1 billion = 1000,000,000 (USA) / 1000,000,000,000 (UK)
Talk About It
- Would you like to be a billionaire? Why or why not?
- What would you do if you had a billion dollars?
Write a short summary of the story.
Specific Listening for Details
Specific Listening for Details
- How old is Ron Wayne?
- How does Wayne get money?
- How does Wayne feel about missing the opportunity to be rich?
- What is significant [important or interesting] about Wayne?
- What did Wayne design for Apple?
- What kind of help did Steve Jobs want from Wayne?
- What percentage of Apple was Wayne given? How did Wayne feel about this?
- Why did Wayne have doubts about his role in Apple?
- What was Wayne worried about?
- How much did Wayne make from his investment in Apple? How did he feel about this?
- What kind of work has Wayne done in his life?
- How does Wayne feel about computers?
- How many Apple products has Wayne bought in his life?
- How does Wayne feel about Steve Jobs?
- Did Wayne originally believe that Apple would be successful? Why?
- How is Wayne now hoping to make some money?
Language
net worth = total wealth
penny machines = gambling machines
hit the jackpot = win the top prize
modest home = a home that isn't expensive
gets by = makes a living; survives
social security cheque = money from the government
founder = sb who starts a company
co-founder = a partner of sb who starts a company
logo = a small design that is the official sign of an organisation
operating manual = a book that shows you how to use a machine
an engineer by trade = a trained engineer
befriended = made friends with (sb)
had second thoughts = started to feel doubtful
a very rough ride = extremely difficult
being on the hook = responsible
debts = money owed to sb, such as a bank
incur = happen; result in
stake = investment
netted = made (regarding money that is gotten)
"as far as I was concerned" = in my opinion
sound money = a good a reasonable amount of money
fascination = a high level of interest
in round numbers = even numbers - 0, 2, 4, 6, etc
wondering "what if...?" = thinking about what might have been
driving = working hard, pushing (to make sth succeed)
skilled = having a high level of skill
capable = having the ability to do sth
dynamic = fast-moving and full of energy
focussed = paying very careful attention to sth to ensure success
cash in = make money
Apple connection = having some relation to Apple, the company
forthcoming = happening soon in the future
More Language
"...bulldoze their way through anything to make this company succeed" = work very, very hard and do do everything they possibly can to make the company successful
"I was gonna wind-up the richest man in the cemetary" = I would make a lot of money but the pressure would kill me
wind up = end up; become
cemetary = a place where dead people are buried [=graveyard]
"About as round a number as you can get" = zero (0)
Post Listening Discussion
- If you missed the opportunity to be very rich, like Ron Wayne, how would you feel?
- Do you know any other stories about people who missed an opportunity to be rich?
Read the Story
Read the original story here:
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1 comment:
Wow...you almost update your listening blog every day. It must takes you a lot of time, much appreciated.
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