我一直是个乐观主义者。我认为创新和智慧可以让世界更美好。这一观点已经深深扎根于我的信念中。

　　For as long as I can remember, I've loved learning new things and solving problems. So when I sat down at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, I was hooked. It was a clunky old teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today. But it changed my life.

　　从记事起，我就很喜欢学习新知识，解决问题。所以当我七年级第一次坐在电脑旁的时候，我一下子被吸引了。其实只是一台哐当作响的旧机器，跟现在的电脑比起来几乎什么都做不了。但是它改变了我的生活。

　　When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home," which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size of refrigerators. But we believe that personal computers would change the world. And they have.

　　30年前，我和朋友保罗·艾伦开办微软的时候，我们有一个构想。那就是“每家每个桌子上都有一台电脑”。那时候大部分电脑和冰箱一样大，所以可能这个想法听起来有些太乐观了。但是我们相信个人电脑将改变世界。现在已经实现了。

　　And after 30 years, I'm still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade.

　　30年之后，我仍然像七年级的时候那样为计算机而着迷。

　　I believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and inventiveness--to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn't solve on their own.

　　我相信电脑是最不可思议的工具。我们可以用它来满足我们的好奇心，发挥我们的独创能力，并帮助我们解决最聪明的人都不能独立解决的问题。

　　Computers have transformed how we learn, giving kids everywhere a window into all of the world's knowledge. They're helping us build communities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are.

　　电脑已经改变了我们的学习方式，让孩子们在任何地方都有学习世界所有知识的窗口。电脑帮我们围绕我们关注的事物建立“群”，让我们和那些对我们来说很重要的人保持密切联系，不管他们身处何方。

　　Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it "tap-dancing to work". My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makes me "tap-dance to work" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say:"I didn't knwo you can do that with a PC!"

　　像我的朋友沃伦·巴菲特一样，我为自己可以每天做喜欢的事情感到非常幸运。他把这个称之为“跳着踢踏舞去工作”。我在微软的工作总充满挑战，但是让我“跳着踢踏舞去工作”的是当我们给人们介绍新产品的时候，比如一台可以识别指纹或者语音的电脑或者一台能够储存一生的珍贵照片的电脑，人们惊讶地说：“我无法想象你竟然可以用个人电脑做到这个。”

　　重点讲解：

　　1. be rooted in

　　扎根于；来源于；起因于；深植于；

　　eg. It seems to be rooted in confidence rather than insecurity.

　　它来源于信心而不是出于不稳定感。

　　eg. His difficulties are rooted in his lack of education.

　　他的困境源于他缺乏教育。

　　2. compare to

　　把…比作，喻为；与…相比；

　　eg. Cultural life in the country cannot compare to that of a large city.

　　农村的文化生活不能与大城市的相比拟。

　　eg. Life is poetically compared to the morning dew.

　　在诗歌中，人生被比喻为朝露。

　　3. on one's own

　　独自地； 独立地；

　　eg. I need some time on my own.

　　我需要独处一段时间。

　　eg. He lives on his own.

　　他独自一人生活。

　　eg. I was able to finish the job on my own.

　　我能独自地把工作做完。

　　背景资料：

　　"This I Believe"是美国国家公共广播公司一个很有特色的节目，可谓是美国当代众生百谈。受访人通过亲自朗读文章阐述自己的人生信念、对世界的认知或来自生活的感悟。受访人中不乏有我们熟知的科学伟人、风云政客、财富巨子。2005年9月19日，比尔·盖茨做客"This I Believe"。盖茨在这篇演讲稿中用了很大的篇幅陈述创造力的重要性。正是因为盖茨从小就有创新意识，热衷于接触新事物，挑战难题，坚持充分发挥自己的创造力，他才能在计算机领域取得如此大的成就。这篇演讲他说得很慢，语音清晰，是学习英语的好材料。

　　名人经典：

　　And I believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough problems, we're going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas in my lifetime.

　　我相信，凭借人类与生俱来的发明创造能力和不畏艰难、坚韧不拔的品格，在我的有生之年里我们将在所有这些领域都创造出可喜的成就。