名人励志英语演讲 第106期:当梦想来临时抓住它(7)

 　　In late March 1996, soon after I had moved to Stanford for grad school, my Dad had difficultly breathing and was driven to the hospital. Two months later, he died. I was completely devastated¹. Many years later, after a startup, after falling in love, and after so many of life's adventures, I found myself thinking about my Dad.

　　1996年3月下旬，就在我到斯坦福上研究生不久，我爸爸呼吸出现困难，被送到了医院。两个月后，他去世了。我当时几近崩溃。许多年以后，在我重新振作后，在我谈恋爱后，在我体验了如此多的人生经历后，我发现自己总是想起父亲。

　　Lucy and I were far away in a steaming hot village walking through narrow streets. There were wonderful friendly people everywhere, but it was a desperately² poor place--people used the bathroom inside and it flowed out into the open gutter³ and straight into the river. We touched a boy with a limp leg, the result of paralysis⁴ from polio. Lucy and I were in rural India--one of the few places where Polio still exists. Polio is transmitted fecal to oral, usually through filthy⁵ water. Well, my Dad had Polio. He went on a trip to Tennessee in the first grade and he caught it. He was hospitalized for two months and had to be transported by military DC-3 back home--his first flight. My Dad wrote, "Then, I had to stay in bed for over a year, before I started back to school." That is actually quote from his fifth grade autobiography⁶.

　　露西和我曾去过一个遥远的异常炎热的村庄。穿过狭窄的街道，到处都有非常友好的人，但那是一个一贫如洗的地方——人们使用的是室内卫生间，水流过露天的水沟，径直流进河里。我们抚摸着一个瘸腿的男孩，瘸腿的原因是得过小儿麻痹症。露西和我曾去过印度的农村——那里至今仍是小儿麻痹症存在的少数几个地方之一。小儿麻痹症是通过排泄物传播到口腔，通常是通过脏水。嗯，我的父亲有小儿麻痹症。是他在一年级时去田纳西州旅行时患此病的。他在医院治疗了两个月，是军用飞机DC-3把他送回家的——那是他第一次坐飞机。我的爸爸是这样写的：“那时，在我开始回到学校之前，我不得不呆在床上一年多。”这实际上是从他的五年级自传中引用的。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. have difficulty (in) doing sth.

　　常用搭配，表示做某事有困难；

　　eg. I know what I want to say but I have difficulty in putting it across.

　　我知道我想说什么，但我觉得难以表达清楚。

　　eg. Modern artists have difficulty in finding patrons.

　　现代艺术家们很难找到赞助人。

　　2. find oneself doing sth.

　　find oneself后面可以接现在分词doing的形式，意思是：发觉自己的处境，（不知不觉中）发现（自己在做某事）。为主动含义；

　　eg. Dick found himself walking in the direction of Mike's place.

　　迪克不知不觉的朝麦克的住处走去。

　　eg. I found myself having more fun than I had had in years.

　　我发现自己这些年来从未像现在这样开心过。

　　名人简介：

　　创业经历

　　艰辛创业

　　吃了无数个闭门羹之后佩奇和布林决定自己创业，但他们手中仅有的一点现金都因购买大量的数据盘和储存器作研究而花光了。他们的一位教师，也是SUN微系统的创始人之一安迪·别赫托希姆在关键时刻给予他们很大帮助。别赫托希姆确是个很有远见的人，在看完他们的演示后，立马开了张10万美元的支票帮助成立Google公司。之后两人又从家人朋友那里到处借钱，筹得100万美元作为最初投资。

　　1998年9月7日，Google公司在加利福尼亚州的曼罗帕克成立。一个朋友租给佩奇和布林办公的车库在当时看来已经不错了，有一台洗衣机，还有热水器。他们雇用了第一位员工克雷格·希尔弗斯坦，希尔弗斯坦是Google公司的科技主管。

　　1999年2月他们搬了新的办公室，虽然条件仍然简陋，但比车库好点，一张乒乓桌就作为正式的会议场所，8名员工在办公室里都转不过身，一个人要出门所有人都得起身挪开凳子才能腾出地方。

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

3 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

4 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

5 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

6 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。