异类之不一样的成功启示录 第31期:命运的眷顾

 　　In an average week in those years, I was spending more time in the Computer Center than in my classes.

　　那时候，我每周待在计算机中心的时间，远远超过我待在教室里面的时间。

　　All of us down their had this recurring¹ nightmare of forgetting to show up for class at all, of not realizing we were enrolled².

　　和我一块儿来到计算机中心的人都经常在里面熬夜。我很少在教室里面，很多同学都不能确认我是否已经注册入学。

　　The challenge was that they gave all the students an account with a fixed³ amount of money, so your time would run out.

　　觉得比较难办的是每个学生购买的上机时间都是固定的，上机的时间总是不够用。

　　When you signed on, you would put in how long you wanted to spend on the computer.

　　在注册的时候，你要写清楚自己上机的时间有多长。

　　They gave you, like, an hour of time. That's all you'd get." he said, laughing at the memory.

　　“计算机中心大约会给你1小时的时间，你必须抓紧这点时间，”回忆起往事，他不禁笑了起来，

　　"But someone figured out if you put in 'time equals' and then a little letter, like t equals k, they wouldn't charge you.

　　“但是很快有人发现，只要你输入‘time equals’然后再输入一行字母，例如t=k，这就不再成为烦人的问题。

　　It was a bug⁴ in the software. You could put in t equals k and sit there forever."

　　计箅机中心的程序存在一个bug,你只要设置好t=k,就可以无限制地用电脑。”

　　Just look at the stream of opportunities that came Bill Joy's way.

　　让我们看看机遇是怎样眷顾比尔.乔伊的。

　　Because he happened to go to a farsighted school like the University of Michigan,

　　正是因为他刚好进了密歇根大学这样一所颇有远见的高校，

　　he was able to practice on a time-sharing system instead of punch cards;

　　他才可以分享到分时系统的好处，而不是用打孔的卡片进行编程，

　　because the Michigan system happened to have a bug in it, he could program all he wanted;

　　正是因为密歇根分时系统存在一个bug，他才可以随心所欲地用电脑编程，

　　because the university was willing to spend the money to keep the Computer Center open twenty-four hours, he could stay up all night;

　　正是因为密歇根大学规定只要购买的上机时间足够，任何人都可以24小时待在计算机中心使用电脑，他才可以整夜泡在那里；

　　and because he was able to put in so many hours, by the time he happened to be presented with the opportunity to rewrite UNIX,

　　正是因为他能够花很多时间在电脑上，他才拥有顺利地里新编写UNIX系统的机会。

　　he was up to the task.

　　才能够完成这一项艰巨的任务。

　　Bill Joy was brilliant. He wanted to learn. That was a big part of it.

　　比尔.乔伊是聪明的，他有着强烈的求知欲，这是他成功的重要原因。

　　But before he could become an expert, someone had to give him the opportunity to learn how to be an expert.

　　但是在他成为专家之前，必须有人能够提供给他机会，让他知道怎样去成为一名专家。

　　"At Michigan, I was probably programming eight or ten hours a day," he went on.

　　“在密歇根，我一天常有8到10个小时都在编程”他接着谈到，

　　"By the time I was at Berkeley, I was doing it day and night. I had a terminal at home.

　　“到伯克利之后，我更是没日没夜地编程。我的宿舍有一个计算机终端，

　　I'd stay up until two or three clock in the morning, watching old movies and programming.

　　我可以编写程序，或者看看老电影，一般要待到凌晨2点或者3点。

　　Sometimes I'd fall asleep at the keyboard."

　　有时候，我就伏在键盘上睡了过去，”

　　He mimed⁵ his head falling onto the keyboard.

　　说着, 他做了一个在键盘上埋头睡觉的姿势

　　"and you know how the key repeats until the end and starts to go beep, beep, beep?

　　“你知道摁着键盘的结果，一埋头睡下去，计算机就开始‘嘟嘟嘟’地叫起来，

　　After that happens three times, you have to go to bed. I was still relatively⁶ incompetent⁷ even when I got to Berkeley.

　　直到响了三次，我才明白是该上床睡觉了。即便我来到了伯克利，相对而言，我在计算机编程技术方面依旧不合格，

　　I was proficient⁸ by my second year there. That's when I wrote programs that are still in use today, thirty years later."

　　到第二年才算比较精通。我在那里编写的程序，事隔30年后的今天，仍然还在使用。”

　　He paused for a moment to do the math in his head, which for someone like Bill Joy doesn't take very long.

　　他停了停，在他的头脑里做着数学运算，对乔伊这样的人来说，这样的运算并不需要太多时间：

　　Michigan in 1971. Programming in earnest by sophomore⁹ year.

　　1971年进入密歇根，第二年开始疯狂编程，

　　Add in the summers, then the days and nights in his first year at Berkeley.

　　加上一个夏天，然后就是在伯克利第一年的日日夜夜。

　　"It's five years," he said, finally.

　　最后，他说：“5年时间。”

　　"I didn't start the day I started at Michigan, so, maybe, ten thousand hours, that's about right."

　　“我并不是在密歇根开始起步的，所以……所以……也许是10 000个小时？应该刚好是。”

1 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

2 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

5 mimed   

v.指手画脚地表演，用哑剧的形式表演( mime的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The man mimed the slaying of an enemy. 此人比手划脚地表演砍死一个敌人的情况。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The acting students mimed eating an apple. 这些学生正在用哑剧形式表演吃苹果。 来自互联网

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

8 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。

9 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。