公众人物毕业演讲第26期:比尔盖茨夫妇于斯坦福大学(7)

 　　So they rigged up an extension cord that ran 200 feet

　　人们只能临时拉了一根200英尺长的延长线

　　from the center to the diesel¹ generator² outside.

　　让社区中心能够接上外面的柴油发电机

　　Looking at this setup, I knew the minute the reporters left,

　　看到这种情形 我知道一旦记者离开

　　the generator would get to a more urgent task.

　　发电机就会被用到更紧急的任务

　　And the people at the community center would go back to worry about challenges

　　而社区中心的人们也需要重新去面对

　　that couldn't be solved by a personal computer.

　　那些不是个人计算机就能解决的问题

　　When I gave my prepared remarks to the press, I said Soweto is a milestone³.

　　我按照事先准备的讲稿 对媒体说索韦托是一个里程碑

　　There's major decisions ahead about whether technology

　　在未来 为了不让发展中国家在技术上落后

　　will leave the developing world behind.

　　显然还有很多重大决定要做

　　This is to close the gap.

　　我们将像这样 努力缩小技术上的鸿沟

　　But as I read those words, I knew they weren't super relevant.

　　但在我阅读这份讲稿时 我深知情况远远没有这么简单

　　What I didn't say was, by the way,

　　讲稿上有一段我没有读 也就是

　　we're not focused on the fact that half a million people on this continent are

　　我们还没开始关注这块大陆上 每年有大约

　　dying every year from malaria⁴.

　　五十万人死于疟疾这一事实

　　But we are sure as hell going to bring you computers.

　　但我们至少能够给大家带来计算机

　　Before I went to Soweto, I thought I understood the world's problems

　　在我去索韦托之前 我以为我了解世界的问题

　　but I was blind to many of the most important ones.

　　事实上 我对很多重要问题都一无所知

1 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

2 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

3 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

4 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。