名人励志英语演讲 第113期:选择塑造人生(5)

 　　I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most startups don't, and I wasn't sure what would happen after that. MacKenzie, also a Princeton grad and sitting here in the second row, told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor. I'd invented an automatic gate closer out of cement-filled tires, a solar cooker that didn't work very well, out of an umbrella and aluminum¹ foil, baking-pan alarms to entrap² my siblings³. I'd always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.

　　我告诉妻子麦肯琪说我想辞去工作，然后去做这件疯狂的事情，很可能会失败，因为大部分创业公司都是如此，而且我不确定那之后会发生什么。麦肯琪告诉我，我应该放手一搏。她也是从普林斯顿毕业的，现在就坐在第二排那里。在我还是一个男孩儿的时候，我是车库发明家。我曾用水泥填充的轮胎，不太好用的太阳灶，一把雨伞和铝箔以及用来诈骗兄弟姐妹的报警器制作了一个自动关门器。我一直想做一个发明家，麦肯琪支持我追随内心的激情。

　　I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, "That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job."

　　我当时在纽约一家金融公司工作，同事是一群非常聪明的人，我的老板也很有智慧，我很钦佩他。我告诉我的老板说我想开办一家在网上卖书的公司。他带我到中央公园漫步良久，认真地听我讲完，最后说：“听起来真是一个很好的主意，但是对那些目前没有谋到一份好工作的人来说，这个主意会更好。”

　　That logic⁴ made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately, I decided⁵ I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I'm pround of that choice.

　　这一逻辑对我而言颇有道理，他说服我在做出最终决定之前再考虑48小时。那样想来，这个选择确实很艰难，但是最终，我决定拼一次。我认为自己不会为尝试后悔，为失败遗憾，倒是有所决定但完全不付诸行动会一直煎熬着我。在深思熟虑之后，我选择了那条不太安全的道路，去追随我内心的激情。我为那个决定感到骄傲。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. go for it

　　放手向前；尽力争取；试一试；

　　eg. When she heard about the chance for promotion⁶, she decided to go for it.

　　当她听到升迁的机会时，她决定冒险一试。

　　eg. Everyone had advised me not to do it but I decided to take the chance and go for it.

　　所有人都建议我不要这么做，但我决定抓住机会。

　　2. make sense

　　可以理解；讲得通；有道理，合乎情理

　　eg. His argument does not make sense.

　　他的争论没有意义。

　　eg. It all makes sense now.

　　现在就都讲得通了。

　　3. convince sb. to do sth.

　　说服；劝服某人做某事；

　　eg. That weekend in Plattsburgh, he convinced her to go ahead and marry Bud.

　　在普拉茨堡的那个周末，他说服她嫁给巴德。

　　eg. I've been trying to convince him to see a doctor.

　　我一直劝他去看病。

　　4. give it a shot

　　尝试，试一下；

　　eg. I didn't think I had much chance of winning the race, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

　　我觉得我没有机会赢得比赛,但我觉得我应该试一下。

　　eg. Give it a shot! You'll never know.

　　试试看啊！没试怎么会知道！

　　5. regret doing sth.

　　后悔做某事；

　　eg. However much you regret doing that, there nothing you can do about it now.

　　无论你可能多么懊悔你曾经做过的事，现在也无济于事了。

　　eg. I don't regret telling her what I thought even if it might have upset her.

　　我不后悔告诉她我的想法即使这可能会使他失望。

　　6. be proud of

　　为……感到骄傲，自豪；

　　eg. He was proud of having such a good friend.

　　他为有这样的好朋友而自豪。

　　eg. She must be very proud of herself.

　　她一定非常自豪。

1 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

2 entrap   

v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套

参考例句：

• The police have been given extra powers to entrap drug traffickers.警方已经被进一步授权诱捕毒贩。
• He overturned the conviction,saying the defendant was entrapped.他声称被告是被诱骗的，从而推翻了有罪的判决。

3 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。