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Dreading the thought of having to talk to an audience of adults, Robert begged his father to explain that they had invited a twelve-year-old.
由于担心自己的听众都是一些成年人，罗伯特请求他的父母去解释一下，毕竟自己只是一个12岁的孩子。
Greatly amused, Julius encouraged his son to accept this honor.
趣的是，朱利叶斯鼓励他的儿子接受这份荣耀。
On the designated evening, Robert showed up at the club with his parents, who proudly introduced their son as J. Robert Oppenheimer.
演讲的那个晚上，罗伯特在父母的陪同下出现在俱乐部，他的父母骄傲地向人们介绍自己的儿子：J·罗伯特·奥本海默。
The startled audience of geologists and amateur rock collectors burst out laughing when he stepped up to the podium:
当他走上演讲台的时候，台下起初惊呆了的地质学者和岩石收集爱好者们不禁笑了起来：
a wooden box had to be found for him to stand on so that the audience could see him more than the shock of his wiry black hair sticking up above the lectern.
在他的脚底下放了一个木箱，这样台下的听众们才能更清楚地看到他，而不是只能透过演讲台看到他细长又蓬乱的黑头发。
Shy and awkward, Robert nevertheless read his prepared remarks and was given a hardy round of applause.
虽然略微有点害羞有点笨拙，但罗伯特还是坚持念完了准备好的演讲稿，在场的听众给了他热烈的掌声。
Is it any wonder Oppenheimer handled the challenges of his life so brilliantly?
在奥本海默辉煌的一生中，他应对挑战的能力是不是让我们觉得不可思议？
If you are someone whose father has made his way up in the business world, then you've seen, firsthand, what it means to negotiate your way out of a tight spot.
假如你是一个商人的儿子，你的父亲用商业世界的规则启发你，那么你很容易就能明白，为了应对紧张的场合，你最应该做的应该是什么。
If you're someone who was sent to the Ethical Culture School, then you aren't going to be intimidated by a row of Cambridge dons arrayed in judgement against you.
假如你是一个曾在道德文化学校念书的学生，那么你就不会害怕剑桥的老师列出的一系列对你不利的证词。
If you studied physics at Harvard, then you know how to talk to an army general who did engineering just down the road at MIT.
假如你曾在哈佛大学学习物理学，那么你就知道该怎样和一位曾在麻省理工研究工程学的将军交谈。
Chris Langan, by contrast, had only the bleakness of Bozeman, and a home dominated by an angry, drunken stepfather.
与他相反，克里斯却生活在缺少友爱的波兹曼，生活在一个被暴怒的、酗酒的继父支配的家庭。
"Langan did this to all of us," said Mark. "We all have a true resentment of authority."
“兰根（杰克·兰根）对我们都是这样，”马克说，“我们一直非常愤恨那些所谓的权威。”
That was the lesson Langan learned from his childhood: distrust authority, be independent.
这就是兰根从小受到的教育：不相信权威和喜欢独来独往。
He never had a parent teach him on the way to the doctor how to speak up for himself, and reason and negotiate with those in positions of authority.
他的父母不能在看病的路上告诉他应该准备什么问题问医生，他没有这样的父母，他的父母也不会告诉他应该怎样说服那些权威人士，怎样和他们磋商。
He didn't learn entitlement. He learned distress, distance and constraint.
他不理解权利的概念。
It may seem like a small thing, but it was a crippling handicap in navigating the world beyond Bozeman.
这看起来没什么了不起，但这却是他逃离波兹曼，能否自由行走于世界的最大障碍。
"I couldn't get any financial aid either," Mark went on. "We had just zero knowledge, less than zero knowledge, of the process.
“我也得不到一丁点的经济支助，”马克继续说道，“我们对这方面一无所知，对那些程序，我们可以说得上是白痴。
How to apply. The forms. Checkbooks. It was not our environment."
怎样申请，表格、支票薄是怎么回事，这些都不属于我们的世界。”
"If Christopher had been born into a wealthy family, if he was a son of a doctor who is well connected in some major market,
“如果克里斯托弗出生在一个富裕家庭，或者他的父亲是一个在行业内很有实力的医生，
I guarantee you he would have been one of those guys who you read about, knocking back PhDs at seventeen," his brother Jeff says.
我敢说他17岁就获得博士学位，就像你经常在报纸上看到的那些男孩一样，”他弟弟杰夫说。
"It's the culture you find yourself in that determines that.
这就是能对你起决定性作用的文化。
The issue with Chris is that he was always too bored to actually sit there and listen to his teachers.
克里斯面临的问题就是他总觉得老师的讲课很无聊，以至于无法安心坐下来听课。
If someone had recognized his intelligence and if he was from a family where there was some kind of value on education, they would have made sure he wasn't bored."
如果他的才智被人赏识，或者他来自那种富有教养的家庭，那么，他们就有可能让他意识到很多事情其实并非那么无聊。
When the termites were into their adulthood, Terman looked at the records of 730 of the men and divided them into three groups.
那些特曼人长大成人之后，特曼收集到了其中730个人的记录，他把这些人分成三个组。
One hundred and fifty, the top 20 percent, fell into what Terman called the A group.
较为突出的150个人——占全部的20％——被分进了A组。
These were the true success stories, the stars -the lawyers and physicians and engineers and academics.
他们都可以说得上是真正的成功者，他们是各行各业的名角——有律师、医生、工程师和学者。
Ninety percent of the As graduated from college and between them had earned 98 graduate degrees.
A组中，90％的人都从大学顺利毕业，其中又有98％的人拥有研究生学历。
The middle 60 percent were the B group, those who were doing "satisfactorily."
有60％的人被划入了B组，他们的表现算是“令人满意”。
The bottom 150 were the Cs, the one who Terman judged to have done the least with their superior mental ability.
表现最差的150个人划入了C组，特曼觉得这一群人拥有过人的智商，却没创造多少与智商相配的价值。
They were the postal workers and the struggling book keepers and the men lying on their couches at home without any job at all.
他们有邮局的工人和做苦力活的薄记员，还包括一些成天躺在家里的睡椅上无所事事的人。
One third of the Cs were college dropouts. A quarter had only a high school diploma,
C组中，三分之一的人曾有大学辍学的经历，四分之一的人只有高中学历。
and all 150 the Cs, each of whom, at one point in their life, had been dubbed a genius, had together earned a grand total of eight graduate degrees.
C组中的150个人——其中不管是谁，在他的生命中，都曾被人们称为天才——最终却只有8个人真正说得上拥有研究生学历。
