‘Poor’ New Hampshire Man Leaves Millions to Small Town

‘Poor’ New Hampshire Man Leaves Millions to Small Town

“贫穷”的新罕布什尔州男子为小镇留下数百万财产

【原文听力】

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　　By Dan Friedell

　　21 November 2023

　　When Geoffrey Holt of Hinsdale, New Hampshire died earlier this year at 82, not many people knew he had over $1 million.

　　He wore worn-out clothes. He did not do jobs that paid a lot of money. He rode a bicycle instead of owning a car, and he had a small home.

　　But when he had extra money, he invested it well. One friend said he put money into a mutual fund that held stock in communications companies. This was in the days before mobile phones.

　　Holt told one friend, Edwin Smith, that the money had grown more than he expected.

　　Holt died with $3.8 million.

　　He left all the money to the town of Hinsdale.

　　The town has about 4,200 people and is about 160 kilometers northwest of Boston, Massachusetts.

　　In Holt's will, the document he left when he died, he said the money should be used for education, health, recreation and culture.

　　Steve Diorio is one of the town leaders. He called the money "a tremendous gift."

　　No determination has been made yet about how the town will use the money. However, it seems as if the money will go into a special fund, and organizations can submit their ideas for approval.

　　Some have suggested upgrading the town hall clock, others have talked about repairing civic buildings or buying a vote-counting machine.

　　Kathryn Lynch is another town leader. She said Hinsdale will use the money carefully, or "frugally," which is how Holt lived.

　　Smith, Holt's friend, said "he seemed to have what he wanted, but he didn't have much."

　　Holt would ride his bicycle or his lawn mower around town. He would go to a small store to buy a newspaper and he would sit on the lawn mower reading it or watching cars pass.

　　When he was younger, he worked as a manager for a grain production center. After the center closed, he did small jobs around town – helping people fix things in their homes or teaching teenagers how to drive. He did not have a television, and his friend said his home was not in perfect condition – the legs of his bed made holes in the floor.

　　But Smith said Holt studied financial magazines and carefully decided how to invest his money. He also liked reading about history – some of his favorite topics included World War II and learning about the auto manufacturer Henry Ford. He also enjoyed listening to classical music and had a record collection that included works by Handel and Mozart.

　　Holt's sister, Alison, is 81. She lives in California. She said she knew her brother invested his money and did not like to spend wastefully. She said their father passed the ideas along to his children.

　　Alison said her brother had a learning disability called dyslexia, so he had trouble reading and writing. "But he was very smart in certain ways."

　　She thought that Geoffrey was disappointed he could not succeed in education, so "maybe socking away all that money was a way to compete."

　　The Holts grew up nearby in Springfield, Massachusetts. Geoffrey Holt went to Marlboro College in Vermont and also served in the U.S. Navy.

　　Neither Geoffrey nor his sister had any children. Alison said her brother did not need a lot to be happy. But she is sad he never used the money to "indulge himself a little bit."

　　I'm Dan Friedell.

　　Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based a story by the Associated Press.

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　　作者：Dan Friedell

　　2023年11月21日

　　当新罕布什尔州Hinsdale的Geoffrey Holt今年早些时候去世，年龄82岁时，很少有人知道他拥有超过100万美元的财产。

　　他穿着破旧的衣服。他没有做收入很高的工作。他骑自行车而不是拥有一辆汽车，他有一个小房子。

　　但是当他有额外的钱时，他投资得很好。一位朋友说他将钱投入到一个持有通信公司股票的共同基金中。那是在移动电话出现之前的日子。

　　Holt告诉他的一个朋友Edwin Smith，这笔钱的增长超出了他的预期。

　　Holt去世时留下了380万美元。

　　他把所有的钱都留给了Hinsdale镇。

　　该镇有大约4200人，位于马萨诸塞州波士顿西北约160公里处。

　　在Holt的遗嘱中，也就是他去世时留下的文件中，他说这笔钱应该用于教育、健康、娱乐和文化。

　　Steve Diorio是镇上的一位领导。他称这笔钱是“一份巨大的礼物”。

　　镇上还没有决定如何使用这笔钱。然而，似乎这笔钱将会进入一个特殊的基金，组织可以提交他们的想法以获得批准。

　　有些人建议升级镇政府的钟，有些人谈论修复公共建筑或购买投票计数机。

　　Kathryn Lynch是另一位镇领导。她说Hinsdale将会谨慎地，或者说“节俭地”使用这笔钱，这也是Holt生活的方式。

　　Holt的朋友Smith说，“他似乎拥有他想要的，但他并没有多少。”

　　Holt会骑着他的自行车或者他的割草机在镇上四处走动。他会去一家小商店买报纸，然后坐在割草机上阅读或者看车辆经过。

　　当他年轻的时候，他在一个粮食生产中心担任经理。当中心关闭后，他在镇上做些小工作——帮助人们修理家里的东西或教青少年如何驾驶。他没有电视，他的朋友说他的家并不完美——他的床腿在地板上打了洞。

　　但是Smith说Holt研究金融杂志，并仔细决定如何投资他的钱。他也喜欢阅读关于历史的书籍——他最喜欢的话题包括第二次世界大战和学习汽车制造商亨利·福特的知识。他还喜欢听古典音乐，他的唱片收藏包括了亨德尔和莫扎特的作品。

　　Holt的妹妹Alison现年81岁，她住在加利福尼亚。她说她知道她的兄弟投资了他的钱，不喜欢浪费。她说他们的父亲把这些想法传给了他的孩子。

　　Alison说，她的兄弟有一种叫做阅读障碍的学习障碍，所以他在阅读和写作上有困难。"但他在某些方面非常聪明。"

　　她认为Geoffrey对自己不能在教育上取得成功感到失望，所以"也许积攒所有那些钱是一种竞争的方式。"

　　Holts一家在马萨诸塞州的斯普林菲尔德附近长大。Geoffrey Holt曾在佛蒙特州的Marlboro学院学习，也在美国海军服役。

　　Geoffrey和他的姐姐都没有孩子。Alison说，她的兄弟不需要很多东西就能快乐。但她很遗憾他从未用这笔钱来"稍微放纵一下自己。"

　　我是Dan Friedell。

　　Dan Friedell根据美联社的一篇报道改编了这个故事，供英语学习者阅读。

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　　这个故事中的词汇

　　tremendous –adj. 非常大的或伟大的

　　fund –n.用于或服务于特定目的的一笔钱

　　civic –adj.与城市或镇相关的

　　frugally –adv. 当不必要时，小心不要花钱；谨慎使用金钱

　　sock away –v. (短语，非正式)通过将其放在安全的地方来保存某种供应，通常是钱

　　indulge –v. 允许自己或他人做某事，纯粹为了享受它