精美英文欣赏:也许是运气造就了天才

Maybe Geniuses Just Got Lucky

也许是运气造就了天才

Life is unfair, as even the Bible acknowledges.

生活是不公平的，这一点甚至连《圣经》也不加否认。

We can't all hit a baseball like DiMaggio or sing like the Beatles.

不是每个人都能把棒球打的像迪马乔那样出神入化或把歌唱得像甲壳虫乐队那样震撼人心。

But how much do we understand about those who can·

但是我们对那些能做得如此完美的人究竟了解多少？

Not enough, says Malcolm Gladwell,in his new book, Outliers: The Story of Success.

马尔科姆·格拉德威尔在他的新书《异类:不一样的成功启示录》中指出我们对这方面的了解还只是皮毛而已。

We attribute the Beatles' fabulous¹ success to their amazing musical talents,whereas Gladwell has a different explanation-as a determinant of success, talent is overrated,compared with, among other things, luck.

我们常把甲壳虫乐队的骄人成就归因于他们惊人的音乐天赋，然而格拉德威尔却有着独特的见解—天赋确实是取得成功的一个决定性因素，但是跟其他因素如运气相比，天赋的作用被过分夸大了。

Outliers opens with a typically Gladwellian puzzle:

《异类》一开始就提出了一个典型的格拉德威尔之谜:

why are so many professional hockey players born early in the year？

为什么会有如此多的职业曲棍球运动员出生在一年中的前几个月份？

It turns out that Canadian youth leagues group players by age,based on a calendar year,

原来，在加拿大青少年曲棍球联队，球员的年龄以日历来算，球员根据他们的年龄进行分组。

so a player born in January will be the oldest on his team,enjoying a big difference in size and maturity².

因此1月份出生的球员在球队中年龄是最大的，他们在体格和成熟度方面有很大的优势。

The early birds get more playing time and coaching,advantages that become self-reinforcing,spelling the difference between a National Hockey League career and a job as a high-school coach.

这些早出生的鸟儿有更多的比赛时间和训练活动，并且这种优势不断得到强化，这意味着他们很可能成为全国曲棍球联盟的一名职业选手而不是一名高中教练。

Life is unfair.

生活确实不公平。

Similarly, Gladwell calculates that the best year for a software genius to be born was 1955-just old enough for the start of the personal-computer revolution in the mid-1970s.

同样，格拉德威尔推测软件才子出生的最佳年份是1955年-因为20世纪70年代中期，个人计算机革命才刚刚起步，而这些1955年出生的人此时正是风华正茂，

That is the year when Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were born.

比尔·盖茨和史蒂夫·乔布斯就是在那一年出生的，

Obviously, not everyone born that year became a billionaire;Gates and Jobs had distinctive³ talents,but they also had unique opportunities growing up.

不过显然也不是每个在1955年出生的人都可以成为亿万富翁；盖茨和乔布斯有卓尔不群的才能，除此之外，他们的成长过程还充满了罕见的机遇。

Almost invariably, Gladwell says,geniuses are made, not born,and it was their families, schools and societies that made them.

格拉德威尔说，几乎可以肯定，天才并非是天生的，而是培养出来的，是他们的家庭环境，学校教育以及社会生活造就了他们。

As evidence Gladwell brings to bear his own history,as the son of a Jamaican woman of limited means who won a scholarship to study at the University of London.

为了更好地证明上述观点，格拉德威尔还摆出了自己的家史，他的母亲出生在一个财力有限的牙买加人家，她获取了奖学金，从而有了到伦敦大学学习的机会。

Her marriage to an Englishman there began the family's ascent⁴ into the educated elite⁵.

她和当地一个英国人结婚，这使得他们一家跻身于知识精英行列。

He maintains that his mother was the beneficiary of her own mother's initiative and a favorable environment.

他一直认为他的母亲能有现在这般成就完全得益于他外祖母的努力进取以及那时良好的外部环境。

And so are we all.

而我们同样也是如此。

The reader should feel free to cite counterexamples-Shakespeare, the son of a provincial⁶ trader in hides and grain·

读者可以信手拈来，随意举出一些反例-比如，莎士比亚的父亲不过是个乡下交易兽皮和谷物的小商贩；

Einstein, dreaming away in an obscure patent office·

而爱因斯坦不过成天在一个无名的专利办公室虚度时光罢了？

you won't faze Gladwell.

但是这些都难不倒格拉德威尔。

He always builds an argument out of riveting⁷ anecdotes⁸ and eye-opening statistics,then blithely⁹ moves on to his next point,leaving the reader with a faint hint of buyer's remorse¹⁰ about the almost too-perfect package of ideas.

他经常利用引人入胜的趣闻以及令人瞠目结舌的数据来论证他的观点，然后欢快地论述下一个观点，而读者就像一下子买了东西的人那样，在读完他那套几近完美的理论之后不免产生一丝懊悔。

No other writer today can pull this sort of thing off so well.

如今，没有哪一个作家可以做到格拉德威尔这样，

If I hadn't just read Gladwell's book,I'd be jealous of his talent, instead of his luck.

要不是我刚刚度了格拉德威尔的这本书，我羡慕的肯定是他的天赋而不是运气。

1 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

2 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

3 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

4 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

7 riveting   

adj.动听的，令人着迷的，完全吸引某人注意力的；n.铆接（法）

参考例句：

• I find snooker riveting though I don't play myself.虽然我自己不打斯诺克，但是我觉得它挺令人着迷。
• To my amazement,I found it riveting.但令我惊讶的是，我发现它的吸引人处。

8 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 blithely   

adv.欢乐地，快活地，无挂虑地

参考例句：

• They blithely carried on chatting, ignoring the customers who were waiting to be served. 他们继续开心地聊天，将等着购物的顾客们置于一边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He blithely ignored her protests and went on talking as if all were agreed between them. 对她的抗议他毫不在意地拋诸脑后，只管继续往下说，仿彿他们之间什么都谈妥了似的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。