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高中英语课文阅读材料 Furthermore...
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Bill Gates in his boyhood
(Key words: plan, discussion, exceptional, smart, exclusive, potential, ideal, change, computer, single-minded, overtake, programme)
As a child - and as an adult as well - Bill was untidy. It has been said that in order to counteract (1) this, his parents drew up weekly clothing plans for him. On Mondays he might go to school in blue, on Tuesdays in green, on Wednesdays in brown, on Thursdays in black, and so on. Everything had to be planned in detail. Bill Gates hated wasting time, at work or during his leisure time.
Dinner table discussions in the his family were always lively and educational. "It was a rich environment in which to learn," Bill remembered.
Bill's contemporaries (2) recognized that he was exceptional. Every year, he and his friends would go to summer camp. Bill especially liked swimming and other sports. One of his summer camp friends recalled: "We all knew Bill was smarter than us. Even back then, when he was nine or 10 years old, he talked like an adult and could express himself in ways that none of us understood."
Bill was also well ahead of his classmates in mathematics and science. He needed to go to a school that challenged him. His parents decided to send him to Lakeside - an all-boys' school for exceptional students. It was Seattle's most exclusive (3) school and was noted for its strict academic demands.
Lakeside allowed students to pursue their own interests, to whatever extent they wished. The school prided itself on making conditions and facilities available that would enable all its students to reach their full potential. It was the ideal environment for someone like Bill Gates.
In 1968, the school made a decision that would change 13-year-old Bill Gates' life - and that of many of others, too.
Funds were raised, mainly by parents, that enabled the school to gain access to a computer - a programme data processor (PDP) - through a teletype machine. Type in a few instructions on the machine and a few seconds later the PDP would type back its response. Bill was immediately hooked (4) - so was his best friend at the time, Kent Evans.
Whenever they had free time, and sometimes when they didn't, they would dash over to the computer room to use the machine. The students became so single-minded that they soon overtook (5) their teachers in knowledge about computing. At 14, Bill was already writing short programmes for the computer to perform.
Computer time was very expensive. Within a few months, the school's whole budget (6) that had been set aside (7) for the year had been used up. They also got into a lot of trouble: because they were so absorbed in computer that they were neglecting their other studies - every piece of work was handed in late.
Questions
1. What kind of boy did Bill Gates look like in the eyes of his contemporaries?
2. Why was Lakeside an ideal place for the growth of Bill Gates?
Notes: 1. (v.) 抵消 2. (n.) 同龄人，同代人 3. (adj.) 严格限制的，排外的 4. (v.) 被迷住 5. (v.) 超过 6. (n.)预算 7. (v.) 保留
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