比尔·盖茨道歉

近日，比尔·盖茨（Bill Gates）就他与爱泼斯坦（Jeffrey Epstein）的关联向盖茨基金会员工道歉，承认自己犯了错，给该慈善组织蒙上了一层阴影，但坚称自己没有参与爱泼斯坦的罪行。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Which conclusion about the timeline of Gates' interactions with Epstein is most accurate?

A. Gates ceased contact immediately after learning of Epstein's conviction

B. Gates' meetings occurred only before concerns were raised by Melinda

C. Gates' association continued despite awareness of reputational risks

D. Gates' interactions were limited to a single year

无注释原文：

Bill Gates Apologizes to Foundation Staff Over Epstein Ties

From: The Wall Street Journal

Bill Gates apologized to staff of the Gates Foundation over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, admitting he made mistakes that had cast a cloud over the philanthropic group while insisting he didn't participate in Epstein's crimes.

In a town hall on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they didn't involve Epstein's victims. “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates said, according to a recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Gates said images in the recently released Epstein files showing him with women whose faces are redacted were pictures that Epstein asked him to take with Epstein's assistants after their meetings. “To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” Gates said.

“It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein” and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender, Gates said. “I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.”

The billionaire said he met with Epstein starting in 2011, years after Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Gates said he was aware of some “18-month thing” that had limited Epstein's travel but said he didn't properly check his background. Gates said he continued meeting with Epstein even after his then-wife Melinda French Gates expressed concerns in 2013. 

“Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it's clear there was ongoing bad behavior,” Gates told staff. Speaking of his ex-wife, he added: “To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing.” 

Gates told staff on Tuesday that he continued meeting with Epstein through 2014, flew on a private jet with Epstein and spent time with him in Germany, France, New York and Washington. “I never stayed overnight,” he said, or visited Epstein's island. 

He said Epstein “talked about the kind of intimate relationship he had with a lot of billionaires, particularly Wall Street billionaires,” and that he could help raise money for causes like global health. 

Gates said because Epstein had other prestigious people at these meetings, that “made it easier for me to feel like this was a normalized situation.” He said he realizes that his association with Epstein also helped the sex offender to burnish his reputation.

Gates admitted that his ties to Epstein and newly disclosed emails from the Justice Department files had cast a cloud over the Gates Foundation and its reputation.

“It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation,” he said. “And our work is very reputational sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us.”

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Bill Gates Apologizes to Foundation Staff Over Epstein Ties

From: The Wall Street Journal

Bill Gates apologized to staff of the Gates Foundation over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, admitting he made mistakes that had cast a cloud over the philanthropic group while insisting he didn't participate in Epstein's crimes.

比尔·盖茨（Bill Gates）就他与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦（Jeffrey Epstein）的关联向盖茨基金会（Gates Foundation）的员工道歉，承认自己犯了错，给该慈善组织蒙上了一层阴影，但坚称自己没有参与爱泼斯坦的罪行。

cast /kɑːst/ 作名词，表示“（一部电影、戏剧或演出的）全体演员”，英文解释为“the actors in a film, play, or show”举个🌰：After the final performance the director threw a party for the cast. 最后一场演出过后，导演为全体演员举办了一场聚会。

作动词，1）表示“分配角色；选派角色”，英文解释为“to choose actors to play the different parts in a film/movie, play, etc.; to choose an actor to play a particular role”举个🌰：He has cast her as an ambitious lawyer in his latest movie. 他选定她在他最近的一部影片里扮演一名雄心勃勃的律师。

2）表示“把（光或阴影）投向；投射”，英文解释为“to choose actors to play particular parts in a play, film, or show”举个🌰：The tree cast a shadow over/on his face. 树影投在他的脸上。

📍cast a shadow/cloud over/on something 表示“给…蒙上阴影”，英文解释为“to spoil a good situation with something unpleasant”举个🌰：Her father's illness had cast a shadow over the birth of her baby. 她父亲的病给她孩子的出生蒙上了一层阴影。

philanthropic /ˌfɪlənˈθrɒpɪk/ 表示“慈善的；乐善好施的（尤指通过捐款帮助穷人）”，英文解释为“helping poor people, especially by giving them money”

insist /ɪnˈsɪst/ 表示“坚持说，强调；坚决要求”，英文解释为“to say firmly or demand forcefully, especially when others disagree with or oppose what you say”举个🌰：He still insists (that) he did nothing wrong. 他仍坚称自己没有做错任何事。

In a town hall on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they didn't involve Epstein's victims. “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates said, according to a recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

在周二的一次员工大会上，这位微软（Microsoft）联合创始人承认，他曾与两名俄罗斯女性有婚外情，后来被爱泼斯坦发现，但这两名女性并非爱泼斯坦的受害者。根据《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）查阅的一段录音，盖茨说：“我没有做任何违法的事情。我没有看到任何违法的事情。”

town hall表示“镇公所；市政厅”，英文解释为“A town hall is a building or hall used for local government business, usually a building which is the main office of a town council.”

而town hall meeting指的是市民大会也叫市政厅会议，是一种非正式的民众集会。社区里的任何人都可以参加，可以发表意见，也可以向公众人物或民选官员提出质询。

illicit /ɪˈlɪs.ɪt/ 表示“非法的；违禁的；社会不容许的”，英文解释为“illegal or disapproved of by society”如：illicit drugs such as cocaine and cannabis 可卡因和大麻之类的违禁药物。

Gates said images in the recently released Epstein files showing him with women whose faces are redacted were pictures that Epstein asked him to take with Epstein's assistants after their meetings. “To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” Gates said.

盖茨说，最近公布的爱泼斯坦案文件中，有他与一些女性（面部被打码）的合影，这些照片是爱泼斯坦在他们会面后要求他与爱泼斯坦的助手们拍的。盖茨说：“需要澄清的是，我从未与受害者，也就是他身边的那些女性，共处过。”

redact /rɪˈdækt/ 表示“在印刷（或公开）之前删减一些话（或信息）”，英文解释为“to remove words or information from a text before it is printed or made available to the public”举个🌰：Some parts of secret files are available to the public, but heavily redacted. 有一些秘密文件公众可以看到，但是内容已被大量删减。

🎬电影《隐藏人物》（Hidden Figures）中的台词提到：Half the data is redacted. 一半数据都被涂改过了。

“It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein” and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender, Gates said. “I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.”

“与爱泼斯坦有往来并把盖茨基金会的高管带去与这位性犯罪者会面，是一个巨大的错误，”盖茨说。“我向因为我犯的错而被卷入此事的人道歉。”

sex offender /ˈseks əˌfen.dər/ 表示“性犯罪者”，英文解释为“a person who commits a crime involving a sexual attack”

The billionaire said he met with Epstein starting in 2011, years after Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Gates said he was aware of some “18-month thing” that had limited Epstein's travel but said he didn't properly check his background. Gates said he continued meeting with Epstein even after his then-wife Melinda French Gates expressed concerns in 2013. 

这位亿万富翁说，他从2011年开始与爱泼斯坦会面。而多年前的2008年，爱泼斯坦已对引诱未成年人卖淫的指控认罪。盖茨说，他知道有一个限制爱泼斯坦出行的“18个月的事情”，但表示他没有妥善核查其背景。盖茨说，即使在他当时的妻子梅琳达·弗伦奇·盖茨（Melinda French Gates）于2013年表示担忧后，他仍继续与爱泼斯坦会面。

1）表示“恳求”，英文解释为“If you plead with someone to do something, you ask them in an intense, emotional way to do it.”举个🌰：The lady pleaded with her daughter to come back home.  那位女士恳求她的女儿回家。

2）表示“（尤指在法庭上）为…辩护；申辩；认（罪）”，英文解释为“to make a statement of what you believe to be true, especially in support of something or someone or when someone has been accused in a law court”举个🌰：The defendant pleaded not guilty/innocent to robbery with violence. 被告不承认暴力抢劫。

solicit /səˈlɪsɪt/ 1）表示“招徕（嫖客）；拉（客）”，英文解释为“to offer to have sex with people in return for money”

2）表示“索求，请求…给予（援助、钱或信息）；征求；筹集”，英文解释为“to ask sb for sth, such as support, money, or information; to try to get sth or persuade sb to do sth”举个🌰：They were planning to solicit funds from a number of organizations. 他们正计划向一些机构募集资金。

🎬电影《傲慢与偏见》（Pride and Prejudice）中的台词提到：Mrs Bennet, I was hoping, if it would not trouble you, that I might solicit a private audience with Miss Elizabeth. 班奈特太太 若不会太麻烦 我想私下和伊莉莎白小姐谈谈。

prostitution表示“卖淫”，英文解释为“the work of a prostitute”。prostitute表示“卖淫者；娼妓；妓女；男妓”，英文解释为“a person who has sex for money”。

📍2021年“弹琴须音准，做人别跑调”文中，除了用prostitute表示，还用了相对另一个说法 sex worker 性工作者。

“Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it's clear there was ongoing bad behavior,” Gates told staff. Speaking of his ex-wife, he added: “To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing.” 

“现在知道了这些情况，让这件事变得糟糕一百倍，不仅是因为他过去的罪行，而且现在很清楚，他一直有不当行为，”盖茨告诉员工。谈到他的前妻时，他补充说：“值得称赞的是，她对爱泼斯坦的事情一直都持怀疑态度。”

skeptical /ˈskep.tɪ.kəl/ 表示“怀疑的，持怀疑态度的”，英文解释为“doubting that something is true or useful”举个🌰：Many experts remain skeptical about/of her claims. 很多专家对她的主张仍然持怀疑态度。

Gates told staff on Tuesday that he continued meeting with Epstein through 2014, flew on a private jet with Epstein and spent time with him in Germany, France, New York and Washington. “I never stayed overnight,” he said, or visited Epstein's island. 

盖茨周二告诉员工，他与爱泼斯坦的会面一直持续到2014年底，他曾与爱泼斯坦一起乘坐私人飞机，并在德国、法国、纽约和华盛顿与他共处。“我从未过夜，”他说，也未曾去过爱泼斯坦的岛屿。

He said Epstein “talked about the kind of intimate relationship he had with a lot of billionaires, particularly Wall Street billionaires,” and that he could help raise money for causes like global health. 

他说，爱泼斯坦“谈到他与许多亿万富翁，特别是华尔街的亿万富翁，有着怎样的亲密关系”，并说他可以帮助为全球健康等事业筹集资金。

intimate /ˈɪn.tɪ.mət/ 表示“亲密的；有性关系的；有密切关系的”，英文解释为“having, or being likely to cause, a very close friendship or personal or sexual relationship”如：intimate relationships 亲密关系，举个🌰：The restaurant has a very intimate atmosphere. 这家餐厅的氛围很怡人。

Gates said because Epstein had other prestigious people at these meetings, that “made it easier for me to feel like this was a normalized situation.” He said he realizes that his association with Epstein also helped the sex offender to burnish his reputation.

盖茨说，因为爱泼斯坦在这些会面中也邀请了其他有声望的人士，这“让我更容易觉得这是一种正常情况”。他说，他意识到自己与爱泼斯坦的往来也帮助了这名性犯罪者粉饰其声誉。

prestigious /presˈtɪdʒ.əs/ 表示“有威望的，有声望的，有威信的”，英文解释为“A prestigious institution, job, or activity is respected and admired by people.”举个🌰：It's one of the best equipped and most prestigious schools in the country. 它是该国设备最好、最有声望的学校之一。

burnish /ˈbɜː.nɪʃ/ 1）表示“擦亮；使有光泽”，英文解释为“to rub metal until it is smooth and shiny”

2）表示“给…增色；改善（公众形象）”，英文解释为“If you burnish something such as your public image, you take action to improve it and make it more attractive.”举个🌰：The company is currently trying to burnish its socially responsible image. 公司目前正在努力改善形象，把自己塑造成一个有社会责任感的公司。

Gates admitted that his ties to Epstein and newly disclosed emails from the Justice Department files had cast a cloud over the Gates Foundation and its reputation.

盖茨承认，他与爱泼斯坦的关联以及司法部文件中新披露的电子邮件，给盖茨基金会及其声誉蒙上了一层阴影。

“It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation,” he said. “And our work is very reputational sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us.”

“这绝对与基金会的价值观和目标背道而驰，”他说。“我们的工作对声誉非常敏感。我的意思是，人们可以选择与我们合作，也可以选择不与我们合作。”

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