乔布斯传 第16期:上学(4)

 　　“It would have been fun if he had gotten to teach me how to use a mill and lathe¹. But unfortunately I never went, because I was more interested in electronics.”

　　“要是他能教我用铣和车床的话，一定会很有意思的，但遗憾的是，我从没去过他的车间，因为我对电子的东西更感兴趣。”

　　One summer Paul took Steve to Wisconsin to visit the family’s dairy farm. Rural life did not appeal to Steve, but one image stuck with him.

　　一年夏天，保罗·乔布斯带着史蒂夫去威斯康星州参观他们家的奶牛场。乡村生活对史蒂夫毫无吸引力，但有一幅画面却深深刻在了他心上。

　　He saw a calf² being born, and he was amazed when the tiny animal struggled up within minutes and began to walk.

　　他看到了一只小牛犊的出生，让他惊讶的是，这只小动物才落地几分钟就挣扎着站起来开始走路。

　　“It was not something she had learned, but it was instead hardwired into her,” he recalled.

　　“这不是它通过学习获得的技能，而是与生俱来的，”他回忆说，

　　“A human baby couldn’t do that. I found it remarkable³, even though no one else did.” He put it in hardware-software terms:

　　“人类的婴儿就没有这种能力。我觉得这很了不起，虽然别人都不这么想。”他用软硬件的术语来形容这个现象：

　　“It was as if something in the animal’s body and in its brain had been engineered to work together instantly rather than being learned.”

　　“就好像是设计好的一样，动物身体里的某些东西和它大脑里的某些东西在它出生后立刻始协同作用，而不需要它去学习。”

　　In ninth grade Jobs went to Homestead High, which had a sprawling⁴ campus of two-story cinderblock buildings painted pink that served two thousand students.

　　到了九年级，乔布斯去了家园髙中（Homestead High),这所学校的校园有些杂乱，由几栋两层楼的砖砌建筑构成，建筑都被刷成了粉色，当时有2000名学生。

　　“It was designed by a famous prison architect,” Jobs recalled. “They wanted to make it indestructible.”

　　“学校是由一个著名的监狱建筑师设计的，”乔布斯回忆说，“他们想把学校建得坚不可摧。”

　　He had developed a love of walking, and he walked the fifteen blocks to school by himself each day. He had few friends his own age,

　　乔布斯那时候爱上了走路，他每天都独自走过15条街去上学。他没什么同龄的朋友，

　　but he got to know some seniors who were immersed in the counterculture of the late 1960s.

　　却认识几个沉浸在20世纪60年代晚期反主流文化浪潮中的高年级学生。

　　It was a time when the geek and hippie worlds were beginning to show some overlap⁵.

　　那时候，极客和嬉皮士的世界开始显现出一些重叠了。

　　“My friends were the really smart kids,” he said. “I was interested in math and science and electronics.

　　“我的朋友们都很聪明，”他说，“我对数学、科学和电子学感兴趣，

　　They were too, and also into LSD and the whole counterculture trip.”

　　他们也是，而且大家都喜欢迷幻药和反主流文化。”

　　His pranks⁶ by then typically involved electronics. At one point he wired his house with speakers.

　　那时候，他的恶作剧一般都会用到电子设备。有一次，他在家中连接了几个扬声器。

　　But since speakers can also be used as microphones, he built a control room in his closet, where he could listen in on what was happening in other rooms.

　　杨声器也可以用做麦克风，他在自己的衣柜里建了一个控制室，这样就可以偷听其他房间的声音了。

　　One night, when he had his headphones on and was listening in on his parents’ bedroom, his father caught him and angrily demanded that he dismantle⁷ the system.

　　有天晚上，他正戴着耳机偷听父母房间的声音，父亲逮到了他，愤怒地要求他拆除整套系统。

　　He spent many evenings visiting the garage of Larry Lang, the engineer who lived down the street from his old house.

　　很多晚上他都会造访他以前的工程师邻居拉里·朗的车库。

　　Lang eventually gave Jobs the carbon microphone that had fascinated him,

　　朗最终把那只令乔布斯魂牵梦萦的碳精麦克风送给了他，

　　and he turned him on to Heathkits, those assemble-it- yourself kits⁸ for making ham radios and other electronic gear that were beloved by the soldering⁹ set back then.

　　还让他迷上了希斯工具盒(Heath kits) ，当时广受欢迎的用来制作无线电设备或其他电子装备，但需要自己组装的工具套装。

　　“Heathkits came with all the boards and parts color-coded, but the manual also explained the theory of how it operated,” Jobs recalled.

　　“希斯工具盒里面有各种各样用不同颜色编号的插件板和零部件，还有解释其使用原理的操作手册。”乔布斯回忆，

　　“It made you realize you could build and understand anything. Once you built a couple of radios, you’d see a TV in the catalogue and say,

　　“它让你意识到你能组装并搞懂任何东西。你做完几个无线电装置后，就会在目录里看到电视机，你会说，

　　‘I can build that as well,’ even if you didn’t. I was very lucky, because when I was a kid both my dad and the Heathkits made me believe I could build anything.”

　　这个我也能做，即便你并不会真的去做。我很幸运，因为当我还是个孩子的时候，我的父亲，还有希斯工具盒都让我相信，我能做出任何东西。”

1 lathe   

n.车床，陶器，镟床

参考例句：

• Gradually she learned to operate a lathe.她慢慢地学会了开车床。
• That lathe went out of order at times.那台车床有时发生故障。

2 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

5 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

6 pranks   

n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

7 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

8 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

9 soldering   

n.软焊；锡焊；低温焊接；热焊接v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Care must be exercised in attaching the lead wires to the soldering tabs. 在往接线片上焊导线时必须非常小心。 来自辞典例句
• I suggest posing me with a soldering wand over my head like a sword. 我想让自己这样像把剑一样把电焊杆举过头顶。 来自电影对白