It is quite a tale John Carreyrou tells in his book, "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup." It is a story of jaw-dropping lying and greed so immense that billions of dollars fly by with every turn of the page.
约翰·凯瑞鲁在其著作《坏血：硅谷创业公司的秘密和谎言》中讲述了一个非同寻常的故事。这个故事里包含了令人咋舌的谎言与人性的贪婪，其中涉及诈骗金额巨大，以至于每翻阅一页就有数十亿美元飞逝而过。
The subject is Theranos, the start-up that promised to revolutionize blood testing. Still, the real subject is Elizabeth Holmes, who started the company as a 19-year-old Stanford University dropout—and who wore black turtlenecks in blatant imitation of Steve Jobs. She handled her elders the way a snake charmer handles snakes. Only in her case, she was the one with poison.
这本书的主题是 Theranos ，一家承诺要彻底改变血液检测的初创公司。不过，此书真正的主角是伊丽莎白·霍姆斯。她在 19 岁时从斯坦福大学辍学，创办了这家公司。而且，她身穿黑色高领毛衣，公然模仿史蒂夫·乔布斯。她对待长辈就像耍蛇人对付蛇那样。只不过在她这儿，她才是那个有毒的人。
Her genius, Carreyrou says, was lying. She had come up with a blood test that could be taken with a teeny-weeny drop or two of blood from the finger. No pain, much gain. No more searching for a vein.
凯瑞鲁写到，她的天赋是撒谎。她想出一种血液检测的方法，只要从手指上取一两滴血就能完成。无痛，检测项目丰富，且无需费力寻找静脉。
Holmes knew little about the technology, but she employed people who did. And, as Carreyrou writes, when these employees suspected the device was not working—the results were being faked and the lives of patients were put at risk—they were fired, often escorted off the premises that very day by security personnel.
霍姆斯对这项技术知之甚少，但她雇用的人拥有这方面的知识。而且，正如凯瑞鲁所描述的，这些血检结果是伪造的，且病人的生命处于危险之中，而当这些员工怀疑血检设备有问题时，他们就会被解雇，通常当天就会被保安人员陪同离开公司。
Some board members and investors wondered about the excessive security. All were dissuaded or pacified by Holmes, a zealot who apparently believed so fervently in her vision that truth was just a matter of time. This is a Silicon Valley failing, which is why billions get invested on the promise of billions more being made—fake it till you make it, as the saying goes.
一些董事会成员和投资者对这种过度的安全保护表示怀疑，但所有怀疑者都被霍姆斯一一说服或者安抚平定。霍姆斯这位狂热者显然对自己前卫的野心深信不疑，认为真相只是个时间问题。这是典型的硅谷式缺陷，也是一个承诺会得到数十亿美元投资的原因，它承诺会创造更多个数十亿——就像俗话说的，在你成功之前，请先假装成功。
————— 文章来源 / 华盛顿邮报
重点词汇
startup
/ˈstɑːrtʌp/
n. 创业公司
jaw-dropping
/ˈdʒɔː drɑːpɪŋ/
adj. 令人目瞪口呆的，令人震惊的
immense
/ɪˈmens/
adj. 极大的，巨大的
e.g.
immense wealth
revolutionize
/ˌrevəˈluːʃənaɪz/
v. 彻底改变，使发生变革（revolution n.)
e.g.
Newton's discoveries revolutionized physics.
dropout
/ˈdrɑːpaʊt/
n. 辍学者
e.g.
After just one semester at Reed College, Jobs dropped out of school.
to drop out
turtleneck
/ˈtɜːrtlnek/
n. 高领套头衫
e.g.
polo neck
blatant
/ˈbleɪtnt/
adj. 公然的，明目张胆的
e.g.
blatant sexual discrimination
charmer
/ˈtʃɑːrmər/
n. 善于施展魅力的人（charm n.）
come up with
想出，提出（计划、想法等）
teeny-weeny
/ˌtiːni ˈwiːni/
adj. 很小的
e.g.
a teeny-weeny slice of cake
vein
/veɪn/
n. 静脉，血管
fake
/feɪk/
v. 捏造，伪造 （fake n.）
e.g.
to fake one's signature
escort
/ɪˈskɔːrt/
v. 护送，陪同 （escort n.）
e.g.
under escort
premise
/ˈpremɪs/
n. （企业或机构使用的）房屋及土地建筑
e.g.
business premises
personnel
/ˌpɜːrsəˈnel/
n. 全体人员，职员
dissuade
/dɪˈsweɪd/
v. 劝（某人）不要做（或相信）（persuade v.）
e.g.
to dissuade sb from doing sth
Doctors tried to dissuade patients from smoking.
pacify
/ˈpæsɪfaɪ/
v. 安抚，使平静
e.g.
to pacify a crying child
to pacify one's anger
zealot
/ˈzelət/
n. 狂热者
e.g.
a religious zealot
failing
/ˈfeɪlɪŋ/
n. 缺点，缺陷
e.g.
We all have our failings.