今天，总算学习了一点，不简单。真是发现了“三天不练就生”的硬道理了，效率奇低呀。以后没别的事会一天一篇的，都是老爸从单位拿来的《参政消息》的“双语天地”栏目里的，有英语也有中文解释，我先是把英语文章输入到word上，能练打字速度；再中英文对照独立翻译；之后再与其翻译对照，找出我或它的不妥之处，记下。还有，文中有自己不懂的地方会作为注释写在文章最后，好加深印象，是个不错的方法吧。所以决定把这一过程也搬进我的博客，以为自勉；并为同为英语爱好者提供一个学习交流的平台。好了，开始第一篇吧：
 

        Bill and Melinda Gates: Giving Money and Hope to the World
        比尔·盖茨与美琳达·盖茨：给世界以财富和希望

        Every year malaria kills 1 million people----most of them African children under age 5. When Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, 50, and his wife Melinda, 41, were looking for ways to give away their prodigious wealth, they assumed that such monumental problems were being worked on. Instead, Melinda says, they found a “vacuum that does need to be stepped into.”

        每年约有100万人死于疟疾——其中大多数是年龄还不到5岁的非洲儿童。当微软创建人之一的50岁的比尔·盖茨和他41岁的妻子美琳达千方百计寻找捐献他们巨大财富的途径时，他们认为早已有人致力于解决这么严重的问题了。实则不然，美琳达说，他们发现了一个“着实需要有人介入的真空区。”

        Step they did: the Gates Foundation now provides more than a third of the world’s entire malaria-research founding, and it’s paying off①. The most effective drug to treat the disease, naturally occurring artemisinin, is in devastatingly short supply. But last month Gates-funded scientists announced that they had created the technology to manufacture artemisinic acid synthetically. Within five years, the cost of a lifesaving supply is expected to drop from $2.40 to $0.25. Lead researcher Jay Keasling says it would not have been possible without a $43 million Gates grant. “I had companies call me and say, ‘This is great, but we can’t give you any money. We can’t make a profit on this,’ ”he says.

        于是，他们介入其中了：盖茨基金会所捐献的资金占全世界疟疾研究基金的三分之一以上，并且正在取得成效。对付该疾病最有效的药物——天然的青蒿素极为紧缺。不过上个月，盖茨赞助的科学家宣布说，他们已发明了人工合成制造青蒿素酸的技术。五年之内，这种救命药的成本就有望从2.4美元降到25美分。首席研究员杰伊·凯斯林说，要是没有盖茨高达4300百万美元的资助，这是根本不可能做到的。他还说，“此前也有许多公司给我打来电话，不过对于资助他们都说，‘这很好，但我们不能给你任何资助，因为这无利可得。’”

        But even if millions are saved from malaria, there will be more diseases and more death.. The Gateses’ most profound influence has been to change expectations. Their belief that every life should have equal value, backed by their $29 billion endowment in the foundation, has injected hope not only into global health but also into their other priorities: public education, public libraries and at-risk families. The couple demands from grantees the same relentless focus on results expected of Microsoft employees and takes away the classic excuse for failure: not enough money. They have inspired others: from medical students, who are entering global-health fields in unprecedented numbers, to governments, which are putting billions into Gates initiatives. Says Jimmy Carter: “this is the most important foundation in the world.”

        仅管数百万人能从疟疾的威胁中解脱出来，但还会有更多的疾病，更多的死亡人数。盖茨夫妇最深远的影响在于改变了人们的对事物的期望。有善款额高达290亿美元的基金会作为后盾，他们相信，每个生命都有平等的价值，这种信念不仅为全球卫生事业，也为他们所重视的其它领域——公共教育事业、公共图书馆及处于危难的家庭——注入了希望。这对夫妇要求受赠人要像微软员工一样不懈地追求以达到预期成果，而不要再为失败亮出那传统的的理由：资金不足。他们也激励了他人：从在数量上史无前例的众多涌入世界卫生领域的医科学生，到把数十亿资金投入到盖茨基金的各界政府。吉米·卡特说：“这真是世界上最重要的基金会。”

 
        注：①pay off 有多种解释，在本文中应理解为“赢利，得到好结果，取得成功”

        此外还有几种大相径庭的意思，a. 付清工资，偿清欠款；b. 对某人某事进行报复；c.使船头偏离方向，船的偏航；d. 松出（绳索等）；e. 在口语中竟有“贿赂”之意。