乔布斯传 第403期:微软契约(6)

 "I happen to have a special guest with me today via satellite downlink," he said, “今天我恰巧有位卫星连线的特殊客人...”他说，

and suddenly Bill Gates's face appeared on the huge screen looming¹ over Jobs and the auditorium². 然后突然间，比尔·盖茨的脸出现在巨幅屏幕上，可怕地俯视着乔布斯和整个礼堂。

There was a thin smile on Gates's face that flirted³ with being a smirk⁴. 盖茨的脸上露出淡淡的微笑，抑或是傻笑。

The audience gasped⁵ in horror, followed by some boos and catcalls. 观众全部惊得目瞪口呆，紧接着嘘声和倒彩声响成一片。

The scene was such a brutal⁶ echo of the 1984 Big Brother ad 那个场景真是“1984老大哥”广告的残醅再现，

that you half expected (and hoped?) that an athletic⁷ woman would suddenly come running down the aisle⁸ 你甚至会预计（或希望）一个女运动员会突然从过道跑出来，

and vaporize the screenshot with a well-thrown hammer. 扔出锤子正中目标，让那画面消失掉。

But it was all for real, and Gates, unaware⁹ of the jeering¹⁰, began speaking on the satellite link from Microsoft headquarters. 但那的确不是广告，对现场的嘲讽毫不知情的盖茨在位于西雅图的微软总部开始连线讲话。

"Some of the most exciting work that I've done in my career has been the work that I've done with Steve on the Macintosh," “在我的职业生涯中做过的最令人兴奋的一些工作，就是跟史蒂夫在麦金塔上的合作。”

he intoned in his high-pitched singsong. 他那尖细而单调的声音吟诵着。

As he went on to tout¹¹ the new version of Microsoft Office that was being made for the Macintosh, 当他接下去开始兜售为麦金塔开发的新版微软Office软件时，

the audience quieted down and then slowly seemed to accept the new world order. 观众安静下来，之后似乎开始慢慢地接受了这个新的世界秩序。

Gates even was able to rouse some applause when he said that the new Mac versions of Word and Excel 盖茨甚至还得到了一些掌声，当他说到新的Mac版Word和Excel

would be "in many ways more advanced than what we've done on the Windows platform." “在很多方面会比我们给Windows平台开发的版本更先进”时。

1 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

2 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

3 flirted   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She flirted her fan. 她急速挥动着扇子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• During his four months in Egypt he flirted with religious emotions. 在埃及逗留的这四个月期间，他又玩弄起宗教情绪来了。 来自辞典例句

4 smirk   

n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说

参考例句：

• He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
• She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。

5 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

8 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

9 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

10 jeering   

adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Hecklers interrupted her speech with jeering. 捣乱分子以嘲笑打断了她的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He interrupted my speech with jeering. 他以嘲笑打断了我的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。