Stephen Hawking was born in Oxford, England on 8th January, 1942. He went to school in St All bans, a small city near London. Although he did well, he was never top of his class.
After leaving school, Hawking went first to Oxford University where he studied physics and then went to Cambridge University where he studied cosmology. As he himself admits (承认), he didn't work hard.
He was a very lazy student, and did very little work. However, he still got marks.
It was at the age of 20 that Hawking first noticed something was wrong with him. He started to bump into things. When he visited his family at Christmas time, his mother was so worried that she made him see a doctor. Hawking was sent to hospital for tests. Finally, the result came back. Hawking had motor neuron disease (运动神经元疾病), an incurable illness which would make him unable to speak, breathe or move without the help of a machine. Doctor s said they had no way to help him. He would die before 23.
At first, Hawking became very depressed (沮丧的). After a while, though, he began to see his life in a different way. As he later wrote, "Before my illness was diagnosed (诊断), I had been very bored with life. There had not seemed to be anything worth doing. But shortly after I came out of hospital. I suddenly realized that there were a lot of worthwhile things I could do." Hawking married, found a job at Cambridge University as a professor. He strongly believes that his story shows that nobody, how bad their situation is, should lose hope. "Life is not fair. " He once said. "You just have to do the best you can in your own situation."
