1. Life is not fair, get used to it.

2. The world won't care about your self-esteem. 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, until you earn both.

4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.

5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.

6. If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your 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 your talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites 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 abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance 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 nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

【助读词汇】

-self-esteem n. 自尊，自负，自大，自尊心

-accomplish vt. 完成，达到，实现

-tenure n. (官职等的)保有，任期， (土地)使用期限

-flip vt. 急速地翻动，使翻转

-burger n. 汉堡包，牛肉饼

-whine v. 发牢骚，哀诉

-parasite n. 寄生生物，寄生植物，寄生虫

-delouse vt. 除去（身上、衣服上的）虱子

-nerd n. 乏味的人

【参考译文】

比尔盖茨致青年的黄金准则

1. 生活是不公平的，要适应它。

2. 这个世界并不会在乎你的自尊，只是要求你在自我感觉良好之前先有所成就。

3. 刚从中学毕业你不会1年挣4万美元，你不会成为一名拥有汽车的公司副总裁，直到你汽车和副总裁的职位都挣到手。

4. 如果你认为你的老师很严厉，那么等你有了老板再回头想一想，老板可是没有任期限制的。

5. 烙牛肉饼并不会有损于你的尊严。你的祖父对烙牛肉饼有着不同的理解，他们称之为“机遇”。

6. 如果你陷入困境，那不是你父母的过错，不要埋怨你的错误，而要从中吸取教训。

7. 在你出生之前，你的父母并不像现在这样乏味。他们变成今天这个样子是因为这些年来一直为你付账单，给你洗衣服，听你大谈你有多酷。所以，如果你想消灭你父母那一辈中的“寄生虫”来拯救雨林的话，还是先去清除你房间衣柜里的虱子吧。

8. 你所在学校也许已经不再分优等生和劣等生，但生活并不如此。在某些学校已经废除不及格分；只要你想找到正确答案，学校就会给你机会。然而跟现实生活相比，这并没有丝毫的相似之处。

9.生活不像在学校一样有学期之分，你也不会有暑假，并且没有几位老板乐于帮你发现自我，你必须依靠自己去完成。

10. 电视里并不是真实的生活。在现实生活中，人们必须离开咖啡馆而埋头做自己的工作。

11. 善待乏味的人。有可能到头来你会为一个乏味的人工作。

【人生启迪】

我们在年轻的时候总是抱怨学校的作业太多，父母给的压力太大，老师太过严厉，还有考试太难，但是一旦有一天当我们走上了社会，才发现原来学生时代的生活是最美好的，我们却没有珍惜。作为学生的你，还在怨天尤人吗？从现在开始珍惜你所拥有的一切吧，这样当你有一天走上工作岗位的时候，你才不会为学生时代的你感到懊悔！