From < WEALTH AND PHILANTHROPY > 摘自《经济学人》 2006.2. Feb 23rd 2006

Giving away money has never been so fashionable among the rich and famous. （1）Bill Gates, today's pre-eminent philanthropist, has already handed over an unprecedented $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, mostly to tackle the health problems of the world's poor. （2）Its generosity has earned the couple Time magazine's nomination as 2005's “people of the year”, along with Bono, an activist rock star.

new words

pre-eminent    adj.卓越的, 优秀的
philanthropist     n. 博爱的人,博爱主义者,慈善家

比尔盖茨，当今最著名的慈善家，已经向比尔及梅琳达-盖茨基金会捐助了310亿美元，这笔钱大部分用于帮助解决全球穷人的健康问题。 他们的慷慨使这对夫妻与社会活动家摇滚明星波诺一同被《时代》周刊提名为“2005年度人物”。