阅读理解
In 1950, Helena Rubinstein was one of the richest women in the world. She started with nothing. She had no money, no education, and no one to help her. All she had were 12 jars of face cream and a lot of energy and ambition. She turned them into a multimillion-dollar cosmetics (化妆品) empire. Helena Rubinstein was born in 1870 in Krakow, Poland. She was the oldest of eight girls. Helena' s mother thought that beauty was very important. She used a special skin cream that a foreign chemist made for her. Helena' s mother made all of her daughters use it too. Helena' s father wanted her to be a doctor. But she hated medicine and left school. Her father was very angry. Then he wanted her to get married, but she refused. In 1992, she went to Melbourne, Australia, to live with a cousin and an uncle. She took only her clothes and 12 jars of face cream. Helena didn't speak English. She had no money and no plans. After she arrived, everyone noticed her beautiful skin. In Australia, the hot and dry weather is very bad for the skin. When she told some of the women about the face cream, they all wanted some. Helena sold them her cream and then ordered more. Helena borrowed $ 1,500 and opened a shop to sell the cream. (80) She worked 18 hours a day, seven days a week. She lived simply and saved all of her profits. She also learned how to make different kinds of creams and showed women how to take care of their skin. It was the first shop of this kind in the world. In less than two years, Rubinstein had paid her loan and saved $ 50,000. She made more and more money every year. All this time, she thought only of work and success. A newspaper reporter named Edward Titus was in love with her. But she was not interested in him. She left Australia and went to Europe to learn more about the science of beauty.