比尔·盖茨 vs 普通美国人 - 差距有多大 - 名人对比：英语精读讲义

William Henry Gates the 3rd, aka Bill Gates, 用詞

威廉·亨利·盖茨三世，即比尔·盖茨，

currently ranks in first place on the Forbes list

目前在福布斯榜单上位居榜首，

of the world's billionaires

是全球亿万富翁中的首富，

with an estimated worth of $86.9 billion.

估值约为869亿美元。

Nicknamed Trey throughout his early childhood,

他在童年早期被称为“特雷”（Trey），

the man who co-founded Microsoft and created the Windows operating system

这位联合创立了微软并开发了Windows操作系统的男人，

seemed destined as a precocious yet sometimes troubled youth 語法

似乎注定要从一个早熟但偶尔惹麻烦的少年，

to become a pioneer of computer technology.

成为计算机技术的先驱。

Gates could be said to be the apotheosis of computer programming, 語法

可以说盖茨是计算机编程的巅峰化身，

a demigod of geekdom,

是极客界的半神，

but what does this prevailing pioneer have in common with us common folks? 短語搭配

但这位主流先驱与我们这些普通人有什么共同点呢？

Let us find out.

让我们一探究竟。

In this episode of the Infographics Show,

在本期《Infographics Show》中，

Bill Gates versus the average American.

比尔·盖茨对比普通美国人。

Don't forget to subscribe and click the bell button

别忘了订阅并点击小铃铛，

so that you could be part of our notifications squad.

这样你就能加入我们的通知小分队啦。

Born on October 28th, 1955 in Seattle,

他于1955年10月28日出生于西雅图，

baby Bill, the second of three children,

婴儿比尔在三个孩子中排行老二，

weighed in at 9 lb 13 oz. 短語搭配

出生时体重为9磅13盎司。

This is just over 2 lb above the average weight of an American newborn.

这比美国新生儿的平均体重仅高出2磅多一点。

His father, also named Bill Gates,

他的父亲也叫比尔·盖茨，

was a successful lawyer and his mother, Mary,

是一位成功的律师，而他的母亲玛丽，

was a prominent businesswoman.

是一位杰出的女商人。

The Gates ancestry is German, Irish, and Scottish Irish.

盖茨拥有德国、爱尔兰和苏格兰-爱尔兰血统。

As a white American,

作为一名美国白人，

Gates belongs to 72.4% of other white Americans

盖茨属于另外72.4%的美国白人群体，

that currently make up the US population.

他们目前构成了美国人口的主体。

His German and Irish ancestry

他的德国和爱尔兰血统

also make him part of the two largest ancestral groups

也使他成为美国最大的两个祖先群体的一部分，

in America at 17.1% and 12% respectively.

在美国分别占17.1%和12%。

Notwithstanding Gates's unarguable status as a superlative genius, 語法

尽管盖茨作为顶尖天才的地位无可争议，

the parts of his body outside of his brain are very much average.

但除了大脑之外，他身体的其他部分都非常普通。

Gates stands at 5 ft 9 and a half inches,

盖茨身高5英尺9.5英寸，

which is just above the American average for a man.

仅略高于美国男性的平均身高。

His figure is on the slight side 習語

他的身形偏瘦，

with him weighing in at around 141 lb.

体重约为141磅。

The average weight for an American male

美国男性的平均体重

is somewhere between 167 lb and 185 lb.

大约在167磅到185磅之间。

Although according to normal weight range ratios,

不过根据正常体重范围比例，

Mr. Gates can feel assured that he fits snugly

盖茨先生可以放心，他完全符合

within the parameters of what is considered a safe weight. 短語搭配

被认为是安全体重的参数范围。

With light brown hair, blue eyes, and size 9 shoes,

浅棕色的头发，蓝色的眼睛，穿9码的鞋，

Gates has the most common hair color in the USA

盖茨拥有美国最常见的头发颜色

and the second most common eye color.

以及第二常见的眼睛颜色。

He also departs from the average man regarding shoe size

在鞋码方面他也偏离了普通男性的标准，

with size 10 being the median for an American male.

10码才是美国男性的中位数。

Where Bill Gates overrides his rather normal physical characteristics 語法

比尔·盖茨超越其相当普通的身体特征的地方，

is in the realm of his intelligence.

在于他的智力领域。

While Gates's IQ has been a matter of debate, 短語搭配

尽管盖茨的智商一直备受争议，

it's thought to be in the region of 160. 短語搭配

但人们认为大约在160左右。

Gates, however, has never confirmed this publicly.

然而，盖茨从未公开证实过这一点。

When asked by NDTV in 2012 what his IQ was,

2012年被NDTV问及他的智商时，

he skirted around the answer stating, 短語動詞

他避而不谈，表示

"I did well" when he took IQ tests adding,

做智商测试时“我考得不错”，并补充道：

"I'm good at those goofy questions."

“我擅长那些古怪的问题。”

But just for fun, let's say Gates's IQ is 160.

不过为了有趣，我们假设盖茨的智商是160。

That would put him way above the average American of 98.

那将使他远高于美国人98的平均智商。

It would also secure him a place in the world's high IQ society 短語搭配

这也能确保他在世界高智商协会中占据一席之地，

putting him in the 99.99th percentile of eggheads. 用詞

将他置于聪明人中99.99%的顶尖位置。

Not surprisingly then, we learn that at his school, Lakeside Prep, 表達脈絡

因此不足为奇的是，我们得知在他的学校湖滨预备学校，

he used what was then considered a far-out machine 用詞

他用当时被认为是极具前瞻性的机器

to create a computer versus human game of tic-tac-toe.

制作了一个人机对战的井字游戏。

The school was so impressed they allowed 語法

学校对此印象深刻，以至于允许

him to write the code for scheduling classes.

他为课程表编写代码。

Gates, a rebellious iconoclast from a young age,

盖茨，这个从小就很叛逆的打破传统者，

then was said to have written the code

据说当时编写了代码，

so that he was put in classes with a disproportionate number of interesting girls.

以便让自己被安排在有大量有趣女孩的班级里。

This went against averageness in every way as in those days

这在各个方面都显得非同寻常，因为在那个年代，

not only was kids writing code unbelievable, 語法

孩子写代码不仅令人难以置信，

but most humans didn't know what computer code was.

而且大多数人都不知道什么是计算机代码。

He made $4,200 from the school for his first computer program

他为学校编写第一个计算机程序赚了4200美元，

when he was just 17.

那时他才17岁。

That was in 1972

那是在1972年，

when the average yearly American wage was $7,133.

当时美国人均年薪为7133美元。

He also got banned from programming at school 語法

他还曾被学校禁止编程，

with his friend and co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen,

和他的朋友、微软联合创始人保罗·艾伦一起，

as the two had exploited the code to get more computer time. 用詞

因为两人曾利用代码漏洞获取更多上机时间。

In spite of his disregard for school rules, 語法

尽管他无视学校规定，

Gates did remarkably well on his SATs,

盖茨在SAT考试中表现非常出色，

scoring a 1590 out of 1600.

在1600分满分中考了1590分。

This put him in the 99th percentile of test takers

这使他跻身所有考生的前1%，

with only 1,149 other students from 1.67 million testers

在167万名考生中，只有另外1149名学生

being able to do as well as he did. 語法

能和他考得一样好。

Incidentally, his good friend Paul Allen 表達脈絡

顺便说一句，他的好朋友保罗·艾伦

and future business partner did even better,

兼未来的商业伙伴表现更好，

attaining a perfect score.

拿到了满分。

On seeing the young Gates's proclivity for programming, 短語搭配

在看到年轻的盖茨对编程的热爱后，

he was granted a place at Ivy League Harvard University. 短語搭配

他被常春藤盟校哈佛大学录取。

As of 2013, 65.9% of Americans achieve entrance at university level.

截至2013年，65.9%的美国人能进入大学。

Getting into Harvard, however,

然而，考入哈佛

is no easy feat with the admission rate for 2020 standing at 5.22%. 習語

绝非易事，2020年的录取率仅为5.22%。

This didn't seem to have much impact on our young soon-to-be entrepreneur,

这对我们这位即将成为企业家的年轻人似乎没有多大影响，

who dropped out of Harvard

他从哈佛退学，

to devote himself to what would become one of the world's most recognizable corporations. 短語搭配

投身于后来成为全球最著名的公司之一的事业中。

Dropping out of university in the USA

在美国，从大学退学

is perhaps more common than you may have thought

也许比你想象的更常见，

with more than half of enrolled university students

有超过一半的在校大学生

deciding not to finish their degree

决定不完成他们的学位，

in one sitting at least. 習語

至少不会一口气读完。

When Gates and Allen started Microsoft in 1975,

当盖茨和艾伦在1975年创办微软时，

Gates was just 20 years old.

盖茨才20岁。

While the tech industry is renowned for some of its most successful entrepreneurs

尽管科技行业以一些最成功的企业家

to have started young,

年少创业而闻名，

this is still today a fairly ripe age to start a company.

但在今天，这仍然是创办公司的一个相当成熟的年纪。

While today we don't associate Bill Gates with a devil-may-care reckless attitude, 用詞

虽然今天我们不会把比尔·盖茨与满不在乎的鲁莽态度联系在一起，

two years after leaving Harvard

但离开哈佛两年后，

the young man was arrested for driving without a license

这个年轻人因无证驾驶而被捕，

and speeding and two years later arrested again for driving without a license

还涉嫌超速，两年后又因无证驾驶再次被捕，

and not stopping at a stop sign.

并且在停车标志前没有停车。

He joins one in three Americans that have a police record.

他加入了拥有警方记录的三分之一美国人的行列。

Aside from his brushes with the law, 習語

除了与法律的摩擦之外，

Gates was making hay while most of the world wasn't even aware the sun was shining 習語

盖茨在大多数人甚至都没意识到阳光灿烂时就已抓紧时机，

on a place we now know as Silicon Valley.

在那个我们现在称之为硅谷的地方大展宏图。

Gates built IBM's MS-DOS operating system in the early '80s,

盖茨在80年代初开发了IBM的MS-DOS操作系统，

giving him his first windfall of $50,000,

给了他第一笔5万美元的意外之财，

a measly sum in retrospect considering what was about to happen. 表達脈絡

回想起来，考虑到即将发生的事，这是一笔微不足道的数目。

He held onto the copyright of the software 短語動詞

他保留了该软件的版权，

and when PCs started becoming a feature in households all over the world,

当个人电脑开始成为全世界家庭的标配时，

the Microsoft empire is on its way to becoming a technology monopoly. 語法

微软帝国正走在成为科技垄断企业的路上。

Soon after Microsoft created its first Windows operating system in 1985,

在1985年微软创建了首个Windows操作系统后不久，

90% of PCs worldwide would be running it. 語法

全球90%的个人电脑都在运行它。

Still,

尽管如此，

it's thought that only about 8% of American households

据信，当时只有大约8%的美国家庭

had a PC back then.

拥有个人电脑。

Windows 1.0 was $99 and it would make Gates a small fortune. 習語

Windows 1.0售价99美元，这让盖茨发了一笔小财。

Windows 1.0 became Windows 10 in 2016

2016年，Windows 1.0演变成了Windows 10，

and billions of dollars had been made by a once-precocious little Bill.

而曾经早熟的小比尔赚取了数十亿美元。

He's donated billions to charity,

他向慈善机构捐赠了数十亿美元，

appeared on the Simpsons as every tech geek seems to do,

像每个科技极客似乎都会做的那样出现在了《辛普森一家》中，

and throughout it all he's held onto a childish curiosity.

而在这一切中，他始终保持着孩子般的好奇心。

When asked about religion and the meaning of life,

当被问及宗教和生命的意义时，

Gates has been vague, once saying,

盖茨含糊其辞，曾说道：

"The mystery and the beauty of the world is overwhelmingly amazing

“这个世界的神秘和美丽令人惊叹不已，

and there's no scientific explanation of how it came about." 短語動詞

而目前还没有科学的解释来说明它是如何产生的。”

Gates's doubt in divinity doesn't reflect the average American,

然而，盖茨对神性的怀疑并不能代表普通美国人，

however,

毕竟，

with the Pew Research Center reporting in 2014 that 92% of Americans

皮尤研究中心在2014年报告称，92%的美国人

believed in the existence of God

相信上帝的存在，

with 63% of Americans

其中63%的美国人

feeling absolutely sure that God exists.

绝对确信上帝存在。

There's an anecdote people like to tell

有个轶事人们很喜欢说，

which states that Bill Gates makes so much money, 語法

说比尔·盖茨赚了那么多钱，

over $100 a second,

每秒超过100美元，

that it wouldn't be worth his time to pick up a $100 bill 短語搭配

以至于他都不会花时间去捡一张100美元的钞票，

if he dropped one.

如果他掉了一张的话。

But Gates is no believer in the supposition that lots of money makes you happy.

但盖茨并不相信很多钱就能让你快乐的假设。

In fact, he says he's only leaving his children about $10 million from his fortune,

事实上，他说他只会给自己的孩子们留下大约1000万美元的财产，

once saying,

他曾说道：

"Leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them."

“给孩子留下巨额财富对他们并没有好处。”

Regardless, his three children should do okay

无论如何，他的三个孩子应该会过得不错，

considering the US Census Bureau says

考虑到美国人口普查局称

the average salary in America is $35,000 a year.

美国人均年薪为35,000美元。

That's $1,400,000 for 40 years hard graft. 用詞

那意味着40年辛勤工作才能赚到140万美元。

While Gates is not an ostentatious spender, 用詞

虽然盖茨并不是个喜欢炫耀的挥霍者，

he likes his cars.

但他喜欢他的车。

He said to sometimes drive his Ford Focus to work,

据说他有时开着福特福克斯去上班，

but his most cherished vehicle is his $225,000 Porsche 959.

但他最珍视的座驾是价值22.5万美元的保时捷959。

He owns 23 cars altogether,

他总共拥有23辆汽车，

a few more than the average American household,

比普通美国家庭多出不少，

which owned 1.927 cars in 2013.

2013年普通美国家庭拥有1.927辆车。

According to Gates,

据盖茨自己说，

his big splurge is his private plane, 用詞

他最大的挥霍是他的私人飞机，

but the Gates's main property was hardly a paltry acquisition. 表達脈絡

但盖茨的主要房产绝不是一笔微不足道的开销。

His mansion in King County, Medina

他位于麦地那国王县的豪宅

is said to be worth a princely $120 million 習語

据说价值高达惊人的1.2亿美元，

compared to the average house cost in the USA

相比之下，美国平均房价

of $188,900 in 2014 at least.

至少在2014年是188,900美元。

For all his grand accomplishments and indisputable genius, 語法

尽管他取得了伟大的成就和无可争议的天才地位，

Gates likes to maintain that he is just an average guy. 用詞

盖茨喜欢坚称自己只是个普通人。

He says he is fond of indie band Weezer 短語搭配

他说他喜欢独立乐队Weezer，

and has a liking for watching reruns of the spoof documentary Spinal Tap.

并喜欢看恶搞纪录片《脊椎抽液》（Spinal Tap）的重播。

"Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point," 短語搭配

“超过了一定限度，钱对我来说就没有用处了，”

Gates has said,

盖茨曾这样说过，

along with, "I do the dishes every night." 短語搭配

还说道：“我每天晚上都洗碗。”

This is perhaps testament to the fact that the techno god 短語搭配

这或许证明了这位科技天神

keeps his feet firmly on the ground. 習語

依然脚踏实地。

So how do you compare to the man from Seattle?

那么你和这位来自西雅图的男人相比如何呢？

Let us know in the comments.

请在评论区告诉我们。

And if you like these types of comparisons,

如果你喜欢这类比较，

be sure to check out our other video,

一定要去看看我们的另一部视频，

Donald Trump versus the average American.

唐纳德·特朗普对比普通美国人。

Thanks for watching and as always,

感谢观看，和往常一样，

don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.

别忘了点赞、分享并订阅。

Also, please consider heading over to our Patreon.

此外，请考虑访问我们的Patreon页面。

We are currently raising money to hire more writers

我们目前正在筹集资金雇佣更多作者，

so that we can continue bringing you this bi-weekly show.

以便我们能继续为您带来这个双周播出的节目。