题目内容
A few famous left-handed persons
Bill Gates
Claiming the nation’s richest man among their number is a source of considerable pride for America’s
society of southpaws (左撇子).In fact,the Microsoft titan (巨人) and philanthropist (慈善家) is one of a surprising number of U.S.business areas to be left-handed,including Henry Ford,John D.
Rockefeller and former IBM head Lou Gerstner.But the club seems to be a guys-only fraternity(联谊会).Research suggests that while left-handed men tend to earn more than their right-handed
colleagues, there is no similar advantage for women.A study by the National Bureau of Economic
Research floated the idea that left-handed men favor “divergent” (发散性) thinking,a form of
creativity in which the brain moves “from conventional knowledge into unexplored association”.Maybe
that’s what it takes to develop a net worth estimated at least $570 billion.
Oprah Winfrey The talk-show queen doesn’t need much more to set her apart from the rest.She has herestimated $2.7 billion fortune and a magic ability to sell books just by glancing at them,but she also has the
distinction of being a member of the left-handed club.Men are more likely to be left-handed than
women which makes Oprah more impressive.She’s “in good company”:other showbiz ladies of the southpaw persuasion include Whoopi Goldberg,Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie(her husband Brad Pitt is also a lefty).
Napoleon Bonaparte
Legend has it that Napoleon objected to the time-honored military practice of marching on the left
side of the road with weapons at the ready in the right hand: it put lefties (左撇子) like him at a strategic
disadvantage.Once in power,the story goes,the French emperor,whose queen,Josephine,was
also a southpaw,ordered his armies to change sides.Civilians in countries he conquered had to do the
same.Hence,it’s said that the rules of the road were born,which also explains why the British (who,
along with the Prussians,defeated Napoleon at Waterloo) still drive on the left.
Marie Curie
Not only was atomic scientist Marie Curie left-handed,but she was the matriarch (女家长) of a
whole family of accomplished,southpaw scientists.Curie,who discovered the principles of radioactivity
and won two Nobel Prizes,was married to fellow lefty Pierre Curie,who was playing an important
part in helping Marie’s atomic research and shared one of her Nobel awards.Historians believed their
daughter,Irene,was also left-handed.Irene went on to win a Nobel Prize of her own with her
husband,who,you guessed it,was also left-handed.Lefty scientists are hardly unusual.In addition to
the Curie clan,Einstein,Newton and Alan Turing-founder of modern computer science were all left-
handed as well.
A.Club of southpaw
B.Woman advantage
C.Divergent thinking
D.Conventional knowledge.?
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