《喬布斯傳》自問世以來受到了全世界人民的關注，對此英語推出《喬布斯傳》翻譯筆記系列，讓我們在翻譯學習中回顧喬幫主的偉大一生。第二章 “輟學” 第二部分講述了喬布斯上大學的故事。喬布斯罔顧父母的經濟實力有限，執意要去學費很高很有個性的私立大學里德學院讀書。1972年秋天喬布斯入學的第一天，任性叛逆的喬布斯甚至都沒有跟父母說再見。喬布斯在大學中結識了志同道合的朋友丹尼爾·科特肯，他也是蘋果的第一位雇員。他們一起吸毒，一起進行宗教修行，一起堅持素食主義，過著不一樣的大學生活。

Seventeen years earlier, Jobs’s parents had made a pledge when they adopted him: He would go to college. So they had worked hard and saved dutifully for his college fund, which was modest but adequate by the time he graduated. But Jobs, becoming ever more willful, did not make it easy. At first he toyed with not going to college at all. “I think I might have headed to New Yorkif I didn’t go to college,” he recalled, musing on how different his world—and perhaps all of ours—might have been if he had chosen that path. When his parents pushed him to go to college, he responded in a passive-aggressive way. He did not consider state schools, such as Berkeley, where Woz then was, despite the fact that they were more affordable. Nor did he look at Stanford, just up the road and likely to offer a scholarship. “The kids who went to Stanford, they already knew what they wanted to do,” he said. “They weren’t really artistic. I wanted something that was more artistic and interesting.”

17年前當喬布斯的父母領養他的時候，他們曾經向他的生母許下諾言，會讓喬布斯上大學，所以他們一直都克盡父母的職責，努力工作，為他的大學基金省吃儉用。等到喬布斯高中畢業時，他們攢的錢雖不多，但是也足夠他上大學了。可是那時候的喬布斯是個越發任性的孩子，上大學的事情也沒那么容易。開始他根本沒有認真考慮上大學的事情。“要是我沒上大學，我想我很可能直接去紐約了。”他回憶說，一邊思考著要是他當時選擇了另一條路，他的世界會有怎樣的不同。當父母堅持讓他去上大學的時候，他的回應是消極反抗。他沒有考慮如沃茲上的伯克利這樣的公立大學，雖然事實是這些公立大學父母才能供得起。他也沒有考慮斯坦福大學，盡管學校就在附近而且愿意提供獎學金。“那些去上斯坦福的孩子，他們都已經知道自己到底想要什么，”喬布斯說道，“他們不是真正的藝術型，我想上更加有藝術性更加有趣的大學。”

1.make a pledge:

When you make a pledge, you should always try to fulfill it.你許下了諾言，就必須始終努力去兌現它。

We would like all members to make a simple, but profound, pledge which symbolizes their commitment to being a force for good and playing their own unique part in creating a happier society for everyone. 我們希望所有的成員都能做出一個簡單而有深刻的保證，承諾他們會成為一股向善的力量，為創造幸福的社會履行自己特殊的職責。

2.despite the fact that….:

They persisted in carrying out the project despite the fact that it had proved unworkable at the very beginning.盡管那項計劃一開始就證明是不切實際的，但是他們還是堅持要實施。

The team made it to the championship despite the fact that they were not up to scratch for the last several games.盡管他們最后幾場比賽表現失常，球隊還是奪得了冠軍。

3.喬布斯大學