Computer programmer David Jones makes 35,000 pounds a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a credit card (信用卡). Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.
The 16-year-old boy works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David’s firm puts two new games on the home market each month.
But David’s biggest headache is what to do with his money. In spite of his salary, made by inventing new programs within a quite short period of time, the bonus payments and profit-sharing (奖金和分红), he cannot drive a car, get some money from a bank to buy a house, or get credit cards.
He lives with his parents in their house in Liverpool, where his father is a bus driver. His firm has to pay ￡150 a month in taxi fares to get him the five miles to work and back every day because David cannot drive.
David got his job with the firm a year after leaving school with six 0-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs,” he said.
“I suppose 35,000 pounds sounds a lot but actually that’s not good enough. I hope it will come to more than that this year.” He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother 20 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.
“Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school,” he said. “But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I know what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway.”
David added, “I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement (退休) is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear.”
36. Why is David different from other young people of his age?
A. He earns a very high salary.
B. He has not a job.
C. He does not go out much.
D. He lives at home with his parents.
37. David’s greatest problem is ____________.
A. making the banks treat him as a grown-up
B. inventing computer games
C. spending his salary
D. learning to drive
38. He was hired by the firm because ____________.
A. he had worked in a computer shop
B. he had written some computer programs
C. he worked very hard
D. he had learned to use computers at school
39. He left school after taking six 0-levels because ____________.
A. he did not enjoy school
B. he wanted to work with computers and staying at school did not help him
C. he was afraid of getting too old to start computing
D. he wanted to earn a lot of money
40. Why does David think he might retire early?
A. One has to be young to write computer programs.
B. He wants to stop working when he is a millionaire.
C. He thinks computer games might not always sell so well.
D. He thinks his firm might go bad.
