i've always been an optimist and i suppose that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the world a better place. for as long as i can remember, i've loved learning new things and solving problems. so when i sat down at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, i was hooked. it was a clunky old teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today. but it changed my life. when my friend paul allen and i started microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home," which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size of refrigerators. but we believed that personal computers would change the world. and they have. and after 30 years, i'm still as inspired by computers as i was back in seventh grade. i believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and inventiveness —— to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn't solve on their own. computers have transformed how we learn, giving kids everywhere a window into all of the world's knowledge. they're helping us build communities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are. like my friend warren buffett, i feel particularly lucky to do something every day that i love to do. he calls it "tap-dancing to work." my job at microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makes me "tap-dance to work" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say, "i didn't know you could do that with a pc!" but for all the cool things that a person can do with a pc, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativity and intelligence to work to improve our world. there are still far too many people in the world whose most basic needs go unmet. every year, for example, millions of people die from diseases that are easy to prevent or treat in the developed world. i believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility to give back to the world. my wife, melinda, and i have committed to improving health and education in a way that can help as many people as possible. as a father, i believe that the death of a child in africa is no less poignant or tragic than the death of a child anywhere else. and that it doesn't take much to make an immense difference in these children's lives. i'm still very much an optimist, and i believe that progress on even the world's toughest problems is possible —— and it's happening every day. we're seeing new drugs for deadly diseases, new diagnostic tools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the developing world. i'm excited by the possibilities i see for medicine, for education and, of course, for technology. and i believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough problems, we're going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas in my lifetime. 我天生乐观，坚信人类凭创造力和聪明才智可以让世界日益美妙，这一设想一直根植于我的内心深处。 自从记事起，我就热衷于接触新事物、挑战难题。
可想而知，我上七年级时第一次坐在计算机前是何等着迷，如入无我之境。那是一台锵锵作响的旧牌机器，和我们今天拥有的计算机相比，它相当逊色几乎一无所用，但正是它改变了我的生活。
30年前，我和朋友保罗·艾伦创办微软时，我们幻想实现“在每个家庭、在每张办公桌上都有一台计算机”，这在大多数的计算机体积如同冰箱的尺寸的年代，听起来有点异想天开。但是我们相信个人电脑将改变世界。
今天看来果真如此。30年后，我仍然象上七年级的时候那样为计算机而狂热着迷。
我相信计算机是我们用来满足好奇心及发明创造的最神奇的工具——有了它们的帮助，甚至是最聪明的人凭自身力量无法应对的难题都将迎刃而解。计算机已经改变了我们的学习方式，为全球各地的孩子们开启了一扇通向大千世界知识的窗户。
它可以帮我们围绕我们关注的事物建立“群
共2页,当前第1页12<>
英语演讲稿——比尔·盖茨：释放你的创造力（中英）
