Unit 2 The Richest Man in America, Down Home

2. Unit 2 The Richest Man in America, Down Home

3. Assignment Warm-up Activities Objectives Background Information Reading: Text A Writing Strategy Contents Students will be able to: • grasp the main idea and the structure of the text; • appreciate the use of indirect description in portraying a person; • grasp the key language points and grammatical structures in the text; • conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities related to the theme of the unit.

4. Warm-up Activities Rich People I Know Collect stories, news reports, pictures, books, or video clips of rich people. Form groups of three or four to share what you have collected and discuss what values these rich people hold dear.

5. Who’s Who Look at the following pictures. Who are they?

6. Robin Li • Li was born in Yangquan, Shanxi, China, where he spent most of his childhood. Both of his parents were factory workers. Li was the fourth of five children, and the only boy among the five. • He chose Peking University for college where he studied information management for four years and received a Bachelor of Science degree. • In the fall of 1991, Li went to SUNY-Buffalo in the US to study computer science towards a Doctoral degree. He received his Master of Science degree in 1994 after he had decided to discontinue his PhD program work.

7. Robin Li • Robin has turned the company into the largest Chinese search engine, with over 70% market share, and the third largest independent search engine in the world. In 2005, Baidu completed its successful IPO on NASDAQ, and in 2007 became the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 Index. • Quotations:

8. Li Ka-shing • Nicknamed Superman, Asia’s richest and most influential billionaire. • Once a poor immigrant, got his start selling plastic flowers in Hong Kong in the 1950s. • business centered on the conglomerate Hutchinson Whampoa (telecom, port services, real estate), now spans 41 countries and accounts for 13% of Hong Kong’s stock market value. • has invested more than $7 billion in Chinese mainland and built 400 miles of roads and bridges.

9. Li Ka-shing • has given away over $500 million to support education and health care facilities in Asia. Quotations: • 信不等于亲人。 • 傲气不可有，傲骨不可无。

10. Bill Gates • the richest of the rich. • has topped the Forbes 400 list for nine consecutive years since 1994 and is most likely to remain to be the richest in the world in the years to come. • born in 1955 in Seattle, Washington. • had been shy and awkward, rarely ventured out to parties even when studying at Harvard University.

11. Bill Gates • founded the Microsoft Corporation (1974), a computer software firm, with Paul Allen. • MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) and subsequent programs (including the Windows operating systems) made Microsoft the world’s largest producer of software for microcomputers.

12. Bill Gates • Quotations: • There are people who don’t like capitalism, and people who don’t like PCs. But there’s no one who likes the PC who doesn’t like Microsoft. • Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.

13. Discussion • Do you know any stories of rich people? • How did they become rich? • What values in them are the most important factors contributing to their success?

14. Sam Walton Wal-Mart Forbes Background Information

16. If judged by appearance, Sam Walton was a very ordinary man. Sam Walton, an American retailing executive, was born in 1918 in Oklahoma. He was raised in the Depression years, and served in the army during World War II. After 17 years of operating franchise retail stores, he opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City in Arkansas, in 1962. Walton had a passion to compete and an appetite for adventure. He devoted his life to expanding and improving upon this concept. He was also a good motivator of people, because he practiced what he preached.

17. Walton developed Wal-Mart into a chain of massive, centrally controlled stores that were typically sited in small towns and rural areas. The stores featured heavy discounting, smaller profit margins than usual coupled with higher-volume sales, and a customer-oriented staff. Wal-Mart flourished, went public in 1970, and by 1991 had become a multibillion-dollar business and America’s largest retailer with 1,700 stores. Walton, who stepped aside as CEO of the company in 1988 but remained active in its management, was by 1985 the wealthiest person in the United States.

18. He remained guided by the old-fashioned principles of hard work, honesty, neighborliness and thrift. Even after his death in 1992, those principles continue to guide the company as it expands into other countries and cultures. After his death, his widow Helen and four children are doing well on their own. With a collective net worth of over $100 billion, they are ranked 7 to 11 in the Forbes World’s Richest People in 2003.

20. Wal-mart is now ranked world NO.1 retailer, followed by Carrefour. It was founded in 1962 with opening of first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Ark. by Sam Walton. In 2000, this supermarket, with its annual turnover of US $160 billion, was listed second in Fortune's top 500. Today, it has more than 4,000 chain stores throughout the world.

21. With its slogan "fair prices every day" and "satisfactory service," Wal-mart has won a large number of Chinese customers. Its first Chinese store opened in Shenzhen in 1996. During the following four years, it opened more stores in Dongguan, Dalian, and Kunming. Compared with Carrefour's daring move of opening 23 chain stores in succession, Walmart appears comparatively cautious.

22. Three Basic Beliefs in Wal-mart Sam Walton built Wal-Mart on the revolutionary philosophies of excellence in the workplace, customer service and always having the lowest prices. Today's Wal-Mart facilities are still driven by the Three Basic Beliefs that drove the very first store : Respect for the Individual Service to Our Customers Strive for Excellence

24. Forbes is an Americanpublishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week. The magazine is well-known for its lists, including its lists of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400) and its list of billionaires. The motto of Forbes magazine is "The Capitalist Tool." Its editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes.

25. In its November 27, 2000 edition it published one listing the 50 ichest businessmen and women in China, headed by Rong Yiren of CITIC with 1.9 billion dollars, followed in second place by Liu Yongxing of the Hope Group with 1 billion dollars. The richest businesswoman on the list was Yang Lan of Sun Television, with 63 million dollars.

26. Warm-up Questions Imagine you are a rich man ,or if you win a lottery ticket---5000000 Yuan, how will you spend all this money? If you should become the richest man or woman in China, what kind of life do you think you would live? Some people believe, “There is only one success ­­ to be able to spend your own life in your own way.” Do you agree? Give your reasons.

27. The text can be divided into three parts. Text Organization Is there any natural dividing lines separating the text into parts? The text can be divided into three parts.

28. The natural dividing lines: the text can be divided into 3 parts according to the blank lines between each parts: • Part one • The waiter was disappointed to find that the Richest Man in America led so simple a life. • Part two • Being friendly, easy-going and never flashy, Walton carries on like plain folks and never wants any special treatment. • Part three • With the Wal-mart team in mind, Walton devotes himself heart and soul to making the business a great success.

29. Main Idea Despite his wealth, Sam Walton remains down-home and devoted to his team.

30. Scanning • Scan Text A and underline all the names mentioned. • Tell who these persons were and mark the words they said. • The quotations are chosen to serve certain purposes. What do you think they revolve around?

31. LL. 78~80 “The reason for our success is our people and the way they’re treated and the way they feel about their company. They believe things are different here, but they deserve the credit.” Sam: founder of Wal-Mart, the discount king Jamie: waiter at Sam Walton's birthday party L.13“It was a real disappointment.” L.19 “He doesn’t want any special treatment.” Johnny: night manager at the local Wal-Mart

32. LL. 50~54 “He may be the richest by Forbes rankings, but he doesn’t know whether he is or not -- and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t spend much. He owns stock, but he’s always left it in the company so it could grow. But the real story in his mind is the success achieved by the 100,000 people who make up the Wal-Mart team.” LL. 43~44 “… the only thing strange about Sam Walton is that he isn’t strange.” Mayhall: local barber Jim Gremp: corporate affairs director

33. LL. 22~24 “He is the same man who opened his dime store on the square and worked 18 hours a day for his dream.” Richard: Mayor of Bentonville, Arkansas LL. 31~32 “… He doesn’t have a set place. At a church supper the other night, he and his wife were in back washing dishes.” Gordon: pastor of the local church

34. LL. 81~85 “I’ve never seen anyone yet who worked for him or was around him for any length of time who wasn’t better off. And I don’t mean just financially, although a lot of people are. It’s just something about him -- coming into contact with Sam Walton just makes you a better person.” LL. 74~77 “He’d say, ‘That fellow worked hard, let’s give him a little extra.’ I had to change my way of thinking when I came aboard.” Ferold: retired president of Wal-Mart Jim Hendren: company lawyer

35. Fill in the following table a mansion/a palace nice house, but not palace an old pickup truck a Rolls-Royce dogs with diamondcollars a muddy bird dog servants everywhere no servants

36. Complete the summary According to Jamie Beaulieu’s imagination, Sam Walton, the richest man in the world, should lead a life. What he saw, however, proved that he was wrong. It turned out that the billionaire, who acquired his wealth by , carried on in a very way. lavish/luxurious starting with a little dime store that grew into a discount chai simple/frugal

37. In part 2 and part 3, we can see a character sketch of the richest man in America. List some of his character traits and the details that reveal those traits.

39. Language Points title: down home synonyms: para 5 carry on like plain folks para 6 folksy ways para 7 friendly, cheerful, a fine neighbor who does his best to blend in, never flashy, never throwing his weight around para 11 not a front-page person

40. Line 2 He imagine what surely awaited: refer to CD-ROM Line 3 mansion synonyms: house, building, chamber, villa, etc.

41. Line 5 –Line 8 Then he was off to the house, wheeling past the sleepy town square in Bentonville, a remote Arkansas town of 9,920, where Sam Walton started with a little dime store that grew into a $6 billion discountchain called Wal-Mart. • Sentence Structure:

42. wheel: ---She wheeled the bike/car into the garage. ---He was wheeled by the nurses into the room. --- It is against the rule for anyone at/behind the wheel to call or receive a phone call. ---前轮, 后轮 front wheel, rear/back wheel

43. sleepy town • remote:摇控遥远的将来 边远地区 ~ control ~ future ~ country area • discount在一些在线书店 买书可打8.5折 Some online bookstores offer/give 15% discount on their books. • chain ~store hotel/restaurant ~ food ~ ~ smoke/smoker

44. line 10 It was nice, but no palace “no” here is to emphasize that the opposite of a particular description is true. ---- If he has to do it all by himself, it will be no bad thing (a good thing). ---- She is no fool. --- He is no friend of mine. Also refer to CD-ROM

45. line 12 He never spotted any servants. refer to book1, unit 7, text A line 14-line 15 Only in America can a billionaire carry on like plain folks and get away withit. • Only at the beginning introduce an inverted sentence. ---只有在低温，禽流感病毒才能存活。所以吃煮透的禽类产品是安全的。 Only at low temperature can bird flu virus remain alive. So it is safe to eat well-cooked poultry products.

46. folk (usu. pl): people in general ---他们是世上最好的人。 They are the best folks on earth. ~ songs, ~ music, ~ dance, ~ tales, etc. • get away with: do sth. wrong or risky without being caught or punished ---这孩子应受到惩罚。 你不应放任让他撒谎。 The child ought to be punished. You shouldn’t let him get away with telling lies.

47. blend in/into: mix harmoniously --- What he said reinforced my determination to blend in with/blend into my surroundings. --- 中大南校区有些新建筑与环境不大协调。 Some new building in the south campus of Zhongda could not very well blend in. --- Please blend the sugar, eggs, and flour. ---- This is an excellent team, with a nice blend of experience and youthful enthusiasm. n.

48. line 31 “Look, he is just not that way. He doesn’t have a set place.”: refer to CD-ROM line 36-37 It buried the Forbes list at the bottom of page 2: refer to CD-ROM line 45 hold to: keep to ---After considering various alternatives, we decided to hold to our original plan. fixed

49. line 48 on the run: continuously active and moving about; try to avoid being captured ---- He has to be on the run from one office to another to get the permit to open a take-away restaurant. --- 他被警察追得东躲西藏的。 He is on the run from the police.

50. line 48: steer clear of: keep away from --- General conversation should steer clear of topics such as income and age. --- 使我们惊喜的是，他正冲向终点，把别的选手都甩在后面。 To our amazement, he is heading for the finishing line, steering clear of all the other runners behind.