PART 1 Expressions
Musk and his brother hoped to convince restaurants, clothing shops, hairdressers, and the like that the time had come for them to make their presence known to the Web-surfing public.
and the like/ and such like: and similar things
Soldiers, policeman, and the like were all called in to help with the emergency.
They believe that the government does not spend enough money on health, education and such like.
Its coverage in the magazine netted Musk five hundred dollars and provided some early hints about his character.
Net: (v.)
1.informal, to earn a particular amount of money as a profit after tax has been paid
I was netting around $60,000 a year.
类似的表达: clear (v.)
So at least we cleared two bucks today.
She cleared $1000 on the deal.
2.to succeed to getting something, especially by using your skill
The company has recently netted several large contracts.
Net: (a.)
The net amount is the final amount that remains after all the other amounts have been taken away.
The net profit(=after taxes, costs etc) was up 16.3% last month.
The United States is a net importer of beef(= it imports more than it exports).
Net result/ effect: the final result or effect of something
The net result will be higher costs to the costumers.
Based in large part on Musk's guidance, PayPal survived the bursting of the dot-com bubble, became the first blockbuster IPO after the 9/11 attacks, and then sold to eBay for an astronomical sum while the rest of the technology industry was mired in a dramatic downturn.
downturn: a period of process in which business activity, production etc is reduced and conditions become worse --- (o.)upturn
mired: (a.)
1. stuck in mud or covered in mud
2. stuck in a bad situation and unable to get out or make progress
a government mired in scandal and controversy
mire(n.) a bad or difficult situation that you cannot seem to escape from =quagmire
The Party sank deeper into the mire of conflicts.
I don't want to seem like a Johnny-come-lately or that I'm chasing a fad or just being opportunistic.
Johnny-come-lately(plural Johnny-come-latelies)
(idiomatic) A newcomer; a novice; an upstart.
She might take offense if some Johnny-come-lately thinks he can do a better job.
Johnny-on-the-spot: informal someone who immediately offers to help, takes an opportunity etc
He wore an all-too-big brown sport coat and checked his cell phone from his lavish car, sitting next to his gorgeous girlfriend, Justine, and he seemed spellbound by his life.
spellbound: (a.) extremely interested in sth you are listening to
'King Lear' still holds audiences spellbound.
spell 有“符咒、咒语”的意思，引申为a power that attracts, interests and influences you very strongly
fall/ come/ be under a spell
I fell under the spell of her charm.
an ancient city that still casts its spell over travelers
PART 2 Thoughts
“What’s your dream job?” I was on a plane to Hongkong, seated next to an affable British guy, who I just met a few hours before. Our conversation went on as follows: “A lawyer. I’ve told you I am a law school student.” “Yeah, but I just wonder what you really want to do.” I was struck dumb for a beat. “What’s my dream job?“ I hadn’t mulled over this question for so long that it was almost beyond recall. Fast forward to today and I learned something from Elon Musk's biography with regard to the question that keeps gnawing at my soul since then.
Unlike many en entrepreneur from the dot-com era, Elon Musk is more a dream builder than a technology fancier or a fortune-seeker. He uses this same mindset for all the big goals in his life: he decides what he wants and goes after it with single-minded focus. However, for the average Joe of us, we frequently get distracted by alternatives and deterred by obstacles. As far as I am concerned, I chose Chemistry over History in high school not because I had a penchant for Chemistry but merely because it was supposed to place me in an advantageous position for university applications. I majored in law, a discipline pegged as promising and concrete for my future, without ever thinking whether it was aligned with what I truly aspired to. Are the stakes of being forthright to my aspirations high, or is it just because I hate to go through the trouble of soul-searching? In hindsight, I have to admit that the answer is the latter.
Follow your heart ---it’s quite a cliche, but they are not empty words. There may be balls and chains on the way leading to your green pastures, but the impediments are temporary and confrontable. Those who are wedded to pragmatism will, at the end of the day, regret every hesitation they made that deter them from taking a leap towards their dreams and aspirations.
PART 3 Summary
Elon Musk, the creator of SolarCity, Spacex and Tesla, although initially declined to cooperate with the biography, offered to help after the biographer demonstrated strong resolve, a quality he appreciated. Getting to know Musk, the biographer was impressed with his alpha-male character and boundless energy.
Ever since Musk was a tot, he was a bookworm and had a knack for solving scientific problems and adventuring. Nevertheless, he did not excel in schools because he was not interested in the disciplines prescribed by the school. Life in Africa was harsh for Musk as he underwent school bullying, the divorce of his parents, and the torture from his father.
Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk left for Canada in the late 1980s. Elon enrolled in Queen's University where he met with Justine Wilson. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in his third year. In his university episode, Musk was a high academic performer and exhibited his spectacular talents in regions of solar energies and other technologies.
In the summer of 1994, the Musk brothers settled down in Silicon Valley and founded Global Link Information Network from scratch. Mohr Davidow Ventures ventured into the company in 1996, renamed it Zip 2 and relieved Musk of his command. Zip 2 wound up being sold to the PC maker Compaq Computer in 1999.
Musk staked the majority of the money he made from Zip 2 on his new start-up X.com and built an online person-to-person payment system. X.com later merged with its rivalry Confinity founded by Max Levchin and Peter Thiel and Musk remained his leadership in the company. Musk married Justine in this stint. However, a group of employees conspired a coup and reinstated Thiel as CEO. X.com was rebranded as Paypal.
