High-Q | סימולציה 12

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סימולציה מס' 12

פרק ראשון

– אנגלית

Reading Comprehension This part consists of two passages, each followed by several related questions. For each question, choose the most appropriate answer based on the text .

Text I (Questions 13-17)

Rarely has extreme commercial ambition come in a package as in the person of Paul Reichmann. Born in Vienna in 1930, he had resided in Paris, Antwerp, London, Tangier, Casablanca and Jerusalem before his twenty-fourth birthday. With his shy smile, soft-spoken manner and elegant black attire, Reichmann was a capitalist daredevil in the appearance of an undertaker. 5 Like their Hungarian ancestors, he and his brothers were strictly observant Jews. Even as their collective fortune topped $10 billion, ranking them among the dozen richest families in the world, the Reichmanns led rigorously devout, modest and private lives, mixing as little as possible with non-believers away from business. Respected by their Orthodox peers for their charity and religiosity, the brothers were no less esteemed 10 by their business peers for their integrity. In delicately balancing between the worlds of capitalism and religion, the Reichmanns maintained an improbable equilibrium. In truth, the brothers were never quite equal to the superhuman myth that grew up around them. Their unusual background instilled in them high purpose and considerable self-reliance, but it also bred an isolation that left fateful gaps in their knowledge, 15 judgment and abilities. When they finally lost their financial balance, they fell to Earth with a resounding thud. In 1992, in the midst of a bad situation in global property markets, creditors seized control of Reichmann’s company, Olympia & York, taking it apart in the process. In less than five years, the Reichmanns had spent virtually their entire fortune. 20 Olympia & York most likely would have survived had Paul not been compelled continually to top himself as a developer. Over the decades, his projects increased in scale and risk, ending in the $6 billion Canary Wharf project in London. In the end, Reichmann’s ambition overcame his talent, great as it was.

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