英语美文名人励志故事67:比尔.盖茨在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲

67. Bill Gates: Never Surrender to Complexity

67. 比尔·盖茨：永远别向复杂低头

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.

就算我们真正发现了问题所在，也不过是迈出了第一步，接着还有第二步：那就是从复杂的事件中找到解决办法。

Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks "How can I help?" then we can get action---and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares---and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.

如果我们要让关心落到实处，我们就必须找到解决办法。如果我们有一个清晰可靠的答案，那么当任何组织和个人发出疑问“我能如何提供帮助?”的时候，我们就能采取行动。我们就能够保证不浪费一丁点全世界人类对他人的关心。但是，世界的复杂性使得很难找到对全世界每一个有爱心的人都有效的行动方法，因此人类对他人的关心往往很难产生实际效果。

Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four fredictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have---whether it's something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bed net.

从这个复杂的世界中找到解决办法，可以分为四个步骤：确定目标，找到最高效的方法，发现适用于这个方法的新技术，同时最聪明地利用现有的技术，不管它是复杂的药物，还是最简单的蚊帐。

The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single does. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, So in the meantime we have to work with what we have in hand---and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.

艾滋病就是一个例子。总的目标，毫无疑问是消灭这种疾病。最高效的方法是预防。最理想的技术是发明一种疫苗，只要注射一次，就可以终生免疫。所以，政府、制药公司、基金会应该资助疫苗研究。但是，这项研究工作很可能十年之内都无法完成。因此，与此同时，我们必须使用现有的技术，目前最有效的预防方法——就是设法让人们避免那些危险的行为。

本文中重难点词汇解析：

complexity：n. 复杂，复杂性;复杂错综的事物

例句：So how you do manage this complexity?
那么您如何管理这种复杂性呢?

determine：v. (使)下决心，(使)做出决定

例句：He determined to rescue his two countrymen.
他决心要援救他的两位同胞。

essential：adj. 基本的;必要的;本质的;精华的

例句：It was absolutely essential to separate crops from the areas that animals used as pasture.
把庄稼与牲畜的放牧区分开至关重要。

epidemic：n. 传染病;流行病;风尚等的流行

例句：A flu epidemic is sweeping through Moscow.
一场流感正席卷莫斯科。

vaccine：n. 疫苗;牛痘苗

例句：So what does the vaccine do?
那么这疫苗是如何生效的呢?