VOA标准英语2010年-Super Rich Take on Super-Hero Role in

Nader says 'Only the Super Rich Can Save Us' offers a roadmap to a practical utopia.

Some of the richest Americans are using their wealth for the common good. Businessman and investor¹ Warren Buffett, Microsoft's founder² Bill Gates and financier George Soros are just a few of the billionaires who have dedicated³ much of their fortune to improving society. In his first novel, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us, consumer activist⁴ Ralph Nader imagines how much more they could do.

Drawing characters from real life

The novel opens in January 2006, not long after a string of disasters. Hurricane Katrina has battered⁵ the U.S. Gulf⁶ Coast, a massive quake has killed tens of thousands in Pakistan and deadly bird flu has begun to infect people.  Warren Buffett has invited 16 of his fellow billionaires to a meeting in Hawaii.

"I use 17 very rich, enlightened, older Americans in fictional⁷ roles," Nader says. "A good many of them I've known over the years and so I extend some of the good things they have done in their life to a much, much higher level," he says.

 

In Nader's fictional world, the group of billionaires develops a strategy to put the world back on track while improving the lives of those living in poverty.

In a passage from the book, Nader has Buffett start the meeting by highlighting the most pressing issues of our time:

"My friends, what brings us here is a common foreboding- a closing circle of global doom⁸. The world is not doing well. It is spinning out of control. Its inhabitants have allowed greed, power, ignorance, wealth, science, technology and religion to depreciate⁹ reality and deny potential. With our capitalist backgrounds, it's easy for us not to be beguiled¹⁰ by the plutocracy's self-serving manipulation of economic indicators¹¹. We know how wealth is being accumulated, defined, concentrated, and stratified. Why, four hundred and fifty of us have the wealth equivalent to the combined wealth of the bottom three billion impoverished¹² people on earth."

'Ten pillars of re-direction'

In Nader's fictional world, the group of media moguls, Wall Street tycoons¹³, Internet executives and corporate¹⁴ leaders come up with a strategy to put the world back on track while improving the lives of those living in poverty and ignorance. They sum up their plan of action in what Ralph Nader calls '10 pillars of re-direction.'

"The first pillar, the first stage improvements, deals with economic inequality. That's health care, renewable energy, adequate food - there are a lot of hungry children in the United States - and adequate housing. The second redirection is take back control of the Congress from the commercial interests and the corporate lobbyists who swarm¹⁵ over the House and the Senate. The third is electoral reform, to have cleaner politics and more candidates on the ballots¹⁶ to give voters more choice. The fourth is to try to do things with the well-being¹⁷ of posterity¹⁸ in their mind," Nader says.

In Nader style, characters form a political party

Other goals include reinventing the media so people have a voice in it, and buying into every industry in the country so they can institute more ethical¹⁹ business practices. Nader also has his characters form a new, small political party. 
 
"Small parties have usually been the pioneers. They are the ones who put forward the improvements, and although they may never win an election, they put the pressure - they focus these changes - onto the major parties that in many cases eventually adopt them," he explains.

Nader says he chose the super-rich to be the heroes in his work of fiction because, as in the real world, social re-direction requires money.  "You can't have people movements, and have organizers and mass media and all the expensive things that have to be paid for without a significant amount of money."

Hundreds of wealthy individuals all around the world, Nader says, are willing to spend their money to make a difference. They may just need inspiration and guidance.  "There are some very enlightened super-rich people around the world, in many countries, in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, but they often don't know what to do other than to give to charity, which is good, but this [the strategy in his book] is money given to social justice, to the shift of power, so that the many have more power than they have now. Charity is important, but it's social justice that prevents hunger in a society. While charity will provide soup kitchens to feed the hungry, which is important on a day-to-day basis, we should not have hunger and starvation in the world, anywhere," he emphasizes. 

Nader says Only the Super Rich Can Save Us offers a roadmap to a practical utopia and he hopes his book sparks a national debate about change.
 

1 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

6 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

7 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

8 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

9 depreciate   

v.降价，贬值，折旧

参考例句：

• The computer value will depreciate by $ 500 in the first year.在头一年里这台电脑会贬值500美元。
• If you neglect this property,it will depreciate.如果你忽视这份资产，它无形中就贬值了。

10 beguiled   

v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等）

参考例句：

• She beguiled them into believing her version of events. 她哄骗他们相信了她叙述的事情。
• He beguiled me into signing this contract. 他诱骗我签订了这项合同。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

12 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 tycoons   

大君( tycoon的名词复数 )； 将军； 企业巨头； 大亨

参考例句：

• The great tycoons were fierce competitors, single-minded in their pursuit of financial success and power. 企业巨头都是激烈的竞争者，他们一心追求钱财和权势。
• Tycoons and their conglomerates are even raising money again on international markets. 企业大亨们以及他们的企业甚至正再次从国际市场上筹集资金。

14 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

15 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

16 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

18 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

19 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。