科學怪人”霍金親口承認他從小就是一個“懶”學生，霍金謙虛地說：“我姐姐無疑是比我要聰明的。”

　　He is regarded as having one of the brightest minds on the planet. But eminent astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has admitted that he did not learn to read until he was eight years old.

　　他——被譽為在地球上“最聰明”的人，他就是“科學怪人”霍金。然而這位全球杰出的天體物理學家史蒂芬·霍金Stephen Hawking親口承認他從小就是一個“懶惰的”學生，直到8歲才開始正式學習閱讀之后，還是引來了輿論的廣泛關注。

　　In a public lecture at the Royal Albert Hall, Professor Hawking also admitted that he was lazy while at Oxford University, where he studied physics, and that only the diagnosis that he might die young from motor neurone disease impelled him to concentrate on his work.

　　霍金還承認，不僅小時候他學習上惰性很大，就連在牛津大學讀書的時候他也是十分懶惰的。他最后說，一直到他被檢查患有運動神經元疾病，知道“死亡”的可能將伴隨他一生時，他才下定決心一定要“有所作為”。

　　Professor Hawking said: ‘My sister Philippa could read by the age of 4 but then she was definitely brighter than me.’He said that he was unexceptional at school and was never further than halfway up his class.‘My classwork was very untidy, and my handwriting was the despair of my teachers,’ he said.‘But my classmates gave me the nickname Einstein, so presumably they saw signs of something better.’

　　霍金的姐姐Philippa四歲的時候就能夠閱讀了，霍金謙虛地說：“我姐姐無疑是比我要聰明的。我在學校就是一個‘默默無聞’的人，作業十分潦草。在老師眼中我就是一個‘差等生’。”與此相反，與霍金朝夕相處的同學們卻覺得他是一個“聰明的人”，霍金自豪說：“我在學校的綽號是愛因斯坦，我想群眾的眼光還是雪亮的。”

　　But he said that it was when doctors told him that he probably only had a few years to live at the age of 21 that galvanized him into focusing on his work and a period of productivity that resulted in some of his early breakthroughs. He said: 'When faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realise that life is worth living and there are lots of things you want to do.'

　　當醫生告訴21歲的霍金（他不幸患上了會使肌肉萎縮的運動神經細胞病，必須禁錮在輪椅上，全身只有三根手指可以活動）他的人生還有屈指可數的日子的時候，霍金突然“驚醒”了。他說，我知道我有可能在很年輕的時候就離這個世界而去，才意識到生命太短暫，還有太多的事情值得我去做。