2023届高考英语外刊语法填空含全文翻译和重难点句型讲解
Social media
A $44bn education
What running Twitter has taught Elon Musk about free speech
Elon Musk’s two months running Twitter has been an unhappy experiment. The social network’s 250m users have endured a wearying saga in which Mr Musk is the central character. Advertisers have fled. Twitter, 1.______(which) lost $221m in 2021, is now on track to lose $4bn a year, by one estimate. The damage has spread to Tesla, Mr Musk’s carmaker, part of the reason it has lost half a trillion dollars in market value 2.______(since) early September, costing Mr Musk the title of the world’s richest man.
On December 19th it looked 3._____ ______(as if) Mr Musk might throw in the towel after Twitter users voted for him to step down as chief executive. It has been a costly adventure. But in one sense his turbulent stewardship of the social network has done the rest of the world a favour. In two short months Mr Musk has been through a public crash course in the principles of free speech, neatly 4.______(demonstrating) the trade-offs involved in protecting expression online.
From the outside, Twitter seemed simple to someone 5.______(whose) day job was building self-driving cars and space rockets. Mr Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist”, had grown concerned (with some justification) that Twitter had been captured by censorious left-wing scolds. Shortly after agreeing to buy the platform he explained his approach 6.______(to) moderation: “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law.
All this holds two lessons for 7._______(whoever) follows Mr Musk as Twitter’s boss, should he leave. One is to keep content moderation at arm’s length. The person deciding whether a post is acceptable is compromised if they are also responsible for boosting engagement among users and spending by advertisers. Mark Zuckerberg (whose reputation has risen in light of Mr Musk’s pratfalls) realised this and outsourced Facebook’s biggest moderation headaches to an independent “oversight board” in 2020.
The second lesson is that moderation has no clean solutions, even for “technokings” with strong views on free speech. Free expression is not a problem with a solution 8.______(bounded) by the laws of physics that can be hacked together if only enough coders pull an all-nighter. It is a dilemma requiring messy trade-offs that leave no one happy. In such a business, humility and transparency count for a lot.
These are novel concepts to some in Silicon Valley, 9._______(who) are impatient to tear up the established ways of doing things. But just as cryptocurrency enthusiasts have recently received a bracing lesson in the value of boring old financial prudence, so Mr Musk and his fellow free-speech enthusiasts are learning 10.______(why) free expression has caused many to scratch their heads over the centuries. Tech valuations have suffered a sharp correction in 2022. It has also been a chastening year for tech egos.
Answer:1.which 2.since 3.as if 4.demonstrating 5.whose 6.to 7.whoever 8.bounded 9.who 10.why
①短语：
1.原文：Twitter, which lost $221m in 2021, is now on track to lose $4bn a year
词典：be on track to do sth 有望做某事
例句：She is on the fast track to promotion.
她现在升迁在望。
2.原文：it looked as if Mr Musk might throw in the towel
词典：throw in the towel 认输，承认失败
例句：It seemed as if the police had thrown in the towel and were abandoning the investigation.
警方似乎已经认输，打算放弃调查。
3.原文：after Twitter users voted for him to step down as chief executive
词典：step down 辞职，下台，让位
例句：Judge Ito said that if his wife was called as a witness, he would step down as trial judge.
伊藤法官说，如果他的妻子被传作证，他将不再担任初审法官。
4.原文：But in one sense his turbulent stewardship of the social network has done the rest of the world a favour
词典：do sb a favour 帮某人忙
例句：Do yourself a favour and wear a helmet on the bike.
要照顾自己，骑车戴上头盔。
5.原文：But in one sense his turbulent stewardship of the social network has done the rest of the world a favour
词典：in one sense从某种意义上说，从某种程度上讲
例句：In one sense, the fact that few new commercial buildings can be financed does not matter
从某种意义上说，只有少数新建商业大厦可以融到资金的情况其实并不重要。
6.原文：In practice he has found that the right to speech conflicts with other rights
词典：conflict with sth冲突，抵触
例句：These results conflict with earlier findings.
这些结果与早期的发现相矛盾。
7.原文：Rather than allow this legal-but-nasty content, Twitter cracked down
词典：crack down (on sb/sth)严厉打击，镇压
例句：The government has cracked down hard on those campaigning for greater democracy.
政府严厉镇压了那些发起运动争取更广泛民主的人士。
8.原文：One is to keep content moderation at arm’s length
词典：keep sb/sth at arm’s length 与...保持距离
例句：She had always kept his family at arm's length.
她一直与他的家人保持一定距离。
9.原文：whose reputation has risen in light of Mr Musk’s pratfalls
词典：in (the) light of sth 考虑到，鉴于
例句：He rewrote the book in the light of further research.
他根据进一步的研究重写了那部书。
10.原文：Mark Zuckerberg realised this and outsourced Facebook’s biggest moderation headaches to an independent “oversight board” in 2020
词典：outsource sth to sb 将...外包给...
例句：Increasingly, corporate clients are seeking to outsource the management of their facilities.
越来越多的公司客户寻求将设施的管理外包出去。
11.原文：if only enough coders pull an all-nighter
词典：pull an all-nighter通宵学习、工作
例句：If you try to pull an all-nighter the day before your exam, you'll be too tired to get a good mark.
例句如果你在考试前一天开夜车的话，考试的时候就会疲惫不堪，从而拿不到好成绩。
12.原文：In such a business, humility and transparency count for a lot
词典：count (for sth)重要
例句：The fact that she had apologized counted for nothing with him.
她已道歉，但他认为这是没有用的。
13.原文：who are impatient to tear up the established ways of doing things
词典：tear up sth 摧毁，损毁
例句：He accused ministers of conniving with foreign companies to tear up employment rights
他指责部长们与外国公司串通一气损害就业权。
14.原文：so Mr Musk and his fellow free-speech enthusiasts are learning why free expression has caused many to scratch their heads over the centuries
词典：scratch your head (over sth) 苦苦琢磨；苦思冥想；绞尽脑汁
例句：The Institute spends a lot of time scratching its head about how to boost American productivity.More from Wechat Subscription：Richie英语教书匠该协会花费大量时间苦苦思索如何提高美国的生产力。
②长难句
1.原文：Last month Mr Musk said that his commitment to free speech meant he would not ban a Twitter account that tweeted the whereabouts of his private jet, even though he considered this a security risk.
2.分析：主句是主谓宾结构Mr Musk said that...，that引导宾语从句。在宾语从句中，主语是his commitment to free speech，谓语动词是meant，后面省略了宾语从句引导词that。在meant后的宾语从句中，也是主谓宾结构he（主语）would not ban（谓语动词）a Twitter account（宾语）。account后的that修饰account，作后置定语，表示“发布其私人飞机位置动态的推文账号”。even though引导让步状语从句。
3.译文：上月马斯克声称自己对言论自由所作承诺意味着他不会封掉发布其私人飞机动态的推特账号，即使他本人也认为此举是一个安全风险。
1.原文：The person deciding whether a post is acceptable is compromised if they are also responsible for boosting engagement among users and spending by advertisers.
2.分析：主句是被动语态结构The person is compromised。主语后的deciding whether a post is acceptable属于现在分词作定语修饰主语The person，表示“决定帖子是否合适的人”。if引导条件状语从句，其中涉及表达be responsible for doing sth。另外注意spending在文中是名词，不是动词。
3.译文：如果决定推文帖子是否可接受的人也同时负责提高用户的参与度和广告商的支出，那么他们就会让自己的声誉受损。
③写作技巧:
But just as cryptocurrency enthusiasts have recently received a bracing lesson in the value of boring old financial prudence, so Mr Musk and his fellow free-speech enthusiasts are learning why free expression has caused many to scratch their heads over the centuries.
但正如有人就无聊老套的财政稳健方面的价值给加密货币狂热者上了一堂令人精神焕发的课，马斯克及其同事等言论自由狂热者也学习到为何言论自由会困扰众多人士长达数世纪。
表达：这里涉及“……同样如此”的表达，即Just as A does sth, so B does sth“正如A做了某事，B也做了某事”。
例句：Just as starlight is so distant but so close, so love always stays there no matter how distant.
爱，无论多么遥远，它是在那里，就像星光那样遥不可及，却又近在咫尺。
④背景知识：
埃隆·马斯克：埃隆·里夫·马斯克（Elon Reeve Musk），1971年6月28日出生于南非的行政首都比勒陀利亚，企业家、工程师、慈善家、美国国家工程院院士 ，他同时兼具南非、加拿大和美国三重国籍。马斯克本科毕业于宾夕法尼亚大学，获经济学和物理学双学位。1995年至2002年，马斯克与合伙人先后办了三家公司。
太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）CEO兼CTO、特斯拉（TESLA）公司CEO、太阳城公司（SolarCity）董事会主席。
2021年3月2日，胡润研究院发布《2021胡润全球富豪榜》，马斯克以1.28万亿元人民币财富首次成为世界首富。 6月14日，马斯克已决定卖掉自己拥有的最后一套房产，租房住。 10月，马斯克成为了历史上首位身价破3000亿美元的人。12月13日，马斯克被评为《时代》周刊2021年度人物。是特斯拉公司创始人。 当地时间2022年12月12日，据《福布斯》富豪榜最新数据显示，埃隆·马斯克已不是世界首富。
⑤段落大意：
【1】收购推特后，马斯克频遭打击
【2】推特给马斯克上了一堂言论自由的课
【3】马斯克担心左翼人士言论“攻占”推特平台
【4】&【5】推特继任者需要明白的两个道理
【6】推特给了马斯克深刻的教训
