《埃隆·马斯克传》新书上市

近日，备受期待的《埃隆·马斯克传》新书上市，书中内容引发热议。

1. What is the primary focus of Walter Isaacson's biography on Elon Musk?

a) Musk's managerial styles in his companies.

b) Musk's financial accomplishments as the world's richest person.

c) The private life and emotional influences that shaped Musk.

d) Musk's strategies in popularizing electric vehicles.

a) Traditional family values and structures.

b) A flexible understanding of relationships and familial roles.

c) Families should prioritize wealth and success.

d) Families should strictly adhere to societal norms.

无注释原文：

Takeaways from Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk

From: CNN

“You'll never be successful,” Errol Musk in 1989 told his 17-year-old son Elon, who was then preparing to fly from South Africa to Canada to find relatives and a college education.

That's one of the scenes Walter Isaacson paints in his 670-page biography of Elon Musk, who is now the richest person who ever lived. The biography allows readers new glimpses into the private life of the entrepreneur who popularized electric vehicles for the masses and landed rocket boosters hurtling back to Earth so they could be reused.

But Musk's public statements and actions have become increasingly unhinged, filing and threatening lawsuits against nonprofits that fight hate speech and allowing some of the internet's worst actors to regain their platforms.

Isaacson portrays Musk as a restless genius with a turbulent upbringing on the cusp of launching a new AI company along with his five other companies.

Musk allowed Isaacson to shadow him for two years but exercised no control over the biography's contents, the author said.

Musk's upbringing and father haunt him

Isaacson's book attributes much of Musk's drive to his upbringing. He recounts the emotional scars inflicted on Musk by his father, which, Isaacson writes, caused Musk to become “a tough yet vulnerable man-child with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.”

Musk decided to live with his father from age 10 to 17, enduring what Musk and others describe as occasional but regular verbal taunts and abuse. Musk's sister, Tosca, said Errol would sometimes lecture his children for hours, “calling you worthless, pathetic, making scarring and evil comments, not allowing you to leave.”

Elon Musk became estranged from his father, though he has occasionally supported his father financially. In a 2022 email sent to Elon Musk on Father's Day, Errol Musk said he was freezing and lacking electricity, asking his son for money.

In the letter, Errol made racist comments about Black leaders in South Africa. “With no Whites here, the Blacks will go back to the trees,” he wrote.

Elon Musk has said that he opposes racism and discrimination, but hate speech has flourished on X, formerly known as Twitter, since he purchased it 11 months ago, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Musk threatened to sue the ADL for defamation last week, arguing that the nonprofit's statements have caused his company to lose significant advertising revenue.

Musk's fluid family and obsession with population

Musk has a fluid mix of girlfriends, ex-wives, ex-girlfriends and significant others, and he has many children with multiple women. Isaacson's book revealed Musk had a third child (Techno Mechanicus) with the musician Grimes in 2022, and Musk confirmed the revelation Sunday.

Musk has frequently stated that humans must be a multiplanetary species, warning space exploration will ensure the future of humanity. He similarly has spoken numerous times that people need to have more children.

“Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming,” Musk said last year.

Musk has referred to his desire to increase the global population as an explanation for his unique family situation.

The book reports that Musk encouraged employees such as Shivon Zilis, a top operations officer at his Neuralink company, to have many children. “He feared that declining birthrates were a threat to the long-term survival of human consciousness,” Isaacson writes.

Although the book presents their relationship as a platonic work friendship, Musk volunteered to donate sperm to Zilis. She agreed and had twins in 2021 via in vitro fertilization; she did not tell people who the biological father was.

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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Takeaways from Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk

From: CNN

“You'll never be successful,” Errol Musk in 1989 told his 17-year-old son Elon, who was then preparing to fly from South Africa to Canada to find relatives and a college education.

“你永远不会成功的。”1989年，当时17岁的伊隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）正准备从南非飞往加拿大去寻找亲戚并接受大学教育，他的父亲埃罗尔·马斯克（Errol Musk）这样对他说。

表示“要点；从…中了解到的主要信息”，英文解释为“a main message or piece of information that you learn from something you hear or read”举个🌰：The takeaway from the conference was how competitive the computer science industry has become. 这场会议的主要信息是计算机科学产业的竞争已变得非常激烈。

biography /baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/ 表示“传记”，英文解释为“the life story of a person written by someone else”

That's one of the scenes Walter Isaacson paints in his 670-page biography of Elon Musk, who is now the richest person who ever lived. The biography allows readers new glimpses into the private life of the entrepreneur who popularized electric vehicles for the masses and landed rocket boosters hurtling back to Earth so they could be reused.

这是沃尔特·艾萨克森（Walter Isaacson）在其长达 670 页的《马斯克传》中描绘的场景之一。马斯克如今是史上最富有的人。这本传记让读者对这位企业家的私人生活有了新的了解，他为大众普及了电动汽车，并让火箭助推器降落回地球以便重复使用。

glimpse一词在iOS 14来了!文中出现过Apple just offered a glimpse at how the experience of using an iPhone is about to change.

1）表示“一瞥；一见”，英文解释为“an occasion when you see something or someone for a very short time”举个🌰：He caught a glimpse of her in the crowd. 他一眼瞥见她在人群里。

2）表示“短暂的感受（或领会/体验）”，英文解释为“a quick idea or understanding of what something is like”举个🌰：This biography offers a few glimpses of his life before he became famous. 这部传记展示了他成名前的一些生活情况。

📺英剧《神探夏洛克》（Sherlock）第一季中的台词提到：I've given you a glimpse, Sherlock, just a teensy glimpse. 我给过你暗示 夏洛克 一点点提示/只字片语。

mass /mæs/ 作形容词，表示“大量的；大规模的；大批的”，英文解释为“having an effect on or involving a large number of people or forming a large amount”如：weapons of mass destruction 大规模杀伤性武器。

作名词，表示“大量；大批；众多”，英文解释为“a large amount of something that has no particular shape or arrangement”，如：a mass of rubble 一堆瓦砾；也可以指物理上的“质量”，英文解释为“In physics, the mass of an object is the amount of physical matter that it has.”

📍masses 表示“群众，平民”，英文解释为“the ordinary people who form the largest group in a society”

booster /ˈbuː.stər/ 1）表示“（航天器的）推进器”，英文解释为“an engine on a spacecraft that gives extra power for the first part of a flight”如：a rocket booster 火箭推进器

2）表示“（增强药效的）辅助药剂”，英文解释为“a small amount of a substance that is given to increase the effect of the same substance given some time before, to continue to protect a person from illness”如：a polio booster 小儿麻痹症辅助药剂。

📍booster / booster shot / booster dose用来指加强针（疫苗）。

hurtle /ˈhɜː.təl/ 表示“快速移动;（尤指危险地）猛冲”，英文解释为“to move very fast, especially in a way that seems dangerous”举个🌰：The truck came hurtling towards us. 卡车朝我们猛冲过来。

But Musk's public statements and actions have become increasingly unhinged, filing and threatening lawsuits against nonprofits that fight hate speech and allowing some of the internet's worst actors to regain their platforms.

但马斯克的公开言论和行为似乎变得越来越疯狂，他对打击仇恨言论的非营利组织提交诉讼并威胁要起诉，同时还允许某些互联网上的劣迹人物再次使用其平台。

unhinged /ʌnˈhɪndʒd/ 表示“精神失常的，神经错乱的”，英文解释为“mentally ill”举个🌰：I sometimes think that he is a little unhinged. 有时我觉得他有点儿不太正常。

file作动词，1）表示“提起（诉讼）；提出（申请）；送交（备案）”，英文解释为“to present sth so that it can be officially recorded and dealt with”如：to file for divorce 提交离婚申请书，to file a claim/complaint/petition/lawsuit 提出索赔/申诉；呈交诉状；提起诉讼。

2）表示“排成纵队行进”，英文解释为“to walk in a line, one behind another”举个🌰：The visitors filed through the entrance to the ticket offices. 参观者们排队通过入口走向售票处。

📍File本身可以表示按一定顺序排列，所以file out of就是以这样的顺序退出某处，表示以有序、整齐的方式离开某个地方。举个🌰：The students filed out of the classroom after the bell rang. 铃声响起后，学生们有序地离开了教室。

Isaacson portrays Musk as a restless genius with a turbulent upbringing on the cusp of launching a new AI company along with his five other companies.

艾萨克森将马斯克描绘成一个不安分的天才，他的成长经历充满动荡，正准备在其已有的五家公司之外，再创办一家新的人工智能公司。

1）portray表示“描绘，描述，描写”，英文解释为“to represent or describe someone or something in a painting, film, book, or other artistic work”举个🌰：The painting portrays a beautiful young woman in a blue dress. 这幅画描绘的是一位身穿蓝色连衣裙的美丽少女。

2）表示“扮演（某角色）”，英文解释为“to act a particular role in a film/movie or play”举个🌰：Her father will be portrayed by Sean. 肖恩将饰演她的父亲。

restless /ˈrest.ləs/ 表示“呆不住的;坐立不安的，焦躁的”，英文解释为“unwilling or unable to stay still or to be quiet and calm, because you are worried or bored”举个🌰：He's a restless type - he never stays in one country for long. 他是那种呆不住的人——他从来不在一个国家呆太长的时间。

turbulent /ˈtɜː.bjə.lənt/ 表示“骚乱的，骚动的；动荡的，混乱的”，英文解释为“involving a lot of sudden changes, arguments, or violence”如：a turbulent marriage 吵吵闹闹的婚姻。

表示“抚养，养育；教育，教养”，英文解释为“the way in which you are treated and educated when young, especially by your parents, especially in relation to the effect that this has on how you behave and make moral decisions”举个🌰：Is it right to say all the crimes he committed were simply the result of his upbringing? 把他犯下的所有罪行都归罪于他所受到的教育，这样说对吗？

cusp /kʌsp/ 表示“分界线”，英文解释为“the dividing line between two very different things”，on the cusp 表示“介于两个状态之间；将要进入特定状态”，英文解释为“If you say that someone or something is on the cusp, you mean they are between two states, or are about to be in a particular state.” 如：on the cusp of adulthood 即将成年。

Musk allowed Isaacson to shadow him for two years but exercised no control over the biography's contents, the author said.

艾萨克森说，马斯克允许自己对他进行为期两年的跟踪采访，但对传记内容没有进行任何干预。

Musk's upbringing and father haunt him 马斯克的成长经历和父亲对他的影响

Isaacson's book attributes much of Musk's drive to his upbringing. He recounts the emotional scars inflicted on Musk by his father, which, Isaacson writes, caused Musk to become “a tough yet vulnerable man-child with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.”

艾萨克森在书中认为，马斯克的许多动力来自于他的成长经历。他讲述了马斯克的父亲对马斯克造成的情感创伤，这使得马斯克成为了一个“坚韧又脆弱的大男孩，有着极高的冒险精神，渴望戏剧性情境，有着宏大的使命感，以及时而冷酷时而具有破坏性的狂热强度。”

haunt /hɔːnt/ 表示“使经常苦恼，不断困扰”，英文解释为“to cause repeated suffering or anxiety”举个🌰：30 years after the fire he is still haunted by images of death and destruction. 那场火灾过去30年之后，死亡和毁灭的场景仍在他脑海中挥之不去。

recount表示“讲述；叙述；描述”，英文解释为“to describe how something happened, or to tell a story”举个🌰：He recounted his adventures since he had left home. 他讲述了离家以后的很多奇遇。

📍recount一词此前在《摩登情爱》：良莠不齐但时显魅力一文中出现过，A flashback-driven episode starring Dev Patel and Catherine Keener, in which the two leads recount stories of love and regret, is ultimately more effective. 在由戴夫·帕特尔（Dev Patel）和凯瑟琳·基纳（Catherine Keener）主演的倒叙一集中，两个主角讲述了爱与遗憾的故事，最终效果更好。

📍在EDG夺冠后翻译小姐姐火了也提到：As the longest-tenured player on EDward Gaming, he recounts how surreal it is to finally have this trophy. 作为在EDG任职时间最长的选手，他讲述了最终拥有这个奖杯是多么的梦幻。

inflict /ɪnˈflɪkt/ 表示“使遭受，使承受”，英文解释为“to force someone to experience something very unpleasant”举个🌰：These new bullets are capable of inflicting massive injuries. 这些新型子弹可以造成重创。

exceedingly /ɪkˈsiː.dɪŋ.li/ 表示“非常；特别；极其”，英文解释为“to a very great degree”举个🌰：He was clever, handsome, and exceedingly rich. 他聪明、英俊，且非常富有。

epic /ˈep.ɪk/ 作名词，表示“（通常指描写历史题材的）长篇叙事性电影（或书籍）；史诗；史诗般的电影（或书籍）”，英文解释为“a long film/movie or book that contains a lot of action, usually about a historical subject”。

作形容词，表示“史诗般的；鸿篇巨制的；壮丽的”，英文解释为“in the style of an epic”如：an epic film about the Roman Empire 古罗马帝国题材的史诗电影；表示“艰苦卓绝的；漫长而艰难的”，英文解释为“used to describe events that happen over a long period and involve a lot of action and difficulty”如：an epic journey/struggle 漫长艰难的旅途/艰苦卓绝的斗争。

maniacal /məˈnaɪ.ə.kəl/ 表示“（哭或笑）狂野的，肆无忌惮的”，英文解释为“A maniacal cry or laugh is loud and wild.”举个🌰：He suddenly exploded into maniacal laughter. 他突然发出一阵狂笑。

callous /ˈkæl.əs/ 表示“冷酷无情的；无同情心的，麻木不仁的”，英文解释为“unkind, cruel, and without sympathy or feeling for other people”举个🌰：It might sound callous, but I don't care if he's homeless. He's not living with me! 这也许听起来很无情，可我并不在乎他是否无家可归。他又不和我住在一起！

Musk decided to live with his father from age 10 to 17, enduring what Musk and others describe as occasional but regular verbal taunts and abuse. Musk's sister, Tosca, said Errol would sometimes lecture his children for hours, “calling you worthless, pathetic, making scarring and evil comments, not allowing you to leave.”

从10岁到17岁，马斯克与他的父亲生活在一起，经受着他和其他人所说的偶尔但有规律的言语嘲讽和虐待。马斯克的妹妹托斯卡（Tosca）说，埃罗尔·马斯克有时会对孩子们说教几个小时，“说你们一无是处，可悲，说些恶毒的话，不让你离开。”

verbal /ˈvɜːbəl/ 1）表示“口头的”，英文解释为“You use verbal to indicate that something is expressed in speech rather than in writing or action.”举个🌰：They were jostled and subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse. 他们被推来搡去，并受到了潮水般的辱骂。

2）表示“词语的；文字的”，英文解释为“You use verbal to indicate that something is connected with words and the use of words.”举个🌰：The test has scores for verbal skills, mathematical skills, and abstract reasoning skills. 该项测试对文字表达技能、数学技能和抽象推理技能进行记分。

🎬电影《旗鼓相当》（Grudge Match）中的台词提到：And I say, "Well, women are more verbal than men." 然后我说“女人比男人更善于言辞。”

taunt /tɔːnt/ 作动词，表示“嘲笑；羞辱”，英文解释为“If someone taunts you, they say unkind or insulting things to you, especially about your weaknesses or failures.”举个🌰：A gang taunted a disabled man. 一帮混混儿羞辱了一个残疾人。

作名词，表示“嘲笑（或讽刺、奚落等）的言辞”，英文解释为“an insulting or unkind remark that is intended to make sb angry or upset”

1）表示“可怜的；可悲的；令人怜惜的”，英文解释为“making you feel pity or sadness”，如：a pathetic and lonely old man 可怜又孤独的老翁。

2）表示“无力的；不成功的”，英文解释为“weak and not successful”，如：a pathetic excuse 牵强的借口。

Elon Musk became estranged from his father, though he has occasionally supported his father financially. In a 2022 email sent to Elon Musk on Father's Day, Errol Musk said he was freezing and lacking electricity, asking his son for money.

伊隆·马斯克与父亲的关系变得疏远了，不过他偶尔会在经济上支持他的父亲。埃罗尔·马斯克在2022年父亲节那天发给埃隆·马斯克的一封电子邮件中说，他冻坏了，没有电，向儿子要钱。

1）表示“分居的”，英文解释为“An estranged wife or husband is no longer living with their husband or wife.”如：his estranged wife 与他分居的妻子。

2）表示“（与家人、朋友）疏远的”，英文解释为“If you are estranged from your family or friends, you have quarrelled with them and are not communicating with them.”举个🌰：She spent most of her twenties virtually estranged from her father. 她在20多岁的大部分时间和她爸爸几乎不来往。

3）表示“脱离的”，英文解释为“If you describe someone as estranged from something such as society or their profession, you mean that they no longer seem involved in it.”举个🌰：He became increasingly estranged from the mainstream of Hollywood. 他变得越来越脱离好莱坞主流了。

In the letter, Errol made racist comments about Black leaders in South Africa. “With no Whites here, the Blacks will go back to the trees,” he wrote.

在邮件中，埃罗尔对南非的黑人领袖发表了种族主义言论，他写道：“如果这里没有白人，黑人将会回到树上去。”

Elon Musk has said that he opposes racism and discrimination, but hate speech has flourished on X, formerly known as Twitter, since he purchased it 11 months ago, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Musk threatened to sue the ADL for defamation last week, arguing that the nonprofit's statements have caused his company to lose significant advertising revenue.

埃隆·马斯克曾表示，他反对种族主义和歧视，但据反诽谤联盟（Anti-Defamation League, ADL）称，自11个月前收购X（推特前身）以来，仇恨言论在X上盛行。马斯克上周威胁要起诉ADL诽谤，称该非营利组织的声明导致他的公司损失了大量广告收入。

racism /ˈreɪ.sɪ.zəm/ 表示“种族主义；种族歧视，种族迫害”，英文解释为“the belief that people's qualities are influenced by their race and that the members of other races are not as good as the members of your own, or the resulting unfair treatment of members of other races”

表示“诬蔑；诽谤；中伤”，英文解释为“the act of damaging sb's reputation by saying or writing bad or false things about them”举个🌰：The company sued for defamation. 这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

Musk's fluid family and obsession with population 马斯克复杂的家庭和对人口的执念

Musk has a fluid mix of girlfriends, ex-wives, ex-girlfriends and significant others, and he has many children with multiple women. Isaacson's book revealed Musk had a third child (Techno Mechanicus) with the musician Grimes in 2022, and Musk confirmed the revelation Sunday.

马斯克的家庭关系错综复杂，既有女友，又有前妻、前女友以及有特殊关系的伴侣或恋人，并且与多名女性有多名子女。艾萨克森的书中透露，马斯克与歌手格莱姆斯（Grimes）在2022年有了第三个孩子（名为Techno Mechanicus），马斯克在周日证实了这一消息。

fluid /ˈfluː.ɪd/ 表示“液体；流质”，英文解释为“a substance that flows and is not solid”举个🌰：If you have a fever you should drink plenty of fluids. 如果发烧，应多喝流质。

作形容词，1）表示“流畅的”，英文解释为“smooth and continuous”如：fluid movements 流畅的动作。

2）表示“（情况、想法或计划）不固定的，易变的”，英文解释为“If situations, ideas, or plans are fluid, they are not fixed and are likely to change, often repeatedly and unexpectedly.”举个🌰：The situation is still very fluid. 局势依然很不稳定。

obsession表示“迷恋，痴迷，着魔”，英文解释为“an extreme unhealthy interest in something or worry about something, which stops you from thinking about anything else”，如：an unhealthy obsession with being thin 对瘦的病态追求。

significant other /sɪɡˌnɪf.ɪ.kənt ˈʌð.ər/ 表示“至关重要的另一位（指配偶或伴侣）”，英文解释为“a person with whom someone has a romantic or sexual relationship that has lasted for some time and that is likely to last longer”举个🌰：She lives with her significant other in London. 她和她的另一半住在伦敦。

Musk has frequently stated that humans must be a multiplanetary species, warning space exploration will ensure the future of humanity. He similarly has spoken numerous times that people need to have more children.

马斯克经常表示，人类必须成为多星球物种，并警告说太空探索将确保人类的未来。他也多次说过人们需要生更多的孩子。

species /ˈspiː.ʃiːz/ 表示“（动植物的）种，物种”，英文解释为“a set of animals or plants in which the members have similar characteristics to each other and can breed with each other”举个🌰：Over a hundred species of insect are found in this area. 这一地区有上百种昆虫。

“Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming,” Musk said last year.

马斯克去年表示：“低出生率导致的人口崩溃对文明的风险比全球变暖带来的风险大得多。”

Musk has referred to his desire to increase the global population as an explanation for his unique family situation.

马斯克曾提到，他希望增加全球人口，以此来解释自己独特的家庭状况。

The book reports that Musk encouraged employees such as Shivon Zilis, a top operations officer at his Neuralink company, to have many children. “He feared that declining birthrates were a threat to the long-term survival of human consciousness,” Isaacson writes.

书中写道，马斯克鼓励他的员工，如Neuralink公司的首席运营官希文·齐丽丝（Shivon Zilis），多生孩子。“他担心生育率的下降会威胁到人类意识的长期生存，”艾萨克森写道。

consciousness /ˈkɒn.ʃəs.nəs/ 表示“意识；感觉；觉悟”，英文解释为“the state of understanding and realizing something”举个🌰：Her consciousness that she's different makes her feel uneasy. 意识到自已与众不同，她感到很不自在。

Although the book presents their relationship as a platonic work friendship, Musk volunteered to donate sperm to Zilis. She agreed and had twins in 2021 via in vitro fertilization; she did not tell people who the biological father was.

虽然书中把他们的关系描述为柏拉图式的工作友谊，但马斯克还主动提议为齐丽丝捐精。她同意了，并于2021年通过体外受精（in vitro fertilization）生下了一对双胞胎；她没有告诉人们生父是谁。

platonic /pləˈtɒn.ɪk/ 表示“（恋爱或感情）纯精神而无性爱的，柏拉图式的”，英文解释为“A platonic relationship or emotion is loving but not sexual.”

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