乔布斯传 第133期:我们当海盗吧!

 Let's Be Pirates!

我们当海盗吧！

As the Macintosh team grew, it moved from Texaco Towers to the main Apple buildings on Bandley Drive,

随着麦金塔团队的不断扩大，它从德士古塔搬到了位于班德利大道的苹果公司主办公区，

finally settling in mid-1983 into Bandley 3.

并于1983年年中在班德利3号楼安顿下来。

It had a modern atrium lobby with video games, which Burrell Smith and Andy Hertzfeld chose,

那里有一个可以玩电子游戏的现代化中庭大厅，游戏都是由伯勒尔·史密斯和安迪·赫茨菲尔德挑选出来的，

and a Toshiba compact disc stereo system with MartinLogan speakers and a hundred CDs.

还有一套东芝的CD音响系统，配上了马丁·洛根扬声器和100张CD光盘。

The software team was visible from the lobby in a fishbowl-like glass enclosure,

从大厅就能看到软件小组的员工，他们的办公区域被玻璃围住，看上去就像待在鱼缸里一样，

and the kitchen was stocked daily with Odwalla juices.

厨房里每天都备有Odwalla果汁。

Over time the atrium attracted even more toys,

逐渐地，中庭里的玩物越来越多，

most notably¹ a Bosendorfer piano and a BMW motorcycle that Jobs felt would inspire an obsession² with lapidary³ craftsmanship⁴.

最醒目的就是一架贝森朵夫钢琴和一辆宝马摩托车，乔布斯觉得这些东西可以让员工迷上简洁高雅的工艺风格。

Jobs kept a tight rein⁵ on the hiring process.

乔布斯对招聘流程有着严格的控制，

The goal was to get people who were creative, wickedly smart, and slightly rebellious⁶.

目的是招到具有创造力、绝顶聪明又略带叛逆的人才。

The software team would make applicants⁸ play Defender⁹, Smith's favorite video game.

软件小组会让应聘者玩史密斯最爱的电子游戏守护者

Jobs would ask his usual offbeat¹⁰ questions to see how well the applicant⁷ could think in unexpected situations.

乔布斯会问一些他常问的古怪问题，以考验求职者在突发状况下的思维能力，以及他们的幽默感和反抗精神。

One day he, Hertzfeld, and Smith interviewed a candidate for software manager who,

有一天，他和赫茨菲尔德、史密斯一起，面试一个应聘软件经理的人，

it became clear as soon as he walked in the room,

这个人一走进来，

was too uptight¹¹ and conventional to manage the wizards in the fishbowl.

身上的保守和刻板气质就显露无遗，很明显无法管理鱼缸里的那群天才。

Jobs began to toy with him mercilessly. "How old were you when you lost your virginity?" he asked.

乔布斯开始无情地捉弄他。“你是几岁失去童贞的？”乔布斯问。

The candidate looked baffled. "What did you say?"

应聘者听得一头雾水。“你说什么？”

"Are you a virgin¹²?" Jobs asked.

“你是处男吗？”乔布斯问道。

The candidate sat there flustered¹³, so Jobs changed the subject.

应聘者坐着，显得非常紧张不安，于是乔布斯换了个问题：

"How many times have you taken LSD?"

“你服用过多少次迷幻药？”

Hertzfeld recalled, "The poor guy was turning varying shades of red,

赫茨菲尔德回忆说：“那个可怜的家伙满脸通红，

so I tried to change the subject and asked a straightforward¹⁴ technical question."

于是我试图转移话题，问了他一个很直白的技术问题。”

But when the candidate droned on in his response, Jobs broke in.

但是，当应聘者开始唠唠叨叨地回答问题时，乔布斯打断了他。

"Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble," he said, cracking up Smith and Hertzfeld.

“咯咯，咯咯，咯咯，咯咯。”他发出这样的声音，让一旁的史密斯和赫茨菲尔德也都笑了起来。

"I guess I'm not the right guy," the poor man said as he got up to leave.

“我想我不适合这份工作。”那个可怜的人说着就起身离开了。

1 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

2 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

3 lapidary   

n.宝石匠；adj.宝石的；简洁优雅的

参考例句：

• The lapidary considers several features of stones before assessing their value.这位宝石专家在评估宝石的价值之前会考虑几项要点。
• He is a professional lapidary who cuts,polishes and engraves precious stones.他是一位宝石鉴定家，专门切割，磨光，及雕刻珍贵的钻石。

4 craftsmanship   

n.手艺

参考例句：

• The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
• We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。

5 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

6 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

7 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

8 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

9 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

10 offbeat   

adj.不平常的，离奇的

参考例句：

• She adores old,offbeat antiques.她非常喜欢那些稀奇古怪的老古董。
• His style is offbeat but highly creative.他的风格很不寻常但非常有创造力。

11 uptight   

adj.焦虑不安的，紧张的

参考例句：

• He's feeling a bit uptight about his exam tomorrow.他因明天的考试而感到有点紧张。
• Try to laugh at it instead of getting uptight.试着一笑了之，不要紧张。

12 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

13 flustered   

adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The honking of horns flustered the boy. 汽车喇叭的叫声使男孩感到慌乱。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was so flustered that she forgot her reply. 她太紧张了，都忘记了该如何作答。 来自辞典例句

14 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。