VOA慢速英语2022--Theranos丑闻是否改变了硅谷?

Will Theranos Case Change Silicon¹ Valley's Culture?

Observers say the trial of former Theranos chief Elizabeth Holmes raises concerns about the way the technology industry pushes its products and services.

The closely watched trial has brought a lot of attention to the area in California known as Silicon Valley, a technology industry center, and its methods.

Holmes was found guilty on Monday of four of 11 charges of fraud. She had been accused of tricking investors² into believing that Theranos had developed a revolutionary new medical device. The device, company officials said, was able to find many kinds of diseases from a small amount of blood taken from a person's finger.

Now, Holmes could serve 20 years in prison for each charge. Legal experts say she is unlikely to serve that long, however.

Few experts expect the jury's guilty decision to change the Silicon Valley way of thinking. The technology industry has long reached success by making big promises.

Holmes' trial result "will send a message to CEOs that there are consequences in overstepping the bounds," said Ellen Kreitzberg. She is a law professor at Santa Clara University. However, she said, "Investors are still going to want to make more money on a promising³ idea."

Federal lawyers said during the trial that Holmes was a fraud only concerned with fame and money. Holmes' defense⁴ lawyers said she was a very gifted woman operating in an industry controlled by men, who was emotionally and sexually abused by her former lover and business partner, Sunny Balwani.

The trial showed the weaknesses of the business method used by some successful Silicon Valley companies known as "fake it ‘til you make it." That idea helped start companies like Google, Netflix, Facebook and Apple.

Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 at the age of 19. She was charged with federal crimes in 2018.

During that time, Holmes went from an unknown person to a Silicon Valley star who was valued at $4.5 billion. The story of her fall has been told in documentary movies, books, podcasts and will soon be a TV series.

Holmes set out to create an easier, less painful and less costly⁵ way to look for hundreds of diseases and health problems. Her product took a few drops of blood from a person's finger unlike traditional blood tests. She aimed to change an industry controlled by testing companies like Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp.

Holmes proposed starting with small labs in Walgreens drug stores and Safeway food stores across the U.S. The labs would use a small Theranos device called the Edison to run fast, easy blood tests.

The idea — and the way Holmes presented it — excited investors hoping to make money on a new company. Holmes helped Theranos raise more than $900 million from investors like businessman Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family which owns Walmart.

What most people did not know at the time was that Theranos' blood-testing technology produced incorrect results.

Theranos then secretly sent patients' blood to traditional laboratories using traditional machines. Evidence shown at the trial also showed that Holmes lied about supposed deals that Theranos had reached with the U.S. military and drug companies like Pfizer.

The company collapsed⁶ after an investigation⁷ and reporting from The Wall Street Journal newspaper found dangerous problems in the company's technology.

During her trial, Holmes sometimes expressed sadness about the way she had done things. But she said that she had forgotten about some of the important events brought up by government lawyers. She said she never stopped believing that Theranos was going to improve its technology.

She blamed Balwani, who she secretly lived with while he was Theranos' chief operating officer from 2009 to 2016.

Holmes said that Balwani failed to deal with the laboratory problems that he had promised to fix. She also accused him of abusing her while controlling what she ate, when she slept and who her friends were. In addition, Holmes said she had been raped⁸ by an unidentified person while still studying at Stanford University before starting Theranos.

Words in This Story

fraud— n. the crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person

consequence — n. (often pl.) something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions

bounds — n. the area in which a game (or a rules-based activity) is played

fake — adj. not real or true; false

1 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句