評(píng)論
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I have a vivid memory of what happened, and it was not what I expected.
我清晰地記得接下來(lái)發(fā)生了什么，而那是我意料之外的。
I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills.
我本期待著小聰明和算術(shù)技巧能贏得掌聲。
"Jeff, you're so smart.You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division."
“杰夫，你很聰明，你做了些復(fù)雜的估算，計(jì)算出一年中有多少分鐘，還做了些除法?！?/div>
That's not what happened.
但那并沒(méi)有發(fā)生。
Instead, my grandmother burst into tears.
相反，我的祖母哭泣起來(lái)。
I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do.
我坐在后座不知道該怎么辦。
While my grandmother sat crying, my grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway.
我的祖母坐在那里一直哭，而我的祖父之前在一直在默默開(kāi)車(chē)，這時(shí)他把車(chē)停在了高速路邊，
He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow.
走下車(chē)來(lái)，打開(kāi)了我的車(chē)門(mén)，等著我跟他下車(chē)。
Was I in trouble?
我惹麻煩了嗎？
My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man.
我的祖父是一個(gè)智慧而安靜的人。
He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time?
他從來(lái)沒(méi)有對(duì)我說(shuō)過(guò)嚴(yán)厲的話(huà)，難道這會(huì)是第一次?
Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother.
還是他會(huì)讓我回到車(chē)上跟祖母道歉?
I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be.
我以前從未遇到過(guò)這種狀況，因而也無(wú)從知曉會(huì)有什么后果發(fā)生。
We stopped beside the trailer.
我們?cè)诜寇?chē)旁停下來(lái)。
My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence,
祖父注視著我，沉默片刻，
he gently and calmly said, "Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."
然后輕輕地、平靜地說(shuō)：“杰夫，有一天你會(huì)明白，善良比聰明更難?！?/div>
What I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices.
今天我想對(duì)你們說(shuō)的是，天賦和選擇不同。
Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice.
聰明是一種天賦，而善良是一種選擇。
Gifts are easy -- they're given after all.
天賦得來(lái)很容易——畢竟它們與生俱來(lái)。
Choices can be hard.
而選擇則頗為不易。
You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you're not careful,
如果一不小心，你可能被天賦所誘惑，
and if you do, it'll probably be to the detriment of your choices.
這可能會(huì)損害到你做出的選擇。
This is a group with many gifts.
在座各位都擁有許多天賦。
I'm sure one of your gifts is the gift of a smart and capable brain.
我確信你們的天賦之一就是擁有精明能干的頭腦。
I'm confident that's the case because admission is competitive
之所以如此確信，是因?yàn)槿雽W(xué)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)十分激烈，
and if there weren't some signs that you're clever, the dean of admission wouldn't have let you in.
如果你們不能表現(xiàn)出聰明智慧，便沒(méi)有資格進(jìn)入這所學(xué)校。
Your smarts will come in handy because you will travel in a land of marvels.
你們的聰明才智必定會(huì)派上用場(chǎng)，因?yàn)槟銈儗⒃谝黄錆M(mǎn)奇跡的土地上行進(jìn)。
We humans, plodding as we are,will astonish ourselves.
我們?nèi)祟?lèi)，盡管跬步前行，卻終將令自己大吃一驚。
We'll invent ways to generate clean energy and a lot of it.
我們能夠想方設(shè)法制造清潔能源，
Atom by atom, we'll assemble tiny machines that will enter cell walls and make repairs.
也能夠一個(gè)原子一個(gè)原子地組裝微型機(jī)械，使之穿過(guò)細(xì)胞壁，然后修復(fù)細(xì)胞。
This month comes the extraordinary but also inevitable news that we've synthesized life.
這個(gè)月，有一個(gè)異常而不可避免的事情發(fā)生了——人類(lèi)終于合成了生命。
In the coming years, we'll not only synthesize it, but we'll engineer it to specifications.
在未來(lái)幾年，我們不僅會(huì)合成生命，還會(huì)按說(shuō)明書(shū)驅(qū)動(dòng)它們。
I believe you'll even see us understand the human brain.
我相信你們甚至?xí)吹轿覀兝斫馊祟?lèi)的大腦，
Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Galileo, Newton -- all the curious from the ages would have wanted to be alive most of all right now.
儒勒·凡爾納，馬克·吐溫，伽利略，牛頓——所有那些充滿(mǎn)好奇之心的人都希望能夠活到現(xiàn)在。
As a civilization,we will have so many gifts, just as you as individuals have so many individual gifts as you sit before me.
作為文明人，我們會(huì)擁有如此之多的天賦，就像是坐在我面前的你們，每一個(gè)生命個(gè)體都擁有許多獨(dú)特的天賦。
| 重點(diǎn)單詞 | 查看全部解釋 | |||
| vivid | ['vivid] |
想一想再看 adj. 生動(dòng)的，鮮艷的，栩栩如生的 |
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| understand | [.ʌndə'stænd] |
想一想再看 vt. 理解，懂，聽(tīng)說(shuō)，獲悉，將 ... 理解為，認(rèn)為< |
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| synthesize | ['sinθisaiz] |
想一想再看 v. 合成 |
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| inevitable | [in'evitəbl] |
想一想再看 adj. 不可避免的，必然(發(fā)生)的 |
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| cleverness | ['klevənis] |
想一想再看 n. 聰明，機(jī)靈 |
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| plodding |
想一想再看 adj. 單調(diào)乏味的；沉重緩慢的 v. 沉重地走；辛勤工 |
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| assemble | [ə'sembl] |
想一想再看 vt. 聚集，集合，裝配 |
聯(lián)想記憶 | |
| minutes | ['minits] |
想一想再看 n. 會(huì)議記錄，(復(fù)數(shù))分鐘 |
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| cell | [sel] |
想一想再看 n. 細(xì)胞，電池，小組，小房間，單人牢房，(蜂房的)巢室 |
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| apologize | [ə'pɔlədʒaiz] |
想一想再看 vi. 道歉，謝罪 |
聯(lián)想記憶 |
