I've always been an optimist¹ and I supposed that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the world a better place.

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。

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 hooked². It's was a clunky and teletype machine that barely³ do anything compared to the computer we have today. But it changed my life.

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。

When my friend Paul Allen and I stared 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 believe that personal computer would change the world. And they have.

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。

And after 30 years, I'm still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade.

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。

I believe that computers are the most incredible⁴ 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. Computer have transformed how we learn, giving kids everywhere a window into all of the world's knowledge. They're helping⁵ us build communicates around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are.

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"，让我们和那些对自己重要的人保持密切联系，不管他们身处何方。

Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day 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-dancing to the 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 the say: "I didn't know you can do that with a pc!"

就像我的朋友沃伦·布非一样，我为每天都能做自己热爱的事情而感到无比幸运。他称之为"踢踏舞工作"。我在微软的工作永远充满挑战，但使我一直坚持"踢踏舞工作"的是我们向人们展示某些新成果的那些时刻，当他们看到计算机能辨认笔迹、语音或者能存储值得保留一辈子的照片时就会赞不绝口："我不敢相信个人电脑竟如此万能"。

But for all the cool things that a person can do with a pc, there are lots 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.

但是，除了能用电脑做出很酷的事情之外，我们还能通过许多别的方式在工作中发挥自己的创造力和聪明才智，以改善我们的世界。全球仍有许许多多的人连最基本的生存需求都未能解决。举例来说，每年仍有数以万计的人死于那些在发达国家易于预防和治疗的疾病。

I believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility tp 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.

我认为，我所拥有的大量财富也使我负有回馈社会的责任。我的妻子梅林达和我致力于为尽可能多的人改善健康和教育.

As a father, I believe that the death of a child in Africa is no less poignant⁶. or tragic⁷ than the death of a child anywhere else. And that doesn't take much to make an immense difference in these children's lives.

作为一个父亲，我认为，非洲孩子死去所引起的痛苦和悲伤丝毫不亚于任何其他的孩子的死亡;我认为，使这些孩子们的命运发生翻天地覆的变化并不费太大力气。

I'm still very 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.

我仍是一个坚定的乐观主义者，我坚信即使世界级难题取得进展都是有可能的--其实每天也都在发生着这种事情。我们看到治疗致命疾病的新药、新的诊断器械不断出现，而且，发展中国家的健康问题进入了人们的视野并日益得到重视。

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.

我为医药、教育，当然还有技术发展的诸多前景而欢欣鼓舞。我相信，凭借人类与生俱来的发明创造能力和不畏艰难、坚忍不拔的品格，在我的有生之年里我们将在所有这些领域都创造出可喜的成就。