Those that have become high flyers, such as Netscape, Intel, Cisco and Yahoo, have turned many of their employees, including support staff like secretaries, into dot.com millionaires overnight, often at the relatively young age of 20s or 30s.
The valley's professionals are among the most hardworking people anywhere. A 15-hour day and 7-day weck is not uncommon, especially during the start-up stage. They would give up social life, and curtail their family life too, in order to pursue the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is this single-minded pursuit of excellence, supported by strong ethos of teamwork and esprit de corps, that sustain them until their mission is accomplished.
网景、英特尔、思科、雅虎等出类拔萃的公司使许多包括秘书等非一线职工在内的许多员工一夜致富，不少年仅二三十岁的员工已成了身家百万的网络富豪。
硅谷人的工作之勤奋,举世罕见。一天工作15个小时，一周工作七日,这样的工作日程安排在硅谷却是司空见惯的现象，尤其在创业初期更是如此。硅谷人放弃社交生活，减少与家人一起生活的时间，努力去寻求事业彩虹尽头处的那一桶金。正是这种孜孜不倦追求卓越的精神,加上优良的团队精神,支持着硅谷人的奋斗理念,他们不达目的决不罢休。
Paper qualification, though useful, is not a be-all-and-end-all. More weight is given to a candidate's proven abilities and aptitude for the job. This is amply demonstrated by industry icons like Apple's Jobs and Wozniak and Microsoft's Gates, all college dropouts who might not have emerged in a qualification-conscious community.
While racial prejudice no doubt still exists in the United States, it is hardly discernible in the Valley. What counts most is one's vision and track record, and not one's nationality, skin color or creed. This, together with its multiracial society, informal lifestyle and agreeable climate, lures foreigners to its shores.
在硅谷,文凭虽然有用,却不是一切，一纸定不了终生,硅谷更看重求职者的真才实学和岗位资质。最有说服力的例子莫过于行业的偶像人物,如苹果公司的创始人乔布斯与沃茨尼亚克,微软的创始人盖茨，他们都是一些大学辍学者,在讲究学历的社会很可能永无出头之日，毫无疑问,美国仍然存在着种族歧视,但这种现象在硅谷却难寻踪影。硅谷人最看重的是人才的视野和成长历程,而不是国籍、肤色或宗教信仰。这种观念,加上硅谷多种族的社会、不拘礼仪的生活方式、舒适宜人的气候,使外国人近悦远来。
Its phenomenal success has led to a worldwide fever to proliferate dot.com companies. In consequence, many bright young people have given up their secure jobs to join in the race. But the reality is that. because of its high-risk nature, for every success story there are hundreds who will fall by the wayside.
However, with the collapse of the U.S. NASDAQ share index, the share options held by numerous paper dot.com millionaires have become virtually worthless in these changed circumstances. Those who could not take the hit, as it were, left their employment feeling disillusioned.
Be that as it may, the majority in the Valley views this traumatic experience only as a temporary setback for the industry. They are sanguine that its longer-term prospects remain bright as the ultimate potential of the information age has not yet run its full course. They are confident that it will flourish well into this century provided it maintains its cutting edge in science and technology.
硅谷的非凡成功在全球掀起了创办网络公司的热潮,使众多青年才俊放弃了原本安逸稳定的工作而投身于这场网络竞赛。但是,网络创业事实上是一种高风险的行为,一家公司的脱颖而出,可能意味着数百家公司的功亏一篑。
然而,随着美国纳斯达克股市指数的狂泻,众多账面百万富翁所持的网络公司股票在突变中已不值一文。于是那些经不起打击者,南柯一梦之后落荒而逃。
尽管如此,硅谷人大多把这次惨痛的经历看做是网络业的一次短暂磨难,他们仍然乐观地认为,网络业的远景依然看好。发挥信息时代的最大潜力,还有待时日。他们坚信,网络业只要保持锋利的科技进步势头，还会在本世纪持续繁荣下去。
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