1、Unit5 My Advice to Students: Education CountsHundreds of students send me e-mail each year asking for advice about education. 每年都有数以百计的学生给我发电子邮件，要我就接受教育给他们提建议。They want to know what to study, or whether its okay to drop out of college since thats what I did. 他们想知道该学些什么，或者可不可以从大学辍学，因为我就没有读完大学。A small
2、er number of parents send messages, seeking guidance for their son or daughter. 也有不少家长给我写信，为子女寻求指导。“How can we steer our child toward success?“ they ask. 他们问：“我们怎样才能把孩子引向成功之路？”My basic advice is simple and heartfelt: Get the best education you can. Take advantage of high school and college. Learn ho
3、w to learn. 我的基本忠告很简单，而且是发自内心的：全力获得最佳教育，充分利用高中和大学，学会如何学习。Its true that I dropped out of college to start Microsoft, but I was at Harvard for three years before dropping out-and Id love to have the time to go back. 不错，为创建微软，我未完成大学学业，不过辍学之前我已经在哈佛呆了三年，而且我真心希望有一天能重返校园。As Ive said before, nobody should d
4、rop out of college unless they believe they face the opportunity of a lifetime. And even then they should reconsider. 以前我也说过，谁也不应该辍学，除非他坚信自己正面临着一个一生仅有一次的机会，但就算在那个时候也还是应该深思熟虑。Kathy Cridland, a sixth-grade teacher in Ohio, wrote to say, “Several of my students claim that you never finished high school
5、. Since you are a success, my students perceive that as a reason not to care much about getting a good education.“ 在俄亥俄州教六年级的老师凯西克里德兰写道， “我的好几个学生声称你根本没有读完高中。因为你成功了，我的学生就觉得他们也可以不必要接受良好的教育。 ”I finished high school! 我高中毕业了的!The computer industry has lots of people who didnt finish college, but Im not a
6、ware of any success stories that began with somebody dropping out of high school.计算机行业中确实有很多人没有读完大学，但是我从来没有见过有谁高中没读完就成功创业的。I actually dont know any high school dropouts, let alone any successful ones. 确切地说，我认识的人当中根本没有高中辍学的，更没有高中辍学后事业成功的。In my companys early years we had a bright part-time programmer
7、 who threatened to drop out of high school to work full-time. We told him no. 我的公司创立早期，有一个相当出色的兼职程序员，声称要从高中辍学来做全职。我们叫他不要这么做。 Quite a few of our people didnt finish college, but we discourage dropping out. 我们公司里确实有好些人没有读完大学，但我们不希望人们辍学。Having a diploma certainly helps somebody who is looking to us for
8、 a job. 谁要想在我们公司谋职，有毕业证书肯定会优先考虑。 College isnt the only place where information exists. You can learn in a library. 不一定只有在大学才能获取信息，在图书馆也可以学习。But somebody handing you a book doesnt automatically foster learning. 但人家递给你一本书并不能自动地让你学到东西。You want to learn with other people, ask questions, try out ideas an
9、d have a way to test your ability. It usually takes more than just a book. 你需要向别人学习，提问题，将设想付诸实施，设法验证自己的能力。这一切，往往不是读一两本书就可以做得到的。Education should be broad, although its fine to have deep interests, too. 接受的教育应该是广泛的，虽然对某些领域情有独钟也不失为一件好事。In high school there were periods when I was highly focused on writ
10、ing software, but for most of my high school years I had wide-ranging academic interests. 读高中时，我有一段时间醉心于软件编写，但大部分时间里，我的学习兴趣相当广泛。My parents encouraged this, and Im grateful that they did. 我父母鼓励我这么做，对此我感激不尽。Although I attended a lot of different kinds of classes in college, I signed up for only one co
11、mputer class the whole time. I read about all kinds of things. 大学期间，我修了很多不同的课程，但我从头至尾只选修了一门计算机课。我读书涉猎很广。One parent wrote me that her 15-year-old son “lost himself in the hole of the computer.“有位家长写信说，她 15 岁的儿子“钻进计算机无底洞里了” 。He got an A in website design, but other grades were sinking, she said. 他的网站设
12、计课得了“A” ，但别的科目分数都在下降，她写道。This boy is making a mistake. 这个孩子犯了一个错误。High school and college offer you the best chance to learn broadly - math, history, various sciences - and to do projects with other kids that teach you first-hand about group dynamics. 高中和大学给你提供了最佳机会，你可以广泛学习数学，历史，各种学科有机会跟着别的孩子一起做项目，亲
13、身感受到群体的动力。Its fine to take a deep interest in computers, dance, language or any other discipline, but not if it jeopardizes breadth. 你对计算机、舞蹈、语言或其他任何的科目有深入的兴趣也无可厚非，但太偏执而舍弃学习广度就不是一件好事了。If you fall into an obsessive pattern in high school, youve got two problems. 如果高中阶段兴趣过于集中，你会面临两个问题。One is that your
14、e unlikely to change when you go to college. 第一个就是进了大学以后你很可能没法改变。The other is that if you dont get reasonably good grades, its hard to go to a college that has the highly motivated, capable students who can really help you learn about the world. 另一个问题就是如果分数不够高，你就很难考入大学，而无法向那些积极性很高，很有才能的学生一起学习，他们可以真正
15、帮助你了解这个世界。In college its appropriate to think about specialization. 大学期间可以适当考虑专业的问题。Getting real expertise in an area of interest can lead to success-unless the specialty ends up being a dead end or youre not good at. 深入掌握自己感兴趣的领域的专业知识，能够引导你走向成功，除非这个专业没有发展前途，或者你并不很擅长这个方面。Graduate school is one way to get specialized knowledge, although extended college education isnt always a good investment from a purely economic standpoint.读研究生是获取专业知识的一个途径，虽然从纯经济角度来看，大学毕业后再接受教育不一定算是明智的投资。
