 billion. He has spent about a third of his lifetime income on charity.

Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer has stated that Gates is probably the most "spammed" person in the world, receiving as many as 4,000,000 e-mails per day in 2004, most of which were junk. Gates has almost an entire department devoted to filtering out junk emails. In an article, Gates himself has said that most of this junk mail "offers to help him get out of debt or get rich quick", which "would be funny given his financial state if it weren't so irritating".

Gates is widely considered one of the world's most influential people. Time magazine named him one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th century, as well as one of the 100 most influential people of 2004, 2005 and again in 2006. Gates has been number one on the "Forbes 400" list from 1993 through to 2006 and number one on Forbes list of "The World's Richest People" from 1995-2006. In 2004, he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company headed by Warren Buffett, the second wealthiest person in the world according to Forbes and a long time friend of Gates.

Gates has not generally engaged in conspicuous consumption beyond his lavish home, with its gardens and art collection. Gates also rents or leases a home on Mustique, an exclusive island in the Grenadines, and owns a 300 foot yacht named Ice. In contrast, his former associate Paul Allen has used his wealth in perhaps a more typical manner—owning sports teams, vintage airplanes, and multiple residences. Gates also claimed, in 2005, that he has gone to work every day since 1975, which in recent years includes both his role at Microsoft, and his leadership position at the Gates Foundation.

In May 2005, Gates said in an interview that he wished that he wasn't the richest man in the world, the stated reason being that it was a very irritating ordeal to be looked upon as the world's richest man.

8.2.3. Найдите в тексте ответы на следующие вопросы:

1. Where did Gates read about a new microcomputer?

2. What was the name of the company that developed this computer?

3. What programming language did Gates and Allen developed?

4. How long did it take them to do it?

5. What are his positions in Microsoft now?

6. What has his primary responsibility been since Microsoft founding?

7. How many patents does his company have?

8. How has he broaden the company’s range of products?

9. Who does he meet regularly in his corporation?

10.In what cases can he become confrontational during these meetings?

11.When does he back down?

12.How does he sometimes quip?

13.How many children does he have?

14.What do you know from the text about his house?

15.What tax does he pay for this house and the land?

16.What is there in his collection?

17.What kind of organization is Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation?

18.How much has he spent on charity?

8.2.4. В каждом абзаце найдите предложение, выражающее его основную мысль. Озаглавьте каждый абзац.

8.2.5. Составьте план текста на русском языке.

8.2.6. Переведите составленный план на английский язык.

8.2.7. Напишите краткое изложение текста на английском языке.