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TapiwaChiwewe_2017S-_你无需成为一名专家才能解决大问题_
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| One winter morning, a couple of years ago, |
几年前的一个冬天早晨, |
| I was driving to work in Johannesburg, South Africa, and noticed a haze hanging over the city. |
在南非约翰内斯堡,我开车去上班时 发现城市被雾霾笼罩。 |
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haze:n.薄雾;烟雾;迷蒙;迷糊;v.(使)笼罩在薄雾中;戏弄;
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| I make that drive on most days, so it was unusual that I hadn't noticed this before. |
我几乎每天都会开车经过那儿, 但这次很不寻常, 以前我从没见过这样的景象。 |
| Johannesburg is known for its distinctive skyline , which I could barely see that morning. |
约翰内斯堡以它别具特色的 美丽天际线闻名, 但那天早上却几乎看不到。 |
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distinctive:adj.独特的;特别的;有特色的; skyline:n.地平线;空中轮廓线;架空索;vt.天空映衬出…的轮廓; barely:adv.仅仅,勉强;几乎不;公开地;贫乏地;
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| It didn't take long for me to realize that I was looking at an enormous cloud of air pollution. |
很快我意识到,我看到的正是 由空气污染引起的 严重的雾霾。 |
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enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的;
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| The contrast between the scenic environment I knew and this smog-covered skyline stirred up something within me. |
我旧日所熟知的那个 优美环境与此刻雾霾笼罩的 天际线之间的对比, 在我心里翻涌不息。 |
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contrast:n.对比;对照;反差;明显的差异;v.对比;对照;形成对比; scenic:adj.风景优美的;舞台的;戏剧的;n.风景胜地;风景照片; stirred:v.搅动;搅和;搅拌;(使)微动;(stir的过去分词和过去式)
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| I was appalled by the possibility of this city of bright and vivid sunsets being overrun by a dull haze. |
我担心很有可能 曾经色彩多变的日落美景 将被阴暗的雾霾所吞噬。 |
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appalled:adj.震惊; v.使大为震惊; (appal的过去分词和过去式) vivid:adj.生动的;鲜明的;鲜艳的; sunsets:n.落日(sunset的复数); overrun:n.泛滥成灾;超出限度;vt.泛滥;超过;蹂躏;vi.泛滥;蔓延; dull:v.减轻; adj.枯燥无味的;
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| At that moment, I felt an urge to do something about it, but I didn't know what. |
在那一刻,我感到一阵强烈的冲动, 想要去做些什么, 但我并不知道该做些什么。 |
| All I knew was I couldn't just stand idly by. |
我所知道的只是 我不能就这样袖手旁观。 |
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idly:adv.无所事事地;懒惰地,空闲地;无益地;
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| The main challenge was, |
最大的挑战在于, |
| I didn't know much about environmental science air-quality management or atmospheric chemistry. |
我并不了解环境科学。 空气质量管理, 或是大气化学。 |
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management:n.管理;管理人员;管理部门;操纵;经营手段; atmospheric:adj.大气的,大气层的;
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| I am a computer engineer, and I was pretty sure I couldn't code my way out of this air pollution problem. |
我是一名电脑工程师, 而且我非常确定,我并不能 靠编码来解决大气污染问题。 |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| Who was I to do anything about this issue ? |
我将以什么身份来解决这个问题？ |
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issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行;
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| I was but a citizen. |
我不过是个市井小民。 |
| In the following years, I learned a very important lesson, a lesson we all need to take to heart if we are to work towards a better future. |
在接下来的几年里, 我学到了很重要的一课, 如果我们想要实现更好的未来, 我们都应该把这一课铭记在心。 |
| Even if you're not an expert in a particular domain , your outside expertise may hold the key to solving big problems within that domain. |
即使你并非某一特殊领域的专家, 你的专业技能也可能蕴含了 解决那一领域问题的方法。 |
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domain:n.领域;域名;产业;地产; expertise:n.专门知识;专门技术;专家的意见;
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| Sometimes the unique perspective you have can result in unconventional thinking that can move the needle , but you need to be bold enough to try. |
有时候,你所持有的独特视角 可以激发出非常规的 思维从而左右局势, 但你需要大胆去尝试。 |
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unique:adj.独特的,稀罕的;[数]唯一的;n.独一无二的人或物; perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; unconventional:adj.非常规的;非传统的;不依惯例的; needle:n.针;针头;指针;缝针;v.穿过;刺激;拿针缝;拿针穿; bold:adj.大胆的,英勇的;黑体的;厚颜无耻的;险峻的;
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| That's the only way you'll ever know. |
唯有如此你才能够知晓结果。 |
| What I knew back then was that if I was even going to try to make a difference , |
当时我所知道的是, 如果我想要尝试去改变, |
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make a difference:有影响,有关系;
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| I had to get smart about air pollution first, and so I became a student again. |
我必须先对污染有足够了解, 所以我又做回了一名学生。 |
| I did a bit of basic research and soon learned that air pollution is the world's biggest environmental health risk. |
我做了一些基础研究, 很快了解到大气污染 是世界上最大的环境健康风险。 |
| Data from the World Health Organization shows that almost 14 percent of all deaths worldwide in 2012 were attributable to household and ambient air pollution, with most occurring in low- and middle-income countries. |
世界卫生组织的数据显示 在2012年,全世界 几乎14%的死亡事件 都是由家庭及周边的 大气污染造成, 在中低端收入国家尤为常见。 |
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Organization:n.组织;机构;体制;团体; worldwide:adj.全世界的;adv.在世界各地; attributable:adj.可归于…的;可归属的; household:n.家庭;一家人;同住一所(或一套)房子的人;adj.家庭的;家常的;王室的; ambient:adj.周围的;外界的;环绕的;n.周围环境; occurring:n.事件;事故;事变; middle-income:adj.中等收入的;
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| Ambient air pollution alone causes more deaths each year than malaria and HIV/AIDS. |
大气污染每年所造成的 死亡率要高于 疟疾和艾滋病。 |
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malaria:n.[内科]疟疾;瘴气;
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| In Africa, premature deaths from unsafe sanitation or childhood malnutrition pale in comparison to deaths due to air pollution, and it comes at a huge economic cost: over 400 billion US dollars as of 2013, according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. |
在非洲,不安全的 卫生条件造成的早逝, 或孩童的营养不良造成的死亡, 在大气污染面前显得苍白无力, 同时它还带来了巨大的经济成本: 据经济合作与发展组织统计, 2013年有关方面的支出 超过了4000亿美元。 |
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premature:adj.早产的;不成熟的;比预期早的;n.早产儿;过早发生的事物; unsafe:adj.不安全的;危险的;不安稳的; sanitation:n.[医]环境卫生;卫生设备;下水道设施; childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期 malnutrition:n.营养失调,营养不良; pale in comparison:相形失色; economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的; according to:根据,据说; Organisation:n.组织;团体(等于organization); Cooperation:n.合作;配合;
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| Now, in my work, |
在我的工作中, |
| I explore new frontiers for artificial intelligence , where the symbiotic relationship between man and machine can find a beneficial footing and help us to make better decisions. |
我探寻着人工智能的 科技前沿成果, 包括人类和机器的共生关系, 找到有益的立足点 并帮我们做出更好的决定。 |
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explore:v.探索:探测:探险: artificial intelligence:n.人工智能; symbiotic:adj.[生态]共生的;共栖的; beneficial:adj.有益的,有利的;可享利益的;
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| As I thought about the air pollution problem, it became clear that we needed to find a way to make better decisions about how we manage air pollution, and given the scale of the problem, it was necessary to do it in a collaborative way. |
当我再想到大气污染问题时, 就如何治理大气污染这一问题, 事情变得明朗起来, 我们需要寻找更好的方法 做出更好的决定 考虑到问题很庞大, 协同合作是非常有必要的。 |
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scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢; collaborative:adj.合作的,协作的;
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| So I decided I'd better get to know some people working within the field. |
所以我决定去认识一些 在这一领域工作的人。 |
| I started to speak to officials from the City of Johannesburg and other surrounding cities, and I engaged the local scientific community , and I also made a few cold calls. |
我开始与约翰内斯堡 以及其他周边城市的官员对话, 我也加入了本地的科学社区, 我还打了一些电话给 完全陌生却相关的人们。 |
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engaged:adj.已订婚的; v.吸引住; (engage的过去分词和过去式) scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
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| The process of engagement I embarked upon helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the problem. |
我着手介入的这些经历 帮助我更深刻地了解了这一问题。 |
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process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的; engagement:n.婚约;约会;交战;诺言;n.参与度; embarked:v.上船;装船;(embark的过去式和过去分词)
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| It also helped me to avoid the trap people in my profession sometimes fall into when trying to innovate , where we are quick to apply a technology before we've firmly grasped the problem at hand. |
也帮助我避免了 我这一行的人尝试创新时 有时会掉进的陷阱: 在尚未真正掌握问题之前, 快速采用一项技术。 |
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trap:v.使陷入困境;卡住;夹住;收集;吸收;n.陷阱;圈套;捕捉器;诡计; profession:n.行业,职业;业内人士;同行; innovate:vi.创新;改革;革新;vt.改变;创立;创始;引人; apply:v.申请;涂,敷;应用;适用;请求; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; grasped:v.抓紧;抓牢;理解;领会;领悟;明白;(grasp的过去分词和过去式)
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| I began to develop an idea about what I could do to improve the situation. |
我开始思考, 我能做些什么来改善这种状况？ |
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improve:v.改进;改善;
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| I started by simply asking myself how I could bring together in some meaningful way my skills in software engineering and artificial intelligence and the expertise of the people I'd reached out to. |
我开始问我自己, 该如何有效融合 我在软件工程和人工智能 方面的知识技能 以及我所联系的人们的专业技能。 |
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meaningful:adj.严肃的;重要的;重大的;意味深长的; engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词)
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| I wanted to create an online air-quality management platform that would uncover trends in pollution and project into the future to determine what outcomes can be expected. |
我想要创建一个 在线空气质量管理平台, 去揭示今后的污染趋势, 进行相关预测 来判断可能会发生的结果。 |
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platform:n.平台; v.把…放在台上[放在高处; uncover:v.揭开盖子;发现;揭露;揭发; trends:n.趋势;倾向;动态;动向;(trend的第三人称单数和复数) determine:v.决定;确定;测定;查明;形成;影响;裁决;安排; outcomes:n.结果;成果;后果;出路;(outcome的复数)
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| I was determined to see my idea translate into a practical solution , but I faced uncertainty and had no guarantee of success. |
我确信我的想法 能够成为一个现实的解决之道, 但也面临着不确定性, 我并不能保证它一定成功。 |
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determined:adj.决定了的:v.决定;(determine的过去分词和过去式) translate:v.翻译;被翻译;被译成;(使)转变; practical:adj.实际的;真实的;客观存在的;n.实习课;实践课; solution:n.解决方案;溶液;溶解;解答; uncertainty:n.不确定,不可靠; guarantee:n.保证;担保;保证人;保证书;抵押品;v.保证;担保;
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| What I had was a very particular set of engineering skills, skills I'd acquired over my career |
我所拥有的就是一套 特定的工程师技能而已, 从我的工作中所获得的技能。 |
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acquired:adj.习得的; v.获得; (acquire的过去分词和过去式) career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历;
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| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| that were new to people who had been working on the air pollution problem for so many years. |
当然,对于多年来一直在 大气污染领域工作的人而言, 我的技能是全新的。 |
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on the air:在广播,广播中;
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| What I have come to realize is that sometimes just one fresh perspective, one new skill set, can make the conditions right for something remarkable to happen. |
我逐渐意识到,有时候 一个新颖的视角, 一个新的技能组合, 可以催生一些卓越的事情。 |
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remarkable:adj.卓越的;非凡的;值得注意的;
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| Our willpower and imagination are a guiding light, enabling us to chart new paths and navigate through obstacles . |
我们的意志力和想象力 是一盏指示灯, 指示我们越过阻碍,开启新篇章。 |
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willpower:n.意志力;毅力; imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物; enabling:adj.授权的;v.使能够;授权给(enable的现在分词); navigate:vt.驾驶,操纵;使通过;航行于;vi.航行,航空; obstacles:n.障碍;障碍物;阻碍;(obstacle的复数形式)
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| Armed with a firmer understanding of the air pollution problem, and having managed to source over a decade's worth of data on air pollutant levels and the meteorological conditions for in and around Johannesburg, |
我对大气污染问题 进行了更深入的了解, 寻找到过去十几年的 大气污染数据, 以及约翰内斯堡及周边的气象数据。 |
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source:n.来源;水源;原始资料; pollutant:n.污染物; meteorological:adj.气象的;气象学的;
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| my colleagues from South Africa and China and myself created an air-quality decision support system that lives in the cloud. |
之后,我同南非和中国的同事一起 创建了空气质量决议支持系统, 并将其上传到了云端。 |
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colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
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| This software system analyzes historical and real-time data to uncover the spatial-temporal trends in pollution. |
这个软件能够分析历史和实时数据 来揭示污染随时间和空间变化的趋势。 |
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analyzes:分析; historical:adj.历史的;史学的;基于史实的; real-time:adj.实时的;接到指示立即执行的;
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| We then used new machine learning technology to predict future levels of pollution for several different pollutants days in advance . |
我们随后用新机器学习技术 提前数日 预测未来污染情况。 |
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predict:v.预报;预言;预告; pollutants:n.[环境]污染物(pollutant的复数); in advance:adv.预先,提前;
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| This means that citizens can make better decisions about their daily movements and about where to settle their families. |
这意味着居民可以 就他们的每日行程 以及和家人在哪里定居, 做出更好的决定。 |
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settle:v.定居;结算;停留;确定;n.高背长椅(老式木家具,有扶手,座下多带柜);
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| We can predict adverse pollution events ahead of time, identify heavy polluters , and they can be ordered by the relevant authorities to scale back their operations. |
我们可以提前预知不利的污染事件, 界定重度污染源, 使得相关权威机构可以下指令 来调整他们的经营活动。 |
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adverse:adj.不利的;相反的;敌对的(名词adverseness,副词adversely); identify:v.识别:鉴定:确认:发现: polluters:n.污染者;污染源;污染物质; relevant:adj.相关的;切题的;中肯的;有重大关系的;有意义的,目的明确的; authorities:n.权力;威权;职权;批准;(authority的复数)
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| Through assisted scenario planning, city planners can also make better decisions about how to extend infrastructure , such as human settlements or industrial zones. |
通过辅助情景规划, 就如何拓展基础设施工作, 如工业区的居住安置, 城市规划者也可以做出更好的决定。 |
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scenario:n.方案;情节;剧本; planners:n.规划师;规划人员(planner的复数);计划人员; extend:vt.延伸; vi.延伸; infrastructure:n.基础设施;公共建设;下部构造; settlements:n.协议:处理:结算:定居点;(settlement的复数) industrial:adj.工业的,产业的; n.工业股票;
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| We completed a pilot of our technology that was run over a period of 120 days, covering all of South Africa. |
我们已经建立了 该技术的一个先行试点, 运行了120天, 覆盖了整个南非。 |
| Our results were confirmed when we demonstrated a tight correlation between the forecasting data and the data we were getting on the ground. |
我们的预期结果得到了验证。 我们展示出的 预测数据 和我们实地采集的数据 表现出了紧密的相关性。 |
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demonstrated:v.证明;证实;论证;说明;表达;(demonstrate的过去分词和过去式) correlation:n.[数]相关,关联;相互关系; forecasting:n.预测;v.预言;作预告(forecast的ing形式);
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| Through our leadership, we have brought cutting-edge , world-leading assets that can perform air-quality forecasting at an unprecedented resolution and accuracy , |
通过我们的管理层, 我们引入了世界领先的尖端仪器 预测大气质量, 其解析度和正确率都是前所未见的, |
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cutting-edge:n.(刀片的)刃口;尖端;前沿;adj.先进的,尖端的; world-leading:adj.世界领先的 assets:n.资产;宝贵的人材;(一项)财物;资产;(asset的名词复数) perform:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好); unprecedented:adj.空前的;无前例的; resolution:n.解决;分辨;解析;决议; accuracy:n.[数]精确度,准确性;
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| benefiting the city that I drove into one winter morning not very long ago, and thought to myself, "Something is wrong here. I wonder what can be done?" |
让不久前的冬日早晨 我所驶入的城市能够受惠。 那时我对自己说, “有些东西不对, 我得想办法做些什么。 |
| So here is the point: |
所以,重点在于: |
| What if I'd not investigated the problem of air pollution further? |
如果当初我没有深入调研 大气污染的问题呢？ |
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What if:如果…怎么办? investigated:v.侦查;调查;研究;(investigate的过去分词和过去式)
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| What if I'd not shown some concern for the state of the environment and just hoped that someone, somewhere, was taking care of the matter? |
如果我没有关注国家的环境状况 而是寄希望于某些地方、 其他的某些人来管这些事呢？ |
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concern:v.涉及,关系到;使担心;n.关系;关心;关心的事;
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| What I have learned is that, when embarking on a challenging endeavor that advances a cause that we firmly believe in, it is important to focus on the possibility of success and consider the consequence of not acting. |
我从中学到的是, 当全力推进一项 我们都深信不疑的事业时, 关注成功的可能性 并考虑不作为的后果非常重要。 |
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embarking:v.着手;登机(embark的现在分词); endeavor:n.v.努力;尽力;试图; consequence:n.结果;重要性;推论;
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| We should not get distracted by resistance and opposition , but this should motivate us further. |
我们不应该为反对和阻力分心, 它应该激励我们走得更远。 |
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distracted:adj.心烦意乱; v.转移(注意力); (distract的过去分词和过去式) resistance:n.电阻;抵抗;阻力;抗力; opposition:n.反对党;对立;在野党;对抗; motivate:v.激励;激发;成为…的动机;是…的原因;
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| So wherever you are in the world, the next time you find that there's some natural curiosity you have that is being piqued , and it's about something you care about, and you have some crazy or bold ideas, |
所以无论你在世界上哪一个地方, 下一次,当你发现 你天生的某种好奇心 被激起, 而它也事关你所在意之事, 你有一些疯狂或勇敢的想法, |
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curiosity:n.好奇,好奇心;珍品,古董,古玩; piqued:adj.赌气的; v.伤害…自尊心; n.愤怒;
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| and perhaps it's outside the realm of your expertise, ask yourself this: |
即使这并非你的专业领域, 问问自己: |
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realm:n.领域,范围;王国;
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| Why not? |
为何不试试呢？ |
| Why not just go ahead and tackle the problem as best as you can, in your own way? |
为什么不勇往直前来解决问题？ 尽最大努力,以你自己的方式？ |
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tackle:v.处理; n.用具;
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| You may be pleasantly surprised. |
你或许会得到意外之喜。 |
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pleasantly:adv.愉快地;和蔼地,亲切地;友好地;
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| Thank you. |
谢谢大家。 |
| (Applause) |
（掌声） |