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The Other Face You Don't Know About Madonna
Of all the many faces Madonna presents to the world, the one she tries most assiduously2 to disguise is that of successful businesswoman. Once she said:"Part of the reason for my success is that I'm a good business woman but I don't think it necessary for people to know that."
The girl who arrived in New York with a fistful of dollars is — and has been — a publisher, music mogul, TV executive, merchandising magnate, film producer and is one of the richest women on the planet. She is a typical self-made tycoon: cautious in her investments, conservative in her spending, controlling her multi-million dollar empire.
Indeed Madonna is a classic capitalist — conforming to2 all the rules, never putting a foot wrong, running her life like clockwork. Like a typical cigar-chomping company chairman, she is the first to arrive and the last to leave while every evening she sits down and lists her goals for the next day.
She likes to present a hard-boiled, sassy image but her maternal and compassionate instincts are much in evidence — and not only in the way she dotes on her two children.
She has quietly paid for drug rehabilitation therapy for numerous friends and family members. Indeed, much of her charity work is discreet3 and unshowy. A well-known supporter of Aids charities, she is also a donor to a charity for breast cancer, the disease which killed her mother.
For while she may employ bodyguards, chauffeurs, maids and cooks, old habits die hard. The girl who survived by bumming meals from friends and acquaintances has not changed too much. When she is out with a group of friends, Madonna is rarely the one to reach for the bill. She will wait to see someone else is going to pick up the tab and then, as a last resort, will break down4 the bill so that everyone pays their share.
On tour she will personally haggle with hotels for cut-price rates and she checks every bill. This obsessive need for control goes way beyond the parameters of a typical business manual.
練習題：
Questions:
1. What is the identity that she intends to hide from her audience ?
2. Why do we say she is a classic capitalist?
