疯狂英语阅读：HOWRICHISRICH

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2007:06:08 11:31:28
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

Two a.m. in the Arabian desert, the worlds fifth richest man sits alone. A rare moment of 1)tranquility. Who is this man? What is he thinking? Why is he here?

He is His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, nephew of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, grandson of the countrys founder, grandson also of the founder of modern day Lebanon. Just 44 years old, his net worth tops 20 billion dollars.

Mostly he lives here in a 460,000 square-foot palace he calls home. Quaint, it isnt. Its 317 rooms, include 18 sitting rooms, 15 dinning rooms, 10 bedrooms, 16 2)pantries, and one dozen elevators. The 3)garage is big, too. It has to be to 4)accommodate the Princes hundreds of cars. And this is the Princes kitchen -- a 30,000 square foot facility with enough staff and equipment to feed more than a 1,000 people on any given day. And thats on top of 20 smaller kitchens 5)scattered throughout the palace. The Princes bedroom is large, but his closet is larger. Among other things, it holds his 3,000 pairs of shoes, and hundreds of pairs of sunglasses.

Journalist: Do you think you live 6)lavishly?

Prince: No, I dont think... I live happily. Now, maybe to some people, its lavish, I would 7)acknowledge that, but to me, I live happily.

This is the other Prince Alwaleed, a top minded negotiator and international investing sensation whose personal investment vehicle Kingdom Holding Company owns stakes in a 8)litany of the worlds best known brands. Along side Rupert Murdock and Ted Turner, hes one of the worlds biggest media 9)tycoons, with shares in A.O.L., Newscorp and Disney, alongside the Marriotts and the Hiltons, a leading 10)hotelier with big chunks of The Four Season, Movenpick, and Fairmont chains as well as New Yorks Plaza Hotel and Pariss George Saint. A giant in banking, too, whose stake in Citycrop alone totals a cool 10 billion dollars.

But for all his wealth, this Saudi Royal still seeks something money cant buy.

Prince: I believe that we have a mission, you know, to tell the western world held by America for sure, that the Arabs are good honorable people. And when they communicate and when they do this and business with the biggest companies in American, they are welcome, and they do it very honorably. And if I can contribute and having the image being better and enhanced, of course being more positive in America, I would be more than happy to do it.