The 25 Most Powerful People in The World, According To Forbes 

Forbes has just declared Russian President Vladimir Putin to be the most powerful person on Earth.

"As the undisputed, unpredictable, and unaccountable head of an energy-rich, nuclear-tipped state, no one would ever call him weak," writes Forbes Senior Editor Caroline Howard.  For the second year in a row, Putin edges out US President Barack Obama for the top spot.

With the exception of Pope Francis, the top six people are all in politics.

The business world cracks the top 10 in the form of Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who are tied at No. 9.

At only 30 years old, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest person on the list, while the 90-year-old the King of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, is the oldest.

Newcomers include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma. 

Here are the world's 25 powerful people:   

1. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
2. Barack Obama, President of the US
3. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
4. Pope Francis, Head of the Roman Catholic Church 
5. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
6. Janet Yellen, Chair of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System
7. Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
8. Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank
9. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Cofounders of Google
10. David Cameron, Prime minister of the United Kingdom
11. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia
12. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
13. Li Keqiang, Premier of China
14. Carlos Slim Helu, Honorary chairman of América Móvil
15. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
16. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon
17. Francois Hollande, President of France
18. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase 
19. Ali Hoseini-Khamenei, Grand Ayatollah of Iran
20. Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil
21. Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric
22. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook 
23. Michael Bloomberg, CEO of Bloomberg
24. Charles Koch and David Koch, CEO and EVP of Koch Industries
25. Timothy Cook, CEO of Apple

Article Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/most-powerful-people-forbes-list-2014-11

Image Source: http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5413165cecad04866a9d1186-600-/vladimir-putin-168.jpg

VOCABULARY WORDS:

1. Declare (v.) ~ to announce officially

2. Undisputed (adj.) ~ not challenged or questioned

3. Unpredictable (adj.) ~ not capable of being predicted

4. Unaccountable (adj.) ~ impossible to account for

5. In a Row (slang) ~ in succession

6. Edge Out (verb phrase) ~ to defeat with a small margin

7. Exception (n.) ~ a case not conforming to the norms

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

1. How did the article describe Vladimir Putin? Do you agree with the description?

2. What did you notice about the people in the list? What do they have in common?

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. If you would make your own list of powerful people in the world, who would you pick as number 1?

2. Do you think the president of your country should be included in the list? Why?

3. What do you think makes a person powerful?

4. What are the advantages of being powerful? Are there any disadvantages?