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Young and Full of Entrepreneurial Spirit 小小企业家志气高

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A 13-year-old who makes money from selling gumballs  看口香糖球如何成为十三岁少年的赚钱机器

Kyle Bogert is an eighth-grade entrepreneur who runs several business empires. And he wears a business suit. He’s been wearing one, on and off, since second grade.

凯尔．波格特这位八年级的小小企业家（译注：美国八年级相当于国中二年级）旗下可是拥有好几家大企业呢，而且西装笔挺的他，打从小学二年级起就断断续续地穿起西装来了。

“I was just caught off guard altogether,” recalls Janis Kilroy, owner of Kilroy’s Wonder Market in New Jersey.

「我当时根本毫无心理准备可言，」纽泽西州「凯洛伊的神奇市场」老板珍妮斯．凯洛伊回忆说。

Who wouldn’t be – seeing a 7-year-old child materialize at your office, wearing a suit and clip-on tie and carrying a briefcase?

如果看到一名七岁小孩突然出现在你办公室，而且还西装笔挺，打着夹式领带（译注：预先打好的领带，夹在衣领上即可佩戴），手上提着公文包──无论是谁都会毫无心理准备的！

Kyle had a little business proposition: Would she like to place one of his gumball machines in her store?

凯尔有个小小的商业提案：她愿不愿让凯尔把他的口香糖球贩卖机摆在店里呢？

Gum machines are where Kyle made his first fortune. He had a full prospectus ready for Kilroy: illustrations of different models, from ordinary utilitarian machines to helter-skelter gumball mazes.

凯尔就是靠口香糖球机赚进人生第一桶金，而他还准备好完整的创业计划书让凯洛伊过目：有各种不同款式机型的图表，从普通实用的机型，乃至于令人眼花撩乱的口香糖球迷宫都包括在内。

That was six years ago. Now, Kyle is a familiar figure in the area. And no wonder: From the proceeds of his first two gumball machines, which he bought outright ($300 each, paid for with $600 upfront capital from his dad), Kyle expanded his gumball empire into other towns. He now has 11 machines. “I put them in the store, I service them, I collect the money,” Kyle says.

那已经是六年前的事了。如今，凯尔已经是当地家喻户晓的一号人物，而这也不足为奇：因为他靠最早那两台口香糖球机来的收益起家后，已经把他的口香糖球事业版图扩张到其他镇上，而且当初两台贩卖机是一次买断（每台三百美元，用爸爸垫付的六百美元资金支付）。如今他拥有十一台贩卖机，「我把它们摆在店家，负责提供各种服务，并且收集消费者投进去的钱，」凯尔说道。

It’s not all about gumballs  不只是口香糖球而已

And gumball machines are just the start of Kyle’s empire.

而口香糖球贩卖机还只是凯尔商业帝国的起步而已。

He has a thriving trade in magnetic ribbons, novelty pens and various kids’ toys. And he is the inventor, manufacturer and retailer of his own toy: a blowgun that shoots miniature marshmallows. So far, he’s sold about 600.

他旗下还包括磁性丝带、造型新奇的笔和各式各样的儿童玩具，生意兴隆。此外，他本身也是自家玩具的发明家、制造商和零售商：他发明的是能射出迷你西式棉花糖的吹箭筒，至今已卖出六百个左右。

From an early age, Kyle was keeping books and doing spreadsheets. So it’s no surprise that, for 13 years old, he’s made a tidy sum. Consider: He donates 35 percent to 50 percent of his earnings to charities like Tomorrows Children’s Fund at Hackensack University Medical center – and those contributions have so far amounted to something like $20,000. You do the math. “I love helping people who are less fortunate than me,” Kyle says.

打从很小的时候开始，凯尔就会记账和做电子表格。所以说，等他到了十三岁时就已累积一笔可观的财富，就不足为奇了。细想一下：他把收益的百分之卅五到五十都捐给如「哈肯塞克大学医学中心」「明日儿童基金」之类的慈善机构──迄今所捐献的款项已达两万美元左右。你可以自行算算看他赚了多少钱。「我喜欢去帮助那些没有我这么幸运的人，」凯尔说道。

单词发音

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suit [sut] n.（一套）衣服；西装

on and off 断断续续地 (= off and on)

materialize [məˋtɪrɪəl͵aɪz] v. 突然出现 to appear, especially suddenly

prospectus [prəˋspɛktəs] n. 内容说明书; 创办计划书 a document that advertise a planned business or investment opportunity

helter-skelter [ˋhɛltɚˋskɛltɚ] adj. 仓促忙乱的；杂乱的 if you do something helter-skelter, you do it very quickly and without organization; confused or disorderly; confused or disorderly

proceeds [ˋprosidz] n. 收益，收入；（期票，保险单等扣除应付费用后的）实收款项

outright [ˋaʊtˋraɪt] adv. 当场；立即

upfront [ˋʌp͵frʌnt] adj. 预付的

magnetic ribbon 磁性丝带 magnetized material designed to look like a looped ribbon and used to show support for a cause or issue, usually placed on a vehicle or something else made of metal

novelty pen 新奇的笔 a small, inexpensive, mass-produced pen, sometimes used as a promotional give-away by companies

blowgun [ˋblo͵gʌn] n. 吹箭筒 a weapon in the shape of a tube through which something is fired by blowing air through it

marshmallow [ˋmɑrʃ͵mælo] n. 棉花软糖

books [bʊks] n. 账目; 账簿

spreadsheet [ˋsprɛd͵ʃit] n. 电子表格; 【计算机】空白表格程序

a tidy sum 相当巨大的款项 a large number or amount or extent; a lot of money

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The collection route  收钱路线

Today is Wednesday, collection day. At one stop on the collection route, The Stop & Shop on Route 17, there has been an issue lately. Kyle had placed a gum machine in the front of the store three years ago; it was subsequently moved to the employees’ lounge upstairs. Kyle wants it back in front, where the money is.

今天是礼拜三，也就是收集贩卖机所得的日子。收钱路线的其中一站，也就是十七号公路上的「停车购物」这家店，最近发生一个问题。凯尔三年前原本把口香糖贩卖机摆放在店前面，可是后来它却被移到店里楼上的员工休息室。凯尔希望可以把贩卖机放回店前面，因为这样才比较容易赚到钱。

He collects a disappointing $35 in quarters. “The reason this machine doesn’t have $150, which is normally what it is, is this is not the main place where customers walk by every second and buy a gumball,” he says.

他只收集到卅五美元，都是廿五美分硬币，真令人失望。「这台贩卖机之所以没能赚到一般正常状况的一百五十美元，是因为它摆的位置并不是主要地点，人潮多的地点才会常有顾客经过并买口香糖球，」他如此说道。

Luckily, Kyle’s net assets don’t depend on the whims of the gumball market. His portfolio is diversified. His big seller right now is marshmallowshooters. The shooters sell for $20 and he makes something like a 250 percent profit – not bad. “I love the fact that he’s very creative,” says his mom. “But sometimes it’s a little frustrating, because I feel my house is very often turned into an experimental factory for whatever his latest endeavor is.”

所幸，凯尔的净资产并不完全取决于口香糖球市场的起伏变动，因为他的投资组合相当变化多元，足以分散风险。目前他最畅销的产品就是棉花糖发射器，每台卖价二十美元，而每卖出一台的利润高达百分之两百五十左右──相当不错！「我最高兴的是，他很有创意，」凯尔的妈妈说，「只不过，有时也蛮令人沮丧的，因为每次他又着手尝试新玩意时，我就觉得家里往往又变成他做实验的工厂了。」

The last two stops of Kyle’s collection route are two of the best: Renato’s Pizza and World Gym. “The most I’ve ever gotten was from World Gym,” he says. “I hadn’t been there for about three months – I’d never gotten the chance. There was about $450 in that machine. …. [People] like chewing gum when they’re working out, apparently.”

凯尔收钱路线的最后两站，也是最赚钱的两站：那就是「雷纳多披萨店」和「世界健身俱乐部」。「有史以来我收到最多钱的据点，就是『世界健身俱乐部』，」他说道，「当时因为已经三个月没去收钱──因为一直没机会去。然后在贩卖机里收到了四百五十美元。…这显然是因为，人们在健身时喜欢嚼口香糖的缘故。」

While driving home, Kyle and his dad pass a lemonade stand – the classic capitalist venture for a kid (Kyle, when he was very young, had one of these, too). His dad stops the car. “We always support kids doing this,” he says.

凯尔和爸爸开车返家途中，路过一个卖柠檬汁的小摊子──也就是孩童从事的典型资本主义事业（凯尔很小的时候，也开过这种小摊子）。他爸爸把车子停下来，「我们向来都很支持孩子们这么做，」他表示。

Moments later, lemonade in hand, Kyle returns with a professional assessment. “They’re running it great,” he reports.

过了一会儿之后，凯尔手里拿了柠檬汁走回来，同时也带来了专业的评价：「他们把摊子经营得非常有声有色，」他描述道。

−by Jim Beckerman

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lounge [laʊndʒ] n.（饭店，旅馆等的）休息室，会客厅

endeavor [ɪnˋdɛvɚ] n. 尝试 an earnest attempt

lemonade [͵lɛmənˋed] n. 柠檬汁饮料; 柠檬汽水

capitalist [ˋkæpət!ɪst] adj. 资本主义的

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

caught off guard 毫无防备; 猝不及防; 出乎意料 found in an unprepared condition

proposition [͵prɑpəˋzɪʃən] n. 提议，建议 a suggestion, usually in business

utilitarian [͵jutɪləˋtɛrɪən] adj. 实用的 designed to be useful rather than decorative

subsequently [ˋsʌbsɪ͵kwɛntlɪ] adv. 其后，随后，接着 at a later time after something else happened

whim [hwɪm] n. 反复无常; 奇想，怪念头；幻想 a sudden desire or idea, especially one that cannot be reasonably explained

diversified [daɪˋvɝsə͵faɪd] adj. 多变化的, 各种的 including a variety of different types of investments

venture [ˋvɛntʃɚ] n. 冒险事业，投机活动 an activity or plan of action, often in business, that involves risk or uncertainty

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Product Demo: Marshmallow Shooter