Steak lunch with Buffett a tasty prize
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A chance to share a steak lunch with billionaire investor1 Warren Buffett ended with a mouth-watering $1.68-million bid. Speculation3 is the winner was once again Chinese.

It was the second highest winning bid in the annual fundraiser's 10-year history. The global financial crisis was blamed for keeping the final tally4 20 percent below last year.

This year's bidding began at $25,000 on eBay on June 21. Activity accelerated toward the end of the auction5 on June 26, with the top bid rising from $810,000 in the last two hours.

The identity of the winning bidder6 has not yet been revealed. But some observers are speculating the winner may be Chinese because they offered a bid of $1,235,578 in the last hour—"8" is regarded as a lucky number in China.

Denise Lamott, spokeswoman with the Glide7 Foundation, which receives the proceeds from the auction, was delighted with the "better-than-expected" results.

"Last year's bidding record was $2.11 million. Considering the current economic downturn, we had expected the highest price this year would be $1 million. The result was much better than anticipated and we were quite satisfied," said Lamott.

The non-profit organization, based in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, offers housing, job training, health and child care, and meals for the poor. The nine previous auctions8 have raised more than $4.2 million for Glide.

The Glide Foundation revealed the Chinese had shown great interest in the auction this year.

Two Chinese business people paid $2.11 million last year and $620,100 in 2006 to win the chance to have lunch with Buffett.

Last year's winner Zhao Danyang, who runs Hong Kong-based Pureheart China Growth Investment Fund, collected his prize when he dined with Buffett last Wednesday.

As in recent years, the auction winner and up to seven friends joined Buffett at the Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse in New York City.

Zhao, 37, said that he had been puzzled by some investment problems for years and could not find the answer in a young capital market like China. In Zhao's opinion, Buffett, from a mature capital market and with experience in several business cycles, had insight into investment.

"It's not because you are not smart enough to solve the problems. It's because you haven't experienced enough," said Zhao.

Zhao said his puzzles were solved during the three-hour lunch and what he gained could not be valued in dollars and cents.

Questions:

1. When did this year’s bidding begin?

2. What non-profit organization will receive proceeds from the auction?

3. What New York City restaurant will the auction winner join Buffet2 for steak at?

Answers:

1. June 21.

2. The Glide Foundation.

3. The Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 investor aq4zNm     
n.投资者,投资人
参考例句:
  • My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
  • The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。
2 buffet 8sXzg     
n.自助餐;饮食柜台;餐台
参考例句:
  • Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐?
  • Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗?
3 speculation 9vGwe     
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机
参考例句:
  • Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
  • There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。
4 tally Gg1yq     
n.计数器,记分,一致,测量;vt.计算,记录,使一致;vi.计算,记分,一致
参考例句:
  • Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
  • The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。
5 auction 3uVzy     
n.拍卖;拍卖会;vt.拍卖
参考例句:
  • They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
  • They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。
6 bidder oyrzTm     
n.(拍卖时的)出价人,报价人,投标人
参考例句:
  • TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
  • The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。
7 glide 2gExT     
n./v.溜,滑行;(时间)消逝
参考例句:
  • We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着,眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
  • So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞,宛如滑翔。
8 auctions 1c44b3008dd1a89803d9b2f2bd58e57a     
n.拍卖,拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
  • Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子,因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句
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