比尔·盖茨2023北亚利桑那大学毕业典礼演讲：生活比工作更重要

近日，比尔·盖茨（Bill Gates）出席北亚利桑那大学（Northern Arizona University）2023年毕业典礼并发表演讲。

演讲中，他给年轻人提到5点建议：你的人生不是一出独幕剧、保持学习乐于接受新鲜事物、做能解决问题的工作、不要低估友谊的力量、生活比工作更重要。演讲全文：比尔·盖茨2023北亚利桑那大学毕业典礼演讲

🤔️小作业：

1. According to Bill Gates, what is crucial when facing a problem you cannot solve alone?

A. You need to learn new skills on your own.

B. You should try to focus on what you already know.

C. You have to find intelligent people to learn from.

D. You must ask your peers for help immediately.

2. Why does Bill Gates believe work that solves a problem is energizing?

A. It makes you rich.

B. It helps you make a big impact.

C. It improves your social status.

D. It gives you a sense of superiority.

A. Working late and weekends is necessary for success.

B. Taking breaks and nurturing relationships are important.

C. Tracking employees' work hours is a good managerial strategy.

D. Vacations and weekends are luxuries that young professionals can't afford.

无注释原文：

Bill Gates: Here are 'the 5 things I wish I was told at the graduation I never had'

From: CNBC

Bill Gates never finished his undergraduate degree — the billionaire dropped out of Harvard University after three semesters to start Microsoft.

“What does a college dropout know about graduation? Not much, personally, to be honest,” Gates told students at Northern Arizona University's commencement ceremony on Saturday.

“As I prepared for today, I spent a lot of time thinking about how you, as new graduates, can have the biggest impact on the world with the education you received here,” Gates said. “That led me to thinking about ... the advice I was never given on a day just like this one.”

If Gates had finished college, these are “the five things I wish I was told at the graduation I never had,” he said.

'Your life isn't a one-act play'

“You're probably facing a lot of pressure right now to make the right decisions about your career,” Gates said. “It might feel like those decisions are permanent. They're not.”

Gates recalled battling this same pressure when he was a student. When he co-founded Microsoft in 1975, he thought that “I would work there for the rest of my life,” he said.

He's “so glad” that he was wrong about that, he added.

Gates did work at Microsoft for a long time: He was the company's CEO until 2000, and board director until 2014. “Today, I still work on software, but philanthropy is my full-time job,” he said, referencing his work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he co-founded with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates.

The foundation has issued $65.6 billion in grant payments since 2000, focusing largely on global issues like climate change, gender equality and health care, according to its website.

It's a “good thing” to reevaluate yourself and your goals, even if they don't align with what you originally imagined, Gates noted.

'You are never too smart to be confused'

Even the co-founder of a multi-trillion dollar company learns new things daily. It wasn't always that way: When Gates dropped out of college, he said, he thought he knew everything.

Eventually, he realized that “the first step to learning something new is leaning into what you don't know, instead of focusing on what you do know,” he said.

Gates advised students to do the same.

“At some point in your career, you will find yourself facing a problem you cannot solve on your own,” he said. “When that happens, don't panic. Take a breath. Force yourself to think things through. And then find smart people to learn from.”

You can find these smart people in the workplace, on professional networking sites or among your peers, he added. His advice for getting that help: Don't be afraid to ask for it.

'Gravitate towards work that solves a problem'

Gates was responsible for the largest known charitable donation of 2022, giving $5 billion of his own money to the Gates Foundation to back its work. Unsurprisingly, he encouraged students to take opportunities to help others.

“You are graduating at a time of immense opportunity to help people,” he said. “New industries and companies are emerging every day that will allow you to make a living by making a difference. And advances in science and technology have made it easier than ever to make a big impact.”

The opportunities are endless, Gates said: Students they could fight climate change as foresters or help people benefit from artificial intelligence as programmers.

“When you spend your days doing something that solves a big problem, it energizes you to do your best work,” he said. “It forces you to be more creative, and it gives your life a stronger sense of purpose.”

'Don't underestimate the power of friendship'

One of Gates' biggest college regrets, he told Harvard students in 2018: Not being sociable enough. He spent most of his time in class or studying, leaving little room for building friendships.

On Saturday, Gates advised recent graduates to keep valuing the connections they made throughout college.

“The people you've [socialized] with and sat next to in lectures are not just your classmates. They are your network,” he said. “Your future co-founders and colleagues. Your best sources of support, information, and advice. The only thing more valuable than what you walk offstage with today is who you walk onstage with.”

Some of Gates' oldest friends have played crucial parts in his life. His high school friend Paul Allen became his Microsoft co-founder. One of his few college friends, Steve Ballmer, became his successor as Microsoft CEO.

In March, Gates even said that the best piece of advice he's ever received was about friendship — and it came from his longtime friend and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett.

“In the end, it's how friends really think of you and how strong those friendships are [that matters],” Gates recalled Buffett telling him.

'You are not a slacker if you cut yourself some slack'

Working hard can lead to increased pay or a climb up the corporate ladder, but you shouldn't do it at the expense of living your life. Gates learned that lesson too late, he said.

“When I was your age, I didn't believe in vacations. I didn't believe in weekends. I didn't believe the people I worked with should either,” he said. He even tracked his Microsoft employees, noting who stayed in the office late and who left early.

It took becoming a dad for him to realize “there's more to life than work,” he noted.

“Don't wait as long as I did to learn this lesson,” he said. “Take time to nurture your relationships. To celebrate your successes. And to recover from your losses. Take a break when you need to. Take it easy on the people around you when they need it, too.”

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Bill Gates: Here are 'the 5 things I wish I was told at the graduation I never had'

From: CNBC

Bill Gates never finished his undergraduate degree — the billionaire dropped out of Harvard University after three semesters to start Microsoft.

比尔·盖茨（Bill Gates）从未完成他的本科学业——这位亿万富翁在哈佛大学读了三个学期后就辍学创办了微软。

drop /drɒp/ 表示“退学，辍学”，英文解释为“If a student drops out, they stop going to classes before they have finished their course.”或者表示“停止；退出；中断”，英文解释为“to not do something that you were going to do, or to stop doing something before you have completely finished”举个🌰：He dropped out of the race after two laps. 在跑了两圈后他退出了比赛。

semester /sɪˈmes.tər/ 表示“（尤指美国和澳大利亚大学的）学期”，英文解释为“one of the periods into which a year is divided at a college or university, especially in the US and Australia”如：the first/second semester 第一/第二学期，the spring/fall semester 春季/秋季学期。

“What does a college dropout know about graduation? Not much, personally, to be honest,” Gates told students at Northern Arizona University's commencement ceremony on Saturday.

周六，盖茨在北亚利桑那大学（Northern Arizona University）的毕业典礼上对学生们说：“一个大学辍学生对毕业有什么了解呢？老实说，就我个人而言，并不多。”

1）表示“学位授予典礼；毕业典礼”，英文解释为“a ceremony at which students formally receive their degrees”

2）表示“开始；开端”，英文解释为“the beginning of something”举个🌰：Would passengers please turn off their mobile phones before the commencement of the flight. 请乘客们在飞机起飞前关闭手机。

“As I prepared for today, I spent a lot of time thinking about how you, as new graduates, can have the biggest impact on the world with the education you received here,” Gates said. “That led me to thinking about ... the advice I was never given on a day just like this one.”

“在我为今天做准备的时候，我花了很多时间思考你们作为应届毕业生，如何通过在这里接受的教育对世界产生最大的影响，”盖茨说。“这让我思考…在今天这样的日子里，我从来没有得到过的建议。”

If Gates had finished college, these are “the five things I wish I was told at the graduation I never had,” he said.

他说，如果能完成大学学业，这是“我希望在未曾有过的毕业典礼上有人告诉我的五件事”。

'Your life isn't a one-act play' 你的人生不是一出独幕剧

“You're probably facing a lot of pressure right now to make the right decisions about your career,” Gates said. “It might feel like those decisions are permanent. They're not.”

“你们现在可能面临着很大的压力，需要做出关于职业生涯的正确决策，”盖茨说。“可能会觉得这些决策是永久性的。其实并非如此。”

「One-act play」是指的独幕剧，这是一种戏剧形式，整个剧本只有一幕。这种剧通常较短，没有间歇，而且剧情通常比较紧凑。独幕剧可以有一个或多个角色。

📍独角戏在英语中通常被称为one-man show或one-woman show，这取决于演员的性别。如果不涉及到性别，也可以称为solo performance或solo show。「独角戏」或「单人剧」是指的剧中只有一个角色的戏剧形式，通常由一个演员来表演所有的部分。独角戏可以是独幕剧，也可以是多幕剧。

📍独幕剧指的是剧本的结构，而独角戏指的是剧本的角色数量。

Gates recalled battling this same pressure when he was a student. When he co-founded Microsoft in 1975, he thought that “I would work there for the rest of my life,” he said.

盖茨回忆起他作为学生时也面临过同样的压力。1975年他与人共同创办了微软时，他说，他认为“我将在那里工作一辈子”。

He's “so glad” that he was wrong about that, he added.

他对自己当初的错误判断感到“非常高兴”。

Gates did work at Microsoft for a long time: He was the company's CEO until 2000, and board director until 2014. “Today, I still work on software, but philanthropy is my full-time job,” he said, referencing his work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he co-founded with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates.

盖茨确实在微软工作了很长时间：在2000年之前，他一直担任公司首席执行官，2014年之前一直担任董事会董事。“今天，我仍然从事软件相关工作，但慈善事业是我的全职工作，”他指的是他和前妻梅琳达·弗伦奇·盖茨（Melinda French Gates）共同创立的比尔及梅琳达·盖茨基金会的工作。

威尔·史密斯被禁止出席奥斯卡活动十年文中提到，board作名词，表示“董事会；理事会；委员会”，英文解释为“the group of people who are responsible for controlling and organizing a company or organization”举个🌰：Every decision has to be approved by the board (of directors). 每项决定都必须由董事会通过。

board作动词，表示“（使）上（船、火车或飞机）”，英文解释为“to get onto or allow people to get onto a boat, train, or aircraft”举个🌰：At the airport she boarded a plane to Hangzhou. 在机场她登上了去杭州的飞机。

📍philanthropy /fɪˈlænθrəpɪ/ 表示“博爱；慈善；乐善好施；捐助”，英文解释为“the practice of helping the poor and those in need, especially by giving money”。

📍philanthropist /fɪˈlænθrəpɪst/ 表示“慈善家”，英文解释为“A philanthropist is someone who freely gives money and help to people who need it.”

The foundation has issued $65.6 billion in grant payments since 2000, focusing largely on global issues like climate change, gender equality and health care, according to its website.

该基金会网站显示，自2000年以来，该基金会已经发放了656亿美元的赠款，主要关注气候变化、性别平等和医疗保健等全球问题。

作名词，浙大博士生和蜜橘商家的聊天记录火了文中，grant /ɡrɑːnt/ 表示“（尤指政府为特殊目的给予个人或组织的）拨款，补助金”，英文解释为“an amount of money given especially by the government to a person or organization for a special purpose”如：a student/research grant 助学金/研究拨款，举个🌰：They'd got a special grant to encourage research 他们已得到了一笔用来支持研究的特别补助金。

作动词，表示“（通常指官方）同意，准予，授予”，英文解释为“to give or allow someone something, usually in an official way”举个🌰：They granted her an entry visa. 他们发给她入境签证。

It's a “good thing” to reevaluate yourself and your goals, even if they don't align with what you originally imagined, Gates noted.

盖茨指出，重新评估自己和自己的目标也是“好事”，即使它们与你最初的想象不一致。

1）表示“排整齐；校准；（尤指）使成一条直线”，英文解释为“to arrange sth in the correct position, or to be in the correct position, in relation to sth else, especially in a straight line”举个🌰：Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard. 务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

2）表示“使一致”，英文解释为“to change sth slightly so that it is in the correct relationship to sth else”举个🌰：Prices have been aligned with those in world markets. 价格已调整到与世界市场一致。

'You are never too smart to be confused' 再聪明的人也不会无所困惑

Even the co-founder of a multi-trillion dollar company learns new things daily. It wasn't always that way: When Gates dropped out of college, he said, he thought he knew everything.

即使是价值万亿美元公司的联合创始人也每天都在学习新事物。但事实并非总是如此：当盖茨辍学时，他说，他以为自己无所不知。

Eventually, he realized that “the first step to learning something new is leaning into what you don't know, instead of focusing on what you do know,” he said.

最终，他意识到“学习新事物的第一步是深入了解你所不知道的，而不是专注于你已知的。”他说。

Gates advised students to do the same.

盖茨建议学生们也这样做。

“At some point in your career, you will find yourself facing a problem you cannot solve on your own,” he said. “When that happens, don't panic. Take a breath. Force yourself to think things through. And then find smart people to learn from.”

“在你的职业生涯中，总有一天你会遇到一个你无法独自解决的问题，”他说。“届时，不要恐慌。深呼吸。强迫自己把事情想清楚。然后找到聪明的人，向他们学习。”

You can find these smart people in the workplace, on professional networking sites or among your peers, he added. His advice for getting that help: Don't be afraid to ask for it.

他补充说，你可以在工作场所、专业社交网站或同龄人中找到这些聪明人。他对获得这种帮助的建议是：不要害怕寻求帮助。

作动词，表示“仔细看，端详；费力地看”，英文解释为“to look carefully or with difficulty”举个🌰：When no one answered the door, she peered through the window to see if anyone was there. 没有人开门，她就费力地透过窗户朝里望去，看是否有人在。

作名词，表示“同龄人；同辈；同等社会地位（或能力）的人”，英文解释为“a person who is the same age or has the same social position or the same abilities as other people in a group”举个🌰：Do you think it's true that teenage girls are less self-confident than their male peers? 你是否认为十几岁的女孩子不如同年龄的男孩子自信？

'Gravitate towards work that solves a problem' 向解决问题的工作靠近

Gates was responsible for the largest known charitable donation of 2022, giving $5 billion of his own money to the Gates Foundation to back its work. Unsurprisingly, he encouraged students to take opportunities to help others.

盖茨在2022年贡献了目前已知最大数额的慈善捐款，他向基金会捐赠了50亿美元的个人资金，以支持其工作。不出所料，他鼓励学生们抓住帮助他人的机会。

gravitate /ˈɡræv.ɪ.teɪt/ towards/to sth/sb表示“吸引到；受吸引而转到”，英文解释为“to be attracted by or to move in the direction of something or someone”举个🌰：She always gravitates towards the older children in her playgroup. 她在幼儿游戏组里总是爱跟比她大的孩子玩。

charitable /ˈtʃær.ə.tə.bəl/ 表示“慈善的”，英文解释为“giving money, food, or help free to those who are in need because they are ill, poor, or have no home”如：a charitable foundation/organization/trust 慈善基金会/组织／信托机构。

donation /dəʊˈneɪ.ʃən/ 表示“捐献，捐赠，捐助”，英文解释为“money or goods that are given to help a person or organization, or the act of giving them”如：donations of food and money 食品和钱的捐赠。

“You are graduating at a time of immense opportunity to help people,” he said. “New industries and companies are emerging every day that will allow you to make a living by making a difference. And advances in science and technology have made it easier than ever to make a big impact.”

“你们毕业于一个有巨大机会来帮助他人的时代，”他说。“每天都有新的行业和公司在涌现，这将让你们能够有所作为来谋生。而科技的进步让你们比以往任何时候都更容易产生重大影响。”

immense /ɪˈmɛns/表示“极大的；巨大的；无限的”，英文解释为“extremely large or great in size or degree”，如：immense wealth/value 巨大的财富/价值，an immense amount of work  to be done 大量工作要做。

make a living 表示“谋生”，英文解释为“to earn enough money to buy the things you need”举个🌰：Everyone has to make a living. 每个人都要谋生。

The opportunities are endless, Gates said: Students they could fight climate change as foresters or help people benefit from artificial intelligence as programmers.

盖茨说，机会无处不在，学生们可以成为林务员来应对气候变化，或者成为程序员帮助人们从人工智能中受益。

forester /ˈfɒr.ɪ.stər/ 表示“林务员；护林人”，英文解释为“a person who is in charge of taking care of a forest”

“When you spend your days doing something that solves a big problem, it energizes you to do your best work,” he said. “It forces you to be more creative, and it gives your life a stronger sense of purpose.”

“当你每天都在做能解决大问题的事情时，这会激励你全力以赴，”他说。“它迫使你更有创造力，让你的生活有更强的使命感。”

energize /ˈen.ə.dʒaɪz/ 表示“使精力充沛，使有活力；激励，激发”，英文解释为“to make someone feel energetic or eager”举个🌰：I felt very energized after my holiday. 假期过后，我感到精力非常充沛。

'Don't underestimate the power of friendship' 不要低估友谊的力量 

One of Gates' biggest college regrets, he told Harvard students in 2018: Not being sociable enough. He spent most of his time in class or studying, leaving little room for building friendships.

盖茨在2018年告诉哈佛学生，他在大学时的最大遗憾是：不太善于交际。他大部分时间都在上课或学习，几乎没有时间建立友谊。

表示“低估；（对…）估计不足”，英文解释为“to fail to guess or understand the real cost, size, difficulty, etc. of something”举个🌰：Don't underestimate the difficulties of getting both parties to the conference table. 要让双方坐下来谈判，难度不可小觑。

On Saturday, Gates advised recent graduates to keep valuing the connections they made throughout college.

周六，盖茨建议应届毕业生继续珍视他们在大学期间建立的人际关系。

“The people you've [socialized] with and sat next to in lectures are not just your classmates. They are your network,” he said. “Your future co-founders and colleagues. Your best sources of support, information, and advice. The only thing more valuable than what you walk offstage with today is who you walk onstage with.”

“与你们一起玩耍的人，在课堂上坐在一起的人，他们不仅仅是你们的同学。他们是你们的关系网，”他说。“是你们未来的合伙人和同事。是你们获得支持、信息和建议的最佳来源。你们今天带走的，除了你们手上的东西，最有价值的还有与你们一起走上舞台的人。”

Some of Gates' oldest friends have played crucial parts in his life. His high school friend Paul Allen became his Microsoft co-founder. One of his few college friends, Steve Ballmer, became his successor as Microsoft CEO.

盖茨的一些老朋友在他的人生中发挥了至关重要的作用。他的高中朋友保罗·艾伦（Paul Allen）成为了微软联合创始人。他为数不多的大学朋友之一，史蒂夫·鲍尔默（Steve Ballmer）成为了他的微软首席执行官的接班人。

表示“继任者，接替者；继承人；接替的事物”，英文解释为“someone or something that comes after another person or thing”举个🌰：This range of computers is very fast, but their successors will be even faster. 这个系列的电脑速度很快，但它的换代产品速度会更快。

📍predecessor表示“前任，前辈；原有事物，前身”，英文解释为“someone who had a job or a position before someone else, or something that comes before another thing in time or in a series”。

In March, Gates even said that the best piece of advice he's ever received was about friendship — and it came from his longtime friend and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett.

今年3月，盖茨甚至表示，他得到的最好的建议是关于友谊的——来自他的老朋友、同为亿万富翁的沃伦·巴菲特（Warren Buffett）。

“In the end, it's how friends really think of you and how strong those friendships are [that matters],” Gates recalled Buffett telling him. 

“归根结底，朋友们对你的真实看法，以及这些友谊有多深厚[才是重要的]，”盖茨回忆起巴菲特对他说的话。

'You are not a slacker if you cut yourself some slack' 给自己放松一下并不意味着你是个懒散的人

Working hard can lead to increased pay or a climb up the corporate ladder, but you shouldn't do it at the expense of living your life. Gates learned that lesson too late, he said.

努力工作可以带来加薪或晋升，但你不应该以牺牲自己的生活为代价。他说，他太晚才吸取到这个教训。

表示“偷懒的人；磨洋工的人”，英文解释为“If you describe someone as a slacker, you mean that they are lazy and do less work than they should.”举个🌰：Those slackers have gone home early again. 那些懒家伙又提前回家了。

表示“给…方便；对…网开一面”，英文解释为“to not judge someone as severely as you usually would because they are having problems at the present time”举个🌰："Andrew's late again." "Cut him some slack - his wife just had a baby." “安德鲁又迟到了。”“对他就网开一面吧——他妻子刚生小孩。”

📍slack /slæk/ 作名词，表示“松弛，不紧”，英文解释为“the fact that something is too loose”举个🌰：There's too much slack in these ropes. 这些绳子有太多的地方很松弛。

at sb's expense = at the expense of sb 表示“以...为代价；在...受损的情况下；捉弄，戏弄；拿…开心”，英文解释为“If you do one thing at the expense of another, doing the first thing harms the second thing.”举个🌰：He had no need to protect their reputation at the expense of his own. 他没有必要为了保护他们的名誉而牺牲自己的。Would you stop making jokes at my expense? 你别再拿我开玩笑了，好不好？

“When I was your age, I didn't believe in vacations. I didn't believe in weekends. I didn't believe the people I worked with should either,” he said. He even tracked his Microsoft employees, noting who stayed in the office late and who left early.

“当我和你们一样大的时候，我不认为有假期。我不认为有周末。我不认为和我一起工作的人应该有这些，”他说。他甚至监控他的微软员工，注意谁在办公室待得晚，谁早早离开。

作名词，表示“（录制在CD、唱片或磁带上的）一首歌曲; 一首乐曲”，英文解释为“A track is one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD, record, or tape.”举个🌰：I only like two of the ten tracks on this CD. 我只喜欢这张CD上的10首歌曲中的2首。

📍周末多睡2小时抑郁风险降低48%文中作动词，1）表示“跟踪，追踪”，英文解释为“to follow a person or animal by looking for proof that they have been somewhere, or by using electronic equipment”；

2）表示“追踪，记录…的进展”，英文解释为“to record the progress or development of something over a period”举个🌰：We continued tracking the plane on our radar. 我们继续用雷达追踪那架飞机。

🎬 电影《博物馆奇妙夜3》（Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb）中的台词提到：You're sort of set up to track my phone? You track my phone? 你装定位追踪我的手机？你竟然追踪我的手机？

It took becoming a dad for him to realize “there's more to life than work,” he noted.

他指出，成为父亲后，他才意识到“生活中还有比工作更重要的事情”。

“Don't wait as long as I did to learn this lesson,” he said. “Take time to nurture your relationships. To celebrate your successes. And to recover from your losses. Take a break when you need to. Take it easy on the people around you when they need it, too.”

“不要像我一样那么晚才吸取到这个教训，”他说。“花时间去培养你的人际关系，去为你的成功欢庆，去为你的挫折疗愈。需要的时候，就休息一下。当周围的人需要时，也对他们宽容一些。”

表示“促进；扶助；培养”，英文解释为“to help a plan or a person to develop and be successful”举个🌰：As a record company executive, his job is to nurture young talent. 作为唱片公司主管，他的职责是培养有才华的年轻人。

- 今日要点 -

- 词汇盘点 -

- 词汇助记 By ChatGPT -