(单词翻译:单击)
中英文本
During a conference call with Wall Street investment analysts in May, Musk, who declined to be interviewed for this story, had refused to answer basic questions about Tesla's faltering financial prospects.
今年5月，马斯克在与华尔街投资分析师的电话会议中，拒绝就此事接受采访，也拒绝就摇摇欲坠的金融前景回答基本问题。
“Boring, bonehead questions are not cool,” he said. Investors responded by lopping 5.6 percent off his company's stock price the next day.
“无聊的傻瓜问题一点都不酷，”他说。第二天，投资者的回应是将公司股价砍掉5.6%。
A few months before, Musk treated his 22 million Twitter followers to harassing rants against reporters who published critical pieces about Tesla, accusing them of bias, conflicts of interest and outright fabrications—also without evidence.
几个月前，马斯克在他的2200万粉丝的推特上，怒怼那些发文章评论特斯拉的记者们，说他们门户之见，因利益冲突就一派胡言。这次依然没有证据。
He threatened to start a news site that evaluates the accuracy of news articles, tentatively called Pravda—
他威胁要建立一个评估新闻报道的准确性的新闻网站，暂时叫《真理报》
the Russian word for “truth,” but better known as the propaganda newspaper of the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union, and now of Russia.
（这个英语单词是俄语的“真理”），但这是前苏联共产党、现俄罗斯的宣传报。
Critics and allies alike began asking:
批评者和盟友都开始问：
What happened to Elon Musk, the hero of Silicon Valley, the high-tech visionary who was going to save the planet with electric vehicles?
硅谷英雄伊隆·马斯克，这个打算用电动汽车拯救地球的高科技梦想家怎么了？
But if you're focusing on Musk's “bad manners,” as he called his meltdown, you're missing the point.
但是如果你过于关注马斯克的那些“坏习惯”（他自己如此称自己的失控），那么就会错过重点。
His plan to transform the car industry is picking up speed.
他改造汽车工业的计划正在加速。
Along the way, it could put tens of millions of people out of work (and that's not a bug, it's a feature), dismantling what has been a foundation of the nation's social and economic life for a century.
在此过程中，可能会有数千万人失业（这不是一个漏洞，这是一种特性），会拆除一个世纪以来美国社会和经济生活的基础。
And it's happening in the service of plying the wealthy with cooler cars.
这会诞生于为富人提供更酷的汽车服务。
“Technological innovation has throughout history increased total wealth,” says Ryan Lackey, a founder of cybersecurity company ResetSecurity and a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur.
“纵观历史，技术创新增加了总财富，” 网络安全公司ResetSecurity的创始人同时是经验丰富的硅谷企业家瑞恩·拉基说道。
“But it's often said the gains are going to a smaller and smaller subset of the population.”
“但众所周知，收益会流向越来越少的人群。”
So the worrisome future may be one not where Musk fails but where he succeeds.
因此，令人担忧的未来可能不是马斯克失败的地方，而是他成功的地方。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
重点讲解
1.decline to do 谢绝
No court has yet ruled in this case in light of the new facts, and we decline to be the first to do so.
迄今尚未有哪一所法院在本案中依据新的事实作出裁决，本院亦不愿为人先。
2.lop off 砍掉
His ponytail had been lopped off.
他的马尾辫被剪掉了。
3.threaten to do 威胁
He said army officers had threatened to destroy the town.
他说军官们已威胁要摧毁这座小镇。
4.pick up speed 加速
Brian started the engine and pulled away slowly, but picked up speed once he entered Oakwood Drive.
布赖恩发动引擎，慢慢驶离，但上了奥克伍德大道后就开始加速。
5.ply someone with 不断供给
Elsie, who had been told that Maria wasn't well, plied her with food.
埃尔茜听说玛丽亚身体不好，就不停地给她食物。
