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史上第一个超级富豪(1)

来源:可可英语 编辑:Vicki   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet

Here in the 21st century, Capitalism is an increasingly controversial word.

21世纪,资本主义是一个越来越有争议的词。

There's a growing conversation about how much we should trust obscenely wealthy people, and whether or not there should be upper limits placed on human wealth.

关于我们应该在多大程度上信任那些极度富有的人,以及是否应该对人类财富设置上限的讨论越来越多。

Regardless of where you stand on modern-day captains of industry, the landscape looks nothing like it did 150 years ago.

无论你站在当今工业巨头的哪个位置,现在的情况都与150年前完全不同。

Compared to now, the days of the Robber Barons were the Wild West – both figuratively and literally.

与现在相比,强盗贵族的时代就像是蛮荒的西部——无论是从形象上还是从字面上来说都是如此。

Across Europe and North America, the late 19th century was a time of industrialization and ingenuity, and it led to the world's inaugural class of independently uber-wealthy businessmen.

在欧洲和北美,19世纪末是一个工业化和创新的时代,造就了世界上第一批独立的超级富商。

Up until the 1800s, it had been exceedingly rare for any one individual to amass huge piles of riches without ever sitting on a throne – that is,

直到19世纪,没有坐过宝座就积累了大量财富的人是极其罕见的,也就是说,

until industrialized economies began to reward men not for wholesomeness or morality, but for shrewd calculations and doing whatever was necessary.

直到工业化经济开始因精明的计算和做必要的事情,而不是因健康或道德奖励人们。

Very few men distinguished themselves in these pursuits like today's protagonist.

很少有人能像今天的主人公那样在这些事业上出类拔萃。

He took a successful family business and built it into a three-headed empire that still helps underwrite the world, even 100 years after his death.

他继承了一个成功的家族企业,并将其发展成为一个三头帝国,即使在他去世100年后,这个帝国仍在帮助全世界。

He spent decades financing the major projects and players of the Industrial Revolution, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

他花了几十年的时间资助大西洋两岸的工业革命的主要项目和参与者。

When governments ran out of money, he didn't.

当政府没有钱的时候,他有。

His name is JP Morgan, and he paid for the world you're living in today.

他叫JP·摩根,他为我们今天所生活的世界付出了代价。

International Boy of Mystery John Pierpont Morgan was born into about as good a situation as anyone could ever hope for.

国际神秘男孩约翰·皮尔庞特·摩根出生在一个任何人都无法企及的好环境当中。

His paternal grandfather, Joseph Morgan, was one of the founders of Connecticut's Aetna Insurance Company – a successful venture that grew and evolved over the decades, and was most recently bought by CVS Health Corporation in 2017 for $69 billion dollars.

他的祖父约瑟夫·摩根是康涅狄格安泰保险公司的创始人之一。安泰保险公司是一家成功的企业,在过去几十年里不断发展壮大,最近在2017年被CVS健康公司以690亿美元的价格收购。

Morgan's father Junius was a successful businessman in his own right.

摩根的父亲朱尼厄斯本身就是一位成功的商人。

Before the birth of his children, he worked as a partner at J.M.Beebe & Company, a significant New England dry goods importer that doubled as one of the largest retailers in Boston.

在他的孩子出生之前,他是J.M.Beebe & Company的合伙人,该公司是新英格兰地区一家重要的干货进口商,同时也是波士顿最大的零售商之一。

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He would eventually leave his job to take an even more glamorous position as the business partner of famous financier and London philanthropist George Peabody.

他最终辞去了工作,去做了一个更有魅力的职位——著名金融家、伦敦慈善家乔治·皮博迪的商业伙伴。

Morgan's mother was Juliet Pierpont, the daughter of noted Connecticut poet John Pierpont.

摩根的母亲朱丽叶·皮尔庞特是康涅狄格州著名诗人约翰·皮尔庞特的女儿。

He was best known for his poem The Airs of Palestine, but also worked as a teacher and Unitarian Minister, too.

约翰·皮尔庞特最著名的诗歌是《巴勒斯坦的气息》,他也曾担任教师和一神派牧师。

All that is quite the preamble to the birth of the eldest Morgan child.

这一切都是摩根长子诞生的序幕。

John Pierpont Morgan was born April 17, 1837, and he very much enjoyed the fruits of a privileged New England childhood.

约翰·皮尔庞特·摩根出生于1837年4月17日,他非常享受在新英格兰享有特权的童年。

He was a sickly boy, who suffered from coughs and seizures.

他是个体弱多病的孩子,经常咳嗽和癫痫发作。

However, when he felt healthy enough, he would attend concerts and art shows in the northeast.

然而,当他感觉自己足够健康时,他会去东北部听音乐会、看艺术表演。

He enjoyed outings with his parents, where he told everyone he liked to be called by his middle name, Pierpont.

他喜欢和父母一起外出,在那里他告诉每个人他喜欢别人叫他的中间名,皮尔庞特。

At age 11, he enrolled at the forerunner to Connecticut's prestigious Cheshire Academy, where he was allowed to board with the school's principal.

11岁时,他进入康涅狄格州久负盛名的柴郡学院的前身,并被允许寄宿在该校校长那里。

Three years later, he smashed the entrance exam for Boston's English High School – a school that specifically catered toward mathematically inclined students who were looking for a career in business and finance.

三年后,他顺利通过了波士顿英语高中的入学考试——这是一所专门为那些有数学倾向、想在商业和金融领域找到工作的学生开设的学校。

He matriculated there in the fall of 1851, at age 14. His father was grooming him for the family business.

1851年秋,14岁的他被该校录取。他的父亲正在为他的家族事业而培养他。

Unfortunately, before he could finish his first year at The English High School, young Pierpont was struck with another medical malady.

不幸的是,在他完成在英语高中的第一年时,年轻的皮尔庞特又患上了另一种疾病。

Pierpont was incapacitated by a devastating bout with Rheumatic Fever.

皮尔庞特因一阵严重的风湿热而失去了行动能力。

Just as an untreated cold or flu might evolve into a more serious case of pneumonia, Rheumatic Fever is the occasional escalation of an untreated throat infection.

就像未经治疗的感冒或流感可能会演变成更严重的肺炎一样,风湿热是未经治疗的咽喉感染意外加重导致的。

According to the Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases, Rheumatic Fever only afflicts about three percent of streptococcal infections, but it is more common in young children between the ages of 5 to 14.

根据《传染病百科全书》,风湿热只会折磨大约3%的链球菌感染,在5到14岁的儿童中更常见。

Ironically, the disease most often afflicts impoverished people, because of a lack of proper nutrition and hygiene.

具有讽刺意味的是,由于缺乏适当的营养和卫生条件,这种疾病最常折磨穷人。

Pierpont, who was already less healthy than the average boy his age, was completely sidelined by the illness.

皮尔庞特的健康状况已经比同龄男孩的平均水平差了,他完全被疾病边缘化了。

Thus, his father Junius did what any father would do for a sick child – he sent him to live by himself in the Azore Islands, in the North Atlantic Ocean.

因此,他的父亲朱尼厄斯做了任何一个父亲对生病的孩子都会做的事——把他送到北大西洋的亚述尔群岛独自生活。

Mr.Morgan believed the salty air of the Portuguese isles would help Pierpont recover from his condition; ultimately, he stayed on the islands for nearly a year.

摩根先生相信葡萄牙群岛的咸味空气会帮助皮尔庞特恢复健康。后来皮尔庞特在岛上呆了将近一年。

When Pierpont was finally well enough to return to the US and finish his secondary education, he felt invigorated by his relatively clean bill of health.

当皮尔庞特终于恢复健康,能够返回美国并完成中学教育时,他对自己相对健康的身体感到振奋。

He graduated from The English High School quickly, earning a reward of… more school.

他很快从英语高中毕业,得到的回报是……继续上学。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
devastating ['devəsteitiŋ]

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adj. 毁灭性的,令人震惊的,强有力的

 
encyclopedia [en.saikləu'pi:diə]

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n. 百科全书

 
corporation [.kɔ:pə'reiʃən]

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n. 公司,法人,集团

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landscape ['lændskeip]

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n. 风景,山水,风景画
v. 美化景观

 
inaugural [in'ɔ:gjurəl]

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adj. 就职典礼的,创始的 n. 就职演说,就职典礼

 
distinguished [di'stiŋgwiʃt]

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adj. 卓著的,尊敬的 动词distinguish的过

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untreated

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adj. 未经治疗的;未经处理的

 
fever ['fi:və]

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n. 发烧,发热,狂热
v. (使)发烧,(使

 
academy [ə'kædəmi]

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n. 学院,学术,学会

 
controversial [.kɔntrə'və:ʃəl]

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adj. 引起争论的,有争议的

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