2014職稱英語理工類新增文章（A級）：閱讀判斷第十一篇

　　I’ve always been an optimist and I suppose it isrooted in1 my belief that the power of creativity and intelligencecan make the world a better place.

　　For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved learningnew things and solving problems. So when I sat down at a computer for the firsttime in seventh grade, I was hooked. It was a clunky old teletype machine andit could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today.2But it changed my life.

　　When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft30 years ago，we had avision of “a computer on every desk and in every home”, which probably soundeda little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size ofrefrigerators. But we believed that personal computers would change the world.And they have.

　　And after 30 years, I’m still as inspired bycomputers as I was back in seventh grade.

　　I believe that computers are the most incredibletool we can use to feed our curiosity and inventiveness — to help us solve problemsthat even the smartest people couldn’t solve on their own.

　　Computers have transformed how we learn，giving kids everywhere a windowinto all of the world’s knowledge. They’re helping us build communities aroundthe things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important tous, no matter where they are.3

　　Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularlylucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it “tap-dancing towork”4. My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but whatmakes me “tap-dancing to work” is when we show people something new, like acomputer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that canstore a lifetime’s worth of photos, and they say, “I didn’t know you could dothat with a PC5! ”

　　But for all the cool things that a person can dowith a PC，there arelots of other ways we can put our creativity and intelligence to work toimprove our world6. There are still far too many people in the worldwhose most basic needs go unmet7. Every year, for example, millionsof people die from diseases that are easy to prevent or treat in the developedworld.

　　I believe that my own good fortune brings with ita responsibility to give back to the world. My wife, Melinda, and I havecommitted to8 improving health and education in a way that can helpas many people as possible.

　　As a father, I believe that the death of a childin Africa is no less poignant or tragic than9 the death of a childanywhere else, and that it doesn’t take much to make an immense difference inthese children’s lives10.

　　I’m still very much an optimist, and I believethat progress on even the world’s toughest problems is possible — and it’shappening every day. We’re seeing new drugs for deadly diseases, new diagnostictools，and newattention paid to the health problems in the developing world.

　　I’m excited by the possibilities I see formedicine, for education and, of course, for technology. And I believe thatthrough our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve toughproblems, we're going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas inmy lifetime.

　　詞匯：

　　unleash/ ?n?li:? / vt.解開;放縱;使自由

　　inspire/ ?n?spa??(r) / vt.鼓舞

　　optimist/'Dpt?m?st/ n.樂觀主義者

　　incredible/ ?n'kred?bl/ adj.難以置信的

　　clunky(clonky) /'kl?nk?/ adj.發(fā)出沉悶金屬聲的

　　curiosity/?kju?r?'Ds?t?/ n.好奇心

　　inventivenessn.發(fā)明創(chuàng)造的能力

　　teletype/'tel?ta?p/ (teletype-writer) n.電傳打字機

　　poignant/ ?p??nj?nt / adj.令人悲痛的，可憐的

　　tragic/'traed3?k/ adj.悲劇的，悲慘的

　　vision/'v?3n/ n.想象;幻想;美景

　　immense/I'mens/ adj.巨大的

　　注釋：

　　1.be rooted in：扎根于;深深地存在于

　　2.It was a clunky oldteletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers wehave today.那是一臺笨重的舊式電傳打字機，跟我們今天的電腦相比幾乎干不了什么事。本句中，barely意為almost not;compare to在美國英語中也可以等同于compare with(與……相比)。

　　3.They’re helping us buildcommunities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people whoare important to us, no matter where they are.電腦幫助我們就我們所關(guān)心的事情建立一個交流的場所，并且與那些我們認(rèn)為對我們有重要意義的人密切相處，不管他們身在何處。care about指不管喜歡或不喜歡的事情都很關(guān)心、介意、在乎、計較。

　　4.“tap-dancing to work”：“跳著踢踏舞工作”。tap原意是“叩擊、輕敲”;tap dance是“踢踏舞”。這里實際意思是“(手指)輕輕敲擊鍵盤的工作”。

　　5.PC (personal computer)：個人計算機

　　6.But for all the cool things that aperson can do with a PC, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativityand intelligence to work to improve our world.除了我們能用計算機做的所有神奇的事情，還有很多其他方式發(fā)揮我們的創(chuàng)造力和智慧，從而使世界更加美好。

　　7.go unmet：得不到滿足。在這里go是系動詞，unmet是過去分詞作表語。

　　8.commit to此處意為承諾，保證做某事。

　　9.no less... than：和 一樣，不亞于……

　　10. and that itdoesn’t take much to make an immense difference in these children’s lives.而且要改善這些孩子們的命運，其實不難。此處it是形式主語，真正的主語是不定式短語to make an immensedifference in these children’s lives。

　　練習(xí)：

　　1.A computer was as big as an icebox when Bill Gates was a high schoolstudent.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　2.Bill Gates has been dreaming of the popularity of computers for hislifetime.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　3.Bill Gates compares his hard work on a PC to “tap-dancing to work”.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　4.To Bill Gates’ mind, there is a big difference between the death ofthe poor’s children and the death of the rich’s children.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　5.So far Bill Gates has contributed several dozen billion dollars tothe charities.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　6.Bill Gates and his wife consider it their duty to help the poorbetter their health and education as much as possible.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　7.Bill Gates will leave only a small portion of his wealth for hischildren.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　答案與題解：

　　1.A文章第三段中比爾•蓋茨說，當(dāng)他念七年級時，電腦就是冰箱那么大小。

　　2.A文章第三段比爾•蓋茨說，他30年前與Paul Allen一起創(chuàng)辦微軟公司時就夢想一桌一機、一戶一機，而且從其他各段也可以看到他對電腦有很多的期待。

　　3.B從第七段第二句可以看到作這樣比較的是他的朋友Warren Buffett，而不是他自己。

　　4.B在倒數(shù)第三段，比爾•蓋茨已經(jīng)明確說，所有這些兒童的死亡都一樣令人傷心和悲痛，沒有什么區(qū)別。

　　5.C文章沒有提到他給慈善機構(gòu)捐款的事。

　　6.A倒數(shù)第四段比爾•蓋茨認(rèn)為他一生好運，就理應(yīng)回報社會，所以他和他的妻子做出了承諾，要幫助盡可能多的人改善醫(yī)療和教育條件。

　　7.C文章沒有提到。