异类之不一样的成功启示录 第167期:用程序画一条同Y轴平行的直线

 　　Renee was a nurse. She wasn't someone who had been particularly interested in mathematics in the past.

　　雷妮是个护士。过去，她从不像其他人那样对数学感兴趣。

　　But she had somehow gotten hold of the software well and was hooked.

　　但不知道为什么她被这个软件程序所吸引，并且被“套住了”。

　　"Now what I want to do is make a straight line with this formular, parallel to the y axis¹," she begins.

　　“现在，我所要做的就是用这个程序去画一条同Y轴平行的直线。”她开始说话。

　　Schoenfeld is sitting next to her. She looks over him anxiously. "It's been five years since I did any of this."

　　肖恩菲尔德坐在她身边，她焦虑地看着他。“从我开始做这个软件，到现在已经五年了。”

　　She starts to fiddle² with the program, typing in different numbers.

　　她开始胡乱输入数据，敲着不同的数字。

　　"Now, if I change the slope that way... minus 1... now what I mean to do is make the line goes straight."

　　“现在如果我减去一，那么线就会变直。”

　　As she types in numbers, the line on the screen changes. "Oops, that's not going to do it." She looks puzzled.

　　随着她输入不同的数字，屏幕上的线也随之改变。“噢，这样好像行不通”。她看起来好像很费解。

　　"What are you trying to do?" Schoenfeld asks.

　　肖恩菲尔德问道：“你想做什么？”

　　"What I'm trying to do is make a straight line parallel to the y axis. What do I need to do here?

　　“我就是想画一条与Y轴平行的直线。我需要做些什么？

　　I think what I'm going to do is change this a little bit." She points at the place where the number for the y axis is.

　　我认为我应该再稍微移动一下。”她指着Y轴上的数字说道。

　　"That was something I discover. That when you go from 1 to 2, there was a rather big change.

　　“我发现了，当你把1换成2，就会看到斜线的角度发生很大的变化。”

　　But now if you get way up there, you have to keep changing." This is Renee's "glorious misconception."

　　“但是如果你这样做，你就得一直改动。”这就是雷妮的理解误区。

　　She's noticed the higher she makes the y axis coordinate³, the steeper the line gets.

　　她发现在Y轴上所取得数值越大，线距离Y轴的角度就会越小。

　　So she thinks that the key to making a vertical⁴ line is just making the y axis coordinate large enough.

　　因此，她认为只要在Y轴上取得的数值足够大，那么就可以得到一条垂线。

　　"I guess 12 or even 13 could do it, maybe even as much as 15." She and Schoenfeld go back and forth⁵.

　　“我想，取12或者13就可以得到一条垂线了。或者15。”她皱起眉说道。

　　She asks him questions. He prods⁶ too gently in the right direction. She keeps trying and trying, one approach after another.

　　她同肖恩菲尔德共同反复地探讨解决方案，肖恩菲尔德一点一滴地朝着正确的方向引导她。她一直试了又试，一次次接近目标。

　　At one point, she types in 20. The line gets a little steeper. She types in 40. The line gets steeper still.

　　这一次，她输入20，线只比原来的角度斜了一点点。她输入40，线依旧只倾斜了一点点。

　　"I see that there is a relationship there. As to why, it doesn't seem to make sense to me....

　　“我觉得这有些关联，但是至于为什么会这样，我始终想不明白。

　　What if I do 80? If 40 gets me halfway⁷, then 80 should get me all the way to the y axis. So just let's see what happens."

　　如果我输入80呢？如果输入40，斜线已经与Y轴成45度，那么输入80就应该得到一条直线了。所以，我要输入80，看看结果如何。”

1 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

2 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

3 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

4 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 prods   

n.刺，戳( prod的名词复数 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳v.刺，戳( prod的第三人称单数 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• Electric bulb and socket, with a pair of prods for testing for element shorts and defects. 电灯，插座和一对探针，以供试验电池的短路和检查故障用。 来自辞典例句
• Make off the cuff remarks that are often seen as personal prods. 做出非正规的评价，让人不能接受。 来自互联网

7 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。