英国亿万富翁的平均年龄有所降低

胡静

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：细节理解题。材料第一段的大意为——2012年，只有一台缝纫机和一台丝网印刷机的Ben Francis辞去了必胜客送货司机的工作，专注于在他父母的车库里打造一个运动服装品牌。由此可知，Ben Francis在创业初期并没有优渥的条件，选项A的意思为“Ben所面临的困难”，故选A。

2. A。解析：细节理解题。材料第二段的最后一句提到Ben放弃了阿斯顿大学的商业与管理学学位，创办了自己的公司，其公司现在拥有900多名员工。由此可知，Ben没有从阿斯顿大学毕业，故选A。

3. C。解析：推理判断题。根据材料最后一段“The analysis also shows that billionaires are getting younger， with their average age having fallen by 11 years from 58 to 47 since 2014.”，我们可知英国的亿万富翁变得“越来越年轻”，自2014年以来，他们的平均年龄下降了11岁，从58岁下降至47岁。故选C。

4. A。解析：推理判断题。通读材料，我们可知本文以英国最年轻的亿万富翁导入，对其故事进行介绍后，又分别介绍了排在第二位和第三位的年轻富翁，并通过分析数据得出英国亿万富翁“越来越年轻”的现象，因此本文应该是一篇出自报刊的新闻报道。故选A。