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DameStephanieShirley_2015-_为什么有事业雄心的女人,头顶都是平的?_
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When I wrote my memoir , the publishers were really confused . |
当我写回忆录时, 出版人感到非常困惑。 |
memoir:n.回忆录;研究报告;自传;实录; publishers:n.出版商,出版公司;出版社(publisher的复数); confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式)
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Was it about me as a child refugee , or as a woman who set up a high-tech software company back in the 1960s, one that went public and eventually employed over 8,500 people? |
我的故事究竟是讲了一个童年时身为难民的经历? 还是在上世纪六十年代创立高科技软件公司, 上市后雇员发展到 超过8500——的女强人? |
refugee:n.难民;避难者;逃亡者;v.避难;adj.避难的; high-tech:adj.高科技的,高技术的;仿真技术的;n.高科技; eventually:adv.最后,终于; employed:v.雇用:应用:运用:使用(employ的过去分词和过去式)
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Or was it as a mother of an autistic child? |
还是身为一个自闭症孩子的母亲? |
autistic:adj.[心理][内科]孤独症的;孤僻的;n.孤独症患者(常指儿童);
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Or as a philanthropist that's now given away serious money? |
还是慷慨奉献大量财产的慈善家? |
philanthropist:n.慈善家,博爱主义者;乐善好施的人;
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Well, it turns out, I'm all of these. |
好吧,事实上,这些全都是我。 |
So let me tell you my story. |
那么,就让我来给你们讲述我的故事吧。 |
All that I am stems from when I got onto a train in Vienna, part of the Kindertransport that saved nearly 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi Europe. |
一切都从我坐上一列前往维也纳的火车开始。 这列火车是Kindertransport营救行动的一部分,从纳粹手中拯救了 近万名犹太儿童。 |
stems:n.花草的茎或梗; v.阻止; (stem的第三人称单数和复数) Jewish:adj.犹太人的;犹太族的;
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I was five years old, clutching the hand of my nine-year-old sister and had very little idea as to what was going on. |
当时5岁的我,紧紧抓着9岁姐姐的手, 对发生的事茫然无知。 |
clutching:v.紧握;抱紧;抓紧(clutch的现在分词)
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'"What is England and why am I going there?" |
英国是什么?我为什么要去那? |
I'm only alive because so long ago, I was helped by generous strangers. |
我能活下来,完全是因为很久很久之前,热心的陌生人帮助了我。 |
generous:adj.慷慨的,大方的;宽宏大量的;有雅量的;
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I was lucky, and doubly lucky to be later reunited with my birth parents. |
我很幸运。更幸运的是, 后来我跟亲生父母重聚了。 |
doubly:adv.双重地;加倍地;双摺地; reunited:v.重聚;使再结合(reunite的过去式和过去分词);
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But, sadly, I never bonded with them again. |
但不幸的是,后来就再也没有相聚过。 |
But I've done more in the seven decades since that miserable day when my mother put me on the train than I would ever have dreamed possible. |
但是,自我母亲把我送上火车起,这70年间, 我做过的事情之多, 远远超乎所想。 |
miserable:adj.悲惨的;痛苦的;卑鄙的;
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And I love England, my adopted country, with a passion that perhaps only someone who has lost their human rights can feel. |
我爱英国,这个接纳我的国家, 这种热爱,或许只有那些丧失过人权的人,才可以感受到。 |
adopted:adj.被收养的;被采用的;v.采用;接受;(adopt的过去式和过去分词); passion:n.激情;热情;酷爱;盛怒;
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I decided to make mine a life that was worth saving. |
我决定要度过有意义的一生,不能辜负救下我性命的人。 |
And then, I just got on with it. |
而后,我确实做到了。 |
(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
Let me take you back to the early 1960s. |
让我们把思绪拉回到上世纪六十年代。 |
To get past the gender issues of the time, |
为了对抗当时的性别歧视问题, |
gender:n.性别; issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数)
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I set up my own software house at one of the first such startups in Britain. |
作为英国软件行业第一批企业家之一,我创立了自己的软件公司。 |
startups:n.创业(startup的复数);开办;
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But it was also a company of women, a company for women, an early social business. |
这同时也是一家只有女雇员,只为女性提供机会的 早期社会企业。 |
And people laughed at the very idea because software, at that time, was given away free with hardware . |
人们对此嗤之以鼻,因为在那时, 软件是随硬件免费赠送的, |
hardware:n.计算机硬件;五金器具;
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Nobody would buy software, certainly not from a woman. |
没人会掏钱买软件,当然也不会从女人手里买。 |
Although women were then coming out of the universities with decent degrees, there was a glass ceiling to our progress. |
尽管那时的女性读过大学,有了像样的文凭, 她们的职业道路上,依然充满了无形的壁障。 |
decent:adj.正派的;得体的;相当好的; glass ceiling:n.无形顶障(虽无明文规定却实际存在的对妇女等在职务升迁上的无形限制);
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And I'd hit that glass ceiling too often, and I wanted opportunities for women. |
我为冲破这些壁障不断努力, 我想为职场女性创造机会。 |
I recruited professionally qualified women who'd left the industry on marriage, or when their first child was expected and structured them into a home-working organization . |
我招募那些拥有优秀职业技能却在婚后离开工作岗位的女性, 还为那些准备生第一个孩子的女性 提供可以在家里完成的工作。 |
recruited:v.招聘,雇佣;招募;(recruit的过去分词和过去式) professionally:adv.专业地;内行地; qualified:adj.有资格的; v.合格; (qualify的过去分词和过去式) structured:adj.有结构的;有组织的;v.组织;构成(structure的过去分词);建造; organization:n.组织;机构;体制;团体;
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We pioneered the concept of women going back into the workforce after a career break . |
我们引领了“让暂离工作岗位的女性重返职场的 理念。 |
workforce:n.劳动大军;全体员工; career break:n.离职期(如因照料小孩之需);
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We pioneered all sorts of new, flexible work methods: job shares, profit-sharing , and eventually, co-ownership when I took a quarter of the company into the hands of the staff at no cost to anyone but me. |
我们是倡导各种新颖而灵活的商业模式的先锋: 股票分红,利润分红,还有共同所有权—— 我把公司股权的四分之一交给员工, 而这只减少了我个人的一些收入而已。 |
flexible:adj.灵活的;柔韧的;易弯曲的; profit-sharing:n.分红制,利益分配; co-ownership:n.[法]共同所有权;
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For years, I was the first woman this, or the only woman that. |
多年以来,我是第一位也是唯一一个这样做的女性。 |
And in those days, I couldn't work on the stock exchange , |
在那个年代,我无法进行证券交易, |
stock exchange:n.证券交易(所);股票交易(所);
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I couldn't drive a bus or fly an airplane . |
我不能开公交或者驾驶飞机。 |
airplane:n.飞机;
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Indeed, I couldn't open a bank account without my husband's permission. |
而且,没有我丈夫的批准,我是不能开通银行账户的。 |
bank account:n.银行账户;
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My generation of women fought the battles for the right to work and the right for equal pay. |
我们那个时代的女性,要为工作的权利 和薪酬平等的权利而抗争。 |
Nobody really expected much from people at work or in society because all the expectations then were about home and family responsibilities. |
没有人会对职场或社会中的女性有什么真正的期望, 因为那时对女性所有的期望就是 承担家庭责任,操持家务。 |
expectations:n.预料;预期;期待;希望;指望;(expectation的复数)
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And I couldn't really face that, so I started to challenge the conventions of the time, even to the extent of changing my name from "Stephanie" to "Steve" |
我实在无法接受, 所以我向这个社会习俗发起挑战, 我甚至还在发展业务的信件上 |
conventions:n.[法]惯例;会议;[计]约定(convention的复数); extent:n.程度;范围;长度;
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in my business development letters, so as to get through the door before anyone realized that he was a she. |
把名字由“斯蒂芬妮”改为“史蒂夫”, 以便于在别人看出“他”其实是“她”之前, 敲开投资者的门。 |
(Laughter) |
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My company, called Freelance Programmers, and that's precisely what it was, couldn't have started smaller: on the dining room table, and financed by the equivalent of 100 dollars in today's terms, and financed by my labor and by borrowing against the house. |
我的公司叫Freelance Programmers(自由职业程序员),顾名思义, 不能再寒酸了:创立于餐桌, 注册资金仅相当于今天的100美金, ——这些资金其实是来自我的劳动报酬、和用房屋抵押借来的钱。 |
Freelance:n.自由作家;自由记者;adj.自由投稿的; dining room:n.餐厅; equivalent:adj.等价的,相等的;同意义的;n.等价物,相等物;
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My interests were scientific , the market was commercial -- things such as payroll , which I found rather boring . |
我的兴趣是科学技术。可惜市场是商业化的—— 人们更关注工资单之类的东西,尽管我觉得那很无聊。 |
scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; commercial:adj.贸易的;商业的;赢利的;以获利为目的的;n.(电台或电视播放的)广告; payroll:n.工资单; boring:adj.无聊的;令人厌烦的;n.钻孔;v.使厌烦;钻孔;(bore的现在分词)
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So I had to compromise with operational research work, which had the intellectual challenge that interested me and the commercial value that was valued by the clients : things like scheduling freight trains, time-tabling buses, stock control, lots and lots of stock control. |
因此我不得不在研发工作上做出让步。 放弃那些吸引我的、充满智慧的挑战性课题, 转而寻求客户所看重的商业价值: 如货车时刻表, 公交车时间编排,股票控制,许多许多的股票控制。 |
compromise:n.妥协;折中;互让;和解;v.妥协;违背(原则);达不到(标准);使陷入危险; operational research:n.运筹学; intellectual:n.知识分子;脑力劳动者;adj.智力的;脑力的;理智的;有才智的; clients:n.委托人;当事人;客户机;(client的复数) freight:vt.运送;装货;使充满;n.货运;运费;船货;
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And eventually, the work came in. |
最后,订单终于来了。 |
We disguised the domestic and part-time nature of the staff by offering fixed prices, one of the very first to do so. |
我以固定的产品定价来掩盖公司设立在家中、员工都是兼职的这些事实, 这样的做法在行业内也少见先例。 |
disguised:v.假扮;装扮;伪装;掩蔽;掩饰(disguise的过去分词和过去式) domestic:n.佣人;家佣;家庭纠纷;家庭矛盾;adj.本国的;国内的;家用的;家庭的;
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And who would have guessed that the programming of the black box flight recorder of Supersonic Concord would have been done by a bunch of women working in their own homes. |
有谁能想到协和超音速飞机上, 进行飞行纪录的黑匣子程序, 是出自一群在家中兼职的女性呢? |
black box:黑箱;(装在飞机上记录飞行情况等的)密封仪器; flight recorder:na.飞行自动记录仪; Supersonic:adj.超音速的;超声波的;n.超音速;超声波; Concord:n.和谐;和睦;一致;协调; bunch:n.群;串;突出物;vi.隆起;打褶;形成一串;vt.使成一串;使打褶;
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(Applause) |
(掌声) |
All we used was a simple "trust the staff" approach and a simple telephone. |
支撑我们完成这些的,只有一个简单的理念:“相信员工”, 以及一台普通的电话机。 |
approach:n.方法;路径;v.接近;建议;着手处理;
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We even used to ask job applicants , "Do you have access to a telephone?" |
我们甚至还问前来申请工作的人:“你家里有电话吗?” |
applicants:n.申请人(尤指求职、进高等学校等);(applicant的复数)
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An early project was to develop software standards on management control protocols . |
我们早期的一个项目是开发一个 管理控制协议的软件标准。 |
standards:n.标准,水平,规格(standard的复数) management:n.管理;管理人员;管理部门;操纵;经营手段; protocols:n.协议; v.拟定议定书;
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And software was and still is a maddeningly hard-to-control activity, so that was enormously valuable . |
“软件”曾是,现也依然是极易失控、令人抓狂的东西, 因此我们的那个项目价值连城。 |
maddeningly:adv.使人恼火地;令人发狂地; enormously:adv.巨大地,庞大地;非常地,在极大程度上; valuable:adj.有价值的;贵重的;可估价的;n.贵重物品;
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We used the standards ourselves, we were even paid to update them over the years, and eventually, they were adopted by NATO . |
我们自己也采用了这套标准, 持续多年对其进行有偿更新, 最终,它被北约采用,作为标准。 |
update:vt.使现代化;更新;n.现代化;更新的信息; NATO:abbr.(=theNorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization)[组]北约;
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Our programmers -- remember, only women, including gay and transgender -- worked with pencil and paper to develop flowcharts defining each task to be done. |
我们的程序员——记住,只有女性, 包括同性恋和变性者—— 用铅笔在纸上画下那一幅幅流程图, 定义每一项需要完成的任务。 |
transgender:n.跨性别;跨性别者; flowcharts:流程图(flowchart的复数); defining:v.解释(词语)的含义;给(词语)下定义;阐明;界定;(define的现在分词)
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And they then wrote code, usually machine code , sometimes binary code, which was then sent by mail to a data center to be punched onto paper tape or card and then re-punched, in order to verify it. |
然后她们写代码,通常是写机器代码, 偶尔写二进制代码, 这些代码通过邮件,被寄到数据中心, 打在纸带或卡片上,(那时的程序是通过在纸带上的孔来让计算机读取的) 反复打孔,确保无误。 |
machine code:n.机器码; binary:adj.[数]二进制的;二元的,二态的; punched:v.拳打;以拳痛击;给…打孔;按(键);(punch的过去分词和过去式) verify:vt.核实;查证;
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All this, before it ever got near a computer. |
这一切都是远在近代电脑出现前的做法。 |
That was programming in the early 1960s. |
这就是上世纪六十年代的早期编程方式。 |
In 1975, 13 years from startup, equal opportunity legislation came in in Britain and that made it illegal to have our pro-female policies . |
1975年,公司创立后的第13年, 英国通过了平等就业法规, 只雇佣女性的做法成了违法的政策。 |
legislation:n.立法;法律; illegal:adj.不合法的;非法的;n.非法移民;非法劳工; policies:n.政策;方针;原则;为人之道;保险单(policy的复数)
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And as an example of unintended consequences , my female company had to let the men in. |
因此,始料未及地, 我们的“女性公司”,不得不让男人进来了。 |
unintended:adj.无意识的;非计划中的; consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数); female:adj.女性的;雌性的;柔弱的,柔和的;n.女人;[动]雌性动物;
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(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
When I started my company of women, the men said, "How interesting, because it only works because it's small." |
当我创立我的女性公司时, 男人们说“真有趣啊,它之所以没倒闭,只是因为公司太小了。” |
And later, as it became sizable , they accepted, "Yes, it is sizable now, but of no strategic interest." |
后来,公司规模扩大了,他们说:“没错,规模是大了, 但没有什么战略利益。” |
sizable:adj.相当大的;大小相当的; strategic:adj.战略上的,战略的;
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And later, when it was a company valued at over three billion dollars, and I'd made 70 of the staff into millionaires, they sort of said, " Well done , Steve!" |
再后来,当这个公司估值超过三十亿美金时, 我们让70名员工变成了百万富翁, 他们好像是这么说的:“干得好,史蒂夫!” |
Well done:好样的,干得好;
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(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
(Applause) |
(掌声) |
You can always tell ambitious women by the shape of our heads: |
你始终可以从头型来分辨出那些有野心的女人: |
ambitious:adj.野心勃勃的;有雄心的;热望的;炫耀的;
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They're flat on top for being patted patronizingly . |
她们的头顶很平,那是用来屈尊俯就让别人拍打的。 |
patted:轻拍; patronizingly:adv.自以为高人一等地;
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(Laughter) (Applause) |
(笑声)(掌声) |
And we have larger feet to stand away from the kitchen sink. |
而且我们还有足够大的脚,足以走出厨房那一小块空间。 |
(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
Let me share with you two secrets of success: |
我来跟你们分享两个成功的秘密: |
Surround yourself with first-class people and people that you like; and choose your partner very, very carefully. |
让自己周围都是精英,和自己喜欢的人; 然后谨慎、再谨慎地,挑选自己的搭档。 |
first-class:adj.优秀的;第一流的;adv.优秀地;最好地;第一流地;
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Because the other day when I said, "My husband's an angel," |
因为有一天,当我说,”我的丈夫是个天使。“ |
the other day:不久前某一天;几天以前;
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a woman complained -- "You're lucky," she said, "mine's still alive." |
一个女人抱怨道——“你真幸运,”她说, “我的丈夫还活着。” |
complained:v.抱怨;埋怨;发牢骚;(complain的过去分词和过去式)
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(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
If success were easy, we'd all be millionaires. |
如果成功很容易,那我们都早成百万富翁了。 |
But in my case, it came in the midst of family trauma and indeed, crisis . |
但对我而言,我的成功是伴随着家庭的“创伤”的,甚至是“危机”。 |
midst:n.当中,中间;prep.在…中间(等于amidst); trauma:n.[外科]创伤(由心理创伤造成精神上的异常);外伤; crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的;
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Our late son, Giles, was an only child , a beautiful, contented baby. |
我老来得子。Giles,是我唯一的孩子,一个美丽的、令人心满意足的孩子。 |
only child:n.独生子(或女); contented:adj.满足的;心安的;v.使…满足;使…安心(content的过去式和过去分词);
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And then, at two and a half, like a changeling in a fairy story, he lost the little speech that he had and turned into a wild, unmanageable toddler . |
后来,两岁半的时候, 就像童话故事里被仙女偷换了一样, 他不再言语, 变成了焦躁、不听话的小孩。 |
changeling:n.低能儿;矮小丑陋的小孩;暗中被偷换而留下的丑怪小孩; fairy:n.仙子;adj.美丽的;优雅的;妖精(一样)的; unmanageable:adj.难处理的,处理不了的;难管理的;难操纵的; toddler:n.学步的小孩;幼童装;
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Not the terrible twos; he was profoundly autistic and he never spoke again. |
不是普通两岁小孩的那种“糟糕状态”, 而是严重的自闭症,他再也没张口说过话。 |
profoundly:adv.深刻地;深深地;极度地;
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Giles was the first resident in the first house of the first charity that I set up to pioneer services for autism . |
Giles是我为自闭症患者开创的第一所慈善机构的 第一位入住者。 |
resident:adj.居住的;住院医师;定居的;n.居民; charity:n.慈善;施舍;慈善团体;宽容;施舍物; autism:n.[心理][内科]孤独症;自我中心主义;
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And then there's been a groundbreaking Prior's Court school for pupils with autism and a medical research charity, again, all for autism. |
后来,我前所未有地创立了专为自闭症儿童 设立的特殊学校, |
groundbreaking:adj.开创性的;创新的;革新的
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Because whenever I found a gap in services, I tried to help. |
因为每当我发现现有服务的不足,我就尽自己的力量去填补。 |
gap:n.差距;间隙;缺口;间隔;v.使豁裂;豁开;
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I like doing new things and making new things happen. |
我喜欢做新鲜的事,让创新成为现实。 |
And I've just started a three-year think tank for autism. |
最近我刚为自闭症患者建立了三年智囊团服务。 |
think tank:智囊团、思想库;
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And so that some of my wealth does go back to the industry from which it stems, |
我的部分财富回馈到了我获取财富的行业, |
wealth:n.财富;大量;富有;
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I've also founded the Oxford Internet Institute and other IT ventures . |
我还建立了牛津互联网研究院 和其他的一些IT企业。 |
Institute:v.开始(调查);制定;创立;提起(诉讼);n.学会,协会;学院; ventures:n.合资企业(venture的复数); v.敢尝试,冒险一试(venture的第三人称单数);
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The Oxford Internet Institute focuses not on the technology , but on the social, economic , legal and ethical issues of the Internet. |
牛津互联网研究院不仅仅关注技术, 也关注互联网的社会、经济、法律和道德问题。 |
technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的; ethical:adj.伦理的;道德的;凭处方出售的;n.处方药;
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Giles died unexpectedly 17 years ago now. |
Giles在17年前突然去世了。 |
unexpectedly:adv.出乎意料地,意外地;
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And I have learned to live without him, and I have learned to live without his need of me. |
我已经学会了没有他在身边, 学会了生活在没有他需要的世界里。 |
Philanthropy is all that I do now. |
现在我的精力都放在了慈善事业上。 |
Philanthropy:n.博爱,慈善;慈善事业;
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I need never worry about getting lost because several charities would quickly come and find me. |
走在路上我不必担心迷路, 因为许多慈善机构都能快速地找到我。 |
charities:n.慈善机构;宽大(charity的复数);
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(Laughter) |
(笑声) |
It's one thing to have an idea for an enterprise, but as many people in this room will know, making it happen is a very difficult thing and it demands extraordinary energy, self-belief and determination , the courage to risk family and home, and a 24/7 commitment that borders on the obsessive . |
有一个创业的点子是一回事, 但在座的很多人都知道, 让这个点子变成现实是很难的, 这需要巨大的精力投入,坚定的信念和决心, 还有承担家庭问题的风险的勇气; 还得每天24小时,一周7天的扑在自己痴迷的事业上。 |
extraordinary:adj.非凡的;特别的;离奇的;临时的;特派的; self-belief:自我信念; determination:n.测定;确定;决心;计算; commitment:n.承诺;投入;保证;许诺; obsessive:adj.强迫性的;着迷的;分神的;
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So it's just as well that I'm a workaholic . |
没错,我就是个工作狂。 |
workaholic:n.专心工作的人; adj.醉心于工作的;
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I believe in the beauty of work when we do it properly and in humility . |
我相信,当我们以谦逊的心态做正确的事时,就能发现工作的美。 |
humility:n.谦卑,谦逊;
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Work is not just something I do when I'd rather be doing something else. |
“工作”不是那种“我明明有别的更好的事可做,却不得不做”的事。 |
We live our lives forward. |
生活需要向前看, |
So what has all that taught me? |
我的这些经历教给了我什么? |
I learned that tomorrow's never going to be like today, and certainly nothing like yesterday. |
我学到了:明天永远不会像今天这样, 当然也不可能像昨天那样。 |
And that made me able to cope with change, indeed, eventually to welcome change, though I'm told I'm still very difficult. |
这让我能够适应一切变化, 最终,切实地拥抱变化, 尽管别人告诉过我,我是个不知满足的人。 |
cope:v.处理;n.大圆衣;
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Thank you very much. |
非常感谢你们。 |
(Applause) |
(掌声) |