Israel lives up to its reputation as the Start-up nation. Israeli start-ups are everywhere. It is what people aspire to. It is what they dream of.
以色列没有辜负它作为"创业之国"的美名。在以色列，新成立的企业随处可见。这是以色列人的期盼。这是他们的梦想。
It was Dan Senor and Saul Singer who nicknamed the country that has given birth to more start-ups than any country outside of the U.S. It is a nickname that it well deserves.
正是丹·塞诺(Dan Senor)和索尔·辛格(Saul Singer)给了以色列创业之国这个称谓。作为美国以外孕育最多新兴企业的国家，以色列当之无愧。
There are many reasons given for this success. Israel has little in the way of natural resources, so it has had to create its wealth from the one thing it does have, its people. Then there is the unique role of the Israeli Defense Forces, and in particular the elite intelligence unit, 8200. At one start-up, all of the coders had met there. It functions almost as a high-tech networking event.
这份成功得益于多方面的原因。以色列的自然资源储量并不丰富，因此它若要创造财富就必须依赖它真正拥有的一样东西──：以色列人。以色列国防军(Israeli Defense Forces)也发挥了的独特的作用，特别是它的精英情报部门──"8200部队"。这也是一个新成立的机构，所有的编码人员都在那里汇聚，看起来就像是一场专门为高科技人员举办的社交活动。
And then there is the unique Israeli culture and spirit. Call it chutzpah, call it simply refusing to be told what to do. For some it would be determination, an admirable quality in an entrepreneur, for others it looks a lot like sheer stubbornness -- a less desired trait.
另外，还应该提到的就是以色列独特的文化和国民精神。有人称这种精神为chutzpah（过度自信又厚颜无耻），干脆点说就是不肯接受别人的安排。对于一些人来说，这意味着决心和毅力，是一个创业家应该具有的值得嘉许的品质；而对其他人而言，这简直就是冥顽不灵──这可不是什么好品质。
Everywhere you go in this Start-up nation, there is one name you hear time and again, and although he will deny it when you meet him, Yossi Vardi is the father of the start-up culture in Israel.
在这个创业的国度里，不论你走到哪里，你总会反复地听到一个人的名字，尽管当你见到他的时候，他不会认账。这个人就是以色列的创业文化之父──约西·瓦尔迪(Yossi Vardi)。
To prove the point about how deeply woven the start up culture is in the society, at lunch, the avuncular Mr. Vardi starts to chat with the young waitress, switching between Hebrew and English. What is she doing, he asks her? She is a linguist, in her first year at university. What does she want to do when she graduates, he asks? 'Oh, I want to work in voice recognition,' she says. 'Probably in a small company or a start-up.'
为了证明这种创业文化已经深刻地融入了以色列社会，午餐时分，慈祥和蔼的瓦尔迪用希伯莱语和英语与年轻的女服务员攀谈了起来。她是做什么的？他问她。她是个语言学专业的学生，今年上大学一年级。毕业后她想从事什么工作？他问道。"哦，我想从事语音识别工作，"她说，"可能会找一家小公司或者新成立的企业吧。"
So what is his theory for the success of this country of only 7.5 million and its ability to punch way over its weight?
那么，他认为以色列这个仅仅拥有750万人口的国家是如何获得成功，又是如何具备了发挥超出自身实力的能力的呢？
'Jewish mothers,' he says. 'We succeed because of the guilt we all feel. From birth we are told we have to be better, that we are such a disappointment.
"原因就在于犹太民族的母亲们"，他说。"我们能够获得成功，是因为我们都感觉到了我们的罪过。从出生的那一刻起，我们就被告知一定要做得更好，被告知我们是如此令她们失望。"
'You know the difference between an Italian mother and a Jewish one? An Italian mother says to her son 'Eat this food or I will kill you.' A Jewish one says 'Eat this food or I will kill myself.'
"你知道意大利母亲和犹太母亲有什么不同吗？意大利母亲会对她的儿子说，'吃掉这些东西，否则我就杀死你。'而犹太母亲则会说'吃掉这些东西，要不我就死给你看。'"
'They are our secret.'
"她们就是我们的成功秘诀。"
Ben Rooney
- singer [´siŋə]
n.歌手，演唱者 (初中英语单词) - wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- intelligence [in´telidʒəns] n.智力；消息 (初中英语单词)
- culture [´kʌltʃə] n.修养；文化；饲养 (初中英语单词)
- ability [ə´biliti] n.(办事)能力；才干 (初中英语单词)
- italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)
- israel [´izreiəl] n.以色列 (高中英语单词)
- unique [ju:´ni:k] a.唯一的 n.独一无二 (高中英语单词)
- determination [di,tə:mi´neiʃən] n.决心；决定 (高中英语单词)
- admirable [´ædmərəbəl] a.极佳的，值得赞美的 (高中英语单词)
- jewish [´dʒu:iʃ] a.犹太人(似)的 (高中英语单词)
- reputation [repju´teiʃən] n.名誉；名声；信誉 (英语四级单词)
- aspire [ə´spaiə] vi.立志要；升高；热望 (英语四级单词)
- nickname [´nikneim] n.绰号 vt.给...起绰口 (英语六级单词)
- entrepreneur [,ɔntrəprə´nə:] n.企业家，创业者 (英语六级单词)
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