第十一篇：Bill Gates: Unleashing Your Creativity

I've always been an optimist and I suppose it is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the word a better place.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved learning new things and solving problems. So when I sat down at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, I was hooked. It was a clunky old teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today. But it changed my life.

When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of "a

computer on every desk and in every home", which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size of refrigerators. But we believed that personal computers would change the world. And they have.

And after 30 years, I'm still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade.

I believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and

inventiveness -- to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn't solve on their own.

Computers have transformed how we learn, giving kids everywhere a window into all of the world's knowledge. They're helping us build communities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are.

Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it "tap-dancing to Work". My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makes me "tap-danceing to work" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say, "I didn't know you could do that with a PC5 !"

But for all the cool things that a person can do with a PC, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativity and intelligence to work to improve our world6. There are still far too many

people in the world whose most basic needs go unmet7. Every year, for example, millions of

people die from diseases that are easy to prevent or treat in the developed world.

I believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility to give back to the world.

My wife, Melinda, and I have committed to improving health and education in a way that can help as many people as possible.

As a father, I believe that the death of a child in Africa is no less poignant or tragic than9 the death of a child anywhere else, and that it doesn't take much to make an immense difference in these children's lives.

I'm still very much an optimist, and I believe that progress on even the world's toughest

problems is possible -- and it's happening every day. We're seeing new drugs for deadly diseases,

new diagnostic tools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the developing world.

I'm excited by the possibilities I see for medicine, for education and, of course, for

technology. And I believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough problems, we're going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas in my lifetime.

注釋：

1.be rooted in：扎根于;深深地存在于

2.It was a clunky old teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today.那是一臺笨重的舊式電傳打字機，跟我們今天的電腦相比幾乎干不了什么事。本句中，barely意為almost not;compare to在美國英語中也可以等同于compare with (與……相比)。

3.They’re helping US build communities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to US，no matter where they are.電腦幫助我們就我們所關心的事情建立一個交流的場所，并且與那些我們認為對我們有重要意義的人密切相處，不管他們身在何處。care about指不管喜歡或不喜歡的事情都很關心、介意、在乎、計較。

4.“tap—dancing to work”：“跳著踢踏舞工作”。tap原意是“叩擊、輕敲”;tap dance是“踢踏舞”。這里實際意思是“(手指)輕輕敲擊鍵盤的工作”。

5.PC(personal computer)：個人計算機

6.But for all the cool things that a person can do with a PC，there are lots of other ways wecan put our creativity and intelligence to work to improve our world.除了我們能用計算機做的所有神奇的事情，還有很多其他方式發揮我們的創造力和智慧，從而使世界更加美好。

7.go unmet：得不到滿足。在這里go是系動詞，unmet是過去分詞作表語：

8.commit to此處意為承諾，保證做某事。

9.no less…than：和……一樣，不亞于……

10.and that it doesn’t take much to make an immense difference in these children’S lives.而且要改善這些孩子們的命運，其實不難。此處it是形式主語，真正的主語是不定式短語to make an immense difference in these children’S lives。

練習：

1. A computer was as big as an icebox when Bill Gates was a high school student.

A Right

B Wrong

C Not mentioned

2. Bill Gates has been dreaming of the popularity of computers for his lifetime.

A Right

B Wrong

C Not mentioned

3. Bill Gates compares his hard work on a PC to "tap-dancing to work".

A Right

B Wrong

C Not mentioned

4. To Bill Gates' mind, there is a big difference between the death of the poor's children and the death of the rich's children.

A Right

B Wrong

C Not mentioned

5. So far Bill Gates has contributed several dozen billion dollars to the charities.

A Right

B Wrong

C Not mentioned

6. Bill Gates and his wife consider it their duty to help the poor better their health and education as much as possible.

A Right

B Wrong

C Not mentioned

7. Bill Gates will leave only a small portion of his wealth for his children.

A Right

B Wrong

C Not mentioned

答案與題解：

1.A文章第三段中比爾?蓋茨說，當他念七年級時，電腦就是冰箱那么大小。

2.A文章第三段比爾?蓋茨說，他30年前與Paul Allen一起創辦微軟公司時就夢想一桌一機、一戶一機，而且從其他各段也可以看到他對電腦有很多的期待。

3.B從第七段第二句可以看到作這樣比較的是他的朋友Warren Buffett，而不是他自己。

4.B在倒數第三段，比爾?蓋茨已經明確說，所有這些兒童的死亡都一樣令人傷心和悲痛，沒有什么區別。

5.c文章沒有提到他給慈善機構捐款的事。

6.A倒數第四段比爾?蓋茨認為他一生好運，就理應回報社會，所以他和他的妻子做出了承諾，要幫助盡可能多的人改善醫療和教育條件。

7.C文章沒有提到。

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（責任編輯：vstara）

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