Who Knows How To Make a Million?

These self-made multi-millionaires make amassing an enormous fortune sound easy. Hard work, risk-taking, and the ability to thrive on not much sleep are their secrets.

A. Although I’m not married, I’m certainly not married to my job. That wouldn’t be a good idea anyway – you’ve got to be relaxed enough to be alert at all times if you’re in business. The most important quality I have is single-mindedness – apply it to any profession and it works. But it’s sometimes misinterpreted by friends, family and associates as not caring.

(Company chairperson)

B. If you’re going to make millions, you’ve got to have a bit of humour: somewhere along the line you’re going to be disappointed. Next, learn how to stay awake 24 hours at a time. I remember once after one of my sleepless sessions, sleeping for three days without waking up.

(Songwriter)

C. My recipe is: pick something you like. Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved pop music and I used to listen only to that – it was my first hobby. It’s easier for the young – they’ve got a tougher skin and aren’t afraid to knock on doors. They also don’t know the rules so they can break them. Education? Well I left school at 15. If you’re going to spend time studying you’re not going to make money.

(Record producer)

D. The key to making millions is that you’ve got to see an opportunity and seize it. At school and university I worked hard and learned about logical thinking. That’s what business is all about – analyzing a problem.

(Newspaper publisher)

E. You must know what you want to do. The key to my success? Determination, motivation, hard work and don’t forget luck. It’s luck to be in the right place at the right time. There isn’t much free time, but I do find some.

(Company chairperson)

F. It’s all very well talking about drive, ambition and dedication – all these things apply to anyone who wants to be successful. But if you haven’t got talent, then you’re wasting your time. Besides talent, you’ve got to be single-minded. One last important piece of advice: don’t be a clock-watcher, that’s fatal.

(Novelist)

(from The Independent on Sunday)

5.2. Discuss with your partner these sayings about money:

• Money may not bring happiness, but it is nice to find out for yourself.

• If you want the poor to work harder, you pay them less.

• If you want the rich to work harder, you pay them more.

• Money talks, and it’s nearly always saying ‘Goodbye’.

5.3.  Read the following text carefully, and try to get a general idea of what it says. Work And Pay In Fantasia

I had a thought-provoking dream last night. In it, I was living in Fantasia – a place where people are paid according to their real value to society. There are some striking mismatches with what happens in other countries.

In Fantasia, doctors are paid for keeping people alive. A doctor is well rewarded as long as his or her patients stay healthy. But when a patient falls ill, the doctor’s pay is reduced by half; and if a patient dies, the doctor has to pay massive compensation to the surviving spouse or relatives. Average life expectancy in Fantasia is 132, although doctors tend to die young.

Soldiers are paid on the same lines as doctors. In peacetime they get a reasonable wage, but as soon as war breaks out the government stops paying them. Officers earn far less than ordinary soldiers, and generals get least of all. This is because of the Fantasian principle that power is its own reward: people can have either money or power, but Fantasians avoid giving them both. Members of the House of Long Sentences (the Fantasian Parliament) get expenses payments, but no salary; the Prime Minister gets the least generous expenses.

Teacher’s pay is worked out according to their teaching ability (pupils vote), their pupils’ test results and the level at which they teach. On average, primary school teachers get double the pay of secondary school teachers, who in turn are wealthy by comparison with university teachers.

Housewives or househusbands receive a basic salary from the state, plus an extra 16,500 Fantasian Grotniks (about $4,500 US) annually for each small child in the family.

People who do dirty, strenuous, dull or distasteful work (e.g. rubbish collectors, coal miners, factory workers or sewage workers) are at the top of the Fantasian wages scale. Other highly-paid workers include gardeners (Fantasians like looking at flowers), hospital nurses and librarians. Among the poorest-paid workers are advertising agents, TV weather forecasters, traffic wardens and bank managers. Pop singers, who are all employed by the state, are paid starvation wages and allowed to give one concert a year (Fantasians don’t like listening to loud noises).

The best-paid people in Fantasia are writers.

Guess what I do for a living.

• Use the word combinations in bold type in sentences of your own.