强行复工,暴怒马斯克与禁令正面刚
美国抗疫与复工的争论正烈之际,特斯拉CEO埃隆·马斯克不顾当地政府反对,近日强行让其加州工厂恢复生产。虽然特斯拉一路高歌猛进,马斯克的火箭公司SpaceX也将迎来首次载人飞行,但马斯克疫情期间的轻率言论还是频频引发争议。马斯克为何一意孤行地要提前复工?这背后还反映出怎样的矛盾?一起来听今天的讲解。
Coronavirus Wrecked Tesla’s Momentum and Elon Musk Is Furious
疫情挫伤特斯拉势头,埃隆·马斯克很生气
By Niraj Chokshi
A few months ago, everything seemed to be going Elon Musk’s way, as he presided over an upstart electric car company that was worth more than General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler combined.
几个月前,埃隆·马斯克似乎还一切顺利,他执掌的电动车公司迅速崛起,其市值超过了通用汽车、福特汽车和菲亚特克莱斯勒加在一起的总和。
And his other business, SpaceX, was poised to become the first to ferry NASA astronauts to orbit from American soil since 2011, a trip scheduled for the end of this month.
他的另一项产业——太空探索技术公司(SpaceX)计划在本月底搭载美国航天航空局(NASA)宇航员进入太空,该任务将成为自2011年来首个从美国本土升空的轨道载人飞行。
But the coronavirus set Mr. Musk off. Society’s response to the pandemic was “dumb” and a “panic,” he said, arguing that the threat is overstated. And government stay-at-home orders were, in his view, unnecessarily stalling his plans to revolutionize the auto industry and help solve climate change. He attacked local officials in the Bay Area for not letting him reopen Tesla’s factory, which he did this week anyway, in defiance of their instructions.
然而新冠病毒惹恼了马斯克。他说社会面对疫情的“恐慌”很“愚蠢”,认为威胁被夸大了。在他看来,政府的居家隔离令白白耽误了他革新汽车行业、帮助解决气候变化问题的计划。他抨击旧金山湾区的地方官员,因为他们禁止特斯拉的工厂复工,虽然马斯克无视了这些指令,依然在这周强行开工。
His latest attacks and statements have raised questions about Tesla’s financial health and his own judgment, but they also reflect a recognition of the influence he wields as one of the technology industry’s best-known iconoclasts.
尽管马斯克最近的抨击和声明引发了有关特斯拉财务状况及他个人判断的质疑,但这些言论也反映出马斯克清楚自己作为科技行业最有名的打破传统者所拥有的影响力。
生词好句
1.furious UK /ˈfjʊəriəs/ US /ˈfʊriəs/ adj. 暴怒的,狂怒的(very angry)
2.momentum UK /məˈmentəm/ US /məˈmentəm/ n. 动量;势头(the ability to keep increasing, developing, or being more successful) gain/gather momentum 取得/积蓄起某种势头/势能
3.wreck UK /rek/ US /rek/ n. 严重损毁的车/飞机等(尤指在事故中)vt. 船舶失事沉没;毁坏,破坏 treasure from wrecks 沉船上的珍宝
The blast wrecked 100 houses.
狂风毁坏了100栋房子。
4.Ford Motor 福特汽车公司 其创始人福特是世界上标准化造车的先驱,福特T型车成为世界上第一款量产车。
5.General Motors 通用汽车 美国本土最大的汽车企业,曾为全世界最大的汽车公司。
6.upstart UK /ˈʌpstɑːt/ US /ˈʌpstɑːrt/ adj. 突然出现的,突然变显赫的 n. 自命不凡的新贵;暴发户(someone who behaves as if they were more important than they really are and who shows a lack of respect towards people who are more experienced or older) startup n. 创业企业,初创公司
7.everything is going one’s way 一切都是按照某人的路子在走
8.Fiat Chrysler 菲亚特克莱斯勒汽车公司
9.preside over/at 主持…… preside vi. 主持,主导(会议);担任(主席),执掌/负责(某机构)
The Prime Minister will preside over/at an emergency cabinet meeting.
首相将主持一次内阁紧急会议。
Zhangsan presided over the company for over 30 years.
张三执掌这家公司超过30年。
10.soil UK /sɔɪl/ US /sɔɪl/ n. 领土,国土(a country or an area of land)
11.orbit UK /ˈɔːbɪt/ US /ˈɔːrbɪt/ vi. 绕轨道运行
12.ferry UK /ˈferi/ US /ˈferi/ vt. 轮渡,摆渡;运送(carry)
13.be poised to do sth. 整装待发,做好准备的(completely ready to do sth.or for sth. to happen when it is likely to happen soon) poise v. 保持(某种姿势)
14.SpaceX 太空探索技术公司 美国一家民营航天制造商和太空运输公司
15.in defiance of 不顾/违背…… defy v. 违反,违背
disregard v. 不管不顾,违反
16.the Bay Area 湾区 旧金山湾(San Francisco Bay)及其周边的郡县,统称为湾区。斯坦福大学、加州大学伯克利分校、硅谷都坐落于此,号称美国高科技的发动机,是美国平均收入和房价最高的地方。
17.revolutionize UK /ˌrevəˈluːʃənaɪz/ US /ˌrevəˈluːʃənaɪz/ vt. 革命化,给……带来变革 revolution n. 革命
18.stall UK /stɔːl/ US /stɑːl/ n. 牛棚;马厩 vt. 拖累,拖延(to make sb. wait or stop sth. from happening until you are ready) 近义词:delay
19.overstate UK /ˌəʊvəˈsteɪt/ US /ˌoʊvərˈsteɪt/ vt. 夸张/夸大的叙述(to talk about sth. in a way that makes it seem more important, serious etc than it really is)
20.dumb UK /dʌm/ US /dʌm/ adj. 没有说话能力的,哑的;笨的,愚蠢的
21.set sb. off 引起人们的举止/情绪(to make sb. start laughing, crying, or talking about sth.) Don’t mention what happened – you’ll only set her off again.
千万别提发生了什么,这样只会让她旧事重提。
trigger sb.’s emotion 触发某人的情绪
annoy sb. 使某人感到懊恼,不爽
22.iconoclast UK /aɪˈkɒnəklæst/ US /aɪˈkɑːnəklæst/ n. 圣像破坏者;对传统制度/现有信仰/理论进行攻击的人 icon n. 符号;偶像;圣像
23.wield UK /wiːld/ US /wiːld/ vt. 运用,支配,行使(to have and be able to use power of influence)
24.raise questions 引起/引发问题(bring about questions)