Chance and Circumstances
来源：http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/books/review/Leonhardt-t.html
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[1]In 1984, a young man namedMalcolm/'mælkəm/graduated from the University ofToronto/tə'rɔntəu/and moved to the United States totry his handatjournalism/ˈdʒɜːnəˌlɪzəm/Thanks to his uncommonly/ˌʌn'kɔmənli/clear writing style and keen/kin/eye for a story, he quicklylanded a jobat The Washington Post. After less than a decade at The Post, he moved up to thepinnacle/'pɪnəkl/of literary journalism, The New Yorker.There, he wrote articles full of big ideas about the hidden patterns of ordinary life, which then becamegrist/ɡrɪst/for two No. 1 best-selling books.In thevast/væst/world ofnonfiction/ˌnɑn'fɪkʃən/writing, he is as close to a singular talent as exists today.
uncommonly/ˌʌn'kɔmənli/adv. 罕见地；很；极其
keen/kin/adj. 敏锐的，敏捷的；渴望的；强烈的；热心的；锐利的
pinnacle/'pɪnəkl/n. 高峰；小尖塔；尖峰；极点
landed a job 找到工作
grist/ɡrɪst/PHRASEIf you say that something isgrist for the mill, you mean that it is useful for a particular purpose or helps support someone's point of view. 有用的东西
vast/væst/adj. 广阔的；巨大的；大量的；巨额的
nonfiction/ˌnɑn'fɪkʃən/n. 非小说的散文文学
[2]Or at least that’s one version of the story of Malcolm Gladwell.Here is another:
[3]In 1984, a young man named Malcolm graduated from the University of Toronto and moved to the United States to try his hand at journalism. No one could know it then, but he arrived with nearly the perfect background for his time. His mother was apsychotherapist音/ˌsaɪko'θɛrəpɪst/and his father a mathematician. Their professions pointed young Malcolm toward the behavioral sciences, whose popularity/ˌpɑpju'lærəti/would explode/ɪk'splod/in the 1990s. His mother also just happened to be a writer on the side. So unlike most children of mathematicians andtherapists/'θɛrəpɪst/, he came to learn, as he would later recall, “that there is beauty in saying something clearly and simply.” As ajournalist, heplumbed/plʌm/thebehavioralresearch foroptimistic/ˌɑptɪ'mɪstɪk/lessons about the human condition, and he found aneager/'igɚ/audience during theheadyˈhɛdi/, proudly/ˈpraʊdlɪ/geeky/'ɡi:ki/’90s. His first book, “The Tipping Point,” was published in March 2000, just days before the Nasdaqpeaked/'pikt/.
psychotherapist音/ˌsaɪko'θɛrəpɪst/n. 精神治疗医师
therapists/'θɛrəpɪst/,n. 临床医学家；治疗学家
plumbed/plʌm/v. 用铅锤测量；达到…的最低点；探究（plumb的过去分词）
optimistic/ˌɑptɪ'mɪstɪk/adj. 乐观的；乐观主义的
eager/'igɚ/adj. 渴望的；热切的；热心的
headyˈhɛdi/,adj. 兴奋的；任性的；性急的；顽固的；使人头晕的；令人陶醉的
proudly/ˈpraʊdlɪ/adv. 傲慢地，自负地；得意洋洋地
geeky/'ɡi:ki/’
令人讨厌的
与网络交往的
俚〉令人讨厌的
极客
peak/'pikt/
n. 山峰；最高点；顶点；帽舌
vt. 使达到最高点；使竖起
vi. 消瘦；到达最高点；变憔悴
adj. 最高的；最大值的
n. (Peak)人名；(英)皮克
[4]These two stories about Gladwell are both true, and yet they are also very different. The first personalizes his success. It is the classically American version of his career, in that it gives individual characteristics — talent, hard work,Horatio Alger-like pluck/plʌk/—the starring/stɑr/role.The second version doesn’t necessarilydeny/dɪ’nai/these characteristics, but it doessublimate/ˈsʌblɪmet/them. Theprotagonist/prə'tæɡənɪst/is not a singularly talented person who took advantage of opportunities. He is instead a talented person who took advantage of singular opportunities.
pluck/plʌk/
n. 勇气；内脏；快而猛的拉
starring/stɑr/n. 扮演主角，领衔主演
sublimate/ˈsʌblɪmet/
vt. 使升华；使高尚
vi. 升华；纯化
protagonist/prə'tæɡənɪst/
n. 主角，主演；主要人物，领导者
[5]Gladwell’s latest book, “Outliers,” is a passionate argument for taking the second version of the story more seriously than we now do. “It is not the brightest who succeed,” Gladwell writes. “Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind toseize/siz/them.”
presence of mind镇定自若
seize/siz/
vt. 抓住；夺取；理解；逮捕
vi. 抓住；利用；（机器）卡住
[6]He doesn’t actually tell his own life story in the book. (But helurks/lɝk/offstage/ˌɔf'stedʒ/, since he does describe thearc ofhis mother’s Jamaican/dʒə'meikən/family.) Instead, he tells other success stories, often using the device/dɪ'vaɪs/of back-to-backnarratives/'nærətɪv/. He starts with atale/tel/of individual greatness, about theBeatlesor the titans of Silicon Valley or theenormously/ɪ'nɔrməsli/successful generation of New YorkJews/dʒu:/born in the early 20th century. Then he adds details thatundercut/ˌʌndɚ'kʌt/that tale.
lurks/lɝk/
vi. 潜伏；潜藏；埋伏
n. 潜伏；埋伏
Jamaican/dʒə'meikən/
adj. 牙买加的；牙买加人的
device/dɪ’vaɪs/
n. 装置；策略；图案
narratives/‘nærətɪv/.
叙事的
enormously/ɪ'nɔrməsli/
adv. 巨大地，庞大地；非常地，在极大程度上
tale/tel/
n. 故事；传说；叙述；流言蜚语
Jews/dʒu:/
n. 犹太人，犹太教（Jew的复数形式）
undercut/ˌʌndɚ'kʌt/t
vt. 廉价出售；较便宜的工资工作；从下边削球
[7]So Bill Gates is introduced as a young computer programmer fromSeattle/siˈætl/whose brilliance and ambitionoutshine/'aʊt'ʃaɪn/the brilliance and ambition of the thousands of other young programmers. But then Gladwell takes us back to Seattle, and we discover that Gates’s high school happened to have a computer club when almost no other high schools did. He then lucked into the opportunity to use the computers at the University of Washington, for hours on end. By the time he turned 20, he had spent well more than 10,000 hours as a programmer.
outshine/'aʊt'ʃaɪn/
vt. 使相形见绌；胜过；比…更亮
vi. 放光
[8]At the end of thisrevisionist/rɪ'vɪʒənɪst/tale, Gladwell asks Gates himself how many other teenagers in the world had as much experience as he had by the early 1970s. “If there were 50 in the world, I’d bestunned/stʌnd/,” Gates says. “I had a better exposure to software development at a young age than I think anyone did in that period of time, andall because of an incredibly lucky series of events.” Gates’s talent and drive were surely unusual. But Gladwell suggests that his opportunities may have been even more so.
revisionist/rɪ'vɪʒənɪst/
n. 修正主义者
adj. 修正主义的
持修正主义论的
stunned/stʌnd/,
vt.击晕, 打晕
使大吃一惊, 使震惊
[9]Many people, I think, have aninstinctual/ɪn'stɪŋktʃuəl/understanding of this idea (even if Gladwell, in the interest of setting histhesis/'θisɪs/against conventional wisdom, doesn’t say so). That’s why parents spend so much time worrying about what school their child attends. They don’t really believe the child is soinfused/ɪn'fjuz/with greatness that he or she can overcome a bad school, or even an average one. And yet when they look back years later on their child’s success — or their own — they tend toward explanations that focus on the individual.Devastatingly, if cheerfully, Gladwell exposes theflaws/flɔ/in these success stories we tell ourselves.
instinctual/ɪn'stɪŋktʃuəl/本能的
thesis/'θisɪs/
n. 论文；论点
infused/ɪn'fjuz/
vt. 灌输；使充满；浸渍
flaws/flɔ/
缺陷,
瑕疵
缺点
[10]The book’s first chapter explores theanomaly/ə'nɑməli/ofhockey/'hɑki/players’ birthdays. In many of the bestleagues/lig/in the world,amateur/ˌæmə'tɝ/or professional, roughly 40 percent of the players were born in January, February or March, while only 10 percent were born in October, November or December. It’s a profoundly strange pattern, with a simple explanation. Thecutoffbirth date for many youth hockey leagues is Jan. 1. So the children born in the first three months of the year are just a little older, bigger and stronger than their peers. These older children are thenfunneled/'fʌnld/into all-star teams that offer the best, most intense training. By the time they becometeenagers, their random initial advantage has turned into a real one.
anomaly/ə'nɑməli/
n. 异常；不规则；反常事物
hockey/'hɑki/
n. 曲棍球；冰球
leagues/lig/
联盟,
联赛
amateur/ˌæmə’tɝ/
n. 爱好者；业余爱好者；外行
adj. 业余的；外行的
funnel/'fʌnl/
n. 漏斗；烟囱
vt. 通过漏斗或烟囱等；使成漏斗形
vi. 通过漏斗等；成漏斗形
[11]At thechampionship/'tʃæmpɪənʃɪp/game of the top Canadian junior league, Gladwell interviews the father of one player born on Jan. 4. More than half of the players on his team — the Medicine Hat Tigers — were born in January, February or March. But when Gladwell asks the father to explain his son’s success, the calendar has nothing to do with it. He instead mentions passion, talent and hard work — before adding, as an aside, that the boy was always big for his age. Just imagine, Gladwell writes, if Canada created another youth hockey league for children born in the second half of the year. It would one day find itself with twice as many great hockey players.
championship/'tʃæmpɪənʃɪp/锦标赛；冠军称号；冠军的地位
[12]“Outliers” has much in common with Gladwell’s earlier work. It is a pleasure to read and leaves youmulling/‘mʌliŋ/over itsinventive/ɪn'vɛntɪv/theories for days afterward. It also, unfortunately, avoidsgrappling['ɡræpliŋ]in a few instances with research that casts doubt on those theories. (Gladwell argues that relatively older children excel not only at hockey but also in the classroom. The research on this issue, however, is decidedly/dɪ'saɪdɪdli/mixed.) This is a particular shame, because it would be adelight/dɪ’laɪt/to watch someone of hisintellect/'ɪntəlɛkt/andclarity/'klærəti/make sense of seemingly conflicting claims.
mulling/‘mʌliŋ/
n. 研碎
v. 仔细考虑；弄坏（mull的ing形式）
inventive/ɪn'vɛntɪv/
adj. 发明的；有发明才能的；独出心裁的
grappling[‘ɡræpliŋ]Nthe act of gripping or seizing, as in wrestling 抓住; 如同格斗中的
decidedly/dɪ’saɪdɪdli/
adv. 果断地；断然地；明显；毫无疑问
intellect/‘ɪntəlɛkt/
n. 智力，理解力；知识分子；思维逻辑领悟力；智力高的人
clarity/‘klærəti/
n. 清楚，明晰；透明
[13]For all these similarities/ˌsɪmə'lærəti/, though, “Outliers” represents a new kind of book for Gladwell. “The Tipping Point” and “Blink,” his second book, were a mixture of social psychology, marketing and even a bit of self-help. “Outliers” is far more political. It is almost amanifesto/ˌmænɪ'fɛsto/. “We look at the young Bill Gates andmarvel/'mɑrvl/that our world allowed that 13-year-old to become afabulously/'fæbjuləsli/successfulentrepreneur,” he writes at the end. “But that’s the wrong lesson. Our world only allowed one 13-year-old unlimited access to a time-sharing terminal in 1968.If a million teenagers had been given the same opportunity, how many more Microsofts would we have today?”
similarities/ˌsɪmə'lærəti/,
n. 类似；相似点
marvel/'mɑrvl/
n. 奇迹
vt. 对…感到惊异
vi. 感到惊讶
n. (Marvel)人名；(英)马弗尔；漫威漫画
Tipping
n. 倾卸台
adj. 倾翻的；倾卸的
v. 使倾斜；轻拍；踮起脚走（tip的ing形式
Tip
vi. 给小费；翻倒；倾覆
vt. 给小费；倾斜；翻倒；装顶端
n. 小费；尖端
n. (Tip)人名；(柬)迪；(英)蒂普
It is almost amanifesto/ˌmænɪ'fɛsto/
n. 宣言；声明；告示
vi. 发表宣言
fabulously/'fæbjuləsli/
adv. 难以置信地；惊人地
[14]After a decade — and, really, a generation — in which this country has done fairly little to build up theinstitutions/ˌɪnstɪ'tuʃən/that canfoster/ˈfɔstɚ/success,Gladwell is urging us to rethink.Once again, his timing may prove to be pretty good
institutions/ˌɪnstɪ’tuʃən/
n. 制度；建立；（社会或宗教等）公共机构；习俗
foster/ˈfɔstɚ/
vt. 培养；养育，抚育；抱（希望等）
adj. 收养的，养育的
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words
uncommonly/ˌʌn'kɔmənli/adv. 罕见地；很；极其
keen/kin/adj. 敏锐的，敏捷的；渴望的；强烈的；热心的；锐利的
pinnacle/'pɪnəkl/n. 高峰；小尖塔；尖峰；极点
landed a job 找到工作
grist/ɡrɪst/PHRASEIf you say that something isgrist for the mill, you mean that it is useful for a particular purpose or helps support someone's point of view. 有用的东西
vast/væst/adj. 广阔的；巨大的；大量的；巨额的
nonfiction/ˌnɑn'fɪkʃən/n. 非小说的散文文学
sentences
There, he wrote articles full of big ideas about the hidden patterns of ordinary/'ɔrdnɛri/life, which then becamegrist/ɡrɪst/for two No. 1 best-selling books.
But that’s the wrong lesson. Our world only allowed one 13-year-old unlimited access to a time-sharing terminal in 1968.If a million teenagers/'tinedʒɚ/had been given the same opportunity, how many more Microsofts would we have today?
Gladwell is urging us to rethink.