As a child―and as an adult as well―Bill was untidy. It has been said that in order to counteract this. Mary drew up weekly clothing plans for him. On Mondays he might go to school in blue，on Tuesdays in green，on Wednesdays in brown，on Thursdays in black，and so on，Weekend meal schedules might also be planned in detail. Everything time，at work or during his leisure time.

　　Dinner table discussions in the Gate's family home were always lively and educational.“It was a rich environment in which to learn，”Bill remembered.

　　Bill's contemporaries，even at the age，recognized that he was exceptional. Every year，he and his friends would go to summer camp. Bill especially liked swimming and other sports. One of his summer camp friends recalled，“He was never a nerd or a goof or the kind of kid you didn't want your team. We all knew Bill was smarter than us. Even back then，when he was nine or ten years old，he talked like an adult and could express himself in ways that none of us understood.”

　　Bill was also well ahead of his classmates in mathematics and science. He needed to go to a school that challenged him to Lakeside―an all-boys'school for exceptional students. It was Seattle's most exclusive school and was noted for its rigorous academic demands，a place where“even the dumb kids were smart.”

　　Lakeside allowed students to pursue their own interests，to whatever extent they wished. The school prided itself on making conditions and facilities available that would enable all its students to reach their full potential . It was the ideal environment for someone like Bill Gates.

　　In 1968，the school made a decision that would change thirteen-year-old Bill Gates's life―and that of many of others，too.

　　Funds were raised，mainly by parents，that enabled the school to gain access to a computer―a Program Data processor（PDP）―through a teletype machine. Type in a few instructions on the teletype machine and a few seconds later the PDP would type back its response. Bill Gates was immediately hooked―so was his best friend at the time，Kent Evans，and another student，Paul Allen，who was two years older than Bill.

　　Whenever they had free time，and sometimes when they didn't，they would dash over to the computer room to use the machine. The students became so single-minded that they soon overtook their teachers in knowledge about computing and got into a lot of trouble because of their obsession. They were neglecting their other studies―every piece of word was handed in late. Classes were cut. Computer time was also proving to be very expensive. Within months，the whole budget that had been set aside for the year had been used up.

　　At fourteen，Bill was already writing short programs for the computer to perform. Early games programs such as Tic-Tac-Toe，or Noughts and Crosses，and Lunar Landing were written in what was to become Bill's second language，BASIC.

　　One of the reasons Bill was so good at programming is because it is mathematical and logical. During his time at Lakeside，Bill scored a perfect eight hundred on a mathematics test. It was extremely important to him to get this grade-he had to take the test more than once in order to do it.

　　If Bill Gates was going to be good at something. It was essential to be the best.

　　Bill's and Paul's fascination with computers and the business world meant that they read a great deal. Paul enjoyed magazines like Popular Electronics，Computer time was expensive and，because both boys were desperate to get more time and because Bill already had an insight into what they could achieve financially，the two of them decided to set themselves up as a company：The Lakeside Programmers Group.“Let's call the real world and try to sell something to it！”Bill announced.

　　童年時期――即使成了了大人――比爾也不修邊幅。據說為了改此習慣，瑪麗為他制定了一周著裝計劃。周一上學他穿藍色裝，周二綠色，周三棕色，周四黑色，等等。周末用餐時間也布置得細致入微。每件事都要井井有條。比爾?蓋茨討厭浪費時間，無論是在工作中或閑暇時。

　　在比爾家中的餐桌上討論總是既生動又富有教育意義。“那是個內容豐富的學習環境，”比爾回憶道。

　　比爾的同代人，即使是在那個年齡，都能看出他的與眾不同。每年，他和朋友們都要去夏令營。比爾特別喜愛游泳運動等。他的一位在夏令營的朋友回憶道，“他絕不會是個不足掛齒或無足輕重之人。我們都曉得比爾比我們聰穎。甚至在更早的時候，當他九、十歲時，言談就如同成人一般他說的話有時我們感到高深莫測。

　　在數學和自然方面比爾比同班同學也更勝一籌。他需要上一所對他充滿挑戰的學校。隨即父母決定送他去湖畔中學―一所專門招收超常男生的學校。這是西雅圖一所限制最嚴的學校，它以嚴格的課程要求而著稱，是個“連啞童都聰明的”地方。

　　湖畔中學允許學生們按自己興趣自由發揮，去通達他們希望的極至。令校方驕傲的是他們所創造的環境及設施使學生們能充分發揮各自的潛能。這是像比爾?蓋茨這樣學生的理想環境。

　　1968年，學校做出的一項決定改變了13歲的比爾?蓋茨的生活――同時也改變了許多其他的人。

　　學校主要靠家長提供的資金通過一種電傳打字機進入電腦――即程序數據處理機。在電傳打字機上鍵入幾條指令，幾秒鐘后程序數據處理機即會反饋回信息。比爾?蓋茨當即就著了迷――他那時最要好的朋友坎特――他那時最要好的朋友坎特?埃文斯和另一名長他兩歲的學生保羅?艾倫也是如此。

　　他們不管有沒有空，都要趕到電腦室去用用那臺機器。這些學生非常專注，以至于在電腦方面的知識都超過了老師，同時因為他們的執著也帶來了不少麻煩。他們忽略了其他的課程――每項作業都遲遲才交，有時還曠課。上機時間也很昂貴。幾個月后，當初留做一年用的預算就已經消耗殆盡了。

　　比爾十四歲時，就已開始編寫簡短的運行電腦的程序了。早期的游戲程序如“三棋殺三子”，或“畫圈打叉游戲”，及“登月”就是用后來成為比爾的第二種語言BASIC來寫的。

　　比爾善于編程的其中一個原因就是它蘊含的運算性與邏輯性。他在湖畔中學的那段時間，比爾在一次數學測驗中取得了滿分800分，取得這樣的成績對他來說是至關重要的―為了這個成績他不得不參加幾次測驗。

　　倘若比爾？蓋茨決定要做好某件事，他必定會做得最為出色。

　　比爾和保羅對電腦和商務的癡迷意味著他們要博覽群書。保羅喜愛像《大眾電子》之類的刊物，而比爾則翻閱商業雜志。上機時間的昂貴，以及因為這兩個孩子迫切需要更多的上機時間，還有比爾早已洞察到他們在經濟上會有所收益，于是他們倆決定自己組建公司：湖畔程序設計者集團。比爾宣布道：“讓我們喚醒這個世界并給它推銷點東西吧！”

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