Harvard was a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life was fascinating. I used to sit in on lots of classes that I hadn't even signed up for. And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House. There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn't worry about getting up in the morning. That's how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group. We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.
对我来说，哈佛的求学经历是一段非凡的经历。校园生活很有趣，我常去旁听许多我没选修的课。哈佛的宿舍生活也很棒，我当时住在雷迪夫的柯里尔公寓。每天我的寝室里总有很多人一直待到半夜，讨论着各种事情。因为每个人都知道我从不考虑第二天早起，这使得我变成了校园里那些不安分学生的头头，我们互相粘在一起，做出一种拒绝所有正常学生的姿态。
Radcliffe was a great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combinaton offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. That is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success.
雷迪夫是个生活的好地方。那里的女生比男生多，而且大多数男生都是理工科的。这种状况为我创造了最好的机会，如果你们明白我的意思。可惜的是，我正是在这里学到了人生中悲伤的教训：机会大，并不等于你就会成功。
One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world's first personal computers. I offered to sell them software.
我在哈佛最难忘的回忆之一，是发生在1975年1月的一件事。那时，我从宿舍楼里给位于阿尔伯克基的一家公司打了一个电话，那家公司已经在着手制造世界上第一台个人电脑。我提出想向他们出售软件。
I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said:"We're not quite ready, come to see us in a month," which was a good thing, because we hadn't written the software yet. From that month, I worked day and night on that extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.
我很担心，他们会发觉我是一个住在大学宿舍里的学生，从而挂断电话。但是他们却说：“我们还没准备好，一个月后你再来找我们吧。”这是个好消息，因为那时软件还根本没有写出来呢。就是从那个时候起，我夜以继日地在这个小小的课外项目上工作，这标志着我大学教育的结束，以及通往微软的不平凡的旅程的开始。
重点讲解：
1. sit in on
旁听（课程）；列席（会议）；
eg. The school does not encourage parents to sit in on classes.
学校原则上不鼓励家长进入教室旁听。
eg. I'd like you to sit in on this meeting.
我希望你旁听一下边次会议。
2. sign up for
注册，选课；报名参加；
eg. In fact, I made him sign up for karate lessons.
事实上，我还要他报名参加空手道课程。
eg. If circumstances allow, I'll sign up for the competition.
如果条件许可，我就报名参赛。
3. cling to
粘住；缠住；紧紧抓住；抱紧；
eg. Little children always cling to their mothers.
小孩子总是紧依着母亲。
eg. They hugged each other, clinging together under the lights.
他们彼此拥抱，在灯光下紧紧相依。
4. hang up
挂断（电话）；突然挂断…的电话；
eg. Don't hang up!
别挂电话！
eg. He said he'd call again, and hung up on me.
他说他会再打过来，就突然挂断了电话。
5. day and night
日日夜夜；夜以继日；
eg. He would have a nurse in constant attendance day and night.
会有一位护士日夜不间断地陪护着他。
eg. The machines run day and night.
机器日夜不停地转动。 |