科学怪人”霍金亲口承认他从小就是一个“懒”学生，霍金谦虚地说：“我姐姐无疑是比我要聪明的。”

　　He is regarded as having one of the brightest minds on the planet. But eminent astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has admitted that he did not learn to read until he was eight years old.

　　他——被誉为在地球上“最聪明”的人，他就是“科学怪人”霍金。然而这位全球杰出的天体物理学家史蒂芬·霍金Stephen Hawking亲口承认他从小就是一个“懒惰的”学生，直到8岁才开始正式学习阅读之后，还是引来了舆论的广泛关注。

　　In a public lecture at the Royal Albert Hall, Professor Hawking also admitted that he was lazy while at Oxford University, where he studied physics, and that only the diagnosis that he might die young from motor neurone disease impelled him to concentrate on his work.

　　霍金还承认，不仅小时候他学习上惰性很大，就连在牛津大学读书的时候他也是十分懒惰的。他最后说，一直到他被检查患有运动神经元疾病，知道“死亡”的可能将伴随他一生时，他才下定决心一定要“有所作为”。

　　Professor Hawking said: ‘My sister Philippa could read by the age of 4 but then she was definitely brighter than me.’He said that he was unexceptional at school and was never further than halfway up his class.‘My classwork was very untidy, and my handwriting was the despair of my teachers,’ he said.‘But my classmates gave me the nickname Einstein, so presumably they saw signs of something better.’

　　霍金的姐姐Philippa四岁的时候就能够阅读了，霍金谦虚地说：“我姐姐无疑是比我要聪明的。我在学校就是一个‘默默无闻’的人，作业十分潦草。在老师眼中我就是一个‘差等生’。”与此相反，与霍金朝夕相处的同学们却觉得他是一个“聪明的人”，霍金自豪说：“我在学校的绰号是爱因斯坦，我想群众的眼光还是雪亮的。”

　　But he said that it was when doctors told him that he probably only had a few years to live at the age of 21 that galvanized him into focusing on his work and a period of productivity that resulted in some of his early breakthroughs. He said: 'When faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realise that life is worth living and there are lots of things you want to do.'

　　当医生告诉21岁的霍金（他不幸患上了会使肌肉萎缩的运动神经细胞病，必须禁锢在轮椅上，全身只有三根手指可以活动）他的人生还有屈指可数的日子的时候，霍金突然“惊醒”了。他说，我知道我有可能在很年轻的时候就离这个世界而去，才意识到生命太短暂，还有太多的事情值得我去做。