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Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will come to China to “urge donation” (Intermediate)

Sep. 8, 2010

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will come to China to "urge donation" (Intermediate)

Key learning points (preview):

财富 (cáifù) n. fortune

 

捐献 (juānxiàn) v. to donate

 

面对面 (miànduìmiàn) adv. face to face

 

In June 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett launched a "行动 (xíngdòng) campaign" which calls on billionaires to pledge to "捐献 (juānxiàn) donate" at least half of their "财富 (cáifù) fortunes" to "慈善事业 (císhàn shìyè) charity." So far, 40 of the world's richest individuals and families from USA have taken the "誓言 (shìyán) pledge." Buffett said, "We hope that other countries will also follow suit. If they feel like what we're doing is worthwhile and would like to put it into practice, then we're all very excited about that prospect."

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Buffett disclosed that at the end of September, he and Bill Gates will come to China and speak to China's richest people “面对面 (miànduìmiàn) face to face.”

Some analysts believe the main reason why China has become the first overseas target of their "donation pledge" is the rapidly growing number of rich Chinese people. However, most Chinese people are skeptical, because Chinese wealthy seem not like to show off their wealth directly. According to "统计 (tǒngjì) statistics," each year, 75% of charity in China comes from "国外 (guówài) abroad," 15% comes from China's rich, 10% comes from common people, and donations from businesses only account for 1%.

Key learning points:

财富 (cáifù) n. fortune

 

"财" means "wealth" and "富" means "rich."

 Example:

Yōngyǒu cáifù bìng  bù  yídìng xìngfú.
  拥有       财富  并     不   一定    幸福。

 

Possessing wealth won't necessarily make one happy.

捐献 (juānxiàn) v. to donate

 

"捐" means to give without concern for return. "献" means to present respectfully and solemnly.

Example:

Tā  bǎ  tā  de suǒyǒu zhēncáng juānxiàn gěile  guójiā bówùguǎn.
 他 把 他  的    所有      珍藏         捐献     给了     国家   博物馆。

 

He donated all of his treasure to the national museum.

面对面 (miànduìmiàn) adv. face to face

 

This word is easy to understand. "面" means "face" and "对" is a preposition which is identical to "to."

Example:

Wǒ zài wǎng shàng gēn Zhōngguó de lǎoshī  xué shāngwù hànyǔ,
 我 在     网     上      跟      中国      的    老师   学      商务     汉语,
jiù gēn miànduìmiàn jiāotán yíyàng!

就 跟       面对面        交谈     一样!

 

I learn business Chinese online with a native Chinese teacher. It's the just like talking face-to-face!

生词 (shēngcí) Vocabulary

 

行动 (xíngdòng): n. campaign

 

统计 (tǒngjì): n. statistic

 

国外 (guówài): adv. abroad

 

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Comments

There is a critical shortage of inofrmtaive articles like this.

I am so happy and proud to know people who are true Christians like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates who are sharing their fortune to help poor people to lead a better life.

I think the following Chinese proverb suits Gates and Buffett very well – 英雄所见略同 (yīngxióng suǒjiàn lüè tóng). Great minds think alike.

“占” is a word often used in Chinese business online news, it means “account for” in Chinese.

This news will must cause a great disturbance in online Chinese business communities. I want to know the actual results. By the way, how to say “account for” in Chinese?

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