世界名人简介 第16期:碧昂丝·吉赛尔·诺斯

 Beyonce Giselle Knowles was born in Texas in 1981. She grew up singing and dancing and quickly developed the qualities that would make her an international superstar. Her talents were discovered by her dance teacher while she was a church choir¹ soloist². She took Beyonce to local talent competitions, where she won no fewer than 30 of them.

1981年，碧昂丝·吉赛尔·诺斯出生于美国德克萨斯州。她从小就开始唱歌，跳舞，并迅速获得了成为国际巨星的条件。她的天赋被她的舞蹈老师所发现，当时她是一名教堂合唱团独唱。她带碧昂丝参加了当地的才能展示比赛，她在不下30人中脱颖而出。

Beyonce decided³ to form a singing group. She asked her best friend LaTavia Roberson to join her. She also invited along a cousin and a friend and together they formed a quartet called 'Destiny's Child'. Beyonce’s father saw their potential and quit his well-paid job to become the group’s manager. They shot to fame as the most successful female group of all time.

碧昂丝决定组成歌唱团。她邀请她最好的朋友拉塔薇亚·罗伯森来参加。她还邀请了她的一位兄妹和一位朋友一起参加，他们组成了名叫“estiny's Child”的四人组。碧昂丝的父亲发觉了她的天赋，并辞去了高薪工作来担任乐队经理。她们一举成名，并成为了历史上最成功的女子乐队。

It was touch and go at the beginning whether or not her father’s financial risk would pay off. In 1997, they signed with Columbia Records and their debut⁴ single, ‘Killing Time’, was the soundtrack to the film ‘Men In Black’. They recorded hit after hit and won dozens of awards. Beyonce went solo in 2000 and her career continued to take off.

无论当时她父亲的经济冒险是否成功，这都是转瞬即逝的事情。1997年，她们与哥伦比亚唱片公司签约，并制作了首张单曲，《Killing Time》也成为了《黑衣人》的电影配音。她们一次又一次打破记录，并收获了多项大奖。2000年，碧昂丝单飞，而她的事业继续腾飞。

Knowles won five awards at the 2004 Grammy Awards and a BRIT Award for International Female Solo Artist. She has recorded with the biggest names in music. Her career also went off in different directions. She became the first singer ever to model for ‘Sports Illustrated’ magazine and appeared in many movies. In April 2008, she married her long-time sweetheart, rapper Jay-Z.

在2004年格莱美大奖上，诺斯赢得了5项大奖，并在全英音乐奖上获得了最佳国际女歌手奖。她在音乐界有着无可比拟的人气。她的事业也全面开花。她也成为首个为体育画报杂志当模特的歌手，并出演了多部电影。2008年4月，她结束了爱情长跑与说唱歌手Jay-Z完婚。

1.shoot to fame 一举成名

例句：The trained animals costarring with celebrities⁵ in movies can shoot to fame overnight.

在电影中与名人平分秋色的、经受过训练的动物（明星）们可能一夜走红。

2.pay off 取得成功

例句：It has been rather costly⁶ to install the machinery⁷, but it should pay off in the long run.

安装这套机械代价很高，但从长远来看它会赚钱的。

3.church choir 教堂唱诗班

例句：Whether it's a church choir or street dance crew, being part of a defined community group raises happinesslevels.

不管是教堂唱诗班还是街区舞蹈队，成为这些特定社区团体中的一员可以提高幸福水平

4.well-paid 收入高的

例句：He exploits the connection to get a well-paid job.

他拉关系、找门子以便找到一份报酬好的工作。

1 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

2 soloist   

n.独奏者，独唱者

参考例句：

• The soloist brought the house down with encore for his impressive voice.这位独唱家以他那感人的歌声博得全场喝彩。
• The soloist had never performed in London before.那位独唱者过去从未在伦敦演出过。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

5 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

6 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。

7 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。