Elizabeth Holmes: Holmes is where the heart is
Theranos's boss says her mission extends beyond making a fortune. TECH entrepreneurs often have their own distinctive uniforms. For Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, it is jeans and a hoodie. For the late Steve Jobs, it was jeans and black turtleneck. Elizabeth Holmes has plumped for something smarter matching black jacket, trousers and turtleneck. It saves having to decide what to wear each morning, she says with typical single-mindedness.
At the age of 19 Ms Holmes had an idea about to improve the way blood tests are done. So she dropped out of Stanford University, where she was studying chemical engineering, and with money that had been set aside for her college education she quietly founded Theranos, a diagnostics company. That was in 2003. She says she spent the next ten years in "stealth mode, without press releases or even a company website. During that time she perfected a way of doing hundreds of tests cheaply and quickly on a drop of blood, using lab-on-a-chip technology.
Today, aged 31, she is estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth $4.7 billion, and thus to be the world's youngest self-made female billionaire. She is the author, and co-author, of numerous patents and patent applications. Yet Ms Holmes seems uninterested in money or kudos.
She says her mission is to use testing to help people stay healthy. She wants to detect diseases such as diabetes, cancers and heart disease far earlier, before they produce symptoms, and in doing so save lives. Admirers have compared her to technology titans like Jobs. But her focus on humanity's big problems makes her more like Elon Musk, who wants not just to make money building space rockets and electric cars, but to colonise other planets and save this one from climate change.
This week Ms Holmes announced that she was taking her mission beyond America's borders, by launching a not-for-profit project to bring cheap medical tests to Mexico with backing from Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecoms magnate. Theranos is still privately owned—Ms Holmes says she holds more than 50% of its stock-and remains secretive about its revenue streams and plans. Although it is hard to know if the company merits its rich valuation, one encouraging sign for other investors is the company's stellar board of directors. It includes two former secretaries of state (George Shultz and Henry Kissinger)and a number of high-profile investors including Larry Ellison of Oracle. If an ability to win over luminaries is a diagnostic test for the health of young companies, Theranos passes.
1. Elizabeth Holmes' mission in business is（ ）?
2. Elizabeth Holmes is always in（ ）?
3. Which of the following statement is NOT TRUE?
4. Ms Holmes is like Elon Musk in（ ）?
5. Two former secretaries of state and a number of high-profile investors are listed to（ ）.
1.细节事实题。根据题干关键词定位至第五段:She says her mission is to use testing to help people stay healthy (她说她的责任是通过这些测验让人们保持健康)。因此A项 “以帮助人们保持健康”正确。
2.细节事实题。第一段指出: Elizabeth Holmes has plumped for something smarter matching black jacket, trousers and turtleneck (伊丽莎白•福尔摩斯喜欢更时髦的黑色夹克、裤子和高领毛衣)。因此，C项 “黑夹克和高领毛衣”正确。
3.判断推理题。第二段指出: At the age of 19 Ms Holmes had an idea about how to improve the way blood tests are done (霍姆斯19岁时就有了一个改进验血方法的想法)。因此，A项“霍姆斯知道改进血液检测的方法”不符合原文所述。
4.判断推理题。根据题干定位至倒数第二段: But her focus on humanity's big problems makes her more like Elon Musk, who wants not just to make money building space rockets and electric cars, but to colonies other planets and save this one from climate change(但她对人类大问题的关注使她更像埃隆•马斯克，他不仅想通过制造太空火箭和电动汽车赚钱，还想殖民其他星球，把这个星球从气候变化中拯救出来)。因此，本题选D项“保护地球上的人类”。
5.判断推理题。最后一段指出: Although it is hard to know if the company merits its rich valuation，one encouraging sign for other investors is the company's stellar board of directors (尽管很难知道该公司是否值得其丰厚的估值，但对其他投资者来说，一个令人鼓舞的迹象是该公司出色的董事会)。由此可知，列出两位前国务卿和一些知名投资者是为了展现公司的巨大前景。故选D。
