华尔街的赚钱经 马云谈创业(2)

When I was 12 years old, I got interested in learning English. I rode my bike for 40 minutes every morning, rain or snow,

我12岁时开始对学习英语感兴趣。杭州西湖区位于上海西南方向100公里处。

for eight years to a hotel near the city of Hangzhou's West Lake district, about 100 miles southwest of Shanghai. China was opening up, and a lot of foreign tourists went there.

每天早上我都会骑40分钟的自行车，去附近的一家旅馆，8年的时间里，风雨无阻。中国正在不断地开放，许多的外国游客都会来到那里。

I showed them around as a free guide and practiced my English. Those eight years deeply changed me.

我作为他们的免费导游，带领着他们四处游览，同时锻炼了我的口语。

I started to become more globalized than most Chinese. What I learned from my teachers and books was different from what the foreign visitors told me.

那8年彻底改变了我。比起大部分的中国人啕珑更能感受到了全球化的脉搏。我从老师和书本那里学到的与那些外国游客告诉我的完全不同。

The other event that fundamentally changed me was in 1979, when I met a family with two kids from Australia. We met and spent three days together and played Frisbee¹.

发生在1979年的另外一件事从根本上改变了我。当时我接触了一个来自澳大利亚的家庭，这家有两个孩子。我和他们在一起呆了三天，还和他们玩飞盘游戏。

We became pen pals². In 1985 they invited me to go to Australia for a summer vacation. I went in July, and those 31 days changed my life.

后来我们成了笔友。1985年，他们邀请我到澳大利亚度暑假。我七月份到了澳大利亚，在那儿的31天可以说改变了我的人生。

Since then, I started to think differently.

从那时起，我开始以不同的思维方式来看待问题。

I flunked³ my exam for university twice before I was accepted by what was considered my city's worst university, Hangzhou Normal University.

在我被杭州师范学院，也就是被认为是那个我所在城市里155最差的大学录取之前，我曾两次在大学入学考试中失利。

I was studying to be a high school English teacher. In my university, I was elected student chairman and later became chairman of the city's Students Federation⁴.

我努力学习，希望能成为一名高中英语教师。在大学期间，我被选为学生会主席。之后，我又成为杭州市高校学生联合会的主席。

1 frisbee   

n.飞盘(塑料玩具)

参考例句：

• We always go to the park on weekends and play Frisbee.我们每个周末都会到公园玩飞盘。
• The frisbee is a light plastic disc,shaped like a plate.飞盘是一种碟形塑料盘。

2 pals   

n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙

参考例句：

• We've been pals for years. 我们是多年的哥们儿了。
• CD 8 positive cells remarkably increased in PALS and RP(P CD8+细胞在再生脾PALS和RP内均明显增加(P 来自互联网

3 flunked   

v.( flunk的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（考试、某学科的成绩等）不及格；评定（某人）不及格；（因不及格而） 退学

参考例句：

• I flunked math in second grade. 我二年级时数学不及格。
• He flunked out (of college) last year. 他去年（从大学）退学了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。