Here Is an excerpt from Bill Gates' Speech to MT. Whitney High School in Visalia, California. This is worthwhile reading for anyone. Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head1 with this!
To anyone with kids of any age, or anyone who has ever been a kid, here's some advice Bill Gates recently dished out at a high school speech about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school.
The 11 things are:
1. Life is not fair, get used to it.
2. The world won't care about your self-esteem2. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
3. You will not make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure3.
5. Flipping burgers4 is not beneath your dignity5. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
6. If you mess up6, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about our mistakes, learn from them.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites7 of your parents' generation, try “delousing” the closet in your own room.
8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished8 failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance9 to anything in real life.
9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
10. Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
11. Be nice to nerds10. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
下文摘自比尔·盖茨在加利福尼亚M中学所做的演讲，值得大家一看。爱他也罢，恨他也罢，反正他说中了问题的要害。
不管你是为人父母（无论你的孩子有多大），还是曾经做过小孩，对于你们来说，近期比尔·盖茨在中学所做的演讲中所列出的11项事情，你们在学校里绝对没有学过，也不会学到。
这11项事情是：
1. 生活是不公平的，要去适应它。
2.这个世界并不会在意你的自尊。这世界要求你先要有所成就，然后才能自我感觉良好。
3.高中刚毕业你不可能一年挣4万美元。你不可能一下子当上公司的副总裁，并拥有车载电话。这些都得靠自己去拼。
4.如果你认为你的老师严厉，等你有了老板就知道（严厉的涵义）了。老板没有永久任职权。
5.烙牛肉饼并不会令人枉驾屈尊。你的祖父母对烙牛肉饼有截然不同的定义，他们称之为——机遇。
6.如果你把事情弄得一团糟，那不是你父母的过错，所以不要尖声抱怨这些错误，要从中汲取教训。
7.在你出生之前，你的父母并非像现在这样令人生厌。他们变成今天这个样子是因为这些年来他们一直在为你付账单，给你洗衣服，听你大谈特谈你是如何如何的酷。所以，如果你想消灭你父母那一辈中的“寄生虫”以拯救雨林的话，还是先去清除你房间衣柜里的虫子吧。
8.你的学校也许已经不再分优等生和劣等生，但生活并非如此。某些学校已经废除不及格制度，只要你想找到正确答案，学校就会一再给你机会。现实生活却大相径庭。
9.生活不分学期。你并没有暑假可以休息，也没有几位雇主乐于帮你发现自我。自己找时间发现自我吧。
10.电视并不是现实生活。在现实生活中，人们实际上不得不离开咖啡屋去干工作。
11.善待你讨厌的人，说不定哪一天你会在他手下做事呢。
1. hit the nail on the head 击中要害
2． self－esteem n．自尊
3． tenure n． (官职等的)保有， 任期
4． burger n． ．碎肉夹饼
5． dignity n．尊严， 高贵
6． mess up: 搞糟
7． parasite n．寄生虫
8． abolish v． 废除
9． resemblance n．类同之处
10． nerd n． 讨厌的人