Trey

    The faith of Bill Gates' grandmother probably had a role in shaping her into an extremely principled person. Even back then, I could grasp that she followed a strict personal code of fairness and justice and integrity. A life well-lived meant living simply, giving your time and money to others, and, most of all, using your brain --- staying engaged with the world. She never lost her temper, never gossiped, or criticized. She was incapable of guile. Often she was the smartest person in the room, but she was careful to let others shine. She was basically a shy person, but she had an inner confidence that presented as a Zen-like calm.

    此段落描述了比爾‧蓋茨奶奶如何透過信仰塑造出她堅守原則的性格。作者指出，她內心秉持公平、正義與誠信的準則，過著簡樸的生活，樂於奉獻時間和金錢幫助他人，而持續關心世界並利用自己的智慧來保持參與感。她從未失去冷靜、不閒聊、也不批評他人，誠實無偽。儘管她往往是最睿智的人，但她總是謙讓並讓別人發光發熱。總的來說，她雖然性格害羞，但擁有一種宛如禪定般的內心平靜和自信。

rival: a person, company or thing that competes with another in sport, business, etc.

at the forefront of: in or into an important or leading position in a particular group or activity

rummy: a simple card game in which players try to collect particular combinations of cards

canasta: a card game played with two packs of cards, in which players try to collect sets of cards

modest: not very large, expensive, important, etc.

war bonds: debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations

lumber mill: a place where logs are cut

lingo: a language, especially a foreign language

Go Fish is a popular children's card game where players try to collect sets of four matching cards (called "books") by asking other players if they have specific cards.

tease: to laugh at somebody and make jokes about them, either in a friendly way or in order to annoy them or make them embarrassed

devout: believing strongly in a particular religion and obeying its laws and practices

adherent: a person who supports a particular set of ideas

conviction: a strong opinion or belief

grasp: to understand something completely

gossip: to talk about other people’s private lives, often in an unkind way

guile: ​the use of clever but dishonest behavior in order to trick people

Zen: ​a Japanese form of Buddhism

stoically: without complaining about pain trouble or showing what you are feeling

funeral: DJ[ˋfju:nərəl]

babysitter: a person who takes care of babies or children while their parents are away from home and is usually paid to do this

profound: very great; felt or experienced very strongly

willow: a tree with long, thin branches and long, thin leaves, that often grows near water

upscale: in a way that involves buying or selling goods and services that are expensive and of high quality

privilege: DJ[ˋprivilidʒ]

eerie: strange, mysterious and frightening

golf course: a large area of land that is designed for playing golf on

avid: very enthusiastic about something (often a hobby)

jigsaw puzzle: a picture printed on cardboard (= very thick, stiff card) or wood, that has been cut up into a lot of small pieces of different shapes that you have to fit together again

kick one's butt: to succeed or win in an impressive way

glimmer: a small unsteady light

relic: an object, a tradition, a system, etc. that has survived from the past

slap:  to hit something with the flat part of your hand

frenzy: a state of great activity and strong emotion that is often violent or frightening and not under control

solitaire: a game for one person in which you remove pieces from their places on a special board after moving other pieces over them. The aim is to finish with only one piece left on the board.

communal: shared by, or for the use of, a number of people, especially people who live together

revelation: a fact that people are made aware of, especially one that has been secret and is surprising

didactic: designed to teach people something, especially a moral lesson

pinochle: a card game for two or more people that uses a special set of 48 cards

algorithm: a set of rules that must be followed when solving a particular problem

game theory: the part of mathematics that deals with situations in which people compete with each other, for example war or business

articulate:  to express or explain your thoughts or feelings clearly in words

intuit: to know that something is true based on your feelings rather than on facts, what somebody tells you, etc.

odds: something that makes it seem impossible to do or achieve something

fanfare: a short loud piece of music that is played to celebrate somebody/something important arriving

acknowledgement: an act of accepting that something exists or is true, or that something is there

wrestling: a sport in which two people fight by holding each other and trying to throw or force their opponent to the ground

Bill Gates "Source Code"

Online Dictionaries Used:

hk.dictionary.search.yahoo.com

www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com

Explained by Microsoft Copilot