DAndrewCarnegiewasa19thcenturysteeltycoon（大亨）whobecameoneofthe20thcentury’smostfamousphilanthropists（慈善家）Hislifestoryisoneofthemostfamousrags-to-richesaccountsinUnitedStateshistory

题目详情

Andrew Carnegie was a 19th century steel tycoon（大亨）who became one of the 20th century’s most famous philanthropists（慈善家）His life story is one of the most famous rags-to-riches accounts in United States history.

Carnegie was born in Dunfermlined Scotland on November 25 1835. The son of a weaver he came with his family to the United States in 1848 and settled in Allegheny Pennsylvania. At age thirteen Carnegie went to work as a bobbin（线轴）boy in a cotton mill. He then moved rapidly through a series of jobs with Western Union and the Pnnsylvania Railroad. In 1865 he resigned to establish his own business and eventually organized the Carnegie Steel Company which started the steel industry in Pittsburgh. At age sixty-five he sold the company to J. P. Morgan for $480 million and devoted the rest of his life to his philanthropic activities and writing including his autobiography（自传）.

Many persons of wealth have contributed to charity but Carnegie was perhaps the first to state publicly that the rich have a moral responsibility to donate their fortune. In 1889 he wrote The Gospe（福音） of Wealth in which he stated that all personal wealth beyond what was required to supply the needs of one’s family should be regarded as a trust fund to be managed for the benefit of the company.

Carnegie set about giving away his fortune through countless personal gifts and through the establishment of various trusts. In his thirties Carnegie had already begun to give away some of his fast-accumulating funds. His first large gifts were made to his native town. Later he created seven philanthropic and educational organizations in the United States including Carnegie Corporation of New York and several more in Europe.

One of Carnegie’s lifelong interests was the establishment of free public libraries to make available to everyone a means of self-education. There were only a few public libraries in the world when in 1881 Carnegie began to promote his idea. He and the Corporation subsequently（随后）spent over $56 million to build 2 509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world.

After this program was ended in 1917 the Corporation continued for about forty years an interest in the improvement of library services. Other major program in the Corporation’s early history included adult education and education in the fine arts.

During his lifetime Carnegie gave away over $350 million. He died in Lenox Massachusetts on August 11 1919.

53．Carnegie became wealthy by__________.

A．his investment in weaving industry B．his father’s financial support

C．starting his steel business from nothing D．his philanthropic activities

54．What is the correct order of events related to Carnegie?

a．He sold his company.

b．He organized the Carnegie Steel Company.

c．He worked in a cotton mill.

d．He came to the United States.

e．He wrote The Gospel of Wealth.

A．c-d-e-b-a B．c-b-a-d-e C．d-c-b-e-a D．d-b-a-e-c

55．What can we learn about Carnegie according to the passage?