VOA标准英语2011--2011 a Breakthrough Year for Blake Shelt

2011 a Breakthrough Year for Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton reached Number One with his 2001 debut¹ single “Austin,” but it’s taken him a decade to reach superstar status. But, 2011 will be remembered as his breakthrough year.
Shelton’s eighth album, “Red River Blue,” recently became his first Number One debut on the Billboard² 200 chart. Its title track features Blake’s wife, Country singer Miranda Lambert, on harmony vocals³.
Shelton won the Country Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year award in November 2010. Since then, he has earned crossover success with critics and music fans beyond the Country genre⁴. Much of that newfound popularity came earlier this year, when he served as a celebrity⁵ coach on the nationally-televised singing competition, “The Voice.” He also received an enormous amount of attention for his high-profile marriage to Miranda this past May.
“Honey Bee” was the lead single released from “Red River Blue.” It took only 10 weeks for the track to reach the top of the Country chart, where it spent four consecutive⁶ weeks. The ninth Number One single of Blake’s career earned platinum⁷ certification for selling one million digital downloads.
Shelton is supporting “Red River Blue” with a North American tour that runs through early October. Many of the dates are with Country star Brad Paisley.
Shelton has also announced that he’ll sit alongside Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Maroon⁸ 5’s Adam Levine to judge the second season of “The Voice,” which begins in February 2012.

1 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。

2 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

3 vocals   

（乐曲中的）歌唱部份，声乐部份( vocal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Also look out for soaring vocals on The Right Man. 另外，也可留意一下《意中人》中的那高亢的唱腔。
• Lazy bass line, lazier drums, lush violins, great piano and incomparable vocals. 懒惰的低音线，较懒惰的鼓，饮小提琴，棒的钢琴和无比的声音。

4 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

5 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

6 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

7 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

8 maroon   

v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的

参考例句：

• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks.埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。
• Robinson Crusoe has been marooned on a desert island for 26 years.鲁滨逊在荒岛上被困了26年。