世界名人简介 第67期:夏奇拉

 Shakira is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and dancer. She is one of Latin America’s top stars and is very popular internationally. She is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time. She has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and has won numerous awards. She is also the only South American singer to have a number one record in the USA.

夏奇拉是一名哥伦比亚唱作人、音乐家、唱片制作人以及舞者。她是拉丁美洲的超级明星，并享誉国内外。她是哥伦比亚历史上唱片销量最高的艺人。全球唱片销量为5000万，并荣获诸多奖项。她也是唯一一位在美国保持销量第一的南美歌手。

Shakira was born in 1977 in Colombia. Her mother is of Spanish and Italian ancestry¹, and her father is of Lebanese descent. She speaks fluent Spanish, English, Portuguese² and Italian, and a little Arabic. Shakira was an outstanding student at school. Reports are she has an IQ of 140. She grew up writing poems on a typewriter she got as a Christmas gift.

1997年，夏奇拉出生在哥伦比亚。母亲拥有西班牙和意大利血统，父亲拥有黎巴嫩血统。她能够说一口流利的西班牙、英语、葡萄牙语、意大利语以及一些阿拉伯语。夏奇拉在学校表现非常优异。有报道称她的智商为140。她从小用打字机创作诗歌，这也是她获得的圣诞礼物。

Shakira wanted to perform from the age of four. She danced at school every Friday and her classmates nicknamed her "belly³ dancer girl". She said: "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance." Aged⁴ 13, she signed a three-album contract with Sony Music. The first two flopped⁵; but the third, ‘Pies Descalzos’ sold over five million copies and made her a star.

夏奇拉4岁时就表现出了表演的欲望。每周五，她都会在学校跳舞，她的同学将她称之为“肚皮舞女孩”。她称：“通过跳舞，我发现了自己对现场表演的喜爱。”13岁时，夏奇拉与索尼音乐娱乐签订了三张唱片合约。前两张均以失败告终，而第三张《赤脚》销售了500多万，她也因此成为了明星。

Shakira crossed over into singing in English. Her 2001 album ‘Laundry Service’ sold 13 million copies and established her as an international phenomenon. Gabriel Garcia Marquez asked her to write the songs for the movie ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’. Shakira has written the lyrics⁶ to every song she has recorded, bar two. She describes herself as a perfectionist.

之后，夏奇拉开始唱英文歌曲。2001年，她的专辑《爱情洗礼》销售了1300万张，这也使她成为了国际明星。加西亚·马尔克斯曾邀请她为电影《霍乱时期的爱情》创作主题曲。夏奇拉为每首记录下来的歌曲填词，排除了两首。她认为自己是一名完美主义者。

1.of all time 有史以来

例句：Being possibly the most trivial question of all time, this is one hard question to ask.

爱可能是有史以来最平常的一个问题，也是一个让人很难回答的问题。

2.live performance 现场表演

例句：That was a live performance by the humorist George Carlin about the differences between American baseball and football.

这就是美国幽默大师在现场表演，他在讲美国棒球和橄榄球之间的区别。

3.passion for 热情

例句：Her passion for me has cooled down.

她对我的热情已经冷下来了。

4.grow up 成长

例句：All plants like to grow up towards the sunlight.

所有植物都喜朝阳生长。

1 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

2 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

3 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

4 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

5 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。